Just in time

So for the last 2 days ive been busy replacing 2 rotten fence post with less rotten fence post. The fence was at about a 30 degree angle ready to fall onto the neighbors motorhome.

Now was a good time to do it since the neighbors are gone for a little bit.

Once i got the first one in the second one was easy. except dropping it down a 6 foot bank. Which another neighbor help me retrieve. Destroyed a couple of rose bushes, but i know the neighbor wont mind, they rent. And a couple of other little nusences that teach patience.

This has been on my to-do list for the last few months. And now its done. WOOHOO

So today it decided to rain.

Now its time to go back and wash walls. (or something)

Dick

The End of the World!

What follows is a simple letter to a questioning grandchild

Dear .....; After we visited today; I had time to ponder your question about the topic we were speaking of: "the end of the world". Because there are a lot of people in Christianity that think they are doing God a favor by predicting the date of the end of the world, and eventually these cause God's name to be reproached, I thought I'd explain some things to you:

At it's root, Christianity requires faith. In addition, the genuine Christian experience is spiritual and ultimately subjective. Since no man stands between God and man (like the Pope), there is a requirement that each individual come to terms with God on a simple one on one basis. Because all relationships with God are ultimately personal, and we all have differing gifts, some people feel they have special insights about different topics.

I should say here, God does speak to us through his word, and I believe he speaks to us in our heart. Like you may hear a very quiet voice that says, 'go put your arms around that little girl who's crying over there, and console her'.

However, sometimes people get very complicated and sophisticated about the Bible. Likewise, some people get very complicated about how God speaks to their heart. Actually, to the believer, living the Christian faith is as natural as laying in your father's lap, or telling your mom how much you appreciate her. Or doing our chores because it's our turn. There's nothing hard about living a life of faith.

There are a couple big words that Bible students like to use, exegesis and eisegesis. Let me explain this way: if I were to tell you, 'go to your library, and get the CS Lewis book, The Silver Chair; because you are used to your dad's scavenger hunts, and you enjoy Harry Potter, you may think, I was sending you a coded message, and you should really be looking for a silver chair! You would be 'reading into' (eisegesis) more than I was saying. But I just wanted you to read the book because it's a good one! Get it?

Exegesis, on the other hand, is reading the text of the Bible for exactly what it is meant to say; being careful not to 'read into' it more than was meant by God. This fellow Harold Camping, who's been predicting the end of the world for Saturday, finds all kinds of great Bible texts, and he is using waaaaay too much eisegesis!

Now don't get me wrong, eisegesis is not a bad thing; just a way of study that can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings. Basically, the books of Revelations, Daniel, Zechariah, and many more require a certain amount of eisegesis to make them have any sense at all........ But be very careful when you read such books, or hear any teaching on them, some of the best Bible teachers fail when they try to figure out some of God's clues.

Now here's a good rule: Rarely is prophesy used to create a 'prediction of coming events'. Instead, Bible prophecy is supposed to confirm what is happening in the present, so our hearts can rest, knowing that God is not taken by surprise- and neither are the saints that are led by his Holy Spirit. For instance, if a great earthquake hits our neighborhood (Matt.24.7), we know that we have been warned in advance, and like the Lord says, our hearts should" not be troubled". (Jn.14.27) The real test of a genuine child of God, is not that he or she is able to predict the future, or even escape it, rather, that this person trusts in God, no matter what comes their way!

Remember, Christianity is not as spooky as some make it out to be. It's many things: it's a way of life, a philosophy, a religion, etc. But at it's core, it's choosing to believe that God has provided a way for man to have peace with Him through his only son Jesus Christ. Everything that your Elders add to this central message, though sometimes important, pale in it's significance. So don't let any of this 'fringe' stuff bother you, when 'The End' starts to come close, I think we'll all know it. Grandpa

New experience

So the Dr. put Chuck on an Iron regiment for enemia (im to laxy to look up the proper spelling). Me, being the excellent reader and follower of directions that i am, screwed up.

not really, because there are two sets of directions on the package. so ill blame someone else. :)

It seems that your not suppose to use dairy products with iron. He had cod, mixed vegies and cottage cheese with a few peaches on it But before dinner i gave him his iron pills.

He ate dinner and about 2 hours later. Lets just say it didnt look the same.

I called the advice nurse after taking his vitals. which were all real good. So that led me to believe it was the iron. The advice nurse confirmed my suspision.

Well now we have his iron management is in control. I hope. He hasnt gotten sick again, yet.

ANYWAY....

I tried my hand at cooking beef liver for the first time. To tell you the truth, it smells pretty good. It may just be all the garlic i put on it.

according to him it was real good.

why...

do the tasks that seem the easiest to take on seem to turn out to be a pain?

So the occupational therapist called today and asked about Chucks fall.

We covered some bases on that topic.

Then she asked "do you have the grab bars that i ordered for him in yet?"

I replied very sheepishly,

"ahhh, no they are on my to do list."

Thank goodness that she has a sense of humor, and understands mine.

