Ireland Day 2

We are becoming good friends with the other group on our bus.  And we are loving each other in our group more and more.

Ruins of a monastery from 1000 AD

more ruins from the monastery.
A good amount of the stones were taken in the early 1800's 
to build a mill about 1/2 mile away.
The needs of hunger became greater than the
relevance of the church.

Some of the remnants of the old wall of the city of Dublin.
Cannons rendered the use and purpose of walled cities
irrelevant.

gate house to the monastery.

Old Man taking it all in.

Large Celtic cross from the 1,000 ad era.

Watch tower from the 900's kept
Viking raiders at bay.

Writings on a memorial stone inside the local church

Wealthy families could pay to have their personal information
and history installed on a wall in the church.

It's at beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Ireland Trip Day 1

We spent our first day of touring in Ireland today.  We saw some amazing things.

The Windows in the church reminded me of Woods Chapel

the choir loft at the church was amazing.

Beyond description.  I am sure that 
we felt the feeling that the builders intended.

local garden from medieval times.  The stone wall keeps
the deer and other moochers out.

Pumpkins, corn and more, inside the fortified
garden provided food for the city.

watch tower

Ok, so I am going to repeat this over the next 7 or 8 days.  There are amazing things to see in this world.  Those ancient people who went before us had many many talents and skills.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Radical Acceptance

My friend Mike sent me an article about "what not to say to someone who is grieving."  Evidently Alisyn Camerota, the news caster, her husband died of pancreatic cancer.  He was 58 years young.

The article is a very good read.

here is a link to the article

There are many good points in the article, but one of them that I thought was a priority to share is the concept of "radical acceptance." She explains it like this-

"I’ve started the practice of radical acceptance. This concept was introduced to my husband and me by our grief counselor immediately after his diagnosis. It goes something like this: Some things in life are glorious, and some things suck. Try to accept life on its own terms and deal with the hand you’re dealt.

Radical acceptance has been a game-changer for me and how I tackle the tough stuff. Instead of asking, “Why me?” or “How can life be so unfair?” I say, “This is what I’m dealing with. What’s the best way forward?”"

It is my opinion that we humans, we Americans, we Christians try to change too much.  We think we can will something away.  We think that we can pray something away.

Sometimes we should work to change things.  But, and this is a big but, sometimes we just need to accept what life has brought us.

We can ask God to give us a rose garden, but we must also remember that every rose has it's thorns.

Even though life has it's thorns, it's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Bad Mood

I woke up in a bad mood the other day.  I was mad.  Turns out I had a dream about a difficult period in my life.

So all of that crap from back in the past resurfaced in a dream, and I woke up with it.

I don't know if this means that I still have some work to do on forgiveness?  Maybe.

But for sure I want to remind myself and anyone out there listening of this: feelings are fickle.  They are unreliable.

When you feel good for no reason, enjoy it.  But when you feel angry or mad, fight it off.  Get over yourself.  

Feelings come and feelings go.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

thoughts on having more money

Some years ago a survey was taken in America.  There were two questions.  The first was, "do you have sufficient income."  The second was, "how much more money would it take for you to feel comfortable and secure?"

The aggregate of the answers to the second question was 20% more.  Most Americans said that they would be happy if they had 20% more.  Across the spectrum for those with a net worth of 20k and those with a net worth of 4 million- 20% more.

Crazy isn't it?  We Americans can never have enough it seems.

I think that there are two ways to have more money.

1.  Make more.  Work more.  Pick up a second job or a side gig.

2.  Spend less.  Don't buy that thing that you don't need.  When tempted, lay down until the feeling goes away.

I needed a part for the mustang.  I stopped at O'reillys.  $91 for a fuel rail pressure sensor.  I bought it on Amazon for $17.

Buy the buy one get one food at the grocery store.  Use coupons.

Pay attention to where the money is going and work harder to manage the money that does come your way.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

even if...

My friend Susan sent this in...

This is a great saying... we have too much fear in our lives... too much worry.  Too much of buying trouble... what if???

And then there is faith... even if something happens, I am not alone.  Even if this goes south, God loves me.

Even if, no matter what, everything is ok because God is with me.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

for you or for me?

Once upon a time a person asked a friend to do something.  It was something that was good for the person receiving the request.  They both wanted the same outcome.

But the friend said, "I will not do this for you, I will do this for me."  

I love that story.

You know, with no disrespect to friends and their desires, whatever choices or changes that we make in this life, they are always the most successful when we do them for us.  When we do them because we wanted to make the change.

