Friday 29 May 2009

" I do!" or "Yes Dear!" ?


Tomorrow, Saturday mama and I renew our wedding vows. She has always been my best friend since we met in 1963. Our family and some of our extended family are planning to attend.

The pastor who married us 44 years ago was going to participate in the renewing ceremony but has other commitments and has serious health issues. Please pray for "Pastor Joe".

Tonight, Friday I wanted to renew my Bachelor Party, but mama says no !- "Yes Dear!"

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Reaching new heights

This is a new "climbing tower" with two walls to climb and a 'zip line' that goes several hundred feet - from the top of the tower. The tower is located approximately 50 yards from Papa's front yard. Mama is excited about riding the zip line one day.

On Monday probably over a hundred people rode the zip line and several more climbed the walls. Each person was in a safety harness that took part. Staff are trained to ensure that each person is participating safely.

I watched as a young boy, maybe 7 or 8, began his climb up the staircase inside the tower. He was already in the harness and had to climb the tower by himself. Several family members and many onlookers shouted encouraging words as he began his climb. Once he got to the top of the tower, everyone cheered! Then a man at the top of the tower snapped him into the zip line - gave him a few words of instruction, and then asked him to step off the edge - oh my! I could see apprehension on his face - but he trusted the man at the top of the tower and he could hear the voices of encouragement below. Soooo - he stepped off and had a ride of a lifetime! When he stopped and unhooked from the zip line, his face was beaming.

How are you doing with the tough climbs you are facing? Don't you hear the voices of encouragement? Are you trusting the Masters voice when He speaks and asks you to take a step into the unknown. If you don't obey, you may miss that ride of a lifetime He has for you.

Sunday 24 May 2009

High School Alumni Banquet

Memories! Good ole memories! The picture is of my brother and I, probably taken around 1953. Papa is the one with his hands crossed standing up.
Last night (Saturday) Papa and mama attended Papa's High School Annual Alumni Banquet. My class, 1961, had 10 attendee's at the banquet from the original class. As I looked over the group that was in attendance of my class, I realized that all of us were in the top 20 students of our class. We shared photos and talked about the good old days.

After the banquet a group of us met at the home of one my class mates, Karen, for a time to just relax and talk about our lives and bring everyone up to date. I had never been to Karen's house so she gave papa good directions on how to get there. It was out in the country of rural northern Michigan. I knew I had the right place when I pulled in because all the vehicles had handicap license plates.

Did I mention the size of my graduating class? There were a total of 17 in my graduating class of 1961. Oh the memories gone by - oh well, still have time to make some more. Memories for papa are fun to make, I have Mama as my companion for life!

Thursday 21 May 2009

How do you like those green apples?

Today was one of those days. Before I had decided to sell Amos, my horse, I had an appointment to get his feet trimmed. Now the individual who trims and shoes horses feet is called a farrier. Today was that day - Amos got his feet trimmed. I agreed to be there and to hold him while the farrier trimmed his feet. The first three feet went fine - until the farrier got to working on that last hind foot.

Halfway through the procedure Amos decided it was time for "natures call'' and decided to give the farrier a nice pile of green apples. The farrier quickly moved, looked at Amos and said; "that wasn't necessary was it?" then Amos turned his head and looked at the farrier and then Amos let out a deep sigh with a slight whinny to it! For sure Amos felt better. The farrier pushed Amos to the side, scooped up the apples, and finished that last hoof.

Have you had days when you felt like someone had just dumped a load of green apples on your efforts. Hey, just push the apples to the side, smile and get back to work!

Monday 18 May 2009

Handling the unknown!

This is papa up on Keops - a great trail horse. Keops was 27 years old when these pictures were taken in 2006. About a year ago he passed away. Just old age -

In the picture to the left it appears Keops is trying to drink water - not so. He is troubled. He cannot tell how deep the water is, horses have a depth perception problem. Keops was a little nervous about crossing the stream and trusting the urging of a new rider, but he finally went across with the gentle urging of papa.

The other thing that helped Keops cross the stream was that there were others on the other side of the stream that had crossed ahead of us. He could see them and knew that they had crossed safely ahead of him. See the picture below.

How are you doing crossing your streams of the unknown? If you are a Christian trust Christ to lead you, learn to recognize His urgings. And remember, there are many of us who have probably crossed a similar "stream" like that and made it. They are over there, praying for you and urging you on to complete God's journey for you.

Friday 15 May 2009

I'd like you to meet Gabe!

I'd like you to meet Gabe - he is the one going into the CT Scanner. Gabe is 4 and a big boy! He never fussed, had his chin strapped down and laid perfectly still - no sedation! Thats his daddy holding a toy that Gabe could see as he went into the scanner, a major unknown for Gabe. On the other side of the scanner was Gabe's mom, he could hear her voice, she was reading a story.

