Thanksgiving...Yeah!

It's that time of year again, finally. It always seems a long haul from fall break to Thanksgiving. We get to leave today around noon for 5 days in a condo in Gatlinburg - no work, no meetings, no alarm clocks, no paper grading, no LiveText, no 40-minute commute. Though we will not be seeing any of our kids or grandkids this time (we do plan to see all of them in 4 different states around Christmas), we will get to be with some family. That will help make this season even more special.

In addition to the above list of NOs, there are many other Yeses for which I am very thankful:

Delores' beauty both outward and inward...

Our nearly 39 years of marriage...

Our sticking to the Healing Diet...

How great the food tastes...

Both of us off our meds...

Weight loss...clothes fit better...

The travel we get to do at this stage of life with 2 reliable cars and a major airport only 55 minutes from home...

A job that I love going to every day - well, almost every day...

New professional opportunities...

Spiritual challenges in my daily walk with HIM...

Our kids and grandkids who all still welcome us into their homes anytime we can get there. Specifically I'm grateful for...

Matt's mind...as sharp as the point on the broken appendage in the 50s classic sci-fi flick The Deadly Mantis...

Kara's laugh and singing voice...as lovely as Maria's in The Sound of Music...yes, these are a few of my favorite things...

Krista's service to others...Clara Barton and Florence Nightengale rolled into one delightful person...

Daniel's spiritual curiosity...trying to tread in the footsteps of Jesus as so many before him have done...

All four spouses being wonderful, supportive Christians...like all Jimmy Stewart's friends in the final scenes of It's a Wonderful Life...hear any bells ringing for angel wings lately?

Sean's intellectual curiosity (and enjoying the same dog stories as I did in my childhood - Lad and Silver Chief and Kazan can all become our best friends if only through the books we read)...

Joshua's energy and enthusiasm...like a builder and creator - I can imagine his helping the CREATOR design the heavens and the earth eons ago...

Alyna's dramatic personality...being a drama queen is not nearly as bad as it sounds - in fact, in a 14 1/2 month old, it's precious...

Ryan's curiosity that keeps him reaching for the heights (literally)...Sir Edmund Hillary (?) move over...

So, to all my loved ones - family and friends - I praise God for our health, joyfulness, and very being.

P.S. And I'm also thankful for blogs and facebook where I can share my mind-ramblings with family and friends just having fun and reflecting on the goodness of life. Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good nigh...uh, good morning. Wow it surely is early...

Inspiration!

As I grow older and older and older...I discover inspiration in the smallest tasks and sometimes the most unusual places. I wouldn't expect it, but God gives it to me anyway. These surprises are often rewarding and usually quite enlightening. Let me explain my hitherto rambling reflections in this latest-of-my blog attempts (only been at this stuff for 10 days or is it 10 daze?).

With our healthy eating of late, my wife commented recently that she is surprised that I didn't miss cheese. I used to eat it on about everything. Food just seemed better with American, deli deluxe, cheddar, etc., melted on it. It really did! But now pretty much the only cheese I've had in the last four months is goat cheese and goat cheese spread. I love the latest experient: bison loaf and goat cheese omelets. Delicious!

I don't know if I had the capability with Widows XP or Vista; but recently I discovered with Windows 7 that I can not only have a slide show of photos for the screen saver, but I can do that with the desktop wallpaper. So I have set up grandkids and kids photos to run as both of those. It's really pretty cool to catch yourself pausing from whatever computer task you were trying to accomplish to simply sit and stare at the cutest kids on the planet.

Then there are those spiritual moments of inspiration God allows us to have. Passages I've known for years and heard most of my life take on new meaning in a new set of circumstances. For instance...

Proverbs 17:6 states that Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. I recognize the crown of love that grandkids bring to my life not only in sceensavers and wallpaper, but also when my wife Skypes them. From 1,100 miles away (the highway mileage from Columbia, TN to Hobbs, NM (the boys in Kyle, TX are only a little over 800 miles off), we can see the 14-month-old twin toddlers playing and hear them talking clearly (well, as clearly as babies talk at that age...hmmm). But how about that last part of the proverb: parents are the pride of their children. That verse was driven home when my older daughter in a blog complimented her old man on his weight loss and his joining the cyber communication age by blogging and being on facebook (as I already said, for the last 10 days or so). What's really neat is that all of our children seem genuinely happy to welcome us whenever we want to travel to their homes. Awesome!

Proverbs 23:12 states that The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son dellights in him. I can change the wording of that proverb to add woman to man and daughter to son. How true it is that I take great joy in having four believing and faithful children all married to incredible spouses. Seeing them supporting one another in their daily spiritual walks as well as in their more secular journeys on this planet is a marvelous delight. Whether buying vehicles, getting out of debt, purchasing a house to make into a home (with a grandparents' guest room of course), raising my grandkids, leading Financial Peace University, walking their dogs, changing the kitty litter, cooking and cleaning and working and traveling, etc...it's an absolute joy to know that Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain...and Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward form him.

Though my children and their spouses all have a lot to learn and life will surely teach them much through the years along the way, they're off to a great start! Keep it up, kids! I'm proud of each of you (all eight of you)! If I throw in the grandkids so far...there are an even dozen. I absolutely refuse to count the three dogs and seven cats in their homes (at last count). Like God in all His children, I take great delight in all of mine.

Finally Eating To Live, not living to eat!

