Stories and other stuff

I was kind of excited this morning.  I was invited to have coffee with some of the guys at my church so I got up early, got ready, and joined them at  9 at our local McDonald's. I was so not ready for this. Want to know who has coffee at McDonald's at nine?  Old guys.  The place was full of old guys having coffee or breakfast.  Most of them were alone. I had a good chat with the guys, but I have to admit to wanting to set up an online date with a twenty-something young woman afterward.  But, as my whatever the hell she is to me these days said last night, what would we have to talk about? I feel it most days physically. Back is junk, shoulder is worn out.  Knee and ankle have been repaired surgically.  But I don't see it in the mirror.  I still see me, with that same zest for life, albeit with much different attitudes.  I'm so not ready for old. Of course I'm kidding about the 22 year old.  I have enough problems and that'...

Hoo, boy!  Where do I even start today's post? I'll start with yesterday.  I've been asked to deliver the sermon at old Ogden First Baptist on Sunday.  And like usual, I had what I wanted to talk about and God had some other ideas.  I can tell you honestly that I've re-written this message more than any other, and they're not my own ideas. The idea for the theme came to me as I was getting ready to take a shower before church yesterday.  I had my Bible verse all picked out and was ready to go.  By the time I was out of the shower, I was scrambling to find the verses in Matthew for the new topic. I like this idea better.  It fits more with lent and it fits with where I'm at today, which is, kind of at a crossroads not of my own making: What do I want and what does God want?  Right now, I have more questions than answers. Anyway, I'm taking a prayer challenge and I'm so glad I am, because I have a lot of answers about the things I notice h...

If there's one thing I'm guilty of, it's that I tend to hoard instruction manuals.  Every now and again, I have to go on a purge binge to clean out manuals for things I don't have anymore.  I keep them because you never know when you're gonna need them. I had a wood working project today.  Someone asked me if I could fix something for them, and it turned out that, yes, I could.  I have a lot of wood working tools and today I got to use a couple of the infrequently used tools, like my jig saw, my tabletop belt/disc sander, and my table router. I haven't used the router for a VERY long time.  It had been so long, I had to get out the manuals for the table and the router just to change the bit.  Fortunately, I not only knew where the router table was, but the tools and bits were right where I put them.  And the manuals were right where they were put as well.  A quick read, some figuring out, and viola' I was able to round the edges of the boards ...

It's snowing.  Fortunately, I own a snowblower.  I started it the other day when it was warmer.  It fired right up.  Today, though, it did not, in part I think, because it's much colder than it was and it had old gas in it. Fortunately, my snowblower has electric start and I have extension cords to fit it.  Unfortunately, the last time I tried to start it with the electric start, the starter turned but did not engage the flywheel. I make a living fixing stuff, so I looked it over when it was warmer, and noticed that the starter bolts were loose and one was missing.  I was able today to tighten up one of the bolts which held the starter in place so it would turn the motor over and after a couple of attempts, I had an operating snowblower. I helped out my neighbor who was doing it the old fashioned way.  But things being what they are, I had to get gas for the thing.  Ethanol gas is bad for small engines so I had to take a road trip to get gas...

I inadvertently broke a window in the basement a while ago.  I had to change it today when Tom, who does not belong to me, figured out how to remove the cardboard over it and get outside.  The window prevents the rose bushes from growing inside the house and while the leaves may be gone, most assuredly, the thorns are not. I've been spring cleaning things around here.  It's not spring yet, but Friday afforded me a nice day to get some things done.  I feel a lot better about how the house looks.  I'm not done.  But I have a great start.  And I also have a couple of cuts on my left hand. But not from fixing the window. I went to Home Depot to see if they had glass.  They do, but not my size.  I tried Lowe's next.  The guy's glass cutting tool was not working well.  He broke the first one.  He chipped up the second one and I felt bad for him, so I took it anyway.  The edge was never going to show.  So $6 and I had ...

