Flower Power

Christmas Day

Here are a couple of photos of a flower under the stairs. The first one was taken on Christmas day about 4:30 PM and the second one on the day after Christmas about 11:30 AM. There was quite a bit of progress in just one day.

Same flower on the day after Christmas

Weed Eater 1 Snake 0

Actually it should be weed eater 2, Snake 0. A few years ago I was down here by myself and the lawn team was mowing and trimming the yard when the weed eater operator encountered a rattlesnake and the weed eater won. This week the same thing happened and again the adept operation of the weed eater defeated the rattlesnake. I am actually surprised that we don’t see more of them but that is only the second one in 12 years or so. The high tide may have played a role in driving this one out into the open. He was actually across the street near some bushes.

Christmas at the Creek

The east wall that we started with, pretty bad

We finally decided that December 20-27 would be a good week to go to the creek so we packed up and went. The weather was the warmest we have ever seen at Christmas but it was damp and foggy for a few days. The main job for this trip was to get the rest of the house painted. That is a big task and as you will see we only got some of it done. These are just a few of the pictures but they will convey the idea. Since my knee surgery I can’t get up on the ladder for any length of time so that task fell to Martha and she did a great job. The ladder is a 24 foot extension ladder and it is almost all the way extended in some of these pictures. The end result was that the east side got painted but the front and back did not. We will do them next time. Martha had done most of the west side at Thanksgiving and I finished it this trip. The temperature on Christmas day got up to the high 70’s and may have been a record. One of the pictures is of the area that will become a fish cleaning table and bait / live well. Above is what we started with and below are other related pictures.

Martha painting after 2 days of scrubbing

All Done with this side

Me working on the pier

A foggy morning at the creek

Sunset at the creek

Bethelehem's Child - A poem

Bethlehem’s Child

I’d like to tell you of Bethlehem’s child,

Born in a manger, but king all the while.

Born of a virgin a gift of love,

Given by God, in heaven above.

He came to earth to suffer and be

A sacrifice for you and me.

The shepherds came and wise men too,

To worship one they hardly knew.

Yet those of us who bear his name,

Must often bow our heads in shame,

For we’ve forgotten a gift to bring,

To Jesus who was born a KING.

A king, whose anthem around us sounds,

Whose love and peace know no bounds,

Who calls us to his side to rest,

And offers us his very best.

No peace we’ll have ‘til him we bring

To live within, to make us sing.

To bring us love, and peace and cheer,

Helping conquer every fear.

Let all of heaven’s anthems ring,

Let us praise and glory sing,

And worship him through gifts we bring,

To Bethlehem’s child who was born a King

Color tour on 11th Street

We have just returned from a tour of Texas and we saw plenty of roadside color as we went. The colder weather has accelerated the change in the colors and when we returned we found some right in our own backyard so to speak. These are in our neighbor's yard.

A couple of other pictures from two different trees.

I'm Thankful for...

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I thought I would post a word or two about the things I am thankful for. I read the story of Jesus' healing the 10 lepers in Luke 17 where only one of the 10 returns to thank Jesus for the healing. Why was that? Well probably for the same reason that we don't express gratitude for the blessings we receive.

First for loving parents; I don't think anyone had any better ones. They raised me in the admonition of the Lord and they did not spare the rod when it was needed.

Second for my wife; She is a loving helpmate in all of life. I do not know where I would be without her. Thank you Martha.

Third for my kids; They turned out pretty good in spite of my failures. I am very proud of them. Thank you Christy and Cory for just being you.

 There are more but those will suffice for now, I am sure I don't say thank you enough, like many others I take things for granted. For the future my goal will be to not allow an opportunity to pass without expressing my gratitude, it is the least I can do.

What about you?

Appropriate Response

Genesis 17:1 I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless.

As I began to prepare a lesson for Sunday, These words greeted me. "I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless". There are several things that jump out at me when I read this verse.

First God is strong and in fact he is the only God. The Hebrew word here is El Shaddai and it conveys the idea that God is more powerful than any other entity.

Second, 'walk before me' implies the idea that we are always in the presence of God. Our lives should reflect that presence in a way that others can see that we are followers of Jesus. When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and so we are always in His presence. The amplified version says walk habitually. It should come naturally. Too often, I am afraid, we fail to give God the respect he deserves as we go about life as if He doesn't exist.

Third, What does it mean to be blameless? It cannot mean moral perfection because the bible tells us that all have sinned. None of us are perfect in that sense. The word is translated elsewhere as perfect, mature, or with integrity. It is the same idea that Jesus expressed in the Sermon on the Mount when he says "You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". I think we can only accomplish that as we allow the spirit to lead us . We must make walking with God a habit, something we do because we are continually in his presence.

Notice Abram's response in verse 3, Abram fell on his face in worship. How often do we really fall on our faces in worship of a Holy God. For me I know it is seldom, what about you?