...too small a thing...

What a Father

This makes you ask yourself, "What kind of father am I?"  After I watched this I did have to wipe my eyes.

 

A son asked his father, ' Dad , will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, ' Dad , let's join the Ironman together.'

To which, his father said 'Yes' .
 
For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever.
The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island .

Father and son went on to complete the race together.  View this:
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

This is very moving.

I Will Miss You Baby!

There are moments in life when I cannot be with my wife, some of which are just for a minute or so, but other separations are longer. . I have a  long one coming up on the 31st  of July as I once again leave for Nicaragua to build a church. Other moments of separation are while she is working  or  needing to go to the store and get groceries or other stuff we need. I love Kathy and miss her when I am not with her. But I do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder, for those who truly love each other.  Now if this blogging seems to be getting mushy... it may get worse. As Kathy and I went to bed last night,  I was thinking how bad I would be missing her!  No not Kathy,  she is in the bed with me,,,I would be missiong her!  My Motorcycle!  I had to put her in the shop yesterday. I sent my baby to the baby changing station to get some new brakes and a change of fluids. The trouble is the Motorcycle doctor is leaving on Vacation today and I am headed to Nicaragua next Thursday, so I will not see my baby for over two weeks. I will truly miss her. Kathy told me I could take her lady (Her scooter) for a whirl but I just do not think it would be the same. So I will just try to stay busy take a cold shower if I need it and do what I need to do. You know motorcycles are like women, according to my friend Hawk Hagabak but he affirms that women are not like motorcycles. Read his article by my friend from his web site Motohawk if you don't believe it. Click here The article is entitled Polygamy Among Motorcyclist! I am gonna miss Kathy and Brittany and the family while I am gone. But I have to confess I will miss the other lady in my life, but when I get home, Some cheap gas and a long highway and we will have a big time.

The Oath

I am always moved deeply to watch the moment of the swearing in of new officers. This is a photo from Mandate class 21 as they take the oath of office. When it started there were 19 recruits and when it was over in a few moments they were 19 police officers. The only real comparison I can  make is to watch people make their wedding vows. I always pray that they will live up to all expectations of the marriage and here as these officers take the oath of office I pray they will live up to the duty of being good police officers. What a joy it is to provide counsel and to be an encouragement to men and women who commit their lives to serve the public. It is not an easy life and will bring difficulty to many officers lives. Divorce rates soar among police and sadly many more officers die due to suicide than in the line of duty. The Bible tells us to not fear cops yet many do.

Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do good and you will have its approval. 4 For government is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. 6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks. 7 Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

Romans 13:1-7 (HCSB)

I share these verses with the young officers and with many others as a help to allow them to understand the importance of the oath of office. They are trained, tested and true public servants.

Getting Ready

Every Tuesday and Thursday the medical team is walking at BHBC to get ready for the Sept medical mission to Nicaragua

Getting Ready For Action

What a joy to be able to go on a short term mission trip. In the MTI Scholarship program we teach that you must prepare yourself Spiritually, Emotionally, and Physically.  We tend to concentrate on the first, sometimes get ready for the second (at least prepare emg phone numbers and write notes) but too often we do little to get ourselves in shape physically to endure the heat and physically exhausting schedule that will accompany  most  mission trips.  Here are three members of the Medical Team to Nicaragua in September (and a good supporting husband) walking a few miles in the church parking lot to get themselves ready for September. Why do those not dressed in yellow look a little stronger? Who is that fat guy anyway?

