Keep knocking on the door

If you don't have a cat you may not know how smart they can be. Ours know what door knobs are and that those knobs are the key to having access to many wonderful things. Our bedroom door is usually shut so that our two indoor cats can't pounce on us in the night or breath in our face, but it too has one of those nice shiny knobs. When Toki and Coal get hungry or lonesome nothing is going to keep them from scratching at the door in their attempt to reach that knob so that they can get in and tell us of their plight. Our bedroom door has taken a beating as they banged, scratched, and tried to reach the knob to get it open.

Clarence and I think that we are smarter than cats so we were certain that we could outwit our two and get them to stop pounding on our door. Attempt number one was based on the knowledge that cats don't like water. We bought one of those long, wide storage bins that are meant to slide under the bed. We put an inch or two of water in it, and placed it across the front of the bedroom door. It took only one night to learn that this left a gap between the storage bin and the door. If a cat were really careful it could jump over the corner of the bin of water and slide into that gap to scratch at the door and make it bang loudly. 

Attempt number two: We had recently received an item which came in a box that fit very nicely between the bin and the door, filled most of the width of the door, and was at just the right height to hang a corner of it on the doorknob.  Ta-da!!!  That should do it.  That night we discovered that there was just enough room between the bin and pantry door to the left of our bedroom door to allow a cat to snuggle into that spot and reach out to bang the box that was hanging on the doorknob.  A few days later we found another box and went for attempt three. We slid the box into the gap between the bin and the pantry door. A few nights later the cats discovered that the bin was only a few inches beyond the right hand side of the bedroom door and if they carefully stretched across the corner of the storage bin they could still bang that cardboard box and make a lot of noise. That resulted in our most recent attempt and another piece of cardboard sliding between the bin and the box in the door making it a little harder to push the box in.

There's still some scratching on the boxes that takes place but it is bearable, and the meows pleading for attention can be ignored. It does take awhile to maneuver all that stuff around the door each night, and our efforts don't result in blessed quietness, but at least the doorframe is no longer being scratched up and the boxes don't bang against the door anymore . . . most of the time.

I'm reminded of the friend in the Bible who went at midnight to ask the guy next door for bread and, after repeatedly knocking on the door and asking for food, the man who was wanting some sleep finally gave up and gave the neighbor what he wanted. This parable of Jesus is followed by the words "I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."   (Luke 11:5-13)

We humans sometimes respond because we are tired of that knocking on the door and we want the interruption to stop, but God is just the opposite. He is eagerly waiting for that knock. He will welcome us, listen to us, comfort us, laugh with us, wrap us in His loving arms. He knows what is best and is always preparing for our arrival. Our first thoughts should be to go to Him without hesitation and to trust Him with every bit of our lives.

I remember that first time that God responded to my knocking . . . or maybe He was knocking on my door . . . regardless, I went from helpless sinner to saved by grace. I'm so glad God loves me and wants to spend time with me, and He isn't barricading the door so that I can't reach him . . . . like Clarence and I do with some cats we know.

A weird way to say "I like you"

This morning I pulled into the parking lot at the university to find a car colorfully covered with post-it notes. Someone went to a lot of time and effort to choose their colors, buy the post-it notes, place them one by one in neat rows, shape the notes to the various areas, and wait for the big surprise. Things like this seem to abound on a college campus. I remember hearing about a faculty/staff who went out one day to find his VW had been moved from it's parking spot up some stairs and about 3 foot off the ground to the cafeteria loading platform. That happened before my time at the university so I'm not sure if the additional 3 foot of bars were already there, added as a safety measure, or added as a result of the car being mysteriously transported to that area.

Things like this usually aren't done because the doer dislikes the recipient, but it's more a weird way to say "Hey, we like you enough to give you something you'll never forget".  Usually these things take a lot of imagination to come up with the idea, time to do it and, unfortunately, a lot of work to undo.  When it happens the recipient is more likely saying "Why Me???" than thinking "Hey, somebody really loves me to go to all this effort" but later on in life everyone looks back at things like this with smiles, laughter and fond memories.

I got to thinking about how God sometimes sends things our way. Not practical jokes, but things unexpected none-the-less, and things that often send our thoughts to "Why Me Lord?". Illness for ourselves or a loved one, loss of a job, financial struggles, a car or house appliances that keep breaking down, the homework that the dog really did chew on and destroy, I'm sure you can add to this list from your own experiences. "Why God? Why me? Why now? This is a really weird way for you to show me that you love me!"  The truth is that God does love us. He allows things to happen so that we can grow stronger in our faith, and become more like Him.

