Today is a good day.

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****Before we get to the meat of this thing, you’ve only got until December 14 at 2359 central to enter the contest for the miserable (but clean) bedsheets and fruitcake. Don’t delay – subscribe now and enter to win! (Yes, I know we’re two weeks behind the original contest deadline, but I was a bit distracted.)****

First, to all of you who read my series about my girl, Maisie: Thank you. I track the web statistics and see that hundreds of you took the time to just look at her picture for a while. She’d like that. The girl loved an audience. Hated having her picture taken, loved the love.

Just wanted to report that the healing is underway. I got up today and had slept for 11 hours. Took a couple of days off sick from work to deal with incipient asthma problems and exhaustion from my crazy schedule and the emotional past few weeks. Felt pretty fine rolling out of bed.

Felt even better after breakfast at Mickey’s, 6 cups of coffee, and 4 glasses of water.

There was an uptick when I worked on the novel for a while. I’d gotten some awesome feedback on the critter and spent a few hours editing. (Not “happy” feedback but the kind I needed to hear. Thanks, Dylan. Solid critics who explain their reasons are a blessing.)

My background noise lifted the mood as well. I found some old Don Vogel bits on the web and laughed for hours. I miss him but in a good way. He’s been gone a long time (17 years… my how time does fly.)

Link to video

Better still while I worked on cutting the material for the ramp up the back stairs. Ed is needing more help with stairs (he’s always had trouble mentally with the concept of going up stairs) and the ramp seemed a bit overdue. No verdict yet on whether or not he’ll use it. One of my neighbors built it for me (anything I put together would look like a very drunken moron had taken lumber, screws, six hours, and a large dose of blindness before starting to just bash things together at random.) I’m just cutting the non-skid patches to put on it.

And tonight we celebrated my wife’s birthday. We really didn’t feel like it when it rolled around a few weeks back. Something about a friend dying and wanting to be home with her in her final hours. But tonight we ate at the traditional place, Moscow on the Hill. The food was wonderful, the tea hot and tasty, and the company superb. We began the meal with a toast – to Maisie.

We will always love her and miss her, but the pooch should be toasted. She was a big part of our lives for ten years. And she was an incredible blessing in our lives. I’m a little choked up right now thinking about her lying next to me on the couch and watching the tube. But it’s a good feeling deep down.

It is inevitable that we will lose people and animals close to us. A good friend lost her dog Piper today. I’m sad for her from the distance. But the certain knowledge that we will all be together in Heaven sure softens that sting. I’m not racing off to meet Maisie again, but I’m not afraid of the reunion either.

A few years ago I thought I was going to die from a stroke. Didn’t have a stroke, but it seemed that was the case at the time. I was fine with it. I knew my destination. I just asked Jesus to take care of my family and my friends. That’s the kind of Grace that God gives us: we can pass from this life without fear. Doesn’t mean it won’t hurt. Doesn’t mean we won’t leave a bunch of sad people behind. But it does mean an eternity of joy with our Father above.

So today was a good day. One of many to come. An eternity of them eventually.

My question to you is what are you anticipating when you pass? Are you ready now to go? Is your eternity determined by your actions and belief, or will it be up in the air if something were to happen in the next five minutes?

I hope you find those answers in Christ. It’s a joy and a comfort. And I’ll see Maisie again. That’s a bonus.

Still looking for that perfect Christmas gift?

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Before we get to the meat of this thing, you’ve only got until December 14 at 2359 central to enter the contest for the miserable (but clean) bedsheets and fruitcake. Don’t delay – subscribe now and enter to win!

Back to the topic for the day. Everyone of us knows someone that is tough to shop for at the Holidays. Perhaps even on their birthday. Or Fathers/Mothers day. Or Groundhog Day. That special someone you want to share your love with but can’t find the right gift. Perhaps they’re just the type who has wierd tastes and you never seem to hit the right buttons. Or, like my late father, they go out and buy 8 golf shirts the week before Father’s Day.

No matter the reason you find that shopping so difficult I have some suggestions on the perfect gift: give the gift of love. Give them something so much better than a gift certificate that it will humble your heart. What is that? The labor of your heart and the gift of financial security for good charities.

This year get out of your rut and volunteer. Go and man the phone bank at the local Christian radio station. Volunteer to feed the homeless. But do it the “other” way – do it for two or three dates other than Christmas and Thanksgiving. Lots of people volunteer to do that as a family event on those two days. The charities love the help, but a week later they’re struggling to meet the needs again. It’s not that it’s wrong, but people in need are around all year. Sit down right now and pick 3 dates you can put out for that activity and call the agency. They’ll be stunned when you call and say, “I’d like to come in with my crew and help feed the homeless on April 12th. We’ll pay for all the food and prepare it. We just need your help in doing it the right way.”

And then send the beloved who’s hard to shop for a gift certificate you make by hand that says, “In the name of Jesus Christ I’m sponsoring a dinner for the homeless. We will be feeding 150 people a hot meal in your honor to celebrate your birthday/Christmas/Mother’s day, etc.” Can you imagine the look? When you make the meal, take pictures and turn it into a little book (tons of web applications to do that) and send it to them signed by all the volunteers.

Whoa! That sounds like a lot of money and a lot of work. Not really. I do it twice a year with my good friends Pat and Pam. They round up the volunteers from among their church and work places, and I bring my looney bunch of pals along as well. Four of us meet a night or two before the meal and make up the meatloaf. It takes about 2 hours. Costs under $500 for the whole meal. It feeds about 300 people. We freeze half for emergencies when nobody can make it to help out or sponsor the meal. Two days later I get to the church at 7:30 and put the meatloaf in the oven.

