Odds and Ends

This has been a busy but very profitable week. We have gotten a lot of things accomplished and have done it in a way that hasn't been too stressful. Here are a few things of note.

There is a very silly waste of time called the "it-list". Check it out and get back with me on why you and I aren't on it.

Here are a few shots of the house site.


1-29-04 concrete footings poured

Here are a few pics from last weekend when we were at Williamson Community Church in Horatio, Arkansas.



John and Holly are sitting in front of this beautiful little old church, complete with a ringing bell, which was rung at the beginning of service. As the service began, they asked for all the CMAers who were there to sit in the tiny little choir loft. They, of course, weren't too excited about sitting in front of everyone, but as you can see by the picture, we obliged.



After a great meal we took this picture with Pastor Jimmy Roden of Williamson Community Church and Wayne Schulte of Chaplain Hometown Warriors - Mena, Arkansas. The last picture is of an interesting lady Mrs. Pettigrew who was as sassy and cantankerous a person as you will ever find. She played the piano for the beginning of the service, during which she wise-cracked and backtalked who ever was at the pulpit. She was a real sweetheart and we had a good time eating lunch with her. She said that she had been married to two husbands but was "too mean for the both of 'em".

Doodles

I have totally gotten into my new Pocket PC. Being a complete gadget junkie, this is a really cool machine. I have been doodling a little as well. Here is are some of the first scratches.

The Crazy Ones
Apple Advertisement

here’s to the crazy ones.
the misfits.
the rebels.
the troublemakers.
the round pegs in the square holes.
the ones who see things differently.
they’re not fond of rules.
and they have no respect for the status quo.
you can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
about the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
because they change things.
they invent. they imagine. they heal.
they explore. they create. they inspire.
they push the human race forward.
maybe they have to be crazy.
how else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
we make tools for these kinds of people.
while some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Recent Pics

Here are few recent pictures of things going on with us.



These are images of the new house. Footings were dug today.




Her shirt says "cute"...What else could it say? (proud daddy talking.)

A Lament
Bess Powell

There are many forms of loss: divorce, illness, sudden change. 33 years ago, a few days before Christmas, I lost my youngest son, age 6, in a shotgun accident at our home. I loved this little boy more than life itself. I was more than devastated and in my grief I pushed everyone away and stuffed my feelings for years.

In a discipleship class I am currently involved in at a local church, our instructor asked each of us to write a lament and this is what I wrote.

Oh Lord, my soul called out for you,
My heart hurts with no relief.
My anger was hidden deep within me,
Blame was alive.

Death would have been welcomed.
I was at a place with no answers, no solutions.
Then one day you took me to a place of relief,
In the mire of alcoholism and codependency.

Codependency, what in the world is that?
You showed me myself through the gentle hands of Al-Anon.

Where you gave me hope with the hopeless,
You gave me peace
--for the moment
--then the minute
--then the hour
--then the day.

You gave me a place of refuge from a life of struggle and heartache.
I found my place, maybe at the manger in Bethlehem or at the Cross of Calvary,
When I became willing to turn my will and my life over to the God of my understanding,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns within me, as I choose each day to let Him.

He chose me. He knew me before I was ever conceived. He knew the place He had for me. And He made a way for me in the desert.

~Bess and her husband Harlan, are amazing loving servants of the Kingdom of God and part of our new CMA family. Bess shared this at a Christmas event and I was very moved. I asked her to send me a copy and she kindly obliged.

Empty

The other day I was walking around Iron Mountain and saw where they had cut down some trees. What I saw caught my attention, for what reason I do not know. I saw this tree that was just cut down laying right by it's stump and both were hollow. I looked at the tree on the ground and at the other trees in the area and a thought ran through my head. This tree looked great until it was cut down.



It was only after the tree was cut down that you could see it was rotting from the inside. A friend told me that sometimes when trees get a disease they will slowly die from the center of their trunk out. The tree was decaying inside, but the casual observer couldn't see any evidence of it from the outside.

