Searching for gold

Since entering the "world" of blogging, I have had the good fortunate of meeting many other bloggers who really have something to say, aside from having something to sell, and it appears that relationships might be in the offing from the long lists I have accumulated.

It reminds me of experiences a friend of mine and I used to enjoy, heading out to parts of North Georgia where the current craze in those days was - panning for gold.  You probably know the rest of the story, after many such trips, we never did find gold.  But that eventually would not be our goal.  If you have never visited North Georgia in the foothills of the Great Smokey mountains, you need to make plans. The scenery is every bit as breath taking as many of the more heavily touted places in other parts of our great nation and I would highly recommend considering it for your next vacation.

But like the old adage - "take time to smell the roses", as we discovered that getting to know the folks in that area, at the gold mines, the restaurants, the lodging, etc.,we were meeting up with were the greatest treasures to be uncovered in "them thar hills' as it was those people who would become the source of our most treasured memories.

And so it is, with everyday life, if we would only just take notice.

Proof of the pudding, in my case, comes with a lady known by her real name, Rebekah.  Remember the name from the old Testament?  Wife of Isaac, mother of  Esau and Jacob.  Memorable stories. "My" Rebekah appears to be cut from the same cloth, a treasured jewel.

She visited me today by way of her blog, Sharing Redemption Stories, preparing her readers to "bounce", before you can bounce back.  Real wisdom, authentic applications.

How true that has been in my life.  I tried and tried to "bounce back" from the various trials and tribulations I had created in my earlier years.  I could not grasp the suggestions being offered by friends and counselors.   She offered the perfect answer.  In the problem areas of our every day lives, you need to grasp the gift of preparation.  Every opportunity, every problem, has a source and if you miss the need to properly prepare yourself, you are liable to stumble and fall.

Rebekah continues her essay, her contribution to successful living, by reminding us of the many other characters we find in the scriptures.  We often fail by convincing ourselves that their experiences took place - then, years, even centuries ago.  That is akin to ignoring the first step in a long walk.  If we stay where we are, we are not going to get where we want to go.  You cannot get on an airplane flight without first, purchasing a ticket.

Her summary, God provides!  Or, of course, He might not provide when He realizes, you are not headed for the success you might believe is inevitable.

Trust in the Lord and along the way, examine the lives of those who have helped you to get where you are today.  Lone rangers may have provided the material for successful TV programming, but in the here and now, we need one another.  It starts in the family.  God commands us to honor our parents and somehow, I missed that lesson.  He also commends us to honor those who help us along the way.  I finally realized how much my very first school teacher, Myna Mosher Armstrong, helped me to understand life from the standpoint of her own success and dealing with the problems she experienced along the way.  For years, she was an "old maid" and when she married a wonderful man, the neighbors were in a word, scornful.  Full of scorn, contempt.  Because she rose above the taunts of others, she was successful.  I know, she changed my life.

I did not get off on a profitable start in my military life.  I made a joke of my qualifications; what was a boy just off the farm supposed to say?   Then, opportunity was born because of the racial attitude of an officer who should have known better.  In stepped Master Sergeant Max McGee with a simple question - "Do you know the alphabet?"  Mrs. Armstrong had made certain that I did.  An opportunity was provided for me and a couple of years later when McGee moved on, he had prepared me to take his place and positioned me for a successful Air Force career.

Years later, I was in a drive-in theater with my girl friend and saw a familiar face (Howard Keel) show up on the screen with a song that still resonates in my heart.  "I will never walk alone,,," and that melody and most of the words still echo in my life.  I soon forgot the girl friend, but I will never forget that scene and the words that penetrated my heart of hearts. 

People, ordinary people, as ordinary as the Rebekah of old, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, each involved in life as it was, not necessarily what they might have wanted it to be, or become, but God took notice and made certain, their names would be inscribed for the ages.

