Stories and other stuff

I'm probably not going where some of you might think with today's post.  Yes there are times that I say, if only, but I've learned from those times and paid for some of them dearly.  I'm sure we all have and for those times I think the rule of thumb isn't to go back and say "if only".  We can learn and grow and say to ourselves, "next time...".  Today's post is in regard to the crack pipe I found at the church on Friday. I'll never know why it was left there, but one possible explanation and my prayer for the owner is this: I see in my mind's eye someone struggling with addiction, not knowing where to turn, and finding themselves in front of the First Baptist Church in Ogden.  Sitting on the lawn, they're distraught, and turn to the Lord in prayer.  Through His grace, He touches the life of the person sitting there and the pipe is left on the lawn as a way to say to Jesus, "You're right, Lord, and I don't need thi...

I was looking at the blog tonight.  Believe it or not, it's like a journal of sorts for me and I can go back and revisit some of the things I was thinking and feeling over the past few months.  Some interesting things crop up too using the blog tools. Just as a fer instance:  Someone did a yahoo search on Bible studies by a Dale Cooper about following Jesus and my blog popped up.  Interesting.  I don't know I'm any kind of a Bible scholar but I did just finish my second course on BBN Radio's online Bible institute.  (www.bbnbi.org for the shameless plug!) I had an uneventful week.  I came to realize some things that are personal but important to me.  Not everything is for sharing on the blog but I shared with the people that are important.  I'm finding that's a healthier way for me to express things.  I worked quite a bit this week but have two days off this weekend. I put the time to good use.  I had some landscaping work to do...

Well, this is gonna be my last blog post for a long time.  I'm done with the whole facebook thing for a while, too.  It's like a train wreck... I don't wanna look but I do.  I just gotta get back to finding some kind of happiness in this crazy mess the world is.  Not just mine, but the world in general. There is yard work to be done, a pool to swim in.  There are books to read.  There is life to be enjoyed and I'm gonna start enjoying it. Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I'll be in touch!

Why do people think Americans are stupid?  Or are we really that stupid? I've been watching with interest the banter going on in Washington all week.  The Republicans want to pretty much decimate our Government.  They had from 2001-2006 to do this.  What they instead did was finance two wars on the full faith and credit of the United States of America and cut taxes. They've touted raising taxes as a "job killing idea", but we're still paying the same in taxes as we did when things went south in 2008.  How is this idea of running massive deficits anybody's idea of smart.  Because of these policies when the Republicans had control of the House of Representatives and Senate, we're all gonna suffer some. I work for Uncle Sugar.  Some of the policies being floated are changing my retirement to a "high 5" calculation, from the current "high 3".  What that means is instead of averaging my highest 3 years of pay, they'll average it ov...

What to do, what to do what to do? It's a beautiful and hot summer day in Ogden, Utah.  There is only one patch of snow left on Mt. Ogden.  There are fishing poles in the garage.  Yesterday was payday.  The mountains look so inviting... There are lawns that need to be mowed and my truck has some stuff in it that needs to go.  The green waste facility doesn't accept sod, so I gotta haul it to the compost pile out back. I cleaned out the pool again yesterday.  It's so clear and inviting, just waiting to be used.  The grocery has steaks on sale for $2.99 a pound and there's plenty of charcoal.  They also have these ginormous marshmallows just perfect for roasting and there's a bundle of wood by the fire pit. It'd be a beautiful day for a drive in the mountains or a quick run to Idaho to buy lottery tickets. So many things to do and be done on this beautiful Saturday. And then there's the hangar.  It was hot last night and I'm sure it...

I had an interesting conversation the other night with one of the guys I work with.  We were talking about God and Jesus and at one point, I asked him this question: "If God isn't real; if Christ isn't the Son of God, our Savior, and everything else He claims to be, then why out of all the names in the world, do these two names become used as curse words?" I used this to illustrate the point that if the enemy (Satan) wasn't real, then why would these two names be uses they way they are. (BTW, I'm guilty of this in my past, and my friends could attest to this).  My point is and was that night, that if the two weren't who they say they are, then their Holy Names would not be used in those terms.  And it wouldn't be one of the Ten Commandments to not  do this. I want you to think about that today.  I told him further that out of all the language I hear in the hangar that these are the things that bother me the most and further explained to him that he...

