Stories and other stuff

Thanks to a little help from above, money I wasn't planning on spending, and being able to use the gift of being mechanically inclined that the good Lord blessed me with, the boat is back in the driveway. It goes on KSL this weekend to try and recoup some of what it cost me to get it back home.  Also, the water leak is now repaired and as soon as I'm done with this, I feel a hot shower is in my future. I know, I know, that's not what you want to know about.  Here's the good stuff you want to know: I haven't spoken to the Mrs. in over a week.  The last I heard from her was a bit of a cryptic e-mail.  I know about as much as the rest of you do.  I had a long talk with a Christian friend of mine and she gave me some fresh things to think and pray about on Sunday night.  If you're a follower of the comments on the blog, you'll see one I left in response to another one someone else left. My friend gave me something to think about, in the form of what'...

You should go do something for yourself.  I heard that twice over the weekend and so I decided I was going to go fishing and talk to a Christian friend of mine. I took Ol' Dollar, which is parked at the Conoco station in Green River.  Just how the wheel did not fall off the trailer when the bearing disintegrated, I will never know but it must've happened just before Green River.  I thought something was wrong when the guy tailgating me was suddenly a LOOONNGGG way back there. When I pulled into the gas station the wheel was half-off the axle, hub and all.  The hub and wheel are securely in the back of Chevron and I have some brand new tools I wasn't planning on buying.  I'm going to have a cordless grinder tomorrow, too.  The bearing race melted to the spindle nut and that metal is harder than hammered lightning.  I couldn't cut through it with a hacksaw and a chisel and hammer only had the slightest effect.  The pipe wrench I bought did the m...

I shared with you something very profound from a book I'm reading.  Today's blog is about why I do some of the things (like painting my bedroom lilac and white) I've done over the past couple of months. As the quote read, what you do says more than what you say.  If I truly believe in God's word, what He wants for me, then my actions would show it. I had to explain this a little bit to a few of my friends over the last week.  Doing things like painting the bedroom and moving into a small room when it's just me and three bedrooms doesn't make sense but then it does, from the point of view that I was asked to do it and told that if she shows up, she does, if she doesn't she doesn't. These things may not make sense, but the thing is this:  The wife asked me to do it.  There's a Biblical foundation to support honoring your wife and the best way I can show her I've changed is to, well, SHOW her.  Since April, the Mrs. asked me to do three things...

"When God invites you to join Him and you face a crisis of belief, what you do next tells what you believe about God.  Your actions really do speak louder than words." (from Experiencing God, Lifeway Press, pg 122)

Hi gang. Most of you know that I'm not a big fan of the cell phone.  I don't like talking that much on the phone anyway.  The other day I lost my stupid phone and because I've joined the multitudes that feel they only need one phone, I bought another one only to find mine the very next day.  I swapped the sim cards so all of my contacts are on the phone that doesn't work.  I have three more days to fix that, I suppose. Anyway, that's just the lead in to what I wanted to post.  My son wrote a letter to the editor about this subject that was published back in March about this that I want to  share with you .  I thought he made a pretty good point. Hope you're having a great weekend.  The back 40 is mowed down, the tractor tire is fixed, the boat is cleaned out, running, and ready to go! Have a great weekend. Coop

If you've been following the "rapture" story, the new date is now in October.  It's not.  For that to be true, the Bible would be discredited.  Either the so-called "pastor" that's leading the charge in this story is wrong, or the Bible is.  Think about this for a minute, will you?  The Bible clearly states that no man knows the hour... and if this were some sort of revelation from God Himself, then it would have come to pass. I don't know where people concoct these notions, nor will I ever understand how so many can believe people that do, but the Bible talks of false prophets.  Last night I prayed for these folks and I hope that each of them read their Bibles and come to know the true nature of God. I'm no Bible scholar and I don't pretend to know or understand the meaning of each passage.  I do know that it's very easy to take a particular verse out of context and apply it incorrectly.  I've seen it done and when I share script...

