Learning and Growing

Wise men and women are always learning,

always listening for fresh insights.

Proverbs 18:15

This weekend, I will have the privilege of making music with two wonderfully talented young people.  I met them both at the high school specialty center where I teach vocal performance.  The young man is a great pianist and a skilled music arranger; the young woman is an amazing oboe player.  He will be starting his second year at The College of William and Mary as a mathematics major and music minor.  She will be leaving in a couple of weeks for the Midwest, starting her freshman year at Indiana University as a music performance major.

I love these kids because they are so willing and anxious to learn.  They love to try new things, scale new heights, find new ways of doing things.  Sunday we will be performing a trio - Celtic Farewell - with piano, oboe and handbells.  None of the three of us has ever performed in this combination before, so it is a learning curve and an exciting adventure.  The music is beautiful and we are striving to perform it with the respect it deserves.  We had our main rehearsal this evening - making notes and trying/re-trying passages to get them just right.  It was delightful music-making and a great deal of fun!

The media is filled with stories of kids gone bad - kids in trouble - kids that are failing and flailing.  Rarely do we hear about young people who are going about the business of living and growing - taking it one step at a time and doing it right.  How are the youth faring in your neck of the woods?  Is there a boy or girl that could use your encouragement and concern?  Is there someone in your neighborhood or church that you could mentor?  Making yourself available to assist a child or youth is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do.

Badmouthing Your Buddy

Display of Crayons at WAO Schwarz, New York, NY  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Those who return evil for good

will meet their own evil returning.

Proverbs 17:13

I have a young friend who moved to Virginia about a year and a half ago.  He was anxious for a new start, and his best friend needed someone to do childcare while he and his wife worked, so the young man (we'll call him Bruce) moved to Richmond and took over the care of two young children (which expanded to three every other weekend).  After a year of taking care of kids, driving the husband all round town, and helping around the house (in exchange for food and a roof over his head), Bruce decided that it was time to get back to the real work-a-day world.  He discussed these plans with the couple, and they gave him a deadline date of when they would no longer need him to take care of their children.

Bruce sent out resumes, secured an interview, and got the job.  Immediately the wife demanded that he pay rent for his room - $100 a week - just for the tiny room partially filled with their stuff - no food included.  Bruce wanted to find a place much closer to his work, so he began to look for other living quarters.  He found a room with a friend very close to his new job as a temporary stopping place until he could get his own apartment.  He tried to call the couple he had lived with to make arrangements to come and get all his stuff, but they weren't answering their phones.  After they informed him that he owed them money for this week because even if he wasn't there, his stuff was, he drove out to get his things.  Mysteriously, the couple was no where to be found.

Early this morning, Bruce got a text message from this friend, cursing and threatening, telling him to come get his stuff that that they had "left out on the porch." A few hours later, the wife texted, with more threats and curses. Mind you, they are swearing at the man who once was entrusted with taking care of their children for months. Nnw that he is not going to cooperate and pay them money to live with them, however, they have no use for him.  The "best friend" will probably think again and eventually apologize for his nasty words, but the friendship, for all intents and purposes, is finished.  Returning evil for good never has a happy ending.

Specks vs. Planks

New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

How can you say to your brother, 

'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' 

when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? 

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye,

 and then you will see clearly to remove the speck 

from your brother's eye.

Luke 6:42

Of all the complexities of life that are hard to understand, the one that gets to me the most are people who need to control everything and everyone around them.  Coming in a close second are those people whose motto is:  Don't do as I do, do as I say.  A person who embodies both of these characteristics has the capacity to constantly create chaos.

• The man who needs to control every thing that his children do, even when they are fully grown adults.
• The mother who cannot stop interfering in the marriage(s) of her child(ren)?   
• The father who cheats on his wife, moves in with his girlfriend, and then has a fit when his unmarried daughter moves in with her boyfriend.
• The brother who has plenty of faults of his own, but constantly picks at the faults of his siblings.
• The sister who desperately needs to put her sibling down in order to raise herself up.
• The friend who sees you as little more than a project to change.
• The man or woman who truly believes that they know what is best for your life far better than you do.
• The cheater who can't abide your cheating.
• The liar who makes everyone else sound dishonest

I have three adult daughters who all, at various times and in various ways, lives their lives differently from how I would live.  I do not, however, feel the need or have the right to try and control their choices.  They are grown women, and they have the right to choose for themselves.  I can not set myself up as the perfect example (Live like ME!), because I have my own faults and failures (that they are not blind to).

The God of heaven who created us does not attempt to control our thoughts and choices - they are ours and ours alone to make.  Perhaps we human beings should afford the same courtesy to those around us.

