Summertime Fun!

This weekend kicks off the unofficial SUMMERTIME season!  Right now, all the lights are out in the house, there is a thunderstorm flickering outside and there are 5 kids and Kim playing hide-and-go-seek in the dark.

I love this time of year.  Excitement and relief from the end of the school year for Nicole, graduation for Steve, and A/B honor roll for Jessie along with her acceptance into school chorus and safety patrol for next year.  Just like for Phineas and Ferb, excitement lays ahead for all the possibilities this summer holds.

Steve is in the midst of diving into a summer ministry taking at-risk kids into the wild adventures of hiking, kayaking, and rafting.  A dream job for him!

Flowers are planted out front, grass is mowed, trees trimmed up.  The screen porch beckons to all of us.  Conversations with friends, Kim, kids... Steve hangs his hiking hammock and sleeps out there often and the girls do too when he lets them : )  I take the guitar out there and make up new stuff.

God was so good to give us changing seasons.  Life is good.

Tomorrow!

Looking forward to seeing some new Promethean products tomorrow at the US Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC!

After that, we get to do some rafting compliments of Promethean!  They really are great partners and treat us well!

Will post pics and video from there tomorrow...

Making Music

I enjoyed listening to Steve's music this afternoon.  He and Hank have got about a dozen songs worked up now.  Really good stuff across a wide variety of subjects.

Music is a gift that keeps on giving and like any art, evokes different imagery every time it's expressed and experienced.

Now, I'm trying to get them to work up a few really good numbers to perform locally.  They don't realize how good they are and it will be fun to see them feed off the energy of an audience.

Too many times, we don't take our talents far enough and share them.  When we do, something amazing happens that changes both the artist and the ones they reach.  True magic...

Headin' To The Hills!

It's Turkey Time!

Heading up to Pennsylvania with my buddy, Tom (no pun here), his brother Jim (Outdoorsman-Extraordinare!) and my son, Steve for a little spring turkey hunt!  Nestled in the hills of mid-central PA, we will set up on some 500+ acres where Tom and his brothers used to roam in their younger years.  It is always a blast (no pun here either!) hanging out with this gang; there is always a new adventure around the corner!

I'm going to try and capture Steve on film bagging his first turkey, so hopefully, video and pics will follow this post!

A few weeks back, the streams were stocked with about a hundred trout fingerlings, so the fishing should be pretty awesome too.

Later!

Yard/Garden Work Therapy

We started out our weekend Fri night with some yard work...  Kim weeded the garden while I pushed the lawnmower.  There is something strangely therapeutic about working the land for us.  I think for some of us, it is genetic.  I have friends that consider yard/garden work a waste of time, but interestingly enough find their refreshment/therapy in other activities such as mechanical or hobby activities.  We are all wired differently, but we have the need to unwind a little through activities that are not part of our everyday routine.

Our push mower needed replacing this year, so we picked up a new one a about a month ago.  I have 3 areas that I push, and the larger area out back that I use Carl's (father-in-law) riding mower.  It takes me about 2 hours to push the front and back lawns, so it's like 2 hour, very varied terrain, workout on the treadmill!  Great cardio on the push mower, and then when I get on the rider, it's a great time to just let my mind think about the nature around me. 

There's quite a forest next to our home where there used to be a cleared field of 3 acres.  Pines, dogwoods, cypress, and many other varieties are now filling that landscape and even attracting wildlike back.  A few weeks ago, the kids saw 7 deer in our back yard, we see bunnies quite frequently, and once or twice a week, we wake up to hear a coyote or two preying on something at about 5 in the morning!  Keep in mind, we are located right in the middle of the Greenville/Spartanburg area with subdivisions all around us!

I also have some of my best conversations with God on the riding mower. Row upon row, clipping away, it's pretty cool to connect with the Father and just bask in His love and grace.  Sometimes, I don't say a thing, and just feel His presence and listen for His voice; othertimes, I'm just telling Him what's going on with me.

Whatever your unwind activity is, I know that most of you can relate to this.  Some of our best ideas or solutions to problems can come during these times kind of like from dreams in the night.

Guard these times, don't give up on them.  It's not easy to get the mower out or head to the garden to weed, but when the grass and weeds are getting long, it's a reminder that there things in my mind that need a little trimming  and working too!

Help Needed for Flooded Nashville, TN!

Hey guys, just a quick post on how we can all help the flood victims in TN!  This has been called a "500 Year" flood and the devastation is crazy!  Our good friends from Healing Place Church, who endured Hurricane Katrina, were one of the first churches on the ground in Nashville this week working with CrossPoint Church in helping with clean-up efforts and in distributing bottled water, food, and needed items to get people back on their feet.  CrossPoint Church in Nashville has already been on the move in a big way in assisting people who have lost much or all!  Seriously, giving through Crosspoint will be THE biggest bang for your helping buck! - ALL of it goes to the assistance (no admin fees)!

Here's the link for giving at CrossPoint, anything you can do will be much appreciated, When filling out the form, be SURE to choose Nashville campus and then choose Flood Relief Fund on the fund line.

Let's BE the Church.