THE MARK OF A MAN......
It was yesterday..... Thanksgiving eve..... I was up at the "Just Stuff" antique booth doing a few things that needed doing and in walks my little cousin Kevin and his wife Terri. I call Kevin my little cousin even though he towers over me by a half foot or so, and he is younger, but has just now retired. It was the first time seeing them in a few years and I really enjoyed our visit even though it was just a short one. As I said, the visit was short but our conversation lingered through the night and into the morning in my mind. As we talked, I asked Kevin what he wanted to do now that retirement was here and he said he wasn't really sure but had thought about doing a little blacksmithing. He wanted to make a few things that would last into the future. Something that would be a reminder to someone that he was here. Of course my thoughts immediately went to our Grandfather who was a blacksmith, but later in the night, the second part of his desire for the future hit me. He wanted to do something that would last into the future. In other words he wanted to leave his mark....... He wanted to make some things that would last longer than his life on earth and make someone look at what ever it was he had made and think,,,,, "Someone years ago spent part of their life to make this,,,, Someone gave of their time to create this and now I am holding it and I'm glad they gave of themselves." Kevin wants to be that someone that gave of himself....... WOW !!!!!!!!....... Talk about a goal !!!!! But in reality isn't that what we all want to do? Don't we all want to leave our mark? We don't all say it or state it as just matter-of-factly as Kevin did, but I think we all want to leave our mark. Our conversation turned to my writing and Kevin asked me if I had always written and I told him never until my heart surgery. I told him I had never known I could write until then and that I still wasn't sure I was good at it. He said he saw where some were encouraging me to publish some things and I told him I really had no desire to publish anything I wrote, but I really like sharing my thoughts.
Later as my mind was thinking on these things, I started to remember the goals I had set when I started to write. As I said earlier I still don't know if I can write but the one thing I do know is that I see life more clearly now than I use to and I just write down what I see and feel. I also know that I have the same goals that I had when I started to put these thoughts down four and a half years ago. My goal was then and still is to let my grand kids and children know in later years that their PaPa and daddy loved them. Years after I'm gone, I want them to remember times we spent and laugh at the memories. As they read what I put down I want them to never be ashamed to tell someone they are loved. As for me, I have no desire for fame. I have no need for lots of money. If along the way I happen to touch one of you and inspire you to tell another person you love them and you are thankful that they are in your life...... then I have been paid a fortune..... Yes, I will have become a very rich man. You see, I also want to make my mark. In years to come when someone ask my Grandchildren what their Grandfather did for a living, I want them to look that person in the eye and say "He lived a good life and he loved" That will be my mark. What better goal could a man have.
God Bless and have a great Thanksgiving and tell someone you love them............... I love you one and all and am thankful you are a part of my life...................................................
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
THE PERKS OF GETTING OLD.....................................
Tomorrow will be my 67th Thanksgiving...... It isn't what it use to be...... Sure we'll eat turkey and dressing and ham with all the usual fixings..... We'll tell stories of old times and laugh until tears roll down our cheeks and our bellies hurt..... It will be a great time but it will be different....... HMMMMM you say to yourself........ and then you ask......." You mean to tell me you don't like Thanksgiving anymore?"....... And I answer...... "I love Thanksgiving...... Different isn't a bad thing, it can be better." You see, I use to would tell you I'm thankful for family, but now, "NOW" I've learned to set back......... to slow down and really see and appreciate family. I've learned to look at the things that give me that happy feeling all over.
You see,,,now I'm not just thankful because they are my Grandkids but I'm thankful for what some would call the little things that I now see. I'm thankful when I get a call from a grandchild and the first word out of their mouth is, "I just wanted to call and say hi and see how you are doing." I'm thankful for family vacations when we are all together and I'm still made to think I am wanted on the fishing expedition. I'm thankful when I show up at the little league game and when the little one sees me and his face lights up as he waves and then he points at me and tells one of his teammates ..."That's my PaPa." I'm thankful for the times when the phone rings and one of the Grandkids ask, "Are you going to be home for a while, I want you to meet someone." And when one of them has car problems or needs help with a project or has a question about how to fix something, I'm thankful that they know Peggy and I are there and they can depend on us to try to help.