"so you dont have them in yet?"

"nope, they are sitting by the door. The same place thay have been

since they got delivered. Three weeks ago"

" so do i need to come over to give you some motivation to get them installed?"

"well, ahhh, lets see, ummm."

"ok, i will be over sometime in the next week or so."

"ok, so i guess that means i have to move that up on my to do list."

"yep."

anyway. back to my project.

i get the grab bars out and take them to the bathroom, to figure out where

they are going to go.

bad thing is that there are no studs in the wall to support the bars. I go to lowes

and get some anchor bolts that i think will work. I get home and start to install

them and break 2. so i figured out how they work and get the one bar infront of

the toilet.

NOW time for the ones on the wall next to the toilet. This wall has a pocket door in it.

OH GREAT!!

now i have to figure out what im going to do. Ah ha, take the door out.

Remove upper trim and take it out. easy, no problem.

Now i have another problem. The wall has no support if Chuck has to put any weight to it.

hmmmm.

So i make my 4th trip to lowes and get a 2x4 cut it to length. The space between the

pockets measures 1.75 inches and 2x4s are 1.5 wide. So i get a piece of lattice and

nail it to the side of the board in 4 inch sections so that They match the supports for

the pocket.

Problem is i nailed the lath below the mark that they were to go. instead of above the mark.

About this time i have way to much time on this project and im tired.

Tomorrow is a new day. I can finish this one and continue on with the previous.

Happy Mother's Day- Only God can create a mother.

Certainly, most women can bear a child. Most women can face the duties of every day life. But in my mind, a ‘mother’ is something far more than a baby making machine, or a dutiful caretaker.

There are far too many women in the media these days that represent the female in a very limited light; who portray their role in life as everything revolving around sex and attract-iveness. Consequently young ladies have a difficult time discerning their future roles and identity. But the adult, godly women I know represent a far better character than most seen on the tube.

As a typical male, from puberty, I naturally appreciated the physical side of women; it is the first thing a young man appreciates. But there comes a time when women become more complicated than simply what they look like. As CS Lewis said, “I thank God, he didn’t give me the women of my adolescent dreams”. Lewis first married in his fifties, how sad an example he would be, if his mind was stunted so much, as to only see the physical as the true value of a women.

Likewise, as I have grown, I’ve gained a better perspective of my wife and how God has blessed me. She shares, with the women I admire, (and many reading this blog) qualities that almost astound me:

1. She makes things beautiful; whether cleaning, painting the house, decorating, landscaping. When she dressed the kids (now me) everything tends to be more beautiful after she has touched it. Good women are like this.
2. She is selfless; She always looks to the needs of others before herself. From the time we first met, she was my willing servant. Now don’t get distracted thinking about men’s laziness. Fact is, a good women is so giving, it makes it hard on us guys to develop into better servants ourselves! I am doing better in this regard, but I know I’ll never be as good as ‘a simply loving and faithful mother. Selflessness is natural to a mother who has found her God given identity, even in a very unbalanced world.
3. She is a peacemaker; not only does she like the physical things around her to be beautiful, she is sensitive to the atmosphere, the dispositions, the attitudes of all around her. For her it doesn’t matter if every physical thing is in order, if relationships are out of order.
4. She is a worker. Though my wife has a chronic illness, yet if it were all tallied up, her productivity far excels my own. Men have bursts of strength, we can pull, lift, grunt anything for short periods of time. But a mother has a marathoners endurance to get her objectives done. She may set aside one for awhile- perhaps to rest that muscle group; but her projects are always in ‘actual’ progress. Mine are like the proverbial project car, waiting for more money!
5. Mothers care little for material things. Yes, they like their hair done, a new outfit now and then, but this is only because they want to look good for their men. It’s part of the process of keeping all things beautiful. While men work for toys, to make their own life easy, the good wives and mother I’ve known, work for other’s comforts.

Many of you know, there are no longer kids in our house- but there is still a mother in the house. Being the average guy, I figure I’ll always need a mother around. Thankfully, for my sake, good women never loose the God given virtues of motherhood.

good thing happend today

Chuck got his perscription glasses. He is actually only seeing single at a distance. Instead of looking off to the side to see straight ahead, He is actually walking where he is looking.

Its makes sense it youve had to deal with it for the last year and a half.

Its really a good feeling to get this taken care of for him.

lifes just ducky

so im working in the garage, sorting thru stuff for a g-sale.

I hear this very unfimiluar sound of little feet slapping against the floor. I turn around and there is a duck woundering around and just looking at me.

So i got Chuck off the couch and he got a slice of "double fiber" bread and fed it to the little guy.

The cat was really checking out this hugh tasty morsel. I think she was trying to figure out if she could take it on. But with all wisdom that a cat has, she gave up. That is one bird i dont want her to bring into my room in the middle of the night as a gift.

The duck hung around for a bit and decided to just lay in the grass for awhile. Now he just flew off and I hope decided to go poop some place else.

So much for the excitement for the week.