It does feel good to be done with the activities of the day. To repeat several earlier statements, Sunday night is one of my favorite times. This does not mean there was no joy in speaking, leading or visiting today. It only means now the time is here to start looking toward next Sunday. There was time for exercise with the usual three mile run/walk. This will be more interesting now that summer is upon us. It could wait until after the evening agenda but the day feels much better with going in mid afternoon. We had a good meeting of one of our committees tonight. Baptists often catch flak for our structure but we had a terrific exchange of ideas. This is one way we can be at our best when dealing with issues. Soon it will be time for the monthly stimulating of the economy at my house. In other words, it's time to pay bills! It still escapes me how my money goes to various companies that received bailout funds. Oh well, perhaps it is all part of being a good American.

This morning we began a summer series of sermons on eschatology. I still need to devote time this week to fleshing out the various dates and topics. What is eschatology you ask? My simplest definition is it means God is in total control of the issues related to life and death. It is a branch of biblical study that relates to the second coming as well as topics on the afterlife. We will be talking about what happens to the believer at death. We will discuss various Bible texts about heaven and hell. We will look at the future of the believer also. For example, we will look at our earthly and eternal bodies and what that tells us about life now. We kicked it all off today with a look at Matthew 24. My goal was to provide a bit of an overview on how we approach the scripture as a whole. How do we separate the hysterical nonsense of some preachers from the divine reality of the return of our Lord?

We wrote about a week ago concerning the need to be true to what the Bible says. Too many preachers use the Bible to back up their ideas when it comes to eschatology. They may not twist the text but they tend to make up the rules of interpretation as they go along. You may not know that there are guidelines to follow when it comes to interpreting the scripture. This was my area of interest back when I was doing doctoral study. There are "rules" for understanding the many different genres in the Bible. You do not read the poetry of the Psalms the exact same way you would read the historical truth of the gospels. This does not at all mean that one book is better than the other. It does not mean at all that using these principles is an indication someone does not believe in God's word. They are ideas there to protect us from making real mistakes when it comes to understand what God says. Far too many people are guilty of going far astray from the simple truths of the Bible. My aim this morning was to set the stage for how we will approach the rest of the messages.

The message of the second coming should not confuse us nor lead us into false complacency. We have way too many people living with the baggage of a bad theology because they heard a weak sermon in the past. Our Lord tells us that the reality of His coming should be a means of motivation for healthy spiritual living. Our confidence is not to rest on teachings that often change with the publishing of each new book. We do not look to politics nor geography to find clarity on eschatology. As the old hymn says, "Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness." That is a given not just for our salvation but also for our final destination. We may not always understand all the details of the return of Jesus. But we can be sure we know Him now.

Bro. Trey

Freedom is something that is far too costly for us to take casually. You cannot leave Washington D. C. without being very aware of the ideals of freedom. There are simply far too many memorials to visit that remind us of exactly why we are free. It is no accident that we live in the "land of the free." Much more is involved than just a Declaration of Independence. The same is obviously true in the spiritual sense. Galatians is that New Testament book that reminds every believer of the unique quality of living life without bondage. The apostle Paul declares that "it was for freedom that Christ set us free." The reasons are very much the same for the believer as it is for citizens of this great land.

Freedom is not cheap. It is not easy. It incurs a heavy cost in order to exist. On our trip, we saw many memorials to men and women who died in battle to defend freedom. We saw the exhibits of the 9/11 disaster when freedom was attacked in the most tangible way. We also saw the original Declaration of Independence on display. Our freedom today was bought with a heavy price over the years. It stands to reason that the believer also lives in a freedom paid for with at great cost. Paul writes that "Christ died to free us from our sins." That is no small act on our behalf. Real freedom begins and ends with the Easter event. We live without bondage to sin or to expectations because of the cross.

