Stories and other stuff

I hope that 2013 is a better year for all of us.  I mean that.  It's been a divisive year in our country, in our politics, and I can't help but think that a lot of that spills over into our relationships as well.  I'm hoping that spirit can change.  I'm always hopeful, though, and really want to believe the best in people.  Often, I'm disappointed, though. I'm not heartbroken to see 2012 go.  A lot of bad stuff happened.  My friend lost his wife this year, and that left a bit of a hole in the lives of all who knew her.  My old boss passed away, too.  We'd drifted apart over the years, but it's always sad to know that a person is gone.  My wish for 2013 for these folks' families is that their grief is subsided a little bit.  Sometimes, though, there are wounds that time just can't seem to heal. I have hope for good things because I know Jesus.  As I look back at 2012, I know I only got through it because He lifted me up, and...

Heard this song on the radio today and just felt I had to share it.

I know, you already know how I feel about this.  I don't believe in coincidence.  I got to share that thought with middle son today.  I had lunch today with my two youngest children, a minor miracle in and of itself.  A few months ago, that wouldn't have been possible.  What my children saw today was a different dad than the one they used to know and I saw today a man in my middle boy, and myself about forty years ago in my baby, who is anything but anymore. Middle boy had something happen to him last week that was a perfect example of the argument for providence.  I asked him to look up the topic online and then compare it to his experience and decide for himself.  What he attributed to coincidence, I account for as God's providence. It's nice to have a relationship with my kids again.  I missed out on so much I'll never get back, but I do love them so.  I also understand they don't have time for me at their ages but it's always nice to ...

Do you ever stop to think about the things God does?  I've been thinking about that lately, what with the Christmas story and all being prevalent over the last month or so.  I wrote about this the other day.  God's prophets proclaimed the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  God chose Mary to be Jesus' mother and she lived someplace else.  So, God instead of telling her or Joseph in a vision to just go to Bethlehem, He instead used Caesar Augustus to accomplish His will.   Then He sent them to Egypt.  Then back to Nazareth, so that all the things foretold about Jesus by the prophets would be true.   A had to happen, then B, then C, etc... and just the right thing at the right time, too!   It just amazes how God does what He does!

Well, the world didn't end on the 21st.  Christmas came and went, and the new year is rapidly approaching, where we start the whole thing all over again.  There's always a tinge of optimism and hope that the new year will be better than the old.  We make resolutions we don't keep.  We're finally gonna get around to taking that trip, to call or see this or that person, or whatever that thing is you keep putting off, but the time files and before you know it, you're faced with the whole thing all over again. I had an interesting conversation this morning with a friend of mine.  Over coffee, we had an opportunity to chat about Jesus, more from a historical context than anything, and like I did last year at this time, I'm going to address some remarks to the "keep Christ in Christmas" crowd. I want to start off by reiterating something I've said before.  No matter what your belief system is, when Jesus came to Earth over 2,000 years ago, he changed...

One of the really cool things about my old job was that every now and again, the President of the United States would come to Utah.  Once, I got to shake hands with George Herbert Walker Bush; another time, he gave me and my friend Ed a thumbs up. We were standing on a corner, having a cigarette, with an armed security policeman standing across the street from us, by the way, as the presidential motorcade made its way to the flight line.  The leader of the free world leaned forward, looked out the window, and gave me and my friend a thumbs-up!  I'm sure it was the uniform, but still, I thought it was cool then. I still do. Mr. Bush is in the hospital and not doing well.  I thought it would be a nice day to share that little story with you because it's not every day you get to meet the President.  I passed up on a chance to meet President Clinton; mostly because I was pissed off that I had to leave home for two weeks because Saddam was acting up.  I me...

Stories! You know I have a story for every occasion and on this particular Christmas Eve, I'm going to share this one, for a friend. Last Friday night, one of the guys in the hangar was being funny, and blasting a moldy oldie; Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through the Tulips.   I looked at my boss and told him sternly, but jokingly, "Fix it.  Make it stop!"  His reply, "you have far worse problems in your life than this". Merry Christmas to me. The snow is falling, the tree is decorated.  There are presents now where there were none before, and thanks to God for the overtime money which provided them.  I found just the right gift for each person on my list.  I found some things I didn't even know I was looking for, too.  And although everything I did was last-minute, the things I bought would have been on my list to begin with. My poor sister, though, is again a victim of her brother who feels like he needs to buy something for her.  My mom won't ac...