Rain

Janie found her great aunt's unmarked grave. This picture is of her standing at the head of the grave. The marker nearest her is her great aunt's husband who had a marker only because he was in the Army. Janie's Dad has been wanting to find this grave for he remembers going to this cemetery with his mother. Where you see our car in the distance is where we parked when Janie's parents were with us. My father-in-law's memory is fairly good. He missed this grave's location by about 30 feet. Not bad for having last been to the cemetery some 66 years ago.

It rained on us just about all day today. Everywhere we were today it rained. I failed to check our rain gauge when we got back home this evening so I do not know how much we had. This morning I worked on a project for my mother-in-law and then on the website for Bro. Davis. We went by to see Janie's uncle and then we stopped by Bro. Davis for a visit and to return some pictures I had borrowed. He was feeling much better today. We stopped at Wal-Mart on our way home to pick up a few things. It is good to be home. I will finish the 15th chapter of Revelation this Sunday and may start the 16th.

Next week I need to start working on the church letter forms for our State Baptist Association. Maybe my grandchildren will help me fold and stuff those 300 letters and envelopes like they did last year. Our local association meets the first Saturday in October and I am the clerk for that Association as well. My goal is to have the minutes of the local meeting ready by the end of October.

Well its off to bed now and up early in the morning. God bless you.

Its 2 am and the ambulance just left. Every thing is ok except for one of the kitchen chairs which is broken beyond repair. My father in law fell as he was trying to get up. Janie and I could not get him up so we called 911. They arrived an hour and a half later and had no problem getting him to his feet. I will take him to his doctor's appointment at 8 this morning. God bless you.

Headache

Headaches are not so bad except when they cause nausea. I had one such headache today. The nap seemed to help a little. We went to a cemetery in a community called "Cross Roads." Janie has a great aunt buried there in an unmarked grave. It was only a 30 minute ride but it seemed like 3 hours to me. Janie walked all over that little cemetery (pictured) trying to find the grave but was not successful. She called a man who said he might be able to help and he is to call her tonight. When we got back to the house I laid down again and am feeling better now.

Janie and her mother are working together cooking supper. It sure smells good. Tonight, since I have slept the day away, I will stay up and work on my thesis. Tomorrow I will go by to see Bro. Davis while Janie is with her dad at the cancer doctor. He was not feeling real well today. I helped a refrigerator repairman fix a water leak this morning. The problem turned out to be the water filter and not the water line. Supper is about ready and since all I have had today is a bowl of cereal and a bologna sandwich I am ready for it. This last picture is of Janie adjusting the flowers on my dad's grave. God bless you.

School

This picture is of me the day I graduated from Kilgore College. I received an associate degree in machine tool technologies. This was in 1979 right before we moved to Houston, Texas. I took a job in the engineering department of Hughes Tool Company as a draftsman. That was back when drafting was still done with pencil and paper. I took my first course in computer programing there. I went back to school for more computer programing after returning to Lebus Mfg. Co. in Longview, Texas in November of 1980. I went to 12 years of public school, 1 year of plumbing school, 5 years to Kilgore College, and 9 years to Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary. I am back in school again for at least 2 more years. This means I will have attended 29 years of school. That is over half my life. One might think that Paul Clark likes school. I plan to be a student of the Bible from now on so school, for me, has no end.

Tomorrow finds me at the hospital first thing and then a meeting in the afternoon at 1:00. The sermon for tomorrow night will take highest priority after the hospital call. The Sunday school lesson will be next followed by Tribman episode 12. This should take me to the Wednesday night service then its off to Henderson. If the sky is clear when we arrive we may sit on that tailgate again and enjoy that waning gibbous moon. God bless you.

Preach The Word

I like to listen to sermons by Paul Owens. He was an outstanding preacher. Why I like his sermons is because he preached the Word of God. I love reading and studying the Bible. Sermons that I do not enjoy as much are those where the preacher tells stories or uses a lot illustrations and allegory. Preaching the Word is to explain God's word. The Ethiopian told Phillip that he could not understand what he was reading except someone should guide him. When someone preaches the word they explain what the text is saying. When the sermon is over the listener should have a good understanding of the text. I agree with a Presbyterian preacher who once said "Every preacher should preach an allegorical sermon once a year and then immediately repent of it and go back to expository preaching." I preached at the nursing home this morning. My text was taken from Acts 20:9 where the young man fell asleep while the apostle Paul was preaching and he fell out of third story window and died. Paul by the power of God brought him back to life. Paul's sermons lasted about six hours. I got carried away and preached for 30 minutes this morning. It was a good service with about 50 in attendance. The picture is of my father-in-law before he was a preacher. He pastored for well over 50 years.

This is labor day and our attendance was way down Sunday. I plan to celebrate this holiday by laboring. Going to work on the bulletin for next Sunday and then the Sermon for next Sunday. The Sunday School lesson will be next and then the Sunday night sermon. A four mile walk is between me and bedtime so I better get busy. God bless you.

Pizza

We are having pizza for supper. I like pizza. I did not make this one but I think next week I may make one. I like lots of veggies on my pizza.

