7/7/12 Saturday

          Humidity is a rare thing out here in the West Texas desert, but we have been running 70 to 80 percent humidity for weeks now. Unfortunately that means that our swamp cooler doesn’t work well, or at all. It works very well on dry days as the process of putting moisture in the air as the fan moves it instantly lowers the temperature. On days like this all it does is move warm outside air inside. We have a small window air conditioner in the bedroom, so that is now the sanctuary of coolness. I’ve been out mowing the lawn, which includes three foot tall weeds in many places as I have been negligent about this task. Doesn’t take long to overheat and become a sweat ball so I just came into the bedroom, turned the fan on full, and am enjoying the chills as this refrigerated air washes over my soaking wet shirt. Plus I need to take a pain pill as well.

          I am not sure what will happen when we go to the VA next week and protest the doctors decision to stop my medication. Fortunately I have been very astute with it and managed to save enough to tide me over till then. There was some snafu on the paperwork as the same lab results that were fine when he approved last month’s medication now say I have not been taking any of it. The insinuation is that I have been possibly selling or misappropriating these drugs, and that is not acceptable. But this is all part of everything going wrong all at once. I am not worried for I know I have been careful and correct with how I handle these drugs so will trust it will all work out.

          We got the small local paper and I saw that the pastor of that little church we once attended is just rerunning old articles on her nuggets column. I’m sure her stress levels are higher after the church was scorched when nearby oil tank batteries exploded so continue to lift her up in prayer. It was evident she was getting tired and had lost much of her enthusiasm when we attended that church a year ago, but despite that she keeps hanging on and is unwilling to allow anyone else to share the burden of leadership. My heart aches for her as I understand much she apparently is unable to see. Unfortunately there are many things that blind our eyes and often then we end up with the blind leading the blind. Then, as Jesus said, they will both fall into a ditch. The hope is that when that happens they will be able to understand and will seek help.

          Well, I am cooled off now, and the pain medication is taking affect, so must go back out into the heat. Will pull the spark plug from the mower as I am sure it has become fouled again from the oil that now leaks into the cylinder and burns. That poor mower has sure seen some work on this farm, and on that job I had caring for properties for the banks. I think I have worn out almost a dozen blades with it, running them till there is just a wisp of steel left. The grass catcher has been patched several times and now is held together with a piece of an old pair of blue jeans I had also worn out.

          It doesn’t look like we will get much corn out of this last crop. There were plenty of ears of corn visible on the outer edges of the plot but when I walked into the interior I was surprised to find that many of the six foot stalks of corn did not have any ears of corn growing on them at all. This is a most curious thing and I am at a loss to understand why. Did I have it planted too close together? There is so much I need to learn about this farming stuff.

          I plan on discing up every area I can get to with the tractor. Unfortunately the rain we had is mostly evaporated away now so the ground is dry on the surface. I must take a shovel out there and dig to see if there is any moisture left underneath. If there is then I have a hope of blackeyed peas sprouting, and perhaps some okra too. Plus I need to prepare for a fall crop, but I am not sure what to plant for fall. I have some Loufa seeds someone sent me that we are anxious to try. These are a gourd that make those Loufa things people use to scrub their skin with. I probably am not spelling that right but that’s ok, those of you familiar with it know what I am talking about. We also have some corn seeds sent from a fellow homesteader in Kansas that I plan on planting as well.

          Please pray for one of the sweet little old ladies we care for. She has been fighting depression and that is a hard fight when surrounded by negative things. She works at a program called “Kids First”, which deals with troubled families that have young children. Many of the parents are alcoholics, drug addicts, or have other difficulties to overcome and of course that impacts the lives of those precious little children. Then there are the kids at school that Geneva works with, who are also troubled youngsters. Adding to that are her own children, who are adults, and their children, who are also now mostly adults too. I don’t need to go into details but there are lots of issues with them, ranging from illnesses and some really poor attitudes aimed at Geneva. We are making extra trips into Midland to have an excuse to visit with her and try to cheer her up. She hasn’t been taking her medication and being diabetic that can be a serious issue. Plus Geneva hasn’t been eating like she should, also a serious problem when coupled with diabetes. I just got off the phone with her and hope to have raised her spirits some.

(Here you can see what coyotes do to my watermelons)

          That’s all for now. Lots of work to do and it won’t get done with me sitting here typing on this laptop. See ya later.

