Stories and other stuff

It's not been a bad day today in Ogden, Utah.  Indian summer is upon us.  Mt. Ogden is a landscape of red, brown, and gold that is spectacular to behold.  I've enjoyed the view this morning on this beautiful sunny day. I've spent a lot of time yesterday and today reading articles about God talking to us.  A lot of really unusual things have happened over the last three weeks.  I talked to my mom about these and she told me of a dream she had.  I talked to a good Christian friend who offered an opposing viewpoint but in the end, I know God is talking to me.  As sure as the sun is out, I know this.  It comes from an inner voice, reassuring me that in His time, in His way, things will go according to His plan. I think I've been quite anxious about this over the last couple of days.  Today I prayed for patience in the matter and understanding.  I think patience is the key word here because there are so many things I don't understand righ...

It's one thing to tell people you've changed, but how do you convince them? I sometimes write the blog a day in advance, usually on the weekends.  In case you haven't noticed, I've had a bit of writer's block this week, but I finally came up with something.  I was writing tonight about a children's book I think adults can learn a lot from.  I started out asking Why? then telling about the story of a little bug that sneezed and the events caused from that one sneeze.  As I wrote, I began to realize something....a pivotal moment in my marriage was kind of playing itself out all over again. I had a conversation last week with a friend over the phone.  In the conversation, something was said in the moment that wasn't meant to be taken the way I took it.  Sometimes we all say things we wish we hadn't, wish we could get back into our mouths.  Unfortunately, we can't change how people react to what we say.  This person was quite upset that I took wha...

Hi friends, It's been a quiet day, thankfully.  One of prayer and reflection.  I finished reading the Bible today and am proud of that accomplishment.  It took me a few months and now that I'm done, it's time to start over again.  There's so much to understand. Did you know that the printing press was invented to print the Bible so it could be available to a wider population?  Just a little bit of trivia. The chores are done around the house.  I put some things away that I'd been neglecting and took care of some things that needed to be done.  Just a quiet, thoughtful, prayerful weekend. Hope wherever you are, things are well.  And to my married friends, please take a look at the post about marriage and take it to heart. Yours in Christ, Coop

As I have before, I'd like to share with you an e-mail I received from divorcecare.org.  It talks about the covenant you make with God when you wed.  This describes what marriage should be.  I never truly understood that before and I thought it was important enough to share. The content is that of divorcecare.org, not mine. A Covenant Commitment Day 143 The Bible describes marriage as a serious covenant commitment between two people. A covenant is a solid and binding agreement. When two people say, "I do," you can almost hear God affirming, "I do also," because marriage is totally His idea. In fact, Jesus explained marriage as two people being joined together by God (Matthew 19:6). "The Bible says that if I make a commitment, it is a commitment for life," says Dr. Spiros Zodhiates. "Marriage is not a feeling. Marriage is a commitment. It's a contract; it's a covenant. I cannot get out of my covenant simply because I changed my min...

We were telling golf stories yesterday at work.  If you golf, you have a funny story.  Here's mine: We were in Guam and it was the first time in several years I'd played.  My game was a bit rusty, to be sure.  I finally hit a decent shot and I'm about maybe 90 yards out from the green in the rough.  I have a pitching wedge in my hand, it's an easy shot to the green....should be no problem with the wedge, even for me. As golfers tend to do,  I took a practice swing before hitting.  Head down, knees bent, nice easy swing, and BAM! Out of the grass, up in the air about 6 feet is this freaking HUGE bullforg!  I didn't see him in the grass, right next to my ball, but I got ALL of him! Poor froggy didn't make it, I'm sorry to say.  I can't remember if I hit the green with that shot either.  By then we were laughing pretty hard.

I changed the name of my blog page.  It's time to let go of some things.  That included changing the link for my blog page. The new link is http://dalecoopersblog.blogspot.com tell your friends!

The leaves on the scrub oak are turning quickly these days into various hues of gold, brown, and red.  Quickly fading are the dark greens of summer.  The nights are colder, the days shorter.  Fall is in the air. It won't be long before the last tomatoes will be picked.  The cornstalks will be tied together and placed in the front yard for decoration.  It will be time to put away the regular china and pull out the fall china.  The first frost is not far away now.  With it the last colors of summer will go as the flowers that remain die from the cold.  Their remnants will be removed, added to the compost pile, that they may become nourishment for their replacements next spring. I love the fall, the colors, the way the air smells.  One of the things I miss most about hunting trips is the smell of the quakies this time of year.   Fall reminds me of listening to World Series games around a campfire during the deer hunt on a cloudless, sta...