"I don't want to set the world n fire,,," My uncle heard me singing one night, years and many years ago and out of the dark, where I would discover he .was sitting, he responded, "Don't worry, Sherwood, you never will."  He would never learn how he had penetrated my soul.  All I ever wanted to do is "start a flame in her heart" - my girl friend in those days.  I started out believing that my uncle - who actually loved me, who would never do anything to intentionally hurt me, had stunned me.

Then, came that day of all days, the one in which I heard these words, "By this will all men know that you have become My disciples, by your love for others,"   And I hurried to forgive my uncle and the others who had hurt me in the days before that great day.  It was one of those "180 degree" days, when you stop heading in one direction and turn conpletely around.

My prayer is simple, that you might find a Rebekah or others, cut from the same cloth, even today!

Thoughts on a Tuesday morning

Yes, it's Tuesday morning, the day after Memorial Day and I have been searching my "IN" box for something interesting to talk about.  I have two goals.  One, to write.  If I am going to be known as a writer, I need to write, every day.  Two, I need to make this day memorable for another person.

Hang on, my target may be you - especially if you are - as they like to say, getting older.

I don't know who the "they" is, but in my case, they are missing the mark.

I am not getting older, I am progressively moving towards a new destination.  The fact is, I have yet to arrive, anywhere.  I often wonder about my past life.  Born in Detroit, MI.  Grew up near Yale, MI. I am a Yale graduate, high school, that is.  Joined the Army Air Corps.  Sent to Japan and was there for a few months more than four years.  Came "home" to discover, home was not where my heart was.  Decided to settle down and go to college.  Left the Air Force.  Enrolled at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA.  Got married.  Switched to what would become Georgia State University and graduated. Left Georgia for California and was divorced.  Wandered around and lost a couple of years.  Got married again.  We had four children and I left California.  Didn't mean to.  It just happened.  Was divorced again.  Was "born again" and made church, my primary interest.  Moved to Dallas, Tx, big mistake.  "Wandered" for over two and a half years and wound up in Orlando, FL  Got married again,.church continued to be my primary interest.  Wife passed away.  I moved to Tennessee and discovered my sister and mother who I had not seen in over twenty-five years, had moved there also. Mother passed away.  Moved in with my sister and then, she moved away.  I got married again. Moved to Cookeville, TN.  Wife passed away and here I am, today.

Came across this bit of "wisdom" earlier this morning; "Seek adventure, every day.  Search for adventure every day.  Look for opportunities you may have missed.  Embrace your faith."  Whoever wrote that knew more about me, better than anyone I have ever known 

Another bit of "wisdom" discovered on this Tuesday morning.  "Embrace your faith.  It is more than merely attending church.  On the street where you live, there are folks who need to know they are loved.  Don't hesitate.  Speak up, say "Hello.'"  Note the emphasis, enjoy the process.  This has become my primary goal in life.

And another... "Smile - a lot.  Yes I know, about the aches and pains that come along with aging.  You might be amazed to realize how quickly they pass away when we make an effort to offer encouragement to others." 

I don't know who penned those words, but they have discovered thoughts about me that I never fully realized until today.

There is something else.  Yes, I still attend church, but more importantly than any of the others,  I am the church.  Yes, I am.  I like the feeling of being in church, sharing life with fellow believers, always learning something new about my faith and about others, but as importantly, about myself.  I am not talking about ego, but the fact is, in spite of all of my learning over the years, I have a responsibility to know more about others as I am being led by my Leader.  I trust you know Him.  He loves me and I know above all, He loves you.

You see, I am too busy to think about "growing" old.  Yes, I am aging and right now, being 85 years of age is a comforting fact.  I expect to be 100 in a few years and I may be, but it is not up to me.  Eat well, exercise, read a lot, love others, do all of those things that the experts advise, but I know that I know that on that day when this all ends, I will be going home, my goal for all of these years.

More.... Memorial Day, 2015

I just had a call from a long time friend who really questioned my move.

Seems like he had forgotten my thoughts over the years.  When I believed that God had touched my life on May 13, 1975, I vowed, I would never turn back.  That was a solemn oath to me then and it remains today.  Those earlier years had stolen my identity - in my opinion, although, my failures were my fault.  I needed a new life and He made it possible. 

