Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and More

The pictures are courtesy of the Lopers in BelFouche, South Dakota. They do an amazing thing with decorations and lights for holidays. Gary is like a kid in his enjoyment of the process of installing a setting that reflects his "inner child." That is, in and of itself, a great trait to enjoy. He does the same thing for Christmas and the Fourth of July. He and Char's home and yard become a personal playground upon which he paints a vivid picture in color and light. I sit and look at this year's edition and just smile. I get to see the canvas every year in August, and I must say the changes are always welcome. People are probably in a constant state of change in one way or another. As for me, I have never much liked change. Even the seasons are difficult to accept. I would have every day be like every other day, and that has got to be a boring way to live. This is my 8th and final fall in this home from which I swore we would not move. Never swear by anything under heaven, it might crop up to bite you later. This morning saw a dawn of chilled air and frosty ground out here on the Great American Desert. The house we are taking to the country was due to be lifted at noon but because of high winds in the country on another project we won't get it done until tomorrow(today later). I've been in a tizzy over the entire project for the past hour. Worrying about details! As if by one moment of worry I can change any aspect of the future. For sure we can't change the past, but a lot of folks spend a great deal of time fretting the past, as well. Here is a thing I got for my B'day about thirty years ago....

I was regretting the past and fearing the future
Suddenly my Lord was speaking,
"My Name Is I Am"
He paused. I waited. He continued,
"When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets,
it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I WAS.

When you live in the future, with its problems and fears
it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I WILL BE.

When you live in this moment it is not hard. I am here
my name is I AM."

That was written by Helen Mallicoat and has been hanging in my offices longer than I care to remember. That is a good thing. Carl Jung had a sign hung over his door which read, "whether invited or uninvited, God is present." If I didn't get that exactly to the letter please forgive me the memory is getting more lax as time progresses. If you have needs in your life this day, fears, apprehensions, doubts, please know that they will stop your ability to enjoy the beauty of all that God has given us. That includes everything!!! I'm smiling once again as I tap out a few words for folks. Maybe this is another example of me talking to me, I do that quite often when I'm working. That and singing songs. Have a wonderful day and may this November be your best ever. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Moving Forward

Change has never been an easy thing for me!

I keep telling myself this is not change it is progress. The hole in the ground has now become a congregated, concreted group of blocks that form the basement for our new home. Odd to think of it today that it has been exactly one year since my neighbor, Professor Joel, passed away. Today the crew comes in and lifts what was his home off it's foundation in preparation for moving it to the site out by the cornfield where my wife and I will be residing. God never ceases to amaze me! I never would or could have imagined a year ago the scope of the project that we are now involved in. I'll continue to update this blog as the work progresses. My anticipation of the photo opportunity when this old bed and breakfast rolls down the highway has juices flowing this morning. I pray others enjoy the progress as much as I will. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

January 14, 2007

Project In Process

That is Britany in the background. At the present time I am painting her home and her brother Zack's place. It is a tedious task but one that I am capable of completing if the weather allows. Tonight the temps on the Great American Desert are supposed to dip to 25 degrees. That is cold, but not as cold as it can get. Today I worked on the roof and the areas that require me to be over 20 feet from the ground. You know, I never worried over the height 20 years ago, but this past week I have found myself considering the healing time required should I experience a fall from the heights. Thankfully I would submit that the worry goes away once I am high up in the sky doing the work that I am so familiar with in painting. Perhaps we all have spaces and places that cause us to sound an alarm deep within ourselves. Being uncertain in life is a condition that I can only describe as "human." If you don't get this little feeling now and then you are not truly living. Feelings are a part of our process and experiencing them makes us more than whole, it helps us to understand why we are alive. I've got a hunch that if I should fall from a height greater than mine by factors of four I would probably be thinking about where I'm stopping, more than where I'm going. That is just an observation, but God does know where we are all going! In Christ's Love, Preacher.

