The Red Neck Rule

Well, the call to breakfast mentioned in the previous post was a false run. I came down for breakfast only to learn that more family was coming for breakfast and we were out of eggs. So the "breakfast fixer" (a.k.a. sister-in-law) requested that her husband go pay the boy next door his lawn mowing money and in the process ask to borrow some eggs. Obviously, my sister-in-law has a few "red neck" rules still to learn. This pertinent one is: "Men don't go to the neighbors to borrow food." It is OK to send your children next door to borrow food, but you never ask a man to do this. A real man will drive 10 miles out of his way to buy eggs rather than go 1/4 mile to borrow eggs. Now that we are finished making our egg (and juice and cheese) run, now it is time for breakfast - unless we run out of something else!

The Great and Wonderful Fictitious Garage Sale

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I was in Ohio helping my brother-in-laws conduct a fictitious garage sale. I had comments to this posting asking what in the world is a fictitious garage sale. Let me explain.

I traveled 900 miles to the designated location to help move, sort, and dispose of 50 years worth of "stuff". Upon arriving there had been no advance plans made. It seems that we were going to have a pow-wow Thursday night on what the procedure was going to be for the weekend. The pow-wow lasted 15 minutes with the conclusion that "no conclusion was best, that way everyone would be happy (or frustrated)." So yesterday, in my mind, we had a garage sale clearing away those 50 years of accumulated "stuff." Meanwhile, in the real world of the physical I was having a blast hanging with family (in-laws) visiting, laughing, and enjoying the life God has so graciously given us.

The day did entail 1 hour of cleaning out the old house for the world's smallest garage sale today. Some of the salvaged treasures which I will be bringing home with me is a frog door stop (cool), some old family photos, and a neat Christmas item the kids in the church will like when they come by the house. Update: A late Friday night pow-wow determined that we will call the Salvation Army to come pick up the workable big things like TV, microwave, vacuum, etc. and the rest will burn in a huge bonfire. Now the interesting thing about this garage sale/bonfire is that it was supposed to raise money for my mission trip. The bonfire idea came from me when I offered $100.00 for everything in the garage sale. When they accepted the offer I volunteered my new found "booty" to be assigned to the bonfire. With the proceeds from our fictitious garage sale my brother-in-law will be donating to my mission trip, everyone now seems happy about the arrangement. When I get home everyone is invited to stop by and see my $100.00 frog door stop!

They have just called for me to come down for breakfast and so I will end this post. Here's hoping that my next blog is not about a fictitious bonfire!

Blessings

Annual Pilgrimage

I find myself awakening to an Ohio sunrise this morning. I have traveled this route before - many times in fact. On the morning of my wedding day my soon to be mother-in-law made me promise that I would bring her daughter back to Ohio at least once a year. What man would not make any promise it took in order to get the privilege of marrying the one he loves? (I am only glad that the promise was not something really hard to fulfill.) I have kept this promise every year except once. The last year of Joyce's life she was physically unable to travel back and so we missed last year's pilgrimage. I write this in order to make a confession. I have failed to keep this promise for a second time. I awoke this morning to realize I ran off to the airport yesterday and left Joyce at home! I should have brought her ashes with me to technically fulfill my vow to my mother-in-law. I have reluctantly (on the part of Joyce's family) been granted forgiveness so now I am free to move throughout the day with a merry heart! Thanks to my brother-in-laws for their grace. In this aspect they model our Heavenly Father's heart.

How awful it would be to not receive grace and to know that I would forever be unable to rectify this misdeed of mine. (Now I could go back to Texas and ship her ashes back to Ohio but that still is not the same as bringing her back to Ohio. However, shipping ashes is a little harder than calling up the UPS man for door-to-door delivery. But that is another story for another day in another world.)

Real sin is like that. Once committed we cannot ourselves remove it's sin from our life. We may be able to rectify some of circumstances and consequences caused as a result of our sin, but the deed done is still forever there. What wretched creatures we can so easily become. Who can save us from our own destiny created through our own plans and activities?
As I said earlier in this post, my brother-in-laws model our Father's heart. God, in his loving mercy, has not only chosen to forgive our sin but has also chosen to not remember our sin once it is forgiven. In our relating to God our Father, forgiveness without the forgetting of our sin doesn't work. If God would remember my sins then how could I ever freely come into his presence with joy knowing that He knows all of my sins? This remembering of my sins would negate Hebrews 4:16 real quickly because I could never approach His throne of grace with confidence.

Praise God. He is full of mercy everyday and today is no exception so we can go forth with great freedom and joy to love Him and dance with our Lord today. So have a great day filled with much laughter and joy.

Blessings

PS My brother-in-laws approved of this post - especially the part about their modeling God's heart!

What Are You Staring At?

When I was a youth I had a younger brother who was confined to a wheelchair due to an inherited disease. This was at a time before the American Disabilities Act required handicap access to any place in the universe except the moon. It was also a time before chairlifts and vans were common. Our family's first wheelchair accessible van was a used cargo van with a homemade ramp which required two persons (a pusher and a puller) to get my brother up into the van. So it was relatively rare to see someone out and about in a wheelchair. During this time if you wanted to get into most buildings you had to navigate steps in a wheelchair. Thus it was unusual to see a handicapped person out in public trying to circumvent the barriers of curbs, steps, and non-automatic opening doors.

