Walk on!!

Scripture: “…how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace...” Romans 10:15

When considering buying Amos, one of the very first things I looked at was his feet. A horse with problems in their feet is a serious issue. Amos’ feet are fine. There were no cracks, no open sores, well trimmed and he walked on them fine. If I am going to ride Amos any distance on a trail I want his feet to be in tip top condition. I want his feet to take me any place I want to go. When I was in my teens I had a horse whose feet went lame. I had to get off that horse and walk him home very carefully – 6 miles! Not what I had intended.

My feet need to take me where God wants me to go. - I wonder what my feet would say to me if they could talk and make spiritual conversation with me. Would they say; “Jim, why did you take me there today??” Would they be pleased with our journey? Amos’ feet are critical to him. Without the use of his feet he cannot go anywhere. Fortunately for you and I, even if we have lost mobility because of a foot problem, we can still make a spiritual journey each day. How was your journey yesterday? Why not look down at your feet and say, “were you proud of me yesterday?” Maybe today you can even do better.

Prayer Thought: Before I take another step Lord, help me to make sure I am going where you want me to go.

Study Hard !!

Do you have a good study Bible? If not, get one! There are many good ones out there, just make sure you have one! I loaned my ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible to a neighbor for the past two weeks and I was anxious to get it back!

The ESV Study Bible requires a wheel barrow if you plan to carry it to church! LOL !! I use to carry it in a large cloth bag, but decided against it - just too bulky. I would spread it out on the pew and go to work with my pen and highlighters!

The ESV is a "Word for Word" translation of the original texts. The NIV (New Interntaional Version) is also a great translation but is more of a "Thought for Thought" translation. Also, the NIV is up for revision in 2011. I am not a big fan of the Thompson Chain Reference as most of the study aids are in the back where as you will find most of the ESV study aids right with the scriptures. I have previously owned 3 Thompson Chain References.

The important thing, is to get into the Word - and study. Remember, try to get a good "Word for Word" translation - paraphrases are okay for general thought reading but are not the best for study applications. Just my thoughts! Now I need to go study!! I have A Sunday School lesson to prepare for that I teach. I love my Burgundy, genuine leather ESV study Bible - cost was around 60 bucks, the hardback is around 30 bucks.

God Bless!

Papa

Pay Attenton!!

Scripture: “My son, give attention to my words, Incline your ear to my sayings.” Proverbs 4:20

Do you have trouble hearing what the Lord is saying to you? I know sometimes I really do not listen well. Amos is a good listener! He relies on his ears for paying attention to what is going on around him. He can sense danger with his hearing and he can sense pleasure or anger in your voice. However, horses ears are a great visual tool for me as well.

When Amos has his ears forward he is paying attention – usually to what he is seeing directly in front of him. It is a sign of alertness and interest. Sometimes he will rotate the closest ear to you indicating he is “connecting” with you. I am constantly watching Amos’ ears. I know whether he is relaxed, paying attention to me or if something else has his attention. One other thing, Amos’ ears are a dead give away when he is angry! If he gets angry his ears will be laid back against his head. Not a good visual sign. It could be directed at me or another horse. When a horse lies back its ears be aware that they may follow up with actually attempting to bite or even kick.

Aren’t you glad that your ears don’t react to your emotions? Maybe it would be helpful at times. We would learn to stay clear of those people who had their ears laid back! We could also tell when people are listening to us. Are you a good listener?

Prayer Thought: Jesus, help me to listen to you today.

Wedding Day!!

This is probably one of my very favorite pictures. Must have been taken in about 1940. The picture is of my "Morfar" (grandfather, mothers father), My mom and my dad. This was on their wedding day. I found this picture in a photo album on or about June 19th, 2003, 63 years after it was taken. I was sitting at the table eating breakfast and looking at old photo albums that someone had dropped off. Not a real unique story until you realize that I was across the Atlantic, sitting in a home just a couple of miles from the homestead of my grandfather in Sweden.

