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We'd like to extend our apology to everyone who may or may not have stopped by this blog over the past couple of weeks. You see, things here have been very busy. We've had new school issues and exciting church happenings as well as a cranberry harvest to get ready for. We are sorry that the tech resources have been diverted to other functions. Please bare with us as we get our heads above water again. I may not be able to blog often in the coming weeks, but I'll try to put pictures of cranberries and such on here so as to make amends.

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A Big Step to a New World

I watched her with confidence step out beyond anything she'd ever done before. I observed as she took brave new steps onto a stage larger than any she had hitherto endeavored. She held her head high and walked with powerful confidence and charming certainty toward a nebulous destination. The smile on her face, infectious as it was, calmed my momentary concerns. The easy tone of her voice made me aware that things were going to be alright. Her ability to laugh in that moment of challenge, gave me the sense that no matter what pitfalls she meets, she will take them in stride. I rest assured that the day will be good if some part of it rest in her hands. Her eyes show the clarity of her desire to learn and make the changes she needs in order to grow. They show determination and eagerness. They seem incapable of giving up or quitting, and they reflect the spirit that resides in her heart.Last night I watched Sarah Palin give her first big speech before a packed RNC. I really thought she did well, but I'm not talking about Sarah Palin. No, I'm talking about another brave young soul who is also taking big steps today.   She, like Sarah is beholden of a go-get-em spirit and doesn't know how to quit.   Her name is Audrey, and today she's off to her first day of Kindergarten.

Snubbed Kiss

Did she do this on purpose or not?

A Riddle

A Roscoe will be awarded to the first person with the answer.  (Riddle provided by Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Calendar)

I can sizzle like bacon, I am made with an egg, I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg.  I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole.  I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole. What am I?

Have at it then.  It's been a while since I've given a Roscoe out to anyone.

Tom

What are the odds

Both of these come from my Uncle John's calendar:

 

Somebody upstairs likes Billy:

In 2004 nine-year-old English soccer fan Billy Harris had a dream that Middlesbrough, his favorite team was going to beat Bolton 2-1 and win the English League Cup and that a specific player, a gent named Zenden, would score the wining goal.  Billy's dad, who had never bet on a game before put the equivalent of $27 dollars on the team.   On February 29th the game was played and Middlesbrough, a 60-to-1 long shot, beat Bolton and won the cup.  The score was 2-1 ... and Boudewijn Zenden scored the winner.  Dad won $1,600 and mom gave Billy a notepad to write down all his dreams.

Somebody like Rolla?  Not so much...

In 1949 Rolla Primarda of Taranto, Italy, was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.  According to weather experts, the odds of that happening to anyone are about, 600,000-to-1.  Having said that, what makes Primarda's fate so amazing is that his dad had been struck down by lightning 20 years earlier in the exact same spot.  Spooked yet?  3o years before that, his grandfather had died ... in the same place, in the very same way.   

Is there a blurred line between destiny and luck?  Are there forces behind some of these occurrences or  simply the law of averages stretched out through the ages?  In the coming blog postings I'd like to look at some of these types of things.  You are welcome to play along.

First of all, are these coincidences or not?  

Tom 

Both the silver and the Bronze medals were lost in the men's 200 meter sprint last night, and not only by those too slow to keep up with the leaders, no they were lost because two runners stepped on the white line on the inside of their lane.   So, while Uusain Bolt performed his "I'm #1," "Whose the Fastest Man" happy dance, Churandy Martina and Wallace Spearmon had the visage of, slightly diminished, elation wiped from their exhausted, vein extruded faces as each man in turn heard that his quest for a shiny circular prize had fallen just short.  You see, the rules state that if a runner steps on the inside line (even just a little bit) they will be disqualified; end of the line, take your shoes off and sulk while your lawyers protest the IOC's ruling.  Personally, I feel bad that these two men worked hard and lost, but at least we've finally found in this, a moment of absolutes; a hard line not to be crossed, or even stepped on.     In a time when wright and wrong are mixed into shades of grey and responsibility is something victims push off on their parents, their bosses, the government and society as a whole, here stands one clear moment of absolute.  You step on this line and you're out.  

Wouldn't those lines be better applied in the legal system, in government, and in - well - life? Let's draw a white line on the inside lane of marriage and call it "till death do we part" and remain true to that.  Let's draw a line on the lane of parenthood that says "I'll be here for your son and daughter" and let it stand.  Let's draw a line on the track of honesty and integrity and not trample it underfoot.  Let's paint a white boarder down the narrow lane to God and dare not cross it for fear of disqualification.  Ah, but we're human, we mess up and we stomp all over these lines.  We are automatically disqualified and told that we may as well hang up our shoes and pay the consequences.  Thankfully, we have an authority greater than the IOC.  We have Jesus who took himself out of the race on our behalf.   He sees where our feet hit white paint and he takes on our disqualification.  

So today I'll run.  Lord let me run valiantly.  If I sacrifice integrity for a short cut, rebuke me.  If I exchange honor for accolades, instruct me.  If I trade your will for my want, correct me.  If I lose, let me congratulate those with fleeter feet and truer training. And if I win, let my happy dance be about you Lord.

Tom

New School Prayer:

WRITTEN BY A 15 yr. Old SCHOOL KID IN ARIZONA:

Since the Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer are not allowed in most public schools anymore because the word 'God' is mentioned, a kid in Arizona wrote what follows: 

New School Prayer:

 Now I sit me down in school where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites, it violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green, that's no offense; it's a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.  

For praying in a public hall might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate, God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, and pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.  To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, and the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.

It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong, we're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls, study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, no word of God must reach this crowd.  

It's scary here I must confess, when chaos reigns the school's a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make: Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen 

This was sent to me in an email and at some point along the way was tagged with one of those lines that try to guilt me into forwarding it.  I promptly deleted the guilt and posted the story here.   Is this really how we've let our society develop?  Are we in the process of pushing God right out of everything public?  One can only wonder where this will end.  Come Lord Jesus.

Tom