A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS
Christmas is closing in even faster than usual this year. Ihave been trying really hard to get in the spirit but truthfully have been just faking it till I make it. Last night Istumbled into something that put me a few steps further along as I watched an old but very familiar program.
I had worked a half day and watched a close college football game in the late afternoon.The game went into double overtime and cut into the next show already in progress. I was about to turn the channel as they gave the list of upcoming shows.
Next up was Ruldolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! I have watched it since my childhood and is by far my favorite. I hurried out into the cold to check on the horses and feed them with great excitement! I know the story well and by heart but somehow it always seems to magically warm mine.
Earlier on in the day , I had shared this story with a patient. She had a picture of Yukon Cornelius on her sweatshirt. She shared with me how much her sister and her love it as well and watch it yearly.
I was in my second year of college. I had shared with my roomate and a few others about my excitment about Rudolph being on later that Tuesday evening. Word soon spread and they made fun of me all day. I know just how Rudolph must have felt!
I had had been hitting the weights hard and had started to put on some size. There was a muscular black guy on my floor named Cedric. I saw him in the weight room often but he kept to himself. He was the stoic leader of about 5-6 guys that hung around him. He had a slight speech impediment and I wondered if that is why he didn't say much.
I was standing by the elevator alone ready to go down for supper. Cedric and his men rounded the corner and walked right up and stood close to me. In fact , a little too close! He told me what he had heard and asked if I was really planning to watch Rudolph. I told him that was indeed the case and I tried to watch it every year. I was not ready for whar happened next! Cedric asked ,' Can I watch it which you?'
A few hours later , my small room was filled with 11-12 big guys, some black and some white, gathered around a small black and white tv. The lack of color on the tv and in our minds is what made this Christmas Special even more special. This wonderful memory warms my heart and becomes even more near and' deer' to me each time I share it.
How wonderful it is , how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony.
PSALM 133 :1
As you come up our drive and after you cross the small creek,you pass between two field stone
pillars that match the stones on our home. There is a light atop both of them . Right now, one is green and the the side is white. The green light is to show support for all the people who serve our military as well
as those who have done so in the past.
At Christmas i hang white lights along the 4 rail horse fence. We change the white one to red and
The entryway is good to go. The placement of the red and green has a reason behind it as well.
It may seem to be be random but Iassure you is not the case.
On a plane the red light is always on the left side and the green is on the right side. green and right both
have 5 letters and this was how I was taught to remember as a boy. This applies to boats as well.
Our oldest son, Josh, is a navel aviator. He and his wonderful wife , Christina, are a week or two from going
to Japan. They have lived in several places over the last few years. They lived in Fallon Nevada
most recently and we were blessed to have all of our boys and their girls under our roof and together
the holidays.
Since they aproached our farm from the west the right light was green and the left one was on the left
came home. When they were out east in Va it was the reversed. Japan is on the other side of the world
so I am not sure what I will do. I have not stepped it off but am told it is about as far east to west as it is
west to east.
God is a concerned loving Father who loves you so much! He has made a way for you to come
home through his son Jesus. The porch light of heaven is on . You have a green light my friend.
Because of the red blood of Jesus ,your sins are forgiven . Your approach is cleared as well as all your sins.
As far as the east is from the west,so far has removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
ENTRY
Yesterday I went out to check on the horses. It has again been vey hot here of late and a daily chore
to top off the water troughs will cool clear water.As I make my rounds the horses ususlly get excited when they hear the sound of our old red ATV. Because this vehicle usally has horse feeds as well as carrots, we c call it "Chuck" short for chuck wagon .
There is a mare and two young ones in the south pasture. I whistled and they did not come. I banged on the
red tubes on the gate with the scooper. It makes a sound that sounds like a hillbilly dinner bell. I had seen them the evening before and knew they were ok. I surmised they had found a place with a breeze and had it made in the shade.
I set the bright orange bucket filled with feed and carrots in front of the gate. This bucket was a physical reminder for me to "lets do this later". I had some mowing to do and that filled several hours of the afternoon. I kept looking down at the water tank seeing they had not yet drank from it and for the first time became a little concerned.
I went down to the gate and did the two tone whistle my dad taught me. I do this in honor of him and have taught my sons to do the same. They all would turn and prick up their earsand know it was me if I did this even in a crowd.
I banged again on the gate and in no time flat heard the three of them flat out running as hard as they could
go. They seemed happy to see me and even more to see Chuck .They were breathing heavy as they devoured their snacks.
My friend I believe God is calling all of us. As we read Scripture, we learn he calls us all differently . Many people tell me after I speak that I missed my calling. I would quite my practice and enroll in seminary school tomorrow if I felt in my heart that is what God wanted for me. I answered my "call to the see" many years ago. I love the interaction I have with patients for the most part. I never would have believed God would and could could use me to write these stories for his glory.
He has blended and used the very things I love and hold dear such as horses, hunting , and rivers . I am often very surprised at how stories and lessons come together in such a way that I know it is not me but him working through me. Here is the exciting part, he wants to do the same with you. You may not be called to write or do eyes but you are being called . What do you do that gives you joy and satisfaction? There is your best clue in regard to what God is calling you to do.
I pray that at times this website feeds you. I write for all God's people and not just those who gather under the steeple. All I know is when I do this with the hope of pleasing my Savior, it just feels so "write"!
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things
you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
When you empty yourself, God rushes in.
A.W. Tozer
For the man who prays in his heart ,the whole world is a church.
Sylvain of Athos