Monday, June 30, 2008

Almost Vacation time!

Well, another week has passed with no new posts. I am getting better about waiting two weeks between posts. I'm trying to get this blog thing to stick in my mind so I will post regularly.

I really don't have a lot to say at the moment, I am getting ready for a needed vacation. I think my mind has already started the process of checking out early. My wife, kids and I are headed to Arkansas to visit with my mother’s side of the family. I am excited about it. We are having a reunion (1st one in 30 years). My mother is one of seven brothers and sisters. I have a LOT of cousins so it will be a Big to do.

The one thing I am excited about for this trip is that my kids get to experience the essence of a small town July 4th celebration. I remember as a young boy probably as far back as 4 years old riding on a tractor with my father in the parade. At the end of the parade route all the floats, tractors, cars and everything else people wanted to decorate and show off would rush to get the "tricked out ride" to it's rightful parking spot, be it the owner's home or the tractor company or car lot or where ever, and get to the community picnic grounds. This town shut down (and still does) and everyone was (and still does) go for a day of good wholesome family fun. I want my children to experience the spirit of a small town gathering to celebrate something that is special to everyone. So we will be doing the ring toss games and I hope the miniature train is still operational and we get a ride or two around the small oval track that sits at the corner of the park beside the main road. I will make an attempt to capture some of this small town's celebration of our great countries 232nd Birthday as well as out family reunion and share it with you. Keep an eye out and if I get the chance while we are there I will post some stuff here to share a portion of my childhood and the current affair with everyone.

What about this dry weather? I was riding past Lake Cunningham (a small man made lake near our house yesterday and I noticed the water level has gotten so low that plant life had grown high enough to clear the top of the water. It is covering it and will soon look more like a marsh area than a small lake. On that same note my sister-in-law was a Lake Hartwell this weekend and told me it doesn’t look like the same place due to the low water levels. Another friend that owns a cabin on Hartwell was telling me early last week the cove his cabin is in is so low. He said the deepest part of the cove is no more than 15 feet. He had to move his dock last weekend and said they had to disassemble a large portion and leave it where it was because the water was so shallow that it was dragging the bottom and they couldn’t get it to move. We are going to have some serious problems if we don’t see a good bit of rain in the very near future.

OK, I’m getting a little long so I will go for now and try again very soon.

Monday, June 23, 2008

What a Day!

Yesterday started with a great service at Freedom. We had the last of the "One Prayer" series video sermons. This guy spoke from the most beautiful locations I have seen. He was in Hawaii. Honestly I had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying. I caught myself thinking about how warm it must be there and wondering what the parts I couldn’t see must look like. But I managed to bring my self back to what he was speaking about.

I mentioned in the last post the band was playing. Well, that was last night and it was absolutely AWESOME! We were at Heritage Baptist Church. This is a church that knows what getting out and helping the ones that need help is all about. I heard stories about some of the things they are doing with the homeless in this area and WOW! There are no other words to describe it. I’ll write more on that later. Anyway, here is a condensed version of the evening. We started to play the first song and I noticed the three men I knew were on church staff, standing in the front row, they were dancing, singing and having a wonderful time. That really got me pumped up. I noticed every one else was having the same great time. The guys and our lone “Princess” were on top of things last night. We had a great time praising God! I’m still getting chills thinking about it. We will be back there soon and I will let you know when. After the service my wife and I spent some good quality time over dinner with some of the band members and their families. I love these guys like my family. They are great!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Misc. Thoughts

What is up with the weather? We are more than 20” behind in rain fall and my lawn has only been mowed twice this year. That in itself amazes me. I’m afraid we will see water rations soon if we don’t get some of that wet stuff to fall soon.

What about those gas prices? You know it was not too long ago that we were saying $2.65 a gallon that is crazy. It wasn’t long before that we were complaining about $1.37 a gallon. That was when my family lived in another state. A state where gas is more expensive than it is around here. And today I paid $3.70 a gallon. I know that is not the best price but it certainly is not the worse around here and is most definitely better than the $3.90’s and $4.00’s we are hearing about on the news. I keep telling myself, “It has to get better soon.”

The kids have been out of school for a couple of weeks now. It looks like next week will be the beginning of the busy season. Someone is on the go every week the rest of the summer all the way up to two days before school starts back. Of course that means the kids parents will be on the go the whole time as well.

The election is coming soon. I guess we all need to spend the next five months filtering out the junk and deciding who is most suited to lead the country the next four years. I pray that everyone seeks God’s direction in the direction He wants our country to go in the near future.

OK, my last rant and then one point of interest. Wages are the same or very close to what they were a year ago. Now everything else is getting more expensive on a daily basis. And that could possibly be monitored on an hourly basis rather than a daily basis.

Our church is participating in the “One Prayer” Program at this time. If you are not familiar with it or just want more information check out the One Prayer website. Should you have any questions about “One Prayer” just leave a comment and I will try to get the answer for you.

The band has the stage at Heritage church in Greenville Sunday evening. Well, it starts at 5:00 pm. But it is going to be a great worship service. If you get a chance to come hear us look me up when it is over. I would love to know you are reader or a fan of the band or you are just there and I may know you. Let me know of your presence.

Well I am tired and ready for bed. I’ll catch you up as time allows.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

I'm Still Here

Hello everyone, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I will post something soon. I have not been home a lot lately. Check back in a day or two. OK! See you soon!