Blessed Lake

Good friends from days gone by,
It brings a teardrop to my eye.

A pot of soup gets passed around,
For a mere month they'll be in town.

They've lived their life in a far off land,
And been amazed at the movement of His hand.

I have to smile at the change through time,
We're getting shorter with every ringing of the chime.

Their kids are grown, married off and gone,
Yeah, time flies away like a bird without a song.

You glance away, a moment gone and then,
They switch from little ones to your very best of friends.

So twenty years of living the call,
You can see in their eyes that they're in for the long haul.

They're beautiful, the image of Your face.
They're beautiful, bless their feet and bless their place.

May their house be filled with blessings for the rest of their lives,
A place to find salvation and a rest from the strife.

They're beautiful, the image of Your face.

They're beautiful, bless their feet and bless their place.

They're beautiful, the image of Your face.

They're beautiful, bless their feet and bless their place.

A "New" Style of Cookstove

Tomorrow, I'll be putting together a video on my experiment on constructing a wood-chip burning cookstove.  Check it out at my other blog, Survive magazine, on blogger!  Click here...

http://survive-magazine.blogspot.com/

The Inexorable Pull

It was planned ages ago.  It was written after that.  Time is telling the tale.  Time is marching on.  But the end is in sight.  The end is inevitable.  What has been written is irrevocable, indelible.  And it HAS been written.

Look around.  See the signs.  They are clear, for the few.  To the blind all is dark.  Just as time marches on, so do the blind, stumbling toward the precipice, lemming-like in their hurry.  So much jostling, so much pushing, and all toward ruin, destruction.

As one snatched from the fire, am I, are the few.  I wish it could be different, but no...  Only a fraction will live, a tiny portion of the whole, just as it was written, long ago.

We have to live as secret rescuers, yanking those passing by on their way to the cliff out of the crowd.  In secret, yes, but boldly moving, always moving.  Always asking for the next opportunity to save, like our namesake.  Always laying down our lives, always striving against the tide, inevitable though it may be.

I ask myself, I ask you, have you taken every opportunity?  Have you given till it actually hurt, till the blood spilled?  Not yet, no.  But there is still time, all is not lost.

Simple.  Keep it simple.  No need, nor want, for monuments or temples.  We are the monuments.  We are the temples.  Stone is not holy, stone is not living, nor made in the image.

The shapes, the colors, the smells, the textures - all made in the image, and sacred.  But not all.  Only the chosen, the elected, from before time began.  And after time ends, all will bow the knee, and all proclaim holy.

The evil is rising, at a compounding rate, exponentially greater, faster, harder, uglier.  But it matters not.  It has been written, long ago.  It will surely come, and surely go.

Stand fast.

In From The Wilderness...

I'm back.  A wilderness it is becoming, more and more, as it was in days of yore.  I speak of the wonderful island from which I've recently returned, Tuesday, that is.

We had a grand time of it, my brothers, father and I, as well as several blasts from the past - friends of the family.  The barley pop was flowing, to most if not all.  Cards were played in abundance.  Testosterone was hanging thickly in the air, punctuated by a thin veil of estrogen - mostly in the cookhouse.  The lake was lovely, with it's breakers crashing on the shoreline, in every way looking like it could be nothing other than an arm of the some northern ocean, just lacking the salt.  The almost constant breeze was whispering through the branches and needles of the pines, cedars, and spruces, carrying along the rich scent of conifers wherever it went.  The earthy scent of birch and aspen leaves, freshly fallen on the fertile soils, was like a perfume to my senses in the depths of the forests.

My various companions and I spent hours stalking through the woods, leaves softly crunching under foot, as we sought the elusive avian denizens of the boreal forests there - the ruffed grouse, and woodcock.  Both of these birds were to be found in abundance, a product of the wide variety and quantities of foodstuffs in those fertile forests.

