February 2014
Well the holidays are over and life is back to normal. Here in Texas in February
we sometimes work outside getting things done in our tee shirts and then some days we
huddle in the house around the fireplace and try to keep warm. Today it’s 23 in the morning
but they say it will be in the 60’s tomorrow and maybe 70 the next day. So we plan maybe a
bit of golf and a bit of time working on the yard but by Monday it’s supposed to be in the
20’s again. Up and down, up and down. Seems like we never get to get in the groove, but
then summer will get here and it will settle alright. 100 degree’s for weeks at a time will be
the norm and we will wish for this up and down crazy weather we now gripe about. If it
rains we complain and if it doesn’t we complain.
I was into sailing for a while some years back and I
learned something. When the wind is up, you can fly across
the water and here you are just sailing away and then the wind
dies. Just flat out stops. And so do you. So you sit and wait,
and wait. You can adjust the sails and wait for any breeze to try to carry you back to shore, but without the
wind you’re stuck. One time a lady in a big boat, 20+ foot monster boat, stops by and offers us a tow. I
said, “sure” and loaded the kids into her boat, tied off to a tow rope and explained to her how my catamaran
wasn’t made to go fast. She said no problem she would go slowly and then she took off, and let me tell you
what she thought was slow was a rollercoaster horror show to me. I had loosened the sails but they still
grabbed some air at her “slow” pace and along with the 2ft tall wake she was putting out I was water skiing with my boat holding onto the
rudder with both hands. Back and forth I went from wake to wake just trying not to flip my boat and my kids watching and laughing the
whole time. I doubt they had any ideal how worried I was. I was so relieved when we got to the cove, but then I was back to worrying
again hoping she knew my boat didn’t have a brake or reverse and if she just stopped I would run right into her. Well my fears where
justified, she got into the cove and just stopped. Now I realize boats don’t just stop, but her monster boat just died and mine just kept
going. I couldn’t let loose of the rudder to go untie the rope so all I could do was steer to the side and hope my speed died down enough
to when I hit the end of the rope I didn’t flip around too hard. Luckily she saw my dilemma and hit the gas and moved forward a bit and
we all got stopped without any damage. Got the kids back in my boat and untied from her and here we are still a few hundred yards from
shore. She offered to pull me closer and I said “no, we would be fine”. No way was I ever tying back up to her boat. We waited for her
to motor away and we all jumped into the water, grabbed a rope and swam to shore. It took awhile, but enough boats were going by and
their waves helped push us. I’m not sure but I don’t think the kids ever went sailing with me again. It was always either too windy for
them or not windy at all. I’ve always dreamed of sailing the gulf, island hopping, but the horror stories of people sitting for days burning
up in the sun waiting for enough wind to at least cool them off much less move them has scared me away from that dream.
I knew a man years back that changed careers more often than I changed cars. He would buy or start a business, get it going
pretty good and then sell it and start another. From my understanding he made decent money most of the time but he didn’t change for
the money. I think he got bored and just did something different. Sounds crazy to most of us, but he was happy. Not sure I would have
the guts to do it myself.
Some people vacation in the same spot every year and some do something different each time. Some people play one sport and
some try them all. Each of us are different in so many ways. What a boring life this would be if we all were the same. If we all farmed
who would build the machines. If we all designed new things who would grow our food or make our clothes?
There is a song we sing called “I’ve got a mansion”. It talks about heaven and getting a mansion. I
like the song. It has a good beat and rhythm, but it makes me wonder. If everyone gets a mansion, let’s say a
10 thousand square feet 2 story with a nice pool all on streets of gold. It’s no longer a mansion, it’s just the
norm. Now me, I won’t have a mansion, I will have a log cabin somewhere in the mountains far from
everyone else, and I won’t have streets of gold because if I get my dream, there won’t be roads around my
place. Each of us have different dreams and to me heaven will be not much different than here in looks but
different in attitude. In heaven if your house is bigger it won’t matter to me, I won’t have jealousy or envy
because I could have it too if I wanted it. Things won’t matter, we won’t be judged by how much money or
success we have but by what’s in our hearts.
Some people may have different things, but we won’t see it as better or worse. I won’t judge you by
the car you drive and you won’t care how fast my horse is. I’m sure some people will do bigger things, but
that won’t mean better. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about it. It tells us to look at our own body. Is your eye more important than
your ear? Is your hand better than your foot? Look inside, does your liver or bowel play a less part in your life than your
heart? What part of your body could you lose that you wouldn’t miss? I had surgery to remove a part of me I didn’t even
know was there. I’ve never seen it or felt it, but once it was gone my life was changed. If someone is good at basketball, do
you give his hands the credit? Maybe his feet? No, he couldn’t do anything without all of them working together. That’s what
Paul was telling the church. Be happy with whatever part you play in Gods plan, we are all important. We are not all heads or
hands but we are all one body in Christ working for His good; doing His work. We will all be part of His glory, share and if
any get a greater reward it will be for things we can’t see for it’s what’s in our hearts that God will judge us by. Paul says in
chapter 13 that if I give all I own to the poor and even die at the stake burned as a martyr but I don’t have love then I have
nothing. We don’t understand because we are human. We see things through human eyes, but someday we will see clearly. We
will understand but in the meantime we have 3 things to keep us straight. Trust in God, hope and love. And the greatest of
these is love. Love each other and I mean everyone, not just family and friends. Love everyone as your self. God sent His Son
to die for us so that we could all have eternal life. How can we not do the same? He’s not asking for us to die, just love.
Dale Word