The First Day of the Week

Monday. It strikes terror in the hearts of even the strongest of us. Mislabeled the first day of the week, it’s also the most hated. We’ve forgotten that the first day of the week is actually Sunday. Yup, it’s true. I know you don’t believe me, so check your calendar. No not Outlook, it squishes Saturday and Sunday together. I’m talking about an old fashioned, hanging on the wall, have to manually flip to the next month calendar. These are my wife’s favorite. She doesn’t like the Palm Pilot I gave her a few years ago. She says it’s impersonal. She likes to look at her hanging calendar and see the diary entries she’s made on it. It’s cute, but hard to carry around.

But anyway, Sunday is the first day of the week.

I realize this is of little comfort for those who are “allergic” to Mondays. The day still comes whether we like it or not, rain or shine, Armageddon or not. But I’ve made friends with Monday. I start the day by talking to God and asking him for a good week and opportunities. Opportunities that people will notice the smile on my face and ask how I keep such a good attitude on a Monday. That’s all the chance I need to tell them that God runs my Monday, not my job. With Christ living in me I can’t help but have a good day, and if they’d like to try it I’d be happy to introduce them.

So I look forward to Mondays because of the possibilities of the week. I can't wait to see what God has planned next.

“God, thanks for my job. It’s a gift and I enjoy it every day. And thanks for Mondays; it’s the start of another week full of opportunities to tell people at work about you.”

Under the Bridge

Robert Vallejo is an interesting man. He had a business, lots of money, a big house and a nice car. You know, the usual trappings of a secular life based on today’s standards.

Then one day God sat him down and had a little one on one. He told Robert there were a lot of people downtown living under the bridges. They need food, clothing, and salvation. Go and help them.

Robert was a changed man. He gave up his business and went downtown under one of the bridges and tried to talk to the homeless people there. They were not receptive, however, especially to someone trying to tell them about Jesus. Robert had a lot of bad stuff happen to him, but he kept going back and after a while he began to establish a relationship with them.

Today Robert is the Pastor of “Seek the Lost Ministries Church”, which is solely dedicated to helping the homeless. He has a van and a trailer to carry his Public Address system and chairs and tables. He goes downtown about 6 days a week and sets up his tables and serves a meal and gives out clothes to the poor and homeless.

Rev Vallejo has a lot of help these days. Each week a different church in town volunteers to bring the food and clothing to the “Under the Bridge Ministry” as we call it. They also provide musicians to sing praise songs and a pastor to give a sermon.

It’s an incredible ministry, one that I’ve participated in several times. Today I played drums for the band and as always, it was a spiritually uplifting event.

The first time I went I was pretty intimidated by the environment. Seeing these homeless people was a bit daunting because I didn’t know they were even there. It was squalor. The smell of urine was overwhelming.

Homeless people have very little, and what they have they keep very close so no one can steal it. Most of them wear every article of clothing they own just so they won’t lose any of it. Even in 90 degree weather some of them were wearing coats and hoodies, at the same time.

I wanted to remember this experience so I took out my camera and aimed it across the street where a group of people stood, and snapped a shot. The immediate eruption of obscenities and threats aimed back at me quickly taught me that homeless people don’t want their picture taken. I found out later it’s because some of them are wanted criminals. Needless to say, I kept my camera pointed the other way the rest of the day.

We started with the praise music. I played guitar that day and sang with 3 others. After we finished the pastor gave his sermon, and then we lined everyone up for the food.

The meal consisted of a chicken quarter, Mexican rice, refried beans, a vegetable and a fruit. The homeless folks knew the drill well and lined up. It didn’t take long to realize there was a problem though, someone didn’t bring enough chicken. The main part of the meal and we ran out almost immediately. I was scared. These people rely on this weekly meal to live and we showed up without enough food.

I thought there was going to be a riot. I was at the end of line handing out fruit and plastic utensils. I very cautiously watched everyone come through the line and had my escape route laid out in my mind in case trouble started.

