thankfulness

Thank you God for Your unfailing love...

I love you too!

-r

stuff

OK...so it has been a while. I have been busy...very busy.

I had all of these thoughts running through my head that I wanted to post. I was in the shower thinking about things. Then I logged in after my shower and start perusing other people's sites...I am not sure if I remember what I was going to blog about. :)

I know one thing was this:

I was cleaning the shower before I took one. It was dirty. Very dirty. I had to scrub hard. It got me to thinking about spiritual applications. How we always try to clean up our lives...we can work hard at it, not even really noticing that we are working on it ourselves. The thing is...we don't have to. Now, don't leave just yet. I am not saying we don't need to change, that is what repentance is all about. We make a 180 degree turn. We change. For Christ. And He is the one that does the cleaning. We can't. He doesn't even have to scrub...that's power man. It also reminds me of the part in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis, where Eustace had turned into a dragon because he was so beastly, but then he changes...and that causes him to want to change. Make since? :) In comes Aslan. Takes him to peel off the dragon scales to return to his 'boy' self again. He finds something like a zipper and quickly unzips it, only to find that as he steps out, he is still a dragon. Bummer that. So he tries again...same thing. Several times until Aslan says that He needs to do it and tells Eustace to turn around. With a nice big motion of His paw, he digs the claws in and rips the scales off of Eustace. It hurts, but not for long as the scales just come apart. There is Eustace in what looks like new skin...Aslan lets him take a bath in the coolest water...it stings right at first, but then is the most refreshing bath he ever has. Good stuff....Jesus does the work, it may hurt, but not for long...as everything is as new. But at this point, you have a responsibility. Turn your life around. Do not conform to this world...not that hard really. Your priorities, your focus changes. You focus on Christ. As much as you can.

Another thing I was going to write about was something similar. I shaved tonight...the entire face. Didn't leave the goatee...I shaved my whole face. Feels weird...but it is like getting a fresh start. It's nice. I could write more, but I am tired. So I will leave it at that.

Until next time...

route 66

OK...first day of vacation this week. Boys are watching Elmo's World on Sesame Street and Mommy is at work getting her classroom ready for this year. So, the boys and I will be hanging out today. I think we are going to Sam's and run around a little bit. Just boys stuff...

I wanted to share these pics since I took them, just haven't had the chance. I took them on the way back from Edmond, OK one night on our way back home from the in-laws. There is history here. First is the Round Barn in Arcadia. Then just outside of Arcadia is a sign I took a picture of...it basically says it was the east boundary of the land run of 1889 in Oklahoma. History...cool stuff.

I'm off to get the boys ready for the day with Daddy!

-R

era

It was the end of an era this evening...ok, only about 4 to 5 years, but still.
We had to cut this tree:

Down to this:

Sad...but it was growing out of control...the roots were starting to go down the side of the house into the backyard. Not good.

So farewell ol' tree...your branches won't keep me up at night because the wind is blowing them up against the guttering. :)

rudeness

OK...as a follower of Christ I need to love people. All people...not just some, but all. But, man, that is so hard sometimes.
Let's take yesterday for example. We go to Jason's Deli for lunch...and so does half of the city. OK, maybe not half of the city, but at least a lot of people from some tennis tournament. I am not sure if it was a tournament for tennis or a bunch of tennis players at a tournament on being rude and selfish. No excuse me here...no hello there. Just constantly pushing, standing around and stepping in front of everyone else just to get taken care of.
Is it me? Am I the one being selfish when I think the people are being rude because they are cutting me off to get something and not saying excuse me or anything? I mean, I got over it and thought...hmmm...there is a lesson to be learned here. Patience maybe? Not sure...
I do know this. Most of these people are hurting inside. I am to be their light, their example of Jesus. And I fail at that a lot. I just pray that I can do better.
When people are rude to me...just smile. Think about the fact that they could be dealing with things that I am unaware of...that I could never know. But...being there with a smile...a hello...just sharing happiness, maybe they will remember that. Maybe they will ask why I am happy...why I have the joy I have.
Next time I am surrounded by the rudeness...I pray that I reflect Jesus and not get irritated. He wouldn't have.

