A day @ the office

Wyatt is my helper today!!
-ao

Study day

Today I have been studying up....reading on some new tactics and new abilities in scheming to publish writings, develop forms, and edit audio and video files. It's all in an effort to create greater publications for ministry and updates for friends and family. This little post is simply a testing of these new abilities. Thanks.

Blessings,

-ao

Windy gap this AM

My view this morning...

birthday party in heaven

-From Olivia’s blog….
Subject: [The Wild Wild West] birthday party in heaven

 

Today Mama D {Andy's mom} would have been 59.
We took some beautiful flowers Andy picked out to her grave today.
They looked like something she would have bought.

As we were driving Wyatt asked where we were going and what the flowers were for. When we told him it was for Mama D because it was her birthday he said, But what about her presents and her party??? How is she going to get her flowers? What about her birthday cake? We could not even open our mouths to form words and tears filled our eyes.

Oh Wyatt I bet Mama D is having a party in heaven with Jesus. I bet He has given her the most beautiful flowers and the best birthday cake. She is celebrating this special day with Him.


That was the best we could say. And amazingly enough, Wyatt accepted it.

I am sometimes awestruck by the things my child says, how God uses them in such sweet ways to show us His love for us, and how I wish I had more childlike faith.

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Posted By Blogger to The Wild Wild West at 11/28/2010 07:15:00 PM

A man....and a man - handicapped

Rhythm. Its a pace I try to live in - to walk in rhythm with the Lord...in my life, in all I do. To not be hurried or blurred in my vision of life - to trust fully in Christ. It is a sweet deal, really.

I sit and listen. I listen to the Lord. I listen to other conversations. I watch. And I am back to listening in - again. I see a man come in to this place with a man who has mental disabilities. The man in front seems like a nice guy, he is "doing his part" as it seems; the nice guy who is serving this other man. After an hour, I realize there has been laughter at their table, grunts, smiles, different noises. Noise has been one-sided but filled with life. The man with the "disability" hasn't stopped soaking in the good of those around him. His "helper" has yet to speak to him. His helper has doodled on his iphone the entire time.
I can't help but notice they are silent - to each other. I wonder, is this a burden to the "nice man" or perhaps is this a token of his service to society...or am I getting it all wrong. I look again. Zero engagement. Perhaps hourly wages to be seen in society yet not engage. Perhaps the man making all the noise has something right! What if I were meant to soak in life in that manner? What if I am supposed to laugh and smile and grunt with enjoyment??

Well, it's probably true. I probably am. I probably ought to consider these two men....which was handicapped and which was not. It could be that silence for one was to the joy of the other!

Are you enjoying life? Are you silent before the Lord! Do you make joyful noise to the Lord?

Maybe this is food for thought in my life..and yours.

Blessings,

-ao

Sunday Morning

Lord, give me strength, today.  Thank you for your love. Help my focus to be on you, Jesus.  Guide me as a man. Guide me as a husband.  Lead me as a father to our little boys.  May your Spirit and love overflow in my life and spill over and onto all I come into contact with.  Help me to believe this in my heart……to know it and to trust in your truth.

I belong to you, Lord Jesus.

Guide me to love and lead my family. Guide our family in our decisions. Guide us as we walk in life and learn to love and trust in you and your ways.

Praise be to you, God.  Praise to you on this day.  Praise be to you for all your glory and all your love and all you have given me.

Help my life to reflect you. Help my family to see you in me and in my life. We go to worship you this AM at church. May we worship in our everyday lives – always. 

I am yours.  Guide me.  Be the strength of my life, today.

Blessings,

Amen.

-ao

JSU - From Olivia's blog

Andy's brother is one of the football coaches at Jacksonville State and 3 weeks ago they BEAT Ole Miss…48-49 in double overtime. Andy went to the game with his dad and got to be on the sidelines with his brother. It is a memory he will never forget. I'm thankful he had that opportunity because JSU was not predicted to win that game! The next weekend they had their first home game and our nephew, Jim, was turning 5 so we headed down for a game and a party. There were too many fun pictures so I decided to just share them all. :)

     

We are rooting for the Gamecocks and hope for a great season for Uncle Jimmy and his team!

