A Visit to Hyannis

Thought I would add that I went to Hyannis port in Cape Cod too. The Kennedy Compound is here and the JFK Memorial and JFK Museum are there too. It was a great day. I can see why the Kennedys like this area too. This museum spotlights Kennedy's life on the Cape before and during the presidency.

My favorite picture of President Kennedy is one that was at the museum: he and Caroline. "Daddy's Girl" riding with him in the car.

There is also the JFK Memorial (with the fountain). It's down the road from the museum, along the water. I understand that Jackie Kennedy wanted it here because of how much the President liked to live on the water.

There is a picture of a statue they called "What Could Have Been". It is an updated possibility for the museum entrance, with the addition of JFK Jr who is walking alongside dad. We can only imagine what could be if neither one had lost their lives earlier than necessary.

Lighthouse Visitations

I have not posted in a while. Things have been pretty busy here. Our regular schedule started back up with the church - Sunday school is back, Charley is back from vacation, youth fellowship is about to start, and choir has come back. Now that all of that is back, I get to have a vacation too. So here I am.

OK - so I am on vacation this week. It has been a BEAUTIFUL week up here. Today - it actually got to 93 degrees. Not sure where that came from. Although I hear it is going to rain and storm tomorrow. I guess that is good because I am not traveling anywhere. I did most of my traveling earlier. On Monday, I went up to Portland, Maine to visit several lighthouses - including the most photographed one, Portland Head Light. Then on Tuesday, I went the opposite direction and spent the day on Cape Cod. Guess what? There are lighthouses there too!!!!

As many of you know, I have a stronghold with lighthouses. This was a nice retreat for me. Lighthouses famous and unknown; tall and short; skinny and fat; working and private residence - they all exist. To me, they are just as important to me as they were when they worked. They did such an important job in guiding captains and their crews. Each lighthouse is designed differently, from their painted display to their beacon signal. You will see a picture of Three Sisters - three small lighthouses at the midpoint of Cape Cod - from sea, you saw three lights right in a row. That told the captain that he was midway up the Cape Cod Coast.

Each one precisely thought out and designed to guide those who follow. I always say this, but can you imagine the parallels between lighthouses and living a life with God as the designer of our own lighthouses? It is obvious the design of the greatest lighthouse in sending Jesus to guide us down the path of life. But God also sends us lighthouses that guide us in more physical ways - teachers, families, friends, professors, mentors, ministers, and colleagues. Each one designed with such precision that every lighthouse in my life has been placed in just the right spot to guide me where I am supposed to go. Even when I don't want to admit it, God is so good about placing those beacons right when I need them and where I need them.

Enjoy the pictures and find the beacon that lights your path.

RIP Firefighters

Two Boston firefighters were killed and at least 12 others were injured Wednesday night as flames rushed through a restaurant in West Roxbury, collapsing the roof and trapping crews inside, public safety officials said. The two veteran firefighters who died, Paul J. Cahill, 55, of Scituate and Warren J. Payne, 53, of Canton, were identified by the officials and a firefighter on the scene. They were the first deaths of firefighters in a fire since 1994. from www.boston.com

Wow - to see firefighters come together when they have lost their brothers. The flags are half staff. Firefighters from around the country came to be a part of the memorial services. A son spoke at Paul Cahill's service and his dad was so proud of him. His commonwealth was so proud. His brothers were proud.

Why am I talking about this? My brother is a firefighter. He has been one for a LONG time. :-). He received an award of honor for his work during the Hurricane Isabel of 2003. He wasn't the only one, but he was one. After 9/11, I wondered about my brother and how his family would be supported if anything happened. After the incident in Boston, I wonder the same thing. No matter what, they won't get what they deserve, at least financially. Just like teachers, they don't get what they deserve - but that is for another post.

But what I have learned is how they will be supported in other ways. What they will get, something teachers in my experience don't seem to provide, what the firefighters will get is a camaraderie and brotherhood that can never be broken. Thank you for serving us and taking care of us. Maybe one day we can all learn from your bond.

Sept 4

Happy Birthday Dad. Miss you.

