From Uncle Ivan, "TO MEET SUCH A MAN "...

A Story That Will Surely Touch You

TO MEET SUCH A MAN

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying,a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square."

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.

"Not really," he replied, "just resting."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Oh, I ate something early this morning"

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Do you have some work I could do for you?"

"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."

"Sure," he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"

"St. Louis."

"Where you from?"

"Oh, all over, mostly Florida."

"How long you been walking?"

"Fourteen years," came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God

"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now"

"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.

"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside ! for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"

"What?"

"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"

"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."

I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled! led well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.

"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.

"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."

"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"

"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."

"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."

"I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord is good!"

"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.

"A long time," he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."

"I'll be there!" was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."

"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."


"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."

GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!

I put up some photos of the morning sky... Hurricane Rita to our south gave us some very beautiful skies this am. We had a cold front to our west with a long "roll" cloud from south to north in the western sky.. and Rita to our south with her fingers stretching out... Enjoy.. oh, and there a few shots of wiley coytee too.. haha.. enjoy..  

Little Boy Blue...

Be sure and check out little Boy Blue....

Jake's Welding Class open house tonight in Stillwater at Merdian Tech.

Great time had by all. Here is some photos from the night! Enjoy!

Hummmmmmmm... so true.. From Uncle Ivan...

from La....

Those of us in La. know who screwed up this disaster. Our Governor, the levee
board, the Corps of Engineers and the New Orleans Mayor are primarily to
blame with the incompetence of FEMA being secondary.

By the way, things have improved significantly. We give credit to our armed
forces who have taken the pressure off of local law enforcement allowing them
to regain control of our cities. I've often wondered why New Orleans police
have a reputation for being tough, no nonsense guys -- I now understand.

The looting here has been bad. You won't see it on TV, since we're not even
close to being newsworthy considering all the deprivation, death and suffering
being reported.

Our parish took in the first 600 evacuees, and put them up in one of our
brand new high schools located next to I-10. In l0 hours they had trashed the
school, torn out urinals, ripped the bleachers out of the gym and trashed the
classrooms and computers.

We moved them, plus 600 more to a place across the Interstate at an expo
center.

By Tuesday night, there were 3 car jackings and 3 armed robberies. So we had
to call in our deputies, police and Nat'l Guard troops to guard the evacuees.

Most of our law enforcement had been down in NO working the rescue mission.
The same stories apply to Baton Rouge, only multiply the numbers 10 fold. My
godson/nephew is the chief of the K-9 Department in Shreveport, 250 miles north
of Baton Rouge. He had been in NO working on the rescue till now, except he
has been called back to Shreveport tonight to protect against the looting there.

Mandy works for a doctor in a clinic next to our small hospital in Gonzales.
It's situated across the Interstate from the evacuee center. At 11 AM
yesterday (Thursday), the police locked down the hospital and the
clinic to protect them from looters. The clinic closed down at 2 PM and the
medical staff got escorts out of the vicinity.

The national news seems to carry a constant theme of Louisiana politicians
crying "shame, shame America". "Where's the government?" It's the mantra de
jour.

Our governor had the power to declare martial law and commandeer school buses
to evacuate the NO folks. She did not. Her news conferences are unscheduled,
unformatted ramblings, punctuated with tears and calls for help and
prayers......but not much information or direction. She has been noticeably absent from
sight today since the President toured.

Maybe I can't see the forest for the trees here, but I don't want any of you
"Americans out there" to accept any blame for the lack of immediate response
when it was clearly the responsibility of local and state government officials.

Frank H. Kean, III
1614 LaSalle Parc Baton Rouge, La. 70806

You have to love grandma's... from Heather..

The doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her.

As the young doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized she had a prescription for birth control pills. "Mrs.Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL pills?

"Yes, they help me sleep at night."

"Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could possibly help you sleep!"

She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee. "Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter drinks... And believe me, it helps me sleep at night.

You gotta like Grandmas

Uncle Ivan and Aunt Freda send this prayer for all..

This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards.
Let us continue to pray for one another.


The Prayer:


Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings In Jesus' precious name.


Amen

From Heather... Letter From WWII Soldier Reaches Home

Letter From WWII Soldier Reaches Home
Son Thanked Parents For Birthday Gift

POSTED: 11:38 am CDT September 15, 2005

POOLE, Neb. -- More than 60 years after he sent it, the final letter
written by a soldier killed in World War II has made it home.

The letter somehow landed inside a newspaper dated 1915.

Nebraskan Gary Mathis found it after he bought a box of old newspapers
at a yard sale in Kansas. The letter's envelope had military post office
markings dated March 6, 1944.

Mathis ran an announcement and a picture of the letter in a local
newspaper, and word of mouth got to the soldier's sister.

Louise Kisling said her brother, Clinton Krotz, was an infantry soldier
in Italy during the war. He was killed in action about two months after
the date on the letter.

In the letter, Krotz thanked his parents for a wristwatch they had sent
as a birthday gift, as well as some candy and nuts.

Kisling said her only disappointment is that her parents never got to
see the letter.

