October, 2017

...now browsing by month

 

Father

Friday, October 13th, 2017

Like most dads, I’d like to believe I was a good father. I know I made some mistakes along the way (so they tell me), but all in all I think I was and still am a pretty good father. Here’s how I know. Besides, the normal things like laughing, playing, listening, attending their games, concerts and other functions (even though at times we were the parents who were “over there”), and being a support to them, I told them they could have whatever pet they wanted, just not a cat. I didn’t have to worry about a snake, turtle, and definitely not something in the hamster/gerbil family (they were too close to mice). And I was a good father/husband because far be it from me to laugh when they jumped up on the chair or couch or screamed their lungs out when they saw a mouse.  I could tell you more but it would make me look really good bad.

I’ve always said that it was too bad raising children didn’t come with an operator’s manual. Then again, it wouldn’t work since all kids are different. That manual would have to be bigger than a Family Bible! Being a father is one of the greatest privileges I have ever had. In fact, I would put it second to being married to Jo.

It is also pretty well agreed that our view of God is formed and predicated on our relationship with our earthly father. As part of this series, I have talked about God the Son and God the Holy Spirit but pushed this particular one- God the Father-to the end. So this Sunday I will be looking at God as

  • A Patient Father
  • A Forgiving Father
  • A Proud Father

Your prayers would be appreciated.

StormsaComin”!

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

Wednesday brought 25 mph winds and high surf. It also brought a fantastic view of a brewing storm. I’m going to put them one after the other so you can see.

Four different views but all of the same storm. The storm which never hit us. The first one was to my right and you can see the rain in the storm. The building is Joe’s Crab Shack. The other three were pictures of the storm as it developed. I’m not sure if it went north of us or if it just stayed out at sea. I never heard. But it was a powerful and beautiful sight to behold.  You can see how the storm out at sea kicked up the surf.

In that first picture someone asked if that was garbage. The answer is No. The stuff stacked to the right is some type of sea plant…seaweed maybe (?) left over from Irma’s surge. The white mounds were foam left when the waves came ashore, stopped and retreated.  The foam collected and then just stayed there. It was really strange.

Storms all around us but they never came at us. Sort of like life. There are times others are being hit by storms and we see the gathering clouds but then we find ourselves never being hit. Of course, there are time we are hit but that does not change the fact that God is in the whirlwind and the storm. Psalm 46 seems appropriate right about now, particularly verses 2–7.

Good lesson for us all to remember. “God is a very present help in time of trouble.”

Stay tuned next week for more pictures and hopefully more lessons. The weekend is coming and my next post will be about Sunday’s sermon. I know…you are waiting with baited breath for that one! 🙂

Seconds

Wednesday, October 11th, 2017

Seconds usually means a person goes to the food table to get “seconds,” a refill if you will.  Our second day was not a repeat of the first day. Some friends of ours, Ryan and Amanda, who used to live in Florida told us we had to go to Aunt Catfishes  in Port Orange. After a ’round about way to get there (thanks to the voice in our head phone), we finally arrived at Port Orange…early. Like very early. They didn’t open until 11:30. We got there about 10:00 so we just drove around in Port Orange. There really wasn’t much to see in the way of sightseeing, although we did get to see left over damage from Hurricane Irma.  Many folks had furniture, etc piled near the road. I felt bad for them. Sort of made me wonder how many lost a lot…most everything…or very little. We saw houses damaged. Palm tree leaves were piled high in multiple places. But the hour finally arrived and AC opened. I think they cheated a bit. We were there on the tick and multiple people were seated.

The food was everything Ryan and Amanda said it would be. I had salmon and a great salad bar! Jo had a hamburger. Yeah…go figure. 🙂 They had damage from Irma but largely due to a broken window that allowed 2 feet of water in. They just ripped out the carpet and went back into business after about 2 days.

We headed back to the timeshare and the following pictures will tell you enough of the day. Let’s just say 25 mph winds can kick up a surf.

Stay tuned tomorrow for what happens when a storm rages at sea within camera range.

Firsts

Tuesday, October 10th, 2017

As many of you know we took the past week and headed off for our first “alone” vacation. That means we went where no one knew us and we saw no one we knew until Sunday afternoon when we went back to Orlando to turn in our rental car.  I also confess I broke my “internet darkness” when I checked my email but that was it. I read two novels and started a more “serious” book. You can read about the “why” and the “how” of the vacation here. But I thought I would take a few posts and just show you a little bit of what Jo and I experienced.

First look:

First meal:  (Can you guess where?)

First morning (Tuesday):

I took this after working out at the fitness center. I was treated to beautiful sunrises every morning. (Jo was sleeping…which was her goal).  Here is another from a straight on angle. It would be left of the previous one.

As I said, I was treated each morning to a beautiful sunrise. It made me marvel at just another part of God’s creation which I have never seen before. I’ll add more pictures each day this week. Suffice it to say that it was a wonderful week. Hope you had a good week but I hope this one facing you is even better.

RestAway

Sunday, October 1st, 2017

This has been “one of those years.” I’m not complaining, mind you, but informing.

November 5th: my first bike wreck. I was hit by a hit ‘n run driver on my left cheek. The lower one. 🙂  Seven weeks were spent sleeping in my recliner because I could not lay down.

February 17th: my second bike wreck. This one I have no clue about except it ended up in a broken collar bone, 3 broken ribs, a face plant and a split helmet. Yeah…thank God for the helmet.

February 22nd: surgery to repair the collarbone. More sleeping in the recliner.

July 24: Back surgery to correct back from November 5th hit ‘n run. The previous 2 months I was unable to sit in a chair or couch except for the dining room table. I slept 2 hours at a time then roamed the house between sleeping spots.  The surgeon cleaned out arthritis, shaved some spurs, shaved the disc, and found a bone fragment resting on a nerve. A sweet relief almost immediately. I still have some residual (and may always have it) but least I can sleep in bed and sit in my recliner!

Enter a friend. “Bill & Jo, (name of husband) and I, would like to give you a gift and hope you will accept it. You have been through so much and we feel led to offer you a week at a timeshare. You pick the time and the place and we will make the arrangements (and pay).” She hands us this h-u-g-e book of possible places-from Alaska to Hawaii and from coast to coast- and says, “Choose.” Since Jo has never seen the beach (except as a little girl) and it doesn’t matter to me (I wanted Alaska) we chose Daytona Beach after our first choice of Destin was not available.  I told someone several weeks ago we were going to Florida “if it was still there.”

We fly out Monday morning, October 2nd from Indianapolis, and will come back home Monday, October 9th.  If something good can come out of something so ugly as two bike wrecks and 2 surgeries, it has. Jo & I have reconnected in a way we have not known for some time. Like many marriages, we had allowed things to build up and take the place of meaningful communication and time with each other. We loved each other but had allowed other things to take precedence.

People have asked us, “What are your plans this week? What are you going to see? Where you going to go?”  The answer is easy: we have no clue. We have no agenda. No preconceived plans of where to go and what to do. Rest. Reconnect. Relax. Restaurants. Read. That’s it. If something strikes our fancy…then we will do it. It will be the first time in 44+ years of marriage we will be taking a vacation where we know no one.

So…I am unplugging all week. I’ll see you when I get back. I am unconcerned about things back here. Ryan and Diana will be fine without me. Ryan will be preaching Sunday. Until then…I will see you later…here or in the air.