Freedom demands our ongoing vigilance in order to remain free. Men and women of the past fought in places all over the planet so we could remain free. There are very few places where the fight to remain free did not occur. The World War II veterans volunteered by the thousands to go to war across the world. The only thing we have to do to lose our freedom is to do nothing when others come against it. Again, the same is true spiritually speaking. Paul would tell the Galatians of his standing against those who wanted to curtail his liberty in Christ. He writes of taking a stand against the opponents of the good news. We face enemies both internal and external when it comes to living out our liberation. Sometimes that opponent is external as others want to tell us that faith in Christ is not enough. Sometimes that enemy may be within us in the form of attitudes or expectations that dowse our joy in God alone. We will have to stand up in God's power to all the obstacles we face in faith.

Freedom finally is not truly free until it is shared with others. We do not have a spotless record when it comes to this in our country. We wrote than all men are created equal then tolerated slavery for nearly 100 years. We then went another 100 years or so isolating people of other colors from sharing that equality. We still struggle with racism within our land even after we waged war to ensure other countries would enjoy freedom. The more we share our freedom with those in need the better we express that wonderful concept. Paul told the Galatians that freedom means to love one another, not devour each other. We struggle with that in church life also. The message of the gospel makes us all in the same need of grace. Yet we can turn around and withhold that same love from others. Freedom is a costly concept that relates to others around us. My hope is we keep learning and growing to lift others up without ever tearing anyone else down.

Bro. Trey

We are back from Washington. The bus pulled into Tatum about 10:00 yesterday morning. We can report that a good time was had by all. The kids were terrific. Everyday lasted a full 18 hours of travel with the sight seeing. We were one tuckered out group upon arrival at the hotel each night. Still, the students hung in there without an abundance of complaining. They even enjoyed seeing the historical stuff. Sure there were a few bumps in the road but nothing worth losing sleep over. We already had a difficult time with that.

It would almost be easier to talk about what we did not see rather than what we did. We got in all the memorials there in the city. The only trouble was in trying to see the Vietnam memorial with about 100,000 people on motorcycles crowding us out. The World War 2 memorial is spectacular. The band played there on Sunday morning for a few songs. One drawback is that as we packed up to leave, the buses with the veterans of the war began to arrive. Our kids wanted to be able to play for them but they came in too late. The view from the Lincoln Memorial is still worth the trip. Junior High and High School students are not easily impressed but this perspective gave even them pause.

The Capitol was a bit of a bust. There were only 3 stops on the very short tour. Most of the places we would want to see are not on the tour. Oh it was nice to see the rotunda but other than that I left wanting to see far more than we did. That and watching about 20 movies on the bus are my only low points of the journey. My seat was right under the speaker so there was no escape. Well, you can add to that the fact that buses are not made for people my size. My knees still ache from being folded up like a pretzel.

We will try to write more over the next day or so. This post is just to let you know we are safely home even if we are not quite sound. It was good to spend time with the students. The sights were well worth any difficulty. Would I go again in two years for another trip? Uh, let me recover from this one first. That should take most of the two years until they leave again.

Bro. Trey

This shall be my last blog post. Well, it is the last post for a few days at least. Tomorrow is the day the high school band leaves on its trip to Washington, D.C. Somehow, my name came up as a sponsor for the journey. So tomorrow my luggage as well as my body will board the charter bus for a 24 hour bus ride to the nation's capitol. There are about 45 band students going as well as 8 adults. Ok, so its 7 adults and me going as sponsors. But we will try to return everyone back home safe and sound. It's the question of my soundness that worries me. It is possible that a computer can be borrowed while away. If so, there will be updates on the excursion.

It's been a few years since my last visit to that area. In fact, its been about 30+ years since my family drove up to see the sights. It should be much more interesting for me now at this age. My college minor was history and the interest in such things continues to this day. I will carry with me at least one book of historical biography. My choice is to read on Lincoln during the Civil War. We will also see the home of George Washington. I do remember seeing that on my visit back in the 70s. He did indeed pick a wonderful spot to build his house. We should also see quite a few sites in passing by them on various tours. My big hope is that enduring the bus ride will be dwarfed by enjoying the area.

