« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »
Today is my wife's birthday and I did not forget. I hope we have a great day and that she enjoys the day. I wrote her a poem to mark the occasion.
A Day that is Different
Each year runs it course
And with only hours to go,......
I did not really think that I could or would like such a device as an I Phone. I fear I may seem a little preppy or geeky because I am now the owner of one and I love it! My wonderful wife who is far more techno-savy (is that a real word) than I am bought me one for Christmas and with the help of my super smart son Bradley I was up and running in just a little while. The I phone is amazing. It has email - text- camera- internet- of
course a phone and the most important thing ease of use. This thing is
almost idot proof and I can use it without hardly any training. I was a
little hesitant when I opened the gift because I was a little afraid of
it and If I could operate such a device. But YEA I can.
I would recommend this phone to everyone who thinks that they might
like it. It cost me $20.00 more per month for the data but it will be
worth it. This rejoicing in the use of the I Phone spread quickly in
the Davis home and sons Brian and Brett decided their Christmas money
would be also invested in I Phones. Now the kids are telling me Daddy
if you only would switch to a MAC. Not Yet but I will be watching a
little closer when they are on theirs. Thanks Honey for the gift and
thanks Apple for making it so easy to use.
I have from time to time written a little poetry. It seems Christmas I often write a few verses, so on this Christmas morning I thought about the gift of time. I thought how sad to waste it and so I wrote some rhymes. I hope you like it and it will make you think. Poetry should use words like oils to paint in your mind. I give to you a picture of how to consume your time.
Old Tin Cans
A thought begins in a sleepy mind
And opportunity is handed to me
I know the moments that present themselves
Greet each one, and then they flee.
The morning light has not yet shown
A difference for this day’s trail,
And moments begin to sneak away
As I browse through junk emails.
The calendar is full of empty holes
Where great things could have been,
Instead of events to change a life
A silly game I tried to win.
The pile of days that have no mark
That could live through all the years
Are all to soon forgotten
Even though full of blood, sweat, and tears.
Like old tin cans piled up in the yard
Our days are emptied and thrown
With little thought for what’s inside
We eat and then move on.
The God of all the universe
Looks hopefully at our days ahead,
And gives to each a chance at life
Of which it would be said;
Today a man has trusted God
And gave his time to serve,
He helped another soul to see
As they traveled though life’s curve.
So as each day’s can is opened
And you begin to feed
Look and see if others
Have some special need
Share with them the moments
Of which you have so few
You really make a difference
In the eating of life’s stew.
Merry Christmas
(Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc - www.reverendfun.com)
Christmas is almost here. The day arrives and gifts are opened and children have a big old day. Then comes the family get together. Grandma's, Aunt Sallies, or even in your own home people get together with folks at Christmas. Many will be relatives you have not seen since last Christmas and yet you know what has happened in their life through another relative. Some of it may be real bad, or some of it may be real good, some of what has happened to them will be talked about in detail while some not even mentioned although it is on everybody's mind. How funny we are as we go into a gathering of relatives that a very common expression is "Don't bring that up."
The Scripture tells us that:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer 17:9 (KJV)
Do you ever struggle to say what you really are feeling on the inside. Do you find yourself saying things sometimes that you do not mean? Are you nice when you want to scream? Are you angry and shouting at someone sometimes and you know it is not this person you are angry at, but they are convenient to yell at.
I think everyone can safely say that communication of our true feelings is difficult at best. Even to those who know us best we really struggle to let them know exactly how we feel on the inside. Of course all of our communication is governed not only by how we feel at the moment, but how the person we communicate with feels and will react. There is a saying about fighting "It takes two to tango" and it is true. One person can slander, abuse, or even batter another but to have a good old fight you must have two.
This week has been one long party it seems with just the people changing every so often. It is great to see folks and to have a get together to honor our Lord but Kathy and I are worn out. But alas as I write we are ready to head to Sal Grosos a Brazilian Steak house. This will be the party for the guys in the Police Department where I serve. I have never been to this restaurant but I hear it is fantastic. I love the officers I have the privilege of ministering to so I would not miss this for the world. So this is the last of 3 parties in a row and I will be glad to stay at home tomorrow night. I know some of you may be tired of party time but isn't it amazing when Christmas is over how we can look back and say this was a great Christmas.
Today I have been blessed also with a party of sorts. Shop with a Cop is a program to help kids who need some help at Christmas. I work with the Kermit Sanders Fraternal Order of Police lodge 13 as chaplain so every year I help with this event. What a Joy! this hear we have helped over 225 children. It is a mad house with the kids being picked up at their school and riding in a police car to Target and then getting to spend money to buy presents for others and themselves. I really appreciate the FOP for what they do here.
