My Flag Flies Upside Down

Flying a flag upside down is a symbol of distress. I believe our country is indeed in distress in many ways and have strayed far from what God would have it to be...and what's worse, many of us are just sitting around and watching it happen. In fact, I think many of us don't really know what to do...so, we end up doing nothing. Sure, I may vote in the election for the candidate of my choice, try to live an upright and moral life, go to church every Sunday, and occasionally even speak out, for or against certain activities, people, causes or otherwise. But, even though these are good, what positive change has occurred in our nation as a result of these actions? So, what is it that needs to happen? What is it that we are all waiting for to bring about the needed changes? I believe it is a leader to rally around. Someone that lives an upright and moral life and is an example of the type of changes needed in our country, and someone determined to see those changes occur...no matter what! Conviction and determination, no matter what...even it would mean the end of his career or even his own life. If you need an example of the type of conviction I am talking about and want to watch a good movie at the same time, find a copy of the movie, "Amazing Grace" and watch it. It is the story of William Wilberforce, whose passion and perseverance changed the world. I am looking for a modern-day William Wilberforce to change the current state of our nation.
So, in the meantime, I choose to fly my flag upside down as a symbol of my own desire to see a better day, a brighter day, and as a symbol of my hope for seeing a brighter tomorrow for our country!!!

Here is a link for the movie if you want to check it out:
http://christianity.about.com/od/christianmovies/fr/amazinggrace.htm

or buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Grace-Ioan-Gruffudd/dp/B000VNMMQG

Too Much - 2012 - Savanna, IL & Mississippi Palisades State Park

For those of you who know me well, you know that I get away every 2 years with 4 guys I grew up with in Greenville.  We call ourselves, the "Too Much Club" (the name goes back to our high school buddie, Carl Brauteseth, who would always say, "You guys are too much!"...so, in his honor, we called ourselves, just that.)  Nevertheless, we have been getting away and meeting every two years since the early 1980's.  This year we met at a very central location for all of us, in NW Illinois, Savanna, IL, which is right on the Mississippi River.  We always try to focus on some form of getting out into nature and finding some form of outdoor activity or recreation.  This may have developed as a result of our high school years of taking Youth Group trips to Giant City State Park, Fox Ridge State Park and Pere Marquette State Park, which were annual camp-outs...so I guess we owe it all to our youth minister, Harold Neely and his love for camping as a form of ministry.  (Harold was also responsible for teaching us the game of Tripoley, which was always a New Year's Eve traditional game we played).  

Nevertheless, after that historical preface, this year we found a rental cabin that overlooked the Mississippi river and was just a couple miles away from Mississippi Palisades State Park.  We had not been to this area before, but knew we wanted to be in the area because it was so central for all of us.  (3 coming from Greenville, one from Minneapolis, MN and me from southern Michigan).  The dabin was indeed scenic and had a great view of the Mississippi river and we could just look out the front window and watch barges coming down the river.  The state park was close and we went there several times to enjoy the hiking and cliffs this park is known for.  (Greg had offered to bring rappelling ropes and gear, and it would have been a perfect place is we had taken him up on the offer).  It also had some nice grassy areas where we could play bocce ball and frisbee golf, and the weather on this particular weekend was perfect.

Tripoley, if you are not familiar with the game, is a card game that includes aspects of Poker, bidding on poker hands, using poker chips on a board and winning the chips for poker hands, and playing certain cards and collecting chips as you are able to play these cards.  We start this game on Thursday night and end on Saturday night...storing the playing board and chips somewhere out of the way during the day and resuming play in the evenings.  I believe Brent won this year...and I was the loser.  

All in all, a good time was had by all.  By the time we recreate, eat and watch videos for 2 and a half days, we are all ready to get back to our families, and we decided that is a good thing.   We have made a lot of memories over the years, and I always count on these guys to help me remember them...and help create new ones.

Hunting Update...Deer Season 2012

Long time, no blogging.   Decided to break the silence by giving a hunting update.

I have only been out into the woods on 3 different occasions this season so far, totaling about 4 hours on the stand total for the entire bow season...so, I am hoping to capitalize on these last few days before firearm opening and try and get one hanging.

In the meantime, here is the latest from the Smith's and what is going on here... in our neck of the woods.

Caleb has logged the most hours in the woods so far, even though he is now a freshman at Spring Arbor and not living here at home.  He has been able to come home and hunt on at least 4 different occasions.  About 2 weeks ago, he decided to harvest a doe and get things going.  We decided to donate this one, knowing the season was young and hoping to bag at least a couple more between the 4 of us hunting in the family this season.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Zack, my youngest, who has not been our serious hunter, had honed up his bow skills with brother Caleb's help (who has been the more serious hunter) while I was gone last weekend.   Zack has now been in the woods on at least 3 different occasions in the last week, and two days ago, 15 minutes before dark, he had a "wall-hanger" (buck-of-a-lifetime) 20 yards away from his ladder stand...but it never presented a good shot.  Zack handled it pretty well, somewhat disappointed that he could not get a shot off, but still extremely excited to see a buck of this caliber within shooting distance...AND, the best part is that he called this big boy in by grunting and rattling...and was even able to get him to turn his direction when he was heading away by using his own vocal mouth call of a doe bleat...so all in all....Dad is pretty proud of the little guy (well, he's not so little anymore, he is actually taller than me by a half inch).    