Our founding fathers are a fascinating group of individuals. No, they were not all Southern Baptist type Christians but most had some faith in God. Thomas Jefferson really was nowhere close to being an evangelical believer. In fact, he once took a pen knife to the Bible to cut out portions he didn't think really happened. He shredded the gospels down to only a few sayings. Ben Franklin was quite the ladies man. One of my members agreed with me today that he probably lived quite the life while he lived in France. John Adams was indeed a fairly orthodox believer. He was in many ways the brains behind the entire revolution that forged our country. We could go on and on but you get the point. Each of these men including George Washington may not be Bible thumping followers but all of them held a high view of God who was guiding their destiny.

Our country is far from perfect. The honest truth is we did allow human beings to be slaves for nearly 100 years after we were born. It took another 100 years or so before we passed a Civil Rights Act. We still face obstacles such as homelessness, ill treated children, and the whole abortion issue. Our congress can't seem to find their way to make tough decisions without throwing tons of money at a problem. We reached a point where we make our election choices more about our feelings on a candidate rather than the reality of what that choice will mean. Usually those candidates are so packaged that we cannot see the real person behind the image. Anyway, you get the point.

Having said all of that, is there any doubt we are truly the "land of the free and the home of the brave?" Yes, my belief is that God Himself had a hand in our nation coming to life. It does not mean that we are to turn our republic into a theocracy though. The mission of the church is still fulfilled in sharing the faith more than voting at the polls. Jesus lived in the midst of the great Roman Empire. He did not mention political persuasion as the chief tool of His people. He simply told His followers to witness of His life to those who would listen. It was God's power operating in their deeds that would turn the Empire upside down.

That absolutely must be our approach when it comes to living in our society. It is the same approach that believers in places such as Russian, China, or Muslim countries utilize. Those believers do not have the same advantages with government that we do. Yet, they remain mature and responsible in their spiritual life. We have freedoms they can only dream about. But how are we doing with our maturity? We can and should be proud of our country. My hope is we can also be even more prouder of our relationship with God. Remember that His is the kingdom, power, and glory forever. Let's hope we keep that in our prayers for our land.

Bro. Trey

Thank goodness it's Sunday night. For awhile it seemed the day just would not end. A man my age can't keep up with things the way he once could. Well, that may be a stretch but it does wear on me more than in earlier years. Let's hope that it was a good day. There are a few things that I would correct but my hope is overall it went well. It's true that one can never learn it all or even seem to get it all done right all the time. Right now there is a decent sized list of things that need my attention for improvement. This isn't a list on stuff others need to do but they are corrections all my own. Sometimes the sameness of ministry can deceive you into habits that are not always healthy. No doubt there is something about getting older that can lead to a laziness you wouldn't allow in younger days. Anyway, this is rambling now so let's move on.

We recognized our graduates today. This becomes more bittersweet for me the longer the ministry here continues. And no, we will not begin to think of how it will feel two years from now when my oldest graduates. We also had a baccalaureate service at our high school this afternoon. Thank goodness for a spell checker as I don't think I can spell that word again! It was my job to open and close with prayer. It seemed to me to be a good experience. Perhaps some of the graduates may not feel the same but all went well. I snuck in my running/walking prior to the service so the odds would be better for me to stay awake. There were lots of proud parents and relatives gathered there. We sang, prayed and listened for over an hour just in time for refreshments. But I had to move on to the next item on my calendar.

You may not know if you fell upon this blog that we are searching for someone to be our music minister. Ours left in November after 14 years of service. The fact that we are looking for someone part time makes the effort even more difficult. The fact that we are Baptist means that we want someone now! We had an interview with a prospect today. He is a good guy to be sure. No, I can't say much more than that about our visit together. Our group of people who are working on this is a wonderful bunch of people. This is probably the first experience of this sort for some of them. I can say publicly that I could not be prouder of a committee. Our church can be proud of them also. We will know more over the next few days especially since next Sunday is a holiday. But there is one lesson already to be learned from what we are doing. It is a difficult one to learn no matter the occasion.