Cemetery visit

The Inner Child

I did something pretty neat last night. It was a beautiful evening and I was bored at home, so I went for a walk around 8:00. I walked to the local elementary school and headed towards the playground. There in front of me was a row of swings, just waiting to be used, but wait - there were two other adults swinging at one end of the row. So why can't I? I found my inner child, the child that used to fit comfortably on the swing set and escaped from the world. I find that child again and parked myself on one of the swings, took hold of the chains and took an amazing ride.

For what seemed like forever, I leaned and stretched, I pulled and pushed. I was flying in the sky and did not have a care in the world. I was like a child who could not be stopped. My feet were touching the clouds (even though there weren't any) and my stomach was going topsy tervy. It felt innocent and harmless. It felt great. It felt free.

²³⁴⁵Matthew 18: 1-5 says this: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

To have the innocence of a child, the hopes and the trust that lie in their hearts, is the most rewarding feeling. That is what Jesus was talking about. We need to have the hopes, the trust, and the faith of a child or else we won't be able to live. It doesn't hurt to be humbled as well.

I was able to witness not only my own inner child come out but actual children enjoying the evening as well. Three little girls, all from different backgrounds, were playing on the jungle gym. They each carried a little lantern that shined just enough light to make the evening magical. It did not matter where they came from or who they looked like - it matter that they enjoyed the time they had together.

As adults, that is all we need. a little lantern and a little child in all of us that can come out and play, to enjoy precious moments that can be few and far between. Take a minute, or even 30, to escape the world and be like a child. There's no better feeling in the world.

PS - to the two friends who called last night, thank you for being lanterns for me and hearing my voice.

Voice of Truth

What does that mean? Voice of truth? How many voices do you have in your head that tell you all the wrong stuff? Does that happen to you? Is there a committee in your head that tells you everything that you are doing wrong and not saying a word about what you are doing right? If you are baptist - you know that baptist committees aren't the best voices in the world - but that is for another day.

There is a song from a Christian group named Casting Crowns. Their song is called "Voice of Truth". It talks about all these voices that take place and try to take ownership of your life. These voices that are pushing the buttons in the back of your head that say, "no you can't" or worse yet - don't say anything at all. Maybe it's because we are missing voices in our real lives that we would like to hear from. I don't know but the voices that are in our heads can be deathly and down right cruel. They tell you want you don't want to hear but sometimes they tell you what you are believing about yourself. There are people all around that can tell you differently but for whatever reason, they don't tell you. They don't say a word. Maybe it's about relationships. People just assume that you already know how they feel about you. But at the same time, it's good to hear it once in a while.

What is the voice of truth? It is about listening to the one voice that matters. All the other voices can hurt you or can even help you, but those voices aren't going to be around forever, no matter how hard you try. The only voice that matters, the only opinion that should count is God's. So why is it so hard to listen to that voice and so easy to be controlled by all the other voices? You want to hear from the others. You want to hear from the ones that have been a part of your life to say, "hey, we are proud of you," "hey, you are making great strides...you deserve to be proud of yourself too," Or even a simple, "i wanted to see how you are doing". Or they even send an email that says. "i worry about you and want you to know that i love you".
Is that so hard? Instead, we chose to hear the voice of silence. That is a deafening sound and unfortunately, one that we cannot ignore - although we try really hard to.

Then in return, sometimes you scream and yell to be heard and nobody is listening. I got a wonderful package the other day. One of my dear friends sent me a package with a letter, a card, a couple of gifts and pictures that were colored by her two little boys. That just completely made my week. A couple of weeks ago, I got a card from my best friend, a card that says, "I am thinking of you.....so here is a long distance hug." They listened. You have to realize that you cannot change the voices that have been the same way for 37 years, no matter where the voices are coming from. If you have not been able to change them in those years, how are you going to change them now? BUT you do have a choice in which voices you listen to. Everyone has a choice in deciding who they are going to listen to. They can chose what to ignore and what to encourage. The "bad" voices don't know you. They really don't know you. They think they do but they don't know that what you truly need is someone who knows that you can do anything you want, if you believe in yourself and have faith in what God has given you. The truly know when you need some encouragement and a long distance hug. They truly know when you need to hear the truth.

Which voices are you going to listen to today? Below is chorus from the "Voice of Truth"

"But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth"

Wow - where did this post come from?