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Posted By Olivia to The Wild Wild West at 9/20/2010 02:19:00 PM

it’s about lately

What have you done for me lately? Heard it before? Wondered before…I sure have.

A place where deadlines occur, people ask others to do their dirty work – asking employees to work off of the un-finishable list of to-do’s and still complaining not enough is done. It’s the handing out of big checks when the check-hander-outer’s check is the smallest. It’s the wonder of why a hammer meets the thumb and splashes blood and skin around it while the mouth opens and voices from deep within show up. Lately….as in, right now – what are you doing – for “me” ?  How much do you matter? Why can’t it be fixed right now? What is the point of waiting?

Patience. Why? that does not make….sense? Or, does it?

I watched my neighbor a few days ago pull his lawn mower out of his garage and begin taking it apart. He then put something back on it and started pulling the string for the motor to start.  Nothing. He cleaned out the under side. Nothing. He kept pulling the string. No fire. I was on my porch drinking a glass of sweet tea.

Sweet tea. It was good, too. So was my rocking chair. Olivia was with me. Even sweeter. So, I looked at my bride and felt this gumption in my soul that I needed to stop staring at and listening to the silent frustrations of my neighbor and get off my rocker to go help him. So, I put down my sweet tea with a robotic motion because it was so good I still felt guilty to put it down….and go. I walked over to my neighbor’s house. I hadn’t met him – three houses down. I shook hands. His name is Jack.

Starting fluid. It does wonders. We talked about it. He wasn’t sure of much outside of his yard needing mowed and his mower being a punk. I was empathetic. We have been there…haven’t we? We got out some tools and cleaned his spark plug, fired some Starting fluid in the intake……and tadow!! Jack’s mower fired up. He said, “That thing hasn’t ran that strong in months!”. We smiled. I shook his hand….and headed back to my front porch. It felt right. It felt current.  I wonder what Jack thought.

I wonder…are there people in our lives who could use some help right now? I bet so. Who do I help? Which ones do I pass over or which do I forget about – what is right and which is wrong…is there a wrong “help” to people? What if I’m a good person and just want to be nice but don’t have time?

What if we said, “do you want help”? What if that was a question that lingered in the hearts of people…..and they began to think that they needed help – I am not talking about the yard and gasoline….I mean in their hearts? Their habits….their thoughts about God and about life and things that matter!

Do we want help? What are we looking for…..what has been done for us? Much has been done.

I wish I had some sweet tea right about now…..

 

Blessings,

-ao

September morning

Today...Olivia snuck beside me while I was writing my prayers and w/Jesus. It's a sweet place in the mornings: my back patio.

Blessings,
-ao

A Prayer

9-1-10

Today…..

Lord, you are good.

Mine. My Help.

My Hope. Salvation.  God of the Universe; of my life.

Strength of my life. Rock for my family.

Jesus. Lord. Messiah. Redeemer.

All I need. Forever.  Light of the world.

     Eternal. Light. God’s Son.

Trinity. Holy & Righteous Community.

My Heavenly Invitation.

     Wholeness. Fullness. Yes.

 

Glory. Forever. Amen.

It’s an effort to get back

Well…it’s been a while since I last wrote on here. I was on assignment at Windy Gap. I worked too hard. I spent myself with others….with the work crew, the assigned team, the campers, my family, and my concern for all of them. It was a sweet time….it was a difficult time….it was a time that much fruit came from what the Lord did in the lives of the folks that were at Windy Gap over the past 3+ weeks.

I have thought much about what it means to get back home and get “back in the saddle” again. I have wondered about writing, about being with people, tending to my garden, and standing on the sidelines of high school football on Friday nights. I have wondered about fishing with my boys, taking my wife on dates, and digging back into the lives of my high school friends I spend so much time with during the school year. I have wondered about my life, the things I have said and done and the words I have wished I could say but had no time to write them down. I thought about much and forgot probably more than that. So, in my effort to get back and begin putting on paper those forgotten thoughts….here is an attempt to return to what occupies my mind so often.