Anyway, this is the most recent hunting news from the Smith's.  More to come...we hope.

Catch-all Clean-up

Today I decided to dive into the top drawer of my dresser...which is a serious catch-all...and has been collecting stuff for at least the last decade...maybe longer.  I truly believe my boys especially, are fascinated by this assortment of "stuff", because for years I have been catching them in the act of getting into it...and telling them to stay out of my top drawer, mainly for personal privacy, but partially because I had even lost track of all the stuff that was in there and I didn't want them to discover some lost treasure that I might find one of these days when I got around to it.  Anyway, for whatever reason, today was that day.  I opened the drawer and decided to discover what all was in there, and also because I was running out of room.  To my surprise, among a lot of other stuff, was an emotional experience in the making.
Sure, I found a variety of nick-nacks and miscellaneous items galore, which I won't bore you with, since that is not the point of this blog entry.  What I discovered that was worth writing about was a poignant reminder of how fast time flies and how much I am now wishing I could turn back the clock.
Somewhere along the way I had received 2 small books on being a good Dad.  One entitled, "How to Be Your Daughter's Daddy, 365 Ways To Show Her You Care" and another much like it entitled, "How to Be Your Little Man's Dad, 365 Things To Do With Your Son".  Finding these 2 books stuffed back in the back corner of my top drawer immediately brought me to tears.  First of all because they were stuffed way back in the back corner and had not been removed in years and then right along with that and all mixed in with the emotion was knowing that time had indeed slipped away.   Being my daughters daddy and little man's dad is basically history...chapters of my life that are mostly gone.   Then at the same time discovering a pile of wallet size pictures of my kiddos over the past few years and having the visual evidence right before my eyes of just how fast they had indeed grown up.  It was too much.   But that wasn't all...I kept finding more things that continued to drive home this same message.
My own Dad, somewhere along the way, had sent me a copy of an article from Christianity Today, in a section of the magazine called "A Father's Heart", and an article entitled, "The Little Things".   He sent it to me to encourage me to treasure the time spent with my family and protect it and not neglect it.
And then I found a "TUIT"...you know, a round tuit.   One of those little coin-like things you keep in your pocket and pull out at that perfect moment (which I don't think ever actually occurs, except in movies) when you catch somebody saying, "I will take care of that when I get around to it"...and then you casually take your round tuit out of your pocket and hand it to them nonchalantly and tell them to "Get ur' done".  The TUIT kinda did me in too.  It all came swirling down and just nailed me.  The whole drawer was throwing signs at me from different angles that kept telling me my kiddos were not kiddos anymore...that my time as a daddy was soon to be, if not already gone....that my times for using these books as practical suggestions of things I could go and do with my kids was now so outdated that they were irrelevant...gone...done...history.   The round tuit wouldn't even help.  I couldn't do these things when I could get around to doing them...they just were not even a possibility anymore.
So I sat and stared at this stuff causing me to think back on my past years as a "daddy", and I began to reflect.  Sure, time had indeed slipped away, and sure I am a bit of a work-a-holic and there were missed opportunities that I now wish I could go back and do over and re-live and re-prioritize the time spent with my kiddos, and yes I feel sad about these things.  But, guess what I also realized?  I realized that even though I may not have been the perfect father, I do have a lot of great memories and if I needed to refresh my memory of these past years, all I had to do was pull out the 2 drawer fulls of pictures and spend a day looking at them all. (by the way, I think that was one of the 365 things in the book I could do with my kids...so maybe some of these are not outdated after all).   I realized that I really love my kids and am really enjoying the age they are at right now too, and the talents and skills they are developing and the young adults they are becoming.   And, I also realized it is not too late to still be their daddy...and maybe won't be until we get to heaven.

Do you ever think these kind of thoughts when you clean out your top drawer?  Just wondering.

Where moth and rust destroy...and earthly items don't last

Vehicle problems or maintenance have been very abundant in my life lately...not only personally, but also for the campground, so consequently I find myself overwhelmed and mildly frustrated.  I am thinking a horse sounds pretty good...maybe even a bike...but unfortunately I have heard horses are high maintenance and moody and a bike leaves nasty skid marks.
What I have been reminded of is that we should not put our trust in material things and find ourselves captivated and addicted to the material world.  Every time something I value gets destroyed, vandalized or otherwise de-valued in some way, I find myself once again reminded of these truths.
This has been driven home with the transportation in my life over the past couple months.  If it is not one thing, it will  be another, and it is never ending.  My hair is getting grayer and less abundant by the minute...and my sleep is being disrupted.
A couple months ago, the boys were on their way home from school and one of the hundreds of deer that regularly hog the road, caught Caleb by surprise and left its mark (literally) on our "new-to-us" Honda Civic.  I had not even had time to think about getting comprehensive insurance on this vehicle, since we had only owned it a few weeks and I had called very quick to get the PLPD coverage.  So...I had to fix this one without the help of insurance, and most of the work was done myself...(with a little help from a local body shop...and Rene' even pitched in one night when we were tearing it apart).

