Caleb

Yesterday, something very unexpected happened.

My son, who's 18, was riding his bike home from a brief trip to the grocery store, "blacked out" while in motion. He went down hard on the street, unfortunately without a helmet, and "came to" while being helped up by two ladies who noticed his fall. Disoriented, he remounted his bike and made it home (by the grace of God). We took him to the E/R, and after a blood sugar test (normal), an EKG (normal) and CT scan (showing a minor brain lesion, from the fall), we opted to have him transferred to the regional hospital for "In-patient (overnight) monitoring" of his symptoms. So far, so good.

Now, as to what caused the blackout in the first place, no one is sure. There were no warning signs whatsoever. No known allergies, no dehydration, no heat exhaustion. He is recovering nicely, yet your prayers for wisdom and healing would be greatly appreciated.

First EKG

Off to CT Scan…

Off to the Regional Hospital

Family visit

Shoulder wound

"Welcoming them…" (Luke 9:11)

(source)

I have an agenda.

A schedule… I have a schedule.

I have goals: short term and long term.  And, required to fulfill those goals and whatnot, is my concentrated time, attention and exertion.  My tendency, as you may have gathered, is to be somewhat laser-focused when I am pursuing these things.  And I have a varsity-level ability to brush other things (or people) aside in that pursuit…  or at least to complain loudly enough as to drive the distractions away.

However, when I act in this way, I am at my worst, not my best.

I arrive at this conclusion because the Person I most wish to emulate — to follow — is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.  And when He had purposed to withdraw with His disciples, away from the crowds, to recover from the demands and needs of others… the crowds followed Him anyway.  In other words:  His ministry did not leave Him alone.  It would seem that the needs of the masses interrupted His plans that day.

Now, I have found myself in similar circumstances, haven’t you?  My agenda is clarified, my schedule is set, my materials acquired, my motivation mustered. Everything comes together in a glorious framework destined for maximum productivity. Or maybe all of those things have been deliberately cast aside for a day of much needed R & R.  In either case, I’ve made my plans for the day.

Then, inevitably, an interruption steps onto my train tracks:

• A child of mine gets violently nauseous.
• My Bride’s car gets stuck in the snow.
• A friend’s water pipes burst.
• Someone needs to talk about a passing comment I made that has been bothering them.
• ___________________________ (Insert your interruption of choice, here.)

When I read in Luke 9:11 that Jesus’ response to the annoyingly persistent crowd was that He welcomed them, I am once again struck with just how far I am from being like Him.

(source)

My default setting is to view “interruptions to my schedule” as… well, interruptions.  I don’t get that from Jesus.  He welcomed them.  He viewed them as opportunities to begin “speaking to them about the kingdom of God”.  In Matthew 6:33, He told me that I should “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

So, the so-called interruptions are not that, at all.  They are opportunities.  Jesus knew this, and lived it.  To become more like Him (which is, in fact, God the Father’s purpose and will for my life), I need to do what the Apostle Paul exhorts me to do, in Galatians 6:10 —
“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

My prayer today is that the Holy Spirit will remind me of this realization, always, and that He will give me — and you — the strength to embrace “interruptions” as the disguised opportunities that they are.

Budging Boulders

(An example of a “walkout basement”, similar to the one we’ve been planning.  Ours will be a two-story house.)

(O.K., I know I’m a little late in posting this, but I’m trying to tie up some loose ends here at “A Different Legacy”, so I figured I better at least post this entry.  I started writing it last Autumn, before the snow hit.  Much more has happened since this post was started, but I’ll fill you in with another more current post.  Thanks for your patience!  🙂
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Lately I’ve been spending every available block of time (hard to come by!) over at the “homestead land”, just digging-digging-digging, making sure we can accommodate a walkout basement foundation, before we are holed-up for Winter, drawing up the final plans.  So far, our prospects for a basement are good, and I have another foot or two to go, all around, to make room for the footing.  However, there are a couple of persistent boulders in the Northwest corner that seem to be comfortable in the place where they’ve been nestled for the last several thousand years.  Now, it is my job as a human to “fill the earth and subdue it” — which means that either they go, or I go.  And, in the immortal words of the Bergermeister Meisterberger, “I am certainly not going!”

Since I didn’t want to spend a fortune on blasting them out, I thought I would try a product I came across, and had ordered online:  Ecobust.  Check out the product info on their website.  Anyway, I drilled…

 

 …and poured the stuff in the holes.

That was last Saturday.

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Update, 1/20/2015:

The EcoBust worked!  The rocks split into pieces, and I was able to dispatch them with only a little more effort.  The boulder work is not quite complete yet, but we are well on our way to having enough room for the walkout basement.  More to come, soon!