And I'm not thankful just because they are our Kids, I'm thankful for the people and parents they have grown up to be. I'm thankful for the love I see that they have for each other. I'm thankful when I see them give of themselves to someone less fortunate. I'm thankful for the compassion each of them have. I'm thankful for the priorities they have set up in their lives. I'm thankful for the parents they are. I'm thankful that they still know our house is their house.
I'm thankful that when the boys, and maybe the girls too, go out tomorrow afternoon to throw the football around, they will still ask this old man if he wants to go out with them and I'm thankful that as they make sure all are included, even the little ones, I will see a love that isn't man made but can only come from up above. I'm thankful that as I get in the car in the morning to go pickup a newspaper with all the sales papers, that the car will have plenty of gas and I don't have to stop and fill it up in the cold of morning. I'm thankful for the laughter I will hear as the sales papers pass from hand to hand and the joy and excitement that will be in the air as our Christmas get together is talked of and plans are made.
Yes..... As I think about it, getting old has it's perks. My eyes aren't as good as they once were, but now I see more clearly. My ears aren't what they once were but now it seems I hear more. My old legs don't carry me as far or as fast as they once did, but now I notice more as I travel through this life. And now that my heart has been taken out of my body, bypasses done and a pig valve implanted, it seems I feel things in a different way and I like it...........
When I get down on these old worn out knees and ask for God's blessings, What I am really asking God for is to be happy. Well, today, I am a blessed, for you see, I am Happy ........ My prayers have been answered...... Yes, once again I say......Thanksgiving isn't what it use to be.......It's much much better.
TODAY MY PRAYER IS THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY. MAY GOD BLESS YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow will be my 67th Thanksgiving...... It isn't what it use to be...... Sure we'll eat turkey and dressing and ham with all the usual fixings..... We'll tell stories of old times and laugh until tears roll down our cheeks and our bellies hurt..... It will be a great time but it will be different....... HMMMMM you say to yourself........ and then you ask......." You mean to tell me you don't like Thanksgiving anymore?"....... And I answer...... "I love Thanksgiving...... Different isn't a bad thing, it can be better." You see, I use to would tell you I'm thankful for family, but now, "NOW" I've learned to set back......... to slow down and really see and appreciate family. I've learned to look at the things that give me that happy feeling all over.
You see,,,now I'm not just thankful because they are my Grandkids but I'm thankful for what some would call the little things that I now see. I'm thankful when I get a call from a grandchild and the first word out of their mouth is, "I just wanted to call and say hi and see how you are doing." I'm thankful for family vacations when we are all together and I'm still made to think I am wanted on the fishing expedition. I'm thankful when I show up at the little league game and when the little one sees me and his face lights up as he waves and then he points at me and tells one of his teammates ..."That's my PaPa." I'm thankful for the times when the phone rings and one of the Grandkids ask, "Are you going to be home for a while, I want you to meet someone." And when one of them has car problems or needs help with a project or has a question about how to fix something, I'm thankful that they know Peggy and I are there and they can depend on us to try to help.
And I'm not thankful just because they are our Kids, I'm thankful for the people and parents they have grown up to be. I'm thankful for the love I see that they have for each other. I'm thankful when I see them give of themselves to someone less fortunate. I'm thankful for the compassion each of them have. I'm thankful for the priorities they have set up in their lives. I'm thankful for the parents they are. I'm thankful that they still know our house is their house.
I'm thankful that when the boys, and maybe the girls too, go out tomorrow afternoon to throw the football around, they will still ask this old man if he wants to go out with them and I'm thankful that as they make sure all are included, even the little ones, I will see a love that isn't man made but can only come from up above. I'm thankful that as I get in the car in the morning to go pickup a newspaper with all the sales papers, that the car will have plenty of gas and I don't have to stop and fill it up in the cold of morning. I'm thankful for the laughter I will hear as the sales papers pass from hand to hand and the joy and excitement that will be in the air as our Christmas get together is talked of and plans are made.
