Father, help me to see others as You see them. Each with a special and unique place in Your Order of things. There are many of Your Children who are crying out for you and don't even realize or understand the yearning in their hearts. There is a void, and emptiness that most will not even acknowledge that it is there. They have suppressed it for so long that when it is addressed and brought to their attention, their reaction is to lash out and hurt or destroy that thing or person that has made them actually look at it. I want to be a man of compassion for them and to them.

What a gloomy day here in Brownwood. There has been a fine drizzle all day long.
I did have the distinct pleasure of my son, Samuel taking me out to lunch. His favorite fast food restaurant is Chicken Express. We dine there, as a family, regularly so we get the same thing every time. He is such a blessing now that he is older and is taking on more responsibility, for instance, when I left the house, he was planning to vacuum the living room for me and he had already dusted before I picked him up for lunch. I will be doing Driver's Ed. with him after Christmas and New Year's. I believe he will do very well. We will see.

Thomas sings for patients at skilled nursing facility

Just listened to my youngest sing at the Brownwood Skilled Nursing Facility with the Honors Choir from his school called "The Local Vocals". It was a great program full of moves and energy. The music director played "O Holy Night" on her flute. She played beautifully. It is one of my favorites during the Christmas Season especially when they get to the part "Fall on your knees, Oh hear they angel voices..... of the 1st verse. Magnificent!

Hope everyone had a great Wednesday!

It's a dreary Friday afternoon here at Walker Memorial Library on the Howard Payne University campus, but I am not complaining. We need the rain. The forecast for the next 4 days is rain. We'll see on close they got it right. This evening will be another time of staying in with the family. A Christmas movie would be ideal with some popcorn and a Coke Zero!
Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

How exciting! It's the first day of December, 2011. I am happy to have quite a bit of my Christmas decorating accomplished. What's left in the den, is the tree. I think I will put the lights on this year and let the boys do the decorations. It's time for them unleash their creative juices. Only one tree is going up this year because we are heading to North Carolina for Christmas. I have not been back there in 3 and a half years. It will be interesting to see my relatives and to spend time with old friends. Looking forward to it, but not the long drive. Louisiana has to be the worst state to drive through. The bugs covering the winshield and the constant bump, bump, bump of the highway is not something I am thrilled about.
For today, I can't wait for this evening! I get to spend it at home with Paula & the boys. They are what keeps me going! I love them tremendously. I could never imagine my life without them.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:8
How true! That is the one thing that I can't seem to control! Instead of walking away from someone's verbal attack or when I don't see people responding, I feel like I have to lash back with my tongue.
I am becoming more and more a recluse because I feel that the words I choose or how I say them rub people the wrong way and then they don't ever want to converse with me again. Sometimes I feel like I would be better off, out of this world. Don't get me wrong, I am not suicidal and would never contemplate such a task but I feel like sometimes this world would be a better place and that my wife and sons would have more doors open to them and more friends if I were not around. I do love life and I do love people but so many of them, it seems, that once they meet me, that is all they want, nothing deeper and when they see me again it's as if they never met me to start with. So right now I just roll with the punches and try to hold the hurt in nicely so no one will suspect a thing.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My family & I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my wife's sister Joyce, her husband Curtis, their daughters Shanna Bare & husband Gary; and Charity & her husband Damien & their daughter, Damiana.
We got home about 5:00 and pulled out all the Christmas decorations except for the trees. We decided to go ahead and decorate for the holidays while we had time to enjoy them before we leave for North Carolina. I am almost finished with this endeavor. Now we will have to start watching all the Christmas movies we have in storage and those on TV.
Go ahead and determine that this Christmas will be one filled with all the joys of the season that we experienced as children. We have a wonderful Savior so let us celebrate His Birth!

