Family
Published for Sunday - April 28, 2024
Written Friday - 04/26/24 2:50 PM
As I write, it's Friday afternoon. Tomorrow we're going to visit the Snow family and join them for lunch. Should be a great trip all around.
Patty is supposed to bring a dessert but is not sure what she wants to take since few of us are eating sugar. I don't envy her position but am still looking forward to the day.
Jonathan is at the Alabama Music Educators Conference and I think All-State is mixed in with the event. According to my calendar he gets home tomorrow and just in time to grab a bit of rest before heading to New York City and Washington D.C. with the band. I'm sure that promises to be a great event and just in time to finish out the year and start his summer.
What a blessing it is to have wonderful family. I'm looking forward to some time together.
Our Daughter
Published for Saturday - April 13, 2024
Written Friday - 04/12/24 3:05 PM
Had a very nice chat on the phone with our daughter today. We talked a lot about what God has been doing in our lives and I see the evidence of my wife's incredible wisdom in there.
I have to give both Allie and Josh (her other half) a lot of credit for what God is doing with both of them. Together they are building their own culture and it's a culture that involves two very energetic and two very different boys (or should I say, young men.)
Allie honors me by picking my brain because she indicates one of the boys is a great deal like me. I wish that were true but Noah is so far ahead of where I was at that age. He has capitalized upon all that the Lord has put in front of him.
So has Gabe except he's an adventurer like his father. Gabe is also a lover of animals. For all I know, that may have also come from one of his parents as well, but I see that passion as more of a God thing. God seems to have placed a very big heart, passion, and love in Gabe for all creatures great and small (and particularly those who have a lot of fur.)
Allie continues to be a student of God's Word. I love to hear her share about all that God is showing her and doing in her life. It's an amazing thing to see and hear.
It's equally amazing to see and hear all that He has placed on Josh's heart. I wouldn't want to get in the way of all that guy is doing and all that God seems to be doing through him. Just like with Allie, it is indeed something to behold. What a blessing he is to our family.
Keep up the good work you guys! You're doing some pretty awesome stuff!
More on Easter
Published for Tuesday - April 02, 2024
Written Sunday - 04/01/24 5:40 PM
Well, as I suggested on the post yesterday, both of the kids and their families did indeed join us for an Easter lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant over in Atalla, AL right across from Walmart. El Patron is the name of the place.
We agreed that it was time well spent together including the time back at the house. All in all, a great day!
I was a bit surprised that we couldn't fit the two bicycles in the Snow family's car, but I suppose they were bigger than we thought. Josh offered to come back by sometime with the truck to pick them up.
Patty and I are so blessed to have the families of our kids make the 1+ hour drive over to spend a short amount of time with us. It's something we don't take for granted.
It's still Easter as I type and the meaning of the day is not lost on all of the time spent together with family. In fact, I can't think of anyone with whom I would rather spend the Holiday. The meal blessing was a moment to remember the day and its meaning. And even now, another moment to remember.
We thank you oh Lord, especially here on Easter, for the gift of your son Jesus Christ and what he means to each of us. We thank you for His life and that, on the third day, he was resurrected. We thank you for the day-to-day guidance of the Holy Spirit and we are grateful that we will spend eternity with Jesus for He is risen, indeed!
Jonathan
Published for Sunday - March 24, 2024
Written Saturday - 03/20/24 2:40 PM
Next on the list of people who have had an impact upon my life would be our amazing son, Jonathan. He was due on Allie's second birthday but arrived four days early on August 18, 1983.
It's difficult to explain the gift of a son. You almost have to experience it to understand. But God knew what He was doing and the son that Patty and I received is such an amazing gentleman. I had no idea how much love would come from our son and how much there was to learn from him.
Unlike having a daughter, there was no give-away involved. Instead Jonathan found his wonderful soulmate and introduced her to our family. And like our son-in-law, what an incredible addition to the family she has been.
I heard Amy share her heart with our son at their wedding and I immediately knew he was destined for an amazing blessing in his life. And all that I saw and believed has proven itself true in that sense. What a joyful addition she has been to our family.
The gifts that God placed in Jonathan and Amy are readily apparent and so easy to see. And the wonder behind it all is the way in which they have served God and each other with those gifts.
I can't wait to see all that God has planned for both of them. The excitement is building.
Allie
Published for Saturday - March 23, 2024
Written Wednesday - 03/20/24 2:10 PM
Next on the list of people who have had an impact upon my life would be our wonderful daughter, Allie. She joined us on August 22, 1981.
If you don't know what it's like for God to give you a daughter, I'm not sure this post will make much sense. The opportunity to care for her, love her, and learn from her has been amazing.
The most difficult part has been to give her away to the man of God's choosing. After a long search, she found her soulmate. The rest is history.
I'm so grateful for Josh, the man God has placed in her life and the one who gets to take it from here in terms of caring for her. He is a masterful caretaker and one from whom I've learned a great deal.
