30 October 2005

potpourri - did you miss me??

Well, let me catch up.

Well, the hunting trip was a success - we had a really good time. Gary, Mike and I went to McAlester, OK for a traditional archery hunt - stick and a string. We saw plenty of deer, but no one harvested an animal. The best part of the trip was the fellowship - we had a really good time, met some other hunters, and we joked and kidded and laughed until we're ready to do it again. Outdoors stuff with friends is wonderful.

Yesterday was six months since Dad died. All of my memories are sweet - how I would love to have another hour with him - to hear his voice - to catch up on what's been happening to us . . .

Church was awesome this morning. Something about the service really touched me - I don't know if I was tired or what, but I was rather weepy during the service. There was a line in one of the hymns - "friends on earth and friends in heaven." Then there was this tremendous theme of grace running through the service. Call me - I'll tell you about it.

Did I tell you we had a great time at McAlester??

Now, some really sad news - a pastor in Waco, Texas was electrocuted today as he was performing a baptism. University Baptist in Waco - about 800 in attendance. Evidently he reached for a microphone while he was still in the water. Check out the link above. Remember to pray for that church, his family - I suspect they will all have a difficult time for many years to come. Can you imagine trying to do the next baptism . . . how they will all feel. Keep them in your prayers.

Enough for now - more tomorrow.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 7:34 PM 0 comments

26 October 2005

out of pocket . . . again

this time to McAlester, OK for a traditional archery hunt. Tagging along with friends Mike and Gary.

I stayed up too late last night to watch my Astros lose . . .

so now, I must pack - until Sunday.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 7:02 AM 0 comments

25 October 2005

Thank you, Rosa Parks!!


We'll see and hear a lot about Rosa Parks today, as she passed away yesterday.

For the really young readers, Rosa was the black woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. That's the short versions of the story. Truth of the matter is that she had some backbone that many people of that day did not have. She helped usher in a decade of change that ultimately produced a cultural change for our country. She did in that one act what the results of the civil war could not do . . .

Her life is a shining example of fortitude, conviction, and purpose. We should all thank God for her actions.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 9:35 AM 0 comments

You gotta see this . . .

I received a link by e-mail this morning that sends you a calendar page for your personal birthday. Click on this link to get there.

It says, for me, among other things, that I have lived over 25 million minutes. I wonder how many of those I have wasted . . .

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 9:26 AM 0 comments

24 October 2005

The problem, of course . . .

with being a hunter is mornings. They roll around all too early.

And when Old Man Winter jumps in full force, like he did yesterday, well . . .

So, when 5 am rolled around this morning, I turned off all the alarms, and went back to sleep. Too cold, too early - I must be getting older.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 7:06 PM 0 comments

22 October 2005

5 a.m.

Up at 5 a.m. Coffee, then more coffee.

Out the door at 5:50. Back indoor to get the truck keys. Out the driveway at 5:55.

On the property at 6:40. Dress, make my way to the stand, sitting still by 7:00.

7:28 - small, spike buck under the feeder. He's wary - keeps looking up at the feeder like it's spooked him before.

7:41 - feeder goes off, scattering corn and deer.

8:38 - down from the tree. Another successful hunt - no harvest, but the soul is better.

9:30 - home.

1:15 p.m. - One nap later, and I'm rarin' to go.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 12:36 PM 1 comments

21 October 2005

A word about my son

I haven't shared much about my children. So . . .

Travis. Travis is now 25, severely mentally handicapped. He is medicated for ADHD, seizure prevention, etc. He is relatively non-verbal, but if you can slow him down with verbal prompts, he can speak so as to be understood. He is a happy young man - full of energy, and sometimes, mischief. He has a tremendous sense of humor, loves to worship, absolutely loves sports, and loves to sing.

After High School graduation, we started looking around for the next step for him - which was always going to be a move toward some sort of greater independence. He isn't able to live on his own and take complete care for himself, so supervised living is the ticket. Our first shot was in an ICFMR - long name and acrostic for big group home. This one was out of town (50 miles) and was quite large - 27 males and 27 females. He made it there 2 1/2 years, and then they kicked him out because of behaviors. The staff/client ratio there was atrocious - 1 to 16 or so.

Next stop was a smaller ICFMR - 8 clients in a rather large house - but it was also coed, and that lasted less than a year.

September of 2004 we moved him into a true group home - at that time, there were 4 other male consumers in the home, and the same staff put him to bed each night of the week. Much better situation. But Travis is so very social, he is a constant strain on the psyches of the other guys, and they really want him to move on. This morning, we had a meeting with all the powers that be, and we are starting to look for the next place. This time, we are actually hoping for the next level of care, which would mean he would be one of three residents in a home, with much more direct, individualized care. Not that he physically needs the care, but he socially needs it.

The pain that parents of mentally handicapped parents live with - for a lifetime - never goes away. Trav is a love, but as I am fond of saying, sometimes Travis reminds us that "love hurts."

This was another in a lifetime of painful days.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 1:05 PM 1 comments

20 October 2005

The Astros win . . . the Astros win!!!!!

It only took 45 years.

Having grown up in the Houston area, I pretty much have always been an Astros fan. Well, they won the National League pennant last night, and I couldn't be happier.

Year after year of coming soooooooo close. I've watched some good teams, and some incredible players. Nolan Ryan, Caesar Cedeno, Jimmy Wynn, Phil Garner, Mike Scott, Jesus Alou - they were the heros of my youth. I loved the Astrodome - particularly loved that scoreboard.

So now, our first pennant, and our first trip to the World series.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 8:01 AM 1 comments

19 October 2005

I swear I can see Kansas from here . . .

Okay, maybe that's an exageration, but I bet I can see forty miles to the north.