Hi, How would you like to save a struggling 46 year old man?  For just $1 a day, that's $31 a month, you and 99 of your friends could adopt a Coop.  For your kind donation, you'll receive a photo of Coop (suitable for hanging on your refrigerator door), and a personalized letter. Your kind donations will ensure that your adopted Coop can do things like not have to work 12 hour days or give up his weekends for overtime.  You'll keep a roof over Coop's & the "immigrant's" head and ensure the immigrant can give up the Wal-mart gig and just spend her days puttering in the flower garden. You'll also receive updates on Coop, his life, his struggles, his joys and stories about how God works in his life. (um, wait, you already get that for free...). By now, you know I'm kidding. Things are hard for all of us and I don't want your money.  I still want you to give $31 a month away though, because there are families everywhere that truly need ...

Just trying to do a little housekeeping to keep everyone up to date on my life: My thumb is healing nicely.  I can bend it to where I used to but have a hard time doing stupid stuff like pushing the button on a water fountain, grabbing foam to pull out of a fuel tank, or anything useful.  It's gonna be that way for a couple of more weeks, I think. My Guard friends will laugh at this story:  They (being the people in charge) want to assign an electrician to the fuels crew that I work on so we don't have to bug the electricians when we need them.  I pointed out to my boss that I was an aircraft electrician for about 20 years full time.  Apparently, though, that doesn't matter.  They might stick someone who doesn't want the job on a crew where they have a guy that could easily do both jobs.  Gotta love you some 'gummit.  However, the back story is that when we had a jet with a fuel problem outside a couple of months ago, I told our work lead that...

I'm not the only one with my head in the clouds (or stuck somewhere else) these days.  Case in point: I've only ever shaved my mustache for ORI inspections.  That's it.  Maybe 10 times total since I grew the thing in my early twenties.  I have a baby face without it. I shaved the thing off yesterday.  I was just tired of the thing looking like it was trying to eat my top lip and it's hot, so I shaved it off.  Taking a big gash out it whilst trimming it may or may not have also played a part in the decision.   Nobody noticed. Not Miss June, not the guys I work with, or the few people I talked to at church.  Nobody really noticed and I wondered if they really didn't notice or they just didn't say anything.   Without it, I look like my son Jake these days (sorry about that kiddo).  I noticed that today.  I also noticed something the other day when I was looking in a mirror.  I'm not skinny by any means but I'm not really that...

It's probably a good thing I'm not in charge of the country.  I played a little game online where I got to put my own solution to our country's budgeting problems to the test and according to the game I did better than most of the other people that played it, but we still went back to broke in 2036.  The average for the same people that picked my agenda was 2035. But more than that, if I were President, I'd be on TV, doing my Ross Perot impression and I for sure would be telling Americans just exactly how we got into this mess in the first place and I'd be putting the blame squarely where it goes:  on the Republicans. It seems ironic to me these idiots who ran this country under the tutelage of our former President are now running away from the bills they ran up.  They're seriously talking about not raising the debt ceiling and just going to let us default on our bills.  Why not?  Look at what their policies got us into?  The mortgage crisis, the w...

Well, I made it through a week without trying to dismember a body part.  Last Saturday, I was in the clinic having my left hand put in a splint.  Today the splint is off and I have about 75% use of the digit in question.  When it cools down later, I'm gonna mow the lawn and fortunately should be able to return to my chore at the church next week, too.  I miss having that responsibility and take a bit of pride in being able to help out. A dip in the pool is in the near future, too.  I might even sneak up on a cold one (but no more than two) later on in the evening.  At the store, they have ginormous marshmallows and there's a bundle of wood by the fire pit.  That doesn't sound like a bad way to spend an evening. There's just a bit of snow left at the top of Mt. Ogden.  July 16 and snow at the top!  That's a first, but that mountain is still greener than I've ever seen it in July.  Soon, the fireworks season will be over and hopefully ...

