Last week I went back to the mountains, Cloudcroft, NM, and Cloud Haven retreat center with my boys and took some pictures in the same place that I did earlier. I thought it would be neat to take one of Joey going up the ladder which was the subject of my shot entitled Tree Ladder. Here is my new addition with the boy. I’m calling it: Tree Ladder with Boy. You can see the original Tree Ladder below, and see what a difference a few weeks made since the tree sprouted leaves in my absence. Also, the lighting was quite different. But it makes for a good study.
One of my favorite authors died today, Vince Flynn. He wrote 17 books, 16 of which had the main character Mitch Rapp. The books were all page turners and joys to read. No, they were not very deep. But they were not meant to be. They were meant to be entertaining and they were. The above picture is from rushlimbaugh.com and here is some of what Rush had to say:
RUSH: Hello, folks, and welcome to the Rush Limbaugh program here on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. Middle of the week, Wednesday. It’s a thrill and a delight to have you with us. It is also a day of really profound heartbreak for those of us who knew the author Vince Flynn, who passed away this morning at 1:50 a.m. Central time at a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prostate cancer that was discovered too late. I’m numb sitting here today in a state of shock about this. But what I want to try to do in recounting the Vince Flynn that we all knew is to be as upbeat and optimistic as I can because he was.
I first became aware of Vince reading his novels. His hero is Mitch Rapp. Those of us who have read his novels should know something. Mitch Rapp is Vince Flynn. Vince Flynn was a real man, the real deal. One of the bravest, most courageous guys that I have ever met. And he was a guy. He was a man’s man. I remember picking up his first novel, couldn’t put it down. I told you about it on the radio while I was in the process of reading it, when I’d finished it. And within a couple of hours I received an e-mail from him. He had gone to the trouble to try to find out how to reach me, and did, and sent me an e-mail thanking me profusely. And basically starting out an e-mail relationship.
It was through Rush Limbaugh that I learned of Vince Flynn. Every fall I would start looking for his new book and I would buy it as soon as I could. In fact, Elisa and I had a running joke regarding the type of books we would read. I would chide hers by saying, “and he brushed up against her, sending chills down her body.” And she would chide me by saying, “And Mitch Rapp shot the bad guy between the eyes.”
Mitch Rapp was a fun character. Manly, strong, short-tempered, deadly with a 9-MM, taking out 5, 10, 15 terrorists at a time. You know, all the stuff that guys love to read. He had his scraps, bumps and bruises along the way, showing us his humanity and even showing kindness at times. But in the end, it wasn’t a terrorist who got Mitch Rapp. It was far more subtle: it was cancer.
As Rush points out, Mitch Rapp was Vince Flynn. Sadly, cancer took him this morning. He will be missed.
Please understand that when it comes to what I am, I am not a Republican first. If I am anything at all, I am a Christian saved by the blood of Christ and redeemed for His eternal glory. I would also say that I am a conservative. Being a Republican comes way down the list of things that I am.
I post this statement by Elbert Guillory because he so captures what it means to be a Republican. Listen to it. Think about it. The Democratic Party has always been the party of slavery, and as Senator Guillory points out, they still are today. They don’t want freedom for their constituents. They want to control their constituents and everyone else. Mr. Guillory truly tells us what is at stake when one joins a political party and gives us the real reason he switched from the plantation owning Democratic Party to being a Republican. God bless Senator Guillory for having the courage to stand up against the culture, his former party and to the forces that be in Louisiana.
Here is another video of Senator Guillory, telling us where he stands concerning the Second Amendment
For those who follow my blog closely, you know that I will be moving back to Texas in a few weeks, leaving Roswell, NM, for what I like to jokingly call the promise land. Yes, Texas is promising in so many ways, but I don’t hope to go there when I did, as Tanya Tucker proclaimed back before her multiple face lifts.
So in thinking about my departure, I thought I would share with you the top five things I will miss about the great state of New Mexico, not necessarily in order of importance.
Number one on the list is green chilis. Putting green chilis is so prominent in this state and their cuisine that even the national food chains have to adapt to this local tradition. You might find this odd, but once you acquire a taste for green chilis, it is quite addictive. Just a few of the foods that are vastly improved with green chilis are hamburgers, pizzas, eggs., all things New Mexican, etc. The only thing I have tried green chilis on that did not improve the dish was adding them to baked potatoes. For some reason the combination didn’t work. But on everything else… it is wonderful.
The weather — yes, I know. This area gets its share of brown outs, where there is so much dust in the air, the sun is browned out in fine apocalyptic manner. And the temperature climbs to triple digits. But given the dryness of the climate, that leads to cooler nights and relief from the intense heat. Even when we are not in the summer months, the weather is nicer than in most places because of the dryness. Yes, your skin has to adjust. I felt like Rango after he was dumped into the desert and lost two layers of skin when I first arrived. But, after a few days of losing skin, the weather made up for it. It is amazing how little humidity makes a difference in all seasons. (Just a side note, Roswell does have a monsoon season. But it’s more of a joke than a reality.)
The mountains. I love being able to see the mountains on most days. It makes my walks and golf much more scenic. This also includes the number of neat places to travel to while in New Mexico.
