Moment of Recognition: 2009

I had to share this...

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s in College

Kendal Hemphill

We had been in a Wal-Mart store for a while, and Courtland was tired of walking. He was about five years old, and still had to be carried sometimes, so I picked him up and hauled him around the store, trying to encourage my wife to leave a few items on the shelves for someone else.

It didn’t take long for me to get tired of that, and I started looking for a place to sit down for a while. I told Courtland I needed to rest, and he asked why. I said, “I’m tired of carrying you around. You’re killing me.”

We were passing the pharmacy section, and I saw one of those blood pressure monitors mounted on a chair, so I sat down there and, to make things legitimate, I stuck my arm in the sleeve and hit the start button.

Courtland asked what it was, and I told him it would check my heart and see how healthy I was. When the machine was done it beeped, and I looked at the result, which was pretty much normal. Courtland looked up at me, very serious, and said, “Am I . . . killing you?”

Sometimes, during the past eighteen years, I have said and done things that would indicate that my three boys were a lot of trouble, a drain on my money, time, and general well being. I’ve joked about changing diapers, cleaning up messes, and having to replace broken appliances. I’ve complained about all the trouble it is to raise children. And if I could, I would make Courtland go back and be a year old again, and go through the whole process one more time.

Erma Bombeck said once that raising kids was an endless task. You wipe noses, pick up toys, mop up spills, and clean cereal off the ceiling. You haul them around to school, scout meetings, sports practices, school functions, and birthday parties. You have to find clothes they will wear and food they will eat. You host slumber parties that don’t involve slumber, and put up with crayons melted into the seats of your car and Silly Putty hidden in your shoes. When they start driving you sit up late at night worrying about them. And if you’re lucky, for all that trouble, you might get a hug and a thank you once or twice.

All in all, not a bad trade.

Courtland starts college this week in Arkansas. His brothers haven’t seemed to notice, yet, that he’s gone. His mother and I haven’t managed to accept, yet, that he’s gone. Every time we start to go somewhere as a family we look for him. We’re used to counting to three, and now we only have to count to two.

I started going through some old pictures on my computer, from past trips with the boys. I sent Courtland a few of them, I guess to try to make him homesick or something. One showed him standing by the road on top of Engineer Pass in Colorado. One was of him and his brothers leaning on a sign at Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in South Texas. Another was of me and all three boys, right before we got in our boats to float Santa Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande. One showed Courtland with Bridal Veil Falls behind him, in Yosemite National Park.

When we planned those trips, and others, it was always hard to work out the details. Arranging time away from home, juggling obligations, and coming up with money was always difficult. Now I wonder why we didn’t go more places, do more things, spend more time together. Now, those hunting, fishing, and camping trips are the most important memories I have, and I wish I had more.

We went with Courtland to get him settled in his dorm at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas last Thursday. We met his roommate, a kid from Ft. Worth whose hair was dyed a bright, banana yellow, and whose mother insisted on rearranging the furniture, hanging curtains, and making her son’s bed before she would leave. I started to ask her who was going to take the boy to the bathroom while she was gone, but refrained.

Most of the day was spent buying books, arranging financial aid, and getting Courtland’s school ID issued. Plus we had to go to Wal-Mart for some incidentals he had forgotten.

While in Wal-Mart, I passed through the pharmacy section and saw one of those blood pressure monitors mounted on a chair, and thought about the little boy who wanted to be carried, but was worried that he might be killing me. He was a few rows over, buying shaving cream and razors. He probably wouldn’t let me carry him now, anyway.

They say you can’t go back, and I’m sure that’s a good thing. But if anyone out there has a five-year-old boy, and you’re walking around Wal-Mart tired of packing him around, look for me. I’ll carry him for a while . . .

Kendal Hemphill is a lonely outdoor humor columnist and public speaker. Write to him at PO Box 1600, Mason, Tx 76856 or jeep@verizon.net

