It's Already December

Wow! It is already December and 2013 is coming to a finale.

Last month we spent Thanksgiving with my family in LB and visited my mother-in-law in Mo town. Time with everyone was really good and relaxing. My niece did an awesome job with all the food.

This month we are taking one last fling with our annual passes and visiting the "Happiest place on earth." Going to spend the weekend and Monday. We get to use our friend's RV so it is less expensive than a hotel. Our plan is to take it slow and easy, we have been there so many times so hope we can really do that.

Work has been real busy. We have one caseworker out on medical leave until after the first of the year and this week the other worker was also out. Thank God for a temporary that the agency has hired for three days a week.

Our son is in the process of purchasing a home and is sort of excited. I think it is a good step for him at this time in life. The closing of escrow is scheduled for December 19 which is his birthday. How awesome is that!?  We've had a great friend assist us in the whole process which has been up and down with emotions because of various factors involved in monthly payment amount, but as of now it looks like a go!

Christmas time will probably find us back a LB and visiting Mo town again.

See ya later!

Blogging

What is the inspiration to take to blogging?

Possible answer:  You are driven by some unseen force to put written words expressing your emotions, experience or other attribute of the moment. It is an exuding of the mind for self and possibly others who can benefit from the composition. Or maybe there is absolutely no benefit at all.

I am not always moved to write long compositions. It may be a brief essay on a totally off-the-wall subject that has materialized within my brain and must be expressed through writing it out.

On this particular occasion I am resigned to allowing my thoughts to wonder, hoping that eventually there will be coherency to the page. Only time will tell. And it may be a long time…………….

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, today is my birthday. The body tells me I am getting older but my mind wants to return to my youth. I have been blessed to live for 68 years on this planet earth. Yes, I have had challenges with some failures but also successes. As the sole surviving sibling of six, I am challenged to live my life span to God’s limit, be it 92 years or longer. My disappointment is in the times that I now live--- so much disruption. But technology has expanded exponentially during my lifetime, and that is a good thing.

I would love to retire, but I continue to work fulltime at the present, with some uncertainty about next year. My financial commitments hold me down at this time; I pray for a breakthrough soon.

The test of essential tremor haunts my daily life. The skill of penmanship continues to deteriorate. But I thank God for the technology of computers and “siri” that eases my written communication ability.

Participation in ministry is never an option that I opt out on. Sources may degrade and ignore me but they cannot take the spirit of God from me. I refuse to surrender to the will of human decisions that interfere with what God has called me to do. This interference only motivates me to achieve clear direction and passion for that which was implanted in me long ago. You can disown me and defeat me in your own realm; however, I refuse to succumb to that attitude.

So as I conclude this brief document, it is apparent that age has tempered my being. Although there is a weakening in the physical there is strength of thought processes. Residuals of stubbornness may resonate in my life but it serves as a catalyst for expressing the truth.

Reflections

Sometimes it is necessary to come to a stop in our activities and assess our life and progress. It's a time of reflection. This is my recent reflection:

I’ve had a tough few hands dealt my way in the last few years, like most humans at points in their life. I am thankful for the lessons all of them have taught me. My focus is to use the lessons in avoiding going around the same mountain again.

When I entered fulltime ministry in 1998 I had big dreams of leading a large congregation as a senior pastor, with staff and all the accoutrements adjoined thereto. This was in spite of the tiny congregation I was appointed to serve. Well, because of organization structure that pipe dream was mostly nightmares.  Yes, there were good things that happened but there were so many bad things that seemed to overpower the good. I will fault myself for not adhering to the rightful guidance of Scripture in performance of my vocation, but I refuse to take all the blame. Traditions of men and rules of organization usurped so much of God’s plan that it was impossible to keep ends together. Ministry moves on in a different perspective now for me. I leave the politics of such to those aspiring to make names for themselves.

My personal life has been healthy in the physical with the exception of the essential tremor that worsens. My spiritual man was often very sick; I suffered from abandonment by my peers, criticism from the congregation, and many side effects like bitterness tried to grip my very person. But  through time healing and wholeness has come and I am secure in who I am as never before. At times I become opinionated and irritated. But, I know my redeemer lives!

All of my siblings have now passed and I remain on earth to do as God sees fit. I was blessed to have them all as part of my natural family.  I know my days are numbered by God and my trust rests in him. My youth is gone, but I want my wisdom blessed of God to assist me in doing His work. I know I have much to give to others when opportunity arises.

May I always see more than me. The mirror reflects our image. I want to reflect the image of my God. I choose joy in all that confronts me and the reflection reveals the Christ in me.

Another Loss

Death has taken my last sibling. On Saturday, September 28, 2013, my oldest brother, Merle aged 92 passed from this life. Someone giving their condolences commented that I am now the oldest. I’m not sure how I want to take that. He had fallen and subsequently in rehab suffered a stroke; ironically a story parallel to our father’s last days in 1988.

This brother was one I saw very little of during my lifetime. He was a tease when he came around me. He liked to pinch me and give me a knuckle rub on my head. He favored cigars or cigarillos as best I can recall.  He was a grocer most of his life.

I knew very little of his personal life because he didn’t talk about it much. He was a two time Purple Heart recipient as a WWII veteran. He had recently got to visit the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C. , travelled to Hawaii and Alaska where he had served in the Seventh Infantry. Information on his war time service came through other inquisitive family members. I have the telegram sent to mom and dad explaining that he was wounded in action. He was 25 years my senior.