Irish Determination

A life frittered away disgusts God;

He loves those who run straight for the finish line.

Proverbs 15:9

Kieran Behan was just a young Irish lad of maybe 6, when he fell in love with the sport of gymnastics by watching the Summer Olympic Games.  He told his mother that he would be an Olympic gymnast one day.  He truly believed it, and she never doubted him, but that was before life decided to start throwing curve balls at him.

Kieran started gymnastics training when he was 8 and showed a real talent for tumbling.  But when he was 10, he found a golf-ball sized lump on his leg.  Surgery revealed it to be a benign tumor, but the doctors left a tourniquet on too long, causing nerve damage that left his leg with extreme sensitivity and his foot with little sensation.  He could not walk, and the doctors said he probably never would.  Fifteen months later, he fought his way back and returned to gymnastics.

Eight months later, he smacked his head on the horizontal bar during a routine and collapsed with a traumatic brain injury and severe damage to his inner ear.  He blacked out constantly, and he struggled to turn his head, feed himself, or walk without stumbling like a drunk man.  It took nearly two years for him to regain his hand-eye coordination, and then he returned to gymnastics.  He broke his arm; he fractured his wrist.  He tore a ligament in his right knee that required six months of rehabilitation.  In 2010, he tore the same ligament in his left knee.  In the face of all his injuries, it would have been easy (and understandable) to quit.  But he would not - indeed, could not.  Finally, in 2011, Kieran won three World Cup medals, including Ireland's fist World Cup Gold Medal - in floor exercise.

And now?  He is in the Olympics.  He has no illusions that he is going to medal.  That isn't why he is there.  He is there for love of the sport, and to set an example to young people everywhere to relentlessly pursue their dream.  He hopes to inspire others to overcome the hardships that often stand in the way of our goals.  Of gymnastics, Behan says: I was just born to do this.  And so he will, while we all watch and cheer.

Dumb and Dumber

The wise accumulate wisdom;

fools get stupider by the day.

Proverbs 14:24

Putting on a sporting event like the Olympics is a herculean task.  I cannot even imagine what it must be like on a day-to-day basis to be the One In Charge of such an endeavor.  I can go nuts planning a 5-day Vacation Bible School Program for 50 kids.  How in the world does one coordinate so many different events at so many different venues?  The details have to be staggering; one would have to delegate to top associates, who would need to delegate to their top associates, and on down the line.  And all it takes to have a complete disaster is one seemingly insignificant person who doesn't do their homework.  Mind you, there will always be mistakes, and events that won't quite go the way you had hoped.  But somewhere in London tonight, there is a person who I suspect is no longer employed by the London Olympic Committee - an individual who is now a pariah because of careless, mindless stupidity.

Just four hours after the beginning of the London Games, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, hosted a women's football game - North Korea vs. Columbia.  The gigantic screens above the field began announcing the various team members, with a photo of each individual player displayed next to the flag of their country.  The display was spectacular and must have taken a great deal of time to organize and produce; apparently, however, not quite enough time was taken to insure that what was broadcast was, in fact, correct.  The blunder that literally stopped the introductions, and delayed the game, was not the misspelling of a player's name nor the wrong picture for a team member, but the displaying of the South Korean flag next to the pictures of each of the North Korean players.  The looks of horror on the crowds of North Korean fans matched that of the players.  The entire team walked off the pitch in protest, and the game finally started over an hour late.

How could someone have possibly made such a gaffe?  Although similar in coloring, the two flags look nothing alike.  There are many, many different nations competing this summer in London - from huge superpowers to tiny kingdoms few are familiar with.  North Korea, however, does not fall in the latter category.  Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of preparation for these events, someone grabbed the first Korean flag that popped up (are there really adults on this planet who don't know that there are two separate nations who are bitter enemies?), and literally hundreds of other "someones" didn't catch the mistake.  There will be many moments of triumph and tragedy at the London Olympics, some of which will change the history books, but the event that has overshadowed the start of these games has nothing to do with athletic prowess and everything to do with human incompetence.

Greater Love

Greater love has no one than this:

to lay down one's life for a friend.

John 15:13

Matthew McQuinn, Alex Teves, John Larrimer, and John Blunk had several things in common, even though they did not know each other.  All were young men in their mid-20's living in Colorado, and each was an exemplary young man with a fulfilling life that was going in the right direction.  Teves had just graduated with a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Colorado and hoped to continue on to become a physical therapist.  McQuinn was a Target employee who had recently transferred to Colorado from Ohio.  Blunk was a Navy veteran and Larrimer was an active-duty Naval Petty Officer.  All four of these men decided to see a movie on Friday night, all four of them ended up in Theater 9, and all four of them died in the hail of bullets that claimed twelve lives and injured many others.

