Taking That First Step

It's hard to get started back blogging after letting it go for so long. It's very much like trying to get started back on an exercise routine after you've let yourself get all flabby and out of shape. When that happens, the best you can do is just make yourself take that first step. May, June and July went by without a blog post and I'm determined to not let August get by me as well. So here goes nothing!

I'm very sorry you haven't heard from me, but life has overwhelmed me lately. I wish I could say it's slowed down but... not so much. It continues at break neck speed.

One of the problems is figuring out where to start. So much has happened that I couldn't possibly do it justice. By the time I could find the time to tell you about all that, more stuff will have happened. So here's the abreviated synopsis. Maybe I'll find time to come back and fill in the details. But, if I don't, at least you'll get the overview. In no particular order.



Our Turn

I purchased a ten acre property in Poetry, Texas. This is the place where Mindy and I are building our future together. For now, we call it "Our Turn." Someday, we'll just call it "home." It's kept us very busy. It had a three-piece manufactured home on it that had to be moved. Then there was tree clearing, digging a pond, leveling a pad site for our future home and building a fence and a pier. And more tree clearing. And more cleaning. And... you get the idea. This place will keep us busy for years!

Up In Smoke

You may know there were a lot of wild fires in Texas earlier in the year. Well, my deer lease was among the casualties. It is located just south of Possum Kingdom Lake, an area that was hit very hard by the fires. My travel trailer and all the contents were completely burned up. Also, one of my blinds, a trail camera and some other items. My travel trailer wasn't covered by insurance, but the contents were. (Although only after a large deductible.) Recovery took quite a lot of my time. First I shopped for a new travel trailer. When I found one, it needed quite a bit of work. And, of course, there was shopping for contents and dealing with the insurance adjuster. Then taking the trailer to the lease, setting it up, etc. All this was very, very time consuming, but I'm almost back to square one with the exception of one blind.

Punta Cana

Mindy and I took a vacation to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with my mom and my daughter. We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro resort. It was fabulous! The food was wonderful, the people were friendly and the service was fantastic! I highly recommend it!

Roadkill Chili Cookoff

Mindy hosted the 6th Annual Roadkill Chili cookoff. I won second place (behind Mindy's mom, Phyllis) with my wild hog chili recipe. A good time was had by all!

Grandma

I lost my 89 year old grandma last week. The funeral was yesterday. I feel kind of bad "glossing this over" because she was a wonderful, sweet lady and deserves all the honor I can bestow upon her. She had been in a nursing home and was suffering from dementia brought on simply by old age. Bless her heart, she just wore out.

I guess I'll share just this one thing... One of the things I remember about grandma from my childhood is long goodbyes. We would go to her house and, when it was time to go, she just wouldn't let us! To tell you the truth, it was a little annoying at the time, but we all knew it was because she loved us. It was during those long goodbyes that she would tell me, "David, I pray for you every day, every day, every day!" I later learned that when something is repeated in scripture, it's to add emphasis. I don't know if that's where grandma got the "every day, every day, every day" thing, but I do know she read her bible a lot, so it's a good theory.

Anyway, the point is, she really meant that she prayed for me every single day. And I have no doubt that she did. I really don't have any way of knowing what my life would have been like without all of grandma's prayers, but I'm grateful. Years later as an adult, I heard the song "Somebody's Prayin'" by Ricky Skaggs. I couldn't help but think Ricky was singin' about my grandma. And I still think of her everytime I hear that song. When he sings the part, "Lord, I thank you for those people prayin' all this time for me," well... I do feel a little emotional. Thanks, Grandma!

Everything Else

The above is just a part of everything that's happened over the last few months. I turned 50 years old. We lost a very special chicken. My mom broke her leg. And more. So much has happened! But I'll stop there. Remember, I was going to be brief!

Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

Friday's sunset made me gasp! I ran for my camera and took this photo. This was taken from my backyard looking west toward Lake Ray Hubbard. Wasn't it beautiful? Honestly, my photo doesn't do it justice.

The best part...

I know the artist personally.

"Someone"

First of all, the picture has nothing to do with this post; I just hate posting a blog without including a picture. I got to talking to someone online tonight about paranormal experiences. I told them the following true story. Having already typed it all up, I decided to share it with you as well.

