Chickens

Growing up my Grand Father had chickens and I guess you could say I fell in love with them. When we moved back here and bought our house there was a barn on our property, so I turned a couple of the stalls in to a chicken house and made a yard and got me some chickens and some more chickens and some more chickens, before I knew it I had over a hundred. Feed started getting higher so I sold several of them, then I had a raccoon help me get rid of the rest, not by choice though. About six months ago I had a friend who hatched out a bunch asked me did I want some. I decided to get a few just to piddle with. When I got rid of the last chickens I took down my yard outside the barn and then what was left I gave to a friend who was getting into the chicken business. Now I don’t have a yard I just keep them in the barn. I decided a month or so ago to let them out during the day I figured they would come back to the barn at night to roost. I was wrong, we had been some where and came home that night and I got a light and started down to the barn to check on them and I saw several of them huddled up on the ground in the middle of the field and about five yards away was a cat was stalking them, I hollered at it and it ran away I caught all of the chickens but three and put them up. Then next day I found out that the neighbors dog had ran the other three off. They came back in a couple of days luckily he only wanted to play and wasn’t hungry! It’s been funny to watch them when I go feed now, before I let them out I could leave the door open and they never tried to get out now since they have had that one day of freedom they always make a run for the door if I leave it open. They have no idea of the dangers that are out there or how close they came to being cat and/or dog food that one day. This got me to thinking about how we are with sin. It always starts with that one thought and we entertain it and before we know it we have gone through the door and are out there, vulnerable to so many dangers.

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Eve entertained the thought satan put in her head and look what happened.

I bought a new waterer and feeder for my chickens yesterday and today I went down to the barn to set them up. When I went into (we’ll call it the coop) the chickens went crazy I had something new in my hands that they weren’t sure about, they went running everywhere squawking and carrying on. They had no idea that this meant food was available all the time for them now and more fresh water than before. This got me to thinking about how sometimes God introduces new things into my life and I kick up, squawk and carry on. Not realizing or I guess I should say, not recognizing that He is at work in my life.

Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I always want God to speak to me through thunder and lighting, it seems the more I slow down and pay attention he is every where and speaks all the time utilizing everything he has created.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Preparing

I have a friend whose daughter got married this weekend. He asked me to do the sound for it so I got to be a part of the practice and get there a little early and see some of the things that go on behind the scenes. What has really stuck with me was all the preparation and like I said I only saw a some of the preparation not nearly all of it. What has been on my mind was my preparation for it. My friend told me it was going to be on 11 Oct 08 at 2:00 PM. All I had to do was push play and then stop, simple right so all I really needed to do was show up and push play and stop. Now let me go through with you all my preparation, we met Thursday night to ensure the DVD would work, it didn’t so we spent probably 2 hours or more trying to get it to work. I called a friend to help on Friday when it didn’t work, he got it to work. I still showed up for the rehearsal on Friday night even though it was Homecoming and my daughter is a cheerleader and a senior. I did go to the pregame where she was recognized, then left after that. I showed up a little over an hour early on Saturday to just make sure everything was ready and working. As I was sitting there waiting on the wedding to start this is where it hit me. I also run the overhead projector for our early service at the church on Sunday mornings and it’s rare if I ever stop by and make sure everything is ready for Sunday, but for this wedding for a simple start and stop I had put in literally hours to make sure everything was ready. This got me to thinking about my life how many hours have I put into things I thought were important, but weren’t. I knew the wedding was going to happen so I prepared, I know I will meet Jesus face to face so why don’t I prepare more?

Hebrews 9:27 NIV - Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.