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51&version=NIV

In case you haven't noticed, in our country there's this thing going on called "poor".  Someone brought this to my attention this morning.  I think it's because I work for the government and I do make a good wage for the job I do.  My job has good benefits, too, thank God.  I can tell you I'm blessed to have health insurance right now. Anyway, I heard something our beloved(?) Senator Hatch said on the Senate floor the other day.  I didn't hear his entire remark, but pat of it was essentially blaming a lot of what's happening with government spending on the poor.  If you'd stop being poor, then we wouldn't have to spend all this money on you.  So, get off your lazy butts and stop being poor! You union people, too.  It's your fault also because well, you've fought for all these job killing benefits like a decent wage and health insurance.  Stop belonging to the unions because they're killing jobs.  The minimum wage?  Another job k...

Gang, Right now, I feel like a bit of a Jack-ass.  I did not read the comments on my blog today like I usually do or there's no way a post with the title "Good News!" would have made the blog today.  That post was for an old friend of mine, Ed who I understand would like to have a bit of a chat with me about faith.  Ed's not a believer and being on my Facebook vacation, there's no way I could know what I found out later on in the day. To whoever posted the comment, thank you. Keep praying for the Mrs.  We do every day.

John 3:16 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That's the Good News. 

I'm in too good a mood to be all dramatic today.  I had a great day Sunday, and for some reason that little bit of euphoria carried over to yesterday as well.  I got a swim in, cleaned off the patio and helped someone out by giving away my old Honda lawnmower.  The man was happy to have it because he needed it for parts.  I'm happy about that. The lawnmower story can keep.  I had to learn something about me through that process but you know what, it's just too nice a day, and that thing can be summed up in a short sentence:  Good, sometimes is good enough.  Not everything in life has to be the "best". We all have little bridges to cross.  That was one I needed to, trust me.  Apparently, I'd been standing in the middle of that bridge and the whole lawnmower thing made me see it was time to keep going to the other side. I have to have my thumb looked at again today at noon.  Hopefully, I can go to work.  The rest has been nice b...

I mentioned yesterday I was going to talk about going to church today and I am.  It's coming at the end. I had a great day yesterday.  In an existence that lately has involved a lot of strife and things going wrong, so many good things happened yesterday, I'm just kind of excited to share it with you. I am on fire for the Lord!  I'll explain why in a bit. Sunday started out like most Sundays do.   I woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep.  I listened to the radio and had my morning smoke and coffee, part of my routine.  I didn't struggle with whether or not I wanted to go to church.  I wrote my first draft of what is the first of the two blog entries, got cleaned up and went to church.  We sang a hymn that I had to share with you and did so in the second draft of said blog.  As the day progressed, it was revised a time or two after that. I had my thumb in the splint so there were the questions.  I'm uncomfortable explai...

Today is a day for sharing, for some reason.  There's someone out there today that needs to hear this; that's how important this message is. I talk of faith, of the wonderful things God does for me, even through trial and adversity.  I speak of blessings he bestows not just on me, but on others in and on the periphery of my life because it brings me joy to see what He does in others lives, too. Today, I'm asking you not to take my word for it.  I'm asking you to take God's word for it.  Today, someone's skeptical.  Someone isn't sure.  Someone may be hurting as I was and doesn't know where to turn. Today I'm inviting you to read the Bible and decide for yourself.  Today, I'm asking whoever needs to, to read the Scriptures, to find the answers you need and to know for yourself.

I want to start out this beautiful Sunday morning by saying that sharing today will hopefully make you stop and think about something. Have you ever called someone a "Bible thumper" and meant it in a bad way?  Or called someone "holier than thou" because they're a Christian?  I stand guilty of this and never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought these terms would be used to describe me. Is it bad to want to live a godly life?  Is it wrong to try and be a righteous person?  Is the "Golden Rule" still applicable today?   Is it the messenger that makes us uncomfortable?  Or do we find something within ourselves convicting us of sins when we hear the message that makes us want to avoid it?  Living in Utah, I have to add one question:  Is it because we that disagree with the doctrine of the LDS religion so much we tend to lump all believers into the same category? I don't judge people.  It's not my place.  In fact God's Word is ...

