Out of Many..One

   Partial Family GetTogether, July 2016

   They Came:

   Dwayne and Karen

   Donna, Noel, Archer, Cady Gray

   They Did Stuff:

   In the Pool

   At the Beach

   In the Chairs

   At the Table

   There is one photograph that, to me, tells the whole story of these few days..Can anyone tell me what it is and why?

   It is the image I carry with me from that time...

Some Things Don't Change..

   Granny Lou and Papa were blessed yesterday with a partial family visit from some of our kids and grands.

   Dwayne and Karen came from Charlotte, but, alas, without Sawyer and Sydney who are both in California working this summer, and Doug and family are in the process of coming home from that same far west state as their year-long sabbatical ends this month.

   Donna and Noel came with their two, Archer and Cady Gray from Arkansas, and so we had 2 of our 3 families represented.

   Two activities don't change when we gather.

   Food

   And Games around the table

   On our first day together, we learned a new game. Well, new to some of us.

   Over and Out, a card game.

   The simple premise goes like this: Everyone begins with 4 chips. There is a loser on each hand and that player loses one chip. When all players, except one, have lost their 4 chips, the game ends with a winner.

   As Granny Lou kept tabs on all of us from the sideline, we played twice yesterday.

   After just a few hands, one player has no chips and is relegated to taking pictures of the other players.

   The Big Orange player is out first..

   Some Things Don't Change

  

"I Can Bike"

   While the cycling world celebrates the yellow, green, polka dot, and white jerseys of the Tour de France, I found something else worth noting also, this in the Brunswick News of Thursday, July 21, 2016.

   There was a front page article highlighting a camp and an organization that provides life-changing experiences for disabled kids. Sponsored by a national group, iCan Shine, this camp, iCan Bike, 112 volunteers came together for 75 minute sessions each day for a week, taking kids under their wings to teach them that they can ride a bike.

   These kids, most of whom have tried for years to be able to ride a normal 2 wheel bike, are carried through the process by these volunteers, and, by the end of that week, are riding and smiling.

   One mother of a 13 year old son said, "my son has been trying since he was 5 to learn how to ride a bike".

   Her comment, as she watched him gain confidence, "My heart exploded", summed it up.

   I admit, my heart did also as I read the article.

   I thought of an image. One I had photographed the other day while taking a couple of our grand kids to the beach.

   Someone has been here before...

   Kids lives are forever changed because someone was willing to help them learn to ride a bike.

   Parents lives also, because some cared.

   Unsung heroes making a difference.

   Isn't that what we are all supposed to be about?

   In our own world, in our own way, living to make a difference in the lives of people around us.

   Reminds me of the verse in Micah:

   "He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?"

   Let it Be

The Tour And A Memory...

   Today is a rest day on the Tour de France, so there is no actual race to watch on TV, but I have been following this event for the 16 stages that have taken place so far.

   I have always been impressed by the riders, their condition and the mileage that they rack up in the course of the 21 stages and consider it one of the premier sporting events in the world. When you can ride your bike for over 100 miles and average a speed of 25-30 mph, day after day, you have done something. And those mountains! I would be riding up in my lowest granny gear for a mighty long time on those roads, and be scared to death of the speeds on the descent. My hands would ache for weeks from gripping the brake levers.

   Once back in the late 80s, a fellow student of mine at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain up in Tennessee convinced me to meet him early one day to ride up the mountain to class and then back down in the afternoon. I think we rode from about 650 feet to around 2,000 feet in elevation, and it was a tough slog going up, with the speedy descent a white-knuckle one all the way to the bottom. I only did it once. My friend did it every class day for a month.

   I took my car all the other days...

   My foray into bike racing took place in 1987, at the age of 51. The Tour de Mountain, Signal Mountain, TN, a 30 mile 3 loop course, and I did not win a yellow jersey.

   But there is a trophy on my dresser to this very day..

   There were several things I learned on this race day:

   1. It is not cool to have to walk your bike up that one hill, 3 times

   2. I won't be a threat on the real Tour

   3. If your age group is small enough, you can actually take home some hardware

   My entrance into this world of racing, and my exit from this stage on the same day, was enough for me, but those other two guys in my age group may still be out there somewhere.

   I'm home on the Island, still riding my bike, but watching the race on TV.

   Flat roads, low mileage, and a flat screen for me.

  

  

What Grabbed Their Attention?

   For the past few days we have had two of our grand children (not children really but teens growing up fast) with us here on the Island.

   The four of us have had a lot of experiences..

   Playing in the ocean

   Cooking stuff in the kitchen (brownies with fudge icing)

   Eating a lot of meals (homemade Mac and Cheese)(with ketchup)

   Playing Sorry

   More Ocean adventures

   But you know what one thing they both wanted me to take a picture of? The one thing that they made me turn the car around to see and capture?

   Sunset over the airport, almost gone, but still an eye catcher.

   God's creation..

   May it ever remain so...

  

What If...?

   The other day I picked up our mail from the box. A lot of it was "throwaways", but there was one publication that I kept for some reason.

   This magazine was the Winter/Spring 2016 issue of Journey, a publication of Carson-Newman University up in Jefferson City, TN.

   Now, I know of the school, even been on the campus, but I cannot remember getting this before. I know folks in my life who have gone there, but neither Mayre or I have any personal relationship with the college at all. I'm not sure how it ended up in my hands.

   But here it was, and I set it aside to look at. One picture caught my eye..

   And I had to watch the video that included this shot.

   The story of Nola Isobe gripped me, and I looked at that video again this morning.

   Briefly, this lady had grown up dirt poor, in the mountains of NC, in a house with only cold water, with no bathroom inside. She started school with no shoes to wear. Her teacher bought her a pair of yellow tennis shoes, and that teacher's love started her on the way to her Doctor's degree in Education.

   You can watch the video here:

   http://www.cn.edu/news?view=1110

   But, as I listened again, two words came to my mind, and in the form of one question:

   "WHAT IF...?"

   Those words are obvious when it comes to that teacher and her relationship with that particular student, but I began to think of how they apply to my life, past, present and future.

   Now, a crossroad is formed from those words. Decisions in life that involve the taking of one of two paths.

   But there are also two paths in the application of what to look at when looking back..

   What if I had...?

   What if I had not...?

   But I did not want to dwell in the past. There are plenty of answers that spring from that question in my 80 years, some that I remember fondly, and some that I would like to forget.

   How about today, right now, what can I do to insure a smile on my face and someone else's in the future, the days that stretch out to an indeterminate date in God's timetable?

   The present is the only time I have in my hand today.

   What if my choices were concerned with the well-being of another?

   What if my opportunities and actions were rid of selfishness?

   What if I asked God for more of His wisdom and caring?

   What if I listened, really listened, to Him and others?

   Our lives are filled each day with paths branching off from many crossroads.

   It is never too late to do Right...

   "WHAT IF...?"

Two Hundred Forty and Countiung

   With just a hint of light in the eastern sky, I walked out early this morning. I could see that the flag hanging outside the gate was wound around the flagpole, and part was stretched out on the concrete pillar where it had been caught during the night.

   So I stopped and unfurled the flag.

   And I thought...

   Today is the 240th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.

   And I thought...

   How many times had our country's symbolic flag been unfurled over these years and in what kind of circumstances?

   In celebrations, in times of sorrow, on battlefields and over soup lines..

   How many people had stood and looked and felt?

   Joy, Pride, Sorrow, or Foreboding..

   And, as I walked on up the road, I began to hum..

   "While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

    God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home."

   We need that blessing so very much today.

   Let it be so, and let us be worthy of it.