What changes do you need to make in your life?  Decide today.  Make a change for you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

I'm not that great of a person

Sometimes when I tell a friend how wonderful they are, or if I tell them that they are awesome, or if I tell them that they are one of my favorite humans, they say things like this...

"I'm not that great of a person."

"If you only knew the dark parts"

And to these responses I say, "peshaw!!!"  Ridiculous.  I am not listening to it.  I am not hearing it.

I see you.  I am not blind.  I know that you have good and less good attributes.  But there is something inside of me that just thinks that you are great.

Take it.  Accept it.   Stop fighting it.  Absorb it.  

Someone loves you.

You are amazing.  Dark parts and all.  You are loved, you are wonderful, you are amazing!!!  And by the way, that is how God feels about you too.  

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

How this blog came to be

My friend Tim C asked how this blog came to be...

In April of 2007 I was reading a book called "Walking on Water" by Anthony DeMello.  The book changed my life.  About the same time, I was talking to a friend that was blogging.  I thought it was an interesting idea to write and post online about various things.  The friend helped me with the mechanical end of creating a blog.

The things that I read in the book afore mentioned so touched me that I decided I must share them.  I had no idea that I would still be doing this 17 years later, but it has been a ride for sure.

The tough part about blogging daily are the days when you feel that you don't have much to say.  I think that we all feel like that from time to time.  And if you are having an "off" day, do not worry.  Life has it's ups and downs.

But I am thrilled when I have something to share that I think is cool, or at least it was cool or meaningful to me.

If you are looking for a little inspiration in your life, buy a copy of the book "Walking on water."  It changed my life for the better, and I have been writing ever since.

And now you know the rest of the story.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

others are important too...

Whenever we fear a hurricane or a tornado, we pray that we will be safe. That is fine, but what about the others?

The recent hurricane in Florida prompted many to pray for safety. That reminds me of one of my favorite stories, or sermon illustrations.

A woman said, "during the war we prayed that God would keep us safe. And, Praise God! He did!!! All of the bombs fell on the other side of town."

We must always remember that the storm is going to hit somewhere. And while I don't want it to hit our home, I really don't want it to hit anyone. I don't want anyone's life to be devastated. So while we may be happy that our family and friends are safe, may we remember that someone else's family and friends were not safe.

Let us expand our circle of care to include those we don't know. Those who are outside our normal circle. May we all expand our circle of love and care.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

anticipation

Anticipation is an interesting human emotion.  If you live in tornado country, like Kansas City, you may get an hour or two notice.  You go into the basement and wait it out.  Then the warning is lifted and all goes back to normal, only a few, if any are hit.

If you live in hurricane country, like Florida, you have days and days to watch the path and wonder what the storm will do.  You listen to the news media get everyone all excited about the storm surge and the catastrophic winds.  How big will it be? 

 In tornado alley, only a few are troubled.  In hurricane alley, everyone is in the path.

And so you wait and prepare, and worry.  You do everything that you can and then you trust God and wait it out.

We humans worry too much.  We also "buy trouble."  We worry about things of our imaginings.  We conjure things to be concerned about... "what if..."  The TV news does not help.  They encourage us to worry.  After the storm is over, does the TV news ever apologize?

Anyway, we survived hurricane #4 since we moved to Florida.  We humans worry too much.  Prepare yes, but worry less.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

hurricane update

Good Morning...

It is 7:30am here in Florida.  The sun is up and all is well at the Brinkman home.

17 tornadoes touched down, and travelled on the ground yesterday.  That is unheard of in Florida.  Sadly a few people were killed in Ft. Pierce.  They aren't saying how many, but some of them are children.

I have walked about the outside of the house and everything is fine.  Lots of branches down, but the roof and pool enclosure are intact.  It is still very windy.

We did have some unprecedented flooding yesterday...  These pics are from our front yard...

street completely underwater

in the ten years we have lived here, it has never been like this

This morning, the flooding has subsided and the ark has landed on dry ground.  The street is open and all is well, at least here for our neighborhood.

Thank you all for the prayers, love and concern.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Hurricane Prep

I am writing this Wednesday at 1pm.  By the time that you read this, we think the storm will be mostly passed.  Current projections show the storm flowing right over Vero Beach as a category 1.  We are praying that it will continue to weaken.

This is a post about hurricane prep.  It is bad, but not as bad as prep for a colonoscopy.  [whoops, did I just say that?]

Anyway, you gas up your cars.  You put everything away that is not tied down.  You buy food.  You make sure that you have propane.  You buy extra gas for your generator.  You close the hurricane shutters.    Here are some pictures of our preparations...

