Stories and other stuff

I was outside cleaning my pool a while ago.  I let the dogs out.  The beagle will come when you call her, most of the time, and most of the time stays in the yard.  When she ventures out, she always comes home.  Long time readers of the blog will know what's coming next.  For you occasional readers, my other dog, Bucket, is a bit more of a free spirit (and occasional jailbird) so he has to be on a chain.  I was out there, cleaning the pool.  Buck is on his chain.  Katie is in the back yard. I looked up and both dogs were gone.  At first I thought Miss June brought them in.  I looked a couple of minutes later, though and saw the beagle.  And then I saw the empty collar.  Bucket is on the run. I turned off the pool pump, ran into the house, informed the immigrant, and found my keys.  I had his collar, grabbed a leash, and the search was on.  As I walked to the truck, my roommate's friend was coming up the driveway a...

So, I started out with the intent to poke fun at the universe but I still have this reverent fear of God.  I will laugh with Him, never AT him.  And I'm honestly humbled that the God who created me loves me enough to be involved with my life. It also didn't hurt that I heard the last part of the book of Job on the radio today.  So, instead of mocking the things I saw this evening, I will just tell of them. I have a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake on July 15.  June was kind enough to remind me the date has some significance to her. I passed a couple on the track around the duck pond this evening.  They have a son named Cody.  As I was walking along the track, I saw several cars pass from the base housing area with Wyoming license plates.  Please keep in mind that I'm only telling a story. As I drove back to the hangar, I saw something I have only ever seen one of before, and that was the one I used to own and got almost dead in several years a...

When we first moved here just about ten years ago, one of the things we discovered we had was the dying quivers of a raspberry patch.  Over the years, one or maybe two canes would grow.  We'd enjoy a small handful of raspberries and that was it.  Two years ago, though, I noticed the raspberries were running away from where they were and headed for open ground where Miss June has her small garden.  I cleared away the weeds carefully and nurtured 19 raspberry plants I found growing amongst the weeds.  Last year, I put down bark to mulch the area and counted 54 raspberry plants. We just picked raspberries.  We will be picking raspberries again tomorrow and once again next week. What started out as a forlorn little spot in the back 40 has turned into a productive patch of ground which will provide our family (and yours too if you're nice to me) with some homemade raspberry jam. We don't take lightly the blessings we've been given here at Lark Circle.  ...

Lately the blog posts have been short.  There's a reason for that.  There are stories but some are just for keeping to yourself.  Today's though, maybe not so much because it's such a reflection on sin and our broken world. I was ill last night.  I still am.  It's a chemically induced illness caused by a lung function test in which the administration of an inhalant to yours truly was on the menu.  Yours truly did not have a positive reaction to said inhalant and I'm still feeling it today.  I just need to get through the next three days and there will be time to recover. Anyway, that explains why I was home last night to hear the radio program I did, and in it the man was talking about reading a book on raising children and being asked by his daughter why the Bible wasn't all the book he needed?  The man described that revelation by using an illustration from the old "Skin Bracer" commercials where a man after shaving gets slapped in the face ...

I had a birthday like no other.  I mean that. I'd love to tell you all about it but you wouldn't believe it. Or, maybe you would....

I get these inspirational videos sometimes and I thought this one was going to be deep, to explain something to me in ways that would help me understand "why".  As always, there is a back story to my story and this is it: Lsst night about 9:30 p.m., I began to feel the Holy Spirit lift all my burdens from my heart.   I told God I don't know what changed and really didn't need to know.  I told God I didn't want to know why or what changed. I don't care why I feel the way I do today and if anything tries to creep back in that doesn't belong, it's going to be met with a resolved fight to not let it. I would have used a smaller word but that implies I'd be talking about someone else and that's part of what I had to let go of.  The ex is another I let go of so very long ago and save for this last story, that's not for comment either. God answers prayers.  Try praying for your enemies  I prayed for mine; I prayed he'd learn to become a ...

Since I wrote my last blog post, my life has been literally flipped upside down.  I had some things to pray through this morning, and by God's grace, I'm hoping that those things are as far removed from my heart as the east is from the west.  I sure feel better. There's a flip side to the rowboat story.  Even when a man has the best of intentions, you cannot help or same someone from what they don't want to be saved from.  I had to come to that realization and the realization that although I want to be the right man at the right time to get the job done, what was on my heart might have just been a heart memory. I took that away from the men's conference too.  Our hearts have memories.  The speaker made an excellent point by retelling a story about a dream a young girl had after receiving a heart transplant.  As the story goes, the girl had a vivid dream about how the donor met her demise.  She was killed and the recipient of the transplant had...

