Dead?

 

I have a beautiful clematis that grows up my mailbox post.  it is a dry, tangled mess in the winter, but it isn’t dead, it is only sleeping.  When a few warm days come in February coupled with rains in March, the clematis springs back to life.  And in John chapter 11, Jesus spoke to Martha about the resurrection.  Like my clematis, Lazarus was not really dead.  Oh, he was dead alright, but Jesus said to Martha in John 11:25&26, “… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”  Martha knew with her head that Jesus was the resurrection, but she needed to know with her heart that He was the resurrection.  My daddy is dead, my mother is dead, my brother Phillip and my brother Galen are both dead, but they will all live again because Jesus has the power over death.  And like my clematis that only looks dead, my family will live again because they knew the One Who has the power over death!  Praise the Lord for His power and for His resurrection!

Old-Fashioned Jeans

 

I have four pair of old work jeans.  I like my jeans, and I live in them.  They are from Tractor Supply for life out here.  I like them because they have 7 belt loops to keep my pants up when I bend over to do stuff down there.  They have a foldable rule pocket on the side that is just perfect for my cell phone; a sweet mix of old school and Gen Z.  And because these jeans are utility jeans, they have more room in the legs (for my massive calves (ha, ha) and more room in the seat (no jokes, please).  But the best feature is the cotton material.  Cotton is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  So, Tractor Supply has these new, slimmer fitting jeans that look better than my baggy jeans.  But since they are slimmer fitting, they are made of stretchable material.  Translation: synthetic fibers: a blend of cotton, polyester, and elastane.  But they just don’t feel right.  They are colder in the winter and sticky hotter in the summer.  But they do look nice.  They have a phone pocket, but it’s in the back, underneath my right-hand hip pocket where the shape of the phone looks like a girl’s phone in her hip pocket.  Not to my liking.  But they do look nice.  The pockets are double lined to keep holes from poking out, but they bunch up under the tighter fitting material.  But did I mention that they look nice?  Tractor Supply has made better jeans with better features and sturdier pockets, but they just don’t feel right.  So, I’m going back to my old-school $14 cotton jeans and ditching the better-looking stretchable $27 jeans.  Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”  Hey, the choice is up to you.  Try the new-fangled ways that may look better, but they chafe at you every day.  Or get back to the old ways and find rest, peace, and comfort for your soul.  Old comfortable jeans and the old-fashioned Bible way: both sound good to me.

Organization

 

OK, call me obsessive compulsive if your want to, but … OK, I’m obsessive compulsive.  My wife is in a wheelchair and cannot go downstairs to do the laundry, but I’m happy with that because I like to see the towels all rolled up and put away.  Call me crazy, but I like to see them all lined up.  My son was over at our house Friday afternoon for Easter egg coloring and remarked, “I brought my friend, ___ over to the house a year ago to get a tool out of your garage, and he was amazed at your organization.  Then he asked me, ‘Is your dad a serial killer?’”  I don’t see the relationship between organization and being a serial killer, but I may need counseling after that accusation.  I just like order and structure.  If it helps, our butcher knives are just piled in a drawer disorganized.