The only time that my car gets into the garage is during a hurricane.
Note the generator in the foreground.  Also the gas cans behind
Cathy's car.  If the power goes out, the generator will keep the fridge 
going.

The local news preempts every program.  We watch the news and
listen to updates all day.

North side of the house.  Windows shuttered up.  The two far
windows have "accordion" shutters.  The close window has
 traditional panels.

French doors out to the pool deck are covered up.
Note the TV on the wall.  It will be coming down
and going inside as well.

windows shuttered up.

Any lose items from the pool deck just get thrown into the pool.
They will survive the storm there and get a chlorine bath.
One less thing to carry into the house!!!

All furniture, the barbeque grill, etc must either go into the house,
the garage or be strapped off in some fashion.

It is now 3:30pm.  I have been working on this post off and on all day.  The rain is coming down in torrents.  There have been a rash of tornadoes across Florida.  The storm should land near Sarasota around 8pm tonight.  By 8am, it will have moved past our home and back out to sea.

When I wake up in the morning and get around, I will post another update.  It will not come as an email.  In order to read it, you will have to go to the website www.canyouhearthebirdssing.blogspot.com

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Hurricane Milton Part 1

Yesterday we went to Sam's to shop for hurricane food.  So did everyone else.  Actually, they went the day before, so we missed out on the stuff that you want to buy.  All that was left is the stuff that I should not be eating.   This is what my wife bought at Sam's for hurricane food.

Yesterday I helped 4 neighbors put up their hurricane shutters.  We will close up our house tomorrow.  Current weather reports sends the storm over Orlando which is 80 miles as the crow flies.  We are not expecting much more than heavy rains and high winds.

Many have reached out to me inquiring about our health.  We are fine... however, after eating all of the sweets that my wife bought, I am expecting to have blood sugar issues.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

The fly pt 2

After writing yesterday's post about the complexity of the brain of a fly, I got to thinking.  This is why they are so hard to swat.  They are smarter than we think.

But I have a trick to swat flies.  When you see a pesky fly, don't just get your fly swatter.  Grab your swatter and a spray bottle of Windex or just water.  When you see the fly, start to spray him or her.  It may take a few shots, but once you get enough liquid on the fly's wings, they cannot fly.  They cruise to the ground where they are an easy target.

By the way, what do you call a fly with no wings???

A walk.

It's a beautiful [now I have power over flies] day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

the brain of a fly

I read an article the other day. Scientists have mapped the entire brain of a fly. Although the total size of the brain is smaller than a pin head, the brain of a fly has 130,000 cells and 50 million connections.

The researchers have been able to identify separate circuits for many individual functions and show how they are connected.

I found this to be amazing. Such a small little creature, yet it's brain is so complex. Scientist say that understanding the wiring of the brain of a fly is a great step towards understanding the human brain which is of course, much more complicated.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Oh Lord, how majestic are your ways in all of the earth.

It is a beautiful, amazing day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

A Nudge

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I had breakfast with Kathy C. at First Watch. When I’m leaving First Watch, next-door is Alyssa‘s flower shop. My brain says "Anna Lee BLAIR works there go in and say hello." Another part of my brain says "you don’t have time for that you need to get to work." My brain says "No, you need to listen- go in and say hello." So I go in and ask the gals working there if Annalee is working today and they said no.

I left my card and told them to tell her I stopped by.

Even though I didn’t get to see my friend's mom I think it’s important to listen to the nudges that we get. I don’t wanna blame the nudges on God, but there is something to be said about having a feeling that I should do something.

Take the time to follow the nudge. Don't force it, and don't be disappointed in the outcome. Just follow your heart.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Quote

This is a quote from a not so famous person.  I find it simple but profound.  Here it is...

"Kindness, it's just not that hard."

Pass it on, especially to someone who is struggling with attitude or behavior... "you might try kindness, it's just not that hard."

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Rudy

Rudy is a server at First Watch in Independence, MO.  He is one of my favorite humans.  I don't get to see him very often, but when I do, it is always so good to see him.  Yesterday I had breakfast with KC and Rudy was there.

He was surprised to see me, but glad to see me.  As I write this, I have a smile on my face.  He is a very good man and it did me good to tell him so.

"Rudy, you are one of my favorite humans."

If you feel that way about someone, tell them.  I might have written about this recently, but I cannot stress enough the importance of telling people that you love, that you love them.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

My friend Bruce shared this...

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.