Wow - I can't believe I got back into my blog. I have been trying for days, but kept running through some loop.

The whole family's out of school for the summer! Except I may enroll in another class, but, maybe not. In about 3 weeks, I will open a fireworks stand. This will be our fifth year - every year is a challenge, especially when you live in West Texas, since weather is usually hot and dry.

My grandfather was the chief engineer on Benbrook Dam. He surveyed the project, planned eveything including the parks and roads, oversaw the construction and then stayed in a Corps of Engineers home built close to the facilities by the dam gates. We would visit often as children and it was always exciting. There was so much to explore and get into.

My older brother and younger sister and I would go to visit every fourth of July. Grandad would take us to the fireworks stand and we would shop prices till we came up with the best deal we could. The people working the stand must have been pretty patient to let us balance young bodies on our belly's on the counter of their display window for so long while we dreamed of colorful explosions in the sky above our heads.

Among all the other fireworks, we always bought firecrackers of course. We would put one under a can with the fuse sticking out and light it and run! Boom! We watched the can to see whose went higher. Sometimes we'd light them in our fingers and throw them as far as we could, but every now and then one of the fuses would be made of too-thin material and would burn too quickly for us to get it out of our hand. Bang! the loud explosion right next to my right ear would ring for hours, but I barely noticed since the pounding pain in my thumb and forefinger demanded all of my attention. My porr, abused, fingers would throb with every beat of my young little heart. They would have this numb feeling when you touched them so that it felt like someone else's thumb or finger, yet at the same time the pain was so intense, you knew it was indeed yours. Nothing could help.

You would think that once would be enought to teach me not to do that again, but I am not that smart: year after year I might relive the same searing pain two or three times; each time believing I had learned some key piece of information that would keep it from happening again; each time tempting fate with those last few defective firecrackers with the thin, short fuses - I think I can do this one....Bang!! Owww!

Back in those days all the cokes ("coke" is Texan for soda pop) came in glass bottles, which, by the way, is the absolute best way to drink a coke. Each state had laws requiring that a deposit of some amount be paid on each bottle when you bought your coke - that was to encourage people to return the bottle to the store and get their money back, and to discourage people from tossing those glass bottle out on the side of the road where they would break and create pain and suffering for small children riding their bikes or shuffling their bare feet. In spite of that state mandated deposit some people, who must have had a lot more money than us, would carelessly toss their bottles out anyway, leaving a treasure trove of glass money for my brother and me to pick up on July 5th after all the partying the night before. We were up with the sun. Grandad would take us to the best places which we picked clean of any valuable item lightweight enough and small enough to fit in the trunk of the car. We would carry load after load from the car into the store, then back to the lake for another load. After a few years, other people caught on and tried to take "our" bottles, which I felt thoroughly entitle to, since it was Grandad's lake after all. But we usually got there first anyway and Grandad seemed to know where the best loot was.

One year, I think 1972, Grandad had a heart attack. His doctor made him quit smoking and gave him a medical retirement. He was 62 in 1972, and he did quit smoking. He lived to be 91 years old I believe, and I preached his funeral. I miss him. After he retired the Army Corps of Engineers made him move out of the house up on the hill overlooking the lake. I miss that house too. They built a pavillion over the foundation for the old house; just poured the new one right over the old one. I can still go there and see the trees and flowers he planted, the grass he tended; and look down the hill at the water. It is nostalgic, but not pleasurable - it just makes me more aware of what is gone. And what all else is going.

I hope my children have memories like those. Not the same ones, but something just as meaningful; something that makes your eye sting when you think about it for a while.

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post. My wife graduated from Abilene Christian University and is about to finish her first year of teaching. My son graduated from high school and has just complete his first year at ACU. My daughter just received the MVP award for her Cross Country efforts this year and my youngest daughter also received three awards today, one for Academic Acheivement, one for Music, and one for Art.

It was tough for my sweet wife, having lost her mother last November and dealing with her school-childrens' parents, but she has had a strong finish. She has blessed all her students - they did exceptionally well on their measurements testing.

Perhaps I will do a better job posting regularly.

You should have seen my girl run Thursday in the mile-and-a-half. Like a gazelle she tore up the track and took first place. Ah, she was smooth and fast. Wow!

I spoke with a friend today who recently asked a group of college students in Nebraska if any of them had ever sheared a sheep...not one had. He asked if any had ever held a sheep, touched a sheep - none had. So how are they supposed to have a realistic understanding of the biblical metaphore for sheep and shepherds? He advocated the term "coach" for shepherd. Now there's a word my daughter can understand. And one I better understand too.