The wildlife of ages past seem to be showing up in greater abundance in the region.  There have been reported sitings of cougar/puma/mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, bears, and moose on Drummond Island, right outside the doors of the cabin where we stayed!  My brother told of an incident where another party of gents were in the cabin, doing the usual sorts of things done there, i.e. card playing, etc., when a black bear shoved his burly front paw through a glass window of the cookhouse, nabbed a gallon can of goodies,  crushing it, and left with a mouthful of their food, and perhaps a tail-full of lead - not long ago.

While we were there, one of the deer hunters was in his tree stand, over-looking a pile of apples, carrots, and sugar beets, watching a deer approach, when the deer spooked, due to the sound of another approaching animal - a bear.  The bear ended up directly below the hunter, who's knees were shaking uncontrollably.  The hunter succeeded in shooing the bear away in the end, but was looking out for a larger one that might have caused him more problems, like happened to someone from his city recently - momma-bear problems.

Anyway, we made it back safely, but miss being there greatly.

I will post some photos of our trip when my family sends them to me, for all to see and enjoy.

Ciao,

Panchito

New Post

Catchy name, no?  I thought you'd like it.

Anyway, where was I?  No where really.  So today, or rather yesterday, since it's now past midnight, was/is my birthday!  Happy birthday, me!  Thanks.  I'm getting older now, nearing the big 5 0.  That, at one time, was REALLY old in my eyes.  Now, not so much.  I can still work a huge portion of the population under the table.  My back is not what it used to be, my knees are in the same boat as well.  My hair seems to be moving in a southerly direction, toward the back of my neck.  My wife has me on alternative treatments, starting today.  This must be some sort of "hinge" day, a pivotal moment in my life.  Why did she wait till THIS day to get me on said "Program"?  The answers to these, and many other questions are simply beyond me.  I'll have to get back to you on that.


It's sleepy time.  Good night.

Panchito

Life on the Island

The dogs of summer are barking daily now.  We've gone through some extended, tremendously hot and humid weeks, ever since July.  It's now mid-August, and we had a two-day break from the oppression, which has been sweet, indeed.

Not long ago, in the last week of July, we purchased a lawn care company.  I had helped a friend of mine get his little company going some five years hence, via designing his logos, letterhead, name, etc., as well as helping him to learn some of the ins and outs of lawn care.  He came away, in the end, with around 23 customers, all residential more or less, which was pretty impressive for a guy who can barely speak English.

Due to some mitigating circumstances, he found himself in need of liquidating some of his assets, in case he felt a need to beat a hasty retreat.  So he offered to sell his company to us at a very attractive price.  Because of the fact that our kids are now at the age where they need jobs, and because we enjoy our time with them, we went for it.

At present, I am working on expanding the company into some commercial situations as well.  We shall see...

So what in the world is up with that Darkisle thingy, you might ask?  My last name is a Gaelic name which means "The clan of the dark islander", or "The son of the dark islander", or some such.  Therefore, I came up with the name Darkisle Gazette.  What is a dark isle?  Who knows?  It just sounds catchy to me.  I hope it does to you as well.  It's all in fun.

Ciao!

A life well-lived. So far, so good...

Just yesterday, my favorite person - my wife, experienced her 50th birthday party, a momentous occasion to be sure.  This lady has lived a most exemplary life, quietly loving ALL those she has come in contact with.  She is an astounding person, patient to the core (unless we're talking about her dealings with her computers, that's another story altogether).  She has successfully raised her first child to a wonderful expression of adult-hood.  She continually pours herself out, like a sacrificial offering, for her family.

I am truly blessed among men.

I love you, dear.

Here's to the next 50!

Let Calmer Heads Prevail

In the wake of...  Don't you just love to hear that phrase?  I love it. It makes you know that something really juicy is just around the bend.  I just finished watching a video clip revealing the debacle on the Mediterranean.  You know the one, where Israeli commandos took over a ship full of trouble-makers.  An asian woman, who happens to be a US citizen, gave the lowdown on the situation.  She  had managed to send out about an hour of footage, presumably via satellite.  Surely they knew that Israel wasn't going to allow anyone to slip in without some trouble?  That group was looking for trouble, in order to gain media attention.  Well, it worked.  Was Israel wrong to react that way?  Do they have any right to guard their borders?  Do we?  Does Mexico?  Does Europe?  Yes.

