"The Look"

Here is a photo i took this morning as I was writing and having my first Espresso . Does this look like the "look of love?"
Burt Bacharach and Hal David once wrote a great tune "The Look of Love".
Dusty Springfield was the lucky girl to be blessed to do the vocal track back in 1967. Well all I remember from '67 is that I had a crush on my 5th grade teacher who drove a brand new orange "Barracuda"fastback. WOW she was like Dana Fitzpatrick.
Honestly 40 years later I now love the version by Diana Krall and I wanna fly fish for Barracuda.

Today Jane and I have been blessed to raise three uniquely incredible children. If you showed this photo to our three children, all three would tell you that that's "the look".
I never liked spanking, but all three of our kids up till the age of around 5 got there share when all else failed. Marissa would rightly tell you she got the most over the boys. She had the most "my will not thy will" inbred. (hmmm where did she get that?).
Well there comes that time when you really must stop corporal punishment and move to other methods of "teaching" lol. I developed "the look". When I'd give this look to my kids it meant " don't even think about it", or "you are Not serious" ,or " If you lie to me I'LL know anyway".

It's important to keep that and other things in your parental arsenal to "hopefully" use when you feel those you love are slipping, have slipped or are headed to slip and hurt themselves.

The look would never honestly be used to hurt those you love only to help them, or help them stop, think and or pause to understand something. (If only children could understand that).

GOD..... How bout God....

What has He done for us? How does He convey "the look"? What is His method of trying to get you or I to pause, stop, think, reflect, pray, search our memory banks for "Word" to help us make proper decisions.

Today think about if you couldn't talk out loud or be seen by your kids -and- you had to find some way in love to encourage, discipline and help shape your kids destinies. How would you do it? How would it make you feel to watch them make bad choices and you couldn't speak outloud to stop them. How would that break your heart.

GOD.... How bout God....

Jesus was and is "the look of love", "the word made flesh", our living example of life. The living Word is all we have to hear clearly God's voice and His opinions. Prayer/Worship is our supernatural connection to knowledge, wisdom and power. and although it's one of the things we spend the least time at, it is like eating the Word one of the hardest to be faithful at. It's so much easier to go have coffee with friends and talk about other faults while reciting a verse or two.

Father today, help me so that I can make better decisions and choices in this walk of faith and not have to fall off any cliffs I see as adventure. Keep my conscience open to Your direction and help me see "the look".

Using Your Imagination

So here is a photo of a new "fly" I tied last summer for Smallmouth Bass. #8 upsidedown turned eye. Yellowdot barbells, olive marabou, rubberlegs, crystal flash, chenille, peacock herl and a tail cut of silicone from a worn out C-pap mask. lol

So what makes one think of these things and tie them all into a flyfishing fly? The need to create! God put it into all of us. We are created in His image. Will it ever catch a fish? Doesn't really matter but I KNOW it will :) You gotta love the sharpie black dots on the silicone to represent frog or dots on a minnows body. Come on, cant you see it bouncing on the bottom with the hook up (so as not to get caught on rocks) darting up and down with the marabou pulsing and the rubber legs moving in the current with the tail swinging and the peacock and crystal flash reflecting light. oooooh, so exciting for a fly tier. Yes it will probably get caught and a rock and snap off only to never be eaten but just maybe... :)

Now you all read this and say to yourself , whew I never new Craigt had such weird hobbies outside of songwriting and creating food dishes. Well it's only the latest I'm confessing.

How bout you. Those who have strong creative gifts already know what they are but it's those who swear they cant create anything but a mess that I'm interested in. You just need to let go, design time to develop your inner passions and forget who thinks anything about it.

You may love designing. Start it on paper, then bring it to your medium. Arts/Crafts, clothing, horticulture, science and on and on. You may love writing or music. There is no end to where you can "create". Begin in your home. Don't worry what your family says so long as you enjoy it and it doesn't take away from your life responsibilities or obligations. There is something "whole" that happens when you use your God given imagination. Note to self: "don't EVER look for others to think it's good OR think it's good yourself. Unrealistic expectations are the death of most creators. They are not met and we give up. I wonder what things God created that He finished and said, "hmmm, I can do better that that". One thing's for sure, He didn't say that when he created you.

