Be Thou My Vision

T he other day I was cooking dinner and needed to pull something from the oven. Seeing no pot holder handy, I grabbed a dish towel to use instead. As often happens, a simple act brought back a flood of memories. I remembered watching my sweet grandmother, Mammy, do that a thousand times. I don’t remember her ever having a collection of “pretty” dish towels or pot holders. If she did, she was saving them! They weren’t the ones she reached for to do the job. She typically grabbed hot things with either the bottom of her apron or used one of her well worn rags as she called them. We used to laughing say she had “asbestos hands”. Mammy used, washed, and reused rags for everything. They weren’t pretty, but they served a multitude of purposes very well. What looked like rags became something much more in her precious hands, I got to thinking how like those rags we are, not pretty, nothing special, but in the right hands for the right purpose, very functional and quite valuable. ...

I read an article recently about flowers in which a chemist works with the enticing floral aromas which will be used in perfumes. Tucked away in the article was this finding; while doing her research, the chemist discovered that the instant a rose is cut from the bush, it’s fragrance is altered. I found that to be amazing and profound. Imagine, cutting a rose from it’s vine or bush, immediately changes it’s fragrance. How about me? What happens to me when I am cut or separated from “the Vine”? In John, Jesus teaches a powerful lesson about being either attached to or separated from Jesus, the Vine. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you . No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you be...

Almost 20 years ago, when we were moving into a house we had built, I had a wingback chair made by a local furniture maker. At the time I ordered it in a country blue and peach stripe fabric. It seemed like a great idea at the time. Now that seems quite unappealing, but at the time it was “in” and matched my other country decorating style. When it was completed, we moved it in, but for some reason, it was a very under utilized piece of furniture. You know how there seems to be one chair that catches all the stuff, but is rarely sat in. When we left that house and moved to our farm the chair was in storage in the loft of the barn while we built our house. Four years later when it was time to move in all the stored furniture, the chair was in need of some serious work. It seems that the barn cats had utilized it plenty as their own personal kitty bed. After some deliberation about whether to chunk it or rescue it, I decided to have it recovered. Maybe at last it would be more ...

H ere on Long Island our local wholesale buying club is called BJ’s. It’s like Sam’s and Costco. Pretty much everyone I know buys at these wholesale monsters. The prices are usually better, but the catch is they require buying in bulk. The problem comes in when you don’t have the space to store all the loot that seemed so appealing and desirable in the store. Who has the space to store 18 roles of paper towels, 36 roles of toilet tissue, oatmeal in bulk, or all the other things we lug in? A few months ago, while shopping for groceries in BJ’s, I spotted a big package of frozen chopped spinach. The big bag contained 3 “smaller” bags that each contained about one pound each. One of my planned meals for the week called for frozen spinach. So, why not buy enough for future meals that might per chance call for the spinach. Great idea, right? There is, however, one complicating factor. When I lived in Tennessee, we had three, yes three, refrigerators, and 2 freezers. It was gre...

I’ve always loved the story of David and Goliath. Since early childhood the story has been read and taught to me by a variety of teachers. I have studied it numerous times myself. It’s one of those stories that we all love, hero versus villain, the underdog triumphs. The small, young David goes up against the mighty giant Goliath. I always wondered what in the world would possess him to just march right out there on that patch of desert armed with a slingshot and five small stones to face such a formidable foe. What was he thinking? In a recent study of the life of David, I realized what I had been missing. David had been sent to the battle field not to fight, but just to deliver lunch to his brothers, the real warriors. While there, he was so incensed by Goliath’s continued taunting of the Israelites, that he took responsibility for what must be done. In I Samuel 17:32 he said to King Saul; “ Let no one lose heart on account of this Phillistine; your servant will go and fi...

Recently there has been a couple of construction projects going on at and around the barn here at the Ranch. Along with any construction project there always comes an inordinate accumulation of not only scrap wood and discarded plastic, but as always empty water bottles, cans, and various food and snack wrappers. It seems to be a necessary evil of any building project. So what’s the problem, you ask? Well, anyone that knows me knows that I’m somewhat of a control freak and I like things neat and in order. I love everything in its place. Even at the barn I like all my barn stuff tidy and in its place. It makes life easier, especially when I’m dealing with multiple adolescent boys. It’s one of my barn rules. Put everything where you got it! So as the clutter accumulates so has my frustration level. I know all that stuff is a common by-product and that the end result will be these much needed new structures, but in the meantime even moving the horses from place to place mean...

While doing a Bible study on David this week, I was led to the scripture in John 12 about Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointing the feet of Jesus. I’ve read that story so many times, but there was something that struck a chord with me this time that had not done so before. As the story goes Martha, the always busy other sister, is occupied serving the guests. Mary instead chooses another alternative. She took a pint of pure nard, a very expensive perfume, and anointed the feet of Jesus. Then in pure love and devotion she wiped his feet with her hair. Can you just picture this scene? This sweet woman kneeling at the feet of Jesus and tenderly rubbing his tired feet with this precious perfume and then wiping them with her own hair. At this point in time, Jesus crucifixion is imminent, and Mary chooses to honor the man, Jesus, in the most special way she can. In complete humility she knelt at his feet and used up the precious perfume that would have been used to prepare his b...

Since coming to the Children’s Ranch, where I work, I am learning a whole new language. Who would have thought that within the same country, that the language could be so different. All of our boys come from troubled backgrounds. They are street-wise and tough, or so they think. They love trying to teach me their “language” and they love to hear my Tennessee sayings. We have great fun sharing how differently we communicate. Much of their local flavor speech is rooted in gang and street life. I’ve learned that “bumfy in the hood” means comfortable in your surroundings. “Scrap” means friend. “Dolo” means all alone. “Mad” means a lot of or to the extreme, like my truck is mad dirty or I want mad macaroni and cheese. All of this is completely new to me, but knowing their language helps me better understand them. It’s really pretty necessary to know what they are talking about. But now I find myself picking up some of their speech just be being around them so much. In this w...