Since I was A Kid

Since I was a kid I have been hearing that we needed to do something about energy. Dependence on foreign oil is a problem. I graduated in 1973 from High School and that year there was an Oil Embargo. We knew we needed to do something about this but what has been done? Little or nothing. I am just as guilty as the next American and continue to be. But, I think things may be starting to change. Is this the Answer? Wind Energy? I am not sure if it is, but this guy Pickens is, and he believes that there is a good soloution by using wind. I think he might be on to something Check him out at the following address:
http://www.pickensplan.com/  

I really think that the real answer is going to be a combination of things. Nuclear, Wind, Geothermal, And a real biggy is just folks cutting back on use of gas. These solutions  all make real sense to me. Use of coal and what oil we have also makes sense but we have to find the new sources of energy. It is all driven by making money and somebody is already criticizing Pickens for wanting to make money on the deal. If there is not money to be made nobody will do it. What I do not understand is that some want to limit the use of all sources due to environmental concerns. You know I want to be green, but people will fight over energy and to limit these things that will work due to environmental concerns is to ignore the fact that WWIII will likely be over energy unless we do something now. I do not want to be an alarmist but the next president Obama or John must give this some thought and talk about it. John is a talking a little but Obama that "man of change" isn't saying much that I have heard so far. Maybe we need new signs that say Pickens for President.

What do you want for your birthday?

When we are kids this question is often posed by parents or adults to kids? Some of us are silly and childish enough that we still want to hear this question when we are 53. Now at my age nobody really ask this very much and birthday presents are sort of rare. But, to confess the truth I still like to contemplate the question. Mom and Dad are so sweet they have already given me a card with a  U. S. Grant ($50)  inside and I found a creative and nice gift I bought my self with it yesterday at a Yard Sale. I actually went to the Yard Sale to look for tools for Nicaragua to take down and leave, but here was the wood chipper for $50.00 it was a great deal so my birthday from my folks was a wood chipper by my choice. Then I ask myself the question is this what I really wanted? And the answer is well its OK but I really want something else.

This answer is going to seem a little weird but I think it is the truth. I want for  my birthday what I already have.  I want to be content with the stuff I have (because I am blessed with way too much stuff now) and I want to be content with the relationships I have now as I have a boat load of friends and my family is the best. I want to be content with the opportunities I have now as I have so much to do. I want to have a sense of peace and contentment in my heart because I have a reality of knowing that I am being used in the Kingdom of God. These are the things I want and I really already have I just need to realize it fully. One more thing I want (since it is a great birthday I am not limited to one thing), I want (from God of Course) good health for my Dad and for my Father in Law both who are having some health issues, I want for them to get better. If I get a cake to blow out candles on today this will be my wish.

What it is!!!!

I have only had a few inquiries or guesses about the previous post but I said I would tell you in a few days so what it is is a pool light. Floating in the Swimming pool is a LED type light that puts off multi colored lights. So the punkin looking head is the floating light and the blue looking arms and legs are just lights reflecting off the bottom of the pool. It really looks cool in the dark.

What Is It?

I took this photo with my I phone so what is it? I know but I think I will let you guess for a day or so. I will give you a little hint I never saw one before I saw this one. I also think that if you think you have it your all wet. I will tell you about another strange site I saw that is also unexplained, We traveled to Wal-Mart for some food items this afternoon and on the way we came upon a stop sign someone had put four pieces of American cheese on the face of it. I had to ask myself why would someone waste four perfectly good kraft singles on a stop sign? Alas I have no answers. If you think you have an answer of if you know what is in th photo let me know. scotty@missionteaminc.com

High Living on the Farm for the 4th of July

My Son Brett and his wife Ashley invited Kathy and I to visit with their in laws on their property in Rome GA for a real 4th of July celebration We had it all baby! BBQ (on a stick), Apple pie and Ice Cream (The pie was in a wrapper), fireworks (The best was the one Bolin threw in the hot dog roasting fire), beautiful country farm house (OK so it was a camper trailer) and live music (well maybe no music but we did have a train in the distance.)  We had a ball! Just visiting and talking is the best. We laughed and told stories and the food was really great. It was just hot dogs and chips but dogs roasted on a stick  taste better. Notice the professional grade roasting stick I carved that Kathy is holding. Bolin and Marsha have a beautiful piece of land and will be building a home there  soon.  I was  privileged to  be a part of a 4th celebration on the farm. Other places may have had bigger fireworks, bigger crowds, more food, but we had more fun. Thanks kids and Marsha and Bolin for a great evening.