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.

--
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!

--
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