The procession continued though with out incident. I was relieved. Soon we ran out of rice, then veggies, then fruit. By the time the last 10 or 15 people came through all that was left were refried beans.

As the last person came through the line he stopped to take utensils from me. All he had on his plate was a glop of refried beans. Then something happened that I’ll never forget. He looked at me and with the most sincere, humble voice I have ever heard he said “Thank you so much for this”.

I was blown away. Here this man stood with a plate of nasty, runny beans that I would have thrown in the trash, and he thanked me for it. He was truly happy and grateful to have it.

After that day I made the decision that there are no bad days in my life. I have shelter. I have food. I have a family. There are no bad days in my life.

I think we can all learn from this. Jesus was a lot like this man. This grateful, homeless, man. Christ lived on the hospitality of others. He didn’t own anything and didn’t need anything. He just wanted to teach people the Good News. He was grateful for everything he received from others and knew how to appreciate even the smallest gesture of faith and goodwill.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all had this kind of personality? It would definitely be a better world.

"God, thanks for a great day and the opportunity to witness to others. I appreciate the humbling lesson I learn each time I go under the bridge. Lord, please bless the homeless in our city. Give them shelter, and safety. Show them your incredible love and let them find salvation and solice in you. Amen."

Cha Ching!

My wife has been on a kick lately to secure our financial future. I love her enthusiasm. When she sets her mind to something she goes all out until it’s accomplished.

Financially we’re good. In fact, we’re better than a lot of people because we have no credit card debts and only two loans: the house and my car.

Oddly enough we seem to have little cash though. Part of the problem is our tax burden.

I spent 21 years in the military, and for anyone out there that doesn’t already know this, they don't pay the military jackola! Everyone wants the country protected, but no one wants to pay for it.

There are countless young military members with families that have to survive on food stamps. My hand to God that is the truth, people who are laying down their very lives for your freedoms are living on food stamps. And we pay sports stars and movie stars millions to entertain us.

And for the young troops who are still single, they get preyed on by financial institutions with promises of fast cash for cool cars and cell phones and stereos and anything else their hearts desire. They do this because they know if they can get their teeth in them while they're young and dumb they can keep them in credit card debt for many years. It’s disgusting.

Anyway, I was single for the majority of my service and filing taxes was easy. I claimed single with no dependents and got back a little bit each year.

Fast forward to the year after I got married. I was retired from the military for 2 years, and God had led me to a really great job which paid very well for the skills I had gained in the service.

At this time my daughter had moved in with me so we were a nice family. I did what I was supposed to do and claimed married with 2 dependents. My wife claimed married with zero dependents.

Well, we had a professional do our taxes and after paying all year long at a higher tax rate because of our income, we still owed $8,000.

You could hear the echo of my jaw hitting the floor a mile away. I had been welcomed into a whole new world where working hard and getting ahead is repaid by taking most of your money in taxes under the auspice of “you can afford it”.

Bull biscuits. I’ve been a low wage earner and high wage earner now and I can tell you that the tax burden put on people who have managed to do well for themselves is highly unfair.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent but I can't help but get a little Republican when I think about the tax code.

Back to my wife and her quest for Rockefeller-dom. She’s reading Dave Ramsey’s book right now, which I think will help a lot in her quest. Dave is pretty good at what he does, so I’m sure we’ll be millionaires very soon.

As for me, I only want extra money so I can do more of God’s work. I’ve learned that helping others with my money is part of my gift. We do things with our money like send kids to camp, and adults to marriage retreats. I helped our youth ministry buy a new drum set for their band and we give to several charities every month.

I thank God for what I have and I don’t take it for granted. I have what I have because God gave it to me, and actually it’s not mine, it’s His. He’s just letting me manage it, and my job is to be a good steward.

I appreciate what I have because I’ve been in a position of having nothing. Before I joined the military I remember times when I’ve walked around in roadside ditches picking up 5 cent refund cans to cash in to buy food.

