Unearthly

As I stood watching from the door, I had never seen anything so unearthly before. Like out of a movie the red sky behind the treeline, behind even the clouds made me feel small. Like there was, millions of miles away, a huge galaxy that I was catching a glimpse of through the window of this blood red sunset.

I felt minute and vulnerable as I beheld layers of atmosphere with my bare, fleshly eye. The expanse of a vastness I had never comprehended fully was taking hold of my senses as if beyond this vast depth of awesome space, normally concealed by a mask of blue sky, a shroud of clouds or dark night, lay the true reality.

I inhaled a breath of air as if to see if I was really in this world.

The finite, mortal confines of my mind accepted this test, but deep down my spirit marveled at how truly real and majestic it's Creator is.

Lightning over my head flashed and thunder shook the clouds in it's wake, like it was testifying that even the power of the air could be divided, and for a moment my soul soared with my spirit at the knowledge that it was a part of something bigger, something greater.

Before my brain could remind me that my feet were on the ground and bind my heart in earthly fear, I truly understood that I was a spiritual creature living out a physical experience.

I felt like I was in a StarWars movie, in a spaceship. That feeling you know every astronaut must get as he looks and sees the earth he's left behind him.

Then I realized once again where I was at and turned back to my work. My eyes blinked as if to find their bearings. The feeling that a body gets after a long flight. Jet lag. Trying to catch up to reality.

Rain and wind surged through open windows. Outside I saw the foliage twisting in the wind.

If ever there had been a magnificent sight the night had covered it in an oppressive darkness and with such fury the wind blew as though to get rid of any remaining evidence.

In punishment the wind relentlessly wailed upon the earth.

Truant strokes of lightning crossed the sky as I went out to bring the last few cows into the barn to be milked. I took note that, for once, my parents have turned on every light on the first level of the house; even the back porch light for good measure. Since I had fully regained my physical senses I was grateful knowing there would be light to guide me home.

A sigh escaped my lips as I turned back to my job. 

Back to earth, still looking for that blessed hope.

Titus 2:13

Don't Marry Some Yuppie Girl

There's this reality TV show called Duck Dynasty. Maybe you've heard of it. It's completely hilarious. Anyways, I had to share this part where Phil Robertson is talking to his grandson about finding the right kind of woman while skinning bullfrogs. I kinda liked his advice:

"Don't marry some yuppie girl, you know what I'm sayin'? Find you a meek, kind, gentle spirited, country girl. If she knows how to cook, and she carries her bible and lives by it and she loves to eat bullfrogs, now there's a woman. See what I'm sayin'?

You see, the first prerequisite for marryin' a woman in my opinion: Can. She. Cook. You gonna be there for 50 years and you don't even know whether she can cook or not? What kind of thinkin' is that?! "Well, we'll just live off love." Not really. You'll starve to death.

She doesn't have to be a pretty girl. Just 'cause she looks a little homely, that's alright. It's hard to get a pretty one to cook and carry a Bible anymore. Pass me another frog." 

You can watch the episode for yourself by clicking here

"It's not just a wool cap."

 

"It's not just a wool cap. It's an opportunity." I was browsing the The Economist magazine and I couldn't stop turning back to this intriguing advertisement/picture. I took the picture up to my room desiring the time to sketch it and there it sat for a couple of weeks...
Until last night when, after a remarkably good day, I had a spare hour before work and decided to sit down at my art desk, where a blank page and a few boxes of colorful pastels were calling my name.

This is what came of it.

 I'd say I have a long way to go before I can make a drawing more "picture perfect." But at least I got the general idea down. That's more than I can say of my prior artistic endeavors. It's an exciting challenge!
...until next time.

The Apron

Every super hero wears a cape....

A mom just wears her's backwards.

Sugar & Sin

Ever since I was old enough to eat I've had a sweet tooth. When given a choice I'd always gravitate towards the delicious dish rather than the nutritious dish. I was the kid in the closet who ate a whole bag of chocolate chips or went back for a second helping of birthday cake, and I NEVER turned down a treat.

Now eight cavities, one really bad dentist, and a root canal later.....

I hate sugar.

...well don't get me wrong. I am still extremely tempted by it regularly. Like one of my friends said on facebook, "I need to lose some weight, stop eating junk food." *Few minutes later* "Oh my word. Is that a cake?"

However, now that I know what the consequences of eating sugar are and what it really does to my body, I am able to reason with my inner temptation for sweets and choose health instead of the momentary pleasure of a treat.

Still I must make an effort, due to the permanent damage I've acquired, to understand what I consume before I consume it. Also it takes even more work to stay away from sweets since sugar is everywhere and in everything. This culture I live in disgusts me. I have realized that the average American eats a sickening amount of sugar ever day. Have you ever gone to a potluck or a picnic? ....everything is tasty, delicious, full of crap that tricks your brain into thinking that you like what you're eating long enough for you to want another helping.

Sugar, sugar, sugar.

If it's not sweet we don't want to eat it. Food no longer has flavor, it's just sweet. Canned foods, boxed foods, bottled drinks. Everyone goes the easy route and has their food prepared for them and the direct result is a sick nation. Ask anyone about their ailments.... there's usually a wonderfully long list! God said that, "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" and so it isn't surprising that man rebels by buying their food from off of a grocery store shelf. Great is the price we pay for this laziness.....

All of my dental struggles and dealings with sugar have made me think of a spiritual parallel:  Sin.

Sin appears to be sweet. Delightfully displayed. Beautifully arranged so that it will be at a maximum temptation. Always lurking in every opportunity. "Sugar coated," is, not surprisingly, what we call it sometimes. It brings momentary pleasure but once you've sinned it brings you destruction.

Proverbs 6:27-28, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?"

What we do and what we consume is a choice. It is no mistake. Sure there are the things that happen where if we would have had the proper knowledge or instruction we might have chosen otherwise. Even in that case though, we often choose to ignore advice, wisdom and instruction and that's what leads to our "mistakes." How many times have you heard some woeful bloke say, "If only I'd have listened to so-and-so I wouldn't be in this mess."?
 
So, we can safely conclude that everything in life is a choice... whether it be choosing not to listen and therefore not having the knowledge to choose wisely, or just simply choosing the wrong things.

Sin and sugar. It comes in all sorts of different shapes and forms. Tempting, momentarily pleasurable, and it always ultimately leads to destruction.

Proverbs 13:25 "The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want."

The 236th 4th of July

Once again we celebrate the United States of America! What a blessing to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have the right to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Happy 4th of July!!!

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Who Doesn't Like Color?