Mesa Adventure Part 2

I had just made my way out of an arroyo and turned onto a dirt road heading west. I could tell that the road experienced some travel because there was a well worn washboard pattern on it. It probably served as a shortcut for people who lived in one of Rio Rancho’s north side developments. I crept along pretty slowly since I was in no hurry. The road was hilly and prevented me from seeing too far into the distance as I ascended each hill. As the road ahead of me came into view I noticed in the distance a car on the side of the road, upside down. At first I didn’t think twice about it, I often saw abandoned vehicles out here but this one was different. As I approached I could see busted windows but this mini-van looked too new. No rust, no bullet holes, headlights still in place and unbroken. I suddenly realized that this wasn’t an abandoned car but an accident scene. “Oh Lord, don’t let there be anyone in there!” I thought to myself. As I crept slowly in front of the van I couldn’t see anyone. I stopped the Bronco and jumped out to get a closer look. I looked through the front of the toppled van where the windshield used to be. No one was inside. Busted glass was all around. I looked back up the road from where I came from, I could see how this van must have been going too fast and as it came down the hill on this washboard road lost control, hit the embankment and flipped at least once, maybe twice. I looked down the road and had an instant rush of adrenaline.
to be continued...

“Can you hear me?!” I shouted down at the lady. “Can you hear me?!” I shouted again a little louder this time. My heart was pounding from adrenaline. How quickly circumstances can change, just five minutes earlier I was enjoying a leisurely ride in my Bronco, four wheeling through the sandy arroyos enjoying a nice diversion on my lunch break out in the “boonies”. I was working at Gateway’s Tech Support call center in Rio Rancho, NM. Since I had an hour for lunch and was just five minutes from being out in the middle of nowhere I often enjoyed getting away for lunch to exercise my Bronco a little. The torrential downpours that would happen occasionally had cut some pretty deep arroyos through the mesas near the call center. They were perfect for getting oneself into a slight jam to four-wheel your way out of. The dirt roads in that area were susceptible to being washed out, if you weren’t careful you could be driving along and suddenly find you're taking a nose dive into a 6 foot washout.
To be continued...

To Market, Lawn Work, Pampered Chef, and Shelves

Tara went to the Grower's market with Grandma and Grandpa. She really enjoys seeing what other people have to offer.

Of course sampling the different kinds of jelly is high on her list of favorites.

I mowed the lawn, something I really enjoy doing. Zackary has asked me a couple times if he could do it but I just won't let him. For me its theraputic.

The boys got the fun jobs, like pulling weeds and spraying for bugs.

Valeta and Tara also spent the afternoon at a "Pampered Chef" party, sorry no pictures available. Zackary and I finished off the afternoon building shelves for our front hall closet, that evening the kids were off to piano lessons and Valeta and I spent the evening home alone... all in all a good Saturday.

Power in Prayer. Really?

I've been thinking a lot lately about a trend among Christians concerning prayer. Seems we've come to believe that when it comes to prayer, the "power" is in the numbers. We have prayer chains, and prayer groups, and whenever there is a real crisis we send out prayer requests to all our friends, family, and acquaintances and beseech them to add us to their prayer chains, etc.

Thanks to the Internet we can get our requests to massive amounts of people through email, social networks, even blogs. Do we believe that the more people we have praying for something the more likely God is to grant our desire? I think we do. You may have heard it as I have, "Wasn't that amazing how that worked out?", "Well, we had so many people praying..."

I suppose that if all three of my children came to me with a request I would be more likely to grant it than if just one came, at least the first time they did this. Once I became aware that their coalition was a means to an end, I would probably be more apt to deny their request. But then again, that's because I am a human.

So, what about God? Does He honor our numbers? Is He more apt to answer the masses? I see in James 5:14, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." and James 5:16, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." ESV I am hard pressed to find scriptural precedence for assembling a mass of "Prayer Warriors".

What is prayer? As the catechism says, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies."

If God is Sovereign, as I believe He most certainly is, then why pray at all? Because God has ordained that what comes to pass will be in response to prayer. He has chosen prayer as an avenue for His Grace. He not only ordains what will happen but also how it will happen. I think He involves us in prayer for two reasons, first, so He can show Himself strong on our behalf, and second, so He will receive Glory for answered prayer.

So I am torn, its hard for me to see God moving mightily on my behalf as I intercede for someone, along with 200 other people, but the more people that participate in prayer, the broader God's Glory will be spread... providing we look past the "praying" to the One who answered the prayer.

Power in prayer? I don't think so. Prayer as an avenue for an Almighty God to move on our behalf? Absolutely!

What are you?

The kids had a school assignment to answer the question, "What are you?".

This is Nickolaus's answer.