But, to be in a place where you have nothing is what it takes to truly understand that everything comes from God, not from us. And I can tell you that since I’ve let God lead me, things are better in every aspect of my life. From relationships to work to finances, God has blessed my life.

I’m not saying that if you give your life to Christ you’ll suddenly have riches or a perfect family; I’m saying that if you give your life to Christ that all of those things will make sense. You will understand that all of this is temporary and what really counts is your relationship with Him. Once you and your family are focused on that, everything will just seem to fall into place. And you didn’t even have to go to Barnes and Noble to get that advice.

"May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness. That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child." Brennan Manning

“God, thank you for putting me in poverty so I would appreciate what I have now. Give me the wisdom to be a good steward and use your money wisely for your glory. Amen.”

Splash Town

Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Did I mention there’s rain here? It’s been raining off and on every day for the past 52 days straight. No kidding. 52 days! In south Texas!!

This part of the country is very rocky. We don’t have basements because it would take a small nuclear device to blast a hole through the rock big enough to build one. The good thing about that is you don't have to worry about your house sinking. The bad thing is that water doesn’t soak into the ground; it runs along the roads creating flash floods.

I never experienced flash floods until I moved to my current house, which is close to a low water crossing. I’m not sure why they call it a low water crossing because the water is not low at all. In fact it’s very high and if you try to cross it your vehicle will instantly become a boat, and your role as the vehicle driver will suddenly change to passenger because there’s no steering after that.

The city tries to protect people from these low water crossings by blocking off the streets where they flood. They use standard saw-horse type orange and white barriers which are easily driven around. Amazingly enough, people do this. They think their car is so heavy it can’t be washed away, so they go for it. This usually turns their "low water crossing" into a“low water rescue”. Which again is a misnomer. A low water rescue sounds like you're drowning in the kiddy pool.

The water is actually very high and very powerful and very, very dangerous. Quite a few people die every year attempting to cross these mistaken fords. Fortunately though, most of them just get stranded, but it's still a problem. In fact, so many numskulls ignored the barriers last year and got stranded that the city started charging people to be rescued. No kidding.

I don’t have a problem with this. If you’re stupid enough to go plowing into a raging river with your Honda Civic which is barely bigger than a fishing bobber in the first place, you deserve to pay for the services of our emergency workers to come and save you. There are real emergencies out there they need to attend to. Taking time to fish you out of a ditch puts other people’s lives in danger.

Anyway, it must be 5:00 PM because it’s raining again. I don’t know why it picks rush hour to do this. People have a hard enough time getting home at this hour without the roadways becoming a giant slip-n-slide.

Oh well… it’s off to brave the elements I go. Wish me luck!

“God, protect those out in the storm. Keep our emergency workers safe as they try their best to save others from harm. Oh, and thank you for the rain. I always look forward to your rainbows afterward”.

"stuff"

Every Wednesday I wake very early and go to the local Jim’s Restaurant to have breakfast with my best friend, Steve. We’ve known each other for 20 years and have been through thick and thin together. He’s a powerful Christian now and an inspiration to me.

This morning we’re eating and discussing various topics such as the Spurs, our jobs, and life in general when suddenly my wife calls to tell me we’ve been robbed. Yes, robbed.

Apparently the garage door was left open all night and someone came in and helped themselves to my tools.

Of course I was stunned. We live in a nice neighborhood. This kind of stuff isn’t supposed to happen in nice neighborhoods, right?

It never ceases to amaze me how bad people can be. What kind of person cruises a neighborhood looking for opportunities like this, and then have the guts to enter someone’s home and take their stuff?

I was mad at first. I don’t understand why these people can’t just get a job and buy the stuff themselves!?

I went home and inventoried everything. They took the top half of a large tool chest that housed screw drivers and other miscellaneous stuff. They also grabbed a very nice kit of Craftsman sockets and wrenches.

Surprisingly that seems to be all they got.There isn’t enough room in between the garage wall and my wife’s Vitara to take anything bigger. They also didn’t go through the cabinets and drawers. The nice police officer, M. Ramos, who came by earlier to take a statement said she’d seen the contents of an entire garage stolen before.