I don't know about you, but we have many instances to which we can look back and see God's hand at work in our lives. It was hard to see Him at the time, but now we know God used those things to mold us into His image and guide us to what He had for us to do and be. Yes, He allowed something to happen, but He also stayed right there with us to help us through it. "Why Me???" I know the answer now, it was because He loves me and He wanted me to know it. He wanted me to grow stronger and be more like Him. He has given me memorable events in my past that I can look back to and say "Wow, look at what God did" - that's why me.

Wedding, Rockets and Space stuff

On the 23rd of June we went on a journey to see our granddaughter tie the knot. We were worried about the weather as the remnants of a tropical storm were off the coast of Louisiana. We ran into pretty dense rain as we left Texas on the 24th but managed to get there in plenty of time.

The wedding was beautiful and so was the bride. We enjoyed the trip there and we even managed to find the reception and got to enjoy some of that. It rained for a good bit of the afternoon but managed to quit for the evening. We didn't stay late because we had a long day the next day

Sunday was a travel day and we drove north through Louisiana, and Mississippi toward Jackson. We had to get off the Interstate finally due to traffic jams and did the last 20 miles or so on this day on winding back roads. Monday we headed north east and stopped to shop a couple of places and then we passed by the US Space and Rocket center. This is a place that I have seen on TV before but was neat up close. We didn't have time to tour the whole thing as we were on a tight schedule. So we just took a few pictures ad called it good. Here are some of what we took.

A Saturn rocket from the road

A couple of Saturn boosters from the Apollo era

A Space Shuttle but not one that flew

This would be a great place to visit but the entry was about $24 a person and we didn't really have time to do it justice so alas we cold not see it all, Maybe next time. After leaving there (Huntsville Alabama) we went Northeast again into Tennessee where we arrived at Martha's sisters house and spent the afternoon catching up on the news.  

Slow boats

Clarence & Martha on the Bayou

Last Friday we had an opportunity to go with some HPU folks kayaking on the bayou. Pecan Bayou in Brownwood is the outflow of lake Brownwood. We enjoyed it a lot. These are simple boats although as we have looked into them, there are many add on items that can make them more complicated and expensive. You can get one at Walmart for a couple of hundred dollars or you can get one from one of the specialty shops and spend several thousand. Somewhere between is where most of us are. The kayaks belonged to one of our HPU faculty and he allowed us and some of the Registrar staff to use them for a few hours.

Martha getting used to a Kayak

We paddled up the bayou about 2 miles to a small dam where we could go no further. There is another small dam below where we were and after that the bayou flows all the way to the Colorado river. Above the dam that stopped us there is another primitive park and several more miles of good paddling. We hope to try it out in the near future. There are many other sites scattered over our area that are ideal for paddling as well.

Clarence relaxing on the bayou

 Stay tuned.

Recalculating

If you have a GPS in your car you have probably heard that word many times and it probably doesn't bring pleasant memories. Usually it is because you have ignored or missed a turn that the GPS wanted you to take. Last weekend we went on a road trip and we heard it often. I am not always a good follower of instruction. We were going to a totally unfamiliar place and so I programmed the GPS so we would have important places already in memory.

We were attending our grandson's wedding and the ceremony and the reception were in different places. We arrived in the city early and tested the GPS routes to make sure it was correct. In between the 2 locations we diverted to deliver some things to my daughter. We then continued on to the reception site. All worked well in the daylight  and we returned to the hotel to get ready.

We arrived at the designated time and the ceremony went well. We had to sit around for a while to get pictures taken and when we left the church it was quite dark. We punched up the GPS destination for the reception and tried to follow the instructions. After we arrived at the wrong destination we realized that the GPS had reinserted the intermediate destination from the afternoon. We tried again and it looked like it was working but then we heard "recalculating" and immediately knew that we had missed a turn. All efforts to correct the problem just made it worse. We were on a cloverleaf intersection on Interstate 10 and it would not let us off. We must have gone around 4 or more times before we finally got off and were able to make it back to our  hotel. By this time it was very late for us so we missed the reception, but it did set us thinking;

What do you rely on as a guide? In life there are lots of voices out there, all wanting to lead us to where we think we want to go, but they aren't always reliable. But there is a guide that is reliable and will never fail us and that is the Bible. When we rely on it to illuminate and direct our path we can avoid stumbling or getting lost. God's word is always true and faithful.