I finished up the master bedroom remodel project today.  At the end of the project, I rummaged around the house and found some things to put in the bedroom so I could take some pictures of it. The first thing I put in the room was my sister's old bed.  From when we were kids, old.  It's kind of an off white now, but when she first got the bed, it was white-white and had a canopy.  The canopy is long gone, but I still have the bed frame with a newer mattress and box spring set.   My sister gave it to me to use as a guest room bed.  To cover the bed, I found a sheet that my grandmother had embroidered some lace and what looks to be a French woman on, with matching pillowcases.  I put a table in the room and two pictures I found around the house are on either corner.  I found an old decorative water can among the treasures, too.  I put it on the table on top of a doily my grandmother embroidered many years ago. We had a white floor lamp, so ...

I didn't work today, well at my JOB.  I've been up since 7:30 this morning, working on the house.  My bedroom needed some attention, so I painted it.  Kind of.  It's gonna need a second coat.  While I'm waiting for the paint to dry, I snuck off to mow one of the lawns I'm responsible for these days and took care of that labor of love. (no sarcasm intended, I'm happy to do it!)  After the paint dries some more, I should be able to finish painting the first coat on the baseboards.   I found a really cool way to fix a hole in a door, but unfortunately it involves painting the door, so the nice wood doors in my bedroom are now white.  They look nice, but they're gonna need another coat, and I bought the primer/paint combo for these.   The last chore will be to clean the carpet.  My dog ate a hole in the carpet but I figured out a really cool way to fix it.  My closet is gonna be short a piece of carpet, but I'll never see it so, who c...

Hi gang! I wasn't here for the spring of '83.  I was being abused and tortured at Lackland AFB for a good part of it; the rest was spent at Chanute AFB in Illinois at tech school.  I missed out on a couple of things back then.  The floods and if I remember right, that's the same year they blew up the old Hotel Newhouse that sat on the corner of 4th South and Main. I can say this:  I just came in from the back yard where I was enjoying the weather and a cup of coffee and I don't think I've ever seen the mountains greener than they are this spring.  There's fresh snow at the top of Mt. Ogden, too.  I've heard lots of comparisons to '83 but like I said, I missed out on all of that. I've been under the weather the last few days.  My stomach feels like it's trying to eat itself and I'm kinda regretting the carne asada fries from Saturday night.  I went to the Dr. yesterday when my lower back started hurting and an Ibuprofen wouldn't stop...

Well, the title pretty much sums up the post.  I'm getting a late start on the yard and have some unexpected things to do inside the house in the next couple of weeks, so I'm not gonna be very bloggy (is that even a word???) over the next week or so. I'll check in, though, just so nobody thinks anything bad is happening.  Quite the contrary is true...the Lord is blessing me in new ways every day.  There will be a time for sharing but right now is a time to remember how to actually enjoy good news.  I know this won't make sense but it seems that along the way over the last year, I forgot that you can be happy and joyful at the same time as well as sad and joyful, too. We've had a lot of thankful over the last year.  There's true peace and joy.  Today, I'm charging up my iPod, taking care of my yard, and making some good stuff for dinner as soon as the lawn is done.  I've got shorts and a fat guy hawaiian shirt on and shoes with no socks.  I'm h...

No, nothing that long.  Just checking in so my friends aren't worried. I've had a blessed week.  Things have fallen into place regarding my financial situation that I never saw coming, and those are the blessings I've been talking about.  Nothing I want to share, news wise, but my financial picture is looking rosy for the first time in a year and I'm actually able to live up to a biblical instruction to pay what you owe.  The reasons for this turn-around I credit to God's mercy and grace! To answer the question, what did my mother give me?  The gift my mother gave me on Mother's Day was some sound advice regarding this huge moral dilemma  I have.  I kid you not, just the very next day, BBN Radio sent me a little pamphlet called "The Discipline of Dilemma."  The point of the pamphlet, very simply, is when you're faced with dilemmas, follow God's word.  50% of the people involved in the dilemma are willing to listen to God's Word and foll...

