Stories and other stuff

This question is the bane of every parent who has ever embarked on a long trip with kids in the car.  We've heard it, this one, the "Stop touching me", the backseat squabbles over this or that.  Technology has taken care of some of it.  I used to put movies in a computer and let the kids watch them in the back seat on the way to Yellowstone.  It made for a quiet trip up front. I talk a lot these days about my faith in God, for two primary reasons.  One, I want to do something good with my blog. If I can help someone by keeping them from making stupid choices like I made, then I've done something good.  If I inspire someone to open a Bible in time of crisis, then I've shared the Good News!  Two, I'm like a little kid these days, full of faith, hope, wonderment at the marvels that God does in my life.  The biggest thing I have a problem with is patience.  Like a little kid, some days I want to run down the path God has me on.  I think Ch...

If you would have told me two months ago I'd be where I am today I wouldn't have believed you.  Two months ago, I thought I knew where I was headed, what I was doing, thought I was doing the right things the right way. AND THEN.... I started listening to God.  At first, I wasn't sure about what I heard.  Could He really be telling me what He was?  After everything that happened, could He really be telling me what I thought he was?  So many random things have happened to me over the last month, how could I be sure? Well, God got my attention yesterday.  I was kind of fretting over something yesterday afternoon.  I was out in back of the building I work in, staring at the runway, and thinking to myself about some things that were weighing heavy on my mind when I heard this inner voice (no, I don't need the rubber room, it didn't come from my head.) that came from inside, but not from the "heart" if you will.  The words I heard were, and this is ...

I opened my facebook page this morning and had a friend suggestion from someone I know.  I haven't seen this person in a long time, and in another place, another time, she and I could have been close.  She, out of everyone I know, was the one person who cautioned me about getting married again.  Why she knew, I don't know.  At the time, I passed it off as nothing.  We all have people we meet and take an instant dislike to, and that was the case with her and the wife. I ignored the request.  Here is the reason why: I stepped outside to have a cigarette.  When I came back in and opened my facebook page, there was a prayer from the prayer request page on my page.  It was a prayer to God to help us fight temptations in our lives and to help us remember the life on earth prepares us for a place in God's kingdom.  It was what I needed to hear at the exact moment I needed to hear it. Not that the purpose of the friend request was an implication...

One of the foolish things I did in my life was something that I didn't do.  I very seldom ever took a camera with me on a trip.  I think of all the places I've been, the things I've done, and I don't have a lot of pictures to remember them by. I've been blessed.  I've been to many great places, seen many things, but not many photos go along with the memories.  I've been to a bullfight in Sevilla, Spain.  I've been to Rome a number of times (and fortunately I have pictures of this).  I went to Moscow a few years after the Cold War ended.  I've been to Germany, France, England, Holland, and all over Northern Italy.  I've been to Paris twice and no pictures of any of the sights.  Just memories. Many of my friends are talking about Hawaii today.  I remember the last time I was there but I don't have those pictures anymore.  I thought about it today and smiled because it reminded me of better times.  I don't have the photos anym...

Cats and dogs are supposed to be natural enemies.  Wendi has this pussycat that can't weigh more than four pounds, soaking wet, who used to beat up my dog Katie on a regular basis, for no other reason than he could.  Snot hated dogs.  The dog was AFRAID of this pussycat.  It used to make the wife laugh every time it happened. Fast forward to today.  Snot doesn't live with me anymore, but the fear that pussycat put into my dog lives on and on. There is a family of wild pussycats that live in my back yard.  June feeds them, but it doesn't stop them from hunting.  They're pretty adept hunters.  I keep them around because we live so close to the mountains and because of the bushes planted in the small hillside in my backyard, rats and other critters have cover to live.  The pussycats do their job.  One had a small rat for lunch yesterday afternoon. Three of these pussycats will allow us to pet them, but the rest are afraid of us. ...

I was sitting outside having a smoke (I know, I gotta quit!) last night when this little mouse scurried by.  I watched the little guy for a few minutes and with the weather changing, I thought about being a mouse. A mouse has a hard life.  He lives in a hole in the ground and has plenty to fear.  A mouse is on the menu for so many critters.  He has to hope he's not out trying to get just a little something to eat and get taken out from above by a bird.  On the ground, he's got to dodge humans, cats, and all manner of four footed creatures and snakes (I hate snakes!) that would love to make him a snack. Look at what we do as people to keep mice at bay, understandably.  Having a mouse in your house is messy and they carry disease.  So we set out traps to get rid of them.  We call them vermin.  The mouse, though is just trying to do two things, stay warm and get something to eat. As I watched the mouse run across the field, dodging this an...

My life kind of runs in themes these days.  This week's theme started out last Sunday with me forgiving the man who ratted me out to the wife about the affair.  I only talk about this to tell a story, with a decent moral at the end. I was thinking about this whole concept of ratting someone out.  We have people we trust with secrets, and when those secrets are betrayed, we feel like we've been "ratted out" for our behavior.  I mentioned I hadn't thought of this man in a long time, but for the longest time, I blamed him for the turn of events in my life.  I finally figured out it was my own fault for what I'd done. If I hadn't done what I did, then the "rat" wouldn't exist.  I was the one that put myself in that position, so ultimately, I was responsible for the "rat".  I had nobody to blame but myself, so in a sense, I kind of ratted on myself with my behavior.  Someone found out about my behavior that shouldn't have and mad...