Logo design

Recently, I was able to create a logo for a personal trainer who lives outside of Portland, Oregon, in Victoria, WA.  He is actually the coach for an Olympic cycling team, as well as a personal trainer.  I thought you might like to see some of my latest work, so here goes:

So that gives you a little glimpse of my recent work.  If you, or someone you know, should need a logo designed, please don't hesitate to connect with me.  I am at your service.

Where I'm From...

From whence do I come?

From silver, glistening winter lands, where sleet turns dull, winter trees to a crystal forest, blazing in the sun, a pristine, prismatic palace that I could call my home, if I were hibernating. I'm from a land surrounded by vast waters, where waves crash, but taste sweetly, where ships of titanic proportions have gone with their crews to a watery grave, glimpsed only by the denizens of the deep.

But where am I from?

From cathedral peaks made by the hand of no man, where I walked among the giants of all forest-life, and felt lilliputian and out of me. I am from deep moss, trees growing out of broken off treetops, and hidden waterfalls, from the song of the hermit thrush off in the woods somewhere, and cold rain running down the back of my neck. I come from red earth, Mars-like, but full of dry life, where each swing of my hoedad brought a bit more pain and damage to my aching wrists.

But still, from where do I hail?

From the foreign sounds of little brown children, who look not a bit like me, where Conejo and Beto exchange blows over the little niña named Maria Elena who has such a pretty face. Where Elenorilda Alvarado Acosta wears her funny baseball cap sideways and calls her sneakers “TenixPanam”. Where I go to Mass and Padre Mauricio Roy does the whole thing in Spanish but you'd think it was French. He's from Quebec.  I'm from Organ pipe cactus, and flipping over hot, dry rocks in the blazing Sonoran sun to see if I could find any scorpions underneath. I think scorpions are cool!

I'm from peach groves that left my neck red and itching, but my face sticky from eating so many, and my belly full, where Eric nearly got bitten by a Diamondback Rattlesnake, which later that evening got eaten for dinner. Randy gave the rattle to some Mexican guy. I was ticked off.

I'm from Chiapas, Mexico, and fishing for shrimp in a tipsy, shallow dugout canoe at 2 in the morning, while caimans, and rather large crocodiles swim past in the dark, only their eyes visible as we shined flashlights at them. Mamá cooked us shrimp with eggs and tortillas for breakfast in the morning. I'm from washing my face in the cistern and seeing tilapia swimming by inches below.

I'm from Oaxaca, Palmas Largas, where the miracles happened, many were saved, and the beginnings of a revival broke out before my very eyes, where the old Zapoteco with the withered arm and no teeth pleaded with me to heal him and I did.  I'm from swimming in the river, under and around the boulders looking for the elusive green shrimp that live there in fear of the even more elusive, and preditory Chacal shrimps, which I ate with gusto.

I'm from the sound of metal against metal as the wedge is driven deeper into the round of ash, and oak wood with each successive blow of the sledgehammer.  I'm from Morgan pestering the dogs till they turned on him with a growl, but did no harm.  I'm from GregoriOso driving his Bobcat, and backbreaking work under the hot, Ohio sun.

I'm also from the sound of passing autos, the hum of computer fans, logo-creation for the guy in Portland, Oregon, and sucking down bitter, black coffee.

God help me. That's where I'm from.

Copyright 2010 Frank J. McAvinchey

In The Company Of Brothers

I stood in the company of brothers,
Arm in arm with the others,
Expectantly waiting for Jesus,
To pour for us out what He pleases,
That cool, strong wind to blow,
That warm, soft chill that I know.

And then it came,
And none of us will be the same,
Our lives quickly changed,
Our goals rearranged,
By that still, small voice inside,
In that place, He now can abide.

For Him we’ve given up much,
Wealth, liberty and such,
But oh, what we’ve gained,
The treasures attained,
But gladly would I give it all,
And throw my crown to His feet at His call.