I am the child of One, yet the product of two. I came from one who is like me yet is not like me. I am me. I am one who was dead, yet, am now filled with life. I walk a road less taken, and stumble sometimes. I am me. I, like my Father, am a creator. I am a tale crafter, and a world maker. I am me. I am in need of change, but I will not allow myself to. I am like some, but none are like me. I am me. I and my father are alike, yet I am vastly different from my Father. I have entered worlds without leaving my own. I am me. I fight a constant battle, and am victorious and defeated. I follow a Destroyer and Re-builder, who is filled with mercy. I am me. I love my father, mother, brother and sister. I love my Father. I am me. -NK

Pictures from Zhongshan China

Here's a few of the pics I took last October when I was in China for work.

Happy Fourteenth Birthday Nickolaus Isaiah King!

Happy Birthday Son. I am proud of you on so many levels. You are kindhearted and gentle, imaginative and intelligent. Most of all you desire to know the Lord and seek Him through His word. Your desire to live upright before God is an inspiration to me and a role model to your younger brother and sister. Thanks for being the peacemaker in our home. I love you much! Dad

True Story... Happened Today

I've heard it said that the average father spends 7 minutes of quality time with his children each week. I'm determined to make sure that I don't typify that statistic, so ever since my daughter Tara, the youngest of our three was about 4 years old I have spent 2 to 3 hours each Sunday with one of my children. The three of them alternate Sundays. They call it Quality Time With Dad. The rules are just one child and myself alone, and the child usually gets to choose what we do, within reason.

Today it was Zackary's turn and he chose "Joyriding". Joyriding is where we go way out in the boonies somewhere and they get to drive on the dirt roads or in the arroyas. They have a lot of fun even though it stresses them out somewhat. Top speed is usually somewhere around 10 to 15 miles an hour. They're working their way up slowly but surely. I'm in no hurry.

We left our house at 12:30pm stopped to get gas and then headed out for the middle of nowhere. Zackary had been driving for about 45 minutes when we came to a place that looked kinda of scenic. It was literally 10 to 15 miles away from anything, in the middle of nowhere as you can see from the picture above. I asked Zack to stop so I could get some video. I grabbed the camera and my small tripod and jumped out of the truck. Zack put the truck in park, killed the engine and jumped out also. I started video taping some of the scenery and when I stopped I looked at Zackary as he walked towared me. I could see his eyes were beginning to well up with tears as he said, "Dad I locked the keys in the truck." My first impulse was to encourage Zackary because I could see how upset he was about it. I couldn't imagine how he must have felt right then. I grabbed him, hugged him and told him not to panic. "Let's just think about this for a minute."

We carefully examined the situation and it looked pretty dire. The windows were all up, both doors locked. Nothing for miles around but dirt and sagebrush. I had my pocket knife, my video camera, and a small tripod. That was it. My cell phone? It was in the glove box.

I tried to get one of the rear windows to open by prying it with my knife but to no avail. I could open a little gap so I thought maybe if we could get something in there we could push the latch and at least get that small window open.

I told Zack we needed to look for a fence, thinking that it would be barbed wire, or a piece of metal or something. We headed up the road and about five feet from the truck Zackary yells, "There's a piece of wire!" He grabs it and hands it to me. It was a coat hanger! "You've got to be kidding me!" I think to myself. We're way out in the middle of nowhere and we just so happen to stop five feet from an old rusty coat hanger? And there was nothing else around but a small board with two nails in it.

I had to believe at this point that this whole scenario was orchestrated by God for His own good reasons. We get back to the truck and start trying to figure out how we can get the hanger inside to pull on the lock. Again, Zackary's door was slightly ajar because he didn't slam it hard enough. We were able to get the hanger in the top of the door and work it toward the lock.

We tried and tried but couldn't get the lock to budge. It was smooth and rounded, probably to prevent this exact sort of thing. It had been about an hour by now and it was really starting to get hot. I had a hat but Zackary didn't. I was getting concerned that he was going to get too sunburned so I asked him to get down in the little bit of shade that the truck provided. I kept trying the lock. It was probably about 2:00pm now. The truck was so hot that it was very painful to touch. There was just no way to get the end of the hanger to grab the lock. We tried wrapping the end with a little black tape we had from the tripod. We tried tying a string on the end to try and wrap the lock. We tried pushing the electronic lock and power window buttons but no success.

Zack and I had both been praying to ourselves but now we stopped, held hands and prayed together. We had learned about how God delights to show us mercy in the service this morning. I asked God to be merciful to us and help us open the truck.