Whenever we were out in the public away from our small hometown, my brother was very conscious of the eyes following him around. It was obvious that my brother was the object of many sets of eyes following him wherever he went. It bugged him so much that sometimes he would confront a person with the phrase, "what are you staring at?" It really was useful in getting someone to quit staring at you.

But let's face it. We find it hard not to stare at something that is spectacular - whether it is good or beautiful, bad or ugly.

Within the soul of man are eyes that have the ability to behold both a physical realm and a spiritual realm. It is far easier to behold the physical realm because it is so easily seen. (It really takes no effort to see the physical.) The spiritual realm is not so easy to behold as it is for the most part invisible. I say for the most part because the miraculous can be seen and is simply the spiritual realm manifesting itself in the physical realm.

The Bible encourages us to fix our eyes on the unseen, spiritual realm. One of the valuable reasons for fixing our eyes on the spiritual realm rather than the physical realm is the fact that the realm we are most conscious of will be reflected in the way we live. To fix our eyes on Jesus will bring a result in our inner character being transformed into His image which will then have the positive effect on our outward thoughts and acts.

I am finding the more conscious I become of the unseen spiritual realm, the more this focus brings into sight the spectacular nature of our Lord Jesus. And the more spectacular He appears to us the more irresistible He becomes to us. We just have to stare more at Him because of His awesome goodness manifested in and through us.

So friends, let's all have a "stare fest". Let's stare at the unseen, spiritual world and become more conscious than ever of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings

Mind Stretchers To Think Over

I am spending this week at the Hem Of His Garment Healing Conference at Bethel Church in Redding, CA. What a marvelous time it has been these first 5 sessions. I have 5 minutes before I head off to start the day so here are some random "mind stretchers" to ponder on throughout the day from the first session on Monday evening.

"God loves us as much as he loves Jesus."

"Nothing is as important as the presence of God."

'The reason god does the miraculous is because he loves people."

"We do not need to work for what he has already given us."

That's it for now.
Blessings

Is It Worth It?

I am attending a conference in Redding, CA this week. The opening session begins in about two hours so this post is a poem I wrote several years ago. Hopefully you will enjoy it. I will post again on Wednesday if I'm able.

Is It Worth It?

Is it worth it . . .

To here a newborn baby cry?

To run to the finish line after having fallen?

To stand alongside King Leonidas at Thermopylae?

To see those first baby steps in your house or on the moon?

To be there when the "Fat Lady" sings?

To plant the flag on Mt. Suribachi?

To chase after the rainbow?

To aide an Anne Frank?

To sweat drops of blood?

To hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?

Back in the Posting Business

It has been way to long since my last posting. A whole lot of things have been happening since June 17. Mostly it has been very good. Mostly it has taken up my time so that when I do sit down I either don't want to write or I was too tired to write about my happenings. But this morning is different I want to blog! Maybe if I blog in the morning instead of waiting till midnight my mind would be a little more than mush and things coherent would come out.

As I sit to write this post I am listening to the music of Glen Campbell. Listening to Glen Campbell songs is like watching water rush over a 15 foot waterfall. It is something that you could listen to all day (or as the case of a waterfall - watch all day.) Now I know the younger readers of this blog will ask, "Glen Campbell, who is he?" But it is to their loss that they are so culturally deprived!

I have been asked with incredulity, "You listen to that?" Well, I'll let the secret out. I do listen to music other than Praise and Worship music. However, it is hard to beat what God is inspiring songwriters to put together expressing the wonderful nature and person of the Lord Jesus. So I go back to P&W everyday. So what's in my MP3 player? To begin with, you need to know that my music appreciation range is quite eclectic as you'll notice. It's sort of hard to pin down what my favorite style is so I just call it Eclectic.

My favorite song in my MP3 player is How Much Is That Dogie In The Window. Don't laugh, it was a number one hit sometime in the 1950s. Songs ranging from Roy Orbison to Patti Page, with the Temptations, Glen Campbell, Henry Mancini, Roy Rogers, Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, Three Dog Night tucked between them give pleasure to my soul. Oh, I almost forgot the classics, every MP3 player must have Maurice Ravel's Bolero in it. This is one for the ages! And of course, my MP3 player would be second rate if it did not have the military marches in it. Appreciation and gratitude always come to mind when you hear the likes of Anchors Aweigh or The Caissons Go Rolling Along or The Marine's Hymn or The Air Force Song.

On to other thoughts. Tomorrow marks the end of my first year of serving on the Pioneer Valley Association Board of Directors. It has been a real trip! I have two more years to fulfill my term. Last year at this time the annual election meeting needed to have the Sheriff's deputy called in to stop a scuffle between individuals. Shortly after things calmed down I was one of three newly elected directors sworn in. (Note: I was elected with one vote as a write-in candidate. And no, I did not vote for myself.) Many good things have been accomplished during the past year. One of them is that the people of Pioneer Valley now talk to each other instead of yelling at each other. That is always an improvement and hopefully will make the coming year even more productive.

One last item to mention. Sunday will see the last of our youth head off to the mission field for this summer. We have had youth serving in Oklahoma, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and now Italy. We also had an adult do mission work in Zambia this summer. Two others will go to Honduras in the Fall. That is 16 individuals out of our congregation of 80. Wow, well done CTC!

Children's camp this week, youth work days next week, youth camp the week after that (along with a conference in California). Then things will settle down in August. At least one can dream.