Do you Twitter, Tweet, Twang ?

Twitter, Tweet or Twang? What do you do? I made up the 'Twang' thing - but it's next, if I have my way.

Me? I've never done it, any of it. I do text the kids now and then - but I only know how to reply to an existing text. I've never actually created a new text.

I'm so low tech. I can email myself into oblivion, but that doesn't matter anymore. Hey, I even have a blog, but to be living in the real world, you have to 'twitter to your blog', and I don't know what that means ..... I'm a realist: it's hard enough to get people to read a blog, why would they care to read a twitter or tweet from me that I'm eating lunch at QT - 2 for $2 hot dogs and a coke zero? I don't think so. I don't even care enough about myself to know that I'm doing that - why would I even suspect that someone else would care?

It's crazy. But it's happening now. "Embrace it" I tell myself. Don't get left behind. Communicate.

I had breakfast yesterday with an old colleague and friend who is pretty high-tech. For instance, he doesn't read print papers, magazines or books anymore, he has a 'Kindle'. Downloads everything onto the coolest gadget I've ever seen - the 'Kindle'. Gotta get me one of those one day. There is some really good stuff out there. But who has the time (or money?).

Back to Twitter and stuff. The point is this, I think: when you hear something profound, or actually know something profound, you should tell it to others - communicate it, to the world. It should be really, and actually, profound (in my opinion). Of course, profound is in the eye of the profounder (not sure of the grammar there - don't snopes me on that).

Do you ever twitter or text God? I think we all do that - you know: "God, I need help here", or "Hey God, I'm in a bind - respond quickly"..... In a way it's bad - we shouldn't treat God as a recipient of a text, yet in a way its good, we should be in constant contact with God. He cares about the smallest of things if we're in His family. From the moment we wake in the morning to the moment we turn in at night, we should be twittering our Father. Constant communication.

He twitters us through His Word (the Bible), through nature, through other believers, through prayer.

His deepest desire is to communicate with you, and you with Him. He wants a twitter from us - every minute or two.

Let me know when you twang.

57 Years

This past week, my parents celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. Wow. I only know it was number 57 because in 2002, we all went to Dublin, Ireland to celebrate their 50th. So 7 years later, is #57. We have big plans for their 60th.

This is a picture of them the day they were engaged (no, i didn't take it). Fulton, NY is a long way from Dallas, Texas. The story goes (as with all Texans): they got here as soon as they could.

I saw them today at lunch, after church. They look the same - they really do. They're just teenagers - 57 years later! It's amazing. Their life is complicated, yet very simple. They stay stressed, yet seemingly always calm. They have everything, yet, they have very little. They're highly educated, yet common. They've travelled the world, yet 'downhome'. They know everyone, but you're the only one in the room.

Do you think you know someone after 57 years? I would think so. But life is never dull for these guys - everyday is a new day and exciting. There's so much family, I guess there's not much time to think about yourselves. Time flies when you're having fun - right? No, time just flies - so you might as well just have fun.

And they are!

The Great American Comedy

So I said to him, "Barak, I know Abe Lincoln, and you ain't Abe Lincoln."

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

-Abraham Lincoln

I love this picture, and the quotes that go with it. So shoot me (if you're a liberal). I beg you please not to 'snope' me on this - it doesn't matter.

Does anyone know what's happening to America right now? If all you listen to is the evening news and all you read is the local paper and listen to NPR and read Newsweek or Time - you don't have an honest clue- you can't - because the media is invested in Obama so heavily - and is officially his advertising agency in America, that the truth is now only heard on conservative talk radio. It's the last bastion of truth - period. All else is a joke - it's like we live in Iran or Venezuela or New York.

Or, maybe you DO know what's going on and like it. There's the most strange thing of all.

What is it that God has up his sleeve? What is going on up there? This is all part of His plan, so what's going to happen next? Does it do any good to complain? Should we be looking for Real change sometime soon? Maybe some of us are blowing this out of proportion - but then again, the west (us) is never mentioned in Revelation ......

From Cairo (the only 'American' to ever speak to Islam - while degrading the USA), to Tehran (a president who admires Obama and denies the holocaust and wants Israel obliterated), to Pyongyang (a country currently testing nukes), to Caracas (a regime who jokes with Obama and calls him even 'left' of himself). And the list goes on, and on, and on. Like the admiration of terrorists and the love of US bashing racist 'preachers'.

Industry is owned by the US government now - all in 2-3 months. The financial markets are owned by government. Housing is owned by government. We're dealing with monopoly money. Taxes are going up - everyday, another new tax is imposed somewhere.

Maybe it'll all blow over in 4 years, and we'll have something else to complain about. If we're still around.

Route 66

I've never been on Route 66. It would be an awesome road trip one day, and I plan to do it soon - real soon.

Recently I saw one of those famous road signs - very recognizable to all of us. And I got to thinking, you know there are 66 books in the Bible. Maybe I can make a connection here.