As some know, I spent almost two and a half years literally "on the road" where my only motivation was to seek God wherever He might be found and whenever possible, to talk about His wondrous works.  As I was to discover, moving about in mostly Southern states, almost everyone I had a chance to seriously talk about God, seemed to believe, all that was necessary was to go to an altar, make an attempt to confess all of their sins, and they were "saved" - I used to ask, saved?  - from what?, for what reason?  I met a few who had an explanation, but by and large, no one seemed to have a clue.

I would remind them of my motivation - that God had assured me that He would provide the "power" for me to become His witness, whenever, wherever I might be.  (see Acts 1:8)  My conclusion was that I had been saved to remind others of His desires.  They are mentioned everywhere in Bible and we are to be blessed by merely being His witness.  It is not meant to be more of anything except His love and His attention to our lives.  So it has been that I can say, I have been blessed over and over again during the past forty years.

My conclusion is that we are not "saved" to keep us from going to Hell.  He becomes a part of our lives - by way of our confession, merely to do good, by being good.  All we have to do is look around at our friends and neighbors, the people we meet as we move about.  The needs are so great.

Especially in these times.  I scan a number of "Christian" magazines and messages and more and more, I read of the "prophesies" of "gloom and doom" in the coming years, creating fears that the churches that proclaim the glories of the Lord and the attempts of our Lord Jesus Christ to define His message when He walked among the people in His day, are wrong.  Somehow, something else, has the power to overcome the Word of God and the world that He created. What a shame!  Where are the people of God with the courage to stand up and remind these "nay-sayers" that God is still God and if we truly want to continue to claim the name of His Son as our Savior, we need to remind them of the absurdity of such claims.

Sadly, these voices of doom and gloom are using their words, but offering no proof, that some people are seeking to overcome this nation that has been since its founding, dedicated to the purposes for which we have stood for almost 240 years.  To their shame, they name names and use our ignorance of the strength of our government to lure us into believing our neighbors are part of the reasons we have to fear the future.  Listening = means we are closing our ears and minds to the promises of God that continue to be coming forth from the truly dedicated churches through out land. 

I did not leave "other" churches to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints to shelter myself from the fears that are everywhere to be heard, but to join the "body of Christ" that does not busy themselves with fears about our futures.  The Bible which we believe and the Book of Mormom are very clear, not only about the future, but also about our past which appears to have been sorely neglected over the years.

I did change my "spiritual" address because I saw in those young Missionaries who appeared at my door months ago, a hope for our future here on earth and a promise of the "worlds" that are beyond. These young people are not limited to efforts merely in our nation, but others as well, throughout the world.  Working together with the blessing of their parents and the "body of Christ" at large, they are doing what the church was called to do, from the very beginning.  They are not the only ones, of course, as many churches are dedicated to the same purposes, but sadly, they are limited by the lack of vision that has been part of the Mormon mission from the very beginning. 

I know my years are limited and that my resources are limited, but I will leave this world confidant that when there was a real opportunity, I had the courage to stand up and proudly represent an answer to the fears of those who need to know about our Lord and His love for all of us.

Add on... Memorial Day, 2015

So now, here we go....

My "new" life - in church, was progressing well.  I was out of my funk and my only concern was finding a job to help me with the fact that my Social Security is hardly enough to maintain what I describe as minimal living.  I wrecked my car a few weeks ago - first accident in some 80 plus years, so that doesn't help finding employment.  Nor does my age.  Applications are ignored, except for one fellow with the courage to tell me, all of their employees are on their insurance plan (that does provide for people of my age) and did not want to listen to my suggestion, that all they had to do is use me through a temporary staffing agency.  That did not work.  Strange!  All the years I spent in the employment business, making it easy for employers to locate and hire employees, seems to have evaporated in the latest maze of techniques. 