God has blessed both of them with a wide array of gifts. And each has been faithful to those gifts and has wonderfully offered them up to God.
I'm so looking forward to seeing all that God has destined for her, for Josh, and for their two sons Noah and Gabe. It has already been a great adventure and it would seem there's plenty more yet to come.
First and Foremost
Published for Friday - March 22, 2024
Written Tuesday - 03/19/24 7:50 AM
When I think of the people who have had an impact upon my life, first and foremost my wife comes to mind. Her wisdom, grace, and kindness is only matched by her amazing beauty - both inside and out.
My father passed on but he used to tell me that I got far better than I ever deserved. Those words were so true! What she saw in me that would have led her to give her life to me and to take me on as a life-long project truly remains a mystery - and probably always will.
Although I could never live up to it, the number one call upon my life is to love my wife and to serve and protect her as long as I am able. I know it sounds like a police kind of thing, but that's how I feel about her and what God has put on my heart for her. God's call to cherish her has been so easy.
People
Published for Thursday - March 21, 2024
Written Tuesday - 03/19/24 2:35 PM
Yesterday I offered a post that really got me to thinking. In fact, so much so that I created a new category for it. People.
It's not going to be a place into which I naturally fall, but it is a topic where I want to spend more time. In that new category, I've included both this post and the one that led up to it. Yesterday's post.
This is not going to be a write it because it's on my mind or I'm good at it. This is going to be a write it because I want to develop a skill around it.
I find myself often passionate about people I don't know. You know, like in a movie? Even someone who humbles themself like many have done before. Such a posture truly catches my attention. And I want to be more like that person. Their witness speaks to me. I want to be more like Christ - just like they are. And therefore, I want to be like them.
I don't know anyone in the picture above. I grabbed it off of the internet. Still, each of those people has a story to tell. I can look at each person and only imagine what they would tell me if we could talk. I want to develop that kind of passion and listening ear for all whom I meet. And may God give me the opportunity to meet many!
I've done my homework and know what I believe and why I believe it. For me, and more than anything, it's a faith kind of thing. Sure, there's tons of evidence for a supreme being who is also an intelligent designer. That's why I'm sold! I've walked it all the way out to Jesus Christ and I know that He is my savior.
Lord, at the end of the day, I want to be more like so many whom I see out there in my day to day. That's because they are truly living for Christ and that is something I want to make sure I do.
Lord thank you for those who follow you and for their example to me. I pray my focus would be upon people - those I can help and those who can help me grow. Furthermore, let me see them as you see them. Let me see them through your eyes.
Lord, thank you for all of them. You know. People.
Spiritual Stuff
Published for Wednesday - March 20, 2024
Written Tuesday - 03/19/24 1:00 PM
When I started this blog back in September of 2005, the primary focus was to be about running. That was something I did (and am still doing) on a daily basis. It was easy to maintain that singular focus and it attracted other runners who became regular readers.
But now you can find the list of current things I like to write about over in the categories section of the menu in the far-left column. Most bloggers today have video supported by YouTube. That seems to be the trend. And a singular topic still seems to be the way to go when someone wants to attract a regular audience.
But that just doesn't do it for me. I get tired of a single focus and I have no interest in attracting an audience with whom I have to speak. I'm not sure that is a good thing, but it's the way it is. I haven't even mentioned monetizing but have no interest in that either. Is that a bad thing?
If I had to pick my singular topic it would probably be Spiritual. That's because it's where my mind is most of the time. But not always, and that's why I have a categories menu item on my blog.
Because, and as I have said so many times before, this blog is more about a scrapbook of life than any search for a readership. If that's what I have to call it to swim upstream and against the current, then so be it.
Now don't get me wrong. I like and appreciate readers. But I must confess, I'm not a reader. That's why I don't really understand their motivation. And that's why I'm more focused on writing about any and every topic on my mind than developing a readership. If that's what interests a reader out there, then so be it. If not, then so be that too.
It's interesting what people learn about themselves. I have family members who are also not readers. Not my wife, though. She's a real reader. Others in my family have done what I have done. They want to use drive time wisely and/or want to consume things in certain areas and so they subscribe to podcasts and utilize book reading services such as audible.
Even though I take on some of these book reading helps, my Asperger's comes with a wide variety of topics and interests. And, that's what I tend to write about - plain and simple.
I've noticed one thing however. People is not a category in my menu. I sincerely envy those who have a people focus and suspect it would be a more healthy concern for my spiritual focus.
After all, as a Christian, people is what it is and should be about. That's where we're called. To people. Right?
It's difficult to share that but it seems to be true. Even when I think about the Great Commission mentioned in Matthew 28, I realize the primary focus is upon people.
Is it okay to say that I don't have a gifting in that area? After all with or without a gifting, shouldn't that be my focus? People? Wow, deep stuff and tough questions!
Doesn't family count? Are we still called to minister to people (outside of our family unit) in a day and time where it seems so out of the ordinary?
People. That's a lot to think about.
Copyright © 2024 Hutch DeLoach