BREXIT

As most of you might know the British people have declared "independence from the EU". This is causing catastrophic economic affects. I have predicted the full result of this event:

-UK now has less trading partners, and so more money will be stuck in the UK

-Eventually all their money will be used up and their economy will plummet

-Soon companies will lose business partners and file for bankruptcy

-Workers will be laid off and they will lose their money

-Laid off workers will gather to protest for laws propping up businesses

-Buisnesses will reform and unemployment will go down

-Buisnesses will stretch across the world

-Economies will start to go up

-The UK will break apart and new nations will form

-These nations will join the EU and the world will end up the same way it was except the UK will be 4 countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland(Northern Ireland will have joined Ireland).

Father's Day

Getting up at 4 am on Father's Day, trying to find words of wisdom in the Bible on what we are celebrating today in America.  Father's Day can be tricky since many have had less than ideal fathers, or no fathers present, or lost fathers. And then there are the tributes to all the great fathers on Facebook already...

What speaks to me this morning is this passage in Hosea: "when Israel was a child I loved him as a son and brought him out of Egypt. ...I trained him from infancy, I taught him to walk, I held him in my arms. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who raised him. ...oh how can I give you up, my Ephraim? How can I let you go? How can I forsake you...? My heart cries out within me; how I long to help you! No, I will not punish you as much as my fierce anger tells me to. .. For I am God and not man; I am the Holy One living among you, and I did not come to destroy."

God is both so much like an earthly father and so much different. It comforts me to know that God loves me like a father loves his child here on earth, but so much more. He holds me in his arms, and does not give up on me! He is distressed when we go astray, and longs to help us! He does not judge us based on his anger! I love this: "for I am God and not man". Hallelujah! Good to know, to remember, that we have a mighty father who can control his anger and wants to help us out of the mess that we got ourselves into.

Thank you!

The Work of God

For the past few days I've been attending Springhill day camp, which is a camp where children going into Kindergarten through 6th grade can learn about the word of God while doing fun activities. I was especially excited for this year because the theme is the Olympics. Another cool thing about this year is that we get to have water races on a slip and slide. I've won twice and my sister Kaitlyn has won once. And it was at Springhill my soul was telling me that me and my mom were using this blogger to spread the word of God and other cool stuff like Star Wars and Feste. Also I have realized that there is a whole community of pop music lovers, but also because Christian music has taken a step out of hymns, so there is now a community of Christian music lovers, which I consider myself to be a part of. Thank you blogger viewers and God. Without you this blogger wouldn't be what it is.

By, Joseph

Orlando

Joseph's commentary after watching the 7 o'clock news this morning!

A gift from The Lord

Two verses that I want to remember today are "children are a gift from The Lord ", and "be doers of the word"! Before spending another whole day with my three children this summer, I want to remember that this time with them matters.  Not a day to waste and end in regret. I want to hold on to the moments and cherish them, not wish them away.
Katherine and I decided to work on not being so harsh in my criticism. Instead of "what, you didn't feed the cat, even so I reminded you several times?", followed by "what, you didn't read again? I am so disappointed. No treat for you!", and "you left dishes on the table again! Why does nobody ever listen?", say "looks like you had a great day with Molly today! Let's go feed the cat and clean up the dishes, and then have a reading party."
Joseph wants some "special time" today, which for him means letting him talk, and for me to really listen. Even though it may be about the intecracies of some thoughts of his which are a bit cumbersome to follow.
Kaitlyn is more tricky. She pushes my buttons most frequently and I am sure to fail with her today. We will have to practice a lot of forgiveness and more relaxation and meditation skills. And keeping our tongues from committing evil!
Now to do this, I need God.  I need to remember to call on him and ask a million times for help and strength and less selfishness.

The Secrets of Star Wars: the Architecture of the Death Star

Many Star Wars fans have wondered over the past years about the interior of the Death Stars. Until we build a "Death Star", we will never truly know what it looks like on the inside. But we can make very accurate guesses. One way to do this is to look at the 2008 Lego Death Star. We already know how the "Superlaser" of the Death Star works. So we don't really need to look there as much as the rest of the Death Star. We also know that the Death Star has at least one trash compactor, and at least one prison block on each floor, as well as hundreds or even thousands of tractor beams. Plus millions of cannons, hundreds of tie fighters, and 15 million people. These are huge numbers. And now you must be thinking "How much does it take to keep these people alive"? Luckily, we don't have to do any CRAZY calculations, because people have figured that out already: The cost of the Death Star is $350 billion! Not even Bill Gates has that much money. And don't forget these millions of people are living in outer space! The Empire has to build recreational areas, Anti-Gravity Machines, and much more to keep their people sane. Given these facts, to build the Death Star is possible, but it would be the greatest feat ever taken on by humanity. It would cost so much that every nation would have to pool 0.5% of its total annual income. We will have reached our pinnacle, once we have built a Death Star.
There is a lucrative way to build a Death Star: Some "Super Star Destroyers", mile-long ships that house storm troopers, can fit entire cities on them. These would cost about anywhere from 3 billion dollars to 25 billion dollars. To be honest, I don't think the people of the earth should use Death Stars for blowing up planets. That would cause the ultimate World War. Instead, we should use these weapons as tools. We can solve poverty by housing the homeless on Star Destroyers, for example. So if we build these Star Destroyers and Death Stars, then figure out how to use them for good, we will indeed reach our "pinnacle".

Katherine's God

"There is only one person in the whole wide world who can do anything. God. I am so thankful for God. He made my family. I am thankful for my family because they take care of me and love me so much! I am also thankful for God because he made my pet Leo. Leo is my very first pet. He has a white belly and the rest of his body is orange except for some of his face. I love Leo! Without God, Leo wouldn't exist!"

This is what I found in my daughter's memory book from this school year. I've been laying awake since 2am worrying- about money, and finally got up at 4. While the coffee was brewing, I emptied out the backpacks from the almost last day of school and started reading through my little people's writing projects from the year. And among them this: God speaking to me.

Matthew 6:25-34. Just listened to a sermon on this...no, it was a children's church lesson that I was facilitating! You of great faith, Sunday school teacher. (Maybe they should have some kind of screening questionnaire for people who teach kids at church?) I need to listen to those little people around me.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega-the beginning and the end"' says The Lord. (Rev.1:8) That's what Katherine was referring to. Now how can I believe it? Write it on my forehead, tuck it away in my heart? Live out some of these truth that I know? God can take care of our money problems.

"For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me." (Jeremiah 29:11). I want to find you, hold on to you, and believe.