Sometimes, it's not the answer we want, but God does answer prayers.  He answered one of mine yesterday, but I didn't see it in the moment.  In fact, I didn't see it until this morning sometime, and here it is: "Sometimes the circumstances we ask God to change are the very circumstances God is using to change us!  Sometimes God delivers us from  our problems, but sometimes God delivers us  through  them.  And by God's grace, we become more like Christ in the process.  No matter what challenge you face today, His grace is sufficient.     Mark Batterson That's an e-mail I got for the prayer challenge and its' title was:  Don't Pray Away I mentioned to someone I was talking to last Sunday night on the phone that one of the things God told me a while ago was that He wasn't going to let me escape the consequences of some unfortunately horrible decisions I've made in my life.  I'm paying more attention to that this morning. ...

I had been putting it off for far too long, but today was the day.  What was left in the basement is, for the most part, on it's way to whatever landfill Weber county utilizes.  Two truckloads of stuff so far. I just spent the last hour sorting through DVDs and boxing them up.  There are nine boxes of kids DVDs.  I have to purchase a box for the adult DVDs.  Not nearly as many, but they'll make their way to our church rummage sale, unless they're not having one and then it's off to the Savers. Or the DI.  I don't really care which. I picked out the Veggie Tales DVDs for someone I know who has kids.  If they don't want them, they will also wind up at the church.  I have quite a few that I'm just going to put out for whoever wants them. I don't really want any of this stuff.  I mean that.  I have my own stuff.  I certainly didn't want to haul it off.  I have one or two loads left that are going to require some assistance ...

Well, I guess Russia isn't fake news. I wonder what's next.....

Mark Batterson is an interesting guy.  Back when I was fighting my own lion, I read a book he wrote called In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day.   I like that title.  I don't know I won the battle with my own lion in that season, but brother, I put up the best fight I could muster. A couple of weeks ago, I signed up for a 40 day prayer challenge Pastor Batterson is leading that started today.  In addition to today being Ash Wednesday, it's also Singles Awareness Day, or Valentine's Day, or sans it being Ash Wednesday, I would just say it's plain old Wednesday.  Regardless, the prayer challenge started today, but the conversation started last night with me saying something like this after dinner: "Maybe what I should have done was ask God what He wanted instead of freaking out." If only! mail m I didn't and I got here. It was suggested to me that I ought to ask God again, because maybe things weren't gonna go as planned this time either.  Since...

I took a couple of hours off today.  I had some business to attend to at the hospital.  Don't get hurt at work.  It's a nightmare dealing with Workman's Comp and getting the paperwork straightened out. I also had occasion to remove the first of what will be about a half-dozen stray cats from the homestead.  I'm all about community cats, but we've accumulated some that aren't ours.  The first to go is one that somehow made it's way into my garage.  Judging by the size of her, she's about to be a momma. But somewhere else. I like the idea behind community cats.  They don't live as long as regular cats.  Mine get fed once a day.  Mine are fixed.  Mine won't add to the population.  But over the last few months, some that aren't mine have made their way into the community, and that's not good. It's tough to find a balance.  I have to have, and don't mind having, a couple around to keep the rats and mice from taking up reside...

I crack me up. The things that go through this squash of mine sometimes.  In case you haven't figured out, I had some Polska Kielbasa for dinner, with some cheesy rice.  The rice was left over from last night's dinner of pork chops and rice and gravy.  And there was salad, too, with yogurt blue cheese dressing, but not homemade this time.  The stuff I bought was better than what I made. Spring must be close around here, because I've been getting the joint cleaned up.  Today's foray was sweeping and mopping, deep cleaning style.  It's nice to have a fresh house.  Just because it's old, doesn't mean it can't be clean, so that's keeping me busy these days.  I'm not a dirty person, but I forget to dust and stuff sometimes, which makes me a dusty person for a minute. Life is still interesting.  I'm still on my Facebook fast, which may extend until Easter.  I'm getting back the time I used to spend on it and finding better things to do w...

I tell a lot of unbelievable stories.  In fact, a friend of mine told me that if he didn't know how God works, having seen it in his own life, he'd think I was crazy. I needed to hear that because it took me back to a place where I learned something very important as a newbie Christian.  A quick way to tell if it's God or man is to see if it makes sense.  If it makes sense and can be explained by worldly things, it's probably man.  If it makes no sense and can't be explained, it's probably a God thing. That lesson needs to be tempered with discernment.  I believe sometimes we need that personal wisdom to decide that.  Asking for godly counsel is huge, and that's why it's so important to have folks that can speak into our lives. I'm on the right path.  I knew that as I sat at dinner on Thursday with the person to whom that path seems to be pointing to.  It wasn't my idea.  She got in touch with me.  We shared a meal.  And I had...