In the horror of that tragic moment, these four men were linked in yet another, almost unbelievable way.  Each one was at the theater with a date, and each made the instantaneous decision to place themselves in peril in order to shield their friend from harm.  When the shooting started, McQuinn, Teves, Larrimer and Blunk pushed their girlfriends to the floor and covered them with their own bodies.  Each man paid for his compassion and courage with his life; all four women walked away from the ordeal.  

For the rest of their lives, these women will owe an overwhelming debt of gratitude to the men who died in their place.  Living with that knowledge will be difficult at first, but I hope that eventually they will find a tangible way to express their thanks for the gift of life bestowed through the ultimate sacrifice.

This Was No Joke

There's a way of life that looks harmless enough;

look again - it leads straight to hell.

Proverbs 14:12

By now there is almost no one in the world, I am sure, who does not know about the massacre that occurred at a Colorado movie theater on July 20.  Mass murder in ordinary places horrifies us all and leaves us feeling tremendously vulnerable.

James Holmes appeared to live a charmed life.  He was a quiet, polite, clean-cut, responsible 24-year-old man.  In 2010, he graduated with top honors from the University of California-Riverside with a degree in neuroscience.  In 2011, he enrolled in the doctoral program in neuroscience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.  It has been reported that he was top-shelf academically, and was on a full scholarship that included a $20,000+ stipend for living expenses.  He did not appear to have much use for social media - no Facebook or Twitter connections, but was reportedly an avid video game player - particularly games of extreme violence.  He was described by his apartment neighbors as "nerdish" and a "book worm."

For some reason, life altered for Mr. Holmes this spring.  He and a girlfriend broke up, he dropped out of his doctoral program in June with no explanation given to the university, and over the last four months received a large quantity of goods (at home and at work) through delivery and the mail - likely purchased on the internet - including four weapons and 6,000 rounds of ammunition.  Sometime during this period, he rigged his apartment with 30 homemade grenades and over 10 gallons of gasoline. He also dyed his hair orangish-red. Then on July 20, he dressed meticulously in black, donning a ballistic helmet, a ballistic vest, protective leggings, throat and groin protectors, and a gas mask, released smoke or tear-gas into a crowded theater, and emptied seemingly endless rounds of ammunition into the audience, killing 12 people and wounding 58, several of whom are still in critical condition.

If you had passed James on the street near the University School of Medicine, you would probably have thought he was just another student, if you noticed him at all.  He would have appeared to be "harmless enough."  His mind, however, had crossed a line from which there was no return.  He then walked into an ordinary place of entertainment and turned it into a living hell.

2012 SKY VBS - What We Learned

We had a wonderful time this week with all our Bible Buddies telling us all the wonderful stories from the Bible, and teaching us memory verses each day.  We've sung great songs and learned the motions for the Bible points and the memory verses.  But what will we remember from our week of Vacation Bible School? This is what Pat, Orville, Scout, Apollo, and Rockette would like you to remember:

• No matter who you are - TRUST GOD!
• No matter how you feel - TRUST GOD!
• No matter what people do - TRUST GOD!
• No matter what happens - TRUST GOD!
• No matter where you are - TRUST GOD!

WHY should we do this??  Because we know that:

Anything is possible with God!

      

2012 SKY VBS - Day 5

Our Bible Buddy for Day 5 is Rockette, the Flying Squirrel.  Yes, there are squirrels that can fly.  Well, actually, they mostly glide, but that is a form of flying!  These squirrels are nocturnal creatures - they sleep during the day, and glide around at night.  Rockette wants you to remember that:

Everything is possible with God! 

The Bible story for today is about Jesus making breakfast for His disciples on the beach.  After his resurrection, Jesus returned to the same beach where he called his disciples at the very beginning of their time together three years earlier.  Jesus wanted to reassure the disciples that:

Our memory verse today comes from Joshua 1:9:

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid

or discouraged.  For the Lord your God 

is with you wherever you go.

 

2012 SKY VBS - Day 4

Apollo the Caterpillar is our Bible buddy for Day 4 at Sky VBS.  Apollo is a caterpillar now, and his current job is to eat and eat and eat and eat.  Eventually he will bundle into a cocoon, and when the time is right, he will come out completely changed - with a brand new body that can FLY!  Then he will be Apollo the Butterfly.  Apollo wants us to remember that:

Everything is possible with God. 