Patience is a word used to describe what we want in our attitudes. It is not one of the attributes we claim to possess very often. To me, this word does not mean that we just wait around for something to happen. We can do that without really being patient. This word seems to indicate that we are waiting on God to do something in His time and for His purpose. We are not just sitting idly by for some nebulous something out in the cosmos. We live our life with true hope as our life is woven together with the life of God. Patience means we are still engaged with God even if we have not received what we expect. It demands we discover a quiet contentment in God no matter how He appears to act. It calls for us to continue developing trust in Him even it appears He is doing nothing.

We have some wonderful people helping us in music ministry now. Our song leader does a grand job and continues to get better each week. I can see the growth from the beginning even until now. We have a terrific lady who works with our choir. She put together the Easter program which was a marvelous collection of songs. We have people playing the instruments who speak to us in music even without words. Still, it would be good to know the who of God's plan for our congregation. To be patient in this means we learn to listen to God in the music as much as our concern about who is in charge. We tend to look to men or women a little more than we look to God. Now this is totally natural for us as human beings. It seems to be a key ingredient of our DNA. This may fall into the category of not being right or wrong, it just is what it is. So what should we be doing?

We can learn patience in these days. We can truly trust God with our whole heart to accomplish His will in His time. Yes, we can actually grow during the days of waiting. Is it that God waits for a particular individual to use or can He now speak to us directly? Again, do not think that these types of circumstances do not pull at my heart. The need is a constant focus of my own praying. But do we have to wait for God to guide, teach, or affect our walk with Him until a position is filled? Let's try opening our heart to God no matter what the moment brings. Let's ask Him to prepare us for His timing when He answers. Let's grow spiritually as we interact with God every single day. Let's discover patience is another word for noticing what God is doing in small ways until He unloads with the big.

Bro. Trey

Well, time flies when you are having fun. Sometimes it flies even when you aren't! This week is a mix of some great times such as the prom on Monday. It also included so far two days of push mowing my enormous yard. We thought the riding mower was repaired but it didn't quite make it. So it was again my chore to push away over the last two days to get this fast growing grass cut. It really isn't too bad over all. But there are moments when it feels like a never ending need. With the help of lots of water etc the recovery time is going much better. Perhaps my body will be back ready to push again soon.

Time just keeps going. Even with proms and mowing, time just relentlessly continues to move. It waits for no one. We all have the same amount of time in a day, week, or year. We all get to choose what we do with that time. It may seem that the clock moves slower when we are bored or in anxiety inducing conditions. Reality is the second hand moves at the same rate no matter what is happening in our world. Time marches on to fulfill its destiny even if we don't.

People a lot smarter than me debate on the process of time. Is it a cycle that loops back every so often? Or is it on a linear path toward a destination? No doubt that on occasion time seems to repeat itself. Many of the current events in the news now remind me of events back in the 1960s. But, the christian view of time is that it marches onward toward a definite conclusion. Some refer to that event as the apocalypse. Some use the term the second coming. Whatever phrase you choose to use works as long as you grasp that a day is approaching where Jesus will return.

Far too many believers tend to miss the meaning of this time. We read our books or listen to the prophecy preachers to glean more insight. Unfortunately, we may end up confused, distracted, or focused on something other than the reality of Jesus' return. Herein lies one of biggest pet peeves of "prophetic" teachers. Sure it is cool to see all the time lines or charts up for display. Yes, it can be exciting when you hear someone put today's news and make it fit in a biblical reference. We can even be all tingly when you hear or read some new discovery that sets a date on the second coming. But is this what the biblical message is really about?

The focus of both Old Testament and New Testament writing is less about calculating the times and more about living ready until it arrives. Sure there are questions that the biblical writers answer along the way but the emphasis remains on readiness. We do not get extra points for getting the answer right on the date. Even Jesus spends most of His time in Matthew 24-25 talking about preparation more than calculation. The entire book of Revelation includes repeated encouragement on living in difficult times. The writer reminds us of a God who sits enthroned beyond the whims of human nature. The emotion of the book is more of awe and amazement than confusion. Yet, we tend to either avoid all mention of prophetic ideas or we get off track in our attempt to unravel a date in time.