Yesterday I hung a tree stand about fifteen up in an old, old cedar, on top of a hill, out west of Fairview. Boy, they named that town right. It certainly is a fair view. And from my view, I can see a fair distance. On the actual property, I can see about as far as I can shoot in several directions. From the initial perspective, quite a bit better than last year on the same property. Down side is that I fear my cell phone works from up there.

And I contacted the land owner up at Jefferson, and he will allow me again to hunt on his property. I rather know those two quarter sections like the back of my hand, and it's pretty good pheasant property. Crockett will be happy to have a place to point birds - one more year. This will be year number eight for him and me. I may have to get a pup and start training.

I can't explain the fascination satisfactorily to those who do not enjoy hunting. It's not so much the harvesting of animals - that's the gravy - it's the hunt, the chase, the strategy - and it's the solitude, the scenery, the time away - refreshment for the soul. Right now, I need that - more than I have ever noticed before.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 9:00 AM 3 comments

15 October 2005

a wedding . . .

I did a wedding for a friend this evening. I say a friend - she is actually the age of my children. In fact, she is 24, which means that I have known her half her life. Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, everybody was well behaved, and no one forgot their lines.

It's pretty cool to have been in one place for so long that you start marrying off the kiddos that attended your Sunday School when they were in 6th grade. The merits of pastoring in one place for an extended period of time vastly outweigh the detriments and difficulties.

Years ago, I asked God to give me a pastorate. Thus far, that's what He's done - given me a pastorate. Oh well, I'm happy.

Looking forward to services tomorrow. It's been a long week . . .

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 6:51 PM 1 comments

14 October 2005

addendum to filtering . . .

From having read the responses to my last post on filtering, I make note that I may have left the wrong impression with my readers. I count the correction I have received as having come directly from the Holy Spirit. If I left the impression that any one of my wonderful congregants "set me straight," I am truly sorry. My sadness is as a servant of God, in the position I find myself, and that sometimes that place of service is lonely.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 1:32 PM 2 comments

13 October 2005

filtering - part three

It's been months since I wrote the filtering articles, but I have to add one at this point in the journey . . .

I made a huge mistake at church last night. For seven years in our church, we had prayer meeting on Wednesday night, and we, well, prayed. I would take a short scriptural passage and find some application to our prayer life, and then we would use the ACTS accrostic to guide us through a time of prayer. Frankly, after seven years of doing the same thing, and observing fading attendance year after year, I tried to change something. So, several weeks ago, I started teaching a "stream of consciousness" Bible study on the book of Philippians. All seemed to be going well until last night.

Backing up once again, I remind you that over the last several weeks, I have been out of town a good bit. One trip was with a group of preachers studying our preaching practice, the second trip was also with preachers taking a look at where we would be headed during the upcoming Advent season. Then I took a week of vacation, in which I didn't preach. During those moments of "awayness," I was allowed to think and say pretty much anything I wanted to think and say - preachers are forgiving that way with one another, you know.

Well, last night, during our study of Philippians, I took the same liberties. I said some things that I shouldn't have said. I expressed my viewpoint, rather than taking a rather "middle of the road, all things to all men" approach - which is usually what I try to do, and frankly is the reason that I work from a manuscript each Sunday. In doing so, I "dissed" one entire segment of the Christian population - solely for the sake of my personal freedom to think and speak.

I serve the most wonderful church in the world. It is a loving congregation, intent upon seeking Christ and serving Him and others. But even in this most special congregation, I am reminded of a singular truth - servants are servants, and they are not always allowed to say whatever they think.

I had forgotten that, and this morning I feel ashamed, frustated, and very lonely.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 9:22 AM 2 comments

11 October 2005

from the treestand at Imo . . .

There have been years that I spent most evenings and a goodly number of mornings in deer stands here in Northern Oklahoma. Here it is October 11, and this was my first venture out this year. I knocked off work at 5, ran home to shoot a few arrows with my recurve, then changed clothes, and arrived at the property promptly at 6. I was in the stand and still by 6:15. Nice breeze tonight, and the temperature was just about right - jacket weather. Not too many cars on the gravel road - I think I counted five over the 90 minutes.

Plenty of deer tracks, and there is a big boy out there. Long print, heavy - just the kind a bow hunter would like to stick in early October. But early October is just about gone, and we might as well call it mid-October. In just over two weeks I'll spend three days at McAlester, and then the next weekend, back to Burnet - this time with my rifle. There will be other bow hunts this year, but October seems to be slipping away faster than I imagined . . .

Just at dusk, there was some noise back in the trees. I straightened up, knocked an arrow, and started paying better attention. After about 15 minutes, the culprit showed herself - a squirrel. Her nest is actually about 15 feet directly over my head in the next tree. I'll be able to watch the babies in a couple of weeks. There was also a mongo spider up there in the canopy, making tonight's web. I heard quite a group of pheasants fly up to roost just behind me, and the quail were whistling at one another as they headed to roost. No deer, but all in all, a pretty good evening.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 8:39 PM 0 comments

08 October 2005

did you miss me??

Back from the holy land. Burnet, Texas is beautiful this time of year. And sitting in the deer woods is rest for my weary mind. In fact, I'm not sure my mind is fully engaged just yet . . .

"Pastor, did you kill anything?" Well, not this trip. I tried. Hunted morning and evening. But there was another agenda. I had already planned to do so, but after the flood in Burnet three weeks ago, I now needed to replace my aging camper. So, I am now the proud owner of a "new to me" camper. 1983 Wilderness - 22 foot. Here's the big news - shower, hot water, air conditioning - sounds like roughing it for the "50 and up" crowd.

Thanks to Cornerstone for generally behaving while I was gone.

posted by the sojourning pilgrim @ 8:27 PM 3 comments