Assumptions on Future Events

   Back in 2008, when we moved back to St. Simons from our 3 year stint in Virginia, we decided to buy a condo. Our reasoning included the obvious no yard to take care of, but the condo itself offered easy access to the ground floor garage area, inside doorways and passageways that might accommodate  a wheelchair or walker. We were looking toward the future when all these things might well become necessary. 

   In the intervening years since 2008, a lot has happened. We thought we had it all mapped out and had taken care of the basic living arrangements. We made assumptions based on our limited view of the future, and they were the best we could come up with at the time.

   We still make assumptions based on what we know in the present. 

   For instance, since Mayre has had her brain-related mobility issues and one hand has basically quit functioning all together, we have assumed that I would be the care giver, and that it was a doable situation, especially with the living arrangements we had put in place. That has served us well, and we get along just fine.

   Twice over the last couple of weeks, I have come down with situations that caused me to struggle to get everything done for my wife. I was just not good for much of anything, but got by on the minimum care. Our assumptions that I would continue to be healthy, were stretched, and we wondered if we had assumed correctly.

   We all do the best we can, but new information keeps coming in that might cause some recalculation, and we need to be flexible enough to make changes on the fly.

   We can stand on the shore of the present, and we can assume all we can realistically see, but there is a wide channel out there, and the control of future events is not in our hands.

   Proverbs 3:5:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.

   We don't need that future insight, just the Trust in the One who has it all under His control.

   He does not need to assume..

I Wonder, a Lot...

   One day, over the last weekend, as Mayre and I were out strolling, we noticed an ambulance parked outside Building One. Making a mental note to check on it, we continued, and, yes, I forgot.

   When I remembered it on Monday, I emailed a man over in that building to ask what was going on. He replied that one of the residents was having medical issues and had been in and out of the emergency room a couple of times over the past few days.

   Later on that same day he emailed again to tell me that this older man had passed away during the  morning.

   Now I knew this man enough to say "good morning" and stuff like that, but I really did not know him beyond that. There are only 42 units in our complex, and a high percentage are part time owners. The people in our building are known to us enough to stop and talk when we meet by the mailboxes or the elevator. With few exceptions, our lives do not meet on any meaningful level.

   The picture that comes to mind is a look down the breezeway, that all of our units open onto, and see a row of closed doors.

   I miss the days of front porches and chairs where people walk by and stop to talk just because you are out there and available.

   Makes me wonder how much of life is missed because of self isolation, even though it is not intended.

   Makes me wonder, too, how many stories and personal interactions I have missed from just not being caring enough.

   And what might I have learned or understood better from interaction with Mr. Brown?

   And what might he have wanted or needed from me?

   There is so much more to life in the way of service and caring than going in and shutting the door.

   Makes a body wonder...

A Simple Golf Story

   Two friends went out to play 9 holes of golf one afternoon. They had done this many times, and one more round would not seem to be that unusual.

   The course was the same they had often played, the pin placements were pretty standard. This was not a championship course by any stretch of the imagination, and the shots they played and tried to execute were not always the most precise.

   Some holes they played well, and some they butchered. Balls were lost in the water, and putts were badly struck.

  On each day they played this 9 holes, they had this little game to see who might win that particular day. Not a game for any monetary prize, just the friendly competition between a couple of golfers.

   I must note here the point game played. Players earned points for:

      1 point for a greenie (on the green closest to the pin on a par 3)
      1 point for a sandie (a par made on any hole that involved a shot from a sand trap)
      1 point for a birdie on any hole
      2 points for an eagle (never has happened for us)
      1 point for winning the hole with a par or better
      Minus 1 point for a double bogey or worse

   Sounds complicated, but isn't..

   On this day, they both played well and parred the first hole with a pair of 5s.

   The round progressed with several ties and some lead changes that brought them up to the last hole, a par 3 across the water.

   Player A was ahead in the match by 1 point as a result of a greenie on the last hole.

   Player B hit first and landed in the front trap.

   Player A followed suit and ended up in the same trap.

   No greenie on this hole today, but a possibility for a sandie for each player.

   Both blasted from the trap, Player A ending about 6 feet from the cup with a downhill roll. Player B's ball came to rest about 10 feet above the hole.

   Both players had a chance to win the match. Player A would win if there was a tie on this hole. Player B could win with a par putt that would give him the sandie and the win, if Player A did not make his par.

   Player B putted first and made the putt. He was happy. It was a pressure putt and made A's putt seem longer and trickier.

   Player A putted, and the balled clunked into the cup

   Both had responded to the supposed pressure, got out of the trap, made their putt, got the sandie and the match ended.

   Sure, A had 1 point more than B, but both had done what was needed on the last hole. They had played their best.

   We just looked at each other as the second putt rolled in, smiled, did a fist tap, and walked off the green together knowing what had just transpired. It was one of those special moments where you can just appreciate the play on that hole, on both sides.