I will warn you that what I'm about to tell you might seem strange to some. Heck, it's strange to me too! You may draw different conclusions than I do and that's ok. You may just say to yourself, "Then David got weird for a while." I promise to return to normal.

About 23 years ago, I experienced something that I can't fully understand, but was very real to me. It was at a time when my first marriage was on the rocks. I was very distraught. One night I lied awake for a long time thinking about all this before I finally started to fall asleep.

As I entered that semi-sleep state, I became aware that "someone" had sat down on the edge of the bed right next to me. I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't. Nor could I move. But I could feel the mattress slowly sink in on that side and I was very much aware that someone had begun sitting there. So close that I could feel them against me. I'm not sure, but I think they placed a hand on my arm. But they did not touch my skin directly, as there was a sheet and blanket over me.

I was simultaneously aware that my wife was still lying on the other side of me and I knew that we had been alone in the house with the doors locked. I was very aware of time and place and that I was in a semi-sleep state. The strange thing is I was not at all frightened. In fact, I instinctively knew that this "someone" was there to comfort me. No words were spoken. I did not see them; my eyes were closed the whole time.

Try as I might, I could not fully awaken myself. But I remained in this semi-sleep state and aware of the presence for what seemed like a long time. A peace gradually came over me and I eventually fell into full sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I could remember it distinctly as happening several hours prior. Which is very unlike dreams for me. I usually have a very hard time piecing together dreams once I awaken, even when I was having them immediately before awakening. This was very different than any dream I've ever had.

I can't explain why, but I knew it was someone of the male gender. I feel that this was either a relative that had died, an angel or Jesus himself. In any event, I'm grateful to this "someone." They helped me through a very difficult time.

OK, that's the story. I'll get right back to normal now.

First Amendment, The Original Version

Do you know what The First Amendment really means? If you've formed your opinion from what you've heard from the media, you most likely think The First Amendment has something to do with keeping God and all things spiritual out of the government and all public institutions. But that's simply not true.

This video makes it very clear that our founding fathers intended for The First Amendment to mean something very different from the self-serving, twisted interpretation most commonly presented by the media and our current government leaders.



Please pray that our leaders will return to God and the freedoms and beliefs that made this country great in the first place.

The Bridge

Discovering Beauty

Don't you love discovering beauty? I do too! And the best kind is the God-given beauty that resides in the hearts of those we love. I made such a discovery this weekend.




I knew that Mindy had once been a music therapist and that she had worked with special needs children. But I don't think I fully got my heart around it until I saw this.



Sebastian has Down Syndrome and requires more attention than most babies. Among other things, he has to be fed every 1 1/2 to 2 hours, even through the night. Mindy knew his parents could use a break. So she volunteered to hold him for a while. She sang him to sleep. Mindy would be the first to tell you it's a God thing. Yep! I think it's just beautiful! And so does little Sebastian!




Is it any wonder I love this woman? She's so beautiful to me... inside and out! I'm so proud and I just had to brag on her! Have you discovered beauty in someone you love lately? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

The Light of a Clear Blue Morning

It's been a long dark night,
And I've been a waitin' for the morning.
It's been a long hard fight,
But I see a brand new day a dawning.
I've been looking for the sunshine,
Cause I aint seen it in so long.
But everything's gonna work out just fine.
Everything's gonna be all right,
That's been all wrong.

Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
I can see the light of a brand new day.
I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
And everything's gonna be all right,
It's gonna be okay.

It's been a long, long time,
Since Ive known the taste of freedom.
And those clinging vines,
That had me bound, well I don't need'em.

Cause I am strong and I can prove it,
And I got my dreams to see me through.
It's just a mountain, I can move it,
And with faith enough there's nothing I can't do.

And I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
And I can see the light of brand new day.
I can see the light of a clear blue morning.
And everything's gonna be all right,
It's gonna be okay.

-- lyrics by Dolly Parton, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning"



Folks, I'm actually beginning to believe everything's going to be all right, it's going to be okay. Yes, it's been a long dark night. But, if you look closely, you can just begin to see the light of a clear blue morning. It dawned yesterday in (of all places) Massachusetts. And on November 2nd, I believe it will shine brightly across our nation. A change is coming. And this time it's for the better. Finally, there is genuine hope.

Congratulations, Senator Scott Brown.
Congratulations, Massachusetts.
Congratulations, America!

There's a brand new day a dawning!

It's About Love

It's about family.



It's about Jesus.

Remembering Dad

The words below the picture are from the last Father's Day card I ever gave my dad. He passed away less than a month later. This is my fifth Father's Day without him. Yet he is always with me. Because these words describe not only his character, but the man I strive to be. I am blessed by his example. Thanks, Dad.



I WANT TO FOLLOW
IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF MY DAD

I want to treat people
with kindness, to be giving
and to put others first...

I want to be strong in the face
of difficult circumstances,
to allow my trust in God to
keep my heart at peace...

I want to be loving and gentle,
to make the world a better place
by letting Jesus shine through
the things I do.

Thank you, Dad,
for showing me how to live
out my faith day to day,
and for giving me a
wonderful path to follow -
it's a gift I'll appreciate
all of my life.

With Love
On Father's Day

You're a wonderful dad.
I love you.
David

Prayer Day

White-crowned Sparrow, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

View One of God's Sparrows On Black

OK, this is a day of prayer and reflection for me. Some may choose to skip this blog and that's fine. But I can only blog what's on my heart and mind and so here goes... First a little scripture I was thinking about.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
~ Matthew 10:29-31

You want to talk attention to detail?! God cares! Even about the smallest details of our lives. There is nothing too small to take before our Father. You might say He sweats the small stuff! And we're valuable to Him. Extremely valuable. If He concerns Himself with little things like sparrows and hairs, just imagine how concerned He is with those things that matter most to us. The big stuff. The pains, troubles and sorrows we face. And especially the loss of those we love.

There was a tragic accident on Saturday. One of God's beloved and cherished children fell from a deer stand and died. His name is Keith. I didn't have the privilege of knowing him, but I know of him. He was a a man who unselfishly served others, a police officer. He was a Christian and a father. Keith is rejoicing with his Savior in heaven now. But his family and friends are hurting and could certainly use your prayers. Just take a moment to lift them up in prayer, would you? Especially Keith's son. Thanks!

Father, I know that You are large and in charge! I want to trust You to take care of the smallest details of my life. Thank You for being concerned with things like little sparrows and the hairs on my head. You care about the little, seemingly unimportant things, so I know that I can trust You with the big, important things. You love me and I know that I'm of immeasurable worth to You. So I choose to trust You and praise You even when things that happen don't seem to make sense from my point of view. Lord, I thank you for taking Keith into Your loving arms and wiping away his tears. I know that You have prepared a wonderous place for him that no eye has seen nor ear has heard and I praise You for it. Father, I lift up his family and friends to You. Please comfort them in their time of sorrow and give them the peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank You, Father! These things I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Theology in the Deer Stand

Scaled Quail, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

View On Black

As previously mentioned, I spent some time this weekend in deer stands in west Texas. I took a lot of bird pictures. Above is one of a scaled quail, also known as a blue quail. I also had lots of time to read. I'm currently reading "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent. It's a very good book so far, but I'm only about half way through it. The time on stand also gave me the opportunity to reflect on a book I finished a few weeks ago, "The Shack," by William Young. It appears to be all the rage for Christian reading and I picked up my copy at Life Way. Given the controversy around this book, I thought I'd give you my thoughts on it. Warning: "Heavy" blogging ahead!

In case you're not familiar with it, "The Shack" is a work of fiction about theology. Yeah, I know, it sounds strange to mix the two, but the author does it fairly well. There are a lot of reviews available online, so I won't delve into the synopsis of the book, but suffice to say it's an extremely emotional read, especially for parents. The author uses heavy emotions, more so than reason, to sway the reader toward theology.

For that reason, I think it's important to set emotion aside and rely on reasoning when examining "The Shack." Now, when reading a fiction book about theology, I think you have to use The Bible as the plumb line. As such, the theology of the book can be divided into three categories. First, there are those things in which "The Shack" and The Bible are in agreement. Thankfully, that represents a fairly large percentage of the book. Yea!