My perspective is always to start with the biblical text itself. You cannot begin to decipher what a verse may mean until you know what it meant. This involves our entire approach to reading the Bible. We also cannot just jump into the theology of the second coming as a stand alone idea. Who Jesus is and how we become new creations is essential to understanding the second coming. This forces us to face the entirety of scripture and not just a few select portions. Last, remember that only God knows when time comes to an end. He never once said we would know the date. Yes, we can notice events swirling around us that match up with scripture but that still isn't the point. Return to Matthew 24-25 to see how often we are told to be ready. We can become like travelers that know all about the travel plans yet never pack or show up for the trip. We can know some things about the issues of the second coming. We can know for sure the one who is coming.

Bro. Trey

It's Monday afternoon and I just got in from the prom. It can be said that a good time was had by all. There is no way my words can describe the sights and sounds of the day but we will try. First, this is a personal note so forgive me for the indulgence. However, there were a couple of notes this morning about what was written yesterday so a follow up seems fitting. There are occasions where only the personal seems to be appropriate.

We all got up early to get my son dressed. The shirt waited for him all ironed and clean. Here is a sad fact about his clothing. He wore a pair of MY shoes to the event. His feet are really larger than mine even at his age of 13. I got his shirt on him then tied his tie around my neck first. It fit him perfect when we got it on him with his collar down. There were the traditional pre prom photos to be taken. Then it was off to the bus to school. Last year I sent my daughter off to prom with the same rituals. Now it is my little man going off to the dance.

They did not take the bus to Kilgore High School. Yes, they got a limo to drive them over. From all accounts it was a great ride. The girls were all in their dresses that were donated to them by a store in Longview. One of the guys didn't want to wear his suit and tie I hear. He did at least have clothes on when I arrived at the school. The high school here sent a few students along to dance with the honorees. Everyone looked quite elegant in their attire. My son even kept his tie on the entire event even though his shirt tail tended to come out.

The school was decorated much like you would expect for a prom. There were decorations in every corner. A booth was set up in a corner of the gym for the photos to be taken of students in their fine clothing. My youngest was totally enamored by the DJ who worked the dance. He simply had so much electric technology that mine could not resist. Some of the lights were turned off on the gym floor as it would be for a dance. That floor was usually fairly full during the time I was there. Lunch was served in another section of the school. There were balloons on every table. We dined on fine pizza and cold drinks. Yes, my son stole two pieces of my pizza but he was quite hungry from his physical gyrations.

When you go to something like this, you cannot help but notice all types of special needs children. We are actually pretty lucky with ours in comparison to some of the students attending today. Some are bound to wheelchairs for the duration of their life. Some cannot feed themselves. There were some who cannot communicate much if at all to those around them. We tend to forget that we live in a world where disability and deformity are daily occurrences. There were indeed other students there with far less visible limitations. One of the girls that I noticed took two or three glances to realize she did have very mild Down's Syndrome. She is one of the rare ones though as most of the students obviously live with more limitations than my son.

The dancing was amazing. You could look out on the floor and see wheelchairs circling and swaying in motion with the music. I got a photo of what appeared to be a dad and his daughter softly swaying at mid court. It became obvious that my awareness of current dance music is sadly lacking. Because of that my time was given to taking a photographic record of the proceedings. Not sure my insurance would pay for any damage that I may do to others if dancing is attempted. Even the teachers were out among the students strutting their stuff. Obviously not all of them spent their nights in the library while in college.

In the end, the room was filled with kings and queens of the prom. The music was loud. The preparations were terrific. The students were tired when it was over. Buses from all over East Texas were lining up to gather their group as I left. My guess is around 500 total were in attendance. No one noticed they were weird or odd. It was clear that every one there is "fearfully and wonderfully made" by God Himself. Why he creates some with strangeness is beyond my understanding. Maybe those of us who think we are normal are the ones on the odd side of life. You have your weirdness as I have mine. So maybe we should ease up on each other when comparing. I'm off so my son and I can be sure our blue shirts get in the laundry together. The prom is over but the celebration continues.