I stopped eating, stared at the picture and realized, from other photo's who these people were. I was speechless. After looking at other pictures, I found over 20 pictures of family back in "America" that my grandfather had sent to his sister in Sweden.
I got permission to scan the photos and emailed them back to my computer in moments.

As you reflect on this story, several things should be going through your minds. How technology has changed, memories of loved ones, family ties, all kinds of thoughts. I sat there all teared up. What upset me the most is that six months before finding this photo, mom had died. Dad had died in 1980 and grandpa just a couple of years after this photo was taken. Oh how I wish I could have shared with mom what I had found.

Families are special. Our histories are amazing. You will find fun memories, heartaches and hard work. Whatever you find - build on it. Try to keep your roots in tact.

I am not going to quit!

This is a picture of Papa's truck - it would have been elgible to turn in for "Cash for Klunkers" program. It is 13 years old, gets poor gas mileage, has 135,000 miles on it and has worked hard - it has done what it was designed to do. It has every right to be retired. The problem is, I need it and I enjoy driving it! So, sorry truck you are stuck with me.

It has a nice rumbling V8 with twin straight through dual exhaust pipes, no mufflers as such - the neighbors won't let me start it before 8AM - it wakes the neighborhood up. It rumbles !! Very cool! It has a solid box to haul a good load, the neighbors like to "borrow" it. It has 4x4 drive and large oversized Mudder tires that will allow it to go about anywhere. Has a class III frame hitch that will tow more than its own weight and then some. Want this truck? Sorry its mine and I need it.

I am tired, wore out, old age is sneaking up fast and I just want to quit. But I won't. You see, my Master, Christ still wants to use me. Maybe my assignments are different that 30 years ago, but He wants to use me - And, just like my truck He likes to spend time with me as we go down life's road together. Yep, its a great life belonging to the Master.

The end of time!

A couple of years ago I woke up one morning and I could not find my watch. I always put my watch on the dresser at night but that particular morning it was not there. I wasn't too alarmed as I was sure I would find it somewhere in the house. After two days of no watch, I was puzzled - where had I put it? I searched the car, asked mama if she had seen it - it had disappeared.

As I was riding my bike around Indian Lake, which is a ride that is 12 miles long, I kept wondering where could I have put my watch? Suddenly, I began to wonder if maybe the band had broke, could the watch have fallen off and I did not notice. I decided to retrace my bike route and check. The bike ride was quite routine so if that was the case - maybe I would find it. Well, I did - not good. I found it in the road ran over by many a car. Destroyed. Time had ceased for that watch.

Some day - time will cease to exist. I am not talking about death. I am talking about time. No, I don't have this all figured out but I believe when God sounds that trump, time will cease to exist and we will begin a "new time". God's time table. Not sure exactly what God has planned, but I think right now I have a choice as to what I can do when time shall stop to exist as we know it. After the moment that time ceases to exist, our choices will be very limited. I'd suggest that you make the right choices now so that when you no longer can alter your choice - make sure it is right.

Can't we just get along??

I posted this picture on my facebook page a few days ago with the question what is special about this picture. I am intrigued with this picture.

These two boys played together for several days and got along just fine. They are related, but very distantly - 4th cousins. What amazes me they really can't even talk to each other. The boy in the hat, Sam, is from Sweden. Coleman is from the USA. It may be sometime before they get to see each other again.

In the picture they are watching a DVD together and as you can see they are sharing. In fact I think the DVD is probably a Disney story - in Swedish!! Amazing!!

I am angry today. Our own country can not even agree on issues. We make life so complicated. All of our branches of government are in almost total chaos and functioning minimally. We are self-centered and acting very ignorantly. We think that our national debt crisis can be solved by printing more money rather than reducing our debt - that is foolish.

We need to change - the two boys above had major differences - yet got along great. Why can't we?