It’s still autumn. How dare winter pay a visit so early. It’s a bit like the bank assessing your property a few weeks early before they auction off your farm. It’s 25 degrees Fahrenheit today for a high and the garden hose hooked to the house is now ice (and a hundred other things now under snow). I’m not ready. Foul, I cry. “Ha”, says winter “I’m gonna win”, and it will. Maybe fall will make a comeback but winter will win, then spring, then summer, then autumn will get a turn again, then winter will wreck another garden hose.
Dare you to shake the tree!Ironically, I salvaged most of the apples. I hear the raspberry’s cry “but…it’s still Autumn…
I can almost hear Jesus saying “ready or not, here I come” Then it will be the season of the Lord’s final victory. It makes me wonder how many of life’s garden hoses are still keeping me too busy. How many apples or people nearby are neglected and lonely? How warm is my heart under this rough exterior to melt the cold storms of life?
Life’s stakes are high. Daryl Maddens Poem hits it well.
Two voices in your head Struggle for control The loud voice of the ego The whisper of the soul….. Read more here at Daryl’s blog
It’s so human to buy a lot of ego stock for the short term and hold, sometimes into eternity, as if we can control the dividends
This morning I saw and captured a whole garden in a dew drop. Think what God can make of us when we trust Him
Instead, Invest here: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6
Think of the solid foundation from which we speak. If you believe and know Jesus, you have been forgiven, made whole, and have been made absolutely perfect (way more than a dew drop) before God. “For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” 2corinthians 5:21
I got run over by a 1600 pound steer. It’s true. Not as glamorous a story as Grandma and the reindeer but this steer was 5 times as big as any reindeer. I’m quite sure no song like “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” will come of it either. I’m OK, thanks for asking. The hooves missed me after a good head butt to send me flying and then run over the top of me.
I had agreed to drive two hours to bring a steer to market for a brother. It was an easy job. Just drive the rig, back up the trailer and let the steer out into the chute. Easy. Two experienced professionals took it from there after backing the trailer tight with the open chute door. They opened the trailer door. The steer ran out of the trailer and up the chute a few feet while the professionals closed the trailer door and shut the chute gate.
All of this looked easy. I was ready to walk away, get in the truck and drive away. As I innocently stood at the mouth of the closed gate, the big angry steer charged at one of the attendants. The steer hit the side of the chute and made an opening at the end of the gate. One moment I was standing in front of where the gate closes and the next moment, I was in front of the opening. The massive animal saw the small opening and charged right through. His big head caught me in the chest and tossed me into a perfect back flip. I landed a skidding bellyflop onto the gravel driveway. I imagined my guardian angel and a couple other angels just watching and holding up signs…they were giving me a straight 10! Then the massive steer ran over the top of me, hooves pounding on each side of my face. Thankfully no hooves mashed me. Physically speaking, I felt f.f.f.fine.
My body was sore in places where I didn’t even know I had places. Some odd memories were coming to me. I now believe those who tell about their whole life flashing before them in less than a second during a near death experience. As I was flying through the air, I remember pieces of my disjointed thoughts, “I’m never traveling to Pamplona to run with the bulls”. Something did not feel right thinking of communion in church…”this is my body broken for you…” my mind fragmented more than my body. I vividly remember dads voice saying, “this is a teachable character moment son”. Mom’s voice said “oh my!” I thought…nothing, just flashes of life and lots of accidents and “oh, this is going to hurt!”
At days end. Evaluating life might be a good thing.
Some changes have taken place. mostly in my heart and mind. living, dying, accidents or just an odd happening does so instantly. I mean, what unforeseeable accident happens slowly? I’ve been shying away from parts of my morning prayer, mostly where I pray “well Lord, what do you have for me today?” this is my version of “thy will be done” when quoting the Lord’s Prayer. I am very open to praying differently if you have other ideas. I find myself talking to God like Moses at the burning bush; “here I am Lord, please send Aaron.” I’m quite sure my default prayers should include needing more wisdom. Maybe I should think carefully about standing in front of doors that life can smash through and affect not only me but future generations. I also realized I wanted to be the kind of person the world would truly miss and God would want me to be, should the next accident that comes my way send me into eternity.
Both Dad and mom used to talk about the unseen character of one’s life. They were firm believers in using almost anything for teachable character moments in developing seven children’s worth of character growth. They used those times that came upon us suddenly to show us the kind of person we really were. When someone hits their thumb with a hammer while pounding in a nail, true character seems to show itself. When we were wrongly accused, our character was on display. When we were given too much change back after a purchase, we were sent back into the store. All of us siblings have plenty of teachable character moment stories.
With this steer incident, God got my attention. Some old song lyrics came to mind. “Nothing can happen to me today. Nothing good, nothing bad. Nothing can happen to me today without passing through the fathers hand.” So, what does it take for God to get your attention? Trust me, in life, at any time, God allows some extreme attention getters. Actually…don’t trust me. I have my own trust issues which at least partial explains God’s attempt at a teachable character moment for me. Yes, God can make something good come from a rogue steer and me standing where I shouldn’t.
Today, I will pack up the rest of the house to move 5 hours away to a foreign familiar land. The place where I grew up and lived over half of my life. The last couple months of this transition I have taken to heart Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
I had asked God for some type of sign that I really should move back home and begrudgingly put the house up for sale. 48 hours later it was sold. It’s hard to do 2 out of 3 on that one but I wanted another sign. “God, would you go ahead of us and help us to follow?” was our household prayer.
On one of my moving expeditions with a huge trailor, a rainbow double was beside the truck for an hour. I stopped at a side road and took this picture. Iroically, when we had moved with the company I worked for almost 7 years ago, a rainbow was arched over the building I would call my work place. I guess we have had several rainbows (literally) in our decision making life.
“Ok Lord, you got this..
Whenever I wish I could see around the next corner of life, I am reminded
I saw it coming out of the wind and rain. A sign. An opening in the clouds appeared.
A ray. Slim, tentative, gathering other rays. to speak through the opening. Speak to me?
Just a wordfor the dark, rainy, windy, angry day. Just a word for the good, bad, sometimes great, beautiful, gloomy, nearing the end game of life.
Just a word gathering past the finale coming from the sun. Just a word coming from the Son. God cares. He really does you know. When you notice, you can feel it inside. It’s bone deep and heart felt.
HOPE
Picture taken as the storm seemed to be abating this afternoon by GaryFultz
Big storm, small Rays, big sun (Son)
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed 2Corinthians 4:7-9
Sometimes we need the storm to notice the Son. May your clouds part, if only for a small a ray of hope. Remember where those rays come from!
Several people asked me for the music to the lyrics of the last blog (“Story of the song So Much”)so I have posted a YouTube video link here and the words under. Don’t let the strange looking old guy fool you…I’m playing the keys
SO MUCH
I remember a time, when I was so close to you
We’d sit and talk for hours upon end
And I remember thinking how you must love me
SO Much
I remember all the things we did together
I never went anywhere without you
And I remember thinking how I loved you
So Much
I remember when my friends got tired of listening to me
Cause all I ever talked about was you.
And I remember telling you, I love you
So Much
Chorus) But here I am, I’ve drifted away
I’m so sorry I must say, I’ve been living without you.
Here I am, I left long ago, and I’m out on my own
Yet I know that you love me,
So Much
Just the other day, I heard a little knock on my door
I said, go away I want to be alone.
I thought I heard a little voice whisper “I Love You
SO Much
Bridge: I listen to the echos in the chambers of my heart