Life moves on... I was content living in my apartment away from others, except for one fellow who lives below me.  And then, one evening I heard a knock on my door.  A visitor?  Who could be knocking on my door?  I opened the door to find two beautiful young women standing there and I had to think, religious "crazies" - I'll get rid of them quickly.  No such luck.  I was abut discover they were Morman missionaries with a story to relate and since I was a Christian, I had no interest,  They assured me that they were Christians as well  and continued with their testimony.  I found that to be interesting and invited them in, but they quickly informed me that they could not as they were not allowed without an escort.  Well, that impressed me.  They scheduled a meeting for the next week and, on time, showed up with their escorts.

They had a plan and I was ready to shoot holes through that plan.  As pretty as they were, I was still not interested, but they seemed to be, very interested.  Another visit, new escorts, and the debates continued.  They had anticipated almost all of my questions or more accurately, my rebukes.  After that meeting, I decided to bring my "counsel" into the discussions to follow.  I began praying and studying.  I was about to discover, they were as interested in my Bible as they were to be in their Book of Morman and so, I decided to examine that as well as my own sources.  They were beginning to make sense to me.  They were talking about a "restored" religion, the events in my Bible up-dated, so to speak  Then I began to ask myself, questions I has asked of others in years past - with no legitimate answers.  

I vividly recall a study years ago when I asked a leader to explain for the years after Malachi ends and the new Testament begins.  "God rested" was the most informative answer.  Belief that God rested - for 400 years, was beyond my comprehension.  The beginning in the Book of Morman was making more and more sense to me.  I had no other real questions.  I found that my adoration of my Savior, Jesus Christ, was as great as I had ever heard expressed elsewhere.

I was invited to attend their church and discovered there was no - preaching.  But there was teaching, three hours, divided into segments applicable to various degrees of membership.  That made sense. And I must admit, I had no sooner taken my seat in the pews, when a young lady in the pew ahead of me turned and - in my mind, almost shouted, "Oh!  you're Sherwood!"  I was about to learn that I was almost a phenomenon to some of young Missionaries.

But I still had questions and when I heard them inform me that the first step in joining them was to be baptized, I was quick to inform them I had already been baptized; they as were quick to ask, baptized for what reason?   I couldn't answer them as the church I had used to be long to baptized children, long before the age of accountability.  My so-called baptism was nothing more than a few sprinkles of water after my parents had agreed to raise me as a Christian.  I had never considered that before, nor did the Missionaries suggest it.

I had to set a date for my baptism by immersion and had no idea, so I mentioned that in my prayers. On the evening of their next appointment, I was in the kitchen doing something and I heard the words, "December 5" come to mind.  December 5.  I almost started shaking.  No one else, but a couple of officers examining an episode in my life - in Korea, decades ago, could possibly understand what that date meant to me.  It had to be God!

And so, on December 5, 2014 I was baptized into the Morman faith and my life took on new meaning.  I had not discussed it with anyone, but the basis for my believing was the inspiration I felt that I could see in the lives of those Missionaries.  The two who had first introduced me had moved on, replaced to two more. as attractive, and just as well informed.  Since then, I have come know many others and young men as well and I remai impressed, not only with their knowledge of the faith they have integrated into their lives, their care for others is inspirational and their diligence in doing what they are called to do has to blessed by the Lord they serve.

Then, as icing on the cake, this Ward of the church - the name for their local gathering places, asked me to become the ward Missionary, in essence working with the Missionaries to support their work

I had become a Morman, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

Memorial Day - 2015

Well now, my problems with my computer seem to have been addressed and I am ready to continue. It is a problem with those of us who never had instructions in the first place and have no children at home to keep us abreast of the changes that seem to be happening constantly, while we remain asleep at the switch.

I have nothing in mind to say, except that it might be time to tell you of the events in my life over the past few months.  Had no idea that a change was due, but it happened - "in spades" as I used to say.

Starting where it all started, living with my grandparents, church was never an option.  I was "in church" for virtually all of my first seventeen years.  Not that I learned anything other that a few of he old songs and... well yes, I did enjoy reciting, standing in front of the church and reciting the monologues that seemed to go well with the congregation.  At 85+ years of age, I still do although the monologues have long since passed away, to be replaced by heart felt testimonies.

