this is actually about my cell phone totally dying and me losing everything on it.

your cell phone can hold a lot more than just contacts and photos. I had that phone for a few years and I should have seen its demise coming…

the only thing I really miss is the photos (*lame excuse as to why there has not been a follow up to the post about the jeep project)(haha)

He’s dead Jim…

When my phone ‘bricked’ (nouns becoming verbs: working, functioning rectangular device becomes an unresponsive lump. i.e: Brick) -anyways, when it was a goner, I was shocked and saddened and immediately went through the 5 stages of grief.

But some of the stuff that was lost was stuff that was only weighing me down with sadness- texts and notes and recordings- none of which were doing me any good- and now, they were completely gone….

many of us, carry around bad memories and experiences and it ends up as baggage- and although it happens all the time, it can be very difficult to get rid of.

the ‘baggage’ can become what we identify ourselves by- “you don’t know what I’ve been through…” whether we are victims, survivors or ruthless conquerors, these things affect our opinions and can skew and hinder the way we see ourselves and others.

And- It is really hard to give that stuff up. Positive thinking is not enough. You need to dump that stuff on the only one who can deal with it properly- and that is Jesus. (see John 6:37 & PS 55:22 & 1Peter 5:7 ) And please understand it IS the best thing but it is NOT easy. (but what truly beneficial thing is easy?)

OR- maybe, somehow, something will happen and you will lose your luggage-

either way- you probably did not really need those things anyway- (there is a lot of things you can’t take with you…)

take care dear reader, and know that you are loved. (thanks for reading)

I got this card from spencersmom.com back in 2012 when I was in the hospital and it’s one of my favorites.

This post is about how we often Monday morning quarterback events in our lives and try to fit them into some sort of purpose or reason … when they might just be seasons-

We here in the East Coast, understand seasons- where we live they actually happen and are quite different. They also typically do not start when we expect and often are a little uncertain that they have actually happened and flop back and forth until its halfway over and then they get all reminiscent and display shades of the previous season…

Anyway… seasons are just that. They happen, they’re different and sometimes they are good and pleasant and sometimes they are dark, scary and cold and last longer than we want (sometimes setting or breaking and old record that really does not mean anything)

Once in a while something will happen in your life and you learn something or some other positive thing happens and it’s easy to think that “it must have been for a reason” and sometimes – well, who can really say-

But not everything that happens is attached to ‘a reason’ – it might just be ‘stuff’ that happens. Ecclesiastes 3.1 says: to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.

So, what do we see there? We see God saying that there is seasons for stuff and times for stuff but not reasons-                              (pause and think a minute)

-Now, that is not a bad thing- it can mean that LIFE can be BOTH. – you can learn stuff when you are in different ‘seasons’ and life can be much more spontaneous- and you don’t have homework and stuff to learn every time things change-

I think it’s way better when it’s spontaneous- because this way God can have more expression in your life and you will need Him more and see His hand more as things happen- both good and bad. (of course I do not mean that God does things to mess with people) (if you are new to this blog its important to know that I fully agree with Rabbi Kushner’s book about When Bad Things Happen to Good People– it’s not ‘Why’ bad things happen its ‘When’  because stuff happens.)

I just went thru the big pile of get well cards I got when I had my broken back- and I have great friends who did not try and say that ‘God must be teaching me ….. etc’ When you know Jesus – you can trust that He is the Master of Improv- and He can work with whatever happens- and He will still be amazing and full of grace and love- and it will work out- but I think He enjoys it when its less-structured. We have to let Him be the Show-Off He is – He is GOD.

When I took Existentialism with Professor Dan McCullough, he put a piece of paper over the clock in the classroom with the words ‘RIGHT NOW’ on it. Whenever you looked at the clock you would see ‘RIGHT NOW’ instead of the ‘time’ – (don’t go too deep there- it’s a simple point) Professor Dan also viewed Jesus as the first and greatest existentialist- Jesus was able to see the big picture in all that He did and was never too worried about the future which freed Him to do so much with His life – He was able to be very spontaneous-

It’s the last day of March and how many of your January plans are in motion or have fallen silently away-? Or it’s RIGHT NOW and the future is a blank slate with a God that is far far bigger than any faults we have-

‘what would you do if you were not afraid?’ (quote from the book ‘who moved my cheese’)

-take care dear readers- leave a comment if you like- and thank you.

we are absolutely obsessed with measuring things.

time, temperature, calories etc- how much? how many? how long?

and we also compare and measure ourselves by and with each other…

it starts with measuring your height on the door post as you grow and making marks as you get taller- then your cousins come by and start making comparisons and measuring to find out who is the tallest and who is the oldest.. and on and on…

step on any school bus and you will see a remarkable pecking order. (terrifying really, depending on where you end up-) but that’s a whole different therapy session.

If you find yourself high up, on whatever scale your measuring by, you get to rule (pun intended)    -‘give him an inch and he thinks he’s a ruler’-

So, let’s talk about the EQUALIZER… 

there is something that brings real stark and shocking equality to all of us.

I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus and it might seem like I would say the equalizer is that “all have sinned-” from Romans chapter 3 … but its not that-

It’s Jesus- He says, ‘All that come to me, I will in no wise cast out‘ (John chapter 6)

while it’s true that all have sinned- and God does not view some sins worse than others- like we do, and God does not measure how many sins you’ve done- one is the same as millions- Yet, when we turn to God and ask for forgiveness- you get the same, ‘immeasurable’ outpouring of grace that comes from Jesus. The bible even says in John 3 that Jesus was full of the spirit…’without measure’

The measuring thing will drive you nuts. You cannot earn God’s love- because He already loves you- (He is not going to stop loving you. -weird right? but- totally true) (Romans 8)

We cannot measure up- and we don’t have to- Jesus measures down to us- and is available to everyone (all) and if you need more Jesus- no problem, just ask.