Ms. Madison Ann Blankinship at 4 months and 10 days!

Lookie who came to see us last night!! Yelp, Ms. Madison came to visit last night, before the storms moved in, while mom and dad were practicing their baseball in town. She is a hoot. She can now almost get her legs under her enough to crawl, which will happen soon, I bet. She can turn over by herself and then turn back over. I was taking pics of her trying to do all this last night. You can see how she can get her legs under her in the new photos ... check them out.. enjoy the day!  

Hummm....haha.. from Heather Ann....,

I was sitting in a cafeteria recently, next to a woman who was engrossed in her newspaper.

One of the headlines blared: "12 Brazilian Soldiers Killed."

She shook her head at the sad news.

Then, turning to me, she asked, ";How many is a Brazilian?"

Ground Beef..... or.... Ground Turkey??? Check this chart out... for the FACTS... 

Duct tape or a nail... or.... from Uncle Ivan

Duct Tape or a Nail

A man dies and goes to heaven.

Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.

St. Peter says, "Here's how it works.

You need 100 points to make it into heaven.

You tell me all the good things you've done,

and I give you a certain number of points for each item,

depending on how good it was.

When you reach 100 points, you get in."

"Okay," the man says,

"I was married to the same woman for 50 years

and never cheated on her, even in my heart."

"That's wonderful," says St.Peter, "that's worth three points!"

"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life

and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."

"Terrific!" says St.Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."

"One point!?!!"

"I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a
shelterfor homeless veterans."

"Fantastic, that's good for two more
points," he says.

"Two points!?!! "Exasperated, the man cries.

"At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God."

"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"

We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape or baling wire.

God did it with a nail.

AMEN

We received a special award from Austyn for Grandparents Day too.. Thanks Austyn for making if very special for us... and thanks to Andrew and Madison for coming over and sharing the day with us too... and Kaitlyn is walking... wow... great videos of her on Jon's site... we all watched her many times over the weekend... thanks for putting them online... our love to all .... thanks for the best grandparent day ever! 

Here is the menu for Grandparents Day....

Here is the menu for Grandparents Day Dinner at the Moffat Restaurant on Fairgrounds Road 

What a great weekend... thanks kids and grandkids... many times over... thanks....

My my my… what an almost perfect weekend!! Ann and I are fast being to love Grandparents Day in a way we have never appreciated it before!

It started Friday with lunch with Andrew Paul at his school, which we enjoyed very much. We did not get to make Austyn’s because we thought they ate at the same time, but found out later they don’t, but they are in schools that are cross town and there was only thirty minutes between lunch periods. Great Grandma Moffat ate with Austyn so he did have some of his Grand’s there... and she is way more important!

Then Friday, after a quick call to Jon to see when they were coming up … and discovered they were not (could be that Dad misunderstood the message last weekend… ha-ha) we confirmed to Heather we would watch the kiddos… on Saturday, which we did. Her and Paul had an engagement Saturday evening, and needed someone.. so of course, Mom and I stepped in GLADLY and watched the kids… and JAKE too…

On Sunday, Heather and the kiddos came over for lunch… and we had a great lunch… Ann made steamed pork chops, mashed potatoes and her famous gravy… and much more…. Then…. We ended up with a surprise dinner at the Phil Moffat Restaurant on Fairgrounds Road. It is a fairly new establishment, with Mr. Austyn Moffat serving as Head waiter, Tammy as head chef and the owner, Phillip Moffat. We were greeted in the rain at the door… and escorted into the waiting room where we were handed a menu and our orders were taken… Then after watching Austyn and Tammy play dominos and Austyn winning… we were seated and enjoyed a totally tremendous meal… see the photo of the menu…. And then after our great meal, we were presented with a very special orange certificate of appreciation for grandparents… IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Thanks guys…..

And thanks to every one for the cards, calls, thoughts, etc… and for making “our” weekend so very special!!!

Andrew Paul was ready to head home about dark thirty Saturday night....  

Madison Ann came over last Saturday and then came back on Sunday to visit us along with her brother, Andrew Paul! 

Just FYI...

I just talked with Jon and he has to work in yard tomorrow and has another thing he needs to work on Sunday, so they will NOT be coming up... sorry to be the bearer of bad news... but wanted you all to know...
Later.. have a great weekend... d

I am so mad.....

first time ever that my batteries ran down in my camera... wow.. how uncool to carry a camera around without a charged battery!!
Anyway... Ann and I went to eat lunch with Andrew Paul Blankinship at his school.... today for grandparents day... and the battery ran down after just 8 shots.. so if you want to see what his school looks like just click on the album for today... NO PICS of Andrew.. sorry...

But I learned a lesson.. This is the first time I did not take my case, nor a charged battery... and yes I learned.. haha....

It was a great lunch... on our way we had to deliver a care package to H at work... we had a ham and cheese sandwich, plum, bananna, graham crackers, cheese, chips, milk water and .... it was great! All I know for now.. have a great weekend.. Have not heard for sure if Jon is coming up or not... might know later on..

s