Going to a late lunch at 'Dish' with Charlie Chuck, Terry and Lil Chuck was awesome...Lil Cruz kept everyone busy...he sure is a live wire now....
Apr 27, 2006
Apr 26, 2006
Parents Tribute......goes to Linda and Rich Perry....
Below you will see two fine young men that are a wonderful tribute to their parents....
Kyle is a very intelligent 7th grader who has a wonderful heart for people and Ty is a 4th grader who will make you laugh and love him to death....
.....Linda and Rich....we salute you....
(For those of you who 'can't remember' these boys are Matt and Britt's North Carolina brothers...and Joshua's Uncles...can you belive it?)
Sweet Simplicity....
It is certainly that time of year for me when the closets seems stuffed, the windows need cleaning, the patio needs a face lift and
It is certainly that time of year for me when the closets seems stuffed, the windows need cleaning, the patio needs a face lift and
summer becomes imminent...
Yesterday while looking for an item that I 'knew I had'
Yesterday while looking for an item that I 'knew I had'
I found that I had apparently put it 'somewhere safe'
so I wouldn't lose it -- worked out well, didn't it?
Will probably find it in mid-December.....
Made me stop and think.....what do I need 'all this stuff' for?
Years ago in our military life in Europe,
Will probably find it in mid-December.....
Made me stop and think.....what do I need 'all this stuff' for?
Years ago in our military life in Europe,
we discovered how much we could really 'do without'.
I seemed to have forgotten that lesson!
....When one has so many 'things' that one can not find the 'thing'
I seemed to have forgotten that lesson!
....When one has so many 'things' that one can not find the 'thing'
one needs when they need it....
Simply put.....One has TOO MANY things!
Oh, Lord, help me get back to the 'Sweet Simplicity' of life!!!
Simply put.....One has TOO MANY things!
Oh, Lord, help me get back to the 'Sweet Simplicity' of life!!!
Apr 22, 2006
Apr 20, 2006
How Much.....is 'Enough'?
Having lunch with my son, Chad, yesterday gave us a chance to catch up on
some of the 'things of life' around us involving family, business, dreams,
and the 'priorities of life'....
We do this periodically....kinda of a 'reality character check'....
Chad is busy with his own company and working far into the night is common for him but the rewards of his 'hard work' pays off and he
has seen many of his 'material dreams' come true...
Yet he has others.......
Our conversation boiled down to....
"How much is enough? and.....What is the actual 'cost' of having....things?
Being the avid 'reader' that I am....I found an old
philosophical type devotional from a 'sage thinker' that
addressed these same issues of life....
I will paraphrase from....Captured by Mystery by:Alvin Rogness....
........."If we must be held captive to anything....why not a flower? Why to an automobile, a mink coat, a boat, a bank acount? Among the thousands of things that we can see, touch and which constantly has the ability to 'enslave' us....why not be in 'bondage to'....a flower, a waterfall, a sunrise, a rainbow, even a thriving garden of vegetables for good health?
Poor misguided man/woman......us! Let me give you an example...'Riveted behind the steering wheel of his speeding car, eyes glued to an endless ribbon of gray concrete, he wheels by unnoticed the myriads of daffodils and roses that flank his course. Arriving at his lakeside 'dream', he makes frenzied preparation for a cruise around the lakeshore in his powerboat heedless of the blur of shoreline which hides a wonderland of color and form in a thousand tender flowers and plants... '
'Not me', you say! When was the last time you have let your eyes rest upon a flaming sunset or scanned the wonders of the stars! Who among us has last caressed the pedals of a flower or given our ear to the symphony of sound as the birds greet the arrival of a spring morn? We gape in awe at a skyscraper and remain oblivious to the majestic sweep of the lavish handiwork of God's beautiful nature.
Is it not Enough?
Apr 19, 2006
Apr 18, 2006
Apr 16, 2006
Apr 15, 2006
Dear Ones:
Please forgive me for 'recycling' a blog that I wrote three Easter's ago....
It is so relevant to now and the Joy of Life this Easter season 2006....
Anyone that knows me....knows that I can be...plain, down-right silly at times....
I am known for ‘making a fool’ of myself with children and also those
that are young at heart.
One day I asked a missionary friend what she thought
the five most important ingredients were to being a quality human being.
After a long, thoughtful pause, she said,“Humor, love, responsibility, courage, and humor.”
I tried to tell her that she had already said humor...
but she quickly informed me that she meant exactly what she had said.
Her explanations were this....
’Humor has the wonderful ability to break life up into little pieces and make it livable.
Laughter gives richness, texture, and color to an otherwise ordinary day.
It is a gift, a choice, a discipline, and also.....an art.”
Smiling from ear to ear she exclaimed...”I enjoy laughing.
I believe that laughter is a sacred sound to our God.
I also believe that it has an incredible capacity to heal
our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.
”What a wonderful relief to know that she had so aptly
described my own personal philosophy of life.
I, too, feel the same.She made me feel......normal!
Then I read the Biblical application of this and said....“Hallelujah!”
Job 8:21....’He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of JOY.’
Apr 14, 2006
Apr 13, 2006
A "Miracle" is.....Common!
With seven loaves of bread and a few small fish....