Second, there are those things in "The Shack" that The Bible doesn't refute. That is, things that could be true or could happen, but are not specifically addressed in The Bible. For instance, God the Father in "The Shack" presents Himself as a black woman. Some have a problem with this, but I don't. While God always refers to Himself in masculine terms in scripture, there is nothing there (at least to my knowledge) that would keep Him from appearing as a woman anymore than as a burning bush. So I'm fine with that category too. Call it "poetic license" if you will. After all, this is fiction that we're talking about. Hey, it could happen! Perhaps the largest percentage of the book falls into this broad category. So far, so good!

The last category is those things in which "The Shack" contradicts The Bible. Of course, it is those things that bother me, although they are admittedly only a very small percentage of the book. And, for the most part, they seem innocent enough. But there is a word for dangerous things that seem innocent. That word is insidious. An example of this is in "The Shack," is that God the Father explains nail scars in His own wrists saying that Jesus was never alone, that the Father and the Holy Spirit were right there with Him on the cross. I'm sorry, but this is just bad theology that contradicts the roles of the Trinity described in The Bible. And, while hard for us to wrap our minds around, those three distinct roles have huge spiritual significance. Here's why it's important…

The wages of sin is death and spiritual death is defined as the separation from God. I suppose this is the reason the Word became flesh in the first place. Jesus, in his humanity, overcame the separation of man from God by paying for our sin on the cross. We were spiritually dead in our sin. But when we accepted Jesus as our savior, we became alive in Christ. Are you with me so far? So if the Father hadn't separated Himself from Jesus, then Jesus couldn't have died spiritually. If He hadn't died spiritually, then He couldn't have paid for our sin. If He hadn't paid for our sin, then that terrible debt would still be ours to pay. See why this "little thing" matters? No, fortunately for us, the Father did let Jesus go through the absolute hell of separation from Him. And, thankfully, Jesus was NOT in error when He asked, "Father, why have you forsaken Me?" Jesus doesn't make mistakes, nor does He lie.

As I said, all this may seem like just one small point, but it's huge in its spiritual implications. In "The Shack," William Young reinvents some of the "wheels" that God invented. I don't really think it was intentional on the author's part. But don't reinvent those wheels, brother. God knew what He was doing and no one can improve on it. And this is just one example of things that I think fall into this dangerous category of biblical contradiction.

Here's the weird part… Overall, I enjoyed the book! So much so that I would almost like to recommend it, but I just can't with a clear conscious. You may think that if the book is mostly good that I'm throwing out the baby with the bath water. But in spiritual matters, I think it's important to be extra careful so that we don't end up worshipping an idol. Anytime you worship a god that you or someone else has made up in your own mind or in your emotions, no matter how appealing that god may be and no matter how much you might wish God to be that way, that is still a form of idolatry that the scripture warns us to avoid. Imagine if I baked you some brownies and said, "By the way, there's just a little poison in there. But really… it's only a tiny little bit of poison, you can just eat around it." Hello? I think you'd throw out ALL the brownies without worrying about missing the yummy part. If not, you're a choc-aholic and you need help!

Having said all that, I wouldn't blame you if you read it anyway just to find out for yourself. Hey, that's exactly what I did, even after being warned of the bad theology! So eat the brownies if you're so inclined, just don't say I didn't warn you about the poison. If you truly want to know God, there's only one infallible source that I know of… His Word.

The Evidence is Everywhere

Pair of Bobs, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

The study of science does not refute Creationism, it supports it. The apparent age of the earth is easily explained. God created it that way. Suppose you were standing next to God when He created the first oak tree. One minute it's not there, the next minute it is. OK, if you cut the tree down, what would you see? Rings, of course. If you counted the rings, you might mistakenly think it was a hundred years old. Yet it wasn't there a few minutes ago. Rings are part of the oak tree, so why would God create something incomplete? He wouldn't, of course; He would and DID create it complete. He wouldn't create an oak tree without rings any more than He'd create it without leaves or bark. If you're going to create an oak tree, you have to create the whole oak tree. Whether that is in the form of an acorn or a full sized oak tree, the complexity and completeness is still there. And so it is with all the earth. I'm not saying the earth isn't billions of years old. It very well may be, but it certainly doesn't HAVE to be.

