The Windows Of Heaven

One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Old Testament, and deals with the law of tithing. I struggle for whatever reason with this commandment and I don't really know why. My parents taught me the importance of paying it and throughout my life I have been reminded that I need to keep this commandment.

My faith in it actually working isn't any excuse because I have plenty of that most of the time. But if I hadn't been blessed with such an amazing and strong wife, I think I would still struggle with following through on this one. She pays it, and because she pays it, I naturally pay it also. Because of her I continue to receive the blessings associated with, and mentioned in Malachi. The verse talks about the windows of Heaven being opened and blessings being given and this week was one of those times.

This has been my week up until today:
On Sunday I had to work, my wife called and told me she had paid our tithing as usual. Tuesday morning at 5 am on my way to work my truck died in the middle of the road and I pushed it off State street into the gas station where it was towed to the mechanics. I also get to have a root canal on Saturday. The only thing that went through my mind at the time, was doubt as to what kind of blessings we were receiving for paying our tithing. When I finally got to work I noticed that my heel was a little tender. Throughout the day it continued to get worse and by evening I found myself at the instacare where they told me I had plantar fasciitis and they couldn't tell me how I got it and when or if it would go away.

All of this really had me questioning the tithing thing but my wife and my mother were not convinced that we should have kept the tithing in case we needed it. Both of them let me know what was most important.

Here is what happened almost immediately after the doctors visit. My foot started to feel better, not a ton, but I can walk without limping too much. The mechanic called and said it was a faulty fuel pump that they had installed a couple months ago and he had fixed it under warranty. We also found out a gift card had been mailed to us that will really help us out, and I still get to have a root canal on Saturday. Three out of four isn't too bad right?

One of my many New Years resolutions is to more fully trust my Father in Heaven when he promises me that I will be taken care of if I will only do what he asks.

We Have A Pack Rat In Our House

My wife does a really amazing job at keeping our house pretty well put together. Unfortunately we seem to have raised a small pack rat that lives in the room we've designated for our daughter. She never throws anything away, and always feels the need to "show off" her treasures by keeping them out in plain sight at all times, thus we seem to find scenes like this one tonight.

I don't even know where she got the chips from!

It's amazing that what crawls out of that mess every morning could possibly end up looking this cute. She had a tap recital tonight. She did awesome, we ate ice cream to celebrate, and she disappeared back into her cave for the night. It's easy to overlook the mess when she ends up looking like this.

Circus Fun Day 10

This first picture reminds me a little of a circus or something. Our kids really loved driving down the street and seeing this.

This picture isn't even a picture of the front of the house, that wasn't decorated. This is a picture of the barn behind the house. Thats right, the barn has more style than the house.
Due to the fact that we seem to have scoured all of the area where we live, we've decided to take a few days off. We are going to travel a little and see what we can find further out from where we live. Keep checking back though, because we will post pictures as we find them.

It's Too Cold Outside - Day 9

Due to the fact that our kids have gone to bed way too late the past week or so, we decided to take the night off from scouring the county in search of awesome lights. Below are two pictures we found on the internet to fill in during our absence tonight. Do not fear though, we will be back to work tomorrow night.

First is a shot of Temple Square. If you have never been up there during the Christmas season, you really need to make the trip sometime, it is incredible.

Second belongs to this way over the top house. We actually used to live across from a family that rivaled this one. I can only imagine what the power bill must be for something like this.The only thing missing from this house is.....well nothing, it pretty much has every conceivable light known to man.

Day #8 Drunken Santa!

Our best is an awesome display of Christmas lights just down the street. I think it helps their chances that we both envy and lust slightly after the house in general, but this is by far the best for today.

Our worst belongs to the house with the drunken Santa passed out on the front porch. When our kids asked "who is that" as we stopped to take a picture, what could we say? Um....He's just a friend of daddy's...."why's he leaning on their house?".....Um...He fell asleep.