Home:  it’s a place of comfort. It’s a place to dream of and wonder about. Is this the right one? Is this the one for a long time….how long is that time going to be? Is my enjoyment of my house a reflection of my inner life? Is my desire to sit in my yard, on my hammock, at my garden, on the front porch, in the cozy nook, or at the dining room table a picture of contentment? Is it a picture of a desire being satisfied or is it more “stuff” that cannot fill my heart the way that only a relationship with Christ truly can fill me? I love being home. I love being w/my family. I love the mornings and the thoughts that come about during those times.

For me, it has been a refuge that has soaked in time with Jesus and time w/my family. I have tended to our little garden and have watched and nourished plants as best I could – now we have fruits everyday and it feels like I have been involved in this spiritual battle as we have been growing food – wondering if this garden is about like my heart, my time with Jesus and our family’s reflection of Christ in us. We planted late. We planted wrong. We did not have enough room. We should not have seen good fruits. Our garden keeps providing. The Lord is our provider. Our garden foods have tasted amazing. It’s just been fun to go out to the garden, see what is ready “today” because every day has it’s own little surprise.

I wonder, where will this lead me in my time with Jesus. I hope I can write more to say…soon.

Blessings,

-ao

[The Wild Wild West] my babies!!!

 

From Olivia's blog:

My friend Christina was so sweet to take some pictures of my boys …and me with them! That is such a gift because I'm usually taking pictures of them and I'm not in any. Ha! I absolutely loved how they turned out. I had to lift my jaw off the ground when I saw them. They are just amazing and I'm so grateful! Christina you are such a talented photographer and I feel so blessed by these pictures! Thank You!!!

   

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Posted By Olivia to The Wild Wild West at 7/13/2010 02:26:00 PM

Hiking another day that life is made of!!

 

We went to the woods again…..another sweet day with great memories, good stories…a policeman’s hat, a backpack, older camera, and a beautiful wife and family.  Check it.

Blessings,

-ao

What do I pour into my sons?

I was reading this morning about a man who had never really known his dad….then he met him and they talked. They sat and worked through a weird conversation that seemed more like strangers conversing than it did a father and son.  Then, it took a turn, the conversation and the feeling in the room.  The son began hearing things the dad “needed” to say.  Mainly - “I’m sorry”.  The father said he was sorry for not being there for his son. Thirty years into his leaving the mother and their kids to restart his life with another….he looks into the eyes of his son with tears in his eyes and a beer in his hand, telling him he is sorry.  Then he comments in this son of his…on his abilities to write; he’s a writer.  He smiles and with those same tears tell his boy he can write!! He tells him how great he is and how proud he was of him. (Donald Miller; "A Million Years in a Thousand Years")
The son was not looking for affirmation from his dad.  But, affirmation is what he received and when he heard those fatherly blessings called words, he felt he needed them.  Strange.  True.  He says it was like he was pouring words into his spirit and that is what dads do….they pour water, thirst-quenching water, into the spirits of their children. That is the power of a father.
I believe I am so much of the man I am today because of my dad.
I pour into my boys with all I have. In my mind I do this.
I speak to them and build them up.  I let them know I love them. I give them affection and hug and kiss them. I play with them. We play baseball, we throw the ball around, we wrestle and laugh together. I take Wyatt fishing – he loves this! I will be taking Boone soon when he’s big enough.  We go hiking.  We go exploring in fields and woods.  We DO lots of things together.  I include Wyatt when I am working on projects around the house….I want him and Boone to know and see what it means to do this or that.  I want them to not be afraid and to feel like they can do things and take care of themselves and of their families. I want to show them life. I want them to catch it….the adage of “more is caught than is taught” – so life happens in between the lines.  Or, does it.  I believe it does….and yet I also know the value of a dad who believes in his sons.  I know the value of a dad who is leader and friend and hero of his sons.  I know the value of a dad.  I know the value of favoring and counting on this constant of relationship for life.  My thought, here, is that I would speak these things into my sons’ lives as well. 
I want to empower them in not only my actions as their daddy…but as their hero, their daddy who lets them know how important they are, their mommy is, and our family is.  I want them to know, from my own mouth, that I am proud and that they are GOOD.  That God has made them Good and He is pleased in them – they are His.  That is my hope.  It’s like telling Olivia that she is beautiful – she lights up and she lights up the room as she enters it……when I tell my sons they are good and I am proud of them – in the purest of ways; it is good.