-R

eotw

It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine.

Israel defending itself...as it should. The US being criticized for standing behind Israel for defending itself...typical. The French cowering in the corner crying because Israel defended itself...predictable. Iran & Syria behind the Hezbollah actions...more than likely.

But, lest we forget...North Korea. China saying, well we don't think they should fire missiles, but they have the right...wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Me? I just keep singing...

It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine. :)

time

So...wow...where does the time go? Been twenty days since I last blogged. You would think I would have more to talk about than that...well, you are right. Just don't have the time to do it as I would like. :)

Here are a couple of things that have been rolling in my head/caught my eye/made me go: hmmmm.

Started reading a little Thoreau. Walden. These two blurbs caught my eye:

Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. Actually, the laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day; he cannot afford to sustain the manliest relations to men; his labor would be depreciated in the market. He has no time to be anything but a machine. How can he remember well his ignorance — which his growth requires — who has so often to use his knowledge?

I like that last line. We work so hard to stay ahead that we can't learn from our own ignorance or mistakes...next line, I am sure you have heard this one:

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.

How profound is that statement today? And this was written back in the mid-1800's. I know...nothing is new under the sun...read Ecclesiastes 1...oh here:

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

Although, I have not read Walden in its entirety yet, I agree with him on those points to an extent, but. There is always a but, isn't there? :) From what I have read regarding this work, he seems to go to extremes on his points, so I will be anxious to see what else he states in the writing. I do believe we make ourselves too busy at times though.

OK...what else have I seen that caught my eye? Ah, yes...I get an email every Monday Morning from Roy Williams from Wizard Academy and he had this to say a week or so ago:

"You can be anything you want to be," was once the anthem of America. But we seem to have twisted that sunlit dream into a shriveled demon that whispers, "Hurry, hurry, hurry and you can be everything you want to be." Too much to do, too little time. Tossed and turned by a too-much world, we're as tired as a termite in a yo-yo. And all along, we were just trying to find our way home. "Why am I here? What is my purpose? Who are my people? Where is my tribe?"

Another issue of being busy...are we seeing a theme here? Too busy for this...too busy for that...too busy, too busy, too busy.

And yet, I have found the time to post this blog. :)

Food for thought. Enjoy your day. Give God thanks that you even have the day, for He is the one who controls the days you get. What will you do with it?

pilgrimage

Studying the book of Genesis in the Bible right now...starting to wrap it up actually. Last night I went over the death of Jacob and his blessing of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Before that it talked about the meeting between Pharaoh and Jacob. When Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was, he said, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers." (Gen. 47:9)
Pilgrimage. Another word for life. Just a thought...

This life is a pilgrimage...a pilgrimage to our home. You see, I am not a citizen of this world any longer, ever since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I am now a citizen of heaven. A son of the King. ("But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"...Phillipians 3:20)

What is the purpose of my pilgrimage? To be more like Christ. And how is this for encouragement in that process?:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

I need that encouragement often...because I feel that I fail often. I am not saying I walk around moping that I fail...Jesus came to give me life, abundant life (John 10:10)...not a desolate, always grieving, always in despair life. His grace is sufficient...it's a hard thing to wrap my mind around sometimes and, yet, so easy a concept.

Random thoughts...started by one word. Pilgrimage. How can I make my pilgrimage more meaningful for my boys? What spiritual legacy will I leave them? I pray that it is a process that benefits them and helps them on their pilgrimage.

golf

Golf is a brutal sport. Brutal in the fact that I cannot defeat it. :) I do love to get out there on the course and play a round when I can though. David and I played Thursday...a guy named Scott joined us and played the course with us. We were at White Hawk in Bixby. Good time had by all, but man do I stink at golf! Except for the 16th hole...I actually made par on that hole. The rest of them though...not so good. Bogey, double bogey...triple bogey. Just call me Humphrey. Scott did give me a couple of pointers in my grip of the club...corrected my hitting the ball to the right, especially my PW. Now I have to work on my aim...after playing a while and standing to correct your errors, when you actually correct them in the proper manner, you have to modify your game.
I wish I could play more...I would probably get better. Practice makes perfect, right? Maybe I can head out to the driving range more often this season. I need to do something.