   It was good just to be able to share it.

   It won't make ESPN, or even the Brunswick News, but it was good.

   A simple golf story, but worth a memory...

What's On Your …?

   I've been under the weather a little bit this week, but not so much so as not to be able to read.

   Around our little condo, we have books.

   There are books in the spare bedroom..

   There are books in the entrance hallway..

   There are books in the living area..

   And next to the dining table and next to the bed..

   When I look on my bedside table, this is the sight I see..

   There are books that I am now reading, for my personal pleasure and for Mayre's and my time together, ones that I read out loud for us.

   Mine and Our current books:

      Water from the Heart by Charles Martin (on the Kindle)
      Birds of a Feather by JacquelineWinspear
      The Comfort of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith

   I'm sure that there are psychological studies out there that will tell you what kind of person you are by examining the books that you read, but I just read what I like, and that is all I know.

   Over the past several weeks my wife and I have read 3 of the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency books and 1 of the Maisie Dobbs series. We are on book 2 (of 5) of the Maisie Dobbs books right now. Since Mayre does not read well these days, this is a good together time for us. She enjoys it, and so do I.

   In fact, I hear her voice right now, calling for a reading time. So, I will grab the Maisie Dobbs book 2. and head to the living area.

   But, I wonder as I do,

   What's on your bedside table?

 

 

Victory in Defeat..

   Last week before the Master's began on Thursday, I read a couple of posts on Facebook that touted the Christian faith of Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth. Good reads, both, and the commitment to Jesus prominent in both men.

   I have followed both for awhile now and have been impressed about how each handle themselves on the golf course, and how they handle the fame of their success.

   I watched Jordan as he worked his way around the course on Days 1,2 and 3 and most of the day on Sunday. The flowers were blooming..

   Then came No. 12

      Tee shot into the creek

      then a drop and another shot into the same creek

      then another drop and a shot into the trap behind the green

      then, mercifully, finally, a big 7 on the score card

   The morning paper on Monday would call it a "collapse". It must have been devastating for him. I know it was painful to watch on the TV.

   To Jordan's credit, he came back to make 2 more birdies in the final holes to finish 2 strokes behind the winner. He did not quit.

   The days ahead will be a new chapter, a different type of existence, for this talented golfer.

   The world has watched as he handled success well, now they will get to see him handle disappointment, and that process will probably say more about his Christian witness than all the green jackets he can stuff into his closet.

   I pray that people will see how a real Christian handles his circumstances, and I pray for Jordan Spieth that he will be the role model for others looking at his life, that God will be his guide in all of this.

   It may not be easy, but he can do it,

   And those flowers will bloom again.

Puzzling About Things

   A lot of the time it seems as if my life is one large (or small) jigsaw puzzle, with most of the pieces still in the box or scattered around in various places waiting to be put in the proper place.

   So, it seemed appropriate the other day, that a friend (?) loaned to me a puzzle that they had received as a Christmas present. A one thousand piece one that would measure about 3 feet by 2 feet when (and if) completed.

   It was fairly easy to get the border in place (except for one piece that refused to be found). That is a straightforward process. Even my next door neighbor, who confessed to being color blind, said he could do that much, but then there were so many pieces left, that even the sorting of them into colors and distinguishing lines was not easy.

   So, where there were features like the green window shutters, I tried to get all those pieces together and assembled into something that I could place into the overall frame in their approximate position. After I had something, anything, I could begin to try the process of building around what I had and enlarging it so that eventually it would connect somewhere else.

   Isn't that the way it is with life?

   I take the life I am living at the moment and attempt to attach some other pieces to it, things that seem good and helpful and that God seems to be pushing in my direction.

   I think about the people and situations that He brings into my life. How do they fit? What is He pointing out that will help me to grow more into His likeness and do the work that He has planned for me?

   If I get up in the early morning, before the sun rises, what do I hear in the semi-darkness, what things does my mind get into?

   When I read my Bible, what is He pointing out? How does this act of reading and thinking make any difference in the way that I live?

   But it is not in just completing the whole puzzle, it is taking and using the parts of it that are shown at any given time. God has an overall plan for my life, but He also expects me to follow the paths he has shown for any given time or situation.

   The individual pieces of a large puzzle may be indistinct, but when placed together and locked into place, show what the author intended, and we can tell that we got those parts in the right place.

   The key is beginning with the basics and then adding those pieces that fit in.

   A larger picture emerges.

   I pray that my life will be about seeking God's plan pieces and fitting them into a life that has His Service as my goal.

   And I don't need to wait until the whole thing is completed to be using the parts that He has shown.

   Depend on Him to point out the pieces as needed.

   It will work out in the end…

       And, as I look at the box, I notice that the Puzzle title is..