And how many times have I fallen?
And yet I hear His sweet voice callin’
“Child, come and be near me,
Run to me, hear me,
Forgiveness is yours for the askin’,
I am the Son you will bask in.

I am the Morning Star,
I am the cool, soft rain.
And once I’ve come, you’ll never be the same.
Your life will begin anew,
Child, come and be near me, too.


*Two roads diverged in a wood,
And long and still that I stood,
When at last a choice had I made,
“Goodbye to the wide road,” I bade.
As that still, small voice,
Helped me make the choice,
And I’ll never,
No I’ll never be the same.


©  2003 Frank J. McAvinchey

  

* With acknowledgement to the influence of the venerable Robert Frost, my unwitting mentor.

How Mexico treats illegal aliens (OneNewsNow.com)

As many know, I am one who has bent over backward to show the love of Christ to the Hispanic population of Cincinnati, going far out of my way to serve them. However, I really have to agree with what this article spells out ever so clearly. Arizona's treatment of the illegal alien population, and the wanna-be's on the other side of the border, is a cake walk compared to the treatment of Mexico toward illegals in their country. Click the link below to read what I'm talking about.

Hate the sin, love the sinner - just like Jesus.

How Mexico treats illegal aliens (OneNewsNow.com)

'Enshrinement' of sharia a major threat (OneNewsNow.com)

I just read this little article, published by OneNewsNow.com. Faith McDonnell, director of the religious liberty program at the Institute on Religion & Democracy, makes a very valid and intelligent point. Click on the link to get the picture she presents...


'Enshrinement' of sharia a major threat (OneNewsNow.com)

The End of Days

So, it's 10:06am on a Wednesday morning.  The sun is up in all its glory, the sky is blue, it's rather cool outside.  I am thinking about the fact that yesterday, I won a contract to put a new roof on an apartment building in a town near here.  My wife was just asking how we were going to be able to even have money for gas for our cars.  We are living in a new reality, namely, that more than ever it is a good thing to be in Gods hands.

Something happened a couple of weeks ago, I can't go into details, but suffice it to say that I made a step forward in a critical area in my life and walk with God.  Something had been plaguing me for years, decades even, and suddenly God gave me grace to overcome it, to give it into his hands.  The most amazing thing is that the results have been immediate and amazing.  Many things seem to be happening that looked blocked before.  Business transactions that just would not come through, that were on hold, have started to break free, like a log jam coming loose.  It's amazing and cool to witness. 

Life is opening up for me.  I believe that this one thing has barred my way for nearly thirty long years, and is now fading away, swept back by the loving hand of a loving God, Yahweh, my God.  Jehovah is good, very good.

Come Lord Jesus.

Death by...

I got a call from my dad the other day, saying that an old friend of mine had died.  Well, he wasn't very old, and he wasn't really a friend.  The fact of the matter was that the guy, at least when I knew him, had a major problem with anger control.  I watched him beat some kid whose head was encircled by this guys arm, some 30 times in the face.  Once, when this guy was on crutches, sitting outside the locker room door at high school, he tried to trip me with his crutch.  Not a good idea.  I was recovering from my one and only alcoholic binge, and was in no mood to be messed with.  My reaction was to grab his crutch and fling it across the gymnasium.  That didn't sit well with him, so he came after me, hopping on one foot.  Apparently, he thought he could take me, even on one foot.  After receiving the reward of his efforts directly in the middle of his nose, the other kids in class grabbed him and kept him from destroying me, thankfully!  He came away with a broken nose, and I survived.

Well, I hadn't seen my friend since 1980 or '81, though I had heard that he was in and out of trouble, drinking like a fish, and taking drugs.  I guess he had had a hard way to go growing up with and alcoholic parent, and took his anger and frustration out in those ways.  Poor guy.

So, it turns out that he went to a party, and drank until he died.  That just seems impossible to me, and sad.  It makes me want to be sure not to become an alcoholic myself.  I'm bad enough without the alcohol.  Yeah!

Peru Turning to God

So, it would seem that the fire is getting stoked in Peru.