The golf — yes, our municipal golf course is one of the finest golf clubs I have ever been accepted at, as a member. Yes, it is the only one as well. That is what makes it so wonderful. Not only is it affordable, it is challenging for my level of play.
My church — the best congregation I’ve had in a while. I’m saddened by the fact that they cannot continue to pay me and I hope that they are able to bring in a tent-maker so the church will continue.
There you have it. Five reasons to visit Roswell, NM. And no, there is nothing about aliens in the least. The aliens would fall under the category of: Top Five Things I Don’t Like about New Mexico.
Yes, the title has a bit of hyperbole in it. I’m not sure the cookies I ended up making on Friday night are the world’s best, or even my best. They are just the first batch I’ve made for my boys and I’m just grateful they turned out delicious.
What I learned is that the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag is quite forgiving. I was trying to doctor it as prescribed by some: adding a bit more flour, and using more brown sugar than granulated sugar. But I came across a problem. While stirring the cookie dough, it was clumping and not getting smooth like I know the batter to be. So I … panicked and added another stick of butter and another egg. That helped with the consistency issue, and I could detect no great change in taste.
The boys loved the end product. So thank you for all the suggestions. I think the clumping problem came from old brown sugar. It was not gooey like new brown sugar. Note to self: use fresh ingredients.
Happy Father’s Day
Finally, Happy Father’s day to all the Dad’s out there. I can’t wait to move to Brenham, Texas in the coming weeks to live on my Dad’s farm and spend more time with him. He has been a wonderful Dad and I hope my boys get to know him better than they do now.
Recently, in the deepest part of the night, while facing struggles personally, maritally and vocationally, I came to the point of feeling truly abandoned by God. The pain of loss, broken-heartedness and hopelessness truly gripped me and as I cried out to God I truly felt He had turned His back upon me. I felt completely rejected and dejected.
I’m not trying to be melodramatic, but life was so disrupted and out of sorts that I could see no real hope on this side of glory at all and truly felt as though God had turned His face away from me and left me to myself. I know that many will immediately react to such feelings and such a position, but I’m not the first believer in history to experience such a black moment in my life.
I was reminded of this as I was leading my Sunday school through the psalms and someone wanted me to go through Psalm 13. David starts with the words:
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
What comforting words they were to me. David was showing me that he too, struggled from feelings of abandonment. I was not the first, nor am I alone. A lot of people struggle from such feelings in their Christian walk, but because of some false pollyanna view of Christianity, we are not allowed to talk about it or admit to such dark feelings. So many, when hearing of such struggles, just want to pop off a quick verse about all things working together for good, and move on to the next happy moment. It is as if we are to ignore such dark feelings and break into a chorus of Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Please note the irony here. While singing of such a happy life, they are hanging from crosses and facing death.
How many have struggled with such feelings and have been afraid to admi it, thinking that by having such feelings we are sinning against God? The psalmist was not sinning against God when he uttered such words. He was merely recognizing God’s active movement in His life. He was being honest before God about what he felt about and before the all-knowing and all-seeing God of the universe.
Having such feelings and being honest about them can be a blessing if we will let them be. How so? These feelings show us that something very vital is missing to in our lives. We are missing the presence of the LORD. David had to endure this absence for quite some time and finally that absence leads him to say, How long, OLORD?
I thing what struck me about this reality is that often times when we enter into sufferings, we are OK with those sufferings initially because we know through such sufferings God refines us and purifies us. However, it is the “How long…” that trips up most of us. Suffering for a week, we can endure. Doing without something for a month, we can handle. But the prolonged period fo suffering where there seems to be no end in sight, that is what dooms many of us.
We are like David asking, “How long, O Lord?”
And that is safe to ask. It shows us that the answer to our pain and suffering are only going to be found in the LORD.
But David doesn’t just ask, Howlong? He also asks: How long will you hide our face from me?
This question is a matter of blessing for it is a blessing for the LORD to turn His face toward us. This is why the Aaronic benediction is so important in the believer’s life:
Numbers 6:24-26 The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen
His face toward us is a blessing in the areas of our lives. For David, God had turned His face away and He knew the turning was the removal of blessing. For us, the blessing can be removed in our marriages, our jobs, our health, our country, etc.. There are many areas that God can choose to remove His blessing from us, so it is right for us to ask Him: How long will you hide your face from me?
Again, in asking the question, we are telling the LORD that we know all the blessings we have in every realm of life come ultimately from Him. We also recognize that those blessings have been removed for some time and that it is only through the LORD that the blessings will return.
So we petition the LORD in these dark moments, dark months or dark years. If blessing is going to return, then it must come from the Father of lights.
How does David petition? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlightened my eyes. He is asking for understanding. He is asking the God would help him understand why the blessing has been removed and why it has been so long since he had it.
The is the turning point for the psalmist. It is after that in which he proclaims: But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart rejoice in Your salvation, I will sing to the LORD because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Not that his situation has changed, or that blessing has been restored. But David, like us, realizes that God has and is blessing us even in the moments when we feel abandoned. By understanding God’s providential hand, we know that ultimately He will never leave us nor forsake us, even though we may feel like He has. Because we feel like He has, tells us of His bountiful blessing on us.
