Today I received a last-second call from my sister. "Can you join us for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Clackamas?"
"Us" was in reference to her two daughters, two of my nieces. Teresa was unable to join us as she already had plans and had joined some friends from out of town.

Tensions are high, rivalry is bold, and the traffic jams will have a ripple effect all the way into Portland over 100 miles away.  The game time is 6:00pm on this cold, blustery Thursday, and the traffic on a normal workday in that region is significant, so not to mention the utter chaos that will descend on Autzen Stadium this afternoon and evening.  Every hotel room is already booked for those who will arrive extra early and then leave tomorrow.  Nonetheless, let the fun and chaotic rivalry begin!

Due to the Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ("FM/CFS") that I struggle with, I am limited in what I can "squeeze" into a day.  That usually means that the first thing to "suffer" is my writing.  Though I am laying down most of the day and all of the night, it is not the kind of health problem that is conducive to large or frequent writing projects... though I certainly have all kinds of ideas percolating at any one moment.

Having said the above, I do hope to post more than I have been, and to post regarding the topics that are close to my heart, such as:

• Being a Missional Christian
• Coaching Pastors in their Ministry Quest
• Coaching Board Members in Their Times of Service
• Offering My 2 Cents regarding Christian viewpoints in Politics

So, I hope you enjoy all of the postings-of-old that go back a couple of years, and that you will enjoy the new stuff that will be "coming down the pike" in the days and weeks to come.

If you are so inclined, please grab a cup of coffee and Post a Comment.  Thanks!

She and I got to spend the whole day together, starting with a small breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee.  After that, she began to make an awesome turkey dinner (tantamount to Thanksgiving!)  She had purchased a 17 pound turkey at an after-Christmas sale, and after having it thaw the last couple of days in the fridge, today was the day for the oven-aroma to fill the house!  Wow!

Thanks Babe, for a wonderful day of food, football, and especially fellowship!  You da bomb!!

[PS. We finished with Pumpkin Pie!]

Talking with him woke-up my childhood memories of studying maps of the moon and my dreams of one day traveling to the moon, and beyond, following in the footsteps of the great (i.e. "Charlie" Duke).

In addition to the awe that his stories inspired in me, I was also impressed as I contemplated his personal accomplishments and considered the discipline that was no doubt a large part of his success in the space program, and in his business ventures after that.

Brig. Gen. Charlie Duke (USAF-Ret) and me.One more thing that -- in my book -- makes this man great is his humility and genuine "down-to-earth" (pun intended... "down-to-earth"/astronaut... get it?) manner with people.  He, as a Christian and as an executive, portrays a life of true success.

"Thanks Charlie Duke for some very memorable moments shared over lunch in San Antonio!"

You may see the Brigadier General's website at www.charlieduke.net.

Before "hitting the sack" the technician attached about 25 sensors on my head, face, neck, abdomen, and legs.  I began to wonder if this was consistent with the Geneva Convention, but alas, there were no shocks administered.  They simply "read my mind" while I slept (and while I awoke a few times during the night).

They woke me up around 6:00am and began the eye-opening experience of "ripping" off each sensor one by one.  Though the technician was very careful and courteous, most of them came off the skin with a ripping sound -- not to mention what it felt like.  Fortunately, they placated me with a fresh cup of coffee.

Having had all the sensors taken off, I looked in the mirror.  Wow, I looked like a punk-rocker-wannabe.  They had marked my head with a colored pen and used a glue-like solution to make the sensors stick while I slept.  This made me look like a colored-hair hair-spiked something or other.

I cleaned up and left the hospital, and entered into a beautiful day outside!  It was a brisk 45 degrees when I got into the car and began to make my way east back to Gresham.  As I got closer to Gresham (the sun not having risen yet) I decided to drive to a couple of the look-out points along the Columbia River Gorge.  I sat and watched the sun rise over one of the mountain ridges while a fog bank crawled along one of the inlets of the river.

[The picture at right was taken with my cell-phone camera, so the low resolution just does not do the scene justice, but you get the idea.]

Surely the scriptures are true when they declare:

"This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it."

~ Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

Steve had a very unique manner of inspiring love and instilling knowledge of the animal kingdoms all over the world.  His many ventures into Africa were always a special feature for me to watch, as the bushvelt scenes with the teaming animals brought back many-a-memory of my times with my father in Africa.

While I have been quite absent from posting to my web journal, I have been spending time in the Word and with family, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I am filled with wonder and anticipation of what God has planned for our lives and how He will bring these things to pass.

Suffice it to say, God's primary goal is not to do everything that we want, but He does take great delight is blessing us in the course of accomplishing His great plan and purpose for the entire world.  More on this later, after I preach the message this afternoon.

In the meantime, welcome back to the routine schedule (post-holiday) and I pray that we will continue to grow and develop in our relationship with the Lord.  Perhaps the Heart & Path Journal site will even help toward this end.

Blessings, and see you again soon!

Regarding my health, I continue to have more tests done, but all of them remain "inconclusive," which I am hoping does not translate into laymen's language as "it's just all in your head."

Now, about the "missed joy of writing."  In these past couple of weeks that I have not posted to Heart & Path, I have found that I really missed the creative and expressive outlet.  It has reminded me that there are so many people who battle chronic issues of pain (or worse) and subsequently experience levels of frustration because they cannot create, express, or just be productive in some way.  It remains all bottled-up.

Thankfully I am still able to do enough to keep many of those kinds of things active.  While I have certainly had to forego quite a few of life's "normalities," I do my best to keep going with the things that I can.

If perhaps you are reading this and you are battling some kind of chronic hindrance to being creative, expressive, and/or productive, let us keep reminding one another that life may not be easy, but with Christ it is worth living to the fullest extent that we can!

Merry Christmas!  Thanks for dropping by.