Show Up

Our church is preparing to present Judgement House this Halloween week. Sunday we had a meeting as part of our preparation process. I shared with our group about my devotion I had that morning and also about an article I had read about “just showing up”. They both talked about folks who had some pretty incredible encounters, which started out by both of them just making conservation with a stranger. They both talked about how all they did was made a decision to start the conversation and the fact that it would have been easy to have not started it, but they felt led by God to start it. They both believed that God had put them there at that place and time and he had already taken care of all the details they just needed to show up and be obedient. So I talked to our group about taking advantage of the opportunities we will have leading up to Judgement House, that there will be opportunities to encourage each other and also opportunities to witness to others as we are inviting them to Judgement House. Now as Paul Harvey would say the rest of the story. This morning as I went down to feed my chickens before I headed to work I saw a rabbit on the side of the barn. I love to take pictures of wildlife and I actually had my camera in my car. I started to go ahead and take pictures of the rabbit, but I decided to go ahead and feed first. As I was getting the feed together I thought about a devotion I‘ve had in my head about my chickens and how they try and run out the door when I open it in the mornings. I’ve been meaning to take a picture of that also, so I told myself I’ll go ahead and feed, then take the chickens and the rabbit’s picture. So I went ahead and fed and when I finished I got my camera out and eased around the side of the barn to get the rabbit’s picture. He was gone, so opened up the chicken house door to get their picture coming out of course they were eating now and had no desire to come out right then. I missed both opportunities because I waited. God kinda thumped me on the head and said hey Barry those opportunities will be there for you to share about me, but not always. When I got to work I opened of my e-mail and found one that I had been saving for awhile to remind me to contact someone, but I just hadn’t taken the time to do it….I went ahead an made the contact this morning. That is what I would like to encourage you to do, look for those opportunities the share about him and take advantage of them right then, all you really need to do is show up and then be obedient he’s already taken care of the details.

Radio Going Dead

I was riding to work yesterday morning and the battery on one of my radios was going dead, a little red light blinks on it to let me know this. I guess I have some type of disorder I just can’t stand to see that red light blinking. I will either turn the radio off and go to a back up or if a back up is not available I will turn the radio so I can’t see the light blinking. Yesterday I didn’t have a backup so I turned it so I couldn’t see the light. Right after I did that, it is was like God said Barry, man you do that same thing with the small little sins in you life. Instead of putting the radio on the charger and taking care of the problem you turn it so you can’t see the light. The problem is still there, the battery is going dead. Those small sins are still there you just ignore them, remember you think, well they aren’t hurting anyone and hey you’re the only one that knows about them, besides everyone else is doing them to (I think). With the radio what needs to be done is for the radio to be put on the charger and the problem will be fixed. With the sins they need to be addressed and repentance sought and then turned away from. If the radio isn’t put on the charger the radio is dead and useless. If the sins aren’t addressed and turned away from they will grow and eventually render me dead useless to God!
Song of Solomon 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

Fingerprints

I got to experience one of what I consider to be the perks of my job today. Me and 3 other guys fingerprinted about a hundred kindergarten students. I know you are thinking are you crazy, but remember I love being around kids. What stood out to me today was the as I was fingerprinting each kid that each print for each finger on each child was different. Some were not so obvious then others were, some were big , some were small, some were short, some were long, and some kids already had scars on their fingers. It just got me to thinking how unique each of us are and how back in Genesis 2 it says God created us and he made us in his image.

Then I couldn’t help but to think out how unique each kid was and the fact that god knows each one of them and even the number of hairs on their head. And you know he knows each one of those unique fingerprints to. What a special and loving father we have that he would be involved in all the details of us, not just the major parts like our heart and lungs and brain etc. but every detail even down to the design of our fingerprints and the number of hairs on our head.

When I think about this I can only stand in awe to think the creator of the universe knows every detail of me personally!