We were lucky. It could've been bad. Especially if you consider the fact that these people were in my garage and could have come into the house last night while we were sleeping. It could have been very bad.

I believe there are lessons to be learned in everything that happens in life. God teaches in a lot of ways, but he always teaches. One of the lessons today is that there is no such thing as a “no crime” neighborhood, only less crime. Also, close the stupid garage door!

The main lesson though is that the things we have here on Earth can go away as quickly as we buy them. As tangible as we feel our stuff is, it isn’t. What matters are the treasures we store in heaven, and even as I sat in the restaurant after hearing my home had been violated I stopped and prayed with Steve and asked God to forgive the thieves and work in their lives so they might find Him.

I hope they enjoy the tools.

“God, there are a lot people here that need you. People who take because they don’t know how to give, and because no one has ever done anything nice for them. Please work in their lives so they will have a chance to encounter you. Amen”.

Minority Report

I just got home from the super market. Yes, it’s after 9PM. That’s usually the best time to go because it’s less crowded. Tonight there were even fewer people because it’s raining, so everyone with any sense was at home snug and warm.

It’s been raining a lot here actually. Unusually a lot. In fact, it’s rained 2-3 hours a day for over 3 months now! It’s been raining so much that animals are starting to line up 2 by 2 in front of my house.

But I digress. Back at the super market in the checkout line I noticed the usual cluster of gossip rags. Apparently Lyndsay has been arrested again. Tori Spelling is selling her jewelery on HSN, and Kelly Clarkson apologized to someone for something that nobody really cares about. They also had a magazine that said it had “End of Days Secrets!”

That’s a coincidence… so do I.

Some Christians probably never really fully grasp the fact that they know how all of this turns out. We’ve all read the book and know the real ending. I wish I could change it and save everyone like Bruce Willis always does, but this time the story rules are different. The writer of this story knew the end before the world began, and its course will be played out just as it’s written. So I can’t change it no matter how much I’d like to save everyone.

I try though, I can’t help it. I do the same thing at the movies. It’ll be a flick I’ve seen a million times but I’ll still yell at the guy to look behind the door because I know there’s a monster there. He never listens to me though and suffers the consequences by getting his face eaten off.

I want the world to avoid this fate. It’s like the movie “Minority Report”. Tom Cruise sees his future foretold by 3 “Precogs” who say he is going to commit murder. However, he finds out that sometimes one of the Precogs will see an alternate future. This “minority report” is thrown out though because it doesn’t match the other two. So Tom sets out to find his minority report and clear his name.

Like Tom Cruise, I keep hoping for a minority report so maybe there will be an alternate future for the world.

But you know something, there is.

All you have to do to create your minority report is accept and trust Jesus as your personal savior. It’s that simple. You don’t have to run from the bad guys and crash cars or scale buildings like Tom Cruise; all you have to do is reach out for the truth, the truth that there is a loving God who wants to be in your life and change it, permanently.

“God, I pray for the opportunity to meet those who have not met you, to encounter those who haven’t found the truth of your word, and the ability to introduce you in a way that gives them the opportunity to experience you.”

Satan's Bathtub

There are tons of jokes about there being no water in hell. I submit that they are all untrue, because there have to be swimming pools in hell because that’s where mine came from!

My first experience with a swimming pool was at my last house. I was a bachelor when I moved in and the house reflected it. It was all carpet and the walls were white. My backyard consisted of a small set of 3 steps made of concrete that went down into the yard. That was it. The rest of the yard was grass, no trees, no plants.

Suddenly, in came a woman. Well, not just a woman, the woman. The most awesome woman in the world actually. God had pity on my pathetic, single life and sent in the Calvary to save me from my meager dwelling.

We married in 2004 and she immediately set out to improve my home… um, I mean our home. Sorry honey.