Just this past weekend, the Malibu found its way into a ditch, along slippery roads, as Emily was on her way to babysit one evening.  Fortunately, insurance will cover this one...but it is totaled, so now we have to find another vehicle.  The bad news on this vehicle is that I had just got it "up to snuff".  Had it in the shop to repair a couple issues I could not deal with and I had gone through and fixed a few minor items and performed regular maintenance just a couple weeks prior to the accident.  But, moth and rust, with a little help from us...are destroying.
The good news:  In neither case were any of my children harmed at all.  OK...Emily did have a slight bruise and Zack still sees deer flying past him on a regular basis (but his drooling and twitch are getting much less pronounced).  Seriously though, I thank God for His protection on my family that occurs regularly as they commute 30-40 miles daily, back and forth...but especially for the protection that occurred with these two accidents.
Here is the lesson to be learned, and of course I am preaching to myself here, to once again get this into my brain:  In Matthew 6: 19-21, Jesus tells us that the treasures we accumulate on earth are susceptible to moths and rust, but the treasure we store in heaven is safe. He also notes that where we store our treasure is where we store our heart.  So, how do we go about storing up treasures in heaven?  Making deposits in people, loving and caring for people, being more concerned about people and their future in heaven...than stuff.

Don't Let Jesus Get Lost in the Shuffle

So...just what is this, you might ask?  Let me tell you the story, and how it ended up causing some thought and ultimately "preached".
This little piece of wood was found in a box of Christmas lights as we were putting up our Christmas tree.
Rene' pulled it out of the box and laid it up on the table and I ask, "What is that?"
She responded, "That's Jesus...that got lost in the shuffle."  I immediately knew what she was talking about, and we just both looked at each other quickly, because of what she had just said, and we both knew that what she had said....would "preach"...in a round about way...and after we had time to think about the significance of what she had said, but had actually meant in another way.  If you didn't quite understand all that..well, I am not sure I did either...so I will continue.
This is actually a little carved piece of wood that was part of a nativity scene.  This particular piece of wood is the "Baby Jesus", that was laid in the manger of the scene.  In the shuffle of a Christmas past, this piece had gotten lost and ended up in the box with the string of lights, after somehow being removed and lost from the manger where it should have been.
So, why does this preach?    I am sure you also have already figured it all out and already got the point...but for the sake of those who may have not....here are the thoughts that came oozing through the gray matter, all at once, as Rene' spoke those words which carried a lot more suggested meaning than one might at first think...and maybe only after really thinking about the hidden message that might be for all of us to consider at this time of the year once again.
So, before I try and explain the thoughts that immediately raced through my mind when Rene' said those words, let me begin by asking a question.  Why is this time of year so dog-gone stressful and hectic?  I don't really understand why we have allowed it to become the crazy, fast-paced, shopping frenzy, party-packed time of year where winter and snow and presents and food and lights and stores and traffic and rushing and hustling and bustling and parties and programs and mailings and travelling and tinsel and holly and whole lot of other things that on their own are not particularly bad in and of themselves, but when all thrown together in a one-month period of time...end up spelling Christmas as we have come to know it.  I don't know about you, but every year I end up feeling guilty about what Christmas has become.  Not all of it...but most of it.   And I often wonder how God feels about it all.  And I often feel like I am a Scrooge for feeling this way...so I try and justify some of the better parts of it all...and then I come back around and enjoy parts of it...while down deep inside I still feel like we have just got parts of Christmas all wrong.
And how does all this relate to a piece of wood found in a light box?  When Rene' said, "that's Jesus...that got lost in the shuffle"...all of these thoughts and more raced through my head in a split-second and they all came rushing down at me instantly saying,  I am guilty of losing Jesus in the shuffle...and I don't like it.
I believe there are a whole lot of very good things about Christmas, things that Jesus would be pleased in, and  might do Himself, if He were here now.   I think we should "intentionally"  be about "those things" and make them the priorities of the season.  What are they?  I believe we probably all know what they are...and could list them.  So let's do it!  And then let's do those things...and not let Jesus get lost in the Christmas shuffle.

EGD

Gotta thank my awesome daughter Emily for going with me to my 2nd EGD!   Oh the fun and excitement of medical procedures!   Also, a big thanks to Em for snapping such an awesome picture of me that I will cherish for years to come!  (Truth be known, I do not mind this procedure at all...in fact, I kinda like going into and coming out of the anesthesia...except for knowing you were photographed in the midst of it...although, it could have been a lot worse).  And, here is the best part.   I did not find out until later that same night, as Emily was telling the story, that the doctor and the nurse both came in while I was "still very loopy", after the procedure, and I was acting very out of it and responding to things they said or did in peculiar ways...and she says I ask her multiple times if she got her homework done (which she had been doing in the lobby while she was waiting).  Needless to say, I don't remember any of it.  All I remember is walking out of the building and getting into our car to leave...the rest is not part of my memory....except for the stories Emily told me.