I went to the doctor this morning for my thumb.  I'm in a splint for a while and it may give me an unexpected vacation next week.  That isn't fun.  I missed out on 24 hours of overtime this weekend that would have been such a blessing.  Not to be.  Apparently what I wanted wasn't what I needed. I spent last night and this morning looking for mowers on KSL.  I have a big yard and I need something more than just your $99 cheapo mower.   I couldn't find anything decent for under $150 and at that every nice mower I called about was sold before I got a chance to get there.  I did look, though.  I even looked at the pawn shop. I have a new mower.  I went shopping this afternoon.  I learned a lot about mowers today, mostly from a very unlikely source.  A lady and I were at Home Depot today looking at the same mowers at the same time and she'd done her homework.  She asked the salesman some very good questions and I listened i...

I'm wounded again, in a way that could only happen to me.  A lawnmower pull rope tried to amputate my left thumb this morning. The aftermath left me with several good things to share with you. One:  When it feels like God is the furthest away, it's actually when he's the closest. Two:  If you keep things bottled up inside, eventually they'll explode.  I had some sins to ask forgiveness for, to include using language I haven't used in almost a year.  Yes, it hurt that  bad. Three:  My mother-in-law is very wise.  We had some long chats today and I think she understands me a little better.  I understand her a lot better and she taught me something today. Four:  God has a plan and when you're not paying attention, He finds a way to get your attention.  Did God cause the lawnmower to malfunction?  Probably not.  Did He use this event for His purpose.  Absolutely. The skin will eventually grow back and maybe in...

A gentle breeze blew across the back yard yesterday morning and although it was cloudy, the smell of roses in bloom filled the air.  I put off what I had set out to do, went back in the house and heated up a cup of coffee, sat back down on the patio and just enjoyed the beauty of roses in bloom. Not much was done around the house yesterday.  I spent most of the morning on the patio thinking of the things in my life which required thought and smelled the roses.  I think it was a most appropriate metaphor for the day I was having. I get busy sometimes.  I work quite a bit.  I don't have much free time.  I don't usually just stop and smell the roses, figuratively, of course.  I don't think with our busy lives, most of us do. Yesterday evening, I took a few hours off and went to church.  I had fun watching our church be  the church.  We shared with the neighbors that live in or were just passing by the church.  We had hot dogs and...

Hi gang.  I'm getting ready for work but I wanted to take a few minutes and let y'all know a few things. I turned off my Facebook account.  Don't worry, I'll be back when all of this is over.  The reason was simply this, I can't watch the movie if I don't have a ticket so I chose to exchange the ticket.  I know all I need to and that's plenty, believe me.  It's for that reason and that reason only that I turned the thing off. I need a bit of me time.  I really do believe God is working in my life but there are things that I shouldn't share about that.  I need to let God be God and I need to just have a little bit of suffering in silence time for me.  I have too much going on in my life right now and I don't need to exacerbate it more by having the temptation to comment on this or that thing that I just need to accept isn't any of my business anymore. It's something that I feel was laid on my heart today.  There are times in life whe...

I deleted yesterday's post.  It was just for a small group of people that read the blog and I don't want to comment further on it. Gang, silence sometimes is golden, and this time in the do-over, I'm just going to grab a fresh bowl of popcorn and watch how the movie turns out.  In the meantime, I'm thinking about a summer BBQ, looking forward to making some friends in Ogden, and starting to enjoy life. I went to my usual fireworks spot last night.  I spent the day alone but talked to friends and family on the phone and prepared the bakery equipment for sale.  I found a company in SLC that buys equipment so we'll be calling them today.  I cleaned the pool this weekend, fixed a sprinkler head so my lawn will green up, and watched some movies. I cleaned up some things in the garage, too and swept the patio.  In the do-over, I refuse to withdraw from life like I did before. Today I'll be going to work, as usual, but I'm going to see if it's possible ...

I don't quite know how to explain my life these days without using the words "do-over" in some sort of fashion.  It's like the movie from last year is playing over again this summer; like I've been given a chance to try it all over again.  It's that unusual. I got a phone call from the bank and I finally need to once and for all sell the equipment left over from the bakery.  I should have done this last year after I got it home.  I don't know why I couldn't last year.  Today and tomorrow I'm cleaning out the garage so I can take pictures of it and list it for sale.  I need the space in the garage anyway so I have something to keep me busy today. Tami Jo made it home safely and it was nice to have her here to talk to and spend time with.  That was kind of a "do over".  Last year after receiving divorce papers from Wendi (and still very early in my Christian walk when I just thought that being a Christian meant believing in Jesus and go...