Gabe was prepared for this 'unknown' - he was not afraid. He understood people were praying, but more importantly mom and dad were there, he knew that - and trusted them.

Gabe has been getting ill every couple of weeks and running high temps, the CT Scan will hopefully help solve the mysteries. Please pray for the family and stop by their blog to give an encouraging word.

We all face the unknown at times, the solution? Child like faith. Our Heavenly Father is watching over us.

Update - Thursday May 21, 2009: Gabe has a sinus infection which they will treat with antibiotics - keep him still in your prayers.

Thursday 14 May 2009

Not a good day!

Today has been a tough day for papa. I began cleaning out my locker at the stables.

Because of health reasons, I will not ride horses again - too unsafe for papa and I do not want to get hurt or hurt the horse. Sooo, I am in the process of selling Amos.

As we go through life we have to make adjustments. I am grateful for the experience of riding horses. They are magnificent animals that only God could have created.

I am going to try and focus on the blessing side of this great experience and not let this change in my life go in the wrong direction. We serve an awesome God!

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Beautiful Flowers!!!

Are these not the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen?!! The hills and fields in many areas are full of these yellow flowers.

The other day mama and papa baby sat for Sara. In the afternoon we had to meet the bus to walk another one of our grandchildren home. On the way Sara noticed the yellow flowers, abundant along the way. She stopped and picked a few and even gave papa some - what a precious gift for papa.

Papa even stuck a couple of them around his glasses - Sara thought that was funny.

Do you see God's abundance of flowers He has provided for us - or do you walk along and just see the weeds? Papa sometimes see's too many weeds and needs to be watching for the flowers.

Monday 11 May 2009

Papa's "new" toy!

This is papa's new toy - it is a Ford F150 4x4 OffRoad truck with over sized mud tires, straight thru dual exhaust and a 4.6L V8. When papa turns the key it goes Varooommm! My neighbors are impressed -shhhhh, they think its new - it is in great shape with no rust. However, it is a 1997 truck with over a 130,000 miles!

Today there are some great saints out there that are shining for Jesus. Find them, talk to them, they are a great resource - they may have a lot of miles on their lives, but they still have plenty under the hood. Mama and papa are still trying to be all that Christ intended us to be - even though we have had some hard miles along the way. We love you and pray for you! Mama just said sometimes her Varooommm is more like Sput-Sput! LOL

Friday 8 May 2009

Agrilcultural Lesson!

Mama and I saw cattle like this today! So I did some checking, because I was suspicious. Yep, these cows are the ones that produce Oreo cookies! They are bred by Nabisco Bulls and the results are packaged Oreo's. I knew it when I saw them. You believe papa don't you ??

Oh by the way, did you also know that your good works and being a good person is what gets you in heaven? Salvation, oh that is preferred, but you can just trust papa, good works will do it every time. You believe papa don't you ??

Tuesday 5 May 2009

A special blessing today!

these two people are very special friends of Papa and Mama. Today we met physically - first time.

Meet Peter and Kim - a very special couple, you see Peter is battling Leukemia - we met blogging while papa was in Florida. We have a mutual friend down there.

Peter had a bone marrow transplant, thanks to his sister - a perfect match. So far the only major problem is he is watching for feminine characteristics from his sister! LOL !!

If you can, go to Peter's blog by clicking HERE Or off my blog role. Leave him a nice note and let him know you are praying for him. After Peter and Kim left our place mama and I were upset because we did not join hands and pray! We love them and do keep them in our prayers.

Sunday 3 May 2009

Why? Please pray!

This is one of those posts that is hard for papa to do - and even harder to understand. I am requesting each of you to pray earnestly for Wendy.

Wendy is an early middle-age mom of nine children of various ages. She has opened her home to these children and many are adopted. She is a Godly woman and a great witness and testimony for Jesus. She took in these children because she believes that this is a ministry God has given her. However, it now appears Jesus wants to take Wendy home and is really testing her faith.

Wendy has a serious / terminal case of cancer - unless God works a miracle. The local medical care in this area have done all that they can do for her. I do believe this week that her parents are flying her out of the country to try a form of new medical treatment. This morning in church mom and dad were annointed for Wendy by the pastor and prayed over.

Even though I have no idea why God is allowing this, I still encourage the family to trust our Heavenly Father. He is in control of this universe - and Wendy. Thank you for praying.

UPDATE May 11, 2009: Wendy and her husband are in Mexico as I type this, looking at other treatment options. Keep them in your prayers.