Snow Fence

These crop up every winter along several of the roads around us.  They are designed to keep blowing snow from drifting onto the roadways and they work wonderfully.  When I first saw them years back, with the big gapping holes between the slats I thought there was no way that would stop any snow from getting onto the roads, but I was wrong.  The theory is this, the fence doesn't have to stop the snow, just re-direct the air.  The snow follows the air-flow up & over the fence and drops on the other side before it gets to the road. Real simple.

The protections we have from menacing drifts that attack the progress of our Christian lives seem frail due to the weakness of our flesh, yet success is dependent on the air, the moving of the Holy Spirit of God.  So fight the good fight of faith, pray without ceasing & find His word and eat it up, but also remember that without Him you can do nothing.


Chuck

ZAP!

We are still working on getting the dog to behave himself.  He's not too bad, but he goes ballistic when company comes over, running and jumping and just plain being annoying for everyone.  So the solution?  The Shock Collar!  It arrived the other day in the mail and as soon as we put it on him he started acting different.  I think he may have had one in the past.  You'll notice in the PIC that there are several options of torture.  There is the sound, the vibrate (the symbol looks like slices of bacon) and the ZAP.  So far Coach responds well to just the sound and has only been zapped once for trying to steal something off the table.  It wasn't bacon though. 

While my daughter-in-law #1 was at the house today she asked me if I'd looked on-line for videos of people who have put these shock-collars on and zapped themselves.  So a quick search resulted in several good laughs, and this basic conclusion; people do very dumb things.  Dah!  Of course it's going to hurt, what did you expect?  There's a simple lesson here to be learned: You don't have to do something foolish to know it is going to hurt. 


Chuck

House Fire!

No, not mine, thankfully, but two streets over.  Apparently it was called in around 2:30 am and wasn't brought under control until after 4:00.  The duplex was a complete loss.  I was sitting in my office at 6 this morning (you've all seen my view in previous posts) and I noticed some lights between the buildings.  After I finished my devotions (Psalm 110, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power ...") I noticed the lights were still there so I decided to go investigate.  This is what I saw.

... and this is what I did:





Went and got Grand Babies (#1, 2 & 5) so they could see all the excitement.

... and this is what is left.
 
They wasted little time in taking the shell of a house down.  GB#5 and I watched a while and I noticed something very interesting.  As they were removing the inside of the house it all looked the same. I couldn't distinguish furnishings from floorboards, pictures from plaster.  The smoke and fire touched everything and showed no mercy in marring whatever it reached. 

When sin enters into a life it will indiscriminately destroy everything it possibly can.  Sin has no respect for what is dear to you.  Precious and irreplaceable items are often taken by the flames, so be vigilant and extinguish the slightest smolder of sin before your life goes up in smoke.



Chuck

"Thy Word" Wednesday

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7

Let it Snow

Here we go again.  Another 5 to 8 inches of the white stuff falling in South Jersey tonight, so I can't wait to start shoveling my driveway in the morning.  This is our fourth winter storm of the season and it's only the second week of January.  I wonder what the rest of the winter is going to accumulate to be. 

As sure as there will be snow in the winter & showers in the spring, so also are the blessings of God in the life of His children.  This morning started off with an excellent discipleship Bible study with a young man who is hungry for the Word.  I had a lunch-date with my dear wife.  A shipment of Bibles arrived in the mail just in time for tonight's Fire House Bible Study.  And that Bible study went wonderfully.  There were a few first-time visitors present, and several others stopped in afterwards for some food.  There were some good contacts made tonight which have great potential.  All in all, a great accumulation of blessings.  Let it snow ...


Chuck

Low Rider

As you can see from todays PIC there are several pieces of exercise equipment around the Shorter household.  The stationary bike, I believe, belongs to my son Eric.  It has been sitting around the house for several years and has served very little purpose; It is to low to hang clothes on!  Come on, most of you have used exercise equipment as an extension of your laundry room.  Either pre or post laundry.  Since I've not been able to run (the knee as well as the chilly weather) I have finally found this low-rider very useful.  The electronics on it are shot but the wheel still turns, so my iPhone timer and MP3 player is all I need to get a good cardio-workout.

There are many things, and certainly people, around that could be of great benefit to you and I.  Once we stop misusing them (with dirty clothes) and allow them to function according to their design we grow stronger and they become useful.  God has well equipped your life with some very special people, don't just hang things on them, allow them to be used.


Chuck (219)

PT & me

Arther (itous) and I are working out our difficulties as per doctor's orders.  The un-pronounceable, orthopedic specialist recommended some low-impact, physical therapy 3 days a week for 6 weeks, but my co-pay suggested otherwise.  I figured I'd try one or two sessions and then just workout on my own.  I must admit I was greatly impressed with the physical therapist that was assigned to me.  Danielle is about the same age as my oldest son (I'm old enough to be her dad!) and she is knowledgeable, patient and cheerful.  When I informed her that there was no way that I could follow the doctor's schedule recommendations she began to instruct me as thoroughly as possible so that I could easily follow through with the PT at home.  She did a great job in making the PT fun & practical, the work-outs were easily addaptable to things I could do at home on my own.  I plan to go back a few more times this month and be jogging again by the beginning of February.  There's a race I plan to run in mid-March.

A pastor is not a therapist (some act that way) but one part of the ministry is very similar.  A good pastor helps people get over the pain in their lives.  They patiently instruct them, from God's word, in such a practical (and enjoyable) way that they can continue on their own to grow in strength and agility.  The goal is to get them on their feet and back into the race. 


Chuck