Remember before you forget...

Last night I was watching a movie of love and life with Morgan Freeman as a therapist. Lot's of broken hearts, death and dying. In the movie his own son dies of heroin overdose and he had no clue. As a counselor he felt a failure. Staring at young adults and children at a wedding he sadly mused, "it's beyond tragic". His wife looking at this celebration said, "what do you mean". He replied in pain, " they have no idea what they are headed for. The pain, sorrow, hurt, brokenness of life that ends sadly...
I shed a tear, agreeing in so many ways that this is really truth. Regardless of our beliefs and creeds, there are basic truths we in a life of faith try to gloss over. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, "i have no pleasure in them". Ecc 12:1

Above is a photo taken last year of my mom with her grand and great grandchildren at our homestead. I see the joy of everyone in that moment but am reminded that as my father passed on three years earlier of brain cancer and my mom began a slow journey into dementia , that life will have remarkable twists for all these grand and great grandchildren. 100 yrs from now their children and grandchildren will look back on this photo and tell stories of their lives and journeys. Have we prepared them for reality? Have we shown them our failures so they do not have to repeat them, or have we hidden them away for another generation to suffer? Have we spoken Solomon's final summary in Ecc. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments." So simple yet so hard to live and teach as fallen/redeemed mortals. I look above and pray for continued new beginnings, lessons learned with the ability to grasp grace and humbly receive and grant mercy in all things to all people. Thank you Jesus that you are the foundation of all on which we can stand, hope and believe when life sends it's blows and we are grasping for the very air You breathe.

The Roman Forum

Having just spent a week in Tuscany with Jane for our 28th anniversary I've been flooded with so many thoughts and emotions. However due to Facebook, I've been neglecting posts here with daily posts there and photos, but need to get back to blogsville. :) I'll be posting photos here from Italy and remember you can always click on them for a "bit" larger 1024 version.

Reading the history of the Roman Forum (shown partly at left) and the interesting concept of the Vestal Virgins this morning, I'm reminded again that before Christs arrival, men tried very hard to create gods to fill that empty void in their lives with religious practices and sacrifices. Some honest , some very sick, but all, as the Hebrews were following, not following and following again Jehovah; waiting for Yeshua Messiah. While on the other continents of the world, men were as well seeking to fill that void with whatever made sense based upon their cultures, upbringing and personal moralities.

We sure see Americanized, NIV Christianity from CBN,TBN,GOD,ETWN and our denominations differently than the rest of the world sees it and views us. For us it appears to be pretty clean cut. With rules, regulations and exhortations on how each denomination see's it's believers to play out faith. Annually creating themes and slogans and bullet points and, and, and ways to grow "our" church while our neighbors continue to be lost, hurting and we turn the care of the homeless and widows and orphans over to the state. I wonder if God would or will bless the church ever again enough financially to take care of the widows and orphans if we had the passion and vision and leadership to do it? Or does God know mens hearts and would we just say "wow, what a super natural crop, I think I'll build bigger barns to hold it" and start a new building program with it... Forgive me Lord for I am part of that problem. Change begins with revelation so reveal to me and convict my heart till I do something Lord other than write, point fingers and talk about it like the pharisees were so great at.

With that said, I'm reminded of a couple obscure paintings I found in old basements of underground churches in Sienna that reminded me that the church has imho become focused to inward with the exception of missions trips. (I think many western missions trips should be re-named anyway as something more western like vacationjesus tours). I don't take away from the fact that just about every American who goes on a mission trip comes back changed and with a greater sense of how blessed "they" are to be living here, and now want to do more, but when I think of missionaries over the centuries, I don't think of bus trips to drop clothes off in foreign lands. I read the other month from a foreign missionary in Africa that the poor and so many of the villages live each day, week and year waiting and viewing calendars for the various denominations and churches to come feed them and cloth them for a certain amount of weeks a year when the weather is best and then leave for another year.
Thank you God for those faithful to live and serve amongst the people, to be living salt and light, teaching and mentoring life skills to those less fortunate, backed by the greater church.