Flying Reindeer and Peeping Toms - Day 7

This house is in "Town". Where we live, in the small city, to get things we go to "Town". So, this house is in "Town" and we love to look at it every year. I think they put more lights up every time we go. By the way, this picture does not do it justice.

Judging by where the reindeer landed, Santa's sleigh is kind of in trouble. It's a little blurry because the lady in the second story window kept watching us. I'm sure we looked like pervs taking pictures of someones house in the middle of the night. I'm pretty sure this could be considered a felony in some states.

See what we do for our adoring fans?

You're welcome.

Christmas Sentimentality - Day 6

My best lights of the day go to the old hospital over by the Temple. This is based totally on sentimental issues. I remember seeing that display when I was much younger and for whatever reason just really liked it as a kid. So there you go, best of the day for me personally.

The not so best of the day is this one below. If you've ever wondered what a certain type of light might look like hanging from your home, here you go, just match the type of light you're thinking of buying with one of the many in this photo and there you have a good idea of how it may look when you get them home. Just make sure to keep your purchases to under three different types of lights per house please.

Christmas Contest - Day 5

For our best today, someone mentioned to come by and take a look at her Temple Square worthy roses. We have to agree, they are beautiful!

For the worst, it took us 6 pictures to get the whole house. If you're short a few lights on your house, I'm sure you could head on over here and "borrow" some and they wouldn't even notice. I really am impressed with the amount of lights they have. I'm sure it took many, many hours to hang them all up. So while there is a few too many for my taste, it really is magnificent in person.

Because we are equal opportunists, we'd like to invite you to take a moment to make fun of us. We have no lights. And we probably won't have lights because it's too cold to hang them and then if we did, someone might make fun of them. So, commence with the heckling.

Christmas Fantasia - Day 4

Best - Fa, la, la, la, la

Worst - For Marie, because she likes this kind of thing.

Day #3 So Many Lights, So Little Time

So the first one we found tonight we are still debating about. It has so many lights it took three pictures just to get most of the full effect. They even remembered to decorate the stop sign. It might just be overkill, but I think its pretty awesome.

This next one we have here may seem obscene at first glance, but don't worry It's actually just a travel trailer thats been decorated with a big moving bell. Kind of cool but still......?

Christmas Contest - Day 2

Day 2 - Here's our best and our worst.

First we have the classic example of beautiful Christmas lights.

The lights are placed perfectly.

There's no congregating of different styles of lights. For example, no icicle lights with the big bulbs.

The house is so well lit that you can see it well.

All in all, a favorite for tonight.

And...here's our worst.

It's so bad, that even the house is embarrassed to be seen with these lights.

Just a reminder, if you see a house that you think needs to be featured send me an email at derekbbarneyATyahooDOTcom.

The Awesomeness that is Music and Lights Together

Last night when we went out to look at lights we went to the house that has the music and lights together. We took video of it but forgot to post it. So, here is our all time family favorite.

Plus, you get the bonus of a car driving right through the middle.

Enjoy!

Christmas Contest - Day 1

As the family drove around looking at the lights tonight, we made the decision to change the contest slightly. Instead of just one picture a night we will post the best and worst of the day. Our best and worst may differ from yours so go ahead and comment either way.

The first one here belongs to one of my four loyal readers, unfortunately when we knocked on her door to ask permission she confessed that she hadn't actually read my blog recently and was unaware of the contest. I thought about demoting her from the ranks of my loyal readers, but lets face it, when your readers amount to less than you can count on one hand, you can't afford to be too picky or demanding. So here is her house, the best of the day, along with my idea of decorating (did I mention I loath hanging lights) that qualifies as our worst of the day.

First of all we have our favorite of the day. My wife saw this and called it the mullet, business in the front, party in the back. Just plain awesome! Because, lets face it who doesn't appreciate the awesomeness of a mullet in any form? Congrats Trina, you're our favorite of the day.

Business

Party

Second we have the single or lazy guys style of decorating. Why waste all that time hanging lights? You just take them back down anyway right? Instead lets just put a couple festive colored light bulbs in place of the normal ones above the garage and viola, done with the decorating.