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Stay Connected

leak

I’ve got a Leak!  I’ve got a hundred things to do today.  Now I’ve got a hundred and one things to do.  As I drive down my driveway, I notice water coming from out of the ground.  Uh oh,  The water is spewing from the exact spot where my water line to the house is buried. Uh oh.

A quick trip to town and I’m back with shovel, pipe repair kit and glue, the all important hacksaw, and most important………. me wearing my repairman’s hat.  I’ll fix it myself!!!!

Naturally this happens on a very cold day.  I start digging through mud and water.  Uh oh, I find the pipe.  Uh oh, it’s seriously being choked by tree roots that have grown around the pipe and the joint that hooks the two pieces together.  Uh oh, there’s the leak.  After I move all the mud and dirt away, the water now shoots straight up (and into my face)

A quick trip to the barn and I’m now back with an axe to chop away all the tree roots from around the pipe’s joint. It’s fascinating to me how slowly growing tree roots can over time cause pressure……. pressure enough to break the bonds of this pipe joint.

But it’s Dan the repair man to the rescue!!!!   I’ll just chop away those pesky roots and ……..uh oh.  I nicked a hole in the pipe with the axe. Dang it!

A quick trip to the neighbors to borrow a cutoff wrench so that I can turn off the water at the main meter.  Uh oh I better tell Staci that the water is going to be off for a while. She asks what the problem is and my reply is something like “I’m not sure, but I’m sure it won’t be off for long.”  Uh oh……

I cut the pipe and remove all tree roots from around the pipe.  Honestly, it was a wad of roots the size of a basketball all tangled and woven in a tight mass around this pipe joint.  I placed the repair kit union over the cut pipe and join the two pieces together.  I get to yell what every repairman loves to yell.  “YEEAAAA, I fixed it!”  I turn the water back on expecting to load up all the tools, wash all the mud off of me and my clothes and continue on my day of the other 100 things to do.  Uh oh…….Oh no, I must not have tightened the repair union enough because now it’s leaking like a screen door on a submarine.

A quick trip to borrow Daddy’s pipe wrenches, and I’m back kneeling down in the muddy hole that has grown to the size of a bathtub.  Uh oh, no wait…..,this time I do fix it.  It’s stopped leaking.  “I fixed it” I whispered this time instead of yelling, just so I wouldn’t jinx it.

Lamentations 3:40 (NIV) Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

Staying Connected……. it’s one of the most important things that we need in our lives.  All kinds of circumstance can become like those roots and choke and put pressure on our connections with God.  Uh oh.  Also the connections we have with other people can begin to “leak”.  Could be slowly over time things start “growing around the pipe”.  We don’t even realize it until well, until the “uh oh” moment.  Now we got to do some repair work.  And that’s when it gets muddy and nasty and well more “uh oh’s”

So, constantly examine your ways and test them.  By that I mean does it seems that you and your relationship to God is not as strong as it should be, or even used to be?  Uh oh, maybe there’s a leak that needs fixin’.

At the same time, what about those relationships with others in your life…… family, friends.  Over time has the connection started to leak.  Better put your repairman’s hat on.  It’s fascinating but also troubling to me how over time small things can “turn a drip, drip leak into a busted pipe” between people.  Uh oh.  Even more troubling is how those leaks and “breaks” between people cause even more leaks and breaks and broken connections between you and God.

My prayer is that you will have few “Uh Oh” moments.  But they happen.  When they do, realize it will be muddy and nasty.  Connections with other people need to be repaired.  There may be a piece of pipe or let’s say a part of your life that will not be the same because of the damage.  You yourself may even get “nicked” in the repair process.  But all in all we are all in this together.  Stay connected in some way.

I am a repairman for my connections in my own life and spiritual journey.  I have come to realize that God’s got the “glue” that works best for me to use, on myself as well as others.  If I focus on staying connected with Him, my connection with others becomes more manageable.  Always will be uh oh’s, always will be leaks.  How we repair these connections will determine if our source of Living Water becomes interrupted or can continue free flowing.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, plumber, professional “Uh Oher”

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Music for the Soul

music

What sounds have you heard that instantly go straight from your ears to your heart and soul?  While taking an early morning hike the other day, I noticed it was unusually quiet.  Staci was tagging along on this hike.  She was in it for the exercise.  I was in it for the…… well, the chance to be outdoors.  As we both were walking we realized that it was so quiet, you could hear everything.

