And In This Corner...

I was supposed to go to Seguin today to testify in a revocation hearing on someone that I had supervised in Wilson County. This person committed three different offenses in three difference counties. This person had three different probation officers watching everything they did. Bottomline, there were three different opportunities to do good. But in this case, this person squandered three different opportunities to get it right and afetr 10 years, messed up. This person is now looking at a substancial amount of time in our state's penitentiary system.

I also had to be in Cuero last week to do the same thing there for another person. Again, another opportunity squandered. This person decided to take a plea that had previously been offered after three police officrs, a deputy sheriff, a federal marshal, two probation officers and two assiatant district attorney's lined up in the courtroom ready to do their jobs. Talk about the deck being stacked against you. Problem was, he was the dealer and dealt the hand against himself!

I have often remarked to Amy how much I dislike court when I see how poorly people treat each other. I particularly see this on the civil side of the docket when couples are going through a divorce. Now, there are a lot of those cases that are handled relatively amicably but, in general, that is not the case. I really appreciate my wife and our relationship when I have spent the day listening to couples fighting over "things" and worst of all, when they use their children as weapons in a fight between themselves.

The bottom line is that as much as I enjoy my job, there are aspects of it that I really dislike. I am just reminded, though, that there is a better way to be and to act towards one another.

Thanks be to God for giving us His Son and showing us a better and higher way to live! I always try to treat those people whom I supervise with respect but that does not always translate into a better person until they take some of the lessons they are taught and apply them to their lives. This is a lesson that I must daily be reminded of...I must not allow myself to live in the same pen as the pig or I will become a pig.

Some random thoughts. What are yours. Share with me.

Groovin' in The Grass!

Several of my acquaintances have been talking and blogging about working in their yards so I thought I'd offer a perspective on it.

I remember the first time I was allowed to mow the yard by myself. Man...how proud I was that Dad trusted me enough to run a machine by myself. I still had to have help putting gasoline in the mower and checking the oil, and I still got tips on how to mow and maintain the mower, but it was great. We had a rear discharge mower that usually left more grass on your legs and shoes than on the lawn. The mower was taller than I was so there was more pushing up on the handle than forward but as I grew that issue took care of itself. I learned to mow the grass when we still had to rake the yard and trimming was done with a hand trimmer. Loved the mowing, didn't mind the raking but hated the trimming. Dad eventually got a powered edger but we weren't allowed to use it unless he was home.

So, now I do my own yard. Since Amy and I bought our first mobile home in 1977, I think I can count on one hand the number of times someone else has mowed the yard for me. Well, maybe two hands. I will have to admit that mowing does not carry the excitement that it once did. My favorite part of the job is when I have finished mowing the yard and it has been trimmed and the grass has been blown off the driveway and sidewalks. To stand and look at the yard, to appreciate the neatness of the yard . . . the satisfaction of a job well done. And to just wish it would stay that way for a while longer. I once had a friend who says that man is the only animal who raises a crop he will not eat.

I spent this past Saturday in the yard trimming the lantana, the bushes along the back fence and the wisteria, "dead heading" the rose bushes and, of course, mowing the grass. It smells so good to be walking in the yard while grass is mowed. It gives me lots of time to think and mull over things going on in my life. I have found out that there's a lot more going on at the business end of a lawn mower than just walking and pushing. It's great exercise, both for the body and for the mind.

My Favorite Place on earth

I want to tell you about my favorite place on earth. It is a small block of land in Pleasanton, Texas on Main Street. Some of my favorite people meet there on a regular basis to live and learn about the God who created us and loves us, literally, to death. It is the place where the people of God meet on a regualr basis. It is the hub from which the spokes extend that cause the wheel to spin in the lives of people who earnestly seek God and who want to learn about and fulfill His will.

I have been to several foreign countries, as well as several states in the United States. As much as I love this world that God has created and the beauty that sustains it, I cannot think of any place that I would rather be than in the presence of His people and the place in which they gather to dwell. Yes, I know the buildings and land upon which they are built are just temporary things and I know that there is nothing special, devine, holy or sacred about the brick and mortar but what goes on within the confines of that property is amazing. People with different backgrounds, different attitudes, different social-economic situations and different education levels come together to work and worship God. All our differences are put aside for the betterment of the whole. That which binds us together is more important than that which makes us different. We gather to quietly worship God and to petition Him for love, mercy and grace, and to learn how to extend these same virtues to others. We always seek the betterment of the other person. Our drive...our aim is to present God and His Son to a lost and dying world. Our goal is the salvation of our souls and of those around us.