EVERYTHING went wrong

6/26/12 Tuesday

          We stay amazed at the hand of God on our lives. So much happens it is hard to keep up with, but keep up we do. Often times the things that happen don’t look or feel good. In fact it can sometimes be quite depressing when nothing seems to work and it is hard to see a good future ahead. But we will trust in the Lord. The bible says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”.

7/6/12 Friday

          As you can see, my entry for Tuesday never got finished. I really have no idea where I was going with that, what had spurred this entry. But that is a common issue for me with the memory loss. I am sure I got distracted and thus it was never finished.

          Today will be a busy day, as all days tend to be. We had rain two nights ago and the ground retains a little moisture so I am rushing to plant blackeyed peas with the hope they will come up and survive this drought. But it is important that I update what has been going on in our life for there are many of you who follow with great interest what goes on in our little world.

          So here are the highlights. I will start with a statement designed to attract interest, which is why it is the title of this post. Everything went wrong!!! I have noticed that whenever the title of my blog post denotes something bad happening my viewership skyrockets. This is basic human nature. Bad news always draws more attention. There are those who care for us and what happens and there are a few who look for us to fail, so both parties will investigate negative titles. But that is all good as whenever something bad happens blessings come. So I am posting a negative title for today’s entry to insure many will hear of God’s goodness.

It seems that all of a sudden nothing worked right and what did decided not to. This all started on June 20^th. That by the way was our 8^th wedding anniversary. Of course I had forgotten that as I wasn’t cognizant of the date at all and probably wasn’t even aware what day of the week it was. That was the day that both of our vehicles broke down so we were literally without any transportation, other than getting rides from friends.

(I've taken lots of pictures of the many abandoned homesteads that litter the landscape out here)

 

         Other things went bad as well. The motor on our swamp cooler is going bad, Cherie’s job seems to have become very unstable, the wheel broke on the lawnmower I use the most, because it has a grass catcher. I lost the job we started a company for when they demanded I get an insurance policy that costs almost as much as the income it produces. Coyotes have systematically wiped out my watermelons just as they become ripe. Rabbits destroyed 90% of the cantaloupes we planted. The person who was going to back us in the creation of an RV park decided to chase after riches somewhere else. The company that replaced the water well pump, that was going to be covered by the same person who was backing the RV park, got mad because the eleven hundred dollar bill hasn’t been paid on so threatened to come out and remove the pump and equipment. My doctor at the VA suddenly canceled my pain medication prescription, stating that the lab tests showed I wasn’t taking them at all. This is despite reading the same tests to me last month, stating it all looked good, and continuing the prescription. So very strange, as he says it now reads absolutely 0 as far as the medication showing in my system.

(you can see the scars where coyotes try to break open this watermelon)

         So let me tell you of the blessings that have come because of all this. We called some good friends just to get a ride home when my truck died. They are people we met at First Baptist in Midland and are part of our family of real Christians. I say “real Christians” because we understand that there are many who wear that label but don’t live it out in what they practice. I have no condemnation for people like that, only sadness and hope they will learn the joys of living for Christ and understand the consequences of hypocrisy.

          I digress. So what has happened is some of that family decided to pay for Cherie’s truck to get fixed. It was in bad shape and is still in the shop today as the mechanic seeks to discover why the brakes are mushy. It has new ball joints now. The old ones were so bad the truck’s front end could have literally fallen apart anytime. A particularly dangerous possibility if such a thing should happen driving down the interstate at 75 miles per hour. I was able to fix the starter on my diesel. Seems that the bolts holding it on had broken and bent. We feared major engine damage at the noise it had made but had great relief to hear it running well once I got the starter on.

          Now let me tell of how God foresees the future, and knowing what will happen puts things in place beforehand for that. Some other friends, also from First Baptist, had purchased a new car about a week prior to our vehicles dying. She had decided to donate her old car and was going to call the church office to ask if they knew of someone in need. Just before she did she read an email circulated through the Sunday school class we had met them through and learned of our situation.

          We were just returning from a fantastic Christian play in Post, Texas (you should look this up, as it is a playhouse in the middle of nowhere that puts on wonderful musical plays that rival what is found in major cities. Look up Ragtime gospel) when Cherie’s phone rang. As we traveled down the road, with the people who had blessed us with tickets and a ride to the play, I listened to Cherie talk on the phone in the back seat. Now I can only hear her half of the conversation but knew something good had happened when she started to cry tears of joy as she said “Thank you” repeatedly.

