Happy Birthday

STINA AND I CELEBRATE OUR BIRTHDAYS

Saturday was my birthday, and it was a happy one. I'm not quite sure how many birthdays I have had, but I do remember Eisenhower being president when I was born. I actually started celebrating my birthday on Thursday. Our American Cancer Society Community Representative. Stina Brown, had a birthday this week; so Gina brought a birthday cake to the Relay For Life meeting Thursday evening and we celebrated our birthdays there.

Saturday morning I woke to a beautiful warm spring day. We attended church and had had a wonderful time worshiping with our church family. It was my week to present the sermon. My sermon title was "The World Needs More Spice". You can read a short version of the sermon in my blog titled "Spice"

After the church service, we were invited to our friend Deanna's house for birthday dinner. Since I had already had a birthday cake, Gina had made a Birthday Apple Pie for the occasion. The meal and the pie were delicious. It was such lovely weather that we wanted to enjoy the out of doors. In Deanna's back yard I spotted a Robin taking a bath. Here is a short video of Mr. Robin enjoying his bath.


ROBIN TAKES A BATH

Since it was such a beautiful day, we wanted to get some fresh air. We went to check out a piece of property that Deanna owns in the mountains near Boardcamp. Her acreage includes the mountain top and has some spectacular views.


ROAD ON DEANNA'S PROPERTY


BIG SKY


VIEWS FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP

The warmer weather and the trees budding out are really lifting my spirits. I am ready for Spring. Getting to be out in nature and enjoy the beginning of Spring was a wonderful birthday present. We took a walk and saw many beautiful things.


BLOSSOMS


WEATHERED LOG


AMBER FIELD

Gina really enjoyed walking with Cowboy, Deanna's dog. Cowboy is great to take a walk with. He stays right with you and never strays. You can tell that he enjoys the walk with every fiber of his being.


GINA AND COWBOY

One of the highlights of my day was when my daughter Cynda called. After we had talked a bit, She put my three year old grand-daughter Autumn on the phone. Autumn said, "Happy Birthday Papa", and then she continued "I want to talk to Grandma". It is hard to compete with a Grandma!


AUTUMN'S FIRST DAY OF PRE-SCHOOL

I had a very pleasant birthday, and the best thing is that it will be 365 days before I get another year older.

Spice

Have you ever tried to lower your sodium intake? Things just don’t taste the same with low sodium. As bad as it may be for our blood-pressure, salt does make things taste good. When Jesus said that we are the salt of this earth, Jesus meant that we are the spice of this world. We’re here to add flavor, in other words; we are here to make things taste good.

The purpose of salt, the purpose of spice, is to add flavor. Job 6:6 asks “Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?”


I love good flavorful food. We use lots of spice at our house. If you don’t like garlic you would have a hard time at our house. We grow our own basil and rosemary so that we have fresh flavorful spices that are much tastier than the dried spices you can buy in the store. Take a quick look at our spice rack and you will find thyme, sage, paprika, oregano, curry, bay leaves, chili powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cumin, onion, coriander, turmeric, mustard, saffron, and pepper. The purpose of each of these spices is to add flavor.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on”.

Without salt or spice, many foods are very bland and tasteless. Jesus isn’t looking for bland followers. If you aren’t salty, if you aren’t spicy, if you have no flavor you aren’t good for anything.

In verses 14 and 15 Jesus continues, “You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven”.


Light has amazing qualities. One of my favorite qualities is when it passes through a prism and breaks up into the colors of the rainbow. We are to be the light that gives light to the world, but we each one are a different color. We each have different qualities, different flavors, and different spices.

God hasn’t asked us to be cookie cutter copies of each other. He has asked each one of us to spice up our corner of the world. Each one of us has a sphere of influence that no one else has. God has asked us to be a light in our sphere of influence.


When it’s dark, people notice the light. Have you ever seen a searchlight? When I was a kid growing up it seemed like we saw them quite often. Whenever I would see one it was very intriguing.

I haven’t seen a searchlight in years, but I can still vividly remember seeing them. I grew up out in the country where there were no streetlights. When I could see a searchlight it looked like it was the only thing in the sky.

Is there any way someone could hide a light like that? No way. There are some lights that just cannot be hid. So if that light is on, then we are going to see it; and if we can’t see it, there’s something wrong!

If salt is there, then we’re going to taste it; and if we can’t taste it, there’s something wrong!

If there are spices, then we’re going to taste them; and if we can’t taste them, there’s something wrong!

In just the same way, Christians should make a difference in this world; we should be just as noticeable as salt and light. We should be the spice of the world, and the world needs more spice.

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I am very involved in my local Relay For Life. You can view my Relay For Life Blog here.

I Have Seen God

OZARK ADVENTIST ACADEMY STUDENTS WALKING TO CHURCH

Last Saturday, Gina and I drove the three and a half hour drive to Gentry, Arkansas. Gentry is where Ozark Adventist Academy is located. My daughter Cynda and my son Gavin both attended High School at Ozark. We were going to Ozark because it was Young Alumni weekend, and Gavin had been asked to give the Sabbath morning sermon at the Gentry SDA Church.

