Cabin update

I am now the proud owner of a "tractor and bush hog"! Stephanie and I went to the cabin late Thursday evening so I could try it out on the over grown fields! Well... I think I got the hang of it after a day and a half! I finished up mid afternoon today because of a flat tire!!! Oh well, I went longer than I thought I was going to!

When we arrived yesterday we noticed that someone had been digging on our property. Needless to say, we were ticked until we noticed... It was the workers laying pipe for our WATER!!!!! Yes that's right... We Have Water!!! I am going to redo the interior plumbing (this was on my to do list, but now I will be moving to it sooner since the water has arrived!) then I have to run about 4o yards of pipe to the meter. Not too bad considering we thought it would be at least next year before we could "flush" a toilet!!

We will be heading back up there next week and I will keep everyone posted!!

Everyday Miracles?

Do you ever feel like you’re continuing life as always? Business as usual? Same ole same ole? Don’t you imagine that Peter felt that way? Fishing again, on this boat again, Day in day out, I fish. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I do. It’s just routine. I know what to expect. I have this all figured out. Then one day, Jesus, who is a carpenter by the way, tells Peter, the fisherman, to do something he’s been doing…all night…”push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch”. Peter, being just like us, has to state the obvious and says…”Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” No sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They yelled to their partners for help and they filled both boats until they were beginning to sink. (Luke 5:4-6 NKJ, MSG)

Isn’t that just like Jesus? We’re living life as usual, going to work, being a mom or dad, doing laundry, dealing with “stuff” and He comes in and says…why don’t you go to work, be a mom, do the laundry, deal with “stuff”? And we being all so wise think…what’s so great about that? That’s what I always do. In fact, I’ve been doing that forever and well…I haven’t even caught a minnow. Do we continue as Peter and say “nevertheless, at Your word”, I’ll do it? Or do we grumble and complain that life is routine, same ole same ole? Are we as Peter was? Just one regular, routine, average day or simple, obedient action away from a miracle? To our boats or lives filled to capacity? Do we miss what Christ has for us because we’re continuing life as usual and miss the adventure He has for our lives?

As I look out at the ocean with abundant life everywhere, I wonder what Christ has for me, for you. I know He has so much more that we are missing. It’s not that we don’t want it, for we do. We just get caught up with business as usual and miss the very fact that Jesus performed miracles in the very ordinary…as ordinary as a job of a fisherman casting his nets. Peter had to continue casting his nets to bring in the treasure. I hope that on days when life is habitual, tedious, and predictable that you and I remember that Jesus performs everyday miracles for those of us who are continuing business as usual. ~ST

Taking it all in.

Vacation forces me sit still for a time and think about what all I have done and what all I need to do. I know that baseball takes up the majority of our spring but my thoughts on this are... my boys are only "little" for a small part of our lives, and if this what they want to do we will support it 110%! On our way back home we will be stopping in Tennessee to pick up our new tractor so we can head up to the cabin to work there for a few days. There is always something to do. You know me... stay busy so I can stay out of trouble!!!

We are slowly waking up this morning just sitting on the balcony watching the beach come alive. The boys are slowly moving about and we are trying to figure out what we will be doing first. One problem here is the "jellyfish"! They have invaded the beach! The boys brought their skim boards to ride on the beach, but with all the jellyfish being washed up on shore it presents a problem. We think we will rent a couple of sea kayaks and paddle around for awhile. The waves are "flat" so we can not ride them either. Oh well!!!

Baseball Season has come to an end!

As the earlier post stated, we played the #1 Seeded team Wednesday around noon. I must say it started off going down a road that WE didn't want it to. As both teams were warming up outside the park one of their players yelled at one of ours a "racial" slur!!!! Yes, that's right... "get the ball "...."!!!! We the coaches went over to discuss this with their coaches and put a stop to it. The coach said that he would look into it and get back with us. He came back and said that one of their players "nick name" was ... "Chigger" and therefore we miss understood! (we all thought it was funny that the coach has never heard that "nick name" before!) Needless to say the game was starting off very badly!

The first two innings started off pretty good, they hit then we hit! They mouthed the whole time but I told our team to just talk back with their bats!!! Chandler hit a two run Homer and just walked from third to home. It was his way of saying "Back at ya!!!" Well the third inning came around and we just fell apart. It was the inning that would never end! Oh well it happens!

