Update on Scott

Scott came through his surgery just great and is resting at home now. I want to thank all of you that kept him in your prayers, they are greatly appreciated. I did appreciate your emails and comments regarding Scott. I was able to sit with Jennifer during his surgery and we had a good visit, Prayer is a powerful source, we should always covet one anothers prayers. Thank you ever so much from all of us.

Truly Special

Today Scott is going to have surgery. It is outpatient and therefore not major surgery. He is truly special to me. His smile displays the kind of person he is. He is certainly gentle, kind, and careful about the feelings of others. Scott captures the hearts of those he comes in contact with. Recently I introduced him to a relative of mine he had not seen for years. He did not know her. When he left she made a comment about him that makes him truly special in our day. This older lady said of him "he has such good manners." That is Scott. I love him. That is not hard to do. He loves me. I am so glad. Please pray for his complete recovery. Doctors say he will not be able to do vigorous exercise for 6 to 8 weeks. That will be hard for him to do. Did I mention he is my grandson and I am proud of him. Sorry I forgot...

Postscript to "..thus is the kingdom of God"

After some contemplation of the last blog I wrote about my grandchildren I would like to add a little more. I cannot explain how I made the connection between my childhood and the childhood of my grandchildren. I do know that I was affected by numerous individuals in my childhood as my grandchildren are and for that matter I suppose all grandchildren of all grandparents.

There have been and are grandparents of all sorts. Some are excellent, some are good, some are average, some of poor, and some are downright devastating to the lives of these "...little ones..." Most good thinking and good intentioned grandparents would not harm their grandchildren in any way. As a matter of fact they would do their best to do them good under all circumstances.

Some grandparents are so selfish they don't care how their grandchildren could be affected. But most do care and when their grandchildren are adversely affected, whether it be something they do, or something out of their control they hurt with their grandchildren.

I think Jesus was speaking of our well meaning and good treatment of the "...little ones..." in Mt. 10:42 when He said..."And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Even a small and insignificant attempt to help them is not ignored by the Savior.

On the other hand he said quite a different thing in respect to these "...little ones..." in Mt. 18:10 "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." This Greek word for "...despise..." is defined as "...to hold in contempt..." "...to think lightly of..." And there is no doubt that everyone who reads the newspapers and watches the news is aware of the fact that these little ones are in some way or another daily overlooked and mistreated in unimaginable ways.

Jesus said something else about "...little ones... in Mt. 18. "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."(Mt. 18:5)

Then on the other hand in Mark 9:42 He says speaking of the "...little ones..." "...whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."

When I looked at the meaning of this word "...stumble..." I was taken back to my own childhood. The word in this passage is skandalizo. It means to cause to stumble or fall. A word closely akin to it is skandalon. And it is here that I was taken back into my childhood and because of that I understand completely how the "...little ones..." can be maltreated. This word means the trigger of a trap on which bait is placed causing entrapment. We understood the concept completely when we told our children "never take anything from a stranger." And I understand more completely the word when I look back in my childhood...One of the best old men I know was my step-grandfather. He was an old-school kind of fellow. He could cuss a blue streak but a kinder person to children you would never meet. I used to hunt with him. He was quite a hunter. He retired from the Standard Oil Company in Baton Rouge and spent the rest of his life doing what he loved to do, hunting in the Lake Maurepas swamps. I have always been a sportsman and on many occasions I hunted with him. I attempted on occasions to trap birds by putting a stick under a box with a string attached to it and lured the birds into the box by putting bread under the box. He picked up on that and went to the trouble of having me a more complex and sophisticated bird catcher built. Perhaps he built it himself. It was in the shape of the old Mesopotamian ziggurats. It was built with little strips of wood. The complicated thing was the trigger mechanism. There were three sticks of wood. One held the box up. The other two were balanced on that one with slight notches to hold them temporarily together until the bait was taken. The bait was put on the one that extended farthest back into the box. When the bait was taken the box fell on the unsuspecting animal or bird. The bait was put on the trigger or skandalon and the little animal was caught. The animal was enticed and the enticement caused discomfort. Zodhiates by definition tells us that the "...little ones..." can be led to exercise a liberty against his conscience. And this can be done by baiting the unsuspecting "...little one..." Question is...Who would do that? What motive is there for doing that? Is it honorable? Does it take into account the well-being of the "...little ones..."? Or is it self-serving? And who would purposely do that? Is it even possible? Apparently for the Master Teacher says it is.

So what does that have to do with the subject at hand? Simply this. Jesus sets up the possible ways we can affect the lives of others. We can give them a cup of cold water in His name. We can despise them. We can cause them to stumble. We can treat them kindly. We can manipulate them and set up circumstances that will cause them consternation. Which one will we choose?