When the other volunteers get there we set the tables, start the gravy, do the noodles, butter the bread, etc. And when the doors open we’re ready to do exactly what Christ has asked of us in taking care of our brothers and sisters. And we do it on days other than Christmas and Thanksgiving. It’s fun. Hard work, but the smiles are awesome. And I get to wear my chef’s coat.

Not very "slimming", is it?

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“But,” you say, “I don’t cook. And I don’t have friends that would do that.” Or, maybe that’s way outside your comfort zone. Cool. Then you find a great charity and donate to them in that person’s name and make up the same card/gift certificate and let them know what you’ve done.

“But there are so many bad organizations out there, I’m not sure if they’re reputable.” Once again, I’m here to help. Below you will find a list of genuinely good organizations that really need the help. They provide Christian programming, shelter for the poor, rescue for animals, Bibles for prisoners, and other great services. You are now officially out of excuses.

And if you feel that you cannot volunteer, or that you don’t have the funds to give, then you should just pray. That’s right. Here’s the link: Prayer Works. Just log on and pray for the people who have requested it. Dont’ make it a paltry stop. Give some serious time in prayer and you will not only feel better but you will be answering a need. And put into your card to Uncle Agzo that you prayed for 7 hours for people in need. And include a note about how it makes you feel to do that work. It might just prompt Uncle Agzo to think about his spiritual life as well. Again, isn’t that one of the things Christ calls upon us to do?

Do you have any further obstacles? I’ve given you labors of love, gifts from your hands, financial options, and the gift of prayer. Is there something I missed? What would you suggest to plug that “gift gap” in your life? And what’s stopping you from doing it right now?

I hope you have a great day. See you tomorrow.

KTIS radio

International Bible Givers

Cayo Christian Academy of Belize

Healing Haiti

Minnesota Sheltie Rescue

Lighthouse Radio in Belize

Union Gospel Mission

One final favor: when you do this, please leave a comment about what you’ve done. You don’t need to leave a dollar amount, or your name. But I’d like to see what ideas people have come up with, and which charities I’ve listed above they’ve donated to as a result of this blog post. It helps me in my writing.

“Winter Wonderland” is a perjorative term this week.

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Before you forget, you might want to subscribe and enter the contest to win a set of used (but freshly laundered) microfiber sheets from hades and fruitcake. Don’t even ask. Just go read the post.

From Zero to Winter in 27 hours.

The picture is beautiful. I love the way it looks. But I have to tell you the truth: I hate the way it feels. My beautiful, gigantic, powerful, sensational snow-blower bit the big one getting rid of this snowfall. And I’m tired from 4 hours + of trying to move it off paved surfaces.

You may not be victims of Winter’s wrath where you live (I have a surprising number of readers in warm climates (no, not that climate, silly)) who aren’t “snow saavy” and God bless them, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

This snowfall came after a week of warm temps. Which means the top few inches of soil were soft and moist. So, the snow comes down, melts on the roads and lawns and then the temp drops below freezing. The pretty snow turns to slush and then to ice. It’s very heavy. We call it “heart attack snow” up here – it kills off a lot of fat guys like me at my age. You go out and shovel and your heart takes a permenant vacation due to the stress. It also doesn’t “throw” from a snow-blower. It kind of… glorps. You’re lucky to throw it three feet. And that’s with a powerful machine.

Once it gets cold, which it usually does within a few hours, the slush turns to ice. And then the road follies start! Every intersection is an exciting place to exchange driver’s information with new people. And best of all, if you get 10 inches of new snow on top of the three inches of slush, you have to get rid of that somehow.

There is a theory that you need to do “space management” with the first few snow falls or you’re hosed. If you do not take the sidewalk and drive edges a few inches out from where the surface ends during the first snow falls, once you get another 30 or so inches the edges are so packed that they begin to encroach on the surface. It takes a lot of work to lift a shovel over that 3 feet of snow wall next to the driveway. So you shovel out wider than the sidewalk/driveway the first few times to give yourself some breathing room.

But, when it was warm like this past week, that means that my beloved snow-blower vomited turf when I went off-road. Green, leaves, dirt, etc., along with the snow. It’s just part of the deal and experienced winter snow management specialists learn not to wig out about it. But it looks bad and homeowners freak when they think you’ve destroyed their lawn. Not to worry: it always grows back in the spring.

Today, however, my neighborhood is frozen solid, around zero Farenheit, and there is dirt on top of the snow. My back hurts, my dog won’t leave the sidewalk to do his business (I even plow out an area for him, but he prefers the nice sidewalk for some reason.)

And more to come. I really hope they fix my snowblower quickly. I’m too darned old to shovel it all by hand. And until December 26th, I’m way too busy.

I guess snowfall is like all else in life: a mixed blessing. We need the moisture for the rivers and lakes. My yard was crunchy this year. But it is a chore when it’s happening.

What else in life is like that snowfall for you? Are there blessings hidden in a drift of dirt and cold misery? Can you see God’s hand at work and look past the broken snow-thrower? I often can’t and it’s something I’ve got to work on. What’s your challenge?

First things first.

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Sorry for the lack of posting Monday. Something about a blizzard, a broken snowblower and less than 6 hours of sleep.

Purple? Yup. Vikings, Skol!

Let’s get right to it: I’ve only had one entry in the contest for the used sheets and the fruitcake. You people … well, only 3 days left to get those entries in the works. So, head up to the right, subscribe and then send me a comment as to why you are worthy. Or, conversely, so miserable and wretched that you need to be punished with the sheets of doom.

On a happier note, I’d like to talk about the picture above. Continue reading →