God's popsicles.

God was hot and made Him some ice cream and popsicles...

He then invited these hooligans to the party...

just to top it off, He showed us His art work ...

Psalm 95:3-7 -- For the LORD is the great
God, the great King above all gods.

In His hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to Him.

The sea is His, for He made it,

and His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD
our Maker;

for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the
flock under His care.

in Thy courts.

random factoid about me: i heart kids.

there are these kids at my church that i have just grown to love and adore, let me name some names, there's noel, joy, jeffrey (pardon me, he's jeff now...), matt, vincent, dustin and alex. my church's winter retreat destination for the past few years has been at beautiful murietta. murietta is sweet because there are a bunch of cute little outdoor natural hot spring pools. the adults love that place. i'm sure its to rekindle their aging marriages by reliving their younger scandalous days in these cute little hot spring pools. but talk about a headache! especially, when you're in charge and a bunch hormonal teenagers, bathing/enjoying the same little hot spring pools ... at a church retreat. %$@@#^*!%@#

sorry, i digress, back to the kids.

these young boys get there and just start having a blast! they were having such a good time, laughing, running around, splashing each other, giggling... haha. silly boys. i sat around to watch over them and the Holy Spirit opens my eyes. while watching them, a deep sense of joy begins to grow in me. it brought me back to my childhood, and how i loved going on church retreats. why is there still such a strong positive emotional connection with church retreats? what is it at church retreats that led me to such joy and peace? it dawned on me, as i realized the joy of dwelling in my Lord's courts.

Psalm 65:4 -- Blessed are those you choose

and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the

good things of your house, of your holy temple.

as a Christian, we have the right and the privilege to be in the courts of the Almight God. the one who created the earthquake, the tornado, the hurricane, the blizzard, the rain that creates floods, the thunder, the monster waves, and little ol' me, i get to dwell in it. privilege? joy? what am i smoking??? but it is! because He is good. and He loves me.

Psalm 84:10 -- Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

those boys at murietta were able to have such a good time, because the environment was safe. they got to be them, in all their innocence, and have a good time. its also the same way when you're spending time with safe friends. you get to be you, the entire package - the weirdness, the quirkiness, all the idiosyncrasies, even your annoying peccadilloes. in my Lord's courts, its beyond that. the environment is perfectly safe. not only are you accepted and loved for your uniqueness, but all the wrong that you've ever committed is wiped clean. the blood of Christ that has opened the pearly white gates to these courts and allowed my entrance, has wiped away all the shame, all the guilt, all the judgement and all the fear. you are fully loved and wholly accepted.

hence...

in Thy courts i dwell. in Thy courts i choose to be.
in Thy courts i live my life
and blog to share it with thee.

oh, those silly boys... :)

and today, a blog is born.

now that i have a blog, i'm at a lost of how to start.

choke!

anyways, i suppose it is fitting to launch my blog on my birthday, so today will also be the birth date of my blog site. (i can easily keep track of how long i've been blogging...how excellent and clever!)

a good friend pointed out, its good to share with friends your life, he then started a blog. haha. i'm such a biter. but, not only so, i realized that this year, Lord willing, my life will have some adventure and excitement besides the daily routines of work and the routine politics that abound at work, and i'd like to share them with those dear to me. so, i present to you ... in Thy courts!

as i tried to figure out a cool name to this blog, my friends asked me what i'd be blogging about. so, i plan on including random thoughts that this weird mind conjures up, things i'm learning, updates about me and random facts about me, all this with the hope that you can be a part of my life.

so, enjoy~