First on the agenda was floors. She had dogs, and dogs do not mix well with carpet, so up it came and down went tile and wood. Next was paint. Lots and lots and lots of paint. When finished the only room in the house untouched by the colorful onslaught of water-based paint was my office. I guess she felt it was the only man-space left in the house so she let me have it.

I didn’t mind doing any of this because my wife had sold her house when we married and moved in with me which was a huge gesture of sacrifice on her part for the sake of our new marriage. I knew she didn’t like my house that much, so if I could make it into something she did like then I was going to do it.

Then one day we were sitting in the kitchen and she was gazing out the window at the backyard and off handedly said “You know, it wouldn’t be so bad here if we had a pool”. I off handedly replied “Yeah, I guess that would be kind of cool”.

MAN ALERT! For all you newly married guys out there, please know that any comment your wife makes, whether veiled or off handed, is just her way of letting you know what’s about to happen to you.

The next day I looked out and there were people in my backyard digging a hole.

The pool was nice though. My wife had very specific ideas and when finished it was a 20x30 sports pool with an Oklahoma flagstone deck and a large rock waterfall. Nice, huh?

I’d heard from several people how expensive it would be to keep chemicals in stock, and how much work it would be to balance the PH and chlorine, and shock it, and algaecide it, etc. I was a little intimidated by all of this, but it turned out to be easy. After months of obsessively checking the water I found that it didn’t need anything! I literally went out to the chlorine dispenser and added 3” chlorine tabs every two weeks. That’s it, really.

Well, fast forward to the beginning of 2006. My wife and I were once again sitting at the kitchen table (I'm getting rid of that dang thing), and she made the off handed comment that it would be nice to move to a house closer to both of our jobs. I off handedly replied that a shorter commute would be nice.

MAN ALERT! – guys, remember the previous alert? I wasn’t kidding!!

So, the day after Thanksgiving we moved into another house.

I refrain from using the phrase “new house” because it was only new to us; the house is over 30 years old.

I will admit that my 10 minute commute to work is fabulous, and the neighborhood is wonderful. I couldn’t be happier.

However, in the backyard sits a pool, and I’m sure it was probably Satan’s bathtub at one time because it’s been nothing but trouble. The first indication this pool wasn’t going to be as easy to take care of was the fact that when it rained the pool turned green. Dark green. Robin Hood’s tights green.

I learned this is because I have something in my backyard that I didn’t have at my last house - trees. Lots of trees, and I spend a great deal of time getting leaves out of the pool.

I had to scour the internet for information on pool maintenance because I’d forgotten everything I learned when we first put in the last pool because I didn’t need to do anything. I rearmed myself with a wealth of knowledge concerning pool water and bought all of the chemicals I needed to whip this pool into shape. It took a while, but now that I have a good handle on the chemicals the pool seems to be ok. I mean the water is ok. The pool is not.

Here are the problems I’ve had the past 7 months:

1. The drain on the pool floor is clogged. Not just clogged, completely uncloggably clogged. I’m still trying to figure out what to do about it.
2. The timer for the Polaris cleaning thingy that runs around on the bottom sucking up leaves broke.
3. The underwater light assembly fell out of its socket and is hanging in the pool, dead.
4. The lever that directs water to the bubble jets was installed wrong so I have to take the handle off in order to rotate it the correct direction to turn it on.
5. The plastic base under the sand filter collapsed on one side so the filter leaned to the left, pulling the pump and everything with it.

I know, you’re thinking what did this guy do to deserve this? I’ve been wondering that myself.

I repaired the filter and replaced the timer myself. I’m still working on the other items.

I have to admit that buying an older home has revived the handyman in me though. Living in a new house with all new stuff had dulled my skills and I’d lost my Tim Taylor psyche. Now I’m Mr. Handyman again. I’ve done things I’ve never done before, like rip walls down and rebuild closets. I’ve wrestled a 600 pound sand filter and won. I’ve become an electrician, a carpenter, and a painter. It’s been a rebirth of sorts, so I thank God for this old house. I’ve regained my skills just in time to help build the Habitat for Humanity house my church is sponsoring.