We left Mena early in the morning with temperatures in the upper forties. As we were traveling on I-540 we noticed that many of the cars coming from the north had snow on them. As we got nearer our destination we saw snow on rooftops, and began to see some white on the ground. When we got out of the car we were met with an arctic blast. a temperature of about 20 degrees with a stiff breeze.

OZARK ADVENTIST ACADEMY CAMPUS IN THE SNOW

Even though it was cold outside, we received a warm welcome when we arrived at the Gentry SDA Church. The greeter was an old friend who we had known from the time we lived in Loveland, Colorado in the 70's. It was a wonderful church service that highlighted the young alumni who were in attendance. Gavin gave the sermon titled "I Have Seen God". He recounted how he had seen God in the lives of those around him.


GAVIN AT THE PULPIT OF THE GENTRY SDA CHURCH

He made a special point of mentioning his parents and grandparents. He made Gina cry when he told a moving story of how his Grandpa Ready had shown him unconditional love. One day when Gavin was four years old he asked his mother if he could call Papa Ready. Gina dialed the number and let Gavin talk to his Papa. Gavin asked, "Papa would you come have some hot chocolate with me". Papa Ready told him, "I can't come today but I will come tomorrow". Papa Ready lived in Denver, Colorado over 900 miles away. He drove 900 miles to have a cup of hot chocolate because a little boy that he loved asked him to.


PAPA READY

Gavin challenged us to be the kind of people who show God's love to others. What kind of examples are we. Do we show the people around us what God is really like?



You can watch the video of Gavin's sermon by clicking on the arrow in the box below

VIDEO OF GAVIN'S SERMON

After church we got to catch up with friends that we hadn't seen for a long time; Steve and Rebecca Burton, Marlin and Marice Clegg, and Jim Bieber. We spent the afternoon visiting Marlin and Marice and making friends with their dog Piper. I have known Marlin all of my life. Our mothers were in nursing school together in Madison, Tennessee. I give him a hard time by telling him that he is my oldest friend.


MARLIN'S BACK YARD IN THE SNOW

By the time we headed back home, the roads had become icy and slick. There was glare ice on the side roads. Once we got to the interstate the roads were only slick in spots, especially the bridges. Once we went through the tunnel on I-540 south of Fayetteville there was no more snow and the roads were fine. I was thankful that the drive over the Boston Mountains was on good roads with no snow or ice. It was a long day but a wonderful one.

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I am very involved in my local Relay For Life. You can view my Relay For Life Blog here.

G Is For Glass

It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is "G". G is for glass.

I install Auto Glass for a living, so I see a lot of glass. This is a shot of a badly broken windshield


SHATTERED WINDSHIELD

As I take photographs I am intrigued with windows. Each window provides it's own view of the world. This photo was take from the inside of an old church at the Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The stained glass was homemade by painting the glass. One pane had been replaced with clear glass providing a glimpse of the outdoors.


RURAL LIFE MUSEUM

This photo was taken from the inside of the cafeteria at Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry, Arkansas.


CAFETERIA VIEW


I find that the reflections in glass can make a very interesting photo. This shot was taken of a store window display in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.


EUREKA SPRINGS WINDOW

This store front in the old downtown of Hot Springs, Arkansas seems out of place. The juxtaposition of old and modern, traditional and liberal make it interesting for me.


NO CLOTHES

Whenever I am in a church with stained glass windows I am impressed by the beauty. Here are two examples, one very traditional and one modern.


ST. AGNES CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MENA, ARKANSAS


SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IN KEENE, TEXAS

Messy

This is my entry in a neat meme called I Heart Faces. Click on this button to check it out



The theme for this weeks I love faces contest is messy.



From a very early age Autumn loved to feed herself. She was a good eater who would try anything; on the inside and on the outside.

Relay For Life

It has been a hectic week working for Relay For Life. Gina has been working almost nonstop this week on Relay Sponsorships and team recruitment. The deadline to get signed up on a team is March 1st. We want to get as many people signed up as possible. The Relay event is not until April 17, but we have a deadline to sign up so that we can get the t-shirts printed in time. As of February 27 we have 25 teams that have signed up with over 250 participants. We are still hoping for a few more teams to sign up this weekend.


Fundraising has started in earnest. A number of teams will be having drawings at the Relay. Around town you can contribute to Relay For Life, and have a chance to win a Wii, A 32" LCD HDTV, A rifle, A deer stand, a BBQ smoker, or a tent. There is a most beautiful baby contest, bake sales, breakfasts, people going door to door, and even nursing home residents raising money for Relay For Life. Even in these tough economic times, I have seen that most people are still willing to contribute to worthy causes. Gina likes to tell people "I know times are hard, but having cancer is harder".


If you are not aware of what Relay For Life is; Relay For Life is a fun-filled, overnight event that empowers everyone to help fight cancer by raising money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission. Teams of people camp out at local high schools, parks, or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relay For Life symbolizes the hope that people lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face the disease have support, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. Check out Relay For Life in your area. You can find an event near you by going here an putting in your zip code.

F Is For Flag

It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is "F". F is for flag.


ARKANSAS FLAG FLYING OVER WAL-MART


CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTMENT


ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA, AND PATHFINDER FLAG AT CAMPOREE


CLOSE UP OF A LARGE AMERICAN FLAG


PARK BENCH PAINTED LIKE AN AMERICAN FLAG


YOUNG BOY IN VALLE HERMOSO MEXICO