It's so tough to get our 'why we do' things aligned with 'what we do'!

Update on my brother Donald: I was able to spend quite a bit of time working with my brother's family in trying to get some resolution regarding his next phase of treatment. It has been a bumpy ride the last week or more in getting the appropriate medical information matched up to the insurance people and many of you know how tedious all of this can be. On Saturday, when my wife and I arrived to visit him they were in the room getting him up. That in and of itself was a huge surprise because we have never seen him up since he went down with his heart attack. As we sat in the waiting room, imagine our surprise when they came down the hall rolling him in a wheel chair. We were taken aback. He was able to visit with us for about 45 minutes and as you can see he was thumbing through a magazine. This was a huge step forward and one we have hoped and prayed for over the last many weeks. He still have a long way to go but we thank God first and then we thank everyone who has been so faithful to pray for him. This week promises to be very eventful as decisions will be made regarding his next phase of treatment.

Poppy with grandson Brady Darrell

Hello out there in the internet world where bits, bytes, and signals are flying around faster than a speeding bullet. You thought characters just magically appeared on your screen? All those creepy folks you hear called nerds are out there somewhere helping to make all of this happen but it does give us the opportunity to share a few minutes here on the electronic porch on this Monday, November 8, 2010. Since I've been away it feels like I owe one of those what I did on my vacation reports but one goal we had was to see our children and grandchildren and that we were able to accomplish. The weekend before we had met with our eldest son and his entire clan. This last Thursday we met with our youngest son and his family. As you can see I am working on the beard. And you thought I was just kidding. Then we had Jimmy's kids spend the weekend with us and we had a wonderful time with all of them. We do get to missing all of our children and grandkids when we don't see them for a while. I had something happen not too long ago that really stunned me. Someone made a special effort to come to me and they went on and on in telling me how that I had made such a positive difference in their life. It wasn't so much of me being shocked as it was me not ever having thought that much about ever doing anything to deserve this type of recognition. I may need to pay better attention. Just joking. I mention this for one reason only. I think it actually is only when we do what we do without expectations of recognition or response, that when it does come back to you, it's not only a surprise but also a blessing. I call this one a surprise blessing and it came at a time when I may have needed a blessing. Funny how that works out at times, isn't it? God knows when we need some encouragement and He knows how to provide it. The Apostle Paul had quite a lot to say about the stuff believers do in life. He said that any and all that we did after coming to faith in Christ, even good stuff, but if we did it with wrong motives, it will be burned up. In other words, no reward for those. This doesn't mean good wasn't accomplished. However, when we do stuff that reflects the genuine heart of Jesus, great will be the reward. Sadly, I raise my hand as knowing that I will be first in line to expect quite a bit of smoke when I stand and give an account of my life as a believer. You have never heard about the Judgment Seat of Christ where all believers will appear? I can help you with that. It's clearly presented in 1st Corinthians Chapter 3.

Since I have been officially off, meaning off from work, not off my rocker as some of you immediately assumed, I will make today's episode mercifully shorter. I will tell you that I enjoy hearing concession speeches. Even when someone fails who I am very happy to see defeated, I still feel for them as they stand behind that podium to throw in the towel. They typically are surrounded by their spouse and children and it is a part of our American tradition for them to bow out gracefully. What is really interesting is how that once the election is over how friendly they become towards the one who will be assuming the position. Just 24 hours earlier they were slinging mud like there's no tomorrow, saying the most hateful things one can think of, but now, in defeat, they are wishing the victor success. That's America. You have to love it, and I do! Their quick act of forgive and forget, even if it's contrived, reminds me that we all need to be those who are quick to genuinely forgive. I can think of some people even as I write this who continue to harbor grudges from so long ago, one would have thought the statue of limitations alone would have nullified their bitterness by now. Even sadder is how that often we find this unforgiving spirit among those who name the name of Christ. We need only to remember how that Christ forgave us to see an example of how we are to deal with others. The preachers used to say that believers are the only army that typically shoot their own wounded. Those hurtful slights tend to find themselves engraved into our memory banks. I can remember some from when I was just a little tyke. But, we represent our Lord when we follow His example in forgiving those who have wronged us. I probably needed this encouragement as much as you did. Amen.  Okay. Enough for today, glad to see you, it's good to be back, and until next time, "I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places."       ....More later.