Learning How To Use A Semi For A Toolbox! 

There are oversights which can cost much more than money! 

Witnessing The Handiwork Of God In Strange Places!

I usually write about something that is of interest to me without giving too much thought to how my perspectives may impact someone else. There is a situation, event, or series of circumstances that I have gone through at some time, preceded by a picture that provides a visual impact, and a series of thoughts designed to "draw" the reader toward a goal that is then summed up in the final picture. That's what I think I am doing with this blog. You may have other thoughts, concerning my motivations or intent, but believe me, "I'm as 'unconscious' as the next guy when it comes to ulterior motives." I pray I gave those up along with my need for acne remedies. Tonight(and today for that matter)I've been thinking about how I go about my life. The seeking I do to find places to get away from everything, and why no matter how far I go there is still the need to share a vision of faith with another person for whom things aren't going as well as they might like. Quite often these journies away are spent on two wheels this time of year, and irregardless of the distance, I find that I am still in the midst of attempting to do my best to be a good witness on behalf of the Savior I serve. Today was no different! I got so far away that I couldn't remember for awhile what day or time it was(if I could just put this in a tablet someone would make a legal fortune), but there it came, right through the open door of opportunity, a chance to make someone's day more livable. There I was, off fishing in the wilderness with my favorite rod at(the laundromat, grocery store, car wash, restaurant, internet, etc.)that river we call life, when a very real storm came up in someone's life and their need to be heard was more important than anything in the world. Sometimes it isn't the "most" important thing in the world, but we can't know that until we listen to what it is! This was an earth shaker, and may take weeks, even months for resolution, but that is not the object of this quest. I desire to let others know that they, also, can be the ears that God has lent to another if only for the ability to be a "good" listener for a moment. We all need to be "heard" sometimes. The weight that others place on our sharing may not be as intense as it is for those of us with the desire to express feelings and emotions, but that does not lessen their need to get them out. Do you ever want to just go fishing? In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Locating The "Wilderness" In An Urban World. 

You two do some very nice work, and I know it's a little too soon, but I really believe you need to go for a boy, also! 

An Ever Changing World, A Never Changing Life!

My title tonight is heart felt, as I sit in this tiny world that opens like a flower blooming at the mere touch of a button. Youngest grand, Kyra, is with us this week. She never ceases to amaze with the new things she is learning at an ever increasing rate of speed. It seems like only yesterday she was as tiny as the newest member of the family pictured above. The world into which they have been born is the same as it has always been for babies, but the world in which they grow up as active participants in will be radically more different than any age this planet has seen. I suppose that we all take for granted at the age of four that things are the way they are and that is all there is to it! We focus on us and our immediate needs and surroundings, but then they begin to open like this tiny world in here. Stretching far and wide until there appears to be no end, until we discover that there is. Some of us come on the death part early, some later, but, eventually we all see the end of life in this world. That is why our prayers here in this house quite often center on the children and young adults we come in contact with in our community. They are the ones to whom we look to the future with hopes and dreams that their lives will be better than ours. And they can be, but they are going to have to make decisions, active choices of what and who to believe about the vital parts of our world that they will be involved with. That is why we have to be the open, honest advocates for learning that they can trust. "Never lie to a child, for that is a betrayal of innocent trust." Preacher-2005
In a world that spins just as fast as it ever has, technology will continue to leap ahead, science will stretch further, and in the midst of it all life will be as it has always been, a challenge for each of us, and a burden to some. My prayer tonight would be that we all help the children of our world to grow in such a way that none of them live "burdensome" lives. Life is intended for us to enjoy! Rejoice in each precious moment and if you would like for this world to be better for tomorrow's harvest of adults, give to the children of today every possible encouragement to thrive. They won't all be "A" students, they won't all be "perfect," and that is as it should be. What today's children are going to need more than anything else we can give them is the individual encouragement to just do the best they can and the world will be, truly, a better place. God bless, Preacher.

A Day Of Celebration, Babies Born Yesterday And On The Net Today!