A Day In Maine

Here are some pictures from a day in the life of Maine. I went last weekend for the day with Molly, a friend from church. She is a Duke graduate and a fellow Virginian. Yippee!! We found another lighthouse - Cape Neddick Light.
We went to a town called Ogunquit. I cannot pronounce it or spell it, but the place was awesome. It reminded me of Ocracoke, NC - small town with shops and cute home folk.
Molly's husband Jeff is in Afghanistan. He has this cute little white sports car - that is a convertible. We took that car. It was fun. Top down, sun out, blue sky - F.U.N.

It was a good day. The ocean and the sky were so beautiful. we walked for a couple of miles on a path called Marginal Way. At the middle was a fake lighthouse - so I got another picture.
Then we went and sat on the beach for a few minutes. It was actually very very crowded and kinda chilly.

There is one of the lighthouse and me in the lower left corner. I think I am in deep contemplation - or I am playing with my camera. hahaha

I need to make a trip to Cape Cod. There a lots of lighthouses to look at. I need to go. Need to go!!!!

Barack Obama and Cuba

Ok - I was wavering on who I should support in the Democrat race for President in 2008. I got my answer this morning. A subject and country that is very close to my heart is Cuba. You all know I had the wonderful blessing of being in Cuba in May of 2004 for a mission immersion program with my seminary. I got to work with the best people. I got to see the children. I got to feel their love. I preached to them and the preached to me. I saw what it meant to be thankful for all the blessings that we have been given, even when they are given in the worst conditions.

I was there when our current administration put the tighter restrictions on travel to Cuba for families and tighter restrictions on sending money and medicine to loved ones. I saw first hand the struggles that take place because of the egotistical and controlling nature of our government who wants to control everything that does not agree with them.

I have never met a more loving and caring group of people. They treated us like royalty, despite where we were from. They knew it was not our fault for the so called US "leadership". We talked to a professor at the Evangelisto de teological de seminario who said it best, "we have two arrogant old men, who are set in their ways, who are trying to protect their own, that they are not willing to budge or provide a compromise to make things better."

MIAMI - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is leaping into the long-running Cuba debate by calling for the United States to ease restrictions for Cuban-Americans who want to visit the island or send money home.

Here is the rest of the article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20369459/

The embargo has not worked in 45 years. Why do people think that it is going to change now? Why do people think it will make a difference to put more restrictions? It is only hurting the people that we are trying to save. It is also hurting people in our own country. And if we want to get selfish, the travel restrictions on our own American people keep us from being a "land of the free" because we DON'T have complete freedom if we are restricted from we we can travel. So how is that for being selfish?

The embargo needs to be lifted completely. At least what Obama sees is that we need to make a change and start supporting the people and not our egos. This can be a start.

Things that Make You Go Hmmmmmm

Things are pretty busy at church now - I am preaching this weekend. So, I am doing a lot of reading of the news, none of which will make it in my sermon. However, the issues of the day are making me think. Things that make me go hmmmmmm. There are three things that have come up just TODAY that makes me wonder about intentions:

1. OJ Simpson's "tell all this is what you would have learned if the cops did their job right" book IS coming out BUT it is the Goldmans who are publishing the book. What? Last year, when the book idea was introduced to the world, the Goldmans said absolutely not - they did not want it published and tried to have it stopped. Why now? Do they think Ron Goldman will return? Ron Goldman will not be back. Nicole Brown will not return. Do they think that the children will benefit in anyway from having this book come out? Wait - there is a $3.5 million contract for the book. And it just so happens that in July, a judged ruled that the Goldman family would get any proceeds from the book. Could that be a co inky dink? The proceeds won't go to the children. And not only do the proceeds go to the Goldmans but the how to murder people and get away with it book will help those wannabe OJs. hmmm.

2. Don Imus is being sued by a member of the Rutgers Team for defamation of character and damaging HER reputation. If I remember correctly, Rutgers reputation was anything but damaged AND not one thing was said to individual players. The team's "character" was lifted to the highest regard and respect after Imus' comments because of how they responded. How was her specific character damaged of defamed? In fact, until now, many people thought that the players had the best character showing how to handle situations like this with maturity and hope.

3. I think this is my favorite is this one - Man sues 1800 Flowers for revealing his affair - the bill for the nice pretty roses he sent to the girlfriend accidentally got sent to his current wife. The man is suing for breach of contract.

I don't know.