Wow! Just two 2 days before Thanksgiving. Can't wait to spend time with the family. Paula and the boys get out of school today at 1:00, I get off work at 4:00 and we are heading up to Abilene to spend the night and do some shopping tomorrow. The boys were so busy with the musical that it took a lot of family time away. Tonight is just the four of us and I am very excited about it.
I pray that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and actually takes a minute or more to thank our Heavenly Father for all of His wonderful blessings.

Had a wonderful weekend! Samuel auditioned for the boy's solo part for the District Choir and got it. We were so proud of him Saturday evening at the Weatherford High School Auditorium. God is blessing his faithfulness and his tenacity.

Thank God for the weekend. Thomas' Robotics team, the RoboDogs, did not advance to the next level. They were disappointed, but the whole goal is to work as a team and I am afraid that they did not. Next year, if he participates, I will ask that he not be on the same team with 2 certain young ladies.

Samuel is on his way to Weatherford and will be in rehearsal all day, tomorrow.

It is a chilly autumn afternoon. Very windy and overcast. Would love some rain but don't think that it is going to happen.

Hope everyone have a wonderful weekend.

This Coming Weekend

Busy weekend planned with family. Samuel will be leaving for Weatherford, Tx., tomorrow, to sing in District Choir. He is auditioning for a solo and is a little nervous about it but I am confident that he will do great. Paula, Thomas & I will leave Saturday afternoon to go see the District Choir perform, Saturday evening.
Thomas has an elimination round with his Robotics team, tonight. There are 5 teams in 4th and 5th grades at Early Elementary and only 4 teams can be taken to compete on December 10th in San Angelo. His team did extremely well a few week ago so I am sure that his team will be able to go further.
We have Kids Church on Sunday and will continue our teaching on "Heroes of the Bible" with the story of David & Goliath.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am truly thankful for my family. They are such a blessing.

Samuel is in the brown slacks playing the part of Tommy.

Thomas is playing the part of Winthrop.

What a great Wednesday! God is truly good. Thomas & Samuel will be performing thsi weekend in "The Music Man" at the Early High School. Both boys have significant parts and they have worked so hard. I, as a parent, am very proud of them and am looking forward to seeing their performances. Tonight and tomorrow night will be major rehearsals for them. They are going to be so tired but it will be well worth it.

It's Friday!

Thank God it is Friday! I am excited to be able to get off from work and meet my family for supper at Dairy Queen. Today has been a good day and I have enjoyed the opportunity to help some individuals with their informational needs. It makes my job worth it. Enjoy the weekend.

We all want to be Validated

I was watching Oprah's Life Class last night, Wednesday, November 2nd and it was about all people wanting to be validated, wanting to be seen by others. She said that the worst thing you can do to a person is make them invisible. This unfortunately has happened to me here on the Howard Payne University campus, especially among the faculty. I walked into Faculty Assembly last Friday, October 28th and only 4 professors even acknowledged that I was there. They give me no regard and it hurts because I have been at the institution for almost 20 years and I know I have not done anything to merit this blatant rudeness.
This has happened to me in the church as well. Now I really understand why there are so many people who want nothing to do with Christanity. People in the body of Christ know how to love God but they know nothing about loving people. There were several times at one church I attended where I was standing right in front of the individual and they treated me as if I was not even there. People who I had respect for because they were in "ministry" at the church. I have vowed to myself that they will never have the opportunity to minister to me again, this side of heaven. The place where I thought love abounds, slapped me across the face. I know the Bible says to turn the other cheek, but you can only take but so much before it really starts to sting. That is all I have ever wanted was to love and be loved in return.
I feel that I have so much to offer, but in our society you are judged by how you sound, or how you act, or how you look.

The Kinnin Family

New Picture of the Kinnin family. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful wife and 2 precious boys. Samuel is now 14 and a freshman in high school. Thomas is now 10 and in 5th grade at Early Elementary School.

My two sons, Thomas & Samuel will be participating in Summerfest on June 22 - 25. Looking forward to a wonderful time with them.