                Contentment

      Coincidence?
 

 

A Simple Thing Really...

   Way back when, a friend of mine who worked at Krystal in Chattanooga, called on a Thursday evening and asked if I wanted to go to the Master's the next day. Thanks, Cam.

Cam and Becky Scearce (4th and 5th from left)

   Silly question! Especially when the terms of the deal were put forth. A ticket to a Friday round in Augusta, air transportation down there and back on a private jet, and a day on the grounds of the best golf tournament in existence.

   I pinched myself twice and then agreed to the offer.

   That was my first time going to that event. I have been several times since then, but only to the practice round on a Tuesday, never again to the "real thing".

   As I walked this morning, I thought of that first time and the times since then. I thought about the players, the crowds, the beauty of the grounds and all that is associated with Augusta in the Spring.

   I remember little about the course, or the players I watched up close, but there is one thing that I always come back to in my thoughts.

Egg Salad

6 large hard boiled eggs
4 tablespoons Hellman’s mayo
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated vidalia onion

   The simple egg salad sandwich, on white bread, sold at the concession stands, and, the last I heard it was still $1.50, the best bargain in sport's fare.

   I could not tell you who won the Master's the year I first went, I may have a hard time remembering the year, but my first thought this morning was the Egg Salad Sandwich.

   April, azaleas, green grass, good golf, and most memorable, the cheap good food.

   Doesn't get much better than that..

   The best things in life are (almost) free.

   Simple, Really..

 

 

How Do You Know the Status of Your Life?

   I read somewhere that the first thing you should do every morning is to make your bed. That way you can always say that you accomplished something in that day.

   Never mind how small, it is still an accomplishment.

   Perhaps it is with the encouragement from another, that leads to a high point in your day. Perhaps it is a little more than that when you wife says that you have got to get this stuff out of her  kitchen.

   Regardless, there comes that time, a time of euphoric pleasure, that you know you have hit a high that may not be equalled in these few hours before tomorrow.

   Have you even been stumped with a problem from the day before, and you see, right there in front of you, a solution that had been evading you? It may have been hiding in plain view, but you see it, you know it fits what you need, and you get that warm feeling all over.

   You smile and know that all is well.

   You can go on with the rest of your day, but you have your accomplishment, and it cannot be taken away.

   You have solved your problem, and even if nothing else happens good, you can remember that feeling.

   But what does it say about your life, when that high, that euphoric moment in time, is kind of unimportant?

   You have made your bed, you have found that elusive puzzle piece, and it is only 10:35AM.

   Maybe you can even balance your checkbook and make it truly memorable.

   But the puzzle piece, the one that was hiding and did not want to cooperate, is the one thing that really made you smile.

   What does that say about your life?

   And what does it say that one of your "so-called" friends gave you a 1,000 piece one to work?

   But, after today, there is only a couple of hundred of those tiny pieces left to find and fit in, and I still have more upcoming chances to smile.

   But, if I don't get it done, there may not be but one of us smiling.

   Might not ought to push my luck.

   Might be unimportant to anyone else, but it is to me...

A Word, A Hymn, A Book and A Need...

   When I read yesterday's Moravian passages, a line from an old hymn caught my eye:

4 Save us from weak resignation
to the evils we deplore;
let the gift of your salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving you whom we adore,
serving you whom we adore.

   A word came to mind, one that I had heard, and even used, many times in the past,

   WHATEVER..

   The first line from the fourth stanza of that hymn talks about weak resignation. That seems to me like a shrug of the shoulders with an admission that either I don't know, or I don't care, or I can't do anything about it, so why worry?

   I remembered, and then reread, a line from a book we are reading , The Right Attitude to Rain, by Alexander McCall Smith, where this conversation takes place:

   Mimi says to Isabel, "There's an expression that people use these days--have you noticed it?--which is  actually quite useful. They just say 'whatever'. It sounds very insouciant (I looked it up and it means nonchalant)--and it is--but there are occasions…"

   "And you feel you want to say it now?"

   "Yes", said Mimi. "Whatever. There you are. Whatever. It more or less sums things up. Things will sort themselves out. That is what it means. Things will sort themselves out and we don't really need to do anything."

   "Whatever", said Isabel. (all from p. 262)

   But that is not the attitude that I want to take when it is a matter of morality or faith.

   As an example, taken from the world of current events:

   When I state that I deplore the practice of abortion, and have lived with the fact of it for all these years, it is easy to bemoan it's use, especially for convenience sake, but leave it there. Living in a culture that says 'this is right' serves to inoculate one's self from the evil that we claim it to be.

   It is easy to just shrug and say, 'Whatever'.

   As the hymn's verse continues:

   "Grant us wisdom, grant us courage"..

   I need both in huge quantities.

   Without those 2, I may just be temped to mouth the word..

   "WHATEVER"

And Shrug..