A Peruvian friend of mine just informed me that his church in Lima has started 24/7 prayer and worship, sparked into life by recent world events.  The people there, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, are seeing the signs of the times, smelling the coffee, and doing what every person on Earth who calls themselves by the name of Christ should be doing - repenting, praying and fasting.

You ask, "Why should I spend perfectly good time acting like an old woman, crying out to some deity, in an age where we have unequivocally proven that God does not exist?"  My answer, after 40 years of considering just that, is that the only thing that we have unequivocally proven is that we don't know squat, we don't know much more about what we think we know than we knew 2000 years ago.  It's a matter of honesty, really.

Let's consider the preponderance of evidence proving the existence of ETs.  Thousands upon thousands of individuals claiming abduction, hundreds of government officials, behind the scenes, admitting that THEY are certain that we are being visited, studied, impregnated, experimented upon, thousands of videos of UFO sightings.  So ARE we being visited by aliens from other galaxies?  Not according to the physicists that have been studying the video archives of UFOs.

Almost universally, and for very logical reasons, their response is that we are being visited by beings from other DIMENSIONS!  The UFOs do things that are completely impossible in our dimension, such as going from 0 to 16,000mph in seconds (think hamburger inside the ships), performing 90 degree turns while flying at very high speeds (without slowing down), materializing and de-materializing in a split second.  Where would they go if they de-materialized in thin air?  The only logical answer is to another dimension.  Physicists have now determined that there exist at least 10 dimensions.  Oddly, that concurs with the Holy Bible.  The biblical verbiage being heavens, which. by description, equal dimensions.  That's interesting, isn't it?

Chuck Messler has an excellent website that, if visited, and thoroughly investigated by non-believers, could very well make believers out of them by itself, it's that good.  Chuck, very convincingly describes in great detail, who and what he believes these "aliens" to be, and why he has come to these conclusions.  I'm convinced.  His explanations make perfect sense.

So we're talking about Nephilim, or giants, or demons, or angels, or cheribim.  In a huge percentage of the abduction cases, sexually-oriented experiments are conducted upon the women "victims".  Why the propensity for this sort of thing?  Are they "aliens" doing a cross-breeding program to come up with aliens that can live in our biosphere?  Or is it just as likely that a rehash of the oft repeated theme of the gods coming down and taking wives from among the sons of men is occurring?  In cultures around the world, there are legends that look suspiciously like the biblical narrative regarding "the sons of God" coming down and taking wives from among the sons of men.  Think Hercules, the son of Zeus, for instance.  There are many, many more almost exactly like it.  Could it be that the angels of God, who most often have appeared in physical bodies.  And if they did that, wouldn't their sons be incredible individuals?  Yes, they would be amazing, but not human.

Jesus Christ came, lived, bled and died exclusively for the human race, that would exclude the hybrid angel/human individuals.

To Be Continued...

Instapundit, An Eye-Opening Experience

Recently, I was re-introduced to a site called Instapundit.com.  Now everyone knows what "insta" means, but do you know what pundit means?  Audioenglish.net defines a pundit as • PUNDIT (noun)

  The noun PUNDIT has 1 sense:

1. someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field

This site is a serious eye-opener.  You will wake up the next day, and not recognize yourself, you will have learned so many alarming, amazing things about things of national importance, I did, and I'm a smart guy.  So check it out for ya'sef, homey.

Getting back to...

So, I'm working on creating another blog.  I wrote an article on it a little while ago.  It's called Survive, The Magazine for those of us who aren't going to lay down and die.  Pretty macho, eh?  Yeah, I think so too.

So the thing is, I'm trying to decide how to go about it.  I really want to create an online magazine, complete with multiple articles per month.  The purpose is to provide another mode for folks to prepare for what is doubtless around the bend, and help people survive the ordeal.  I see us, the USA, as living in a dream state, not living in reality.  We have lived many decades, propped up, trodding on the heads and shoulders of the "lesser" nations.  I suspect that the shtuff is going to hit the fan shortly.

