Be Thou My Vision

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 ...