Thanks be to God for sons and dads.  Thanks, Dad.  Thanks, Olivia. Thank you, Jesus.  I love you, Wyatt and Boone.

Blessings,
-ao

Creekside forts and the stuff life is made of!

 

One day, when I was still referred to as McGrew, a long time ago – I went fishing with my dad.  It was the start of many many more days on the river – hoping a trout would land on the hook and I could reel ‘em in! Many days like that happened at Citico Creek. Yesterday, Olivia and I took Wyatt and Boone to the mountains. We went to Fort Loudoun and visited the site and checked out the fort, the cookers, garden, honey suckles and the visitor center!! It was cool – then we had a great picnic in the woods with the boys. It was a great day. Below are some photos and some notes of a great, great day with my wife and boys. Lord, thank you for Mondays with my family – thank you for the reminder of your love and the peace you give me. Peace:  freedom from disturbance.  This is a journal of a great day….a peace-full day. Really.

 

The day at the fort begins….Boone has yet to discover there is actually something cool in front of Daddy…..and he is about to turn around and go nuts!

 I saw this photo and wondered who’s hands it was…what happened..who poured sand on their arms? Oh – woops. It’s my hands..my arms and my freckles in that photo! Amazing how I forget sometimes! If you keep looking….you’ll be reminded of 20 licks across your shoulder as I now get to punch your arm!  Remember that….middle school?? Anyone..anyone??  

Boone Ogle

“Taste and See that the Lord is good” –Psalm 34:8

 

 Ever seen a squirrel walk up to someone like a little puppy?  I have!

 

 

 

Wyatt Ogle

“Little Warrior”

Strong.

Two Peas in a pod…..

 

Okay…him in the water is really cool. Olivia and Wyatt looks like a pro took the shot! He’s awesome…she is really beautiful. Really!

Wyatt and me celebrating our trip to the other side of the creek. Can’t tell but the rock below our feet…the water by it is about waist deep for me! It was intense. We were like Rocky Balboa in Philly!

 

Here’s to a great family day. Here’s to great memories. Yesterday is what memories are made of.  I would encourage you to go out and do some of the same. 

The stuff life is made of. Goodness.

Thanks be to the Lord.

Losing & Winning – is it an urgency?

What makes greatness?

It’s a simple question. Greatness. A seemingly simple word…yet it encompasses much more than its simplistic approach on life. Great is good. Great is great….but greatness carries a thundering command performance that must pack a punch or knock the ball out of the park, or win championships…or speaks to large crowds and people listen intently…and follow the lead, etc.

Greatness.  To win or to lose. What is it about LeBron James and the Cavs? Lebron is more than greatness on the basketball court, he is amazement (Bill Simmons, ESPN). LeBron carries this ora with him….or to say it that his reputation precedes him. He is larger than life when he enters a room! He’s….LeBron! The Cavs lost last night. LeBron will be talked about in many ways over the next month or so. So will Brett Favre! Again – winning; losing; urgency? Is it urgent to win? My brother says yes. Is it defining if the end result is a loss? How so? If LeBron never wins a championship is it that he was never really as good as most of us think he is? Will this topic and this fundamental play out in little kids lives..kids like my sons’ lives – as they get older….the sense of urgency to win! Will it make them a better man?  Will losing make them worse?

I know a man in our town; he’s perhaps the most successful business man in our community – you wouldn’t know it. He never flaunts his stuff.  He will not ever come across as wealthy, connected, or ambitious. He is brilliant. He is shrewd in business. He has the mind of a machine and the humor of a late night talk show host! He told me one time about the team he was on in high school.  They lost every game for at least one season if not more! Every game! Their team was the laughing stock. The TEAM itself…my friend says, never gave up. They were tempted to quit. Tempted to fight people over stupid comments. Tempted to hang their heads. My friend likes to list the men on that team. Every one of the “starters” of that senior year of his are now in business or community leadership! All of them. He says something more than winning and losing was happening that year. Well, they didn’t win…..but they did lose; or did they win something else? Urgency?