See, we got an early start.  We both experienced seeing the sun come up.  We were early enough that the frost was still shiny and glistening on the ground.  As we were taking in the moment of a Mississippi morning, it dawned on me how quiet it was.  Even Staci noticed the quiet.  She noticed it so much that she even stopped talking, which for her is well, uncommon.  😉

When you notice how quiet everything is, that’s when you hear all the sounds.  Listen with me as I recall hearing woodpeckers, a dog barking far way, small sparrows chirping as we walk through the grass.  The bluebirds were doing their mating calls. The sounds of things in the distance are amplified by the cold weather.  I hear a deer snort.  I immediately tell Staci, “Look, there’s a deer ahead in the path!”  I had not even seen it, but I had heard it.  Sure enough as if on cue, two deer stepped out ahead of us and trotted on into the woods.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord  Psalm 150:6  OK, OK, I know the bird is singing to claim it’s territory.  The dog is barking at an animal.  The coyote is howling at the moon.  My human companion has started talking again.  😉  But even in their everyday activities all these creatures that have breath are giving Glory to God just by BEING!  Praise Him!

“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” 
Ephesians 5:19 

So, what if only the top three birds were the only ones allowed to sing?  You wouldn’t get to hear a turkey, owl, hawk, crane, or woodpecker.  All these creatures make a beautiful noise in their own way.

What if you only get to hear the top three humans sing.  and just who would that be?  Elvis? Lady Gaga? “Fill in the Blank”?   It probably wouldn’t include me and you on the list.  But what’s stopping you.  When things get quiet enough, (meaning all distractions are put aside),  that’s when your sound can be made and heard.  Sing from the heart.  Make a joyful noise.  You don’t even have to sing one of the top three Praise songs of all time.  It just might be a Tom Petty song like “Runnin’ Down a Dream”.  But you are singing in the shower, or on the way to work and it’s as natural as a bird singing everyday on the trail behind my house.  Do it because you have breath.  Do it because it’s you.  Do it because deep down it’s now for God’s Glory.

See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth  wilderness preacher/ songwriter

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The Dark Side

 

bat

Working in my log barn, I moved a plank from the wall and noticed a small furry fluffy thing.  It was asleep(hibernating).  When I placed it into the sunlight it quickly warmed up and turned into this nasty little creature.  (Nice teeth you have there fellow.)

bat teeth

He’s been hiding in my log barn all this time.  I’ve been putting my snacks right there all this time.  Been sitting right there.  I sure won’t be doing that anymore.  Look, I’m really not afraid of bats.  They are pretty neat at what they do, flying at night catching and eating insects, (that’s what those teeth are for).  But I don’t think I want one sittin’ by me when I’m eating my snacks.  I also don’t think I need a bat hiding in my house or barn.  Let him find a home in a hollow tree or cave.  Now I’m aware that there may be others hiding in my barn.

Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” Isaiah 29:15

It got me thinking about what else may be hiding in my barn.  Then that’s when I got to thinking about what may be “hiding” in my own life and spiritual journey.  I wouldn’t have seen it was a bat until I brought him out into the light.  The same goes for some of our plans and deeds.  Surely you don’t plan on anything evil or bad.  But it’s the dark side so who is going to know or see?

Maybe it’s best to bring our plans and deeds out into the light.  God’s light.  Then we can see what it truly is, (and if there are teeth to look out for).  Too, too, many times we Christians (yes, me too) have gotten into situations where we later said “I didn’t know it was going to turn out like this…….  I didn’t think no one would know…….. It seemed like a good idea at the time……”

How can you use God’s Light?  It’s when we lean on God’s direction and guidance.  That’s what I mean by God’s light.  Just that simple, small, but POWERFUL prayer, “Lord help me” can be uttered before any situation or circumstance.   Then you are following in His light rather than in the darkness.  What’s in the darkness  can cause hurt and pain.  Let God’s light shine in your life.  Let your own light shine in this world!!

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, “Batman”