“God, thank you for our home. We invite you to come in and live here with us. We pledge to make this house a Christian home where people can come to learn of you and your wonderful gift of salvation. Amen”.

darkness into light

Kyle and Stefanie Burkholder are missionaries in South Africa. They are also friends of mine, we went to the same church before God called them to the mission field.

They have a blog where they talk about their lives in Africa. You can see it here. Take a few minutes and read some of the stuff on their site, it will change your views a little and show you what true "following" is all about.

"God, bless the ministry of Kyle and Stefanie. Keep them in the palm of your hand and let their sight always be clear so they can see who they serve; let their speech be loud as they proclaim your word; and let their journey be filled with love, grace, testing and fulfillment. Amen."

Crime Never Pays

I went to see “Live Free or Die Hard” today. Once again John McClane takes on overwhelming odds to stop a band of high-tech crooks from stealing a bazillion dollars. The plot is basically the same as the first two movies: the crooks start by doing something that misdirects the police and FBI so they’re chasing their tails while the crooks take a ginormous chunk of someone else’s money. John accidentally discovers their evil plot and sets out to stop them while dealing with a personal issue at the same time. Of course the personal issue comes in the form of some misfiring relationship. This time it’s his daughter, Lucy. It's a typical father daughter issue: dad doesn't want his daughter to get felt up by some over stimulated dude in a sports car, and the daughter wants to make her own choice of whether or not to be felt up. Thankfully by the end of the movie they’ve reconciled and become a great father/daughter team again. It only takes two hours of wasting bad guys, cuts, scraps, punches, bullets, explosions and what seemed like a few gallons of John’s blood. Oy, I think it would have been easier to go to counseling!

I liked the movie, as I do most Bruce Willis movies, and he’s back in his element for this flick. Of course I’m not one of those guys that like nothing but blowing up stuff and shooting everyone in sight. Violence permeates the movie industry right now. I didn't realize how much until I went to Blockbuster a few months ago. I hadn't been to a video store in over a year. Don’t get me wrong, I love video stores, but I’m a progressive guy and I’d been getting my flicks via pay-per-view. But one night I didn't like what was available so my wife and I got in the car and trudged over to Blockbuster. It was so… 2005 of us!

I walked around the store perusing the current offerings from Hollywood and it didn’t take long to notice a trend; there were more horror movies than I’d ever seen before. Not just scary movies either, they had a common theme of graphic violence, sadistic torture and perverse treatment of other people.

I’d seen commercials about some of these movies, like “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Hostel”. What surprised me though was the large number of movies like these. I was honestly taken aback at how quickly the movies on the shelves of my beloved Blockbuster had changed. In the course of only a year, Hollywood had incorporated this steady diet of murder and mayhem into our lives. It’s a testament to the truths revealed in the Bible and how our society will continue to spiral into darkness.

However, I am a guy, so I admit that some explosions and a few bad guys getting capped is a good day for me.

I gave the movie an “A-” because it did what it set out to do: prove that good will triumph over evil even in the face of enormous odds. And once again America can sleep in the knowledge that John McClane has saved us all from destruction.

New Beginnings

My first Blog. Everyone has one, right? I mean, it's 2007, after all. The age of myspace. I'm too old for myspace, or maybe just too grown up. I dont' know, but having a quiet place to post my thoughts will be enough.

So here we go. My thoughts. Um... yeah, my thoughts. I knew once I had a venue to blather my brain would lock up. lol.

Oh well, you can at least enjoy this picture I took in Iowa. Every day since Christ came into my life has been like this sunrise, a new beginning. And it amazes me how God paints the world with such beauty. I just wish we'd take better care of his work.

This Blog, like me, is a work in progress, and hopefully as it grows I'll have something creative or funny or sensitive or insightful to say. So come back and find out!

Ok, that's enough for my first post. I'm going to click the save button now and away we'll go...