Father, Son and The Holy Goo

I would like to think that I am strong and not afraid of anything. That I have the strength to build a home for my family, and the courage to protect my wife and kids from anything and anyone. That’s a real man, right? But here’s the truth, I freakin’ hate spiders!

It probably started when I was a teenager. I worked on an avocado ranch and the spiders that hung out in the avocado trees were huge! I would be walking through a grove and all of sudden my face would be covered in a giant nasty spider web. I just knew some big fat brown spider was crawling up my back to bite me in the neck. I had never-ending nightmares about those creepy, nasty, ugly, little beasts.

In my twenties, I rode dirt bikes, and often went on camping trips to the desert and Mexico. On one trip to Guadalupe Canyon, we slept on the ground in sleeping bags. But I woke up in the early dawn with a severe earache. It was so bad, I had to load my bike into my truck and head back to the US. When I arrived, I went straight to urgent care where they gave me antibiotics for an ear infection. But by midnight, I was in extreme pain. One half of my face was paralyzed, I couldn’t see very good, and I couldn’t hear. So I was freaking out. I somehow managed to drive myself to the hospital, where I was given antitoxins because they said I had been bitten four times inside my ear by a brown recluse spider. Like I said, I hate spiders!

Throughout most of my life, I have been involved with lighting maintenance, electrical work, and pole inspections. In all three of those endeavors, I encounter spiders everywhere I go. They hide inside light fixtures, junction boxes, ground vaults, and underneath pole base covers. I just can’t seem to avoid those nasty eight legged creatures, so I am trying to accept it and deal with it. But I gotta say, I still hate ‘em!

Until yesterday morning that is. I was taking a shower and as I reached up to grab the shampoo, I saw a huge brown “Daddy Long Legs” spider just inches away from my hand. That scared the holy crap out of me and to make it worse, he had a large web with a ghostly brown glob of something in the middle that he was guarding. My first thought was to spray him with water and wash him down the drain. But then I noticed something… there was a tiny little baby “Daddy Long Legs” spider scurrying up the web to back to Papa. I stood there for a moment, looking at that big spider, the ghostly glob of goo, and the little guy running like a demon to get back to the web. And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill them. For some reason, all I could think of was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And that got me thinking… It really is stupid and silly to be afraid of spiders because, in a way, they are just like us. They have to create a home, and they have to protect their wife and kids. I can so relate!

If you wish to live and  thrive,

let the spider run alive.

~ Old English Proverb

The Power

I find myself offering up a prayer quite often these days. In fact, most morning when I leave before sunrise to go to work or to go play golf I enjoy voicing a prayer out loud, especially  as the sun rises. I am all alone, don’t have to feel embarrassed, and sometimes I even picture Jesus sitting next to me… and we talk. Okay I talk, but I believe he listens. And I believe He cares. Funny thing is, as I pray and the sunrise bursts forth over the tops of the hills, so does a feeling of calmness within me, combined with happiness.

Call me crazy, because I admit that I never used to pray very often as a young man. But as I’ve gotten older two things have changed in my life.

• One – I appreciate the blessings that I have a lot more these days because I’ve been through enough hard times in my life to recognize when I have it good. So I feel grateful and want to express my gratitude in prayer. Doing so makes me feel good, and happy as I mentioned above.

• Two – Being older, I have a lot of friends my age who are going through health issues and some of them have even lost loved ones recently. They need all the help they can get so I put them in my prayers and let them know I am praying for them.

However, I am having a problem with number two above.  There is no way for me to know if my prayers are doing any good. I mean I am just your average Joe. I am not a pastor, I am not super smart, I don’t have any special power, and I don’t even know if I am structuring my prayers in the right way. Sometimes my prayers are answered the way I hope. Other times a friend stays sick, or a relative dies, and I feel really sad.

Until today, Easter Sunday, that is. As I was reading the book of Psalms in my Max Lucado Study Bible, I saw that Max added a sidebar note. It will forever change the way I look at prayer, which is to say that I will never stop praying and never stop believing that my prayers are heard.  

Since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it,

Our prayers do make a difference!

                                                                                                      ~ Max Lucado

Hold On Tight

It seems like just yesterday that we met. I don’t know if it was her captivating smile, cute dimples, or infectious personality that attracted me to her so much. But what I do know is that when I fell in love with her, I fell hard!

She warned me, “Once you kiss me, you will never stop”, and she was right. And the moment we told each other how we truly felt, we were constantly together, never ever wanting to be apart, holding hands, holding on tight. I think that both of us were so thrilled to have found true love, that once we found it, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t lose it. And maybe that’s why after nearly three decades, we are still madly in love with each other, still holding hands ever so tightly, and still never want to be apart.

Yesterday was our 28^th wedding anniversary. So I made sure there was a fresh rose on her nightstand, an anniversary card propped up against it, and an anniversary present hidden in the back of my truck. The present was an issue though. After 28 years, I feel like I’ve given her just about every creative gift that I could come up with. So this year was a struggle, until I overheard her on the phone. She was telling a friend about her new charity venture that involves creating suitcases filled with clothes for Foster Kids. The tremendous excitement and passion in her voice fired off a light bulb in my head. So this year, instead of buying her a gift for herself, I decided to give her a gift for her charity, a suitcase filled with clothes and toiletries for a young child. I hoped it would be both a show of love for her and support for her passion and I lucked out. She loved it… and held on to me tight for a very long time.

When you first fall in love, it can take your breath away and give you goosebumps all over your body. Later on as you share life’s struggles, sort through problems, and enjoy good times together, love will often mature and create a special, long lasting bond that can’t be broken. That’s how I feel about my wife these days. It might be because 20 years ago I nearly lost her to a life threatening lung disorder, or it might be because she has always had my back when I needed it most, or it might just be those cute dimples that pop up when she smiles. All I know for sure is that life can be a bumpy road, so no matter what... I’m gonna forever hold on tight!

Speaking of bumpy roads, as I drove to a job site yesterday, I called my wife just to tell her I love her and miss her. Sounds silly right! But as I heard her say “Love You” when she hung up the phone, a lighted traffic sign on the side of the intersection switched to say, “Love You”.  Love can be crazy right!

Love… is the perfect bond of unity.

Colossians 3:14