I want to be ready-ish, and in making MY preparations, I intend to drag as many along for the ride as possible.  I've not lived a normal life, by any stretch of the imagination.  It's been a very different one for me.

Survive Magazine will, therefore, contain my own writings, and hopefully the writings of others who are moving in the same direction.  Since I am an Evangelical Christian, there will surely be lots of Jesus included in the mix.  We will discuss the possibilities regarding end-times scenarios, discuss theology pertinent to that subject, look at the various takes on the subject, and what to do, where to go, how to do it, how not to do it, and hopefully, be of service to our fellow man.

The blog will be called Survive Magazine, and will hopefully start within the next few months.  Survive Magazine will be hosted on blogger.com.

Ciao,

Frank

Oh, My Goodness!

I receive an email news source almost daily.  It IS a source that is heavily slanted in the direction of Christianity, I know, but still... I'm a Christian.

I just read an ominous article about potentialities coming from Asia.  Here is the link:

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2010/April08/0882.html

I think you'll find this interesting.

Any comments?

Ciao!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Yep, it's that day again.  This morning my oldest daughter, who happens to be my oldest, came into our room and said "Happy Resurrection Sunday!"  I said, "Happy Easter to you, too!", to which she replied, with a snarl on her lovely face, "I'll never say 'Easter' again, that is a derivative of the name of Ashtar, a female goddess of the Middle East area.  "Hmm," says I.

So within a few minutes, the young lady says, "I love Easter!", a big, sappy smile on her face.  I replied with, "What?", to which she said, "I love Easter," to which I replied, "What?", to which she said, "Oh!".

So we went to the park to hide "Resurrection Sunday" eggs, which turned out to not be eggs at all, but rather egg-shaped plastic containers which contained money.  The boy and I spent ten minutes hiding the entire lot, something like 40 "eggs".  Then the hungry horde descended upon us, the relatives, that is.  While I was busy hiding the "eggs", I was looking down at my handiwork, which didn't look very handy, when a pair of small, black feet came into my field of view.  The little guy asked me what I was doing.  I told him, saying that we were going to have a party.  The next second, the little guy ran toward the monkey bars, saying, "Trevor, we're gonna have a party.  He's hiding Easter eggs."  Too cute.

So we chowed heartily, the food quickly evaporating.  The conversations were good, for a change.  Most everyone was friendly.  And the best part... a relative that no one had seen in 29 years came to the party.  That was amazing.  She and her twin sister had vanished after their parents passed away in 1980, or so, never to be seen nor heard from until the last couple of weeks, then there she was.  The funny part is that one of the relatives had been working with her boyfriend for years, never knowing that connection existed till now!  Wow.

OUT!

We Will Wait Upon The Lord...

I'm sitting in the "Prayer Room" of the Cincinnati House of Prayer, listening to a particularly calm version of "Let It Rain", which hails originally from IHOP KC (International House of Prayer, Kansas City).  I'm on staff here at C-HOP, currently participating/leading 2, 2-hour prayer/worship sets (for a live view of what that might look like, click here  www.ihop.org/theprayerroom.

Having been recently conversing with a good friend of mine regarding the opinions, findings, and research of one Chuck Missler regarding past, current, and future events/occurrences of a biblical nature, and having spent quite a while now listening to reading the opinions of and agreeing with, Mike Bickle at IHOP KC, you'd think I'd be in quite a quandary regarding who's opinion to cling to.  That would not be the case, however.

Chuck Missler seems to make quite a few very valid points regarding the End Times scenario/s, including a rather convincing explanation as to why we, the Christian believers, will be raptured BEFORE the Great Tribulation, and not during, nor after.

Mike Bickle, on the other hand, is certain, certain I say, that we are NOT going to be raptured BEFORE the Great Tribulation, but that we are going to be raptured after ALL of that hairy, nasty, and absolutely hellish series of events rock the entire world, that is if we survive till then.  Mike is convinced that we will be taken up with Him, the Lord Jesus, as he returns exactly 1260 days after the "Abomination that causes Desolation" enters into the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, desecrating the Temple via sacrificing a pig on the altar.