I've been trying to spend a little more quiet time around here lately; trying to be a little more intentional on prayer; trying to listen more and make sense of things.  It's been a week since I looked at my Facebook page.  I think that's been beneficial, but it doesn't stop some of the stuff I see that kind of validates a difficult choice I had to make. I don't have a dog in the fight of where my life is headed these days.  I've accepted I'm not in control.  I realize that I'm where I'm supposed to be because that's where I am.  I don't understand always, but I do have a bit of peace about it.  Sadness has given way to resignation, and odd glimpses of hope come and go. Odd things still happen.  Sometimes I think they're validations that the path is unclear but correct.  Sometimes I still don't know, or I won't let myself know that I do know, so I claim to not know.  Maybe disbelief is still a big part, but not as big as trust...

That was a whale of a game; one that turned on one key play, and one for the ages. But the game was nothing compared to the trophy presentation.  Because men of faith, stepped out and acknowledged the God who made them. The coach:  "all the credit and glory go to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!" The man who caught the winning touchdown:  "Glory to God!" The MVP quarterback:  "First off, ALL Glory to God!" The TV announcer on the winning QB  "he told me earlier in the week he believed the Lord put him here for 'such a time as this'". The Eagles won.  Heaven is rejoicing because these four men just did for Christianity what we all should be doing:  Giving the glory to God! I'm excited about that!  I really am!  My sons are Philly fans.  They saw that and I hope it stands out in their minds.  Those were very public professions of faith on national television that ascribe credit where it was due! We often don't do tha...

I got in trouble with someone a little while back, for suggesting to this man that he needed to "man up".  I mean that.  And he got mad.  And then he turned to social media to find some validation in the fact that he was a "victim" (my view.  Ill would be another description that fits, but if you're ill,  being a man includes getting treatment for your illness).  And he mentioned in anger of how disappointed he was in someone who he looked up to in the church that would tell him that. At least I think he was talking about me, anyway.  We're not speaking so I don't know.  Not my choice by the way, just someone from the old season that couldn't come into the new season. Last night, I came across an odd passage of Scripture; one kind of aimed at me, I think.  But it's David telling Solomon what he should do as king.  One of his admonitions to his son: Act like a man. I won't debate what "manly" is.  I know manly men who aren...

Like everything else, the book of Jonah is in the Bible for a reason. It shows us that God's will is gonna get done.  Sometimes we refuse and God sends someone else.  I believe one good example of this is the story of Barak in the book of Judges.  God told Barak, Barak balked, and someone else got the credit for his victory.  A woman, in fact. In Jonah's case, he spent three days in the belly of a fish thinking it over.  God sent Jonah, not someone else. When things started going wrong on the ship Jonah was on, he figured it out quickly and told the crew to throw him overboard.  When they did, the storm subsided for them and they praised God.  For Jonah, things got weird.  He got swallowed up by a fish and had some time to think things over.  And after three days, he was vomited up on dry land. The last couple of posts may not have been the most coherent, but they paint a picture.  One that led me to believe it was time to move i...

On any given day, my life is bedlam.  I know that, and when I started seeing the GF, I tried to explain that and told her that if it got bad, I was out. It got bad.  And by mutual consent, and for her own protection, we're no longer an item. It's tough because I know what I've been through and she doesn't.  Thankfully. The thing that brought about the abrupt end was this:  too much providence. Y'all know about the Who.  I can't call her mine anymore; God told me to let her go and I've tried.  And the detour of this brief foray into dating someone who isn't her ended just about like one could expect:  I got pointed back to her. The former GF has a sister whose name is the same as the Who.  Her husband's first name is the same as the Who's ex.  They live in Oregon.  So did the Who and her ex.  It was the largest and most clearly defined "coincidence", or in my case, I believe, providence in my life.  It wasn't the only ...