As many of you know, we got a spur of the moment opportunity to go to Maine for a couple days this past week.
While I would love to share all the exciting details (rumors are flying) I signed a non-disclosure that keeps me from talking about or posting any pictures or video that would give you an idea of what we were doing.
We’ll be able to share all the fun details soon enough. In the meantime, here are a few non disclosing pics for you to enjoy.
One of the prettiest places I’ve ever been to.
I loved my visit to Maine last Fall. Such a beautiful part of our country. And non-disclosure? Now I’m really curious. Looking forward to hearing about it when you can share.
Dying to know what this was about…wasn’t there a call about Taylor Swift involved? My super spy Internet powers tell me she was in concert in Maine this week too. Hmmm…
I’ve never been to Maine. I have a blog friend that spent the week there as well. Feeling like that needs to go on the to-visit list!
Hm, my spy powers failed me. That was June 5…anyway, they are now telling me she was in Maine for a video shoot that partly occurred in a church. Hmm…am I getting close yet?
This shouldn’t be too disclosing if Pete doesn’t actually say anything, but here’s the article that The Tennesseean linked to about the video: http://bit.ly/aTl6dS
And there was that tweet about a phone call…
I bet the kids had fun.
That is a beautiful region. My mom and I flew to Mass, rented a convertible, and drove all over northeast, including Kennebunkport, RI, VT, NH, etc. I can’t even remember everywhere we went. But we ate lotsa lobster and enjoyed many lighthouses, views, and bed-n-breakfasts. I LOVE the photo of all your sleeping boys. How cute!
Sounds like a blast Melissa.
We landed in Maine once on a lay-over from Germany. I have always wanted to go back and explore. By the way I love surprises. I’m one of those crazy people who won’t shake the box or peep when Christmas comes around!
ooooooh! After just now reading the article Aaron linked I have some guesses–but I highly doubt they’re right. So happy you and the family were able to make it up to what looks like a GORGEOUS state! Can’t wait to hear the Taylor details. You sure you don’t want to give a tinsy little hint? Maybe “non disclosed” in the form of a riddle?
Just sayin…
Happy Birthday!
Such a gorgeous part of the country that I cannot wait to see with my own two eyes one day!! Such beautiful pix!
We too enjoyed a vacation to Maine almost two years ago. Beautiful!
Glad you had a good trip, and so excited to hear about this non disclosed information!
I’d love to visit Maine someday.
You MUST go. Amazing.
We were in Maine and Prince Edward Island Canada in September. Such a gorgeous place…I told my husband we could move to Bar Harbor if he wanted : ) Course, it was September and not January so I might feel differently in the winter. We’d love to go back and camp in Acadia-it’s spectacular!
You guys are the best picture-takers.
i never get invited anywhere that requires me to sign a disclosure agreement. bummer.
LOVE Maine!!!! So gorgeous there!!!!!
Wonderful pictures. Can’t wait until you can share the news!
Pete:
I recognize Portland, Maine in those pictures. Nice place.
You signed a non-disclosure ?
I know that is common in business dealings but whatever happened to the guidance of Jesus to “let your yes be yes …” (Matthew 5:37) ?
Dave
Well first of all Dave this was a business dealing. It had nothing to do with the church. While I would love for my “promise” to hold legal weight in this world it does not. I have no problem signing documents which “seal” my word. I do it every time I use my check card, rent a car, take out a loan of any kind, etc.
You bring up a great point though. What did Jesus really mean by this teaching.
Here’s a portion of what a buddy of mine wrote about this verse. It’s really long but it might help you stimulate some deeper thinking on this Scripture.
Some Christians have taken Matthew 5:33-37 to teach that we must not, under any circumstances, utter an oath or vow. So they refuse to take an oath in a court of law, in a marriage ceremony, or in any other situation. Is that our Lord’s point here – to create a new prohibition that didn’t exist under the Law of Moses and thereby to overcome men’s tendency to be untruthful?
Part of me would love for it to be that simple, but I do not think it is.