Bro. Trey

Welcome to the traditional Sunday night post. Yes, we will try harder this week to write more. It is the end of school time where one never knows what a day will bring. Last week, it was me and the kids so there was more going on than usual. We lived to tell about it. The trip to D.C. leaves in ten days. We have the itinerary so that part is done. Looks like we all may need a vacation to recover from the trip. Before we know it, school will be done for the year. It really seems like we just started the year and it's over. Well, can't change it so might as well go along with the flow. Time does not stop for anyone.

Anyway, let's touch on something about the blog before we start the week. I tend to write from my perspective or experience. But this place was meant to be more than my thoughts on a daily basis. My hope is that we can branch out some in the days and weeks to come. To be honest, to take a different approach will do me good. It is far to easy to slip into the first person when posting here. This is a growing journey for all of us. Maybe we will try some theological stuff for a change. Sometimes we may try to condense a sermon or something down to written form. We may try some commentary type writing on news or current events of the day. There is almost always a spiritual point to the posts but we can strive to do better. But, we will have to start tomorrow.

Tonight was something totally new in my years of parenting. I do my own ironing most times. Guess that makes me paranoid or obsessive about how clothes look. This started for me many years ago. Yes, sometimes even my blue jeans get a press. How weird does that make me sound? But tonight I ironed a shirt for my son. It is a blue oxford dress up shirt. He is wearing it to a prom tomorrow in a nearby town. This is his first experience at wearing "Sunday clothes" for any occasion. Is it possible to have serious feelings wash over you while pressing a shirt? Here is my little man getting up tomorrow to get dressed with shirt and tie to go to a prom. There will be other special education students from around the area there. Some of our high school girls are going along for the ride. I got word tonight that they are trying to get a limo for part of the day. Even I never rode in a limo before! This should be an interesting day.

Yes, it is my hope to drive over for at least some of the party. And yes, there will be pictures taken just like at any prom. Can't wait to see if dancing occurs. My little man can be quite the dancer when the mood hits. Let's hope that my lack of dancing skills do not go on display. Trust me, it would clear the floor real fast. It's not that dancing is against my religion as a Baptist. It is that God gave me absolutely no rhythm in this body. Just my luck the disco era came and went fast while growing up.

So we will do better with varied topics here. But first, I need to go iron my blue shirt. Can't let my little guy look too much better than me!

Bro. Trey

The last few days have been tough around here. We seem to be in the midst of the stormy season lately. Even today there can be heard the rumblings of thunder in the distance. Just north of us they are being soaked in even more rain. In some respects this is a very good thing. Before long the rains will stop to be replaced with constant heat that lasts into October. The rare exception to this forecast is with the pop up storm or a slow moving hurricane. The grass that lies green now will be a memory. So the more rain we receive now is an extra benefit that may help with the coming heat. Right now we just can't plan too far ahead for outings, games, or yard work.

With spring rain comes the threat of even worse conditions. The risk of a tornado is small but it sticks in the back of your mind. So we watch the skies or the weather forecast to try to be ready. One of the problems with these ongoing meteorological struggles is that wild weather seldom sends a notice beforehand. That is what happened Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys headquarters. By now you have seen the news coverage of the storm that decimated the indoor practice facility there in Irving. Television cameramen left their equipment running to capture the event on tape. Photographs are in newspapers and other websites giving an account of the carnage the storm left behind. More than a few of the people in the midst of the walls coming down stated that it took a miracle for no more people to be injured than there are now. I heard one mention that he went to the early service at his church on Sunday. Odds are we would go too if we escaped something like that with our lives intact.