So what was the good smaritan. What was their religion, their passion, their giftings, their motives. I love the other person walking away in this picture. Is this the traditional church or the heathen? I also love the ass in the background that shows that the Good Smaritan was on business and took time out to go out of their way to help. I was also fascinated by the background landscape which looks almost Spanish Western. What a painting, and to think it was about 10feet wide and 5ft tall many floors down in a dark room of an old monastery seen by very few. Talking with a friend this morning about this painting, he asked me, "if you are the good smaritan there, what is the question that the hurting person is asking you right there, and what are you gonna do about it when you get up from there, climb back on your ass to do your business and then get off your "donkey" down the road?

I think I'm gonna start by going to go look for my old 5 yr business plans to build bigger and better barns when the crops come in. ie: houses, cars, toys.

Cabellas

So today I received a letter from a bank that Cabellas contracted with. Canceling my card.
My card was paid up, I've had no balance for months, nor have charged there in 6 mo.
Cabellas didn't contact me.... but some bank did that they contracted with. Bad move boys and girls.

I remember shopping there one day a number of years ago and some guy says, let us give you a Cabellas card sir. You'll get 20% off your purchases today. Well that was a day I was prepping for a Yellowstone business and fly fishing trip and getting the card was going to save us a few hundred.
So 5 Min. later I have a Cabella's card with a 16k line of credit (so I can buy a boat I guess, if I were that stupid)lol.

Well I call the bank and they tell me that my credit score dropped below 700, and that keeps me from having an account with "Worlds Formost Bank" and their new quarterly benchmarks.
Okdoke. No point arguing with them, Cabella's was the source.
So I call Cabella's and they tell me that they can give me the "Formost Bank" 800 number.
Can you say run around circle jerk 5 times real fast. Well I'm sorry to say, Cabella will not get my business again. I told them that in this economic time of trying to people get to purchase anything, this was not a real productive idea, and they should re-evalute this thinking.
After all, it's not what you do It's how you do it. So it's back to ordering gear online at the best price instead of driving 50 miles round trip, and a few hours to walk through a beautiful store.

So it is in the ebb and flow of life. Those who serve the best, get the most clients.

Freedoms?

This photo is a picture I took on Ft. Sumpter. This flag flew over the Ft. on the first day of the Civil War. Oh the 10's of thousands of lives lost for the freedoms of so few but for the principals we hold dear for all.

I found a little book in my office that was left by a previous worship director. Seasons of Change by Dr. Myles Munroe.

His opinions about Slavery, Missions Fields, Missionaries, Enslavement and any groups ability to allow others to "take care of them" instead of learning to be responsible and 1st take care of themselves and 2nd begin taking care of others is pretty profound. It sure seems that our nation has elected officials into office and decided that "they" know best and will just do the right thing. I'm not sure if the average American is so overwhelmed with their own lives and families that they can't "go there" and just watch the news each night and say "it's only 4 years, and they promised to bring hope and change and compassion and transparency. It's gotta be better than the last 8".
Dear Jesus please wake up THIS nation's independents and moderates to realize what's really happening here. As Dr. Munroe would say "

What is freedom. Nobody should ever be given the privilege of ascribing to you worth. If you get your value from someone, (or a group) they can determine how much you are worth. In fact, the real issue is not "civil rights" but human rights. Human rights are inherent in God's creation of man; civil rights is man's opinion of that human being. Dr. Myles Munroe "Seasons of Change". P.71

We are allowing our elected officials to sell our nation into slavery to itself and other nations.

