Tag Archives: growing spiritually

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A Letter to My Newborn Grand Daughter

My Dearest Faith, (Faith Marie Ainsworth)

I’ve got to get used to calling you that. This is your Grandfather, Dan Wiley Ainsworth. You can call me Dan Dan. (I’ve got to get used to you one day calling me that.) I wanted to write you a letter and welcome you into this big, big world. It’s a lot bigger than where you’ve been dancing around the last few months. Ha! You are a pretty special young lady, I want you to know that. You are and always will be surrounded by love.

When you get older, I’m going to find out from you first hand why you waited so long to be born. Were you already showing the world that you are always going to be late for everything? …. Just like your Dan Dan! Or maybe just a little princess in the making. Your Mother was in labor for over 36 hours! Either way, there was tremendous excitement when your grandmother (Tay Tay) and I found out you were born. Over the last few days, I’ve sensed all kinds of emotions. Love, anxiety, excitement, love, hope, nervousness, longing, love, not knowing, concern,…… did I mention love? Without a doubt, baby girl you are being surrounded with love.

How would it be in this big world without love? Well, take out the love that exists in your first two days of life? Here is the above list (without the love). Anxiety, excitement, nervousness, longing, not knowing, concern…… Now throw in an extra dose of hate, divisiveness, anger, and people being mean and you have what is going on in the world around you. Not the most pleasant place to get to grow up in is it? Nope, not unless you have LOVE.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…………. And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13: 3-6, 13

My precious granddaughter, you have been blessed with some extremely loving parents. They will protect you from this unloving world. They will show you how it’s possible to love others even when it seems difficult.

As time goes by, you will learn about this Most Holy Loving God that I worship. He will give You His Love to share with others. It’s a great mystery, but well worth the adventure to follow Him.

You’ll also learn about love and how to love from your Dan Dan and Tay Tay! We can’t wait for our turn to show you love. How to love ice cream! How to love a tree swing! How to love fishing! Woohoo!

AI, (Artificial Intelligence) will be an all too common thing in your generation. While it may make things more convenient, just remember…… you have to search for the real things in life. The greatest thing in your life even now at just a couple days old? LOVE! It’s a real love! Keep this love going and growing in your life.

I’ll be behind the scenes watching as you start a life of your own. Come give me a hug. I’ll probably have something in my pocket for ya! A dollar bill, a piece of candy, a bag of cheetos. (to share of course!)

I LOVE you Faith! Signed Dan Dan wilderness preacher (stocking up on Cheetos!)

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Wings of Eagles (part 2)

Hearing, knowing, and following God’s Will in YOUR very own life.

At the sound of my voice/whistle, this red tail hawk has flown from over 100 yards away to land on my glove. Why? Well, it was my will to have him come to me. Also, Dak, (this red tail hawk), has a will of his on. He’s free to fly away at any time. He’s free to choose what his next move will be. In this case, it was Dak’s will to come to me. Look a there! My will and Dak’s will are one and the same. But Why?

Dak and I have a relationship. We are two completely different creatures, but yet we both want the same thing. In the sport of falconry, the hawks and falcons are trained/manned to come to the falconer when called. Every time, and I mean every time, we call them they get a tidbit of food. They learn quickly to follow the falconer because he will offer a tidbit of food. Even better, the falconer will give the hawk opportunities and an advantage to catch various prey for their next meal. It may be a rabbit, squirrel, and sometimes a quail. Hey, remember Dak is a bird of prey. Can I offer him a salad? That ain’t happening! He eats meat! My vegetarian friends out there have come to understand that they can refrain from eating meat. But Dak….. well, he wants meat for breakfast, meat for dinner, and what would he want for dessert? Yep, you guessed it. Meat.

Back to this knowing my will for the hawk. I want what’s best for this hawk. After all, while he’s in my possession, he IS my bird. I want to enjoy being around Dak. I get to admire and be amazed at his hunting and flying skills. There is no set agenda, no specific plan. It’s that I want a relationship with this beautiful hawk, much like many of you have a relationship with your dog, horse, or cat. My will for this hawk is to be involved with his everyday life.

Hmmm, so what’s this hawk’s will concerning me? I can promise you the very first day we met he was nothing but scared of me. Through the training/manning sessions, after several days he didn’t understand me. But he began to trust me. Yes! The relationship has been created!