Thinking that I had an original idea (which is rare) I wanted to correlate the idea of Route 66 with something to do with the Bible. So I quickly googled it, and discovered that, of course, I still haven't had many original ideas. There are lots of Route 66 Bible studies out there, names of Bible study classes and Route 66 youth groups: my original idea is everywhere. Bummer.

What I didn't see was this: A memory verse system, called "Route 66", whereby you memorize 1 verse from each book of the Bible. Something I actually need to do.

It's down right embarrassing for me to have not memorized more versus, this late in my life. It's time that a lot of us just got over our weakness for memory verses and buckled down - bowed our shoulders back - put our hearts and minds into something important - and do it now.

I'm admittedly not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, so if I am going to memorize 66 versus, I need a system. So over the course of about a week I poured through each book of the Bible and picked a verse from each. I tried to keep it to a short verse, but a verse that says something
to me about that particular book - that could jar my memory, and help me remember not only the verse but the context of the book. And, I didn't want the usual suspect versus like John 3:16 (good, but not challenging, if you know what I mean).

It could take me months, even years. But I have my 66 versus and I'm going for it. First, I'm just trying to get the verse that ties to the book. Later on (maybe way later) I'll add the actual reference number if I can't remember it now. My goal is to be able to quote, on the spot, one verse from each of the 66 books.

I'm not telling you this to edify or somehow glorify myself and my great future accomplishment (well, maybe a little bit :)). No, maybe you could try it too?

You could pick your own, or try mine. For instance, my Genesis verse is 3:9 - 'Then the Lord called out to the man, "where are you?"'. This verse tells me what the book is all about: God is there, you left Him, He knows where you are, but He wants you to acknowledge Him and find Him again.

Or, take my verse for Acts, 28:1 - 'Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.' This verse tells me that Paul and others were missionaries; Paul was also a prisoner; a leader; and he was one tough dude.

Or, take my verse for Ruth, 2:1 - 'Now, there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz.' This verse tells me that this city was important in history even before Jesus' birth, and that the book has a lot of corollaries to our kinsman redeemer - Jesus (wealthy and influential).

So, if you want to take a cool road trip - check out my Route 66 sometime. I keep it neatly tucked in my wallet to look at anytime (Starbucks, the gym, etc.) , a 1-page list of 66 versus.

Feeling Drained

My water had 'hardened'. It looked clean and clear - but over the years it had gotten overloaded with chemicals. Week after week, chlorine, algaecide, clarifiers, oils from sun screen - Stuff. It just couldn't take it any more. Water, H2O, would evaporate every day. I'd refill the pool with fresh water, it would rain, but the chemicals lingered. Invisible, but there. Some things, just never go away. I could pour new chlorine in by the bucket fulls with no effect. The chemicals were dead before they even hit the water. The pool was saturated and couldn't take any more. I was wasting money, time and energy. And worst of all - I could no longer feel comfortable swimming in my own pool.

So I drained it dry. Last week I rented a submersible pump from Home Depot and sucked every last drop of water out of my pool. Now this may sound easy and it is, but what makes it tricky is the damage it can do. There was the possibility that the pool walls would cave in without the support and weight of the water. And there was the possibility that the pool would actually 'rise up' - lift out of the ground like a boat without the water inside to keep it down. Everyone I talked to had a different piece of advice - mostly: 'don't do it', and 'you're crazy'. But I had to take the gamble.

--
It took 4-5 hours to pump it dry. Then I scrubbed the walls (a pebble tech finish). Then I patched some cracking along the top. It took a long time and a lot of energy. I stuck a hose in and starting filling the pool with brand new, fresh, sparkling water. It took 24 hours to refill it. (and now I'm dreading the city water bill!)

But I had to do it. It needed to be refreshed - it needed new life. The source of life in my pool had died a slow death and it was rendered useless to me - unless I did something fast.

---
We're not much different - over the years we become so intoxicated with bad chemicals (poisons, attitudes, hatred, worldly ideas, contempt, lethargy, complacency) that seep in slowly. We don't even know it's happening - and we wake up one day so 'hardened' that we are a problem - we are the problem. We are no longer receptive to things like peace and happiness and joy. We don't slow down to watch a sunset or listen to the birds in the morning, or appreciate the architecture of a simple flower. We're hard on people. Our attitudes are bad and it shows.

---

We have to surrender and give it all up.

---

Maybe you're feeling drained. Maybe it's time to GET DRAINED. Get poured-out. Empty yourself. Surrender. Get clean. Even believers need to be refreshed with living water. The great news is that it doesn't take hours or days to do it. It can happen in a moment. Then - be careful what you put in it, don't dump it all in, be selective with what you allow into your 'pool'. Skim daily.

Jesus said "I will give you water …… and you'll never thirst again". Cool stuff. And in Ephesians Paul says to 'be careful how you live - don't live like fools, but like those who are wise'.

Kahlua & Me

The few friends I have only tolerate me to be around Dina. I don't try to be abrasive and opinionated and moody and brash ..... I'm working on it, I just need a little more time.