Things can look REALLY BAD sometimes in life.  Terrible things can happen.  But Apollo knows that:

Jesus' disciples were very, very discouraged.  They had eaten supper with Jesus on Thursday evening, but then he was arrested, tried, and taken out of the city to Golgatha and crucified by Roman soldiers!  The disciples stood around the cross and watched Jesus die.  Then on Friday evening, they took the body of Jesus off the cross and put it in the tomb.  They sealed the tomb and went away - very, very sad about the loss of their friend.  All day Saturday they grieved for their Lord.  But on Sunday morning, Jesus was resurrected and CAME BACK TO LIFE!!  How wonderful!  This taught the disciples that No Matter What Happens - trust God!

Our memory verse today is Romans 8:38:

And I am convinced that nothing 

can ever separate us from God's love.

Romans 8:38

  

 

2012 SKY VBS - Day 3

Our Bible Buddy today is SCOUT.  Scout is an eagle - a large, powerful bird with humongous wings and load of feathers!!  Scout wants us to remember that:

Everything is possible with God!

Scout also wants us to remember that:

Our Bible story today is about Jesus' arrest and trial, and is found in Matthew 26:36-27:31.  Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested in the Garden, and taken to the High Priest's house to stand before the ruling council or Sanhedrin.  They found him guilty of a bunch of trumped-up charges, but they did not have the authority to order capital punishment, so they took Jesus to Pilate. 

 Pilate had Jesus flogged (beaten with leather whips embedded with sharp bone or metal).  He then condemned Jesus to die.  The people around Jesus said and did terrible things, but Jesus never lost His trust in God.  Our memory verse for today says,

But those who TRUST in the Lord will find

new strength.  They will soar high on wings

like eagles.  -Isaiah 40:31

 

 

 

 

2012 SKY VBS - Day 2

This is Orville, the flying Pig - and he welcomes you to Vacation Bible School for the second day.  Pigs are chubby, low to the ground, and are not known to be able to fly.  But Orville wants to remind you that:

Everything is possible with God!

So Orville flies in an AIRPLANE!!  Anyone can fly in an airplane, so that makes Orville a flying pig.  Orville also wants you to remember:

Lazarus and his two sisters were friends of Jesus and the disciples.  One day Lazarus got VERY sick, and the sisters sent word to Jesus to come quickly.  Before Jesus got there, however, Lazarus died.  Everyone was SO SAD!!  But Jesus came and brought Lazarus back to life!!

 Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters, were SO happy, and SO thankful to Jesus for giving their brother back to them.  The Bible says, "Don't let your heart be troubled...Trust in God!"  John 14:1

2012 SKY VBS - Day 1

Pat the Bat is our Bible Buddy today.  He wants us to know that:

Pat wants us to know that it doesn't matter whether we are young or old; big or small; black, brown or white; girl or boy, adult or child - it doesn't matter who you are - you can trust God, because Anything is Possible with God.  Our Bible verse for today comes from 1st Samuel 16:7:

People look at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart. 

Our Bible story is about a soldier - a soldier from long, long ago and far, far away:  A Roman Centurion. This centurion was used to commanding 100 soldiers who listened to his instructions and obeyed him.  When the centurion's servant was very, very sick, he knew that Jesus could heal him.  But he didn't want to bother Jesus when He was busy, so the centurion said, "Sir - I know that if you just say the word, my servant will be healed."   That took a lot of courage and faith!

Jesus thought it was really cool that this Roman commander had so much faith in Him.  He said, "Go home!  Your servant is well."  And sure enough, when the centurion went home, he found that his servant had been healed.  Anything is possible with God.

Here is a wonderful song for you to sing that will remind you every day that anything and everything is possible with God.

  

2012 VBS - SKY!

Have you ever thought about all of the things that fly in the sky?  There are simple balloons and huge hot air balloons, helicopters and airplanes, birds and bats, butterflies and bees.  So many things use the sky as their home.  This week, we are going to explore our wonderful sky, and learn that:

Everything is possible with God!!

 

Every day we will have a wonderful Bible buddy who will share with us a memory verse and a Bible story that will help us to understand God a little better.  We will have wonderful songs to sing that will remind us that Everything is possible with God.  Join us every day as we learn to fly in the SKY!

Weighing Their Words

The gullible believe anything they're told;

the prudent sift and weigh every word.

Proverbs 14:15

I have never been a political person, and am certainly not rabid when it comes to our nation's political process.  I don't like to debate the pro's and con's of the different political parties, because they have become so partisan, they no longer talk good sense on almost any subject.  When it comes to the presidential election, however, I try to diligently listen to as much spoken and written word as possible in order to make an intelligent choice.  I do not vote for a party affiliation, I vote for a person.