When I joined the Air Force - technically Army Air Corps in those days, I continued the "habit" on Sundays more often than not.  Not that I can recall any certain spiritual experiences.  When I returned to the States, after four years in the Far East, I would learn that wearing a uniform to civilian churches was a certain "chick magnet" and it beat hanging out in bars, competing with the much better paid civilians.

Leaving the Air Force to enter college, I soon discovered that the Georgia Tech student body seemed to spend their Sunday mornings at the First Methodist church in downtown Atlanta and I joined in.  I discovered a love for Church music from the Sunday evening; I even remember Harry Armstrong as the leader of the song sessions.  I remember the name of the Pastor as well, but I really do not care to mention it as I still recall listening to his counsel in personal conversations I had with him.  It was. however, an important past of my past as I wound up married to my first wife who I had met in a adult Sunday School class.  We tried to stay connected, but as time wore on, my interest waned and eventually, we had stopped attending church and then, there was the separation, leading to a divorce.

Leaving Georgia and  heading for California, I almost forgot about God and church.  I got much more involved in the bar scene and was - more often than not, too "hung over" to get up and go to church.

Noticing, however, that my new life style was leading nowhere, I decided I might be better off if I started back to church and - I discovered another wife.  This time I was more serious about church and I began to listen more often to the sermons and the lives of our friends.  Based on my own standards, I thought I was doing well.  I knew as much about the Bible as my friends, but the fact was I could not seem to get involved in reading it, much less studying it.  And the more I was convinced that I was finally getting "ahead" in life, the further I moved away from God and involvement with church.  When my life seemed to swirling into yet another marital crisis, I tried to enlist the wisdom of friends and the Elders in the church I was attending and got lost in what seemed - to me, their convoluted logic.  Then, I began to realize how terribly lost I was and seriously sought help.

Those of you who know me better, know that I would experience a dramatic encounter with God on my journey to find help with my life.  I left my "old" life behind and started in on a truly new life that would erase most of the old thoughts on what life should mean to His creation.  I was amazed by the fact I suddenly seemed to have an interest in the Bible and spent hours, not just reading it, but studying it as well.  I was living in the YMCA across the street from the public library and I found an interest in a study of religion as it agreed with everyday living, but always, challenging us to draw closer to God so as to "improve" our lives.  It began to take hold in my own.

I paid much more attention to the sermons I was hearing - three times a week, and how they were affecting my life and the lives of my new friends.  I found a real disparity.  I thought perhaps God was leading me to serve Him as an ordained Pastor or other "official" functions in the church.  And then I realized the Church was not at all interested in people who had been divorced as I had been, twice.  It made me wonder, but the fact is, such attitudes merely strengthened my resolve to continue walking with the God I knew had, as a matter of fact, rescued me from the pits I had dug in the preceding years.

Such revelation was almost forty years ago.  In the meantime, I concentrated on what I was continuing to learn from the Bible and from the events of the day and what a fascinating experience it has been.  Eventually, moving to Tennessee, I experienced a series of miracles in my life.  When I arrived in Nashville, on the very first day, I found a "job" in the local Rescue Mission - a job I had been seeking - in vain, in Orlando where I had lived for the previous several years.  A month later, I received a phone call from my (only) sister, telling me that she was in the area and would like to see me for a visit.  We had not even talked in some twenty-five years.  She knew where I was because of the faithfulness of an uncle.  Then, I realized she and our mother had also moved to the Nashville area within days of my arrival.  We would restore our relationship that continues to this hour, one that had hardly existed the years before our renewal.  Eventually, after our mother had passed away, we would live together until she moved back to California, but we are still in constant contact with one 

another.

I found another wife and moved to Cookeville, TN, where we lived in love for almost seven years until she suddenly passed away and I was left - alone, in a city I hardly knew.