          We met these good friends the next day and they signed the title over to us, even paying the taxes. John (the husband) sat with Cherie in the car and explained what did what. Cherie cried or worked to hold back tears as he did. Then she cried all the way home and was still crying when we arrived at the farm twenty minutes later. Here is another detail that bears mentioning. Just two week prior to that Cherie had mentioned how much she would love to have a nice small car like the Toyota she had once owned. I don’t know if I said it but my thought was “God will supply it”. The car we were given is a Toyota.

          Then Cherie got a phone call that we were not expecting. She had applied for a job weeks before and when there was no response figured she did not get it. The job would have been perfect as the company had just built its new facility just five miles from our house. They informed her that she was hired. Praise God for this is a full time job that offers fully paid medical benefits. Part of our stress has been our lack of and inability to afford medical insurance for Cherie. She has been fighting pain and other issues for quite a while now and we have many times avoided going to a doctor or even the emergency room because we could not afford it. This job even has a dental plan, one of her biggest needs. She is at work now and loves the new job.

          You see how, when things look darkest, the hand of God makes itself known? I believe in a real and living God, who still performs miracles. But you have to understand that much of this required those who are part of the body of Christ to act, to see a need and meet it.

          This is what the bible says. 1 John, chapter 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

          And also we find in James, chapter 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

          And this is where the rubber meets the road friends. I know I preach a little, but after all I am a preacher, though maybe not the kind most folks think of. I don’t have a church building with a pulpit to stand behind, but that is not for everyone. When I am at the jail I am often asked “Where is your church?”. My response is “It is right here. My church is anywhere I go”. Eventually though, I need to find a place where I can teach and guide those I lead to know the Lord. It always bothers me to lose contact with some when they are released from jail. I pray for them and wonder how they are doing.

 

          So that’s it for now. There is much work to do on the farm. We were able to bless one of the widows we care for. She has been fighting depression so Cherie and I spent a day visiting with her the other day. Depression is a hard thing to overcome, I know as both of us have battled with it. So pray for us, that God guides and uses us where there is need, for there is so much need. Bye now.

Running a race

6/22/12 Friday

          Always a lot to do and some days more than others. One of the ladies we serve has let us use her car until we can get the trucks up and running. On the way to her house, where I needed to investigate why her water pressure had dropped to just a trickle, we ran out of gas. We were in Cherie’s truck that does not have a working fuel gauge and in all the commotion had forgot to check the mileage and put gas in it. I got the other truck towed to where Cherie works so it can be worked on safely. Meantime I am pushing to get that model AA truck running. The electronic ignition came back from the manufacturer after being tested. It was working just fine so the problem is somewhere else in that old truck. Hopefully it was the generator that I replaced with a custom built alternator made just for the six volt positive ground systems in the old Fords.

          We will need to replace the pressure tank at Mary’s place as that was why the water was not running well. Hopefully the constant on and off that her well pump was subjected to because the pressure tank bladder has a hole in it hasn’t caused permanent damage. It had shut itself off several times now. When she has funds I will put a new tank in for her, but those cost over $260.00 and she has to scrape to find that much. I am working on building an irrigation system for the 26 pecan trees that have barely survived and show just a touch of green. It will consist of circles I will make from some of the irrigation tubing someone donated to us for the farm, each with an appropriate number of drip emitters to supply to the root systems.

          Meantime there are ears of corn forming in our corn patch and I need to make the time to administer mineral oil and BT, a bacteria that attacks the corn worms that destroy so much of the crop. That is a painstaking process that involves squirting the oil mix directly on the tassels at the top of each ear of corn. The watermelons are growing well but most of the cantaloupe has been destroyed by rabbits. I never quite found the time to create more wire cages to protect them from attack.

          We are looking to find investors and help to create an RV park on this farm. That would provide the badly needed income that would allow me to purchase essentials for farming and to hire some help. There is just more work to do here than one man can handle, especially when I am working other jobs elsewhere to help pay the bills.

          It looks like we will lose that job we made a company for to secure and maintain properties for banks. They called yesterday and asked if I had obtained the required liability insurance yet. That had been waived when I started because I wasn’t sure if there would be enough income to justify the expense. Well there isn’t and because we do not have that insurance they will no longer give us work. We didn’t make a lot and it was a constant battle to get paid for what we did but it was work I can do on my schedule. No worries, God will provide.

