I awoke this morning missing my father. I was one of those lucky people, for I did not have a bad relationship with my father, probably due to the fact that he died when I was only ten years old. He was my hero, and well into my adulthood held the status of God.

In his youth he swept out aircraft hangars to get free rides, and in the late 60’s during the Vietnam War he flew fighters, training the pilots in combat maneuvers before they were sent overseas. He attended Drake University in Iowa, and my uncle tells the story that after my father graduated, my father called my uncle on the phone at Drake (he was still in school) telling him to be outside at exactly 3PM- he wanted my uncle to see him do something that he’d always wanted to do. At 2:59 my uncle and his friends stood outside and saw four F-84 thunderbolt jets approach each other head-on from opposite directions, and before meeting over the bell tower on campus pull sharply upwards in formation, hitting there engines full throttle. The bell on campus thudded a resounding ring in response to the shock waves- my dad had always wanted to do that! What he had not planned was the subsequent shattering of many windows on Campus.

My father would take me out of school on his days off to go flying, or to the museum, we would launch 3 stage rockets with 8 engines in the park, only to watch them veer sideways chasing dogs, children and geese. He put me on the gas tank of a dirt bike and when we crashed, rolled up around me so that when we stopped rolling down the road, I was covered in his blood, not mine.

I am working in the Rocky Mountains right now. Maybe its why I started crying when I awoke this morning. I am 3 ranges, just about 200 miles, from where he and his crew flew their plane up a valley and into the side of a mountain in a blinding snowstorm just before Christmas 30 years ago- 50 feet from the peak. Funny how grief is always there, that fond memory of what was, and how quickly it all can change.

As the sun rose over the peaks near my cabin, it also rose over his death site and I thought to myself, is life really more valuable than living, what bells haven’t I rung, what and whom haven’t I risked? I understand what Hamlet said, “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation devoutly to be wish’d.”

A poem, written by a Spitfire pilot in England during WWII was read at my father’s funeral and summed up his life. This Spitfire pilot was also killed in his aircraft 2 weeks after sending the poem to his mother and father. I read it this morning and wondered at my father. He risked much and lost much in the end, but OUR lives were full because of it and I am glad he lived the way he did, despite the pain his death caused my family. Am I living fully, slipping the surly bonds of earth, dancing on laughter silvered wings?

High Flight
Major John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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Sunday night was amazing. I just wanted to share with you the message that was given during that service. Click on the image to watch it.

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Acts 4:11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, and the stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.

There is an expression that says the more things change the more they stay the same. When you look at the Church and the lives of those who claim to be Christians you see that in many respects this saying applies.

Peter here was speaking to a group of men in verse 8 who where the leaders and elders of the Nation. This was a nation whose very existence was a direct result of its relationship with a Holy God. Now beyond that these men in particular had devoted themselves to the study and practice of the Law. Yet the very one that the law pointed to they completely rejected!

Texas is a place where a large minority claims to be Christian, yet they reject, by the way that they live, all that he said and did!

If you Love me you will obey my commands is how Christ put it.
Yet what is lived is he loves me and he will understand, after all I am only human!

Most people have No problem accepting Christ as Savior. Where it gets funky is accepting him as Lord!

Looking at Romans 10:9 it says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

We can Never ever separate his Lordship from his Salvation. It is a package deal!

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Sent to me from my Friend Steve Bothke.

Men Are Just Happier People– What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them. New shoes don’t cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes — one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can ‘do’ your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

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