Kids

I love being around kids, I’m not really sure why maybe it’s because I’m still a kid in this 40 year old fat body I don’t know. I know love seeing them learn, I love it when you can see the light come on when they get something for the first time, it might be a play in sports like when they understand this why we run it this way. I love to see their eyes when you are talking to them about God and you can see deep down in them and know God is speaking to their hearts and they are getting it. As much as I love being around them and teaching them, they teach me so much, their honesty, I love it when you have to cut them off when they are telling family business, hey they are just being honest. As I mentioned above about my fat body, I love it when one will come up and pat me on the belly and say hey Santa Clause or something to that effect. Hey they are just being honest my belly is to big.
Simply put I’ve had a rough past month and a half, I’ve been crazy sick, head aches, cough, fever, body aches and pains I just haven’t been able to kick it. I think I may have pushed to hard and should have rested sooner. Work is tough I work with criminals everyday so I see the worst in folks everyday and it gets tough sometimes. I’ve had some of that family business to deal with also. Anyway I’ve just been in a physical, spiritual, mental and emotional blah for about the past 6 weeks.
As simple as this may seem one of my little buddies has helped me snap out of it and he didn’t say anything to me. His Mom told me he asked her was I ok and that he was worried about me that I hadn’t been acting right. Her telling me that was just like a thump on the head by God saying, Hey Barry it’s time you snapped out of this. Like I said as simple as it seems it has helped, it helped a lot I’ve had one of the best days I had in weeks today and it was basically just an attitude change that did it. God thank you for the little children what a blessing they are and they can teach us so much.

Mark 10:14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Cell Phone in the Bathroom

I had one of those experiences tonight. I went shopping with my wife (don’t worry that’s not what this is about). I’ve been working some real long hours lately and she needed to do some shopping tonight, so I went with her so we could spend a little time together. Well the whole time we were out my 21 year old son kept calling and calling. He found out we were going by Wal-Mart and his list kept growing and growing. While we were at Wal-Mart I had to go to the restroom and while I was in there taking care of what needed to be taken care of my phone rang, I answered and then hung right up I figured it was my son again! It seemed like right after I hung up it rang again, I did the same, answered then hung right up. I was thinking I’ve talked to him twenty times and that has been enough. Well it didn’t ring again and after I had been out of the restroom for a few minutes I got to thinking what if he really needed something, so I called the house and to my surprise my daughter answered. I asked her had she been trying to call me and she said yes and I asked her what she needed and she said he had something to tell me. This may not seem like a big deal, but my daughter is 17 and over the last year or so I have became the dumbest and un coolest person she knows. I know in my heart it’s just that teenage thing, but she still is my baby you know.
After we talked even though it was brief I couldn’t help but think I almost missed that opportunity just because I was frustrated with my son, then it got me to thinking I should be glad my 21 year old son was calling me 20 times in a couple of hours. It got me to wondering how many parents wish there 21 year would just call them 1 time in a month. God forgive me when I get things out of order and forget you gave me these two kids to raise and I put my time and energy into other things. Father help me to be that parent I need to be and please continue to remind me they need my time more than other things that I think need it.

Orange

Wow two posts in one day! I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, but just haven’t had the time to put it down on paper. Today has been a rainy messy day, so I’ve spent a lot of time around the house and I’ve had time to think and also time to put my thoughts down. God has really been speaking to me about simplifying my life and slowing down. We spent last weekend with some friends of ours and it was just a slow weekend, we had lots of laughter, lots of time strengthening friendships, time creating new ones and time just putting things into perspective and all this was done around a camp fire, games were played with spoons, strings, sticks and a old ball and ropes. No special computer programs, no in depth rules, it didn’t matter who won or who lost, no scores were kept just plain and simple old fashion fun with friends.
I’m guilty of wanting all the newest, latest and greatest gadgets and wanting to stay in first class accommodations when I go somewhere. I say the newest, latest and greatest doesn’t matter but I catch my self letting it sometime.

I had an experience Wednesday night that just won’t leave my mind. It is just a small simple act from a child, but it has had a huge impact on me. As I said in some of my posts before I work with the boys of our church on Wednesday nights. This past Wednesday night one of the boys ran up to me and handed me an orange. He didn’t say much just here you go Mr. Barry and then off he went. I had always heard my Mom and Dad talk about just getting an orange and maybe an apple for Christmas and that they were proud of it. That has always been hard for me to put into perspective until now.

