A New Fitness Activity

I have found a new fitness activity that is guarantee to keep my body in tip-top shape. It is called scooter walking. If you want to try it, here is what you need:

1. A friend or family member that has a broken leg;


2. One red scooter with a speed control that goes up to rabbit speeds;


3. A sling to hold your friend's or family member's broken leg in the air; and


4. A pair of good walking shoes.

Once you have everything, place your friend or family member on the scooter, tell them to adjust the speed control to rabbit, and then try to keep up with them. Do this for a week for 30 minutes per day and I guarantee you that you will get fit.

It is Collection Day!!

I normal don't work on Saturdays, but I do on special occasions. Today was one of those special occasions: a household hazardous waste collection day at the Tribe's transfer station.



Residents from the community were allowed to bring all their household hazardous wastes to us and we would take out off their hands. We had car and truck loads of stuff that came in. Some of the stuff looked really nasty and smelt bad too. That didn't stop me and all of the other workers lending a hand to make sure that the stuff gets properly disposed. You see, more than likely all this nasty stuff would have been improperly disposed if we didn't hold this collection day. I sure feel good at the end of the day when I know that I've done something that helps protect the environment and the health of people in the community. Here are some more pictures from the day.

Storage drums for waste oil, flammable liquids, and other nasty stuff.


Stuff waiting to be sorted.

A trunk full of paint.

Paint ready for disposal.Teres and me taking a break from our duties.

Bugs in My Salad

I have the awesome privilege of staying with the Ramers when I'm in NY working. During my stay in September, I asked the Ramer children where the locust were in the salad at every meal time? This question arose based on a conversation we had one night regarding the food that John the Baptist ate. Emily and Josiah would search with excitement to find the locusts in the salad, but would never find any. As I departed at the end of September, I told them that I would bring some Texas locust with me when I returned in November.

I wasn't at their house for very long and they asked me "Where are the Texas locusts." I had to give them some pat answers since I shipped the locusts to my office and they weren't with me. Jodelle and I put the bugs in the salad the second night I was there. The children had a fun time of finding them. They also have had a fun time of putting them in my bed and other places for me to step on since then.

I know that these aren't locusts, but they were the closest thing to them that I could find in Texas.

In the Trenches

Digging trenches is hard and dirty work. I know because I've dug a few in my lifetime. There is always a purpose for digging trenches; I've never known anyone to dig a trench just for the fun of it. Just when you think that you are making headway, your shovel hits a large rock, or worst yet, smaller rocks that are grouped together. The rocks hinder your progress forward and weakness settles in with every shovel push to remove the rocks. This is when friends are needed to help us maintain focus on the purpose of digging. If we don't keep going until the purpose is achieved, we leave a hole for someone else to fall into. Not a good situation.


Now I know that I've been talking about the physical act of digging trenches, but I see comparisons to when God calls us to come alongside people to help them in their trenches of daily living. Lets face it, we all go through things in our lives that require people to come alongside to help us in the trenches of life. Most times, these trenches are not pretty, they require hard work, things get dirty, and obstacles abound to impede forward progress of achieving the purpose.


Think of the damage caused by us not even being willing to step into the trenches of life when someone needs us to, or even worse yet, when we jump out of the trenches before they accomplish whatever the purpose of the trench is. On the flip side, think about the good fruit that comes when we help someone walk through their daily trenches of living and keep pointing them to Jesus as their helper, comforter, and healer.


The best fruit that I've experienced when helping someone is seeing them trusting and drawing closer to God as they walk through their trenches. Yes, it is hard work walking with someone as they walk through their trenches of daily living, but there is no better joy to see them having a deeper relationship with the Lord.


Is God calling you to come alongside someone in your life? If so, I encourage you to grab your shovel, jump in, and walk with them until they fulfill their purpose in the trench. Keep pointing them to Jesus along the way and watch with amazement of what the Lord does.

A Reflection of Jesus

When I fly, I like to watch people in the airport and on the airplane. Sometimes I will even strike up a conversation with people if I observe that we have something in common. Otherwise, I sleep most of the time on the planes.

I flew to NY on Sunday for three weeks of working from my main office. I boarded my flight to Syracuse and found my aisle seat. I didn't buckle my seat belt since I surmised from my observations that the plane would be full and that someone would be sitting next to me. Sure enough, a young lad came and pointed to the seat next to me. I couldn't help notice the young lad's book as I arose to let him to his seat. The title of the book "Christ is Lord." I thought "seems like something in common with me" and began to strategize how to strike up a conversation with him. I then noticed that he was checking football scores on his handheld computer. After all it was Sunday and my Giants were playing the Cowboys...I needed to know how my team was doing. I inquired and this was the inroad for me to ask him about his book. We began to talk about the book and our lives.

I found out that he is a soldier and was heading back to Fort Drum after being on leave. He was flying back from Louisiana where his wife and the rest of his family live. He has been to Afghanistan twice and will head back there in January.

What impressed me about this young lad was his willingness to humbly serve his country for a greater cause of freedom for our Nation, even until death. I was struck by his confident soft spoken voice, his humbleness, and his willingness to die so that I and others could live our lives in freedom. In a sense, he was a reflection of what Jesus has done: humbly served until death so that I may be free of the devil's clutches and live in freedom. I am thankful for Jesus and thankful for soldiers who are willing to die for my freedom.

After picking up my luggage in the baggage claim area, I made a point to find the soldier. I shook his hand, thanked him for serving his country, and told him that I would pray for him. With humbleness, he smiled and thanked me.

The soldier's name is Matt. Please keep him and the rest or our soldiers in your prayers.

So Many Things to Do

I never seem to have a lack of things to do. There are days that I would love to sit in my bed all day with my computer, Bible, and other study materials and immerse myself with the Word. This is where I have been for the past hour or so learning more about the parable of the mustard seed. And as I've said, I would love to stay here all day, but there are many things that I need to do before I leave for NY tomorrow.





So what is on my to-do list? Clean apartment, pack, pay bills, go to a baseball game, make laundry soap, and spend time with the Brown family. This is a long list and I guess I need to get going so that I also have time to do this: