Written in My Youth

HE IS NEAR

The sun still shines here, though not quite as bright as before. Outside the wind sweeps briskly across the ground creating a tiny multi-colored whirlwind from the freshly fallen leaves. The chill in the air adds to the freshness that makes Autumn sweet. The wind has that bite in it that makes campfires cozy and long walks better in two's. God is painting a spectacular picture and the Earth is His canvas. We are the fortunate ones who get to experience its splendor.

The rain came yesterday pounding a rhythmic beat on the hard pavement. Small rivers rushed down the road until they disappeared in miniature waterfalls underground. Before too long the rain stopped and things dried and returned to normal. Still, we saw God in the rain, he touched us in the drops and kissed us with the Sun.

God blesses us in so many ways. Sometimes those blessings come to us in ways to which we are blind. An occasional loneliness can provoke enough of a need that we turn to God and pray for companionship, while not realizing that through our prayer and God's tender fellowship, we have received the most glorious companionship ever imagined.

"Come near to God, and He will come near to you."

Tom Shuff (written sometime in the mid-eighties)

Whew. I think this may be the first time this has ever been seen by anyone other than a few close friends. In the process of cleaning out the basement, I found a few notebooks of this stuff. I don't know how many people are still stopping by my blog, but it is my hope that these few thoughts expressed so long ago may be a momentary bright spot in someone's day. If nothing else, feel free to laugh at the author. He doesn't really mind.

Tom

Uncle John's and a movie review

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader in any of its various editions is as at home in "the necessary room" as is toilet paper and Oust. I have long enjoyed UJBR and the quippy little readings it provides, but this year I expanded Uncle John's influence on my life by purchasing a desk calendar. I have often thought that these would make interesting inclusions into the blog-o-shpere, but have up to now not felt like incorporating them.

Why now? I'm not sure if its because I have been so busy to be incredibly creative on my own, or because I have so much on my mind, but at least for today, I'll go to the "can" of Uncle John for a couple of interesting chunks.

Chunk 1: From Thursday May 15th

WHEN YOU GOTTA GO...
"A cemetery in Santiago, Chile, is offering its clients coffins with sensors that detect any movement inside after they have been buried. According to a spokesperson for the cemetery, 'We want to be pioneers and avoid catalepsy cases, in which a person gets completely paralyzed for a few hours and ends up buried as if they were dead. We want families to rest assured that if a case like this ever happens, their loved ones will be immediately rescued.'" -BBC


Chunk 2: From Friday May 30th
UNCLE JOHN'S DICTIONARY OF WORD ORIGINS
Mascara

Meaning: A cosmetic applied to darken the eyelashes.

Origin: The word comes from the Spanish word mascara (with a little ' thingy over the first "a"), which in turn comes from the Italian maschera, both of which mean, appropriately, "mask." The root of those words, however, is the Arabic maskharah, which means "buffoon" or "clown".

A movie review: (having nothing to do with Uncle John or the bathroom)
Christian and I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium last evening. I liked the imaginative nature of the film. I loved all the characters and the actors. I thought the casting was brilliant and everyone was wonderful. The little boy was fabulous, the mutant accountant played his part to very convincingly, Natalie Portman was sweet and lovable throughout the whole film and Dustin Hoffman added another proof to his astounding ability to convincingly portray any character thrown at him. Mr. Magorium will stand strong beside previous characters such as Hook, Rain Man, the strange Little mumbly guy (I think his name was in fact Mumbles) in Dick Tracy and Tootsie. I suppose the plot could have been stronger and the loose-ends were many, but all in all it was a good rent.

The one glaring thing that stuck my crawl, was at the very end where Natalie Portman was dancing and conducting the store back to life. Eeeiwww! As accomplished and as cute as she is, I found this part of her performance stiff and limited. Where's Jim Carey when you need him?

I liked the movie, loved the characters but not so much the end.

Tom

Happy Memorial Day

Preparing to leave for a Memorial Day Picnic with our fellow Christians. I'll update everyone in a while.

Tom

Response to Lisa's blog

Lisa,

I don't know if this is what you were hoping for, but maybe this will help. If anyone askes me what my sign is, I'll point them to this.

Tom

Wacky Survey

Okay, I've been suffering from horrible lack of time. I haven't had much time to blog lately, but I don't want to quit. So, in an effort to maintain some readership here is a wacky survey.

1. Who was your favorite charachter on Gilligians Island?

2. Which of the Happy Days characters do you most closely relate?

3. If you had to take a job at Disney World as one of the characters, which would you choose?

4. How much did you last pay for gas?

5. In this fuel price crisis, would you rather walk, ride a bike or ride a horse?

6. Name the first name of one person who has made a near life changing impact on your life.


Thank you for your patients.
Tom

Been working hard

Wow, what happened. I've been so busy with everything that I haven't had a spare moment to blog. Sorry. I'll try to do better. My special thanks to Jel for her help on a project I'm working on. Her photography is excellent. She let me use one of her shots for a website I'm working on. It isn't completed yet, but you can see Jel's hawk picture on the home page at www.blueskyrep.com. Thanks again Jel.

Also thanks to everyone who has been praying for Dawn. She and I both appreciate it very much.

Tom

RSD

Many of you have been praying for my wife Dawn for a while. I so appreciate your concern for her, but I probably haven't been very good at explaining what's going on. Dawn has RSD. It started after she had surgery this past November to remove a cartilage tumor in her left ring finger. Her cartilage tumor came because a bit of cartilage in that finger never turned to bone. The tumor was benign and they took a small bit of bone from her wrist and put it where the bone in her finger should have been. Dawn should have been better within weeks, but the pain never went away. It actually got worse and moved up her arm and across her shoulders. After going back to the doctors a many times we found out that she was exhibiting all the signs of RSD (also knows as CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome). I’ve included some descriptions below of RSD. You can see this and more at http://www.rsds.org/index2.html. Not too many people are aware of RSD. We sure weren't. I'm wearing a small orange RSD Awareness wrist band on my left hand. I hate to have things on my wrist, but if Dawn is going through this constant pain in her left hand and arm, the very least I can do is have this supportive minor annoyance on mine.

Thanks for your concern and your prayers.
Tom

RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) is a chronic neurological syndrome characterized by:
* severe burning pain
* pathological changes in bone and skin
* excessive sweating
* tissue swelling
* extreme sensitivity to touch
There are Two Types of CRPS - Type I and Type II
* CRPS Type I (also referred to as RSD) - cases in which the nerve injury cannot be immediately identified
* CRPS Type II (also referred to as Causalgia) - cases in which a distinct "major" nerve injury has occurred
* CRPS is best described in terms of an injury to a nerve or soft tissue (e.g. broken bone) that does not follow the normal healing path
* CRPS development does not appear to depend on the magnitude of the injury. The sympathetic nervous system seems to assume an abnormal function after an injury.
* Since there is no single laboratory test to diagnose CRPS, the physician must assess and document both subjective complaints (medical history) and, if present, objective findings (physical examination).
Criteria for Diagnosing

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type I (RSD)
* The presence of an initiating noxious event, or a cause of immobilization
* Continuing pain, allodynia, or hyperalgesia with which the pain is disproportionate to any inciting event
* Evidence at some time of edema, changes in skin blood flow (skin color changes, skin temperature changes more than 1.1°C difference from the homologous body part), or abnormal sudomotor activity in the region of the pain
* This diagnosis is excluded by the existence of conditions that would otherwise account for the degree of pain and dysfunction
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type II (Causalgia)
* The presence of continuing pain, allodynia, or hyperalgesia after a nerve injury, not necessarily limited to the distribution of the injured nerve
* Evidence at some time of edema, changes in skin blood flow (skin color changes, skin temperature changes more than 1.1°C difference from the homologous body part), or abnormal sudomotor activity in the region of pain
This diagnosis is excluded by the existence of conditions that would otherwise account for the degree of pain and dysfunction.

Finally Moving Forward

Hello all. I've lost count of the time since the congregation here stepped into the thirsty land of trying to function without a minister. It is no secret that I deeply miss the man and the family we had. I said prior to their moving that I was sure that God had a plan for them and I believe that has proven true. It has taken us some time and the process has not been without its share of difficulties, but we have finally moved forward. As of sometime in late June or early July, Bill McGee will come here and take up the post of minister for us. It is my hope and prayer that the days, months and years following his arrival will prove productive days blessed by God. May we reach out to this community and share with them the truth that comes from knowing Jesus. Please pray for us in this time.

ON a personal note, fishing will still not be the same.

No extra charge.

Sorry I've been away. Here are my two captions on these pictures. No extra charge.

Picture "A"

Having spent 10 years on China's National Soccer Team before transitioning to the Olympic Ping-Pong Team, Chin Lee still found it difficult not to "head" the ball.

Picture "B"

Erma had no idea that raising a boy like Tom would give her sufficient skill and expertise enough with a paddle to qualify her for the Australian Vets Olympic Ping-Pong Squad.

Tom