Sunday, November 06, 2016

So Now is the Time

We are currently studying Isaiah in our Thursday night small group meetings.  We use a workbook written by Howard Peskett to help with our meeting.  Each week we read the preface to the chapters we will be reading that week. After reading the chapter or chapters we answer questions and sometimes asked to do other things to help our understanding. This week we read Isaiah 5 and the last thing we were asked to do was "Write a short poem on the state of your society."  Here is my poem.

Babies dying
Countries are burning
Politicians lying
No one discerning
When will we learn, there's no time for beer
For it is written, the time is quite near
The Good Lord is coming, he soon will be here
So now is the time to believe without fear



Thursday, September 22, 2016

Are There Any Joys?

     Last night at the end of choir practice Heather (as always) asked "Are there are any prayer requests?" and then "Are there any joys?".  That is just one reason why I enjoy choir practice.  That just settles me at a bit the end of each Wednesday.
     Well this time when she asked about joys, I blurted out "I parred number five at Exeter!"  Oh the groans from other choir members.  One said we don't pray for golf.  I felt embarrassed.  So, I said  just kidding, don't pray for that joy.  It's just golf.  (The problem with being a jokester/kidder, is that people rarely know when you are serious.)
     I was serious.  In reality it was much more than golf.  It was and is a true joy to me.  Here's why:
     Sixteen months ago I was laying in the hospital with eight newly installed screws and four rods in my lower back.  I didn't know how it all would work out.  I didn't know if I would ever golf again.  The doctor had just told me there was nerve damage in my left foot and I would probably have numbness in it.  Inside I was terrified.  Outside I was optimistic and positive.  I didn't wand Diana or the kids to worry.
     Fifteen months ago I could walk a couple hundred yards with the help of a cane.  I still didn't know if I would ever be able ever golf again.  I asked the doctors assistant about it and he said I probably would be able to golf, but I wasn't allowed to even try until a year after the surgery.
     So.....  Five months ago I went the Exeter Golf Course, joined in with the old men of the church and started by just putting and walking with them.  By then I was walking over two miles every morning at home and feeling pretty good, but still not sure about my back.  From then till now I had to relearn how to golf without the flexibility my back once had and at the same time trying not to hurt my newly repaired back.  It was't easy and isn't easy.
    This Monday I actually felt like a golfer for the first time in a couple of years.  I was swinging freely and felt loose.  So, on hole five, a four hundred yard par four which I have never parred before everything worked.  My drive was straight and went 200 yards.  My second shot was straight and went 180 yards.  My chip shot landed on the green and then I made a 30 foot putt for my par.  I finally felt like a whole human being again!  For the first time in a long time.  That was a joy!  A praise God for healing joy!  
     Fellow choir members, I understand why you thought I was being flippant about expressing joy about one little golf hole, but it had little to do with golf.  It had everything to do with the Grace of God's healing hands on my broken body.  I hope you understand.  I love every one of you.  Not joking either.


Friday, April 08, 2016

Blogging

April 6, 2016  1:00 pm Pacific Time

I write in my blog from time to time.  Right now I'm sitting in an airplane somewhere between San Francisco and Minneapolis bored out of my mind and thinking.  Why do I write a blog?  Mmmmm, why DO I write a blog?

Do I have a profound gift for writing?  No.  Do I have special knowledge that no one else has?  No.  Am I  insecure in my place in this world?  Maybe, probably yes.  Do I have unique experiences no one else has had?  Yes.  Am I a unique, slightly crazy, bullshit laden creature who was raised in a lumberyard by a combination of crude construction workers, truck drivers, traveling salesmen and a workoholic father while at the same time learning to be civilized by my mother, grandmother and three sisters?  Yes!  For sure.

O.K.  I am qualified to write a blog.  I just have to be careful not to let facts and settled knowledge get in the way of my opinions and stories.  Nothing in my blog articles are lies or made up stories.  I may not remember things the same way others do and I may embellish a story a bit, but for the most part things are 100% true experiences of mine or just simply my opinion.

Another thing that helps in writing a blog like mine are the influences on my life.  Both the Lutterbein's and the Rowe's had some pretty good story tellers in them.  The most famous one was my Uncle Dick Lutterbein.  He was without a doubt the best story teller I have ever met.  He was funny and imaginable.  I never really knew if he was telling the truth or not, but I loved to listen.  His brothers and sister were not bad either.  My Uncle Frank Rowe is a pretty good story teller as well.  Of course he was a Methodist pastor, so was licensed and trained to tell stories.  I have to believe most of his were true.  My Grandpa Lutterbein actually used to be a public speaker about a hundred years ago.  Here is a picture of his brochure cover.





So, yes I enjoy my self indulging hobby and will continue to write my little blog.  I just hope someone likes it and will leave a comment or share a similar experience they may have had.
 


To the moon Alice!