If you buy a jigsaw puzzle you get to see the picture on the box. Then you put it together using all the pieces of the puzzle and referring frequently to the picture. But the fossil record is a bit different than that. Suppose I take a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle and throw away about 9,500 pieces randomly. Most importantly, I also throw away the box. Now I give you the remaining 500 pieces and ask you to tell me what the picture is. You might make a pretty good guess or you might not. I'm not saying the theory of evolution is right and I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying it's based on such sparse information than no one else can know either. To believe in it, at least apart from a creator, requires more faith than I can muster. Comparitively speaking, believing that God created everything requires far less faith. It just makes more sense. It's a more reasonable conclusion when you study the science.

When I was at A&M, I took Comparative Chordate Anatomy, Mammology, Ornithology, Dendrology, Ichthiology, Herpetology, Botany.... and a heck of a lot of other sciences I can't even remember right now. Much to Dr. G's dismay I'm sure (an otherwise intelligent man who can't see the forest for the trees), the more science I learned, the more absolutely convinced I became that everything we see around us could not possibly happen by mere chance. It is a scientific principle that, left to chance, order becomes disorder, never the other way around. To create order from disorder requires energy. In this case, God's energy.

It absolutely astounds me that some people can look around them and see the creations without knowing that there is a Creator. Jump into any area of science and prepare to be amazed. The discoveries NEVER end! The complexities of the world around us are mind boggling. Any part of the human body alone can keep you busy exploring and discovering for a lifetime. The more I know, the more I begin to realize just how much more I still don't know and the more I am absolutely convinced that it couldn't possibly have happened by chance. Without meaning to be judgemental, I have to tell you... from my point of view, someone would almost have to turn their brain off and stick their head in the sand to deny that there is a Creator behind the world around us. The evidence is SCREAMING!

You Gotta See This!

Cut the Mustard

Looking Up, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

It's not always easy to "cut the mustard" as a parent and that's been especially true for me lately. Then I discovered Brian Andreas' "Story People" line at a little shop in Salado, TX, where I bought one of his books called "Strange Dreams." But one story called "Quiet Pride" particularly jumped out at me...

"There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said to my son, though some days I'm louder about other stuff so it's easy to miss that."

Ain't it the truth! I love my son and I'm VERY proud of him. But recently he went to live with his mom. I don't like the reason or his mom's response to it, but I am trusting in God to turn it into something good. Along the way, I had to make some decisions that seemed difficult, but I know that they were the right things to do. I have to believe that one day my kids will need someone in their corner who they can count on to do the right thing. Even when it's hard. Even when it costs. When that day comes, I want to be ready.

Jesus said all you need is the faith of a mustard seed. We tend to look at our circumstances and project way down the road. Life feels overwhelming and it appears that a huge amount of faith is needed. But the curious thing about faith is that it can't be used in the past or in the future. God wants us to live in total dependency upon Him, so He only gives us enough faith for today. And how much faith does it really take just to do the next right thing? That's all... just the next right thing. If we're completely honest with ourselves, most of us already know what that "next right thing" is. And if we only need enough faith to do that... well... a mustard seed's worth should be plenty.

Her Shoes

Her Shoes, originally uploaded by Snakelover61.

On a weekend at Lake Texoma, my love took me to the place where she and her family used to camp when she was a little girl. I was very touched that she wanted to share this with me. She took her shoes off and waded to the other side of a little cove. It was sweet. When she was a little girl, this was quite a swim for her and her sister, as the water was much higher then.

I saw her shoes there on the sand and something just compelled me to take this picture. I always kid her about how ugly these shoes are, but they're starting to grow on me. She's growing on me too! They say you shouldn't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. This photo reminds me that sometimes I need to take the time to pause and just try to see things from her point of view.

God, thank You for all the things You've taught me and continue to teach me about love and relationship. And thank You especially for putting this wonderful woman in my life to love and be loved by.