The Word tells us to "...love..." "...do good..." "...be kindly affectioned..." "..serve..." etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.....I can do that. Will I?

A Circle and A Dream

DREAMS CAN COME TRUE

I have had dreams during my lifetime,

some have come to reality others I am

still holding out for. Starting a children's

home was one of my dreams and I got

to see that come to be. Regretfully I had

to turn loose of this dream after being

asked to leave because I changed the

direction my personal life. I truly

feel that I sacrificed for over 25

years to provide a

home for disadvantaged children.

I never minded the sacrifices because I

knew that children were benefiting

from the home. The direction I took in

my personal life was to finally be able

to be with the "girl" I have loved for

over 45 years. Due to a few bad choices

I made at the age of 19 my whole

life swerved and went in a direction that

spiraled. I was caught in a whirlwind

of religious politics and I could not

break out. One might ask how that

can happen. I wanted to please

the Lord with all my heart, I wanted

to serve Him in every way and I

thought those that were mentoring

me were doing so in my best interest.

I graduated from a Christian bible

school and then went to college to

get my BA and BS and later my

Masters. After you turn around

for so long it is possible to just go

with the flow, losing your own way

and just following along. Knowing

that your dreams that you had for

yourself, your personal life would

never be. There is no doubt in my

mind that I still want to serve and

please the Lord with all my

heart. That has not changed.

Well, I am here to tell you, my dream,

my love was to be with the woman I

am now with. It took a death, a funeral,

and a chance meeting after 45 years

to bring this to be. But I now know

with all my'heart, this is where I

should have been from the age of 14,

when I first fell in love with my dream.

She has been the circle around my

heart for that long. I dream now of

catching a fish as big as the one in

this picture and I dream of having

another boat like the one in

this picture. I had a great boat and

gave it up so that I could make this

life change. Now I am believing that

I will one day have a boat like this one

and will catch a fish as big as this one.

Don't ever give up on your dreams.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

I started to use the title "Undeserved But Appreciated." Certainly that would be more correct. I received this shirt as a present from Bunni, Lajuanah's daughter. Thanks Bunni for your thoughtfulness. I am so glad you have accepted me as your stepfather. I must say that we got quite a laugh when I opened the present. If only I could live up to those words. It occurs to me that I appreciate so much the kindness of Bunni and Jason, Lajuanah's children and the love of Christ that they display in their lives. Isn't it so refreshing to hear positive and uplifting things from true children of God who have the well-being and welfare of others in their hearts. Thank you so much for loving me. By the way, Bunnie also gave the same shirt to her husband Ken, and her brother Jason.

God's Mercies Are New Every Morning

An Awesome Sunset

An Awesome Cabin In The Mountains

An Awesome Fireplace In The

Cabin In The Mountains

An Awesome Bed In An Awesome Cabin

In the Mountains

An Awesome Recliner In The

Mountains to sit in only

"No Sleeping Allowed"

We have just returned from a wonderful

trip to the Smokey Mountains to spend

Christmas with Bunnie and Ken and
Jason and Kim and their children.
They are so very gracious and kind
to us every time we visit. It was
a fun filled time with the sharing of
gifts, eating great food and
just enjoying each others
company. We spent
our last night with
them in the Smokey Mtns of
Pigeon Forge in a beautiful
cabin (not your typical cabin) that

was at the very top of one of those
mountains. We traveled home on the
back roads going to Maryville

and Lenoir City and saw some of

the most beautiful rivers
and streams and the sky was even

opening up and just blending in

with the scenery. It is nice to be back

but it will surely be a
long time before I forget the

wonderful feeling we had as we

just took in the beauty of the world

around us and the sweet people

that let us be a part of their world

for a small time. Thank you

Bunnie, Ken, Jason and Kim for

a wonderful Christmas.

2008

FAMILY TIES

This doesn't look like a lot

of people but it is when they all get

in one room, laughing, eating,

opening presents and singing. We

have had a wonderful time here

with Bunnie and Ken and Jason and

Kim celebrating Christmas. They have

been so generous with their home and family

sharing all they have with LaJuana

and I. We even got our flu shot here

in the kitchen again this year. Boy

how special is that! We will be leaving

here tomorrow, stopping in Pigeon Forge to

spend one more night with the family. They have

rented a huge cabin and asked that we

stay one more night. It will be nice

to get back and prepare to move into

our new home but it will surely be

a little sad to leave here. We have had

such a great time and I have caught

up on my reading and relaxing and

ready to really blog again soon.

Pray for us as we begin to

travel again Tuesday. Happy

New Year to all of You.