Well Update

A couple of weeks ago, we had nothing but a 360′ pipe in the ground.  As of last week, we have…  (drumroll, please):

Water!

Granted, we still need electricity to get it out of the ground, but we’ll be working at that issue from all sides, as well…

Just thought you’d like an update.  Thank God for progress!

"Excuse Me."

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
(Proverbs 10:19, NKJV)

You know, interrupting someone — especially a peer — in the middle of a sentence is, generally speaking, very rude.  A few days ago, listening to a gaggle of self-informed college students discuss the finer points of mobile hotspot (WiFi) connectivity, it occurred to me how often they would cut each other off with remarks like “I know, but…”.  As a matter of fact, I’ve become irritatingly aware of how often I have been inclined to interrupt someone before they pause in their speech, even when my intentions are deemed (by me) to be noble.  So today, as though providentially reminded by the omniscient Spirit of God, I will endeavor to not interrupt anyone**.  I hope you will be challenged to do so, as well.

**(This does not include using parental authority to interrupt the occasional foolish/disrespectful talk exhibited by my children… Sorry, kids.)

Grace & the Law: The Kid-Gloves are comin’ off.

Friends:

 

Yesterday, I had an intense conversation (a “holy argument” that made my wife a little concerned, as she observed) with another believer (an acquaintance) after a church service: a continuation of the pastor’s examination of Grace and the Law.  This brother was asserting that the measure of a believer’s true walk with Christ was that he would have a greater and greater desire to follow the Law — i.e., the Ten Commandments.  I stated that “no, the measure of a Christ follower is by how much his life emulates the grace and truth of the Savior.  We MUST ask for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment to follow God from the heart, not merely aim for keeping His law.  GOD IS NOT THE LAW, AND THE LAW IS NOT GOD.”

Unfortunately, after my “discussion” with this brother, I learned from the pastor that the brother said he could no longer attend that church.  Being somewhat of a newcomer to that fellowship, I apologized profusely to the pastor.  To my surprise, the pastor smiled and warmly told me no apology was necessary.  The pastor then informed me that his own attempts to break through the man’s legalism were met with equal resistance, and he believed the man to be trying to clean out dust specks out of the eyes of others, while being visually impaired by his own log-ridden myopia.  God’s providence prevailed, he told me.

Lest I think that I have “won” or “arrived” (hardly!) in this familiar issue of Law vs. Grace, as of today I’ll be studying — taking a HARD look at — the New Testament book of Romans with my Bride (and my children).  First off, I’m telling you this for accountability’s sake.  Feel free to ask me how it’s going.

 

Secondly, I think it’d be great if you would join me; that is, if you’re not already into a book study, of course.

 

Let me know how it affects you…

 

Have a fruitful day.

 

–Ric

New bookmark for this blog…

Since I am unable to renew my ADifferentLegacy.com domain name as of yet, the address for this blog will be:

http://ADifferentLegacy.wordpress.com/

You can also find us at:

http://thecalvihomestead.blogspot.com/ 

…at least until further notice.  (Yes, I know that ours is not a “homestead” in the most literal sense of the word.  Literal is so boring… don’t let it trip you up. 🙂

Be sure to “bookmark” either of those pages.  Have a great day!

www.ADifferentLegacy.com is temporarily "ADifferentLegacy.wordpress.com"

Since I am unable to renew my domain name as of yet, the address for this blog will be:

http://ADifferentLegacy.wordpress.com/

You can also find us at:

http://thecalvihomestead.blogspot.com/ 

…at least until further notice.  (Yes, I know that ours is not a “homestead” in the most literal sense of the word.  Literal is so boring… don’t let it trip you up. 🙂

Be sure to “bookmark” either of those pages.  Have a great day!

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Have We Reached the Cultural, Moral, and Political Tipping Point of No Return?

The time is NOW. If you have not removed your children from the statist indoctrination programs (deceptively called “public schools”), MAKE IT HAPPEN!

It doesn’t bother me that some who read this will think me extreme. Nothing is neutral, LEAST of all education. “Education” = DISCIPLESHIP… who’s discipling YOUR children?

“Conservatives have been trying to save the public (government) schools for more than 50 years. We’ve been on defense for 50 years while educational budgets have grown, the schools have gotten more statist, and the graduates (when they do graduate) become spokesmen for the State. Yes, I know there are exceptions. But there aren’t enough of them, and there never will be.”

Have We Reached the Cultural, Moral, and Political Tipping Point of No Return?