Chad and I went out with another couple last night for dinner. We had Japanese food. It was great. We had gone there before, so we knew what to expect- huge amounts of fried rice with shrimp, chicken, and steak cooked right before our eyes. The chef was good. He made quite a few wise-cracks. That is part of the job, you know, to entertain the guests, and they certainly do a good job of it. So you get entertainment and good food all at once. It is not outrageously expensive either. I had enough left over to have for lunch today. We probably could have fed our whole family with one plateful really. This was the first time Chad and I have had a date since we got back to Texas. It was about time, too. We will have to make it a habit again. It just takes a while to get started, that's all.

Today we went to Wal-Mart to do some much-needed shopping. Naomi brought along her gift card from Christmas and purchased the dc talk JesusFreak (10th anniversary) cd. We have been listening to it here at home for the last two hours. I like it, too, which is good. I consider them to be kind of pioneers of pop Christian music. Third Day is probably who made Christian music really popular. I like both groups. I am amazed at the variety and talent of today's Christian artists. Whatever style of music you might like, there is most likely a Christian artist performing it. Isn't that great? I mean, music has such an influence on us. Chad and I haven't listened to anything else but Christian music for over five years now, and I love being out of the loop on secular artists. Not that they are all bad- many of them just don't honor God with their music. Doesn't mean they aren't talented. For me, trying to honor God with my life includes listening to music that encourages my Christian walk because the walk isn't easy. But oh-so worth it! I have been blessed many times over since trying to live for Him over the past ten years or so. I knew Him long before that, but didn't include Him in my daily decisions. Life is much more joyful now. There is hope even when things go wrong. "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the fogiveness of sins." Colossians 1:13-14

The kids listen over and over, until we tell them to stop, to a song on the cd in which Michael Tait of dc talk sings out of key, or alto or something, the song JesusFreak. It is funny the first few times, but the kids know how to run some things into the ground.