Oh Bother Where Art Thou

Their ought to be a day called Bothers Day.

Change

If true change comes from within, then spare change comes from without.

Choking on the Splinters

I'll be taking some time to reorganize and rethink some things.

Outside the box and not welcomed in many cirlces....
                                                                            …things are gonna change I can feel it....

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
1 Timothy 1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Romans 5:20-21 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Galatians 5: 22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galations 6: 2-5  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
Luke 6:31-33  Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.
John 15:16-17 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
1 Corinthians 13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The Lowest Possible Level

Isn't the term the "high seas" a little odd considering that sea level is a baseline for the lowest possible level? Just thinking...

If time is money why do we waste so much of it?

As a parent I have learned that simply "being there" and available in certain adverse and/or celebratory moments is far more critical than we can even know. Our presence or lack thereof is noticed even if we feel it may not be.

If I thank you for your transparency, it probably because I am unable to thank you for your honesty.

Facebook lessens

I can't possibly be expected to believe you have a valid point if you can't bother to write it on a sign, have it photographed with "you" holding it, and then put on the internet.

Nine Won One...

Paige told me about someone she knew that had a dog named Nine-Eleven.
She also told me that she thought Nine-Eleven was an inside dog.

The lost shall be first...

Have you ever noticed that when you visit someone who lives in an apartment complex for the first time they usually just tell you where to park and come out to meet you?

Separation Anxiety

Matthew 25:31-40: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

The Saddest Girl in the World.

Sorry if we did this too you...goodbye...

Strange to say of all the things I've seen Paige go through this week, and it's been a tough week, I think I just watched the most heartbreaking thing I've seen yet.

Paige (the little girl, not Paige the adult) just took all the junk food out of her room. Cookies, candy bars, chips, popcorn, soda, crackers...a whole stockpile. I can't even describe the sadness and defeat on her face as she did it.

I really thought I would cry for her.

I almost did...

Reality has come home and reality sucks.

d(-_-)b

Ask pharaoh...

I believe in God. Believing what I believe to be right, it seems logical for me to think that you should believe in him too.That's not my call however, that's yours to contend with and it is between you and God what arrangement you come to.

How did that garden grow?

It is often easier to embrace the "attacks" of the sinners than to endure the "love" of the saints. It is in fact why I do not attend church. God is God, yesterday today and forever, His love never changes. To God be the glory.

This was a fb post I made last month...

I expect little to nothing from non-believing people or those who do not proclaim any sort of "faith" or religion as a baseline for their moral and ethical behaviors, and yet they continually amaze me with their graciousness and honest inquiry.

Religion, more specifically Jesus, and the actions of those professing to be his followers, always seems to be an issue that had affected everyones' life in one way or another, and so sometimes people respond less than kindly, but like I said I should expect no less, we don't answer to the same convictions.

However, believers often seem to use their faith as a justification for treating people in a manner that seems to be in direct opposition to that same professed faith.

My experiences over the years as someone that has been involved with churches, have shown me that often those people who would like to believe they are actually the most zealous act and respond to certain situations and communications, in manners that are calloused, self-righteous and insensitive in making their points, or in trying to force conviction, about God's word and nature. Especially in the hope of "saving" them.

Even when in that process they have clearly hurt or offended someone in or outside the faith, the damage they've caused is rarely admitted or addressed.

When or if it is, an apology is even more rare to encounter and is usualyy substituted with a justification of their actions. It seems that this because they see what they've done as being God's work instead of considering that their method of achieving God's work may not God's method.

In short they feel that since their cause is not their own so the wake of damage the leave behind is not theirs either.

So is my point in concluding that God is God, that He alone knows His plan is that we shouldn't focus on believers as a factor in considering God.

I don't believe that one must be on God's side to be used in accomplishing His will, but it certainly isn't an enviable position to be in. So these people too may be a factor in the equation. Only God knows. I recently experienced this all over again so I'm a little unclear as to what God is doing with me right now. There is a plan to be sure He just hasn't felt inclined to share that with me, so far. At least not on this level.

In our current culture it seems that if you can stir kool-aid you can start churches, so the sheep must wisely mind their shepherds to ensure the shepherds are wisely minding their sheep.

Open the doors and see all the people

I have said in the past, and here as well that..."the biggest problem with church is that it filled with people" which I think has been misunderstood or perhaps not fully understood.