But as if to prove His power in the life of an individual, He began a move that still thrills me to this very hour.  First, He "connected" me with a Pastor friend I hardly knew and introduced me to another friend who has since that day, played an extremely important part of my life.  The Pastor would introduce me to a church that I claim to this day, "loved me back to life" from the funk that seemed to overwhelm me after my wife's passing.

And then, an even greater manifestation of the His miracle working powers would occur, to be the subject of the blog to follow.  Stay tuned

International Happiness Day is a good day, to.....

I spent a lot of my yesterday wondering what to say today and unfortunately, just realized I should have spent some time observing the giant goof I made in not taking a second look at my previous title.  See, I can spell International, I already have, twice today.  So let's see what I learned yesterday.

I get inputs into my life - and a lot of pure junk, from my faithful computer.  I have gone out of my way to make friends with people who obviously love to write as I do and they are a daily blessing to me, but this morning I got more than I was prepared to receive.  Typical of my life these days.  So after reading the article that was forwarded by the good folks at Entrepreneur magazine, I decided this was a good place to start,  Steve Tobak was the contributor and I have no idea of who he is, but I am indebted to him for his thoughts on - "10 Behaviors of Genuine People."  I could spend days writing about just those three words - behavior, genuine and people.

Most of you who know me best probably believe that I have spend most of my days trying to be genuine, after years of being less than.  But what was is no longer.  What has been is in the past.

I have often referred to my past by starting with to the fact I was not born into a genuine family.  I was blessed to have been sent to live with the most genuine folks I have ever know in all of my many years, but that did not ease the pain of a reality that they did not understand.  I was a child to be loved and they went out of their way to love me as they had with their own four children.  So, I did what would become a pattern for my life for far too many years, I ran away.  And I became good at that.

Being genuine was a quality that escaped me for a long, long time.  For example, Steve's first thought on folks being genuine escaped me for decades.  "They don't seek attention."  So, what did I do? I joined the Air Force and learned that if you do not seek attention, no one will ever notice you.  It took me a couple of years to learn this fact of life in the military, but I learned it well and was amply rewarded - I thought.  When I came  home to be with my family, I can not recall anyone with any interest in my experiences, even though I had spent four years in the Far East and I ached to tell others of the wonderful world I had discovered, just beyond our shores.  Steve is right, I was developing an ego that needed constant reinforcement.  I had yet to learn that genuine people are filled with self-confidence - AND, self-awareness.  I was as he suggests, "wasting my brain".

"They are not concerned with being liked."  I was overwhelmed with the idea that being "liked" could be proven as an ability to overwhelm others, especially the opposite sex.  Having girlfriends became my idea of success at my age.  Then, I met a truly genuine girl who had the kindest way of showing me how much I had to learn.  I was stationed on the Gulf Shores and she came back from a visit to tell me how much she loved me.  I was overwhelmed.  She took an apartment on the beach and spent her days, waiting for me to get back to her.  One day I was delayed because an important person had arrived from the Pentagon and was there to examine a proposal my group had sent to his office.  I was four hours late in getting to the beach and when I asked her apartment manager where she might be, I was told they had taken her to the hospital in Pensacola.  They had discovered her unconscious on her blanket after taking in those deadly rays.  They were that day.  She was DOA when she arrived at the hospital.  "Being liked" was no longer possible.  I hated myself and took on a attitude that others should share in my assessment.  Narcissism was not my problem, self-hatred took hold of my life and thoughts of relationships went out of the window,

"They can tell when others are full of it".  I was not just naive, I was living in a world of my own - where only fools dared to tread.  My last assignment in the USAF was under a Colonel who I had come to love when we were stationed together in Japan.  Six months later, I detested almost everything I knew about him and the die was cast, I had better move on.  I had discovered that I was the one who was full of it.

I was definitely not "comfortable in my own skin" as Steve offered as the next attribute of genuine people and it was't going to get any better.  I headed for Georgia and college in Atlanta where my mother lived and little I did realize at the time, the attitudes I held about her love for her son rose anew.  I began to realize I was not "comfortable in my own skin" and did not consider that I was my problem.  I had served seven years in the military and I knew it was my "duty" to move on, plow ahead, always assuming I was in charge of my own life, all others, take notice.  Steve quotes Thoreau's famous dictum, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."  The first time I read that came as I was preparing for a college exam and there were tears in my eyes.