If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the sound of crickets chirping... I'm taking a few days off from the blog. I kind of feel right now in my life, it's a time for quiet reflection and listening rather than talking.  God is at work in my life in some pretty spectacular ways but I really kinda feel that now isn't the time for sharing.  I need to just sit back and wait for Him to tell me when to rejoin Him in His work. Have a great week.  Unless something spectacular happens, I'll be back next Monday. Coop

My mom.  She never ceases to amaze me. Today, on Mother's Day, even though I took my mom flowers, had dinner at her house and did the dishes, she wound up giving me a greater gift than I gave her. I gave my mother a very small token that could never come near enough to say how I feel about her.  My mother gave me something in return that I never even asked for. Today I needed my mom; and she was there. Thanks mom.  I love you more than words could ever say. Dale

I posted a link to a video that was a paraphrase of a sermon called "That's MY King" a couple of months ago.  One of my favorite lines from that sermon is this:  "His Grace is sufficient." I understand that better today.  I learned quite a bit today about people, about God's love, and about myself.  Someone explained something to me today in a way that I could understand; mostly because I could relate to the person that told it to me because we share something in common these days.  I've lived that person's pain.  That's a hard thing to admit, that I hurt just the same way the person I was talking to does.  And in that moment of sharing, God gave me something.  He gave me understanding. Often, I understand things from an intellectual standpoint.  I can listen to a conversation and understand what you're telling me.  However, in certain circumstances, to fully understand what someone's gone through or going through, I think sharing thei...

I deleted a post I wrote today.  It was a poor illustration of a point that for all practical purposes, really just doesn't matter. There are things that do matter today.  For instance, today was the National Day of Prayer.  I missed the occasion at City Hall this morning to be with friends and celebrate another occasion that falls on this day.  My Guard friends invited me to their Cinco De Mayo luncheon. Babies will be born today.  Others will draw their final breath on their journey today.  People will wed, marriages will end.  It happens every day.  There will be joy, sorrow, stupidity, celebration, crime, illness, happiness, birthdays to be celebrated. The point:  Each day is precious and a blessing.  Even the days filled with trial can be used to serve God's purpose. I was chatting with a friend at work and he told me something that I think speaks to God's grace and His glory.  He told me he admired me for being able to...

Here's some sage advice I came across in the Bible a couple of days ago.  Advice I promptly ignored.  From 1Thessalonians 4:11-12(NIV)  and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody There's a lot to this and we'll just chalk up yesterday's failure as a failure to do this and a lesson learned. So, what now, that I basically became a hypocrite for a few hours yesterday?  I apologize, pick myself up, let the wounds heal, and move forward in my walk with Christ, more humble, more aware than ever that as far as I've thought I've come, it's a very short walk back to where I used to be. Like I said, every time I try to drive the metaphorical "car" that is my life, something bad happens.  Sometimes, the course corrections are gentle.  Other times, I get jer...

I get an F in being a good Christian today. I didn't turn the other cheek.  I wasn't kind and understanding.  I was honest. What I should have been was this: Quiet.

I had a visitor on Sunday.  A guy my sister-in-law used to date stopped by to say hello yesterday.  He drives a truck for a living and he was in Utah for a short time to drop off and pick up.  We had a nice talk.  He told me some things about his life these days and I talked of mine.  We talked a bit about God and this incredible peace I know.  We had dinner at the house together, and then he had to be on his way.  It was a good time to witness to someone and when he left I made him promise to actually OPEN his Bible in the near future. He stopped by the Wal-Mart where the immigrant works to tell her goodbye.  I found out from June that he was a bit surprised and told June "Dale really IS a changed man."  I guess I am in a lot of ways.  I still have issues with a BYU Quarterback starting for the Washington Redskins (REALLY?) and Don Mattingly being the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. (how come both teams I'm a big fan of have owner...

Great news for our Country today. Let's give our thanks to those that serve our country, our brave men and women and especially today, those responsible for ridding the world of the man responsible for 9/11. As our President said, justice has been done!

No it's not an SOS.  It really is May Day.  May first.  Someplace there should be a maypole with kids running around it. Or communists rolling the heavy artillery down the street to let the world know they were gonna blow us up if we didn't conform to a system that clearly doesn't work. It sure doesn't feel like May 1st outside tonight.  It was a bit of a brisk walk from the hangar to the parking lot.  The hangar I'm working in these days is affectionately known as "Ice Station Zebra" because it's on the northeast end of the base where the wind comes out of Weber canyon.  Fortunately, no wind tonight as I left the building, but when I got to the car, there was frost forming on the hood and roof. A good dinner later and I'm just about ready for bed. I'm kinda bummed more folks didn't get excited about my idea to give up $1 a day to help someone.  I'm not gonna give up on this, though... I have some great examples of what we could...