It was just a little error

It happened this morning during the opening praise and worship song. The band played and the congregation started singing. The second phrase, which was supposed to be "Join with the Heavens", was missing one little, tiny, small thing - the "n" in the word Heavens. The new phrase was "Join with the Heaves".  Needless to say (but I'm going to anyway) at that moment I cracked up. I turned to Clarence only to find that he was struggling to hold in the mirth as well. Those around us who happened to miss the error in spelling must have wondered what had struck us as so funny. I don't know about others, but I smiled through the first few songs - the music team was undoubtedly pleased to see such a happy countenance in the midst of worship and praise. 

I've got to be honest though and tell you that, for my part, all semblance of praise and worship was gone because I couldn't stop thinking about how funny that was. It was one little error but it took my mind and heart away from what I was supposed to be doing, praising and worshiping our great God.  It makes me think about my life  - just a small sin, nothing big, but no matter how little it might be it takes me away from what I am supposed to be doing. Because of that one small sin my relationship with God is shattered. I can't love him the way I should, or worship him, or praise him, or serve him, or come to him in prayer with anything less than repentance and asking forgiveness. Isn't it great that when we choose to come back to God and admit our guilt, no matter how big or small the sin might have been, he wraps us in his arms and holds us so close we not only hear it, but we can feel his deep, joyful laughter - this time not because something funny happened, but because something wonderful has happened and he is glad to have us home.

Luke 15:7  "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

It happened to me!

I've been telling my friends for years that someday I was going to win Publisher Clearing House. Well, it finally happened and a few days ago my check arrived in the mail. Wow, what a surprise. I enter often but never thought in a million years that it would truly happen to me. Now, I don't recommend that you enter these contests and then go off and spend the money before you actually have it, that could be disastrous, but do keep entering.  Just don't make any big plans.  Yes I won, but most people don't, so be careful about where your focus is.

That reminds me of this week's Life Connection class which is about the rich young ruler who was obeying all the commandments, and being as "good" as he could on his own, but he knew that something was still lacking in his life. When he asked Jesus "What else? What do I still lack?" Jesus looked at his heart and told him what he saw. . . the thing in which he found his purpose, the thing that he was trusting in and leaning on, the item that he was putting before God.  Jesus said "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)  Sadly, he didn't rush off to do what Jesus told him, he went away in sorrow because he had great possessions and he didn't want to let go of them.

It doesn't take a big bank account to put something before God - in other words, you don't have to be rich to make the same mistake as the rich young ruler. I have a lot of stuff. Is there anything that I'm putting before God? I've got time as well, just as much as everyone else, am I being selfish with my time?  If my response is yes to either of those then I'm no better than the rich young ruler unless I am willing to let go of whatever it is and focus on my heavenly father. How about you? What are you hanging onto that God wants to take out of your hand?  If we would always remember that our treasure is not here on this earth, but it awaits us in Heaven, then we'd be a lot happier and a lot quicker to let go and allow God to use us and our stuff to glorify himself.

So, back to my check. I had told the ladies at work that if I ever won PCH then I would gladly share with them, though fortunately I never did set an amount or a percentage that I would be willing to share. When I made my grand announcement they quickly reminded me of my promise. "Did I say that????" Well, I do like to keep my promises if I can, so sometime next week I'm headed to work with a box of donuts . . . don't get that look on your face that says I'm a real cheapskate, after all I didn't say how much I would share did I?

OK, it's time to confess, with buying a box of donuts I'm sharing 100% of my check, in fact I'm kicking in a few dollars of my own because that $5.00 just doesn't cover the whole cost. Hey, it was a real cashable check from PCH.  It wasn't the big one, but you've got to start somewhere! I'm going to keep entering so I'll have more to give away . . . hmmmm, or maybe I should just start with some of that other stuff that I mentioned before and that I already have . . . 

Death by Chocolate

We've got a new database at work and things have been tough lately. I've been going early and staying late. Tuesday was a beautiful 70 degree day so I went to the store during my lunch break and bought a pint of ice cream called "Death by Chocolate".  I took my ice cream, along with a good book, and sat out in the sunshine for a little while. Ah, what a stress reducer.

OK, I can already see some of you letting your jaw drop because I ate a whole pint of ice cream. Let's look at this realistically. A medium shake at Whataburger has as many calories as my pint of ice cream, and I didn't have a hamburger and fries with that . . . I'll bet you would have.  And mine was wonderful, solid ice cream without the added milk and air bubbles, just ice cream melting in my mouth and tasting wonderful . . . chocolate with chunks of brownie or something, and a few nuts tossed in there, mmmmm, mmmmmm good.  If my time has come to go, death by chocolate might be my method of choice, and I would certainly have a smile on my face as I left this earth.

No spiritual thoughts in this blog, I just wanted to see if I could make your mouth water. Did I?