All right. Let’s get a little serious here. Is there any way that your will for what’s going on in your life can be the same as God’s Will and what he wants in your life? We talked about the thermals in the air last week. These thermals are sought after by birds of prey to carry them on their journeys in the air. God offers you “thermals” to help you on your journey as well. For you to be in God’s will you’ve got to seek Him. For your will to be His will, you’ve got to get passed the “scared” part of this encounter. Get over the lack of understanding the relationship. Allow God to give you His training/manning/guidance and direction. How does He do that? He works through you! Your prayers, your meditations, your interactions with other Christians/church are ways that He develops this spiritual relationship with you.

In this modern world, it’s truly hard to hear God’s direction for me and you. It’s not because God’s not there. It’s because of distractions. So many things both good and bad pull us away from hearing God’s Will for our lives.

Here’s a perfect example. Turn on two different radios. then add the TV. Might as well grab 3 or 4 books. Now, grab a pencil and write down what you are going to do tomorrow. Be specific. Also write down the songs you are hearing, the show your watching, and the plot of each of the books your are reading. Oh, everyone knows you’ve also got to list a few things you’ve seen today on Facebook. Complicated? Confusing? Frustrating and Irritating ? You bet. But honestly isn’t that how we live our lives every day. How can you see the “thermals” that God is providing for you when all of life’s distractions are smothering you?

How do you see and hear God’s Will in your life? A huge step is to take time out from life’s distractions. Take a break. Don’t worry. Life and it’s busyness will be waiting for you to get back. Find you a quiet place in the wilderness. My wilderness is in the mountains of Colorado or the swamps of Mississippi. Where is your wilderness? It may be in the chair your sitting in right now. Anywhere that you can dismiss the distractions in your life for just a few minutes. Your car, your back yard, wherever you can focus on your will. And God’s Will. And can the two be the same? You praying, meditating, reading scripture are all ways to focus on God and His Will for you on this Christian journey.

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 8:17 ESV

Get rid of distractions. Look for God’s Will. Then ride the “thermals”!

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher

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A Bad Connection

Beep Beep BEEEP!!! A Check Trailer Wiring error is showing on my truck panel. There it goes again Beep Beep BEEEP! All I can think of that caused this was that I hit a bump in the road and Boom!

The irritating noise began . A check trailer wiring signal is blinking like a non stop Christmas light and the irritating noise is causing me, well to get irritated.

I stop after many miles of this torture to check on the problem. Like all guys who honestly don’t know much about their vehicles, it’s google to the rescue. You ever done that? You know, google your latest problem, whether it’s a health problem, or in this situation a mechanical issue. Happens every time, You have to read the worse possible scenario. Health issue? Yep search reveals you may have a rare incurable disease. Search for this particular mechanical situation concerning a Check Wiring irritating signal. Yep, got to take it to the dealership to replace a faulty thingamabog that’s causing the whatchamadoodle to show an error. (told ya I wasn’t much of a mechanic.)

But there was in my search somewhere that said maybe check your connection to the trailer. Can’t hurt so I give it a try . I unhook the cable from the RV that hooks to the truck grab the connector and give it a few whacks against the bumper. Why you say do I do this? Because I can’t kick it. Most of my mechanical issues that I’m not able to solve involve giving the object a good kick. A good kick relieves the stress every time and on occasion has been known to somehow fix the problem.

Look what shows up after a couple whacks.

Look at that dirt! There’s enough dirt in there to plant a couple of tomato plants! Dunno how it got in there, but it’s out now. I plug the connector back in to the truck and …….. it’s working. No error messages and no irritating beeping. The problem has been solved which makes me one small step closer to becoming a good mechanic after all.

There are times when all of us face a loss of connection whether in our vehicles or in our hearts.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

On your spiritual journey, you hit a “bump in the road” and get that irritating feeling that somehow you have become disconnected from God. Deep down maybe you sense the error messages letting you know that some dirt/sin has come between you and God. That by the way is the definition of sin. Anything that comes between you and God is sin. Yep, it’s irritating you isn’t it?

So just how can you give your soul a few whacks to clean out the dirt/sin? Prayer. Praying to God, asking Jesus to renew, reconnect, and restore the connection between the two of you. It may involve asking for forgiveness. To ask for and be given forgiveness for whatever dirt that is between you and God is where we get to see God’s grace, His mercy, and His love. Focusing on God’s Greatness and not on your dirt brings back the joy.

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth, Wilderness Preacher, driving somewhere across Texas, renewed and reconnected

I’ve been writing a book. The very rough draft of this book has been written. It needs polishing, editing, and given a look over by others who have done this before. So stay tuned, it will be finished in the future. In the meantime, I’m back in the saddle writing this blog. My hope and prayer is that you join me on this journey. When you ask to see God in everything, you start seeing God in everything!

Stay in touch! Drop me an email. Share your times of reconnection