I am firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the middle class, and sincerely wonder at times if any of the political candidates know who I am - not me personally, of course, but my section of the economic terrain.  I read in CNN the other day that Americans only seem to want to elect wealthy politicians.  I wonder why in the world we do that?  Republican candidate Mitt Romney is a multimillionaire who once wanted elevators for his luxury cars, and whose wife wears $1000 designer t-shirts (CNN).  How can she (or he) possibly understand my life: $8 t-shirts from Target, with an occasional splurge for a $20 one from Ann Taylor's Loft.  I work two jobs just to make ends meet, something that Michelle Obama will never have to do, with assets for the presidential family weighing in from $2.8M to $8.3M (Huffington Post). 

I do not begrudge either family their money.  I do, however, believe that their wealth blinds them to the real needs of the majority of this country.  So I listen to their rhetoric and I try to sift through the spin doctors, the obvious lies, the subtle lies, and the empty promises.  One man will say anything to get elected, the other man will say anything to keep his job.  And this woman will continue to watch, listen, read, and weigh every single word.

A Sudden Good Break

Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,

but a sudden good break can turn life around.

Proverbs 13:12

Back in mid-June, a friend of mine had hip replacement surgery.  She had just had back surgery a couple of months before (which did not alleviate the pain she was having), and her back surgeon sent her to a hip surgeon.  It was much too much far too soon in my mind (a lesson I had learned when I had two major surgeries 8 weeks apart), but she was intent on getting rid of the pain and carrying on with her very busy life, so she forged ahead.

The aftermath has been an unmitigated disaster.  The new hip has dislocated twice, causing unbearable pain and suffering.  Finally the surgeon took her back in the operating room to "fix" the problem, but her recovery from yet another surgical procedure and anesthesia has been extremely slow, burdened with more pain than any one person should ever have to bear.  Accompanying side symptoms have made life absolutely miserable at times.

What she needs is a "sudden good break" - to turn the corner in her recovery and rehabilitation so that she can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The mending of her body will continue to be slow but (hopefully) steady, but her soul and spirit need some good news to hang their hat on.  Won't you pray with me that the Lord will strengthen and encourage my friend to hang on and hang in there.  I appreciate your prayers on her behalf this weekend, that she might experience true improvement in the healing of her body that will shower her mind with hope and blessings.

The Liar

God can't stomach liars;

He loves the company of those who keep their word.

Proverbs 12:22

lie (li) vi.  lied, lying.  1.  to make a statement that one knows

is false, especially with intent to deceive; to make such statements

habitually; 2. to give a false impression; deceive one 

Every human being on earth has been lied to at one time or other in their existence, just as we all have been lied about.  What is it about a lie that is so devastating?  Is it the sudden feeling of betrayal?  The loss of trust?  The helplessness we feel when others are told a falsehood about us or someone we love?

The other side of the coin is:  Why do human beings lie in the first place?  -to get out of a sticky situation?  -to throw down a smoke screen to cover up their activities?  -as a convenience to avoid embarrassment?  -as a habit they have no clue how to break?  Psychologists believe that lying is based in fear:  fear of harm, fear of punishment, fear of loss, fear of conflict, or fear of rejection.

There are lots and lots of ways to lie.  Webster's New World Dictionary has a fascinating little paragraph under the heading of "synonym" that says:

lie is the simple, direct word meaning to make a deliberate

false statement.  prevaricate strictly means to quibble or confuse

the issue in order to evade the truth, but it is loosely used as a

formal or affected substitute for lie; equivocate implies the 

deliberate use of ambiguity in order to deceive or mislead; fabricate 

suggests the invention of a false story, excuse, etc., intended to 

deceive and is, hence, sometimes used as a somewhat softer 

equivalent for lie;  fib implies the telling of a falsehood about 

something unimportant and is sometimes a euphemism for lie.

Why does God hate lying?  Perhaps it is because a lie not only hurts the person who utters it, but also all those who are in the pathway of that deceit.  Lying is a form of bondage, wrapping chain after chain around the human heart, sapping one's strength and eating away at one's soul.

Better to be Ordinary

Better to be ordinary and work for a living

than act important and starve in the process.

Proverbs 12:9

Peter Potter was a smooth young man who did not do a whole lot of anything except smoke pot and deliver food.  One day out of the clear blue sky, he met the girl of his dreams, and after a very short whirlwind romance, he took the plunge and got hitched.  She had a regular job, producing a secure source of income for the fledgling family - an income he spent with alacrity.  He decided that he was worth far more than the life he was currently living, so he cleaned himself up and went out to find a lucrative job - preferably one where he could make loads of money with minimal effort.