We had the idea of trying to get the hanger around the door handle and pull on it, thinking the door would open, unfortuantely the hanger was too short. It was nearing 3:00pm, we were really hot and thirsty, I could see my arms and the back of Zackary's neck really starting to get red. On top of it all the flies swarmed around us relentlessly. We were probably their only source of moisture so they pestered us to no end. Everytime we stopped trying to open the door we had to walk up and down the road just have relief from the flies.

I was really starting to get concerned about us getting too hot and too sunburned, there wasn't a cloud in the sky but there was a slight breeze that kept us a little cool. I was debating whether or not I should just break the small back window. It would cost about $100.00 to replace it, but it might be the wisest thing to do. Still, I couldn't get over the fact that of all the places in this great wide open space out in the middle of nowhere, we would stop 5 feet from a coat hanger. This had to be the providence of God. I felt I needed to persevere. I tried the hanger on the lock again. This time I notice that the hanger slipped slightly down behind the lock. If I could get the coat hangar to get stuck between lock and the door, when I pulled it up it just might come up. I told Zackary about my plan and pulled the coat hangar out so I could break the end off of the hanger and bend it slightly, that way when the hanger went behind the lock, since the lock was plastic, I could twist the hanger slightly and hopefully it would grab.

It worked! The lock popped right up and we were in. Thank you LORD for Your mercy and provision and for the way You orchestrate the circumstances in our lives to bring You glory!

The Lord once again amazed me today and helped me teach Zack some great lessons about His sovereignty, not to mention bonding Zack and I closer together, which after all is the whole goal of "Quality Time With Dad".

What a Fellowship

I am thankful for Desert Springs Church here in Albuquerque. Their passion and goal is to "Spread God's Glory Broader and Deeper". From the bulletin what this means is: "God's glory is the center, focus, and goal of DSC. We want the recognition of His glory to spread in the world, that our neighbors and the nations might come to know His great mercy and truth. Further, we want to strengthen our love for God's glory through deeper study, longer prayer, more passionate worship, more faithful allegiance to God and stronger fellowship with each other. DSC is aiming in everything we do to spread God's glory broader and deeper."

I am also blessed that Desert Springs Church has partnered with Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing (where I work) to record the Achi New Testament.

Check out Desert Spring's website for lots of ministry resources.

And check out Faith Comes by Hearing for free Audio Bibles.

Visualize the Bible

The small graph at the bottom of this picture represents the books, chapters, and verses of the Bible. The alternating grey and white represent the books, the lines are the chapters and the length of the line depends on how many verses in the chapter. The colored arcs represent the references in the Bible to other parts of the Bible. The colors are to distinguish the different distances between references.

Can you guess what the long line right in the middle at the bottom is? That's right Psalm 119. And what is Psalm 119 all about? That's right the Word of God! The whole Bible hinges on the longest chapter which is about the Bible itself. Cool!

This image has been featured in Time Magazine too!
I think this is pretty cool. This comes from Chris Harrison at Carnegie Mellon University. See more at his site http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/bibleviz/index.html

Here's some goofy kids. We had a great time in the activities center at the Wyndham resort in Flagstaf, AZ.

A new meaning for LOL

Before

After

LOL won't mean Laughing Out Loud for me tomorrow. Tara is going to get her hair cut for the first time and will donate 12" to Locks of Love.

Speeding and Speed Traps

I'm driving down the road and a speeding car goes speeding by me at a fairly good clip. My first thought is, "I hope that guy gets a ticket. Where's a cop when you need one." A couple days later I'm driving along and I see a speed trap. A couple cops are waiting with radar guns to catch people speeding as they come around a corner. Do I think to myself, "Oh good, now all those speeders will get tickets." Of course not, I start flashing my lights at the oncoming traffic so they'll know that there is a speed trap ahead! How messed up is that? Why is it that I'll try to warn perfect strangers who may be speeding that they are about to get snagged, but if someone passes ME, I hope they get get caught and fined? I guess its because I have a heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah (17:9)

What does God know?