When we were considering relocating to Long Island, NY, we were told that the weather was very similar to our weather in TN. 8-10 degrees cooler they said, very little snow they reassured us. Well it is now mid-February and we have been buried under snow since December 19th!. One snow on top of another for about 6 weeks now. The piles of plowed snow keep building to record heights. I know this is an unusual year, but enough is enough. There has been record snow even in TN this year. The snow is beautiful I admit it. Nothing makes things look as fresh and clean as a new layer of beautiful white snow. Problem is that it makes everything harder. The wind and the cold require layers and layers of clothing. Walking becomes aerobic exercise due to the need to wade through the deep snow. The same work takes much longer in the snow. Even worse is that I know that beneath the freshest layer are more layers of dirty snow from the previous ones. It piles up layer upon layer. Every...

The iPhone is all the rage these days. They really are an amazing gadget. I don’t have one, but I see folks touching the face of them to do everything from make a phone call to find the closest Chinese restaurant complete with GPS navigation and the price of the meal. I must confess that I am sometimes seized by phone envy. It just looks so inviting to have all that information at your finger tips. The way I understand it, iPhone owners can download their choice of apps, or applications, to their phone. Evidently there are over 100,000 to choose from. With the appropriate app one has access to movies, music, food, directions, trivia, and the list goes on. Who would have ever thought of all that being accessible in moments all from a device that fits nicely in even a small pocket. From one who is still amazed by a radio and perplexed by how a fax machine works, the iPhone is way beyond my comprehension. I was thinking about that when it I had an epiphany. As Christians we ...

Every time I order or sign up for something online, I have to enter my birthday. I’m fine with that until I get the the year of birth! There is something very sobering about having to scroll down until you get to your particular birth year. As you scroll down, the years just whiz by. In my case, 59 of them. From 2010 to 1951 is a long way. Fifty nine years, how could that be? I don’t feel like I should be old. I don’t feel ready for the senior citizen’s discounts. I still ride horses several times a week and deal with adolescent boys every day. For the most part I got here relatively unscathed. I’m healthy for my age and other than getting stiff and joint aches and pains from all my old injuries, I’m good. I consider that blessed. So, how did it happen? How did I all the sudden arrive at 59? I think there has been a cosmic miscalculation. Did I doze off for a few years? Where did all those years go? The Word tells us over and over that this life is short. My grandmo...

If you’ve ever watched TV you know about the witness protection program. I think it really does exist in real life, but we probably won’t ever know if any of the people that we come in contact with are in that program. Thus the reason for it. You know the deal. Someone typically has been involved in less than honorable activity. After some turn of events, which usually means that they have been caught, they agree to testify against the “big boss” in exchange for immunity and a new identity including a new location. Essentially they get a new life, a clean slate, a fresh start. It occurred to me that as a Christian my life is like being in the witness protection program with tons more benefits. We come into this world as God’s precious creation. We were created to love him and each other. He gave us his Son so that we could have access to him, forgiveness of our sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as our helper and guide. Most of us know that but for some reason or ...

This week one the boys, who I’ll call Marcus, went AWOL. That means the same thing here as it does in the military, absent without leave. He left the Ranch without permission and headed back out into the same world he was sent here to get away from. He ran away and is in hiding. His reason for leaving is what is so sad. Marcus came here after getting in trouble. He was angry and bitter, responding to every perceived injustice with hostility. As the weeks went by his life was touched by some caring, loving people and he softened. He gave his life to Christ and was baptized. We watched him start to respond to our love for him and give it back to us. He began making plans for life “after the Ranch”. His life looked promising. So why did he leave? The problem is that the past came back to haunt him. The results of a drug test collected weeks ago came back positive. Unfortunately, all the changes he had made and all the right steps he had taken toward living a life of hop...

Today it finally warmed up and it was a good day for riding the horses. Since the boys here at the Ranch had been cooped up more than usual due to all the bad weather, the idea of riding horses was especially appealing. So this morning I found myself at the barn with 6 teenage boys and 15 horses. Among the horses was a very unhappy 6 month old colt being weaned from his mother, the mother who was whinnying loudly to her baby, and a new and very nervous thoroughbred, Bella, who was convinced that all other 14 horses were out to kill her. Add to the mix a very cantankerous miniature donkey that decided to bray especially loudly and charge at the fence just to irritate the new gal. Just to make things especially interesting we have a stallion who discovered Bella and was struck by cupid’s arrow. Love was in the air! Now all that just covers the horses, I haven’t even mentioned the boys. That mix included two who had never been on a horse and had to go thru the horsemanship program. The ot...

As part of my duties as the farm hand for the Timothy Hill Children's Ranch on Long Island, NY, I head to the barn early every morning to feed all the critters, break the ice again in all the buckets and troughs, and always muck out the stalls. I have a couple of the boys at the Ranch that love the barn and the horses. They would spend every waking hour there with me if they could. They love the riding, but like a true horse lover they love everything about the barn. These 2 boys are some of the more wounded spirits here. We spend those early morning hours working and talking. Even though they regularly cause and get into trouble elsewhere, they never give me a minute's trouble when they are at the barn. It is truly their best therapy. This morning they were brushing and playing with the 7 mo. old stud colt named Marshall. I was cleaning the stalls and thinking as always and it dawned on me that I was glorifying God in that lowly job! God is really using me in this of all place...