Jesus fed four thousand people, and still
had seven baskets of food left over!
We call this a.....Miracle!
Certainly it was....unusual.
But it is NOT only the unusual that is miraculous.
It is usual for you, I, and others to rise each morning with
strength enough to put on clothes and go to work and about our day.
This is a repeating miracle each day.
Your heart keeps pumping, your brain keeps ticking and your lungs keep breathing -
all because an utterly strange power called...life...surges through you and I.
It's the usual thing,
but it is a miracle nonetheless!
If your heart should falter and threaten to stop,
and the doctor gives you only a 100 to 1 chance to live -
and you pray-
and health surges back like a tide-
this you would call a....miracle...
This extraordinary turn toward health is, however,
no greater a miracle than that your heart has kept pumping,
seventy-two beats or more a minute,
for twenty, thirty years, fifty years, eighty years or more....
Let us live each day in the
Wonder and Awe
of a loving God who gives us life here now, 2006....
and in heaven hereafter.....forever!
With God nothing is impossible!
This is the rock of faith on which we live and work.
The routine gifts given day by day are His Work.
The sun that shines and the rose that blooms are the
wonder-works of His Hands.
But there are greater miracles still, silent and unseen.
He has created us to live with Him.....
on this earth and in....Heaven....
Heaven is the home of God, and of ALL who are HIS!
Easter and the 'event of the resurrection'
is too big for mere words....
"Christ is Risen....Because He lives,
You too shall live"....
People are 'Captured By The Mystery'
of these words....
Easter brings a fullness of life surging through our faith and
creates an experience of the heart
which makes us grateful to be......ALIVE!
Even the birds 'feel' Easter....just listen to their symphony of joy....
God does not expect us to sing hymns ALL DAY though.
He has created and designed a special ritual of thanksgiving
here upon the earth
that transcends mere words....
To LOVE and HELP and SERVE our brothers and sisters in need ~
this is the language of thanks which He calls us to use.
Easter makes us 'glad to be alive' and speak the language of
gratitude and love, out of a Heart of God,
It bursts through our being as a surge of miraculous power
and we exclaim with utter joy.....
"It IS A Good Life!".....
Happy "Joy-Filled" Easter You'll!
Hallelujah!
Apr 10, 2006
Sam & Sally visited us from Pier 33 in Okeechobee...we went on a 'whirlwind' tour of the Tampa, St.Pete, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs area and walked down memory lane of the old Florida versus the 'Reality of Now, Florida'....beauty still abounds as this tile mural reflects in Ybor City....Some beauty remains only in our memory as the New Florida emerges among the ashes of the past...
Apr 3, 2006
Que Pasa?....i.e.What's Happening?
While traveling on the Gandy Bridge last week, I was caught in the traffic of a bridge mishap which stalled traffic for hours.
Since I was headed to MacDill AFB for a 2:00 p.m. appointment,
time was of the essence....
time was of the essence....
Upon talking to a police officer who informed us that there could be no movement until it was proven that the infrastructure was stabilized enough for removal safety.....all we could do was .....wait.
I was the tenth car, west bound and almost off bridge on Tampa side when incident occurred...seems that a tug carrying a large petroleum barge had its cable break and the wind blew it off course into the concrete supports of the Gandy Bridge...
Coast Guard boats arrived, helicopter support responded, divers and infrastructure professionals quickly arrived on the scene...
What intrigued me profoundly is the fact that as we 'stranded' got out of our cars, trucks, etc., everyone seemed to be on a cell phone contacting someone about their 'dilemma'...
Reaching out to the other people in our lives,
I was the tenth car, west bound and almost off bridge on Tampa side when incident occurred...seems that a tug carrying a large petroleum barge had its cable break and the wind blew it off course into the concrete supports of the Gandy Bridge...
Coast Guard boats arrived, helicopter support responded, divers and infrastructure professionals quickly arrived on the scene...
What intrigued me profoundly is the fact that as we 'stranded' got out of our cars, trucks, etc., everyone seemed to be on a cell phone contacting someone about their 'dilemma'...
Reaching out to the other people in our lives,
in an emergency is a human 'reflex' action...
cell phones enable this at the speed of sound....
I quickly thought over the contents of my car for some kind of floating, life-saving device, in the event the bridge had been compromised and could be crumbling, sight unseen, from the surface......Praying was second nature.....
.......The logistics of turning around 7-10 miles of traffic (big trucks etc.) on the bridge and entry road was enormous. We were well taken care of and I salute all the people involved who accomplished their mission
I quickly thought over the contents of my car for some kind of floating, life-saving device, in the event the bridge had been compromised and could be crumbling, sight unseen, from the surface......Praying was second nature.....
.......The logistics of turning around 7-10 miles of traffic (big trucks etc.) on the bridge and entry road was enormous. We were well taken care of and I salute all the people involved who accomplished their mission
in an orderly and efficient way.
It will take a couple of weeks of repair, with one traffic lane open only,
It will take a couple of weeks of repair, with one traffic lane open only,
but what could have been a real disaster was simply a minor inconvenience....
in the good ole U.S.A.
Thank God for other people....who help.....other people!
Thank God for other people....who help.....other people!
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