Be Thou My Vision

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...

For years now God has planted in my brain thoughts and ideas that I felt might need to be shared. As of late, almost everything I see and do translates in my mind into a "devotional" of sorts. After publishing one of these on my Facebook account, I was encouraged to start publishing some of my thoughts. I've often dreamt of writing a book, but it seemed much too daunting of a task. Maybe it's much like the eating an elephant analogy, one bite at a time. It seems much more feasible to just post in small pieces some of these nuggets from God and we'll see what happens from here. Until now I have wondered why anyone would care to read about me or what I think. Truthfully, I still wonder that! We all have a story, why would mine be of significance? We all have thoughts and revelations why would mine be significant? However, as I grow older and find myself in a totally unexpected place, I see so much more clearly just how God has been weaving together the peo...