After that game we fell into the losers bracket and faced the OK Titans. Again, we came out swinging. We were up 4-1 in the fourth when one of their players hit a 3 run shot to tie the game. You could see the wind taken out of our sails! They scored two more and we couldn't answer back. The final was 6-4. We finished in the top 8. Not bad since we started with 20 teams.

We are now in Pensacola taking it easy and NOT thinking about baseball! (well, I'm trying not to) I have already received two calls looking for Chandler to play on other teams for next year! I think I just want to sit and enjoy my time with the boys while I have them. They are growing up to fast!!!!

Tuesday World Series Bracket Play!

Monday afternoon we had our final "Pool" play game (Loss 4-3)then each team was place in their perspective "Seed" for Bracket Play. With a 2-1 record going into bracket play we had the ninth seed therefore having to play the number eight seed team. Coincidentally the # 8 seed team was the very first team we played this week. The game started this afternoon around 5:30 pm with a two hour time limit. Well... needless to say we finished the game in an hour and thirty by "run" ruling them with a score of 14-4!!!! Our team had only 1 strike out and very few walks. We came out hitting and didn't stop!!! The last inning we scored 9 runs 5 of which were with 2 outs!! We will now play the #1 seeded team tomorrow at 1:15pm. We will keep you posted!!!

World Series Update...

We arrived in Collierville, TN late Friday night so we could be here in time for the "Team Check In". During and after the team check in our players were running around trading team pins. I think most of them traded with every team in our division. Saturday evening all teams were invited to a bar b que that was held in the "old" town square. I must admit that this was the best opening night we have been to. Other places have the teams parade around then sit while a "unknown" person gives a speech. Trust me... this was heaven!

Sunday we played our first game at 2pm against the Texan Senators. We won that game 3-2. Our next game was against the Collierville Reds. They are local team that was asked to play to even the number of teams from 19 to 20. We understood that they weren't that good and almost took them for granted. Well... the first inning they scored 5 runs on us! WOW! Well, we answered that with 6 runs. Our bats came alive!!! This game Chandler hit two triples and one home run!!! Great hits!!!! The final score was 14-7! Monday we play our last "pool" game at 2pm against the Mississippi Mustangs. Bracket play will begin Tuesday.

I will keep you posted!

400 Years?

This morning I woke early and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided I might as well face the day. Went downstairs to have some alone time. Loaded the dishwasher, started the sprinklers, and wanted to clear some thoughts with God. I was reminded of some things I already knew, but sometimes another reminder is always good. It keeps us focused and remembering.

After 400 years of silence from God between Malachi and Matthew, the Word of God came (Luke 3:2). What happened during that time? Was God sleeping? Or was His very precise, meticulous plan continuing during a time when there seemed to be no "fresh" encounter with Him. What did the people of that time cling to when they were waiting for God to reveal Himself? The Law? Legalism? Sameness? What where their securities? What do we embrace when God seems silent in our lives? Do we wait patiently or sometimes not so patiently in faith, or do we turn to old ways and actions?

Do we realize that life on earth is a detailed plan? In the beginning, God...and in the end, God. Alpha. Omega. First. Last. What about in between? Are we just existing? Or does God, who planned everything to perfection leave the in between times to just happen? I think not. The God who placed the stars in the sky, placed the sun at the perfect distance away, made man from dust, formatted DNA, created the atmosphere to have the proper levels of breathable gases, certainly doesn't leave us on our own. Even when God is silent, He is acting. Just because He's silent doesn't mean He's sleeping. Just how busy may God's hands be working when His mouth seems closed? What do we do when God is silent to us? What do we cling to? What are our security blankets? Are they good or bad? Habits? Sameness? Restlessness? Pain? Do our security blankets keep us from change? Do they keep us from realizing that it's about the relationship? Are we clinging to Him? Or something altogether unlike Him?

In all of our lives, we can have times when God is silent, He seems distant, and we wonder where in the world He is. Hello God, Are you out there? Rest assured, He's right there. He hasn't moved. He's the same, yesterday, today and forever. Just because He's silent doesn't mean He's asleep. He has a plan for us and a will for our lives just as detailed as all of His other plans. We must find a fresh encounter with Him and work on "us" and know that His Hands are moving on our behalf, don't be hindered because God seems silent in our lives, for surely He won't be silent for another 400 years. ~ST