Yes..... As I think about it, getting old has it's perks. My eyes aren't as good as they once were, but now I see more clearly. My ears aren't what they once were but now it seems I hear more. My old legs don't carry me as far or as fast as they once did, but now I notice more as I travel through this life. And now that my heart has been taken out of my body, bypasses done and a pig valve implanted, it seems I feel things in a different way and I like it...........
When I get down on these old worn out knees and ask for God's blessings, What I am really asking God for is to be happy. Well, today, I am a blessed, for you see, I am Happy ........ My prayers have been answered...... Yes, once again I say......Thanksgiving isn't what it use to be.......It's much much better.
TODAY MY PRAYER IS THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY. MAY GOD BLESS YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 8, 2015
ORDINARY MIRACLES...............
I remember sitting in the stillness of the morning.... It is so quiet..... It is so still.... I have so many questions that run through my mind.... Questions I believe others have also, but maybe are afraid to voice. Afraid for fear someone will question their faith.... afraid someone may look down on them. I have those fears also...... I want to be stronger. I want my faith to grow and I don't ever want to have any doubts. I sometimes feel so alone in my faith, so alone in my thoughts. I feel as if no one else has ever questioned God and His existence,,,,,,,,, but then I tell myself,,,,, surely I'm not the only one,,,,, surely others have felt this way. I know it can't be "just me." If God loves me so much I ask..... "Why does He let some things happen? Why does He let bad things happen? Why does He allow people to suffer? Why do I sometimes feel so all alone in my mind?" My mind shouts out, hoping for answers...... "WHY ??? WHY GOD????,,,,, WHY?" I then ask, for what I'm sure others have asked for, long before I ever felt this way...... I can't be the first to wonder these things can I?...... I say... "God, just give me "A SIGN". Show me something so I will KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that You are there.... I need to know that You are God........ I need to know that You are watching over me...... I need to know that You are in control...... I need to know that Your love is everlasting....... Please God.....Please give me a sign..... Please God, show me a "MIRACLE"................
The screaming that was in my mind just a few seconds ago is now all of a sudden gone..... The quietness returns...... The stillness once again surrounds me.... And then..... I feel a quilt..... I feel a guilt because I have "Questioned God." And then, just as quickly as the quietness returned, came the memory of the verse Matthew 8:26 to my mind........ "And he said unto them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." Maybe....... just maybe, my answers were in this verse I said to myself. Or...or could it be, that this verse, this one little verse that I had read so many times before..... Could this one verse that so quickly came to my mind be the miracle I needed?.... It came out of nowhere. It came to me when I needed it most. It made me see that even the Disciples had these same feelings that I have. Yes even the chosen twelve were at times weak. And what did Jesus do when the doubts and fears and the questions were placed in their minds? He quieted the storm and calmed the seas. Think about this...... "HE QUIETED THE STORM AND CALMED THE SEAS." .....This verse had come so quickly..... This verse had come to my mind in such a subtle way...... It came as what we may call an "ORDINARY MIRACLE."
Yes..... It is a quiet morning... I rise early..... I look out the window and see the sun coming up. It comes up in the east every morning. I take the sunrise for granted most mornings, but this morning I think about it rising. Oh we all enjoy the beauty of a sunrise but do we stop and think about the reliability of the sun coming up. It's there every morning. Even when it's raining and cloudy and we can't see the sun, we know it's there. We can feel it. Man can't stop the sun from rising and man can't slow it down. That sun could be called an "ORDINARY MIRACLE." Of course it's not really "ORDINARY" but it's one of those things we don't think about being a "MIRACLE." These "ORDINARY MIRACLES" are all around us. The birds and how they fly with such ease and grace through the air. The flowers and trees and how they grow and flourish. A baby being born and even the way another person can make you feel just by being around them. We call this love but if you really think about it.....It's a "MIRACLE." Oh, we may take these things for granted. We may say we are thankful for all of nature and our families and all our friends. We can look back on our life and our experiences and good times and what we call bad times and think that it all just happened....... but it didn't just happen. And it's not just "ORDINARY". Not "ORDINARY" at all, but it is a 'MIRACLE." Life is a miracle.