--

So Kahlua is good for me. He's 7 ish, so in dog years we're the same age. Like me he has some new 'lumps' popping up here and there - but he doesn't know it or care. He acts tough, barks loud and growls. But when he's close to another person or dog, he's not so much 'all that'. They say you're either a fighter or a lover in this life. He's a lover.

--

I admire him because he has purpose. His purpose is to serve and protect - me. If there's a squirrel on the fence - he better get off. If there's a mouse in or around the pool equipment - he better beat it. If there's someone at the door - he or she better have good intentions. For some reason - his purpose is all about me and our house, our yard. He only lives to serve and protect. By doing a good job, he eats well, gets lot's of treats and chewy's and toys. And, though against my wishes, his mom prepares him a comfortable bed at night and actually tucks him in, right up to his neck, with a soft cashmere type blanket. I think this might make him weaker than he should be - his work is important - he stands on the 'wall' between safety and disaster - I need him strong and alert!

--

There are too many lessons to be learned by observing dogs. You've heard them all.

--

I apologize in advance - I've never read 'Marley and me' - the articles or the book. I saw the movie - cute. But Kahlua is my dog. Trust me, I agree, the last thing the world needs is another article about some guy and his dog, the loyalty, the eagerness to please, the ever-forgiving, never-judging companion, the 'I sure hope dogs go to heaven' routine. I'll spare you all that for now.

--

But, I sure hope dogs do go to heaven. And lucky me - Jesus said "if you stick with me, and I live in you, ask me whatever you want, and I'll give it to you". So far, everything else He said has come true. Kahlua's comin!

--

(picture by dagengray)

Secrets of Bikers and Believers

I've always wanted one, but can't afford it, really. Well maybe I could, but, priorities ..... So, as luck would have it, my future son-in-law was shipped off to Iraq, and I'm babysitting his 'bike'. "Just warm it up now and then - keep the oil flowing, don't let the tires get stiff" -he asked. OK, right. (they used to do dowries, but this is better I think.) Thanks Jeremy - I'm trying to keep the miles low!! (this is a picture of 'our' gas cap).



Last weekend I did a 120 mile roundtrip through North Texas, on the brink of a terrible thunderstorm. There is no place like Texas for Harley riders - no place. The roads are well done, the slopes and curves are exciting, the wind blows and the sky never ends. The sunsets are unmatched (and I know what I'm talking about people). From my garage in Plano, I'm in the Texas countryside within 10 minutes. Cows, horses, tractors - and me. It's breathtaking. And I'm alone, on a powerful, growling machine (a work of art on wheels). By the way, I forbid any of my sons or daughters from EVER getting on one of these things (do as I say ....)


Pretty much, all I ever do is jump on the bike and go to a nearby Starbucks for a drip - early in the morning or late in the evening - low traffic times. I like to pull up close, make a lot of noise, casually swing my leg over the seat and disembark. Slowly take off my dark glasses, look right, look left, slide the keys into my black leather vest pocket. I put on a show - people either hate you or admire you - such is life. (I can be such a narcissist sometimes - I know it - sorry).

Wow, I'm off the point. Here it is: do you know there's a bikers 'brotherhood' out there? I didn't know this - absolutely didn't know. Everytime I ride and I pass another biker, without fail, I get the 'salute'. The salute is when a rider, every rider, passes - he sticks out his left arm, slightly downward toward the pavement - making a fist or a V sign. It's a wave, but very deliberately done. So now I do it - I do the salute. I don't make friends easily, so this is good for me. You can be on any model or manufacturer - you don't have to be on a Harley. I'm part of a fraternity, a loose gang of sorts - finally! What we all have in common is that we are experiencing something special, and only we know what it is. It's our secret, and we are proud to have that secret, and hold that secret. And we're proud of each other, we respect each other for taking the bold step of riding with the wind in our hair - carefree - gutsy. If you don't 'get it' - too bad. You have to be one of us to really get it. It's true by the way. And all you have to do to belong, is to ride. But when you're not actually on the bike, and you happen to pass the very same guy, you've got nothing.

Belief in Christ is like that - but still different. You can't possibly know what the big deal is, until you try it. Then, when you pass a fellow believer, you should want to share the secret. Unfortunately, most "Christians" don't do any saluting - well, they think they do, subconsciously, when they go to church on Sunday, in the foyer, in the parking lot, you get the 'hey - ya, I'm likely a Christian too' nod. Or maybe by carrying a Bible, you are signaling the secret sign of membership - a brotherhood / sisterhood - in something.

In the book of Revelation there's a frightening thing. 3:14-16 the Lord says there are a bunch of us Christians who are fakes - we straddle the fence - we play games. He says its better to be cold or hot. When he thinks of those 'lukewarm' types, he wants to vomit. Yikes, serious talk for the creator of the universe. You're either the real thing, or you're not. And apparently He won't be duped like passing 'Christians' in the parking lot. Flashing a secret code thing doesn't cut it. He's serious, dead serious. End times, Second Coming kind of serious. Eternity kind of serious.

I'm working on being hot! - not cold, not lukewarm - staying off the fence, falling to one side or the other is better than pretending in the middle ......... it's hard, no joke.