You've heard the story before, but I'll briefly tell it again.  There's a flood and a guy gets up on his roof and is waiting for God to rescue him.  Guy in a rowboat comes by.  Nope, I'm waiting for God.  Guy in a speed boat comes by.  Nope, I'm waiting for God.  Coast Guard in a helicopter comes.  Nope, I'm waiting for God.  Guy drowns, goes to heaven and sees God.  Asks him why He didn't save him.  God says: "I sent a rowboat, a speed boat, and a helicopter...." Sometimes God sends what we don't want or aren't expecting.  I so get that.  And sometimes that thing we are called to do by God may not turn out so well, but in the process we grow and mature in our faith.  I'm firmly in belief that trying to reconcile my marriage for as long as I did was the right and godly thing to do and a blessing because I would not be the man I am today. God is opening doors in ways I never dreamed of.  Me attending a meeting I ha...

I had a fairly interesting week last week.  I'd like to share it with you. On Monday, I found out the thing on my heart was not from God.  Two little words managed to break my heart all over again.  I don't know why that had to happen again, but God does and I have to trust Him, that it's for His purposes.  This quote from AW Tozer helps:  "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply."  I have the hurt deeply part. On Tuesday, I heard from the squoze.  She had some news for me:  "Some guy" messaged her through Facebook and asked her to tell me to stop stocking [sic] them.  I believe what he meant was "stalking" and I wasn't.  I heard from the same guy.  He was mad about Miss June showing up but forgot that Miss June helped her daughter move and knows where they live.  I don't know and really don't care where they live. It's not my business.  I remember still that I have the words to ...

The answer is that it wasn't from God.  I found that out yesterday.  Why all that stuff happened to me (it really did!), I don't know.  I can only assume it was some kind of lesson to help me understand that what I need from God I can find in His Word. God is GOOD to me!  While I'm disappointed, I'm also hopeful for the future and whatever it has in store for me.   Praise God!

I despise warranty work.  I should be able to do the job right the first time and 99% of the time I do.  There's that one percent of the time though, that you gotta back the truck up into the garage, pull out the safety stands, jack it up, pull off the tires and install the parts in the correct direction. It happens.  I put the brake adjusters in backwards.  I couldn't figure out why the park brake was not still functioning like it should.  It is now.  Not all warranty work is bad, though.  One of the adjuster cables had come off the guide on the right side of the truck, so I fixed that, too. I'm waiting on the truck to cool down so I can go pull off the radiator cap and see how we're doing with the coolant system cleanout.  I have to drive it two more days with this stuff in the radiator, then fill it full of water, run it for ten minutes, flush out the radiator until water runs clear again, then fill up the coolant.  Hopefully it stays ...

I came within 30 seconds of not attending worship services this morning.  I'm exhausted, mentally and physically.  It's well beyond tired.  I'm exhausted and after I mow the lawn and vacuum out the pool I have to contend with changing the coolant in the truck.  It's full of brown gunk that may or may not require another head gasket change. I don't care.  Why?  Because I went to church. And I was blessed.  Here's why: The movie I didn't make about the upcoming Heart of a Warrior conference was shown at the service and the movie is geared at younger men.  There were two young men who are facing struggles in the pews this morning who NEEDED to see THAT movie.  It's designed to appeal to them.  It's hip.  And I watched these two young men watch that movie. Hope it works. Did you buy your tickets yet?  After reading the last post, WHY NOT?!  GOD IS ALIVE!  Come worship and learn about growing as a godly man. ...

Today's post will make much more sense if you know your Bible well.  If you don't, go find it, blow the dust off it (you have one, you know you do!) and read Judges 6-8 about Gideon. Gideon heard from God and asked for a sign.  Then he asked for another sign just to validate the first sign by reversing the first sign.  Fleece was involved. On Wednesday I decided to commit to do something.  Not something specific, but SOMETHING about what was on my heart.  It's been bugging me for months, but getting worse lately.  And that's when things started to really go right.  In my life when I'm not following God, that's when the wheels seem to fall off the train.  The thing is that it's something I have no absolute clue about why I need to go this way right now, but apparently I do.  I think. I'm operating here out of an over-abundance of caution. Something has been on my heart since February.  I've tried to ignore it.  I've tried to ...