Rain...can you say, rain? Lots of it. You see, here in Oklahoma, we have been in a drought lately. Serious drought. We have been in a Fire Alert/Burn Ban for the past couple of months it has been so dry. Well...I think all of that is changing. Yesterday we received about 1.2 inches of rain...today, I would say about the same of not more. Ponca City has been worse...yesterday they got 3.2 I believe and still getting more today. We did need it, that's for sure. The ground has been so dry though, that the rain is not soaking into the ground as fast as it is falling. Which causes some flooding in the streets and creeks. But, I think it is getting in the ground fairly well right now though...we still have standing water, but the ground is lapping it up as quick as it can...you can already see things turning green again...pretty cool.

Kids. What can you say about the kids, I say to myself. I just got out of their room telling them to take a nap. Don't know if they are going to though. They are so wound up. We bought them new baseball hats today...Evan got a Sooners one and Ethan got a Pokes one. Uncle D will be so proud. Of Ethan's hat that is. So, of course, they wanted to wear them to bed for their nap. Nothing doing we said...you can have them back when you get up. Now I think they are thinking...hmmm...get them back after nap, huh? Let's just not take one...yeah. We get the hats back, everyone's happy. They are getting crazier everyday I think.
It is pretty cool though, how they are growing up. New challenges daily though...with discipline and how to handle things. We have to start thinking about getting that thumb out of Ethan's mouth. He doesn't have it in there constantly, but too much I think. If I say something to him about his thumb being in his mouth, he will take it out for a second, but then Evan will stick his thumb in his mouth and then I look back at Ethan and his is back in too. See what I mean...crazier. But, it is getting more fun to interact with them though. The other say we let them try something called 'Veggy Booty'. Some kind of weird rice cake type chips with seaweed and other nasty stuff...but healthier than Cheetos. :) They liked them. They thought since I picked them up for them that they were daddy's chips. So when Ethan wanted more...he said he wanted more Daddy's booty. Great. Tell that one to the neighbors. I want Daddy's booty...that will go over real well. The life and times of 2 year old twins. Interesting. Never boring.

I gave in the other day at the store. Couldn't help it. There they were. On sale. Taunting me. Winking at me in their blue packaging. I couldn't resist...2 for $4. That's a deal brother. So I grabbed a package...I thought that it was better to get just one at $2 than to get two at 50lbs, if you know what I am singing. But, I did it. I bought the bag of Oreos. I had the intention of taking them to work because I wouldn't eat them all at once there. Just a few here and there when I was in the office. I even put them in my car to keep them out of my house. That didn't work. Last night, I heard them. The sirens' song of the Oreo's. Circe warned Homer, but no one warned me. I went to the car and there they were again in all of their chocolatey beauty. Of course, my wife had to have a few since I brought them in. I didn't think she was happy with me at that moment...dangling that chocolatey goodness in front of her. But, it happened. I opened the bag. We ate half of the bag of Oreo's. In one sitting. Me more so than her. They were good. Very good. But now I remember why we don't buy them at the store. I will eat them if they are in the house. Quickly. As if they will never make more. I need to join OA. "Hi. My name is Ray. I am an Oreoholic."

-R

religion/faith

Two posts in one day. Of course, it is the first day.

There are many thoughts that go through my head regarding the title of this blog. Religion...faith...not the same thing though. Muddy waters. Purify. Clarification. That is what it needs I believe.

Religion is just that...religion. Man's attempt at faith maybe? Mucking up what Christ had in store for us? Let's look at the Merriam Webster definition, shall we:
1 a : the state of a religious b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Hmmm...doesn't seem that bad, does it? But, I think man in his ardorous search for God, spiritual wisdom, meaning or what have you...is missing the point. I think the only place to look is the scriptures, the Word of God. Of course, that assumes you believe that the Bible is the Word of God...the 'God-breathed' scriptures, good for correction, for teaching. And, yes, I believe that it is God-breathed, God-inspired, whatever term you want to use. No other book like it. 40 authors, yet still the same theme in the entire book. God's redemption for mankind. Even with all of the translations, passing down of the scriptures throughout time, it is still reliable. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, after examination/scrutinization and comparing to known original Hebrew Masoretic texts...they found only 17 'letters' that were different. Most were spellings, a few were a matter of usage or style, and only one word was completely different...and the meaning of the text was not changed. The Bible itself testifies to its reliability. OK...how did I get off on that...this was supposed to be about faith and religion.