We made it home last night and first thing this morning I prayed for those on our prayer list and I went through the names on my cell phone and prayed for each person or family. I made several phone calls to check on various ones. I have published Tribman episode 9 and read the book of 1st Chronicles. I walked about 4 miles and that has made me ready for supper. The lady who will play for our special Sunday came over and we practiced our song. I need to review my sermon for Sunday and the one for Sunday night. We watched a little TV while we ate lunch and talked a while before going to Wal-mart for a few things. We listened to the Christmas program on our way back to Hillsboro and it is putting me in the mood for Christmas. When we got to Wal-mart the Salvation Army had bell ringers at each door. It is early but the need is great so they have had to get started. I am thinking about volunteering to ring the bell for half a day or so. I think it would be interesting and helpful. The picture is one I took back in July in Henderson Texas. God bless you.

Summer Breeze

I went this morning to take my in-law's trash over to Janie's uncle's house. He has trash pick up and the Taylor's do not. Bare in mind that he is in his 90's. This picture is of Him and his wife a few years ago. His wife died a couple of years back. I sat in his living room and visited for a while and then he asked if I had time to take him to town to run a few errands. I drive very slowly when I am with him for he often points out things that I never notice. He tells me stories about the various houses and lands that we pass. We made several stops in town and then he wanted to take me out for lunch. There is a cafe in town that serves really good home style meals. We ate our lunch talking the whole time. When we got back to his place we sat outside and watched the breeze moving the leaves which have begun to yellow. He told me stories of people he has known and it came to me that I was as relaxed as I have ever been sitting there in the shade hearing stories that happened many many years ago. TV upsets me. The news is rarely good. Most places I go I have work to do. Work is good and one ought to live a productive life and work hard but its good to stop and enjoy a summer breeze and the company and wisdom of someone with a world of life experiences. I took out my cell phone which has the ability to record sound. I pressed record and caught 5 minutes of one of his stories. I offered to take him in his truck and check on the cows but he said "They should be fine." I suspect he was exactly right.

Janie has spent the day with her mother and father. The left this morning to go to the beauty shop. Her appointment is at 11:45 but some how they never seem to get home until 4:00. It was great that her father wanted to tag along. He is feeling good and said something about all of us going for a ride this evening and eating out. I expect we will head home sometime tonight. God bless you.

(P.S. it amazes me when I spell check these and it says "no misspelling found." Did I spell "amazes" right?....It says I did!)

2 Kings 3:11b

Bro. Davis was doing well today. He is very weak and has little appetite. When I arrived their niece was there to eat lunch with them and while we were eating another couple arrived for a visit. We had a good visit and then after take care of a couple of chores I left to let him get a much needed nap. This picture of Bro. and Sis. Davis was taken today.

I went by and visited with my mother. She is doing very well and told me the story how she tried by herself to replace an electrical outlet by her bed. She did not turn the electricity off and said she only got shocked once. She had to call my brother for help and he got shocked. The plug is repaired and I expressed concern about mother's pace maker and electric shocks. She seemed unconcerned.

Janie's parents are doing well. Clint is doing well. Jason and Angie are doing well. Stacie and Scott are doing well. Justin and Sarah are doing well. Janie and I are doing well. We arrived at the Taylor's house this morning about 1:45. After cleaning up the kitchen we went out side and sat on the tailgate of my father-in-law's pickup and enjoyed the 68 degrees and almost full moon. It was a beautiful night. It is not often that we stop and smell the roses.

We averaged 53 mpg coming over to Henderson and I averaged 49.9 driving around today. I am trying to get 50 mpg on this tank. I'll try to let you know if I make it. I have some work to do tonight and then will head for bed. Tomorrow I will take the trash off and check on Janie's uncle. I hope to get in a substancial hike sometime tomorrow. God bless you.

Carried Away

Okay, so I got carried away. Getting carried away means you have lost control. Temperance is a virtue and temperance means self control. I worked last night on the next episode of Tribman. After composing that episode I had the story line in my head and was anxious to see the story progress. I stayed up until 2:00 A. M. and wrote a total of three episodes. It was like the opposite of writer's block. I just could not stop. I have never written fiction before. I use to like fiction books when I was a kid. Writing fiction is fun. I had to have a general idea before starting of the basic story line with its plot and inevitable climax. As any educated person can tell I have never taken a writing course and those who know the rules of good writing could compose a long list of mistakes I've made. Regardless I am enjoying it and I can excuse some of my mistakes by saying that it's part of the story line for Tribman is writing an amateur blog not a college thesis.

I slept late this morning so had to hit the ground running. I worked on a sermon for tonight and also on one for Sunday night. I went to the office and worked on the copy machine. It needed a new toner cartridge and drum. It turned out to be an easy job. Janie was at curves while I was at the office so I met her there and handed her a chocolate milkshake when she got in the car. She said something about wishing she had gone a little longer on the exercise machines. She seemed to be happy about the treat. I guess I could have gotten her some flowers instead but the shake seemed to be a hit.

Its off to Henderson tonight and school in the morning. I will go by Bro. Davis' house to check on him and see if he needs anything. If not I will head over to my mother's house for a visit and then to my brother's. Friday is back to school in the morning and then the afternoon will be free. I may be able to squeeze in a 6 to 9 mile hike and that would be great, will see. The picture is one of my favorites of Janie. God bless you.