I will admit I'm an independent conservative who has voted for more conservatives than liberals over the decades and voting for Jimmy Carter is the one vote I'm now ashamed of 30 years later. In my youth because he was "born again" (I read that in a Larry Flynt Penthouse article)
I thought that was a good enough reason to vote for him. That was as misguided as reading the Larry Flynt article. I remember buying the magazine - asking what page the article started on - thumbing through the edge of the page numbers and cutting it out of the magazine so I could photostat the article and have it for other friends to read apart from getting your mind pumped up with an artificial injection of what love Isn't.

Back to Freedom. New conservative media superstar Glen Beck is crying out like John the Baptist every day. Pleading with Americans to take their country and government back. So he started the neighborhood parties concept and tea parties, and is screaming like a fool to the wind.

I'm afraid it might be to late. I'm afraid that God may have just said - like he said to Israel - "Ok, you want a king instead of me, so be it. Here's what's gonna happen because of it, but hey I love you and it's your choice. I'll still be here when you fall". And fall we just may. Beyond our wildest expectations. True leaders lead not for personal gain but for the sake of others. Do you see ANY of that in Washington. Is it even possible with the way the political systems are set up and paid for. The politicians become instant slaves to their "funders" and we in turn become slaves to our Govt. who will become our "funders" of everything "good" and for the sake of "all" because it's "fairer".

I hope you're praying each night and day for a miracle. God will always be there and He will always make good for those called according to His purpose and those who humble themselves and pray and turn from their "personal' wicked ways. His promises are true, each and every one, but the consequences of our lack of action in the natural right now, I'm afraid will change our nations foundational under pinnings and turn us from freedom to enslavement.
Thank you Father that our hope and future are not found here, but help us to not lose sight of the responsibilies we have in maintaining our libertys as a nation. God bless those serving for our freedoms, obeying orders and maintaining that high standard around the globe.

Mississippi Dreams

I've always wanted to fish for Smallie's on the Mississippi, but with such a large river, I never felt comfortable taking my float tube down it without some instruction. It's Kind of like trying to navigate life without your bible. Pretty overwhelming and lot's of places to get hurt if you don't know how to avoid them.
Anyway, my old best friend Bruce: (Who I've been flyfishing with for almost 30 years) drove up from Nashville and for his birthday, I hired us the US Smallmouth fly fishing guru. (as he would explain to us) to drift us from Becker to Monticello. Around 5 or 6 miles of world class Small mouth waters. Never deeper than 6 feet and usually 2 or 3. Guide Tim Holshlag talked for 8 hours straight about Small mouth around the world. He worked the boat and his verbal skills like Wayne Newton in Vegas on a Sat. night show. Butta....
The photo below was the first fish. A nice 15" bronze back.
We each caught 10 in the 14 to 161/2 range and I lost two over 19 inches that I swore I set the hook hard enough to kill most other fish..., but after a minute or two of fighting, they would just bear down, down stream and put on the brakes, not allowing you to reel them while your rod is bent over and your forearm is burning from the pressure of being above your head holding a 9ft bent over rod. Then in a flash they turn sideways and pop out your barbless streamer or popper.
Still a lot of fun to get those big ones one and see them cross over and under the boat at will as if to say 'you may think you have me buddy, but I'm playing iwth YOU."
Eight hours in 98 degree heat, and a gallon of water will still not hydrate you enough.
Sure would have loved to eat a few of them that day, but it's those catch and release rules that keep world class fish in a river growing larger and larger with more and more hook scars.
I heard one story by Tim, of a large 21" grandpa that was blind in one eye from a few years ago and he caught that same lunker 4 times in one season. How fun and what an honor to release him back to his neighborhood. So there it was, the day came and went and I'm already dreaming of getting a Tim Holschlag custom built 8wt. smallie rod and tying a bunch of his fly patterns.
Now that I know the lay of the land, I'll be back there fishing that stretch of water in the next few weeks in my float tube, looking for more ways to say thank you God for all the beauty you've created for us to enjoy and relax with. Here's hoping your hobbies and passions draw you closer to Him who created it all for us to enjoy and thank Him for.