Long Time....

Well, the last few months have been crazy at Custead Estates.

After June, when we went on our cruise, we were rudely welcomed back to reality with a busted hot water heater and a broken AC. We were spared some because our hot water heater is in the garage and both were covered on our home warranty.

In July I went on a mission trip with the student ministry, we finally got a new youth pastor at the beginning of August and then Super Week, school starts, and a vacation to Pennsylvania, all back to back. August was crazy!

September rolled around and Hurricane Ike rolled through Houston. Scott's job was crazy as you would expect due to insurance claims. And I worked 6 days in a row without coming home, because the family I work for owns MUD districts(water plants), and they were VERY busy trying to maintenence the water plants and make sure people were still getting water and that it was good water. We were out power 6 days, and lost a fence. God blessed us with very minimal damage. But we can't say the same for our neighbors, or other family members.
October came around and we took a much needed camping trip with our friends the Chapels. Nothing like a vacation after devastation and chaos. We relaxed and had lots of fun on the Guadalupe River.
Since then, things have been slowing down a little bit. We got a new computer in the midst of all the craziness the was September, and that explains the lack of blogging the last 4 or 5 months.

SOOOOO, now that the Custeads are back on the map, feel free to check out our page a little more often and don't forget the rest of our pictures on flickr.

Cruising to Alaska

June 14th we left for a cruise to Alaska! Seven days of God's beautiful creation, and luxury living. My Granny booked us on this cruise, and I don't think you could ever beat this vacation. It was so awesome! There is no way that I could tell you everything about it our trip in one blog, so what I will do is hit some highlights and entice you to check out the rest on our "flickr" page. See link to the right a little lower on page. Click on the pictures and then click on the words "sgcustead's photostream" to view most of the pictures from the whole vacation.


Alaska, the last frontier, amazing. There aren't words to describe the beauty. We saw whales, sea lions, glaciers, salmon, bald eagles, and lots of beautiful surroundings.

This should be enough to wet your appetite. There are more pictures and more details on the flickr page. Check out the whole story there. Hear about whales breaching, cruise ships cutting through ice, glaciers, ATV's, BINGO, and a whole lot more. What are you still doing here, go, go, go check out the rest of the pictures.

Camp Barnabas Texas

Three weeks ago, June 7-12th, I had an opportunity to work at Camp Barnabas. Camp Barnabas is a camp specifically for kids with special needs. They come to camp and have counselors who work with them one on one. I was a counselor for a girl named Nicole.
Nicole had CP, Cerebral Palsy. In the picture above Nicole and I are going on a hayride. The campers are split into cabins, just like any other camp, with counselors and cabin leaders. Our cabin had 4 teenage girls, all with different disabilities and different levels of functioning. From left to right: bottom row, Nicole, Lindsay, Heather, top row, me, Lindsay's counselor, Kelly a jr. counselor, Catherine a counselor for Heather, Joni and her counselor Stephanie.

During the week, as a cabin we get to experience many different activities. Fishing, Archery, Canoeing, Sensory(playing with play-doh, shaving cream, etc.), swimming, Arts and Crafts, Horseback Riding, and many other things.


That's Josh, the boy I watch, riding a horse! They also have fun events every night for the campers. A dance, a carnival, a scavenger hunt, Messy Games and worship. The first night we had a carnival, including a hayride where Nicole and I took the first picture. Nicole was great. She kept me laughing, thinking and definetly on my toes. She laughed at me quite a bit too.

Especially during messy games when she put cool whip all over my face. Also added to my lovely outfit that night was oatmeal, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, smashed cheetos, soggy marshmallows, and dirt! Really hilarious?! Camp Barnabas was a blast! A great opportunity to serve and be blessed. And to see some teenagers from our church be stretched out of their comfort zones, but continue to give 100% while being Christ to their camper! I can't wait until next year!

weight lifting!

While Scott and I were dating, I started growing my hair out so that I could put it up nicely for our wedding. Then, a little over 6 years ago, my hair was at my shoulders. I kept growing it, not sure why, after we got married. After a couple years it got to be really long, and I got tired of it. I cut it and donated it to locks of love. That was two and a half years ago. Since then, my hair has grown back. And become just as long as before.
After lots of growing, hours of shampooing, and an even longer amount of time blow drying, I decided that I was going to donate my hair again. After all it is really hot here in Texas, already! So this morning, it happened. After a couple months of saying that I was going to do it, I finally did it. I finally cut 12 inches off my hair.

I don't think my hair has been this short since elementary school. It was short last time it was donated but not this short. Most likely because I got it styled after we chopped it off.
Here's to having a ton of weight lifted, freedom, and not having to spend 30 minutes blow drying my hair everyday this summer.

Peace

I have to sleep with a fan on at night. I can't handle the silence when I am trying to sleep. My ears pick up on everything in the room from the clock ticking to Ginger breathing. The white noise of the fan drowns out the sounds and helps me to fall asleep without distraction. But Ginger still breathes and the clock still ticks. I just can't hear them.

What if hearing from God wasn't some sort of miracle for those few spiritual people atuned to His voice? Might He be heard clearly by everyone at all times like the clock ticks and Ginger breathes, but at some point we chose to turn on some noise to drowned Him out?

To those who don't believe, God is speaking to them, asking them only to follow. Unfortunately, most don't hear the calling for whatever noisy reason.

To those who believe, God is speaking to them, explaining to them His purpose. Unfortunately, most don't hear His plan for whatever noisy reason.

To those who are quiet, God is speaking to them and He is being heard. How could He not be heard? He is.

Shhhh ---Scott

SURPRISE!!!

We planned and successfully accomplished a surprise 50th birthday party for my parents this weekend. Thanks to lots of help from my family and a few friends, we pulled it off. Mom and Dad were so shocked!

Oprah

A friend of Scott and I had recently found the blog below on one of her friends blogs. I am not, nor have I ever been an Oprah fan, but I know a lot of people are. When I read this, I was alarmed. As Christians we know the prophesies of "end times" and how they are most likely not far from us. But as I read this and watched the video I couldn't help but think about those who aren't Christians. They are so easily being led astray by powerful, influential people just like Oprah. Please, know that Oprah is wrong in some of her beliefs and that the only way to get to Heaven is believing in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his life for yours. You don't have to do anything. It's not about how good you are in life, or the great things you do here on earth. It's about believing that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, that we as humans are imperfect and that we needed Him to die to be our Savior. If you admit that you fall short of perfection, and need Jesus to help you through life, then you pray to Jesus and ask Him to save you. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and be the Lord of your life. Read this blog and watch the video at the end.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

No, I'm not saying goodbye to blogging, nor am I dying of an incurable disease (not that I know about!). I'm saying goodbye to Oprah. Sound weird? Well, her recent political ties only hurt my opinion of her, but recently she's been focusing tons of her time on the new book "A New Earth". Not only is she pushing the book, but she's doing e-classes on it with the books author, Eckhart Tolle.
I see this as one of the biggest dangers in our society today, especially with women who think of Oprah as someone who can do no wrong.I think it's about time for Christians to stop turning a deaf ear to what Oprah says. I think it's time to turn off the TV. I'm not saying ALL TV (although I'm sure that's a good idea). I'm mainly talking about the Oprah show itself, but even Oprah's Big Give. I have a feeling that Christian stay at home moms make up over 50% of her viewing audience. If we would stand up for what we believe in we would have a HUGE impact on her market. We ARE her market