I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES

I was riding Sate Rd. 11 heading back to Jacksonville after visiting my mom and dad. My mind was focused on driving but was also mentally wandering as I thought on a myriad of things on my agenda. Highway 11 is a pure scenic Florida road with pasture land, palms, small creeks, and palmettos.

Then I saw something far ahead on the road that looked like a long palm branch. I slowed but continued forward wondering if I should ride over it or dart around it. The closer I got the odder and bigger it looked.

Then I saw clearly what was it my path. I shouldn't have been shocked knowing where I was, but I was stunned for a moment.

It was a huge alligator that stretched across  my side of the highway. This was no baby gator, but a full grown bull. Wow!

I swerved and looked into my rear view mirror as the gator rose and continued across the road. It was stunning and surprising. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have traveled thousands of miles on Florida roads from south to north and never scene a gator across the road like this one.

Actually, I was on the phone and gasped surprising the person I was talking too. I said, "You won't believe what I just passed on this road." They were shocked too and wanted to know where I was driving.

This is gator country. They are not all in Gainesville.

SLOW FOR THE MANATEES

I am not into saving endangered animals of any kind. That is not my life focus. I worship the Creator not the creature. Animals of any kind do catch my attention. I love the outdoors with all of the plant life and little creatures. I am just not into tree hugging or animal worship.

Friday and Saturday Wanda and I enjoyed some "down" time in a quiet condo on the Gulf of Mexico in Steinhatchee, FL. The condo was located right at the mouth of the Steinhatchee River where it dumps into the Gulf.

Boaters and more boaters made their way out the river to the Gulf to fish. There was a steady stream of fishermen going and coming. Boater after boater made their way to their favorite fishing spots.

We were sitting enjoying the boat parade as I looked down from the second story porch into a small canal below us. Something dark and big was moving into the canal. There were several of them moving ever so slowly below us. Then one of them rose up peeking out of the water and breathed deeply. It was a manatee with two small babies.

For the rest of the day they leisurely ate and played below us. They are strange looking creatures. I could see how boat propellers could do major damage to them. They move so lazily through the water. They feasted on something there below the water. Up and down they bobbed playing and eating.

I think the thing that stuck out in my mind was their slow, leisurely pace. I liked that. Slow and leisurely. I need to try that too.

CAMPING AGAIN

Wanda and I are on a one night camping trip with four of our grandkids. Oh, my two daughters are camping too. We love being with all of our grands and kids. They are our lives.

Julie and Jen are camping in Camp Wilderness in Disney World and have invited us to come. We could only make it for one night which is a lot of work for only one night camping, but the grands make it worth it all. Oh, and we get to see Julie and Jennifer.

We have most of our camping stuff packed in a way that it isn't too hard to get it all together. It is just sorting some of it and loading up and taking off. Then set-up, camping, and then take down and home we head again. The few hours with the kids make it a joy to do. We love being with them.

Camping is a  get a way into God's beautiful creation. Oh, there are bugs, and misquotes, and more bugs, and heat and rain and sleeping on the ground and some more bugs. But we have fun enjoying being outside and relaxing.

Getting away helps relax the mind and soothe the soul.

I think we need that too.

BROKEN TRUST

Relationships connect through trust. When trust is broken, everything is lost. Businesses cannot function in an environment of broken trust. Governments fails when their is no trust. Sports teams lose when trust is broken. Marriages struggle when trust is missing.

What is the basis of trust?

It begins with truthfulness and is bound by faithfulness. When promises, agreements, contracts, or commitments aren't respected and honored then trust is lost.

Faithfulness is the quiet voice of love. How can we say we love when we lose respect of others and then break our words or promises.

That is what makes God so amazingly incredible. It is sweet to trust in Jesus. You can take Him at His Word. He keeps His Word. He is faithful.

We need a revival of trust in our world, but that won't come without a real, honest, heartfelt revival of God and His love. His love in us produces a stability of life, word, and deed. Then others can know we are dependable and trustworthy.

Broken trust always leads to broken lives. I am so thankful to have a family and dear friends whom I can trust. My prayer is that I will live in a manner that they can know that they can trust in me.

AM I BELIEVABLE?

I once heard a great orator and preacher speak to preachers on how to preach. He spoke on the number one priority for preachers and what hearers thought was most important for a preacher for them to be willing to listen and follow the preacher's sermons. Knowing that this speaker was a great orator, I thought he might list study, or mechanics, or content,  or style as the vital requirement.

Not so.

He said that a preacher must first believe what he is preaching for people to follow his sermons. Now I thought he meant how passionate the preacher was in preaching. Wrong again.

What makes people believe that a preacher believes what he is preaching is whether or not the preacher lives what he is preaching. Style, mechanics, content, and length are all important, but none of them approach the importance of living the sermon.

St Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

In other words he was saying that the living the message trumps speaking the message. 

I desire to preach the Word of God. That is my calling, but more than preach it, I want people to see me live it. That is what makes the highest impact. 

Oh God, fill my inner being so that I may glorify you in deed so that my words will have power. 

GO GO GO

This has been a very busy past week. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings along with some travel have all kept me busy. I have written a blog for over five years on a daily basis or at least three times a week. I enjoy journaling and sharing and hopefully inspiring to a higher life by what I share.

Several times I have contemplated taking a pause on my blog, but I still have a sense of calling to write and share. My blog is mainly personal as I share what is happening in my life. My Mom reads it to keep up with what's happening in my life.

There is so much to do and enjoy in life. I love reading, studying, outdoors, movies, riding "Big Red", visiting family, times with friends, and the list goes on. Go, Go, Go seems to be my theme.

There is a time to pause and take a break. Jesus did. He took His disciples aside for rest so we all need it.