I was concerned when my friend presented me with this "new" notion, one which I had previously espoused as recently as a few years ago.  Yes, I read the "Left Behind" series, and with great relish.  That was the exact stance that I thought for sure was the only correct one out there.  I believed that until I heard Mike Bickle's take on the rapture of the Church.

At this point in history, I'm thinking that someone MIGHT be correct, but I'm not sure.  Therefore, I MUST take the stance that Mike's version of the truth is the one to prepare for, while keeping in mind that it might just be wrong.  Sorry Mike!  Sorry Chuck!  You're both great students of the scriptures, and you both present an excellent example of "Preparing for the Day of the Lord", and being faithful to the Lord.  May your lamps burn brightly till he returns, and may you both draw millions into the fold, and prepare them for the inevitable, which ever version pans out to be the truth.  I love you guys!

Ciao!

10 Days of Vacation... Ahhh!

Truth be told, it was a restful vacation that we just experienced, albeit a tad on the odd side of things.  Picture this - for the second time in almost 23 years, my wife and I got away ALONE!  The kids are now old enough to leave at home, while we are gallivant about the countryside.  It is an amazing thing to experience such freedom after all that time.  All I can say is... Ahhhh!

So the boy, who has, I may have mentioned, surpassed my stature by a bit over an inch at present, had to go to Missouri to participate in the National Home School Basketball Championships (or some such).  His team came in 5th in the nation (amongst home-school teams that is), while the boy garnered 2nd place in the slam-dunk competition!  That's my boy!

So the wife and I, getting back to the matter at hand, spent 10 days constantly in one another's company.  At this point in the process, we are fairly used to one another, and being extremely calm individuals, were able to return to our homestead alive, and unharmed.  That could easily be seen as a miracle by a large percentage of the population today.  Most, I believe, would expect us to implode after just a few days, or perhaps explode.  But no, we came out completely unscathed.  Woo-hoo!

On the way to Mizzou, the wife and I listened to a book on CD that kept me awake all the way there, that is to say, it was most interesting.  Whenever a book gets referred to as one that kept me awake, well, you get the idea.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember the name of the book at present, and the wife took it back to the library.  I'll get back with you on that one.  Sorry.

Then there's The Hunger Games, by some woman who's name escapes me.  Oh yes, Suzanne Collins, that's the name.  That was an interesting one.  I read that after arriving in Branson, MO, where we spent the a.m. and nights.  Branson is NOT my style, at all.  The accommodations were quite nice, though, in Branson, MO. The Hunger Games is set in the former U.S.A., partly in W.V., and partly in CO - Colorado.  It's a post-apocalyptic journey through a world that is not much like ours,

Well, I just woke myself via a deep, heavy duty snore, so good night to all, if anyone is reading.

Frank

Teenage Angst

I have a son, 16 years of age, who has surpassed my height now.  I find myself unconsciously standing straighter, trying to be taller next to the young punk.  It's rather disconcerting to look slightly UP to someone whom you've always heretofore looked down at.  Hmph!  It feels unnatural, weird, and generally not right.

13 years ago, my wife took the chubby-cheeked, platinum blonde little guy to the doctor, who commented that "He's a big one."  After a series of tests, the doctor, with raised eyebrows, concluded that the boy  would end up being between 6'6" and 6'8" tall when he had completed his growth cycle.  That made MY eyebrows raise.

At this point, the "boy" is 6'3", and probably not done growing.  He is a basketball machine.  Although not yet of giant stature, he is rather large, eats sort of like a LARGE horse, and has size 15 feet!  Heavens to Mergatroid, that's a big kid!

So we just finished tournament number 3.  The boy's team took first in the state of Ohio (homeschool), and we still have to go to Missouri for the final tournament - Nationals.  Lord have mercy, that's a whole bunch of tournaments.  You'd think the kid had joined the NBA or something.  Now he's having to make a new decision, and make it by this Saturday - whether to try out for an AAU team, or go to a basketball "school", either of which costs more than seems to be trickling in to our bank account these days.