My daughter looks to me for support and encouragement. When I give her instruction, I must be careful of her perception. I never want to dash her. I always want her to know that I believe in her. I want to be her good coach.

You may have to wait a long time, but there's more. Don

I love this time of year, but I am a little conflicted by the trappings that seem so tightly woven into our celebration. I saw a picture in the news of a lawn decoration - a blood-spattered Santa holding a dismembered doll head. The family said they were merely lamenting the consumerization of Christmas. We have created a day of desires, fulfilled for some and wanting for others. For me, I feel pressure, from inside myself, to be more generous than I should or am responsibly able.

But before the creation of the universe God planned His perfect gift. He planned a blood sacrifice that could pay our sin debt. He spent several millenia introducing Himself to us in a way that would explain the gift He had planned. He purchased His people from Egypt, from Babylonia, from Assyria. He sent messengers to call His people back to Him and to prophecy the Redeeming Messiah.

One day He gave us a baby; His own Son who spoke creation into existence had become flesh - just like you and me. Not simply so that He could understand the human existence, rather so that we who live the human story could see His spiritual existence we have always been intended for and follow Him.

Christmas is a celebration of God's precious gift to humankind - His only Son, Jesus, our only Savior and Redeemer. He laid down His life for you and for me that we may also be God's children, born by His Spirit into His inheritance.

God's generous love is beyond compare. Let us celebrate His wondrous gift and praise the Son for all we have received from Him!

Let us meagerly emulate God's character by giving of ourselves to others. Let us not over-extend our wallets, but let us extend our hearts and our hands. Let us give what is most important of ourselves as a reflection of Jesus' gift.

Why should I worry about some shed that my neighbor needs? I can be happy he has what he needs. I can be happy I have what I need. I can give to others whatever I am able so they can have what they need.



I have to admit, that does goes against my nature often. It takes attention, since I am so selfish. My first instinct is most often self absorbed. And attention is no promise of success, since I often persist in self centeredness.

God help me to learn from you. To be more like you. To be more consistent in my attempts. Thank you that your gift is always consistent, though I am not.

Wait...there's more

There is nothing we have that we have not received. Every good and perfect gift comes from above flowing down from the Father of lights. I live in a house I did not build - I only share ownership (with the bank). When I turn on the water I rarely think about those men and women who built the infrastructure we enjoy. Drive over a bridge - where did it come from? And how many do I pass over every day? Who designed the technology that your computer is built upon? Man, I couldn't begin to pay for all the ideas that affect my life every day. And that doesn't even start to mention the natural and spiritual world surrounding us that we either mostly take for granted or simply don't notice at all.

I would like to be more aware of - and grateful for - all that I have received.

I have new neighbors. I am grateful for them - I anticipate a good relationship. The previous owner had given me the storage shed in the back yard, however it was not possible to get it before the new owner moved in. When I brought it up as they began to move their possessions in, he replied, "Yeah, she said something about that before...I thought it came with the house."

Alright, apparently he knew from the previous owner that it didn't belong to him, but he had seen it back there and thought how he could use it...and he wanted it.

What should I do? This is my new neighbor, I want things to go well.

Wait...there's more,

Don

My dad used to tell me the road to Hell is paved with good intentions when I said things like, "Well, I meant to..."

I intend to post at least 4 days a week, but I see I am missing a few LOL. I hope I am not paving a road. I seem to not be able to think of things to write that are worth placing here.

I am excited about some friends' involvement in the Organic Church Movement (?). They want to plant house churches all over the place. A group of people are meeting weekly to encourage one another in this ministry. And, I think they have already started a new house church in the home of a new Christian. I am praying for their success.

One thing that was said at their meeting which I truly appreciated was the idea that when Jesus said, "The fields are ripe for harvest. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest field." He wasn't telling us we need to ask God to provide more people to reach out to. And, by the way, I often do ask God to lead me to someone - to open my eyes to see the opportunities to help others to know Jesus' salvation. But Jesus was telling us to pray that God would provide workers for the harvest.

Let us pray that God will equip and gift people for that. And as we pray, let us anticipate that God is already working in our life to gift us and equip us for that very ministry. Let us have the faith that believes that God can accomplish in us, through us, whatever He places before us.

Father, may my intentions lead me into Your ways. May I trust your power to work whatever you desire in my life. May I be willing to answer your call.

Wait...there is more

How do you start a blog? Today I will begin to write some thought each day. I hope they are worthwhile for myself and anyone else who may find them.

May God bless our lives today with more of Him. May he break into our lives in unexpected ways that reveal fresh as well as familiar truths about him. May this small piece of web-estate please him.

Wait, there's more...

Don