Don Miller talks about ‘story” and how a good story involves risk…..and how a story is “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it”.

My friend and his team mates overcame conflict. They tell good stories from the lives they’ve lived. I believe that LeBron James has a good story.  Maybe I’m one of those caught in the turbines of his magnetic vibes that scream greatness….but I think it’s a safe bet to say that he is someone who really wants something (title?) and is overcoming (wishful thinking?) conflict to get it.

Do you have conflict in your life? Have you attempted to get over it or overcome such mess in your life? I sure have it. It is in the little stuff. It’s in the big stuff.

Winning – it’s a great thing. Losing is a tough thing. Seems like we all want to win…but maybe there is more than the W or L on a score card…maybe it’s about something deeper that lurks within. Or is it something that is underneath the urgent needs of victory…something that speaks of eternity. Something that carries its own set of urgencies. Something that begs a question of me and really of you, too – Do you want to get well?

Namely, Jesus. He’s asking. He delivers – He overcame conflict and His story is a good story – it’s The Good Story.  It would be fun to tell you His Story. 

Read one of the gospels in the Bible sometime if you like….Mathew, Mark, Luke, or John (books in the New Testament) – I like the book of John the best, myself. 

We’ll camp out right there. Here’s to a tough loss….and here’s to a great win.  Great does not give way to the depth and value and hope and immense infinite power of what I’m really saying here.

A great affection – Jesus Christ…

 

Blessings,

-ao

Trees…fences..and boundaries

Well…today’s the day.  A fence begins. Well, actually, it began a while back! It began when I cut down the first vine, the first little tree, and when I started up the borrowed chainsaw. Then I piled on more and more of the same – it was a mountain of brush in front of our house. It was a mountain of my own success! Manhood. It was awesome. It was hard work. The work continues….

Yesterday a friend of mine came over and sawed down a tree that would have taken me probably a full day to make happen….and I’m guessing I could have done some serious damage when it fell.  Instead, I called up my friend, Joe and he came out to scope the scene.  He smiled and said, “I could have that tree down in 7 minutes!” Then, just for kicks…he said he could put on a show for my sons and after being up in the air and cutting down some limbs it would take a grand total of about 30 minutes or less. Unreal. So, he climbed, he sawed, he conquered. Again – awesome…in the words of Wyatt, “Wwwwoooooaaaaahhh!!!” I said to him, “That’s pretty crazy, huh?”  Wyatt said, “yeah….or pretty cool!”.  yes, indeed, son.

Now, the posts are going up. I’m nervous for the lines we’ve drawn in our yard….that I got too close to our neighbors fence on the back side…we measured, we used property pins…not sure they did when their fence went up…..and we didn’t spend the money on a survey….but I think it looks good…looks ready to roll, baby! Posts go up today.  Pickets go up Friday a.m.  Did we get it right?  Will our fence look good?  Will we be satisfied?  Are our boundary lines correct? All good questions. 

The answer to me – is to relinquish and hand over trust. Or, to trust..simply trust that it’s right. We took our time, we measured, we were very careful and very selective.  We belong to the Lord.  We trust Him. His faithfulness is solid and true. He is faithful…to Himself…and His word.  He is love. 

Here’s to the next step in the process of making this place our own. 

Blessings,

-ao

Things that make you go hmmm…

Who sang that song?  It was the somethin..somethin Factory – right?  I can’t remember.

What I do know is this urge of a story within…it keeps lingering.  My story lately is in my yard. It’s in my dreams of what my yard can become and what it will take to create these visions into a reality. An oasis right before our eyes. A refuge of greenery, hammocks, plants, pergolas and a “back porch” design.  Country Cottage.  Garden. Farm life. Comfort.  Sort of.

That’s the plan, anyway.  I have a friend who took his whole house and made the outside like a tree.  It’s called a Bark House.  Tree bark is the actual exterior of his home.  His back yard is a garden, a patio, a storage building with cedar shakes roofing and cottage-style porch along with a few thousand honey bees and some really heavy slate stone in his yard…..mixed up with millions of plants and flowers that bloom in the spring followed by some of his groceries crafted by his cautious planting of seeds throughout the year.  I like my friend’s yard.  I like his style.  He’s a cool kat.  He works really hard to get his yard as it is.  When I wonder if our yard will become something of those sorts at his house…it makes me wonder about marriage.