So we had to tell the poor little fella that he'd just have to find another solution to his hoop dreams, like an AAU team that doesn't travel, or a job perhaps?  Or both.  The kid IS an amazing basketball player, usually making his opponents look bad, no matter what shade of melanin they may contain.  Makes me chuckle, makes me happy, too.

I can easily see the guy winning a scholarship to some level of university, whether D1 or other, I don't know.  He seems to have his sights set on going to a Christian college somewhere or other, and playing ball for them. Afterward, he is thinking he'll perhaps play for a European team, and then who knows?

Thank you for your support!

Out

SURVIVE Magazine - the .jpg!

Survive Magazine

On a whim, I decided to create a magazine.  The original intention was really just to create a portfolio piece, but somehow, that turned out not to be enough.  I am actually working on creating an online magazine called SURVIVE Magazine, and it kicks butt.

I will try to include a copy of the front cover for your personal enjoyment.

This bi-monthly publication will start out kind of like a blog, but with multiple articles included in each edition.  It will be intended as a valuable resource for Christians principally, but also will be a wealth of info/knowledge for anyone to use.

This will be a preparedness/readiness/survivalist magazine with a completely Christian outlook.  Survive will, therefore, not only contain articles about how to put together a bug-out bag, but also articles about the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 & 4, not only how to create a soda can alcohol stove, but also the Sermon on the Mount.  Survive Mag will contain excerpts from many books on theology, and interviews of prominent, forward thinkers in the field of sustainable housing design.

So there will be multiple things of interest in each edition for any and all.

I'll keep you posted.

Panchito

My Newest Post

Greetings to my millions of readers!  God love ya!

I was just attacked by my feisty young child, after I pestered the poor thing, of course.  Kids are fun!

Now then, on to the next subject:

I am in the midst of creating a chicken coop!  Yes, I can see you're excited by that piece of news, I would be too.  My friends, Ed and Micheal, have jumped into the fray with me, and this very day we set about building a chicken coop.  Huzzah!  Huzzah!  We have calculated that, since each chicken needs 4 square feet of floor space inside the coop, we need a twenty by twenty building to house our planned flock.  So how many chickens is that, you ask?  The quick answer, which also happens to be the long answer, is 100 cluckers.  "What?  Are  you out of your mind?" you ask.  Well, let's not delve too deeply into that topic for now.  We're here to discuss chickens, remember?

One hundred chickens, when mature, will give us around 90 eggs per day, depending on the variety of clucker, and myriad other factors.  "But what in the world are you going to do with that many eggs," you ask.  The short answer...  that remains to be seen.  But it doesn't take a person with the level of creativity compressed into MY brain to understand that there's a large market out there for organically produced eggs.  They taste better, and are NOT poisonous to humans or the environment, unlike the crap sold in most grocery stores today.

As a Christian, I feel that I have a responsibility to steward what God has placed in my hands to the best of my ability.  This world falls into that category in a big way, and I, as a Christian, have GOT to be at the forefront of the responsible crowd there.  Does that mean that I think every Christian should be an environmentalist?  Yes, that IS what I think.  Why?  Because God told us, way back, to steward the Earth, period!  There, that was easy.

That being said, every one of us should figure out what that means in our own personal context, without using that sort of statement as a cop out.  Should we be polluting the place that God gave us to wisely use?  Should we be participating, or merely not resisting the tendency of humanity to drive species to extinction?  Should we NOT try to live in such a way that we are NOT destroying, polluting, fouling, poisoning, remodeling, removing, replacing, or overwhelming this fragile planet we've been placed on?  Umm, no, we shouldn't.

We disciples of Jesus of Nazareth should be THE environmentalists.  But that doesn't mean we should be tree huggers, bunny savers, fur painters, tree spikers, or other sorts of malcontents like that.  We should simply, quietly, do the work of the King, in all it's forms.  Well, perhaps not always quietly, sometimes you've got to raise a cry.

The main focus of all of us who claim allegiance to Messiah must be to carry out his orders, especially those he gave immediately before ascending into Heaven, namely,


He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.