Survey Says ... ?

It is autumn.
And soon it will be winter.
So I'm thinking ...
Should I regrow the fall/winter face or keep it clean shaven?

I know hat many people have said that I look much younger with my face shaved cleanly. While I do appreciate looking younger, I'm not so vain that it concerns me greatly.

What do you think?

John <><

Things are moving quickly now

It has been a pretty crazy week for a retired guy that has gotten used to doing nothing.
I even missed my Monday Motivation and Wednesday Wisdom posts.

Monday morning we were up prepping the house for a second look from potential buyers and then went out to breakfast so I missed my morning blog reading/writing time. It was well worth it since we got an offer on the house and wrote a sales contract.
Tuesday I started packing some things and made a few calls about some temporary housing.
Wednesday was a long day with over 800 miles of highway time, little time on my phone's browser and no time on the computer.
Today is morning prep for home inspection and an afternoon meet with our builder at the site of the new home.
And of course ... more packing!

I am hoping to make it to Downtown Venues tonight. I could really use the energy bump I get from being there.
I'd like to write more, but there is work to be done.

John <><

Searching for God Knows What and other books

I just finished Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller.
It has been a number of years since I read his book, Blue Like Jazz, but I think I like this one better. I'll have to re-read BLJ and see.

Searching for God Knows What really speaks to my current spiritual evolution as I have been purposely moving away from a god of religion to the God of relationships. I really like the way Miller uses analogies of the lifeboat, the circus, and the writings of Shakespeare to explain our thinking about relationship to others and about how God desires a love relationship with us.

It is a good book. You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy Miller's style and stories. He offers some pretty good insights to why humans act the way we do towards others and how that human interaction has corrupted our relationship with God. Conversely, a healthy God relationship benefits our relationships with other people.

On the fiction front I'm reading A Pledge of Silence by Flora J Solomon. I'm just getting started so I can't say much about it. It was one of Kindle's free choices and it sounded interesting. I'll get back to you on that.
Admittedly, the WWII setting of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines was part of the intrigue. Somewhere in my memory is the real life story of a small Filipina child being carried by an American soldier during an evacuation. It is a story that was told by my mom and she was that little girl.

So ...
What are reading?

John <><

Wednesday Wisdom

Downsizing (not really)

We really don't need this four bedroom home anymore and it's time to downsize a bit. Although we've been in this home for some time, it is the first home that we've lived in that was a "used" home. We're ready to move into a home that is built for us.

Although we say we're downsizing, we're really not.
We will have less area that is finished, but overall the new home will be bigger.
And we will have five acres to take care off, as well.

The new place will be a three bedroom, two bath home with an unfinished walkout basement and an over-sized two car garage to accommodate my motorcycle. I think the best feature will be the 10 x 22 ft (3 x 6.7 m) screened in back porch. It will also have a nice covered front porch that is deep enough for a couple of chairs and a small table. The unfinished basement will have a John Deere room for lawn equipment and give us room for the exercise equipment we have but seldom use. The hope is that will change.

The area was once rolling pasture land (this is cattle country) and so there are no trees on it. It is a narrow, but deep five acre plot with a dip in the middle. We are planning on planting some fruit trees and other trees, but far enough away from the house that we won't need to rake leaves in the fall.
There will be lots of room for gardening, but that's never really been our thing so I don't know how much we will embrace that possibility. I know that Chris is looking forward to having plenty of flowers so we may be growing more food for the birds and bees than for us!

Here is a picture of what it will look like from our screened in porch. (Click it to big it) This view faces to the south. If you look to the dark green area, you can see where someone has mowed a single strip on each side to indicate the property lines. The back boundary is the treeline. The color change also marks the big dip in the middle of the plot.

This is a street view (pretty similar). The orange flag in the front is where the driveway will be. You may be able to see other orange flags that mark the house footprint.

We are still months away from moving in (obviously) and we still need to sell our current house.
Just thought I'd post these pics.

John <><

Monday motivation

Love. Everyone.

Simple Things

I am enjoying my quiet time and coffee this morning. It's been nearly a week since I've had this moment. While I always look forward to this time, I often fail to appreciate just how it helps me get centered and prepared for the day.
I know that I usually do not have a pressing schedule and can easily enjoy a quiet morning. Having been away from home for a few days has reminded me of how much I enjoy the process of brewing a good cup of coffee and savoring it without anything going on around me.

Another of the simple pleasures of life that I often fail to appreciate are conversations with my siblings. Over the past couple of days, I managed to pass some of the time on the road in phone conversations with each of them. (Hands free, of course!)
They really are pretty awesome people.

It always amazes me to hear people talk about poor family relationships. We have our differences, to be sure, and at least one of us has been insensitive enough to cause some hurt feelings from time to time. But the truth is we really do get along. Maybe the fact that we live far apart and don't interact often has something to do with that, or maybe we have just grown up within a truly caring environment.

Although I have always been a contemplative kind of guy, retirement has allowed me to be more purposeful in contemplation. It's weird that one can be grateful for something like early retirement and still take it for granted on most days. I'm going to try to be better about showing appreciation for the things and for the people that bless my life. I'm not sure how outward that will be, but the inward appreciation for the many blessings of life is where it begins.

What are some of the simple pleasures in your life?
Who are the people that bless you with their words or their presence?
Do you ever stop long enough to meditate on the blessings of your life?

I hope that today provides you with a moment of peace, a time of rest, and an attitude of gratitude.

John <><

Wednesday Wisdom

Monday Motivation

“True change is within; leave the outside as it is.” -- Dalai Lama

Just thinking -- How much power has God given me?

Last Sunday I had the privilege of returning to a local Springfield church to fill in for their pastor.
It was an interesting morning since I managed to lock my sermon notes in my computer and couldn't retrieve them.
Actually, my sermon notes are really more like my sermon text and since I had typed it out recently, it was still pretty fresh in my head. Also, it was stuff that has been occupying my theological thoughts so it pretty much flowed as conversation and just sharing my thoughts. By now it's a bit of a blur, but there was an older man that took issue with a couple of things I said and his comments afterwards have given me more to think about.

The first part of my message shared some of Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. Mostly it focused on the "You've heard it said, but..." kind of things that showed how wrong the religious leaders were about understanding God and the purpose of The Law.
The last part of the message was really taken from last week's post on changing my way of thinking.

The part about not worrying about their eternal salvation and just loving them now was the problem for that man. He said something like -- "If we just love them but never tell them about Jesus, they are still going to hell!"

I get that.

I've spent the past two decades as a Southern Baptist evangelist. I've made the invitation call at revivals, kids' camps, outreach events, conferences, and pulpits from South Florida to Oklahoma. I've also made the invitation in personal, one on one conversations.
But his comment got me thinking -- Would God really send someone to hell because John Hill failed to tell them about Jesus? Do I hold that kind of power over the souls of men and women, boys and girls?

Because of who I am, I will continue to tell people of God's great love for them.
Because of who I am becoming, I will focus more on loving others the way Jesus loves them.
And because God has not given me the power, nor the task of granting or withholding eternal salvation from anyone, I'm going to leave that part to God.
In truth, just the loving others the way Jesus loves them is going to be pretty much a full time gig for me. There are a lot of hard to love people out there!

God loves you!
Jesus lived for you!

John <><

Wednesday Wisdom

Monday Motivation