I must confess before I go any further though. I am eating the orange now as I’m typing this and yes it is good, very good and I must say this is the best orange I’ve ever eaten. It’s not the taste though that is making it so good. Like I said until now I have had it hard putting it into perspective that an orange could be such a good gift. You see the young man that gave the orange to me is very special to me, he always and I mean always speaks to me and says hi, no matter where we are at it doesn’t have to be at church, I’ve seen him in restaurants, down town and at ball games etc. and he always speaks to me. What he doesn’t know is that some of those times I have been having a bad day and I mean a really bad day and just his smile and the attention he gave me picked me up. I know this is in reverse I’m suppose to be the mentor/role model for him. He told me later on that night as we had a chance just to talk for a minute, that I was one of his three best buddies, I can’t remember the name of the other two, but I was one of his three best buddies. If I don’t get another gift this Christmas season it won’t matter I have already gotten the best gift I could and it was just a simple orange, but it was from my best buddy! God bless my little best buddy.

Mark 10:16 “And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”

Writing Letters

With my new job one of my duties is to read the incoming and outgoing mail. Oh in case I haven’t told you I work at a correctional facility now thus the requirement to read the mail. My attention has been caught by what is written in the mail. Some stuff I would never think of writing about, but then again for some this is the only way they have to communicate so I guess they have no choice. The one thing that has really gotten my attention is how the letters can change from talking about how God is the only way they will ever be able to get through what they are going through , talking about how they are going to be involved in church when they get out, to how they have really changed this time. Then in the very next paragraph they may switch and talk about they can’t wait to use drugs again or maybe they will give the person they are writing to a cussing. Then at the very end of the letter they will close with something like God loves us or maybe close with a bible verse. I’ve caught myself asking the question how they can do this. Then the other day I was thinking that I’m writing a letter everyday with my life and you know, I know sometimes God has asked himself how can he do this. I challenged myself to try and remember that each day I’m writing God a letter by how I live my life, by what I do and I say and even by what I don’t do or say. How about you what kind of letter are you writing God? Is he asking how can you do that?

Large and Personal (Soda?)

I haven’t really had time to write lately, my retirement job has turned into a more than full time job, but that is not what this is about. I was reminded tonight how awesome and wonderful our God is, I was reminded about his magnitude and also how personal he is. I help teach the 4th through 6th grade boys at our church on Wednesday nights. Tonight we talked about Lottie Moon being a missionary and what an impact she has had on missions and about how important missions are in order for us to reach all the lost souls all over the earth. We talked about how God loved them just as much as he does us and the fact that there are literally millions of folks out there. This got me to thinking about what a large God we have and about how millions of people seem like so many, but when you add all the animals, birds and the other inhabits of the earth then you add all the stars, the planets well I guess when you add everything God seems so big so large and I seem so small. Then God reminded me in his own way that he loves me personally and is concerned about every minor detail in my life. Here is how he did it. After class one of our kids hung around and at first I was thinking dude you need to leave and go play with the other kids because I really needed to talk to one of my friends about a situation I’m facing right now. Anyway it was clear that this young man had something on his mind, so we asked him, what’s up man can we help you with something? He said I need you guys to pray for my Mom. My first thoughts were rut row is she sick, what kind of problem is she having? Then he said ya are going to think this is silly but my Mom has been drinking this certain brand of soda and she is trying to stop and it’s hard for her and can you guys pray for her. Proud of this kid does describe how I felt. This kid gets it, he understands it I guess he is really not a kid hunh?

I’ve been thinking over the experience again and again. God just seems to be speaking to me and saying see Barry I am with you in everything , I do care about all the minor details, Barry I am here all you have to do is call on me, Remember I gave my son so you could live….Barry don’t worry about the small stuff I’ve got your back……just follow me…….don’t forget follow me……….be obedient ……don’t say you will be obedient, be obedient and remember…….For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Oh yea and Barry don’t forget I do care and I do understand even if the battle is a can of soda!