Nino's News

I mentioned last time that Ali, the kids and I got be near Baton Rouge over spring break. What we got to experience was some much needed rest and relaxation and an unplugging from work and the world and TV and Nintendo and computers, etc. We went to a place called Parish Hermitage and it was fantastic. My kids loved it (I'll try to put on some pics of us in the rubber boots preparing to walk the swamps). Eddie & Judy Parish along with their 2 kids run the place and are incredible, gifted people. A couple of times each day Judy would come and take our kids and love on them and play with them while Eddie would spend some time talking with Ali and me.

We talked about life, God and our relationship with him, marital relationship and parenting issues. One of the biggest things I discovered is how much I feel I need to work for salvation rather than accepting it as God's gift. Don't get me wrong...in my head I get it and I also know that it is not by faith alone for faith without works is not worth much. But when it is ALL work and little faith, there begin to be problems. And I have felt for a long time that I could never please God, no matter how much "work" I did.

So here I am a minister at a church, leading the worship just about every week, wanting desperately for my heart to get lost in His great love and being an instrument of His to bring others into His presence, and yet all the while feeling as though I've not done enough. It messes with you! So I'm taking small steps and reciting several times a day the same prayer over and over (wondering if God is sick of it yet). But what I've seen is that what I'm praying for is more about the relationship with Him and it is affecting, positively, my relationship with Ali and the kids, it is somewhat alleviating my burdens. I'm not sure I've let go of my frustrations, but in time ...

I'm not ready to share my prayer yet with anyone (except Ali) and we've been praying together each night which is something I hadn't done in a long while.

One more side note...I'm re-doing our master bath, tiling the floor and widening the shower and tiling it as well. In order to widen it, I had to move the all of the pipes for the water about 18 inches...praise the Lord that I got it done and when I turned the water back on, NO LEAKS!!! Maybe I'll get some pics of the bathroom on here as well.

Be blessed.