January 14, 2007

Some Days Are Diamonds

I know, and some days are stones! LOL....the thing is we have to keep a perspective on is what is happening in our worlds. Today there are folks in California who have lost their whole lives, the home and all that was in it is gone forever! My cousin, Lenore, out there, is safe(spoke to her the day before yesterday)but she does know people who are not. Meanwhile, out here on the Great American Desert we are in the process of building. My job at the present time is one of putting paint on an old structure to make it look "good" for the folks nearby and the people that work in the banking industry. That will work out according to God's plan, I just wish I had an answer or a clue as to what was coming around the next bend in the road!
Scott Narragon is doing the concrete work[if I misspelled please forgive me]. His crew are the best I have seen out here! I observed and took pictures as they worked today. Well oiled and primed for the task are the first descriptive phrases that come to mind. Mind is an operative word. Inside this mind is the brain which still finds it impossible to fathom that my wife, Cheryl, and I have embarked on this journey of construction. Tom, the plumber, was on site today helping me to understand what his needs are for making the home(we'll see how that works out)a workable entity in terms of where we take care of life's business. I need to sit down with a pencil and paper plus a ruler and position the plumbing. Never have I had to do that before. I don't know that I will do it well this time, but I do give thanks to my shop teacher, Mr. Bruggeman, if not for him I wouldn't have a clue as to what to do next.
It does appear as though we have a project in process and that in the next year my residence will once again be altered. I presume that there is a plan in all of this, and that we will be beneficial to\our Creator. I do wish He would fill me in on what part in this I will be playing. Never lose sight of how funny life can be. Lenore(my cousin in San Diego)shared her thoughts following a local news cast interview with some elderly people who had lost their home in the fires. "I guess we'll just start over." What can any of us do, other than start over again. That is what our Lord offers us. The opportunity to begin anew the process of living life to its fullest within the context of God's forgiveness. This is not a one time thing. It begins every day when we reach back within ourselves and choose to begin anew the life(gift)that we have been given. No matter what happens, we can always begin again! In Christ's Love, Preacher.

January 14, 2007

It Has Been "Falling" In Our World

Our yards on the Great American Desert. Photos taken October 22, 2007. God bless, Preacher.

January 14, 2007

A Hole In The Ground

High noon found me out on the prairielands of the Great American Desert. My concrete man called(Scott is a brother to Rita with whom I shared early college daze)to inform me that it was his opinion that the diggers didn't get the stairwell from the new utility room in the right place. I should have taken the cycle, but owing to the recent onslaught of torrential rains I thought it better to take the journey with my fleet afoot Oldsmobile. I was right, the road in was way to soft for the 1000 pounds of Ultra Classic HD. These are about half of the pics I took of our personal project which I have captioned(for now)"A Hole In The Ground." It was actually a lot of fun to walk around in the midst of our future walls and basement. I threw the tape measure everywhere that I went and built bridges from Scott's planking onsite to get me over the deeper gorges in the earth. It was an adventure, and one that I shall not soon forget. Everything is going according to God's timing, and His is far finer than any timetable I could imagine. One of the more encouraging aspects of my onsite sojourn was the strata of gravel in the earth where the basement will be sitting(hopefully with the house on top of it this year). That gravel at the depth it was at is indicative of great drainage. Even knowing that we are still putting in drainage tile around the perimeter and allowing for the egress windows to drain directly into that and hence to the sump pump in the basement utility area, I found the discovery of much gravel to be comforting. A computerized three stage furnace will heat the home, along with AC, and electric supplements. What a deal! Two water heaters will provide the house with sufficient hot water for at least 10 bath\showers every two hours, and a host of loads of laundry should we ever need them. God is so good! I never even had a dream concerning a project like this. In my wildest dreams even my imagination could not have envisioned the journey that my wife, Cheryl, and I have begun. I'll keep updating as time goes by. There are more important things to consider in life, however. The first is you and how you're doing today. Please know that there is always an option, another possibility. We may not always see it or think it, but it is there if we remain open to the movement of God's Spirit. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

January 14, 2007

Dogs, Ducks, & Water

It's that time of the year when we have to consider what plants to keep from the garden and which ones will have to bite the big one with the onset onset of winter's frost. A week ago the children taught me an interesting lesson. Once again I learned that we have to live in the moment. We cannot truly enjoy our lives if we are constantly worrying about the future and immersed in the mistakes of the past. The ducks, I will admit have been a source of much enjoyment(I am now tired of trying to collect the eggs every day, my wife will not cook with them and has informed me that I can't, either), and I look forward to chopping off their heads, cleaning them and having a wonderful roast duck dinner. Cheryl will probably not participate in the process due to her fondness for the ducks, but it has to be. I was reminded yesterday that we do not have to go hunting for geese this year, they are already in the freezer. That's alright by me, I have a house to paint before the weather gets too rough, and a whole lot of other"stuff" to get ready for the builders of our new house\home that may or may not become a reality this year. Life is good! Anytime one can look out the window and enjoy the view it is a blessing. This morning it is raining, again. When the pics above were taken we had a beautiful sunshiny day. Later it began to rain and continued to do so for 6 consecutive days. What do I do when it rains and rains and rains? I spent time in the office trying to build a new computer that will be the end all be all for my studio needs and personal entertainment. How is that going, you ask? Better than it should, and better than I deserve, although I have lost one of my monitors to a leak in the office(another byproduct of constant rainfall), nothing that a little time and a capacitor or two won't fix. The thing is, as with the children above, we need to learn to take time to enjoy the moments that we all have. No matter where we are in our life's journey we will never be able to recapture a single minute that is lost. Take a break, get wet, play with the dog, play with the childre(we can learn much from every one of them)and stop stressing over the "stuff" that needs to be completed. It will get done, eventually, and if it doesn't, well then it was not supposed to be. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

January 14, 2007