This weekend as I was cutting the grass in my backyard I began to go through the mental exercise of really contemplating what God knows. As Christians we believe God is omniscient. So what is omniscient? Dictionary.com defines it as "having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things." So this is how my thoughts went as I thought about what God knows. Does He know how many blades of grass there are in my lawn? Yes. Does He know how long each one is? Yes. To what accuracy does He know their lengths? To what decimal place does he round His answer to? If He doesn't round His answer does He ever run out of decimal places? Are numbers infinite? Does God know every number? Here's a number I bet no one has ever seen before: 4,368,764,372,941,532,468,726,395 Did God know I was going to pick that number? Of course He did! Some will say "No, He didn't." They reason that since the future has not happened yet, there is no reality to the future, so God cannot know what does not exist because there is nothing to know. That doesn't jive with one of my favorite verses though. Isaiah 46:8-10, “Remember this and stand firm,recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

He declares the end from the start. So God knows the future. Could He ever be wrong about the future? No. So, what He knows about the future is going to come to pass no matter what. God can never know something about the future that will not come to pass. What insures that? His Omniscience. In other words, His foreknowledge is His predetermination. Thoughts like this make my mind tilt especially in light of verses like 1 Corinthians 13:12 "...Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Independance Day on the Base

Its hard to believe it has been 4 years since we spent the Fourth of July at Kirtland Air Force Base here in Albuquerque. We had a terrific time. They had several planes to look at and even climb into, the Blue Angels did an air show and of course fireworks after dark.

The Most Important Thing About You

Today's Big Event

The one time in life you can get excited about losing body parts.

The Best Remedy

Have you ever gone on a hike, out in the woods, well away from the beaten path and managed to be by yourself even for a few minutes. When the weather is nice and comfortable, to stand there an be still, to listen and observe-- For me the peace at that moment is inescapable. No matter what anxieties I may have carried up with me, they just seem to vanish. It would be nice to be able to capture that feeling in the midst of everyday life. This quote by Anne Frank captures it for me.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. -Anne Frank

Anger Management

How do you deal with anger? I mean like at times when you are so mad at someone that you can barely think about anything else. When you feel you've been violated and getting "even" consumes your every thought. Today was such a day for me and this is what I found out. God is gracious and merciful to me even in my tantrums. As I stewed in my flesh, my spirit was crying out to the LORD, Lord I don't want to feel this way! I know I am being self absorbed, I know other people should not affect me like this, I know I'm suppose to pray for my enemies, be good to those who persecute me, turn the other cheek, but I'm so mad! Anger turned to depression as I fought with myself to regain some clarity of mind. I turned to the Psalms and couldn't even think of where to start, so I started at the beginning, Psalm 1, Psalm 2, Psalm 3, Psalm 4... It caught my attention, this is what I'm feeling this is my heart right before me in Psalm 4. This is how it reads in the ESV.

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Meditating on this Psalm for few minutes, helped me to calm down and refocus, to put things in perspective. I went to the couch to try and relax and my daughter very sweetly curled up next to me. Having her there beside me, her just wanting to be near me, melted my heart and drained me of the tension and depression. Tomorrow, I will go to the offending party and make peace, it was probably my fault to begin with.

Dim Windows of the Soul

This Life’s dim windows of the Soul
Distorts the Heavens from Pole to Pole
And leads you to Believe a Lie
When you see with, not thro’ the Eye

I like this poem by William Blake although I couldn't really tell you what it means. My best guess is "Seeing is NOT believing". I like taking pictures but I don't kid myself about how deceiving they can be. The lovely picture of the rose bud in the summer rain shower at the top of my blog is really a carefully staged photo, where I meticulously set the flower vase on a sawhorse with the sunlight behind it while my son held the sprinkler and I calculated that a 1/60 f-stop would give just the right motion blur to the "raindrops". Of course with Photoshop, no telling what's real in a photo anymore. True in photos, true in life.

MagicTown in Colorado Springs

There's a little shop in Old Colorado City that houses sculptures by Michael Garmin. We visited it last October (2008). It was interesting to see how they could change the scenery using lights and mirrors. Here's some pictures I was able to get in those tough lighting conditions.

Busy Saturday

It was a busy Saturday for us, Valeta started her repaint the cabinets project with the kids help, Tara had a lemonade stand, and the boys sifted rocks in the front yard. Me, beside mowing the backyard, I tried to finish up sanding and texturing the drywall I replaced from the repiping project.

Tara had a rough start, it was real upsetting to her when she missed some customers, but all in all it was a good couple of hours, she grossed $9.50. Thanks to all my generous neighbors!

Mixing the mud to put in my hopper, it took several tries before I got it the right consistency to work correctly. Thank goodness it is an "orange peel" texture which is easier to match.