His friend got him an interview with a store that rewarded good salesmen with big money, or so he was told.  He got the job and set about making the "big bucks" - which turned out to be not so big after all.  He needed a time piece in his new position, so prevailed on the wife to provide a very expensive watch (which she would pay for).  He needed better wheels to park in the store parking lot, so he prevailed on the wife to provide an appropriate status vehicle (also on her tab).  When the business did not bring the rewards he anticipated, he quit his job and went looking for bigger fish to fry.  Eventually he found another sales job that promised big commissions.  Unfortunately, that one didn't pan out either.  Amidst the sturm und drang of ever-increasing debt and decreasing care/concern for his relationships, he drove away his wife and alienated most of his friends.

He went to work in another town, but that didn't work out.  He went to work in another state, but that was just another pipe dream.  He wandered back to his home state, and moved to the town where his best friend was opening a business.  He tried to worm his way into management, then endeavored to become the over-all deal-maker by ousting his friend behind his back.  He is currently sofa-sleeping at someone's home, working (and scheming) at the new business, and turning everything he touches into dust.  Watching from a distance, I feel like grabbing him by the shoulders and saying, "Hey!  Work your way up from the bottom rung, one step at a time!"  Somehow, I don't think he would hear me.

Generosity: More Than Money

Ginter Botanical Garden.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

The world of the generous gets larger and larger;

the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

Proverbs 11:24

My father was born in 1913, into the generation that went through the Great Depression.  His family was not exactly dirt poor, but they certainly weren't wealthy either.  Dad was in the nuts and bolts end of the newspaper industry - foreman of the composing room - but that was not the only source of his income.  He had many, many other little cottage industry jobs to bring in extra cash on the side.

Dad was a hoarder when it came to his money.  He gave Mom all she needed to run the household, but most of the rest of his money went into U.S. savings bonds, savings accounts and certificates of deposit.  He spent almost nothing that wasn't absolutely necessary.  I love to tell the story of my teenage years, when my father decided to get central air-conditioning.  As we lived in Phoenix, Arizona, that was a capital idea!  We had been living with two huge evaporative coolers, which didn't work well when the temperature passed 100 degrees.  He had a friend of his install the unit, and that wonderful summer we basked in the unbelievably cool temperatures of central air. Then the electricity bills came.  When Dad turned off the ac in the fall of that year, he never turned it on again.  Ever.  Over the years the unit rusted out and finally collapsed.  In Dad's mind, the price for comfort was just too high.

By many standards, my father might be called stingy.  He was, however, the most generous man I've ever known.  True, Dad was not free with his money, but he was more than generous with his friendship, his time, and his talents.  If a neighbor needed a hand, my father was the first volunteer to show up.  He did endless odd jobs for friends and family, volunteered his time to credit unions and the Masonic Lodge, worked at the State Fair, mentored younger men in the Naval Reserve, and never missed an opportunity to help someone in need.  As his kindnesses grew, his world expanded to included friends numbering in the hundreds.  Everyone loved my dad, and I am so proud that he was my father..      

Saying NO

Butterflies Alive!  Ginter Botanical Gardens.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Like a gold ring on a pig's snout

is a beautiful face on an empty head.

Proverbs 11:22

Reality shows are not really my cup of tea.  I like mysteries and cop-style shows - my favorite being NCIS.  I also love foreign cop shows - like Beck (Swedish), and Inspector Montalbano (Italian).  So it is really unusual for me to be lounging on my couch watching a show such as The Bachelorette, but that is exactly where I was tonight.  This week is "sex week in Curacao..." as the Wall Street Journal called it.  The bachelorette is given invitation cards, one for each guy, to spend the night with her "as a couple" in a "fantasy suite."  Sort of like trying out the product before you purchase.

The Bachelorette, Emily, has narrowed the male playing field to three guys:  Jef, Arie, and Sean.  She has one of those little "let's have sex" cards in her pocket for each of those guys.  Will she or won't she use them?  Kind of tacky, right?  Especially in front of millions of TV viewer, who tune in just for this type of titillation.  I didn't have long to wait to get my answer:  With Sean?  No.  She pulled out the card to show him, then stated that as a mother of a young girl, she did not want to set that kind of example.  With Jef?  No. She again pulled out the card, but bid Jef "goodnight," stating that she didn't feel that a few extra hours would make that much of a difference in her decision process.  With Arie?  She is so physically attracted to Arie that she did not trust herself to hold strong, so she never brought the Fantasy Suite invitation out of her pocket.

