The week after the new year I am finally posting on my family Christmas that took place a week before Christmas! Sounds about right, eh? This was the annual celebration with my dad’s side of the family: the Joneses, Bradys, Footes, Conants, and Withrows. The power was out for half the day up at the Brady household in Edmonds, but that didn’t stop us from having fun and eating lots of tasty food! All of the pictures can be viewed at my Flickr set: Jones Family Christmas 2006. Yes the pictures are biased towards Emily. But really, can you blame me?
Waiting patiently. – Emily and her new pink sweater.
Emily got Curt and Wendy a painted footprint! – The family in the chaos.
Check out all the pictures here!
At a friend’s blog she asked if she deserved happiness. I thought it was an interesting question so thought I would post my response. Anyone have any thoughts on the issue?
Interesting question indeed.
I think that God wants us to be happy… but that doesn’t mean we deserve it or will always have it. I think that joy and happiness are similar, but quite distinct. I think a Christian can experience joy in the midst of hardships because s/he knows that God is in control and that His purposes are greater than our own. I also think that a Christian (along with his non-Christian) friends, can experience happiness in positive experiences.
Do we deserve happiness? No, definitely not. We deserve the punishment that Jesus took for us. It is us that should have been scourged and hung from the cross. But exactly because Jesus, in his mercy, took that from us, we can be happy. We can be joyful. We can be redeemed.
The real question is “can I be happy?” I think the answer to that is yes… with provisions. We definitely won’t always be happy. And some will be happier than others. But I also don’t think that happiness is necessarily something that God just provides and we have to wait for. God provides the situations, it is up to us how we respond to those situations. Some situations will make happiness the easy response, some won’t. But it is still up to us how we respond. I am not saying that happiness is always the appropriate response (it would always feel fake if it was), but don’t shy away from being happy just because you think it isn’t for you.
It’s also ok to not be happy. Just because you aren’t happy now, doesn’t mean you won’t or can’t be at another time. Just look for the opportunities. Take it when you can get it. 
Anyway, that is just what came to me off the top of my head.
Last month Late Tuesday (MySpace) played one of their last shows (possibly their final Seattle show?) at the Q Cafe. Once again, it was a lovely night of music along with the always enjoyable witty banter. I took a few picture that can be seen at my Flickr set: Late Tuesday @ the Q Cafe so stop by there to check those out. If you haven’t heard their Christmas stuff, be sure to check out the videos below too (they are also posted at my Late Tuesday YouTube playlist as well).
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Better late than never, right? After a bit of a break, I am finally posting the pictures and videos from a kickin’ performance by The Lonely Forest at Seattle’s Historic University Theater!
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Been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry about that, you know how things go. I trust everyone had a good end to their two double aught six and allowed aught seven to begin with style! I am back up in Bellingham after spending two weeks down with the family in Longview and/or Woodland. After my hiatus, I have noticed that I have a LOT of blogging to catch up on (and yes, they are daily life posts, sorry if those are boring to you!). Posts to look forward to soon:
Christmas celebrations with dad’s side of the family, with step-dad’s side of the family, and mom’s side of the family.
The Lonely Forest show at Seattle’s Historic University Theater
The Late Tuesday show at the Q Cafe
Christmas Mud Bowl in Montesano
A quick reunion with some great friends from high school.
My (sort of) best of CD for 2006.
Still need to do a review of The Lonely Forest’s EP Regicide.
I think that is all I have to do, although I am sure there are many other things I need/should touch on. We will see I guess. I also need to update my Flickr photostream with the latest snapshots.
I could make some sort of New Year’s resolution that would be boring. This year I am going to try something different. This year I resolve to get a date! Yes, that’s right. Kinda lame, I know, but really, I think it is a goal I would like to set. (More lame stuff to follow, please feel free to skip on to other posts…) Read more…
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