Even with our feebles and foibles, with our sometimes petty bickerings this is still the best place on earth. I always cannot wait to get home if I am away to meet again with those who meet there. Just to catch up and see what was missed. There is always something going on in peoples lives that is interesting, something to pray for or about.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Share with me.

So...On a More Positive Note

My last post was a bit of a downer. I want to be more of a positive person but there are some things that just grab me and don't let go. I let the issue hang onto me for so long until I am just quite literally tired of the weight and then I cast it off. I have been told that I have a melancholy personality and that is the way I will deal with certain issues in my life as they arise. I don't really like that but I suppose that is the way it is with me. Or, as Babe the pig would say, "The way things are is the way things are."

So...now for something a bit more positive.

See next blog entitled "My Favorite Place on Earth".

Sick and Tired

In recovery from addiction, there is a saying about how people feel when they have hit rock bottom and they know it is time to make a change in their life. Basically, they say that they are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I've had this feeling lately that I am not living up to my obligation of being an elder in the Lord's church. Everybody knows that they can do more for the kingdom, but for me, there has been this nagging feeling lately. Several things have occured recently that really made me feel like an ignored or a second class citizen in the Lord's church.

I spoke to Robert about this yesterday and poured myself out to him. He has kind of noticed the same thing. So, without going into great detail, I am going to ask that you pray for our eldership, that we can be more bold without being haughty, that we can reach out more and make people feel more at ease with who we are and what we are about.

Short, simple and to the point. I covet your prayers.

* In response to Jackie.

It is amazing how loss affects us. Life just seems to be trucking right along and then... No matter how and when it happens, the experience grabs your attention and does not allow you to focus on anything else.

When I have lost someone, no matter how close, it has always been a hallmark for me. I saw my first dead body in a casket when I was a junior in high school, the father of a close friend. I did not attend my first funeral until I was in college. It was one for a member of the church in Huntsville...Brother Morris Cotton. He and his wife had opened their house to the college group on numerous occassions. We ususally went to their house and sang. My best memories of them are of smiles, open arms and hugs. His funeral was packed with alot of people but not alot of grieving. Again, a lot of smiles, open arms and hugs. For a long time after the services there was an empty seat in the auditorium where he used to sit and people would not sit there, I guess out of respect. But, beyond the obvious, there was just something missing. Kind of like a change in your daily routine or having walked into a room and forgotten why you were there. That sense of having to do something but not quite sure what it was.

Sudden loss can be like a brickwall. Having run into a few things lately that do not give has reminded me that there are things in this life that suddenly grab your attention. The immediate pain will be there but then slowly goes away as the hurting sensation goes away. The hurt will always be there but is easier to deal with.

Gradual loss seems to be easier to handle. You can see it coming and can be prepared for it. It is almost a relief when it occurs. I know when Amy's Dad was injured and in the hospital for about a month before he passed away, it was just a stiff-upper-lip getting-through-the-day-thing and once the eventually occured, it was just a huge relief..like a large weight had been lifted off our shoulders. His passing was the first time in my life that I had lost soemone that close. Yes, I had had my birth mother, several great aunts and grandparents who died...but, other than by time and distance, this was the first time that I had been so intimately involved with the process.

I think it is also so amazing that life goes on without us during the time of grieving. Yards still need to be mowed, dishes need to be washed, kids need to be tended to, bills need to be paid... We still need to eat and sleep. How many times have I stood by the graveside of a loved one and listened to the traffic drive by, felt the sun on my face, the rain on my shoulders, heard birds singing. It is almost a comfort that life continues to function. At the same time, some of the daily routines seem a bit trivial when they are performed. And, I have to admit that there has a feeling of guilt in performing the trivial when a momentous event of this nature has just occured. It's almost as if you are besmirching the memory of an individual by going on with life.

But, we go on and mow the grass because that is how we cope. Life does not stop when an individual does, other than for a time of rememberance. It is just a reminder to us of the temporary nature of life on earth. Let us be thankful that we have things to do to go beyond the staring at the yard.