There was apparently some competition between him and our other brother, Lester, who passed in July at age 90. They would have brief exchanges and bantering about the two different units they were assigned to. It was good to know he was always checking on Les the last few years.

I do remember the times one of my nephews and I would spent the night with him and his wife back in the 50’s. One time I went with him to his grocery store in Fresno and he sat me at a desk with a cigar box full of short pencils and crayons and I began my “career” of sitting at a desk and doing paperwork.

I recall the one time he lived in Salinas and he had purchased a new small car; yep, a Mercury Comet. His wife, Frances, commented that it would bounce all over if it ran over a pea in the road.

He worked and lived in Santa Cruz County as a candy and cigarette salesman for a while. The company provided him with a Morris Minor to drive and he served Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties.

One Christmas all the immediate family celebrated in Santa Cruz at my sister’s house and packages were opened and the front room was full of crumpled wrapping paper. My dad helped pick it all up and take it to an incinerator in the back yard where the next day it was burned. This was before the EPA. They scoured the house for one of his gifts that was missing, a very expensive pair of Florsheim shoes. The shoes were discovered burnt to a crisp in the backyard incinerator. I think there was an 8mm film clip in the family archives showing the charred remains. The family had a good laugh at the expense of my dad, especially all us younger ones.

He came to our house once after the passing of an aunt or uncle, and after the funeral he went out with the uncles, our mom’s younger brothers, to a bar and ended up in a scuffle resulting in a broken jaw. He was stuck for about three days staying with us because he could only drink fluid through a straw. I was ecstatic because my older brother finally stayed overnight in our house.

Merle was at the height of his glory when Frances and he were able to finally bring Julie into their family. This was a real moment of becoming a father for him. Julie has served him so well in his last years. I am proud of her and glad she is one of my nieces.

Several years ago, Merle drove himself to the hospital feeling he was having a heart attack. It shook him up a bit. Shortly afterward he voluntarily surrendered his driver’s license. He used buses and motorized scooter to get around until it was determined the scooter wasn’t safe. He was active and high energy right to the end, living alone in his single-wide trailer.

I didn’t have much contact with him in the latter years except for occasional phone calls. He had begun to suffer from dementia. But he did know who I was, little Larry.

I know I have written much of his story here because there are 92 years of history. But at this time this is what comes to mind. Rest in Peace, Merle.

Your Little Brother misses you.

Reunion

A few weeks ago I received a “heads-up” for my upcoming 50^th class reunion. Yes, it has been that long since I left the school campus with my high school diploma in hand.

I don’t know how time went by so fast! A lot of stuff was going on in 1963 that I wasn’t even aware of. I was 17 and naïve. I had certain faith based values and knew a few things. I struggled to maintain a grade average that was not too bad and often felt cheated out of honor roll.

It seems that I was just another number in a class of just over 200. I didn’t care for the social life on campus or off. I do remember the names of many fellow students who probably never gave one thought to me.

At moments I would like to attend the reunion but then again I am not the social type that would feel comfortable in that particular setting. Perhaps it has a lot to do with my essential tremors that would draw unwanted attention or comments from those who are somewhat crass in their assessment.  Or maybe it is the “party spirit” of the world that makes me uncomfortable. My career has taken me down that road often. No, it is not insecurity now; I have a hope of eternity that reaches beyond the small mentality of this world into Heaven where there is a place for ME!

It is sad to learn of the many that have passed from this life and are no longer with us. My prayer is that they had assessed their need of a relationship with God through Christ and have crossed into that place He has prepared for them.

Surviving fellow classmates, I encourage you to run the race with God at your side and let him see you to the finish line. Do not succumb to the ways of man and fall into the pit of eternal damnation. Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Remember, you have no promise to make it to any future reunion. But it will be so great to make the reunion in Heaven!

The Kind of September

The words of a song come to mind, "try to remember the kind of September" as I write this blog. I do find is difficult to remember what has happened in the short-term; is that a sign of dementia?  Lord, I hope not.

One of the reasons I write this blog is to stimulate the memory and keep things on even-keel as much as possible. If I wait to long, things tend to get out of perspective and skewed a bit chronologically. And sometimes my opinion gets in the way of facts if I wait too long to make a written declaration. Of course my post will always have a bias in my favor in as much as possible.

We have had a season of "HOT" weather. My energy level has declined. The yard work at the house gets done, but not the way I want. The backyard flower beds have weeds galore, but they are green right now.

With everyone's help, Carolyn and Micah, we got the spa up and running again and it is good therapy even though it is still hot in the evening. Carolyn thoroughly cleaned the inside after we filled it an drained it once to get the "yuk" out. So far it is really clean and better than I remember it being before. Carolyn was also able to get some household work done to clean up our bedroom. I still have a closet to get repaired.

Micah just started his 12 hour shifts for harvest. He was hoping to get another job before harvest but it hasn't worked out yet.

Our church starts the new Journey Group sessions this week, so as coaches we were busy all Sunday morning getting groups signed up.

The application for my work grant has come through and so the next few weeks I will be putting the application together so I can continue working through 2014.

I know this isn't a lot of remembering but that's the story for this post.........

I did forget to mention that our dog, Titus, took a great dislike to me recently and has bit me twice. Once on the right index finger and once on my left second toe. I'm still limping.