Anyway...religion is an (according to the above definition) institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Practices the word I focus on here. The whole point about God's grace to us, is just that. Grace. Nothing we can do can ensure our redemption. That is based on works, not faith. Only belief in Christ as the Messiah and the acceptance of His death on a cross and His resurrection, can we 'attain' God's grace and redemption. Here is a couple of verses on this subject from the Apostle Paul:

Galatians 2:21 (NLT)
I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Galatians 5:4 (NLT)
For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.

But, does that mean, we don't need to worry about our actions? Nope...some more references:

Romans 6:14-15 (NLT)
Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God's grace. So since God's grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

James 2:17-18 (NLT) So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds."

Faith will cause good deeds...not the other way around. It's a topic that will forever be discussed until the end of this world, I am sure. I just have these thoughts going through my head...therefore, the blog. So...of course, I think faith is the key here. Not religion or works. The 'works' come through faith. Blog, blog, blog...reading back through this, not sure I made my point...but just working through some thoughts.

Time for eats.

-R

genesis

This is the first post to my blog, therefore genesis. Creative huh?

I had a day off entirely to myself today...no cell phone, no obligations (except those that are in my head), no precise plans. What to do, what to do? Start a blog, I says...get some thoughts off the ol' noggin. Always been wanting to do it, never have...perfect day for it.

So, I am sitting at my favorite coffee place, Doubleshot Coffee Company, blogging. Nice. Music playing in the background, listening to Jason (the guy behind the counter) talking about a coffee press for your home with a customer. I think my next coffee purchase is a French Press. Nothing like a great cup of coffee in my book. Especially if you can actually sit down and enjoy it and not be on the run. So, speaking of Doubleshot Coffee Company...let me put my voice out there in the growing controversy/situation surrounding this outstanding coffee shop. Seems Starbucks feels a little offended about Brian's (the owner) choice of a company name. They say it is a copyright infringement on their crappy Double Shot beverage. Now, don't get me wrong...I can swallow one of those in a pinch, but to honestly look at themselves in the mirror and convince themselves that Doubleshot Coffee is infringing on their Double Shot drink is a stretch. As Brian has said (and I agree) doubleshot is an industry term for two shots of espresso, not a refrigerated beverage from Starbucks. You can read about the whole ordeal at the website, I won't reiterate it here. The short end is that Starbucks is trying to throw their weight around and trying to get him to cease and desist. Unbelievable. When I first tried Starbucks, not bad I thought. Then I tried Seattle's Best while in Seattle. Blew them away. Didn't taste like burnt beans like most Starbucks coffee. Then Starbucks bought them out...guess they felt threatened there too. At least they let them still package their coffee and roast it the way they always had I assume. But, then one day whilst reading the paper I saw where this guy had opened a coffee shop in Tulsa...and roasts the beans right there in the store. Hold me back Betty...got a try this place. And finally got to. Man...no coffee had I ever put to my lips ever tasted so good. Amazing. Hooked. Need fabulous coffee? Come to Doubleshot Coffee. Order it off their website, whatever. Stinkin' great coffee.
Again...don't get me wrong...big business has their place in the world. But, come on. He isn't even looking to expand necessarily. Just wants to make great coffee for Tulsa. I am behind him...shaking from my caffeine buzz. :)

OK...enough about that.

This blog is to get things off me noggin, right? Little thoughts that cross my mind that I think I need to write down somewhere to keep track of the things I think about from time to time. So, therefore, I will. In a minute. Off to get a refill of the quite tasty Brazil Santos Mariah. Mmmmm...coffee. Good coffee. I will be back with another post shortly.