Stories and other stuff

What a great day to praise God! Reconciliation is on the menu of life today and God restored to me the most precious of things on the planet to me.  One of my sons.  Me and the little one have been able to maintain a bit of a relationship but me and middle boy, well I really hurt him when I divorced his mom.  But time and space heal wounds and thankfully today, though not healed, they're scars not scabs. We've been texting a bit since his wedding but today we did something we haven't done in over ten years.  The men went fishing. We had a blast! We caught fish we couldn't keep because anything between 15-22" in length at Strawberry has to be released.  We went through three dozen worms.  We lost between two of us three fish.  One because a knot broke and two because of improper drag set.  I need heavier line if we're gonna be catching fish like that.  We were fishing with six pound test; light line for big fish. Fun, though, and did...

I read a book a while back called In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day.   Great book.  The story from the Bible it uses as an example is one where the captain of King David's bodyguards is described as a brave man who once went into a pit on a snowy day to vanquish a lion.  It has modern day application too about fighting things that appear you can't win. I fought a lion for a long time.  The best I can say is that my lion fought me to a draw.  Every now and again, something or someone will try to entice me to fight that battle again.  The thing is, I'm confident I could win the battle.  I'm itching to fight lions again.  I'm committed to victory!  I need some kind of a victory in my life right now!  I mean that.  The confidence in knowing I can win that victory comes from knowing that God isn't on my side.  That may sound counter to a lot of what I say on the blog, but it makes perfect sense.  I'm not asking God to be on...

I'm taking a break from the stuff that's weighing heavy on my heart these days.  I'm reminded that the heart is wicked sometimes and maybe, just maybe, I need to step back and focus on other things. The pool is open and I'm hoping by the end of the week that it'll be warmer.  It's still a bit cool but as the temps climb, that won't matter.  The water is crystal clear.  It would have been easier I think just to drain it and clean it out with the pressure washer, but in the end, it was better to clean it the hard way.  I want to get a little outdoor bench that I can keep hoses and the like in. I found some white paint in the garage.  I had to stir it quite a bit but it's the white paint I used to pain the outside of the house.  The patio needs some love.  I have some paint to love it with. I fixed my own sprinklers today.  I have a strip on the side of my house that runs downhill and faces west.  It slopes downhill on two sides and i...

Ever wonder why I still write this thing or write about some of the things I do, like yesterday's post for instance?  There's a simple answer embedded around a complicated one.  Part of it is that it's cathartic.  Sometimes it's helpful to put thoughts down on paper, or html, or whatever this thing is.  It helps me try and make sense of nonsense.  The other part of it is that by writing it, I hope to share the fact that I have human struggles. Sometimes I think folks have strong perceptions about Christians.  By all means, we're judged by the world to a different standard.  For some it's like they're viewing your life through a set of rules, almost as if to say, I don't expect this of me because I don't claim to be what you claim to be.  I try to remember that but it doesn't excuse me from being tempted, struggling with my past, wondering and wanting things.  What the blog does is give me a way to share how I deal with those and it helps ke...

I didn't have what you'd call a positive day today.  Everything I touched turned to crap the first part of the day.  It got better at the end and hopefully some comfort food will ice the cake of trying to turn a negative into something positive. My home is a wonderful place.  I'm so very blessed that God let me stay here and I give Him praise and thanks for it.  I'm not complaining.  I've always wanted to live where I do, but sometimes the place gets to be a bit much for one person to handle.  Power tools help.  So do chemicals, when applied correctly. Sometimes, though, there is no substitute for an extra pair of hands. I've been feeling like that lately.  There is something missing in my life and it's that helpmeet.  The hardest part of my Christian walk is finally figuring out the things I've done wrong in relationships my whole life and then not being able to have one.  God says it's not good for man to be alone.  I think He...

I like to think I'm a bit broad minded and able sometimes to see things from more than one perspective. It's a gift that's helped me too many times to count when I've figured out how to do things, or take things apart and fix them. Sometimes, though, I don't see the forest for the trees and need a little bit of nudging.  Today is a little bit like that. I have lots of work to do around here this weekend.  Most of my Memorial Day weekend will be spent in the yard and working on the truck.  I have brakes to change before I get it inspected next week.  I have all of the tools to do them and the manual for my truck, so I'm all good to go.  I've done them before which doesn't hurt either.    I have a pool to clean out.  I have to finish working the soil so I can get the garden planted.  I'd like to install a new pole for the hammock, which I'd like to enjoy some this summer.  Then there are the flower beds. I would like to mow the lawn ...

I am learning to do so much with what I have. As usual, I have stories. I've had the cooter bug tractor now for six or seven years.  I forget which.  When I bought it, I paid $500 for it, put another $60 into it and it runs.  I've replaced the battery twice and rebuilt the starter on it.  I swapped the old points and condenser for an electronic ignition and sanded the flywheel when I bought it.  I have a spare everything important for it except an engine.  Briggs and Stratton still make parts for that though.  I rebuilt the carb on it this spring. I cannot afford a new garden tractor.  I would love to have one.  But I'm also happy with what I have.  It needs a new seat, so I just use a beach towel seat cover for it.  It's pink and white and you just can't look cool on that when your pretty neighbor sees you driving it around your yard.  I don't care.  Function over style. I have some sprinklers I bought a couple of...