The Bachelorette (and its companion show, The Bachelor) are somewhat silly shows involving a lot of drinking and even more making out.  It is the last place in the world that one would expect to find their life's companion.  However, on this one show on this one night, a very pretty young lady refused to go along with the trashier side of the show's format because she did not want to disrespect herself or her young daughter.  Kudos to you, Emily.  I certainly hope that someday you find a man worthy enough to be a father to your little girl.   

  

Trusting When You Do Not See

Then Jesus told him,

Because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have believed.

John 20:29 

Several years ago, my daughter called to ask if she could bring home a little kitten that she had rescued from an almost certain death sentence.  She was attending a boarding school at the time, and couldn't keep the kitten there, so she wanted to bring her to my house.  I love cats, and am a sucker for kittens. The next day, Sapphire entered my life.

This cat is a talker.  She must have a bit of Siamese in her background, because she talks and talks and talks.  If she wants food, she comes to get me where ever I am in the house, and talks all the way back to the kitchen and her food dish.  The most fascinating thing about this cat, however, is her love affair with fresh water.

Most of the time after she eats in the morning, Sapphire comes into my bathroom, hops up on the toilet, and begins to request water.  I come in, turn on a small stream from the sink faucet, and she hops up on the edge of the sink and begins to drink.  Now, mind you, this cat has a water dish in the kitchen that I rinse out and fill every time I feed her, but she doesn't "know" that the water is fresh, so she won't drink out of it.  I always refill her water bowl, but she is never looking at the water bowl when I set down the fresh water - she is busy chowing down on her morning food.  If she does not see me getting water, and placing it in front of her, she won't drink out of the bowl.  This morning when she began to ask for water in the bathroom, I picked her up, took her to the kitchen, refilled the water bowl I had just filled, set it down right in front of her, and she drank her fill.  Don't ask me why, but this cat needs to see me refill her bowl in order to believe that the water is fresh.

I remember a little song from my childhood that went something like this:  

 Trusting is believing that God will keep His word, 

And trusting is believing your every prayer is heard. 

And trusting is letting God know that you're depending on Him; 

It's feeling His forgiveness within.

Trusting is believing that God could care for you, 

And trusting is believing just as a child would do. 

It's like giving your hand to Jesus and knowing He won't let go, 

I'll trust Him because He loves me so.

So much of the time, I make seeing where I am going a prerequisite to taking the first step.  Jesus asks us to trust Him, even when we cannot see the way open before us.  The next time you are tempted to reject what you cannot see - remember Sapphire and her water bowl.  The fresh water is always there; she just has to believe.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Butterflies Alive!  Ginter Botanical Garden.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; 

in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, 

and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 

the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10

 I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where, as the old saying goes, you can fry eggs on the sidewalk in the summer.  You can also fry your feet and anything else that inadvertently comes into contact with either concrete or asphalt, you can fry your legs (if you are dumb enough to get in a hot car with leather seats), and you can quite literally fry your brain with heatstroke.  Growing up, the 100 degree temperatures would start in June and be finished by the end of August, or the first week of September at the latest.  By the time I left Phoenix for good in the 1990's, the 100 degree temps started in March and ended in October.  I hadn't heard about "global warming" back then, but I certainly was familiar with the lengthening pattern of extremely hot temperatures.  I used to have a t-shirt that proclaimed me a survivor of 122º heat that occurred one August.  To be truthful, it didn't feel all that much hotter than 114º, which I experienced day after day on a yearly basis.  There is always a huge discussion about how Phoenix' heat is "dry" heat, but we often received our highest temperatures in late July/August when the "monsoons" descended with a significant rise in humidity.

In 2002, my life and my family ended up in Virginia - first in Lynchburg and then in Richmond.  I was grateful for the release from the extreme heat, and have really enjoyed living here - until this year.  This past winter, we didn't actually have a winter:  no real snow, higher temperatures, spring flowers busting out in February.  Everyone guessed that this summer would be hotter than usual, but I don't think anyone thought it was going to be like this:  100 degree temperatures for five straight days, with 101º yesterday, 104º slated for today (101º with 35% humidity as I write), and an unbelievable 108º on tap for tomorrow - obviously with much higher humidity than anything we ever had in Phoenix!  Global warming?  I have no idea, but a stunning heat wave, for sure!  Relief is coming on Monday, but the price we might pay for that is severe thunderstorms and wind this weekend.