Again I say YES.... It is a quiet and still morning. I look around me with these eyes God has given me and realize that sight is a "MIRACLE." And I look around me with my mental eyes and I see the things I have done and the places I have been. I see so many people that have been in my life and the pleasure they have brought me and the things they have taught me. I see the love I have been given and I see "THE SIGN" ....... yes I see "THE SIGN" that just a few minutes ago, I had asked God to show to me. I see you and I realize, "YOU are a MIRACLE." And I see that there are NO ordinary miracles. All miracles are "EXTRAORDINARY." So I would say to you this morning Thank you for being a miracle in my life.....
Just something to think about...........................................
I remember sitting in the stillness of the morning.... It is so quiet..... It is so still.... I have so many questions that run through my mind.... Questions I believe others have also, but maybe are afraid to voice. Afraid for fear someone will question their faith.... afraid someone may look down on them. I have those fears also...... I want to be stronger. I want my faith to grow and I don't ever want to have any doubts. I sometimes feel so alone in my faith, so alone in my thoughts. I feel as if no one else has ever questioned God and His existence,,,,,,,,, but then I tell myself,,,,, surely I'm not the only one,,,,, surely others have felt this way. I know it can't be "just me." If God loves me so much I ask..... "Why does He let some things happen? Why does He let bad things happen? Why does He allow people to suffer? Why do I sometimes feel so all alone in my mind?" My mind shouts out, hoping for answers...... "WHY ??? WHY GOD????,,,,, WHY?" I then ask, for what I'm sure others have asked for, long before I ever felt this way...... I can't be the first to wonder these things can I?...... I say... "God, just give me "A SIGN". Show me something so I will KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that You are there.... I need to know that You are God........ I need to know that You are watching over me...... I need to know that You are in control...... I need to know that Your love is everlasting....... Please God.....Please give me a sign..... Please God, show me a "MIRACLE"................
The screaming that was in my mind just a few seconds ago is now all of a sudden gone..... The quietness returns...... The stillness once again surrounds me.... And then..... I feel a quilt..... I feel a guilt because I have "Questioned God." And then, just as quickly as the quietness returned, came the memory of the verse Matthew 8:26 to my mind........ "And he said unto them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." Maybe....... just maybe, my answers were in this verse I said to myself. Or...or could it be, that this verse, this one little verse that I had read so many times before..... Could this one verse that so quickly came to my mind be the miracle I needed?.... It came out of nowhere. It came to me when I needed it most. It made me see that even the Disciples had these same feelings that I have. Yes even the chosen twelve were at times weak. And what did Jesus do when the doubts and fears and the questions were placed in their minds? He quieted the storm and calmed the seas. Think about this...... "HE QUIETED THE STORM AND CALMED THE SEAS." .....This verse had come so quickly..... This verse had come to my mind in such a subtle way...... It came as what we may call an "ORDINARY MIRACLE."
Yes..... It is a quiet morning... I rise early..... I look out the window and see the sun coming up. It comes up in the east every morning. I take the sunrise for granted most mornings, but this morning I think about it rising. Oh we all enjoy the beauty of a sunrise but do we stop and think about the reliability of the sun coming up. It's there every morning. Even when it's raining and cloudy and we can't see the sun, we know it's there. We can feel it. Man can't stop the sun from rising and man can't slow it down. That sun could be called an "ORDINARY MIRACLE." Of course it's not really "ORDINARY" but it's one of those things we don't think about being a "MIRACLE." These "ORDINARY MIRACLES" are all around us. The birds and how they fly with such ease and grace through the air. The flowers and trees and how they grow and flourish. A baby being born and even the way another person can make you feel just by being around them. We call this love but if you really think about it.....It's a "MIRACLE." Oh, we may take these things for granted. We may say we are thankful for all of nature and our families and all our friends. We can look back on our life and our experiences and good times and what we call bad times and think that it all just happened....... but it didn't just happen. And it's not just "ORDINARY". Not "ORDINARY" at all, but it is a 'MIRACLE." Life is a miracle.
