Gone Fishin!

If you read this blog you might recall from my last post a cycling accident that put my friend Pressly and I in the hospital for some injuries. We are both on the mend now, although my finger will probably never work like it used to and Pressly's shoulder looks like as he calls it "Quasimodo" we are getting better. Scars are little reminders of life's journey I suppose and at my age I have a few of them. My recovery however this week was spurred on by a remarkable and unsuspected show of great love and friendship. I took my broken bike to First Flight Bikes this week where our buddy Wes Davidson is the local genius. Please check them out for your next bike, upgrade or repair at firstflightbikes.com The forks were sheared off, my front wheel is toast and some other minor injuries. Not a total loss, but bikes can be a little pricey to repair. Wes diagnosed the damage and informed me of the price which came as no surprise. As you might imagine, a 45 minute ...

On Friday as I normally do 4 to 5 times a week I gathered with 8 or 9 good friends to ride bikes through our county to get some exercise and experience some fellowship. Somewhere along the way I got tangled up with my long time riding buddy Pressly and we went down. I don't remember any of the events that happened leading up to our wreck or the 12 hours after that. My friend Owen says I have now time traveled, perhaps so. What I do know is that I woke up in a level 1 trauma center at Baptist Hospital holding my wife's hand. I had no idea where I was, or how I had gotten there. As the events of the day were told to me a great wave of fear swept over me. It was a completely new experience for me. The detachment with reality was very unnerving. What I did find out is that I had gone over the handlebars on my bike and my face took the brunt of the fall. My friend Pressly had a separated shoulder and was transported to another hospital more locally. I had lost a lot of blood and the...

You may have seen the Direct TV commercials with the family known as the "settlers". They are a hyperbolic 19th century family stuck in a cul-de-sac neighborhood of the 21st century. With Amish overtones, the term settlers refers to their commitment to stay mired in the backward world of cable television in lieu of the progressive and better world of satellite TV. The commercials are hilarious and creative for sure. And I like them a lot. But lately I've been reading about people ditching their smartphones and going back to rotary landlines. I have friends that text me when they date their wives saying "I'm going dark", referring to their shutting down the smartphone. It seems as if there's a rumbling of rebellion to the incredible technological advances we have seen and embraced over the last decade. Maybe its all the talk of AI and robots taking over the world, just read the Drudge report for a few days, you'll see it. I grew up with litt...

Joshua 14:10   So now ,  look ,  the  Lord   has preserved   my life, just   as he promised , these   past forty-five   years   since   the  Lord   spoke   these   words   to   Moses ,  during which   Israel  traveled   through the wilderness .  Now   look ,  I am   today   eighty-five   years   old .   11   Today   I am still   as strong   as   when   Moses   sent   me out .  I can   fight   and go   about   my daily activities with the same energy   I had then.  Half a century ago my mom Sarah struggled through a really long labor in a hospital in West Allis, Wisconsin and my walk on this earth began. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) I must say it out loud, I am 50. There, that wasn't so bad. Its an odd thing to say. Its days like today where men sometimes reflect over thei...

If you are a dad you have all kinds of hopes and dreams for your children. Some long for scholarships for athletic prowess, others want their offspring to succeed financially. No matter the dream we all want those little ones to grow up well. I made up my mind a long time ago that I wanted my kids to first be followers of Jesus and second be difference makers in this world. Both my children became followers of Christ at a young age and we continue to develop that walk even today. There are also markers along the way where you notice growth spurts in their lives. Maybe it's that first time away from home, or the first job. My son Jack had a growth spurt in his life Friday night. Next month we are doing a GORUCK event together and he has been training for this the past few months.  In case you don't know a GORUCK event is a team building endurance challenge put on by current/former special operations soldiers with the center piece being the whole event you are wearing at ...

Back in the 80s as a teenager I worked summers driving a delivery truck for Tarheel Lumber company here in western central NC. It was a great job for burley teenager, carrying hundreds of pieces of Sheetrock, plywood and every other building product known to man. My family was steeped in the building business, both my dad and grandfather were general contractors. Taking raw materials and producing a home for someone to live in still intrigues me. It's very american! My delivery job took me all over our county and to numerous job sites. The most coveted delivery were the simple ones. A bundle of OSB sheathing was my favorite. 60 pieces of 4x8 plywood all wrapped in a bundle. Easy delivery for the driver. Wrap a chain around the bundle, secure with a "dog" come-along, raise the bed and watch drop off the back of the truck....then pull away and head back to the shop, too easy. However, sometimes things go awry. One day I delivered a bundle of this stuff to a contractor ...

Saturday was a celebration, on March 22nd of 1994 while listening to Dr David Jeremiah teach the Gospel of Jesus, God invaded my life, rescued me from sin, set me free and put me on a new path. Every year I celebrate it. Most times I head to the mountains to be alone, this year I headed next door to help  my neighbors cut trees from our last ice storm. I thought it fitting heading into my 2nd decade with Jesus to serve others on the day He saved me. But also this was my first weekend serving as the reader/chalice bearer at the Anglican church we attend called Church of the Good Shepherd in Davidson. I haven't broadcast this much but I am in the process of seeking ordination in the Anglican church. A part of that process is taking part in the liturgy.  Public reading of the Bible is something that Paul emphasized as good in 1st Timothy 4:13 " Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching." One of the passage...