Well this was my day along with several impromptu counseling appointments with police officers I had not seen in a while. What a joy they share with me so I can pray for them and help encourage them. God is Good and seemed to give me answers to help as the situations arose today. That is a real party time.
I hope you are blessed and that as you talk with the Lord tonight or today that you and Jesus have a real party time.
Yesterday was the first of several family Christmas gatherings for our family. That was not our problem, and it was a great event at Kathy's brother's home. We returned home fairly early with all the kids coming home with us to put up our tree. When we got home, one of the kids said they needed to use the bathroom. They went back to our bath instead of the front bathroom, letting me know that the front was stopped up. I went for the plunger. A good 20 minutes later I was still plunging away when I happened to think I should check the downstairs bath to see if it could be stopped up down there. As I rounded the corner into my office to check the back, here is the catastrophe. The floor was flooded and the septic line was stopped up completely. Water was deep and overflowing. Well, so much for putting up the tree tonight. The boys put a water vac and a carpet cleaner to work, and I went outside in the rain to open the septic line and run a water hose down the clean out. About an hour later, we did not have puddles on the main part of the floor and the toilets were flushing again. Woo Hoo. The boys worked for another half hour with the carpet cleaner sucking out the carpet and then headed home. I worked for another hour or so and then called it a night after placing fans and heaters in strategic locations. This was all last night.
Today after I preached at Sandy Plains Baptist, I ran the carpet cleaner for at least another hour and was able to get a couple of gallons more out of the carpet. The last pint of water took a while to vacuum out. This was a pretty nasty catastrophe. But, as all problems, they can be remedied with a little patience and hard work. So now that I look back on last night, and today it has not been too bad. The tree is now up and a fire has kept us warm all afternoon. The kids came back for a good visit, all except Ashley as she had to work. The only thing we are wondering is if the Christmas catastrophe may end up in some new carpet if the old carpet keeps its new smell. What a great gift for my wife! Still, all in all, I think it has been a great weekend.
Yea!!!!!!! Someone has said what we all think all the time and said it well. John Nicholson had this link on his blog and I thought you might like this video as well. So click here if you would rather folks say Merry Christmas!
There was a famous line in a movie by Mel Brooks a few years ago "We don't need no stinking badges." this was announced by some pretty rough looking banditos who said they were the law. Well that might work in the movies but to a real Law Enforcement officer. The badge is extremely important. The emblems they wear as well are important. This week there was a court battle settled in Spokane Washington over what the Police Chaplains there would have on their emblem. The cross was removed due to a lawsuit by a former pastor. Read about it in this Article. As a chaplain for Cobb County Police Department it is an honor to serve and work with police officers. I have a ceremonial badge that I am very privileged to wear on formal occasions. I have the police emblem on several of my chaplain shirts and jackets I wear on ride alongs. We faced a similar difficulty a year or so ago and were proactive to remove the cross from the Chaplain emblem before a lawsuit happened. It saddens me that the cross was removed from the chaplains emblem in Cobb County but I think it is fair. I am a follower of Jesus Christ first and will always be so. But I am also an American and to be fair, if the Government or a nonprofit that works in partnership with the Government is paying for the patch it should be neutral and not promoting one faith over another. We adopted a compass because we as Chaplains give guidance to officers especially in troubled times. The heart of the matter really came home to me in the statement that Ray Ideus who filed the Spokane suit made on FOX News. Ideus made a statement something like this ... Police chaplains are only doing secular counseling..... I could not disagree more. I am a follower of Christ and the officers who know me know that I am.
On Friday morning Dan Titus came by to see me, and we had a great talk for an hour or so. About halfway through the conversation, Dan said, "I think you have a critter," and as I looked a little mouse ran out from under the recliner in my office, looked at me and Dan and then ran back back under the chair. Well, I did not think too much about it and made myself a mental note to get a trap that I had used several years ago when we had a mouse in the attic. An hour or two later, the mental note had faded, but as I started up the steps my little friend scurried by and gave me a quick reminder. Getting the trap from the attic and arming it with a little Kraft cheese from the refrigerator, I placed it in the TV room where I last saw the vermin. A few hours later, I checked it and no luck yet, but thought I might out to move the trap back to my office. In case Brittany brought Momo downstarirs, I did not want her to get caught in the trap. So I moved it back to my office behind the recliner.
Continue reading "If It Did Not Happen To Me I Wouldn't Believe It" »