One of our former players here was caught up in the maelstrom. One account mentions he was one of the last to report to the locker room after helping look for victims. Several of the huge linemen did the heavy lifting to enable some to escape fallen doors and such. A reporter mentioned how the coaches went around giving instruction to the players prior to emergency crews arriving. Even the trainers spent most of the time after the crash tending to injuries in preparation for medical services. Perhaps it is the odd closeness that I have now since one of our own is there that keeps my attention on the collapse. Maybe it is because of the fitting analogy that was written on Saturday afternoon.

We deal daily with all sorts of small crises in our world. Most of these we can handle by a simple adjusting to the obstacle. But there are the occasions when something comes at us that crashes all around us. Far too many people simply stare at the wreckage and do nothing. Some might stand around pointing fingers not of rescue but of blame. We may even have others around us who try to encourage of guide us through but we may not listen. Our emotional system goes on overload to the point we can barely breathe much less move. Then we may try to go on with living without dealing with the debris all about us.

None of the above are good options. Crises do happen in the life of everyone who is drawing breath today. Those who are connected to God can look beyond silver linings to His very presence. We can know there are others around us who do care about what happens to us. We can hear their encouragement wisely since it is born of their experience with God. Even if the calamity is self inflicted we can know there is hope. Scripture never says we have to stop living just because we fail. Storms come to all. It is the one who builds life on the eternal foundation that withstands the winds. Sure there may be damage around us but the character of our life can remain strong. Nothing can happen around us to change what God can do within us. That is how He can make a miracle out of our messes.

Bro. Trey

There are normal times in life then there are times that are simply bizarre. Chalk the last few days in the bizarre category. We won't take too long with this post. But the last few days seem like a scene from another person's life. This does not mean they were bad days. It just means nothing went according to plan. To paraphrase the bumper sticker, "life happens." It's what we do with it that makes the difference.

Remember my excitement over having a repaired riding mower? When you have as much yard as we do then you understand why it was great to be able to ride. Well, my plans on Friday went south in a hurry. The blades stopped working on the mowing part after a few rounds in the way back of the yard. The mower still goes but the actual cutting part just stopped. My hope is it is easily repaired soon. The reality is yet again it was me and my push mower trudging through to get the grass cut. It has not been measured how much walking my yard includes when pushing the mower. To me it feels like a marathon. It took two days with several bottles of water and gatorade but it is finished. Let's hope we can get some repair done before it needs cutting again.

There were errands to run Saturday following the yard work. Nothing is ever easy where my youngest is involved. He has a junior high dance next Monday so we needed to be sure he had nice pants to wear. That took two clothing stores along with a stop in the electronics store. Then it was off to our home away from home at WalMart. Maybe it's just me but it sure seems my bank account is single handed in stimulating the economy. What should be a few simple errands took only four hours to complete. The best was yet to come.

If you stumble across this blog from out of our area then you should know we got hammered by storms last night. The same cell that destroyed the Dallas Cowboys practice facility passed over us starting about 2:00 am. The power at our house went on and off for a few hours. In the end, the electricity was just off. We still are not sure what time we woke up. We do know none of us slept very much. I hurried through a shower without shaving to go to church. The bathroom where I shower has no windows. We had so many candles in there that we looked like a Catholic mass. That isn't meant to be mean but simply the truth. Wouldn't you know that it was almost a full house! Thankfully, the electric company came through so my youngest did not have to sit with nothing to do all day. There were two afternoon meetings for me to attend along with the evening service. I ran away to the school to run for awhile just to feel human again.

Last weeks special music ran through my mind all day. It was "What a day that will be." All of the bizarreness of the last few days does not compare to that day coming. You and I go through days that are eccentric at best. We sometimes feel as if we are already in the valley of the shadow of death. But the promise remains that God is with us. He didn't fix my mower but at least I am healthy enough to adjust. He didn't lower the cost of the errands yesterday but at least He blessed me enough to afford it. He didn't stop the storms or keep the electricity on but we got through the day. I had to lean on Him with all my weight to get through it. That is good enough. It is good enough now and it will be good enough then. Maybe we would do better with more dependence on God even if the day is boring much less bizarre.

Bro. Trey