Again I say YES.... It is a quiet and still morning. I look around me with these eyes God has given me and realize that sight is a "MIRACLE." And I look around me with my mental eyes and I see the things I have done and the places I have been. I see so many people that have been in my life and the pleasure they have brought me and the things they have taught me. I see the love I have been given and I see "THE SIGN" ....... yes I see "THE SIGN" that just a few minutes ago, I had asked God to show to me. I see you and I realize, "YOU are a MIRACLE." And I see that there are NO ordinary miracles. All miracles are "EXTRAORDINARY." So I would say to you this morning Thank you for being a miracle in my life.....
Just something to think about...........................................
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
LIFE ISN'T A BEAUTY SHOPPE
Yesterday I awoke early as always, but yesterday, I had a reason to get out of bed. You see, I had a Doctors appointment. Well, not really an appointment with the Doctor, but I had to go and get some lab work done. As most of you know, this is when you go to the Doctor's office and let a nice little lady smile at you and say nice things to you and tell you how good you look before she sticks a needle in the front side of your elbow that's so long it reaches all the way to your heart and draws enough blood out of your old body to feed a cave full of bats for a week. The nice little lady then tell you to go pee in a cup that she hands to you while wearing rubber gloves that go up to her elbows. You would think she would give me the rubber gloves to wear because as much trouble as us men have hitting something as big as a toilet, no way can we hit that little cup without peeing all over our hands. Now you may think this post is about going to the Doctor but let me assure you it's not. What goes on in my Doctors office, stays in my Doctors office. If I told you all the questions that I have been asked and all the places I've been touched in that office this post would have to have a warning about you being over 18 to read it. No, This is about something that happened as I was getting ready to go to the Doctors office and it got me to thinking. Seems it doesn't take much to get me thinking these days.
You see, as I was getting ready to go, as I do every morning, I looked in the mirror. I do this to make sure I'm what some people would call..."Presentable", although I have never understood how looking into a mirror can make you look "Presentable.... It's kind of like going to to the Beauty Shoppe to get Beautiful..... I've always said... "If you're ugly when you go in that Beauty Shoppe, your gonna be ugly when you come out. There's only so much you can do with hair." Anyway, as I was looking into the mirror, I saw something different this time..... I saw a face that was aged. Oh, I recognised the face but not as my own. I saw lines I didn't know were there. I saw years that had silently passed by. I knew you...(Fill in this space with your name)... were getting older but I thought I looked the same as I did 40 years ago. Hmmmmm I thought to myself. I am getting "old". I then asked myself...... "How do I feel about getting old?" How do I feel about looking different? How do I feel about not having the strength I once had? How do I feel about seeing friends and family, all loved ones, leaving for the world beyond? Do I have any regrets? Do I have any wisdom to share? Am I grateful for the life I've lived or do I wish I had more time? Do I ever think "If only" or "I wish"..... Have you ever had these feelings? Have you ever looked back and said..."I wish I had taken better care of this body." Or how about you soul...Did you take good care of your soul? Did you dance when the music moved you and sing when the tune popped into you mind? Did you laugh out loud from way down deep in your belly and did you cry when your heart was broken? Did you say "I love you" and mean it with all your might? Do you find yourself always looking back or looking forward or do you just look now? I found me asking myself.... "Do your eyes still see, does your heart still beat, do your hands still feel, do your lips still smile, does your body still move, will you still live on even after you’ve gone?" That some deep thinking there................
I find I have so many thoughts as I get older. In less that a month I will be 67. It's hard to believe it's been that long since I came into this world. How did all this time get past me? I never saw it coming. Do I hate that I'm getting older? Not at all. After all, many have not reached the age that I am. I think back to being 13....to 16...to 21..... I know those are just numbers but they were so important at the time and now, instead of being a long time ago, they were just yesterday. I look at photos of times past and I think to myself...I looked so young then.