One time a friend of mine was in financial planning, counseling and investments – he spoke of a major problem a lot of “young couples” had when entering into marriage:  big dreams.  He said those big dreams cost them a lot of money at the furniture stores and credit card companies….that they (we) try and keep up with their parents. They try and cultivate a false reality of everything they have ever grown up with by the time they say “I do” and the problem with that is it took their parents 25 years to accumulate their “stuff” so why should a married couple expect to start out their “lives together” with all that??  It is simply unrealistic to think (apart from independent and pure wealth) that this can happen and the rest of their financial scenario be anything close to healthy.

So, about my yard.  Are my hopes and visions unrealistic?  Not hardly! This is our fourth house in eight years of marriage.  We have been blessed by moving. We do not like to move.  We have moved.  We have been blessed….I used to see a guy who, when asked “How are you doing?”, he would reply – always - “Blessed man….I’m blessed, man”. I think we are beginning to sense a bit of what my friend was telling us.  We love our house.  We have no plans of moving. We “plan” to stay.  That is what Jesus told His disciples when he visited them after conquering death…after Easter Sunday…. “Stay”.  He told them to do so until he would send (God the Father would send..) the Comforter to guide them from then on (Holy Spirit).  So, we feel no sense to leave this home…it is our home.  We really like our lives. Yes – there are days that simply stink. There are days where arguments happen, money runs out and my time with Jesus was absent and I felt the presence of another that did no feel like I was sustained…but – it does not change God’s love for me or my place in His kingdom.  Still, I’m blessed, man…I’m blessed.  My yard…like I was saying – it is this passage into a land of dreams and a land of manhood that only a few can really understand. Olivia says she gets sleepy in our back yard.  I like the cool breeze. It helps me wonder.  I wonder…what will come next in the land of day dreams and future hopes???

More to come…..next, a chainsaw…a fence, and a nap.  More time with Christ…more story to tell.

Blessings,

-ao

young life leadership

 

this is a post from Olivia’s Blog – I thought I’d steal it and share it w/you…

 

 

We had leadership at our house on Friday night. Leadership is a time to get together with our YL leaders and committee to worship, play some fun crazy games, pray, hear what the Lord is up to, and just be together. We had a great time.

 

The first of three games: pulling kleenex out of the box {one by one}, in a minute or less, only using one hand, as fast as you can. Go Brent! {Look at Boone just chillin’}

Here’s Pam. She had awesome technique. Go Pam!

Next was the oreo cookie game. An oreo is placed on your forehead and using only the muscles in your face…you wiggle it down to try and catch it in your mouth…using no hands. Go Suzanne!

Daniel was next…he did it! Go Daniel!

Then there was this game. I’m not even sure what you call it. But here are the bags from tallest to shortest and I do mean short. Using your mouth you pick up the bag and run it over to a chair, drop it off, then repeat. You can not use hands and your knees, legs, arms, hands can not touch the ground. Go Lynsi!

Here I am. Haha. I was called up front to participate. It was fun!

And then Cupp had to go doing this… Go Cupp!

The last game was stick your nose in vaseline and place it in a bowl of cotton balls.

You then go across the room and try to get as many cotton balls in a bowl without….using your hands. Go Elaine!

Then Stephe was up. Yay for Committee Participation!

These games were from the TV show Minute to Win It. Yay Carol Lee and Carly for showing up with fun games to make us laugh!

This picture is just hilarious.

Boone and Wyatt loved the attention. Loved having people over. Loved getting to stay up late. And after two attempts to keep Wyatt from changing in to his “Super Hero Pajamas” aka: blue thermal underwear that is way too big, I just gave up and let him do it.

We prayed for leaders. They prayed for our home. Thank you dear friends for all you do to help reach the gospel to our high school friends. For showing them Christ not only through your words but your actions too. Thank you for giving your time to serve in Loudon County. For loving on our boys. For loving high school kids.