On July 14, 2009, we had our first visit with Dr. Josh Axe in Brentwood, TN. At that time I weighed about 227 pounds (down about 6 pounds from May 1), was taking two Avandamet tablets a day for Type 2 diabetes, and one pill a day for high blood pressure. We started getting adjusted to relieve the nerve inflammation and restore the Ark of Life in the neck (we were both at 0% curve) as well as restoring the spinal curvature in and straightening of the lower spine. We also started to detox and change our bodies from acidic to alkaline with the Healing Diet and purified water (among other things). In the photo Delores and I are depositing our empty pill containers in Dr. Axe's office jar for that purpose. As of the 3-month x-ray, here are the results so far:

1. Lost 24 pounds


2. Totally off diabetic meds


3. Totally off high blood pressure meds


4. Restored 15% curve in neck (average after 3 months is about 10%)


5. Straightened lower spine


6. Food tastes great


7. Don't miss some foods that I was sure I would hate giving up


8. Feel better with more energy and not even a cold yet during this flu season (I always get 2-3 sinus infections that end up going bronchial ever year)


9. Lighter on my feet on the racquetball court


10. Am much handsomer...(well 9 out of 10 isn't bad)

The results have been remarkable and the food really does taste great. Some of the things I thought I would miss that I "loved" are...

pizza...We actually made one from brown rice flour for the crust, topped with organic tomato paste, bison, and goat cheese with herbs and spices thrown in for good measure.

cheese...I used to put it on about everything. I don't anymore and don't miss it - goat cheese melts very nicely and flavors anything wonderfully.

pork...I'm enjoying the better tasting cage-free eggs with organic fruit (strawberries, banans, or grapefruit are my favorites) for breakfast - you should try my creamed eggs with almond milk and rice flour or my bison/goat cheese omelet.

ice cream...As long as I can eat my favorite nuts in moderation (cashews, almonds, walnuts, peacans, Brazils, and macadamians) and the occasional square of extreme dark chocolate (I like the 85-90% cocoa), I am okay without the cream.

Those are just a few of the things I'm not missing because of the delightfully scrumptious food. As a friend from church recently remarked, "Kerbe, it sounds as though you are experimenting in the kitchen." Remarkably insightful.

Pat Conroy's World

For the last "several" years my students in the foundations course that I teach at Martin Methodist College, Education as a Profession, have been watching the film version of Pat Conroy's journey into school teaching. Now a famous author (Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline, et al), he started out as a school teacher. He wrote of an early career move in his book The Water Is Wide about his "year" on Yamacraw Island off the South Carolina coast in an all-black school. He taught grades 5-8. If you search your Rand McNally Road Atlas, or any other for that matter, you won't find Yamacraw pinpointed. No, it's not like Brigadoon in the musical by that name - a village in Scotland that only appears once every 100 years. It's the fictionalized name for Dafuskie Island near Hilton Head. The original movie was called Conrack apparently because of difficulty some of the students had in learning to pronounce their new teacher's name. Then about 2-3 years ago Hallmark Hall of Fame flicks did a remake titled the same as the book. This version of The Water Is Wide has "cleaner" language, but it doesn't do as good a job of depicting either Conroy's creative teaching techniques or the bigotry he battles every step of the way. He eventually gets fired for usurping the authority of the big dog on the mainland who runs a tight, unforgiving, and totally prejudiced ship.

In October of 2009, I had the opportunity to travel to Dafuskie Island and tour the school house where Pat Conroy taught his kids. It was a highlight of a very pleasant vacation. My wife Delores and I took the boat to the island - the only way to get there except maybe by small seaplane or holding onto a dolphin for dear life...Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning...Remember? We rented a golf cart for a few hours as the preferred mode of transportation around the island. With a crude map of main roads marking all the touristy spots, we circumnavigated from west to east. It was a really neat trip for several hours. Now when I view the film with my students, I can tell them the rest of the story and even show pictures.

Can you hear God singing?

For years I've used the question generated by the last phrase in the New International Version of Zephaniah 3:17..."He rejoices over you with singing" as part of my personal email signature. I've quoted the verse and then queried, "Can you hear God singing?" My pulpit minister even called attention to this little-known verse in a sermon a couple of years ago. In all reality I know I've heard God singing...Where? You might ask. My answer would be, "In many places."
I heard HIM following the emergency C-section of my youngest. I was holding the hours-old miracle in a rocking chair next to the incubator. As I softly crooned "Thank God for Kids," I could've sworn I wasn't singing alone...perhaps it was just the voice of the nurse under whose watchful eye I swayed, but I could've sworn...
I head HIM as well in the roar of dawn's early light at High Falls in Canada. Camped on the knoll of the island overlooking the wider-than-high falls that steered the river from one lake to the next, I woke early to a scene of mist and fog. Sitting in the tent for a moment before venturing out to capture the photo that now hangs enlarged on my bedroom wall, I was sure there was more than the wind in those swaying trees and that roar of the rapids.
Then there is the angelic voice HE gave my second child and first daughter. I love to hear her sing. She can take that high note in the quite-difficult-to-croon national anthem up into the rafters as few that I've ever heard. I imagine it's not just her voice alone giving my the shiver up my spine.
So, how about you? Can you listen quietly and perhaps remember some moments in time when you just might have heard that still small voice...singing? I'll bet you can. If not, get the poem "Creation" by James Weldon Johnson; read it aloud, but softly; and listen. God might start reciting along...or maybe He'll begin to sing - there is a choral version of that epic poem. What an incredible imagining! What a God we serve...one who sings love songs over His children. WOW!