I find myself wondering what will I look like in 10 more years if I'm lucky enough to still be around. Or how about 20 years from now.... How will you look then? You know....I guess it doesn't really matter how you or I look going forward. Life isn't a Beauty Shoppe. As we step into tomorrow we can be ugly going in but the good news is we can step out of every day being beautiful. It's all what we make of it.
Just something to think about..................................
Yesterday I awoke early as always, but yesterday, I had a reason to get out of bed. You see, I had a Doctors appointment. Well, not really an appointment with the Doctor, but I had to go and get some lab work done. As most of you know, this is when you go to the Doctor's office and let a nice little lady smile at you and say nice things to you and tell you how good you look before she sticks a needle in the front side of your elbow that's so long it reaches all the way to your heart and draws enough blood out of your old body to feed a cave full of bats for a week. The nice little lady then tell you to go pee in a cup that she hands to you while wearing rubber gloves that go up to her elbows. You would think she would give me the rubber gloves to wear because as much trouble as us men have hitting something as big as a toilet, no way can we hit that little cup without peeing all over our hands. Now you may think this post is about going to the Doctor but let me assure you it's not. What goes on in my Doctors office, stays in my Doctors office. If I told you all the questions that I have been asked and all the places I've been touched in that office this post would have to have a warning about you being over 18 to read it. No, This is about something that happened as I was getting ready to go to the Doctors office and it got me to thinking. Seems it doesn't take much to get me thinking these days.
You see, as I was getting ready to go, as I do every morning, I looked in the mirror. I do this to make sure I'm what some people would call..."Presentable", although I have never understood how looking into a mirror can make you look "Presentable.... It's kind of like going to to the Beauty Shoppe to get Beautiful..... I've always said... "If you're ugly when you go in that Beauty Shoppe, your gonna be ugly when you come out. There's only so much you can do with hair." Anyway, as I was looking into the mirror, I saw something different this time..... I saw a face that was aged. Oh, I recognised the face but not as my own. I saw lines I didn't know were there. I saw years that had silently passed by. I knew you...(Fill in this space with your name)... were getting older but I thought I looked the same as I did 40 years ago. Hmmmmm I thought to myself. I am getting "old". I then asked myself...... "How do I feel about getting old?" How do I feel about looking different? How do I feel about not having the strength I once had? How do I feel about seeing friends and family, all loved ones, leaving for the world beyond? Do I have any regrets? Do I have any wisdom to share? Am I grateful for the life I've lived or do I wish I had more time? Do I ever think "If only" or "I wish"..... Have you ever had these feelings? Have you ever looked back and said..."I wish I had taken better care of this body." Or how about you soul...Did you take good care of your soul? Did you dance when the music moved you and sing when the tune popped into you mind? Did you laugh out loud from way down deep in your belly and did you cry when your heart was broken? Did you say "I love you" and mean it with all your might? Do you find yourself always looking back or looking forward or do you just look now? I found me asking myself.... "Do your eyes still see, does your heart still beat, do your hands still feel, do your lips still smile, does your body still move, will you still live on even after you’ve gone?" That some deep thinking there................
I find I have so many thoughts as I get older. In less that a month I will be 67. It's hard to believe it's been that long since I came into this world. How did all this time get past me? I never saw it coming. Do I hate that I'm getting older? Not at all. After all, many have not reached the age that I am. I think back to being 13....to 16...to 21..... I know those are just numbers but they were so important at the time and now, instead of being a long time ago, they were just yesterday. I look at photos of times past and I think to myself...I looked so young then.
I find myself wondering what will I look like in 10 more years if I'm lucky enough to still be around. Or how about 20 years from now.... How will you look then? You know....I guess it doesn't really matter how you or I look going forward. Life isn't a Beauty Shoppe. As we step into tomorrow we can be ugly going in but the good news is we can step out of every day being beautiful. It's all what we make of it.
Just something to think about..................................
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