There is so much more I want to do in life. I have a passion to finish my journey strong. That will happen as I put God first, seek His will, and obey. That's my goal. I want to be obedient.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Mother's Day should be every day, or maybe it is in a different kind of way. It is always mothers' day to rise early and work late. It is from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn. It never ends. How do I know? I watched and helped and on rare occasions tried to do it alone. That did not go very well.

I cannot imagine in my wildest imagination not have mothers. Their love grows you up. Mother's nurture, comfort, feed, clothe, wash, watch, change, and work and work and work. It never stops.

My mother did all this and more. She is a hero of mine. Her faithfulness to her husband, children and the work of the Lord are incredible. Our family would not have made it without her. It is just that simple.

Mother is 86. I talk to her regularly and will enjoy spending a few hours with her on Mother's Day. When I grew up, she baked a pound cake every Sunday afternoon. I love eating her warm pound cakes. It doesn't get any better than that. I told her not to make a pound cake for me on this visit, but she said she was because she like baking them. Well, I will enjoy eating it.

She led me to the Lord when I was around 6 years old. I will forever be grateful to her for that. Thank you Mom for all you have done for me. I love you.

THERE IS HOPE

Hope is the glue and substance of faith. Faith's foundation is hope. Hope releases courage. It renews the dry spirit. It refreshes the burdened heart. It lightens the load. It helps us face the new day.

In Christ we have a living hope. He is alive within our hearts. He is the restorer and strengthener of our beings. We can face today and tomorrow because of the living hope in Christ.

One of my favorite life verses is Romans 15:13:

"Now the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you believe, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

Every word and every phrase of this verse is powerful.

"Now" means in the present. Today. This moment. God is a God of hope.

We serve a "God of Hope". That comes from the goodness and love of our Lord. His mercies are new every morning, because great is His faithfulness.

Ps 71:5 reads, "O Lord, you alone are my hope, I've trusted you, O Lord, from childhood."

It has been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only for seconds without hope.

He is my hope. His hope releases joy and peace. I can face today, tomorrow, and eternity because He lives.

WOE

This is a hard blog to write, yet I feel compelled to share it.

Isaiah wrote:

"Woe to those who call evil good,
        and good evil;
Who put darkness for light,
        and light for darkness:
Who put bitter for sweet,
        and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in
        their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!"
(Isaiah 5: 20-21)

We live in a generation that has chosen the evil for good and
turned good to evil. The end result is always a whirlwind and destruction.

God has put a deep burden in my heart to cry out to Him for mercy over our Nation and people. We must have revival for righteousness to return to our Land. We will never elect godly leaders until their is a return to grass root's righteousness. That must first happen in the hearts of pastor's and churches, God's people. Then the Lord will hear our prayers and heal our Land.

That word "Woe" is a hard word. It means that which brings trouble or sorrow or great stress. In means sorrow, trouble, and great stress will come upon those the "Woe" is directed toward. God is saying through Isaiah that trouble, sorrow, and great stress will be upon those who compromise and confuse good with evil and evil with good. Those who do such are proud, arrogant, and wise in their "own" eyes, but the end is inevitable. It always produces the fruit of sorrow, trouble, and stress.

May God have mercy on our Nation. Our leaders have exchanged the good for evil and the woe is just ahead. In their arrogance they are producing a whirlwind of destruction and shame. The sorrow will be more than we can bear.

A NIGHT OF WORSHIP

Early this past Sunday morning I heard the Lord speak to me, "How would you worship me today in church if this was your last time to worship?" I didn't think the Lord was telling me that my time was short, but rather that He was challenging me as to how I would worship Him.

I mentioned that to our congregation as we began Sunday morning worship. It made a difference in how I worshipped in song and praise. That probably is not a good sign, but a sign that I need to focus more intensely and passionately on how I worship the Lord.

Worship is more that a song service on Sunday morning. It is the manner of love and passion we show to the Lord in all we do. It is serving Him in truth and in Spirit. It is giving Him first place in all we do. Worship is honoring the Lord, His commands, His Word, His directions. It is loving Him with all of our hearts in all we do.

Sunday evening we had a great night of praise and worship. Our band led and Carlos Santiago came and presented a concert. I love His singing. He does it from His heart and we incredible giftedness. He is fantastic!

Music is a wonderful gift to enjoy. I love Blue Grass and Classical music. Jazz, Big Bands, Southern Gospel, and High Worship are all part of my love of music.

Most of all, I love music that glorifies the Lord. He is worthy of all praise.

Sunday evening worship was wonderful. Praising Jesus is good.

When we get to heaven, we will have to be willing to sing a new song. The language of heaven will be different than the languages earth. It won't be English. I am not sure how we'll sing, but it will be a song of eternal praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It will be glorious.

LET THERE BE FLOWERS

Wanda and her mother have been busy working in our back yard planting beautiful flowers. They have dug, rearranged, fertilized, watered, and weeded and wow does it ever look spectacular. I love sipping my coffee on the back porch each morning enjoying the colorful plants and flowers.

I helped dig some holes and chopped roots in the way to place the plants exactly where they wanted them. It takes lots of elbow grease, sweat, and hard work to beautify our back yard, but it is worth it.



God's creation is amazing. It is glorious. It points to His reality. I don't have enough faith to be an atheist and believe that all of creation came from a mere chance and accidental collision. How foolish can one be and still walk around.

We enjoy redbirds, and hummingbirds, and little finches, and doves, and squirrels, and butterflies constantly moving through our backyard. How beautiful it all is.

Wanda loves to dig in the dirt. She says it is good for her soul. I love to "have dug" in the soil. She actually loves the digging part. The joy of life and marriage is the pleasure of sharing. We enjoy lots of common interests. Working in our backyard is becoming one of them too.