God told Cain in the garden- if you do what’s right, you will be accepted (so simple)

Jesus came and personally showed the simplicity of the whole message- ‘unless you come like little children…’

February is ending. Crack open that Bible to John and get to know who Jesus really is and what He says for yourself.

there is no sign in heaven that says ‘YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO ENTER’

The time has come (the statue of limitations has probably run out)

In (about) 1988, I had a pickup truck with a wood side above the bed on one side and tool boxes across the other. It made it so it held lots of stuff and I was always willing to help people move or just move stuff or whatever-

When Karen (not her real name) asked me to help move her mattress and box spring, of course it was no prob-

The setting: january or february and about 19 degrees outside- no wind and about 9 inches of snow on the ground which had been there about a week. Everyone was shoveled out and functioning around the snow and ice. it’s about 730pm and very dark, but quiet on the roads.

It was such a simple plan- pick up the mattress and box spring and follow her to her parents house to get the rest of her stuff and then off to her new place (all pretty close) (too close, really- that’s why nothing was tied down)(!)

Box springs are light and mattresses are really heavy, especially queen size- and we we trying not to drag it in the snow and so I got the box spring on top of the truck bed and then we put the mattress on top (best part:) ‘to hold everything down’

Karen left and we followed- I had my wife and our nephew who was about 3 with me. We got to RT28 (not real name) by the High School (not real place) and a car came by me the other way- as he passed …. someone flashed their lights behind me… but no one was following me..?

It got my attention and I was trying to see the mattress in the rear view but it seemed odd so I stopped. and it was GONE. ‘that’s odd’ I thought- so I turned around and went back.

I had been driving for about 3 minutes and the mattress was gone -there was no noise or anything- but it was GONE

We immediately came across a white Reliant K-Car on the side of the road, stuck in the snowbank and I pulled up in front of him. We got out to help him and realized he was ON TOP OF THE MATTRESS-! The mattress was FOLDED in half and his car was on top of it. I had been really worried about getting snow on the mattress as we carried it out of the house, but now it had been dragged down the road and jammed under the car and the tire is rubbing against it while the kid tries to get un-stuck.

The poor kid- he’s 16 and just got his license and was on his way to the mall in his Mom’s car-and this mattress floats down from the sky onto the road in front of him and he can’t avoid it so: rolls onto it and it folds in half an it takes his front wheels off the ground and his car starts spinning around an then goes into the snowbank-

Now he’s revving the engine and the tires are rubbing the sides of the mattress and I am wondering if Karen would notice the black marks…

I am just about to get some rope- I am moving like the Flash at this point- thinking that there might be a chance of getting this mattress out- and a Cop shows up, see’s the situation and asks the kid for his license and it’s almost like it’s the kids fault that he ran over someones mattress (!)(of course I said nothing) Then the Officer gives him some direction on how to get un-stuck… turn the wheel, now try reverse- cut the wheel back the other way…. and then I saw the SMOKE. (not steam, not exhaust but thick white smoke)(yikes)

The kid shut off the car and we opened the hood and realized that the muffler was up against the mattress and there was much more smoke- so, the officer called the Fire Dept.

‘Rescue 6’ was the brand new, high tech, Fire Truck that showed up along with a pumper truck and 4 burly Firemen- and another Police car. It was a quiet night and not much else was happening so, I stopped trying to help and just stood quietly watching all the lights from the trucks bounce off the snow and nearby houses with my wife and our 3 year old nephew who thought the lights were cool- and none of us seemed to notice the cold- except maybe the 16 year old kid who was really worried about his Mom’s car- we stood a little ways away from him.

The Firemen had a great plan and lots of new equipment to try out. They were thrilled- They would raise the car with the new air jacks (like flat squares that inflate and can move or lift lots of weight with ease) -then another Fireman would pull the mattress out with a giant hook while the third Fireman would saturate it with the hose –

It was amazing- the jacks worked very fast with no noise and then it took a couple of Firemen with hooks to pull the mattress out. Those sharp hooks torn deep holes into it and as they pulled it out into the snow- it burst into flames. The other Fireman blasted it to kingdom come with water and the other Firemen tore it to shreds as more flames kept showing up- they tore, it flared and they soaked and tore some more and more flames showed up and then more water etc. Until it was just wet little fist size, clumps of scorched fluff.

They Officer got the kids name and then let him go and he drove off. As the Firemen were packing up the gear one of them came over to me and my wife and small nephew and asked, with tons of care and compassion…. ‘Do you folks have a place to sleep tonight?’ and I paused and said…’yes, thank you, we will be ok’

That was about it, and no one ever asked my name or took down any numbers and off we went to Karen’s parents house an hour and a half late.

We showed up and Karen thought it was odd that we were not right behind her but was chatting with her folks and just waited. (things were different before cell phones) We tried to explain what had happened and she was not mad- if you know Karen (again, not her real name) she laughs at everything- its a beautiful gift. She sort of did not believe us so we drove back to the scene of the crime- and found the whole area lit with yellow flashing lights from 3 sanding trucks that had been called because of all the water the Fire Dept had used was icing up like crazy.

We had employed lots of town workers that evening. The cold weather continued for 2 more weeks and finally the snow melted and I would drive by and look for any pieces of the mattress but because it had been so completely obliterated there was nothing but a couple of Kleenex size clumps.

It was almost like it melted away with the snow……

or it could be that none of this ever really happened and I made it all up- (it’s a good story)