Please allow me to offer this to you, I know it isn't anything I haven't said in the past, I'm just applying it here for clarification.

The reality of the problem is not that the church as an institution is occupied by the people that God created, the problem is that church as a body seems to be preoccupied by the god that we have created.

We all say with a smile that God created man in his own image, but are hard pressed to admit that we have corrected the situation by returning the favor.

THAT is fundamentally the problem, of course that broad statement is inclusive of a whole myriad of problems that  go along with that.

The church as an institution should be occupied by the church as a body, however neither really depends on the other to exist.

d(-_-)b

God is God and that is enough...

That we may find ourselves discontent or even failing to recognize the manners and methods by which God is at work, does not at all indicate that he is not at work for the greater good to his glory.

It simply means that God is God and we are not.

These things are not ours to control. That will never change and there is hope in that...but if in our lives we cannot submit & trust him to be in control now, just when is it that we think that we ever will?

God is God and that is enough.

d(-_-)b

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From a former Christian Scientist

Like Grape Nuts, Christian Science consists of neither.

Matthew 25:31-46

In my younger days my survival dictated that I develop the horrible ability not to look back, and to walk away with no regrets.

Over the years it has been a struggle for me to undevelop that ability in order to maintain some very valued relationships and the difficulties they can sometimes bring.

Once in a while though something big happens, and I find that it's still not a bad card to have in the deck.

God is God, Solo Cristo Salva....

Public Image Ltd. - FFF:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nndFH-f33xA&sns=em

Inconceivable

I can't possibly be expected to believe you have a valid point if you can't bother to write it on a sign, have it photographed with "you" holding it, and then post it on the internet ...however if you can manage to pull off that complicated little trick then I'd have to say you've pretty much irrefutably solidified your whole argument. You know what...I'm going to go write this on a sign and post it right now. Then you'll know I'm right.

The Hotel California

Well, we had a pretty good weekend starting Friday night.

We had Pat, a lovely and informative nurse from Kentucky Friday and Saturday night. She answered most of our questions and more. She really did a lot to help bring our confidence up that this was a very do able situation.

So here's the story, reader's digest version: Initially Paige was seen for a lump she had developed in her armpit area. She had surgery to have it removed. Turns out it wasn't cancer but a lymph-node infection, but it also should have been biopsied in a different way than it was.

The healing from the surgery took a while, but we didn't think much about that being anything too significant, at least as far that it too might be related to some other problem.

Paige at about that same time started having blood in her mucus which was concerning to her doctor. Her friend's mother, who is a doctor, suggested that many of Paige's symptoms could indicate Valley Fever.

So Paige upon going back for a post op visit, suggested this possibility, her doctor agreed and had blood drawn for testing. that was Wednesday at about 5:30pm.

Thursday at 6:30am, the doctor called an told us to get our crap together



it's a very long story, but we had walking papers up until about an hour ago and now because of a whole series of circumstances involving the timing of tests, anesthesia for a bronchea-scope and then not eating for 18 hours, we're probably back for another night, but we'll see. I'm so, so tired and disoriented.

To All the Girls I've Loved

It's almost 3am and we just got home from the hospital.
I really should be going to bed...


Of all the things I've done in my life, being a Dad has been the greatest labor of love that I have ever both embraced and endured at the same time.

You can't always get what you want...

Help is a blessing to both giver and receiver.

It feels good to help others, and when you feel good about helping someone, you probably should.

Over the course of my years I have learned a few things about this process and hope that in sharing them with you I might spare you the time and experiences involved in arriving at my own conclusions...Hope this helps.  ;)

Tut Tut, looks like rain

It's almost 3am and we just got home from the hospital.
I really should be going to bed...


Of all the things I've done in my life, being a Dad has been the greatest labor of love that I have ever both embraced and endured at the same time.

Victory is mine...

Here's a little something that came to mind sometime back that has always comforted me when I recall it:

What's gone is gone, what's done is done.

The battle rages, but the war is won.

d(-_-)b

Not Just Anybody

Help is a blessing to both giver and receiver.

As receivers, we are wise to take it if only to bless the giver to our mind, but often we find in difficult times we have needs to be met we don't even recognize.

As givers we are wise to consider not only what we are able to do but to consider what our own needs might be  were we in the same situation, because even the most well intentioned help is no help if it is thoughtlessly  misdirected.