Oaths and vows show up remarkably often in both testaments, and the Law addresses them a great many times. It is strikingly consistent that, aside from this passage and James 5:12, the rest of the Scriptures does not prohibit oaths. Indeed, the Law specifically commanded God’s people to swear their oaths in His name.
Deuteronomy 6:13-14 (the “Hear, O Israel” passage):
“You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you” (emphasis mine).
Deuteronomy 10:20:
“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.”
Notice the verbs used in these two verses: You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall worship Him, serve Him, cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.
These commands have in view the first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments.
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:1-5).
God’s people were to worship and serve Him alone, and were to swear by His name alone, because He is the One True God.
God’s people were never to create or bow down to any image in the form of any created thing, because God alone is sovereign over all. To worship or serve anyone or anything except YAHWEH, the One True God, is to put that person or thing in God’s place. And to swear by any created thing is to make it an idol. Leviticus 19:12 says, “And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.”
This prohibition against swearing falsely by the name of God is critically tied to the third commandment of the Ten Commandments.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain (Exodus 20:7).
To take His name in vain means to invoke His name emptily, lightly, or profanely – to use it without humbly acknowledging the holy character of the One whose name you are invoking. To invoke the name of God in an oath or vow when your statement is false or when you do not intend to honor your words is a direct violation of the third commandment. And to invoke the name of God over a trivial or inconsequential matter is also a violation of the third commandment, because taking the name of the Lord in vain includes taking it lightly – treating it as common or trivial.
So, in the Old Testament, oaths were to be sworn in God’s name only; they were to be used for affirming important matters, not trivial matters, and they were to be true.
Oaths were used to resolve disputes, to seal agreements or covenants, or simply to affirm the truthfulness of important declarations.
Hebrews 6:16 speaks of the first purpose of oaths, saying that with men, “an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.”
The oaths exchanged between Abraham and Abimelech at Beersheba in Genesis 21 served both to end a dispute and to establish a covenant. They were used to resolve a dispute over ownership of certain wells, and to seal a covenant to perpetuate the agreement about the wells (see Genesis 21:22-34). In that covenant, Abimelech said to Abraham,
“God is with you in all that you do; now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my offspring, or with my posterity; but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me, and to the land in which you have sojourned. And Abraham said, ‘I swear it’” (Genesis 21:22b-24, emphasis mine).
Later, Isaac and Abimelech reaffirmed the same essential covenant by exchanging oaths once again (see Genesis 26:26-33).
There are many, many other examples of oaths in the Old Testament.
A vow is a specific kind of oath in which the person making the vow solemnly swears to pay something to God in return for God’s favor or blessing in a certain matter. In the Law of Moses, there is a very strong connection between vows and votive offerings. A votive offering was a special form of the peace offerings (Leviticus 7:16). It is an offering made in fulfillment of a vow.
In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, vowed that if God would grant her a son, seeing that she was barren, she would devote her son to God as a Nazirite. God did give her a son, and she fulfilled her vow, bringing Samuel to the temple and giving him over to Eli, the high priest.
There are numerous other examples of vows in the Old Testament, some frivolous, some foolish, such as Jephthah’s rash vow, and some admirable.
In Matthew 5:33, Jesus said,
You have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.”
This statement in itself was not a distortion of the Law. It was derived from the Law as surely as were the first two “you have heard” statements in His sermon, “You shall not commit murder” and “You shall not commit adultery.”
My husband and I live in NH and we took our anniversary trip to Portsmouth, NH and went to Kittery, ME for the day. I highly recommend both locations!!!
The suspense is killing me! I grew up in Central NY and it is absolutely beautiful up there until it’s time to shovel the 160″ of snow in a winter! Then the South looks even better! Can’t wait to hear the Taylor Swift news! Jett must have had a grand time!
Wow! love the photos, especially the sunseting/rising. Glad you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing the pics..they are gorgeous.
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I would love to go to Maine. My parents have been going at least once a year now for the past 4 years, they are addicted.
Glad to see your soaking up some fun family time!
i live in the NorthEast, and looking at these pics remind me how beautiful it is here, and how often we take it for granted. Glad you all enjoyed your time here