          If we can build an RV park that would solve so many problems. 20 spaces would provide $120,000.00 a year and 40 would gross nearly a quarter of a million dollars each year. It would cost about $8,000 a space to build and I am confident that it can be done for much less. This would be an investment that could be paid off in two years, with interest.

          I have to hit the road folks, so that is all for now. Here is a thought. It is not starting a race that matters, or even how you run midway through it, though both are important. It is how you finish that matters. There are many who have started well, and were impressive as they went, but faltered as the cares of the world and personal flaws they decided to keep, led them off the course. There are many who are now striving for the wrong finish line and the end is not going to be good. So keep your eye on the prize before you and examine your hearts to insure you are not running in vain.

One of those days, and a fire

6/20/12 Wednesday

          You ever have one of those days, where everything falls apart? That was today for us. Cherie called as she drove to work to tell me the noise we have coming from her truck was getting much worse. I had already decided that the truck needed to go to a shop to have the front end looked at but had forgotten all about it. So, with that reminder, I headed into Midland to get her truck worked on. When I got to where she works I looked at the tire and saw that it was so out of line that the rubber had worn all the way to the thread underneath on the outside edge. No way around it, we needed a new tire before anything else. But first I decided to take Cherie out to lunch, even though the budget is tight. We can eat at the Thai house for under $20.00 and seldom eat out. Besides, Cherie was a little stressed out and needed a break.

          Lunch was fantastic as it always is at the Thai House but when we got done and got into my truck it refused to start. This is a problem that has been occurring on occasion with that Chevy diesel, along with it suddenly speeding up too. So I cranked and cranked but suddenly it kind of kicked back. Nuts. Then it stopped cranking and the battery connection went bad, another problem that has come up before. This one I knew how to deal with so tightened the cable connection on one of the two batteries the truck has. It now had a good connection but now the starter decided to not work. It just spun and would not engage the motor.

(Some of the wind carved sand on the farm)

          Wonderful, that meant that both of our vehicles are out of commission and we are stuck in a shopping mall parking lot. I got the phone out and the first call I made was to some friends we have from First Baptist Church. We just needed a ride back to Cherie’s work, where her truck was sitting. It was in dangerous shape but I was confident it would make it to a tire place. Wally, (the friend we called) said he would follow to make sure I made it. We had already spied out a tire place that said they could get to it fairly quick. Come to find out the front end needs major work and the mechanic said he would insist on us replacing the power steering hose that leaked so bad it soaked him when he examined the truck. This I knew about and we have just been pouring power steering fluid in every other day because we did not have the funds to fix it. We have some help now to pay for these badly needed repairs and are grateful for it.

  (You can see on this fire how the wind is blowing it to the north, not at all in the direction of that church that shows right next to the road)

        However my truck is still sitting in a mini mall parking lot, where I must work on it to remove the starter and hopefully be able to repair it. That may be quite an adventure as I must crawl under it while avoiding others as they pull in to park in the spaces next to me. All of this inhibits my ability to get out and work on the 1929 model A Ford as well as mowing lawns and stuff for the asset management company, thus it will cut into the income we so desperately need. I know a starter for my diesel truck will not be cheap either, and I hope that is all it needs.

          In other recent events, there was a nasty fire near the church we used to attend, the same one that kicked us out because of gossip and a jealous pastor. About half a football field length from that church was a bank of what the call tank batteries. These are used to store salt water and crude oil. One of them blew up and of course set all the others on fire. What was strange was how the flames managed to wrap around this church despite how far away it is. The lawn between the church and tank batteries is still green and unburnt. Makes us wonder if this was the hand of God in some way bringing judgment on those who were so anxious to judge and reject us, all the while purposely disobeying the very scriptures they claim to follow.

          I harvested my first watermelon for the year the other day. It was from one of the many renegade plants that came up by themselves from seeds strewn about by wild animals last year. Did not know what kind of melon it was until I cut it open and found it is a yellow meat watermelon.

          In the morning I will drive Cherie to work in her truck. They were only able to replace the tire and can’t get to fixing the bushings and stuff until next Tuesday. So we are down to one vehicle and it is limping along for now. Hope it doesn’t wear the new tire too badly before we can get it fixed. I am wondering if we can somehow tow my truck out of that mall parking lot and perhaps take it to where Cherie works. That is only a few blocks away.

          So the adventure continues. I was up at 3:00 this morning and thus am making this blog post. Suppose I will get out when the sun starts coming up and do some work on the farm and then drive Cherie to her job and start working on fixing my truck. Bye now.