The Bible says that when Christ comes again, the very elements of the earth will melt away with "fervent heat."  I'm sure that would be significantly hotter than anything I've ever felt, including 122º!  It behooves me, then, to be certain that when God finally draws His proverbial line in the sand, I will be standing on His side - secure in my faith, protected by His love.

 

Deals with Strangers

Japanese Garden, Maymont Park.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned;

If you keep a cool head, you'll avoid rash bargains.

Proverbs 11:15 

I came to the decision a few weeks ago that a small amount of money that I had invested in one place needed to be removed from there and reinvested somewhere else.  This was not a rash, spur-of-the-moment decision, but a well-thought out, well-reasoned plan to use this money in a way that would assist my retirement.

I thought of many different investment strategies, but finally turned to the possibility of buying an investment property - a home to rent to others.  The more I thought of being a landlord, the better I liked the idea, and set in motion some inquiries to discover what might be out there in the market.  I have a wonderful real estate agent (a member of the church where I work) who helped me purchase my own house, so I called upon her to assist me with what was available in investment property.

I happened to mention these thoughts to my oldest and middle daughters, and they took very different positions on my inquiries.  My oldest was very cautious, wondering, I think, how in the world her little-old-lady mother could possibly manage to pull off this investment "scheme."  After all, what did I know about real estate?  What if I bought the proverbial "pig in a poke?"  I tried to reassure her that I did not just jump off the turnip wagon yesterday, and that I did have a brain to try and reason these things out, but she was not so sure.  My middle child said, "Well, who do you know that can help you with this, Mom?"  A capital question, if I do have to say so myself.

Who, indeed?  My real estate agent, for one, who I trust implicitly.  There is another member of the church--a member of choir--who owns a home inspection company.  He has helped me so many times with this property, and would be an excellent judge of the worthiness of anything I might decide to seriously look at.   One of my really close friends will be a wonderful second pair of eyes, and a friend of my daughters will function well as my "male brain" that thinks of all the things guys would ask that I might not.  All in all, I am surrounded by a group of people I care about, trust, and respect.  And I have a Heavenly Father who is a wonderful listener when I need to reason and talk.  One thing is for sure: I have no intention of making deals with "strangers."  That would be foolish, indeed.

Good Direction

Fountain, Japanese Garden, Maymont Park.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Without good direction, people lose their way.

The more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.

Proverbs 11:14 

I have never had a good sense of direction.  My father used to say that I "...couldn't find my way out of a wet paper sack."   Add that to my natural temerity and you have a person who hides from any great, adventurous change of routine.  There are times, however, when one just has to take the bull by the horns.

My goal for this trip to NYC was to visit the New York Botanical Gardens which are located in the Bronx.  After my last visit's fiasco of taking a taxi to the Bronx Zoo (the cab driver didn't know where the zoo was, I didn't either, and it ended up costing me an arm and a leg), I knew I was going to have to conquer my fears and my directionless self and figure out how to get there on public transportation.  A quick internet trip to HopStop gave me the particulars:  Take the 6 subway down to Grand Central Station, then take the Metro North Harlem local train directly to the entrance of the gardens.  Simple enough, right?

I made it on to the 6 (four blocks away from the apartment), and off at Grand Central.  Oh my!  Have you ever been to Grand Central Station?  Multiple subways, 100 train tracks, HUGE historic building, seemingly endless classy little boutiques.  I wandered around for a few minutes and finally found the ticket counter.  The clerk slapped down the ticket, pointed to Gate 29 directly across from him and yelled, "...it's leaving NOW."  I scampered across the hall, ran through the gate, and hopped on the train just before it began to move out from the station.  The gardens were easy for even me to find after exiting the train, and I spent the next few hours in photography bliss.

When it was about time to catch the train back, I walked back exactly the same way I walked in, except it wasn't the same way, and I ended up at a gate that was closed.  Turning left didn't look correct, so I turned to my right and hurried along until I found a garden employee who reassured me I was moving in the right direction--imagine that!  As I approached the train station, it dawned on me that I couldn't just go back up on the platform I arrived on, or I would be heading north to White Plains.  How to get on the other side??  I finally spied the stairs and catwalk that would deliver me to the southbound platform.  I ran full tilt, up-across-down, and landed on the platform just as the train pulled into the station.  

I plopped into my seat and I grinned to no one in particular and everyone in general.  I had done it!  I had managed to travel on conveyances previously unknown to me, get where I wanted to go, and then return safely to hearth and home.  I sent up a prayer to my constant traveling Companion, thanking Him for helping me to succeed in the journey.  I'll bet He was grinning as broadly as I was!