I wonder how true a metaphor this dying tree is for our own lives. Here are some thoughts I had about this image: Many times we hide the corruption that lurks at our own center, because outwardly our roots go deep and our branches stretch high. I was also struck by the ease one could hide a hollow soul. What things start the 'hollowing out' process in my life? What do you think of this image? Does it make any ideas come into your mind?

Remember what David says comparing the godly to trees in Psalm 1?

Instead you thrill to GOD'S Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You're a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.

"If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water." John 4:10

If I ever really pause for a few moments and reflect on who Jesus is and why he is, I really get hungry for what he has to offer. Not that I am constantly asking him for things for me to consume or enjoy, but realizing that he is the embodiment of God's generosity to me. Jesus is the picture of the mercy that I so desparately need. He is the 'living water' that my soothes my parched heart. I sometimes forget that I need to come to him broken, needy and thirsty. It is then when I can drink my fill and find what my soul thirsts for most.

I'm thirsty for what Jesus is serving.

Why do I watch this stuff?

It seems that American Idol mania is sweeping the country again, and I have to admit that I have watched, sometimes with great enjoyment, Simon completely destroy some contestants. But my real feeling is this: Are these people for real? Do they really think that they have a chance or are they actors? I'm too cynical to believe it when some of the worst singers in the world get their feelings all hurt when they verbally rip them up. I mean they have to know don't they? When they say, "That's just your opinion!" to Simon, you can't tell me that they really think that what they did was good!

That's the madness of the whole thing. I get pulled into judging these people as being winners or losers. It makes me into a scary person. Why do I love seeing people, what seems to me, making complete idiots of themselves? It's enjoyable to watch that dude sing so terribly and then act like he was great and then act devastated when the judges say he isn't! Why?

Have you ever been in a church service when a singer comes up and delivers what is the worst attempt at singing you have ever heard? What do you do? I always try to sing along and smile alot and try to be supportive. In my heart though, I feel a 'Simon' coming on. I know that people don't sing for the applause of men, but have you ever wondered what it would be like if a worship service was more like American Idol with Simon Cowell as the pastor? Just a thought.

Jennifer and I watched Bowling for Columbine last night. It was, to say the least, very interesting. Understanding that the filmmaker Michael Moore is about as left as you can get, and that the conclusions that he draws may not be the ones I would end up with, I felt that it was an astounding film. I still haven't taken it all in. Far from your basic feel good movie, it is a documentary that comes off as sharply sarcastic as anything I have seen.

It is a commentary on the violence that is so prevalent in our society and a necessary investigation into the teenage culture that 'led' to the Columbine murders. (I use 'led' very loosely). Anyone who is around teens alot would agree that alot of what is presented in the film is accurate insight into how they feel, yet I couldn't agree with the message that Moore is so loudly preaching in this movie.

Yet it brings me back to a struggle of sorts with the words of Jesus. I'm sure that "peacemakers" are referencing people rather than guns. And I am also sure that "fear" is not a great place to live. Yet is Hollywood to blame? Is the Government to blame? Is war to blame? Is the American way of life to blame? Moore wants to lay the blame somewhere as many of us do. But maybe you just can't. If you can stand to watch a two hour documentary that is at times disturbing and sarcastically vicious, you should watch it and tell me what you think.

Notes from a Teacher
David Moody

Forget the media image of teens, forget the movies. Films like Thirteen are nothing but nasty adult exploitation of youth. Of course kids get into drugs and sex and violence, but I really wonder why... What do teenagers need? What do they want from you? At least these three things: that you love them, that you respect them, and that you lead them. The last is just as important as the first: teens need a firm hand a lot of the time. But if they feel your love and respect for them, if you treasure their forthrightness, they will generally trust you enough to let you guide them.

When this happens, their teen years may turn out to be the happiest of their lives. And why shouldn’t they?


To read the rest of this interesting article click here.

~What do you think of David's approach? What do teens really need? Do you have any proof for your thoughts on this important question? On the other side, how do you remember your teen years? Were they the 'happiest of your life?'