I graduated from college with high honors, had been married along the way - as a way of getting away from my mother and her boyfriend, and it seemed that I had recovered from my past.  The only problem was that I was violating Steve's next thought about genuine people.  "They do what they say and say what they mean".  I don't even know whether others were onto me, but I was doing just the opposite.  I was doing what was best for me and meaning was not a factor in my life.  Commitments?

That was for others to believe and for me to ignore.

Well, I am about halfway through an excellent article that I wished others would take to heart as I am committed to do.  There's that word!  OK, I have given you no reason to read on, but please do.  I have a miracle to share with you, tomorrow.  I promise, the "real" me promises!

God's family tree

I have to believe, most of those who read these blogs know that I am a Christian,  You may not know, however, that I have moved my position somewhat.  I have joined the Mormon church, more accurately, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

I say that to say this, if you want to discuss my reasons for the move, I would love to hear what you have to ask - or state, as some have emphatically expressed their thoughts, on my decision.  We can talk - openly or if you prefer That is why I am posting my personal phone number - 1-931-528-7238.

All of that to say this, I received a blog from another friend, discussing - God's family tree and I will offer portions of what he had too say and probably, offer thoughts of my own.

The reason for my interest came about regarding the the Atonement, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It made me go back to the years when I was accumulating evidence for my belief that I really did not have a family tree.  As I suggested to a Pastor a few years ago, I thought I was more like a "twig" on a God forsaken, bramble bush.  "Touch me and you may get hurt,"  Along the way - for nearly 45 years, I hurt lots of people..

Pastor Burden, my recently acquired new friend, started his blog with this thought.  "God likes trees"   That caught my attention, immediately.  Most do not know but I was recently widowed and left "alone" in a city I hardly knew.  I had moved to this city a few years ago to marry her, but - as I would discover, she had "willed" her house to other relatives and I found myself - on the street.  Not only that, I was disenfranchised from most of my in-laws..

Searching for new home, I found an apartment - off the beaten path, two bedrooms, so I had a place for my rather extensive library and a place to write.  It was perfect, two windows facing Eastward, sort of, so I had the brilliance of the rising sun and the memories one can find in a sunset.  Immediately, in between, as I looked out, was a huge tree.

And this morning, as I look out, it fills my view.  Its leaves are soaked from yesterday's rains and now, the wing is causing them to dance.  What a sight!  To the left, I can barely see the tops of another tree in the yard, but its leaves are still.

Pardon my imagination, but it appears as though "my" tree is dancing for me!  Well, you don't have to believe that, but I have to believe you might be missing a grand lesson that God has prepared for all of us - if only, we would pause - as some say, to smell the flowers. In my opinion, they are more important to us than those who are merely passing by.

At my age, I have to consider the possibility that this place where I live today may become the last "home" away from the home to which I will be headed.

So, my task, is to fill it to overflowing with memories.  I realize that for most of my life, my places of residency,. as some suggest they are called, were little more than hotel or motel rooms.  Here today, gone tomorrow with hardly a thought as to their contribution to my life. Reminds me of my service years.  Almost seven years were spent in an assigned "cot", more often than not, sharing space with others, hundreds and hundreds of faces that have been long since been forgotten..

Therefore, I vow to fill this place with memories of love, good times shared with good people.  Enter as a neighbor or a passer-by and leave as a friend.

And when the others are gone, "my" tree remains, still dancing for me this morning.

So, my prayer today for you is that you will discover that place in your life that prompts you to learn or to recall the fact, you did not arrive in this world, merely to take up space. God had His reasons.  It took me almost forty five years to come to that conclusion and then, more years to prove to myself, He really does care are me - and for you!

In my case, He planted a seed, years ago, knowing that someone like me might stop long enough to admire His masterpiece part and become, part of His family tree.