Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

  I suppose one would have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the devastation that the most recent hurricane did to the Southeastern United States about a week ago. One of the hardest hit areas was Asheville, North Carolina, where something like thirty inches of rain fell in the mountains in twenty four hours, leaving an apocalyptic landscape behind. For as long as man has been on the earth there have been natural disasters, and if you haven't lived through one yet, there is a chance, and perhaps a good one, of experiencing one in your lifetime. Regardless of where we live, we either experience drought, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides or earthquakes or perhaps other catastrophes that aren't mentioned here. The point I'm trying to make is that none of us is exempt, and while we can watch the news of disasters in a place far away and be glad that it didn't happen to us, we're left with an opportunity to help those in need. I'm reminded of the pass...

                      Jan and I went shopping at the beginning of the week. We wanted to fill a couple of boxes for Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child. It's an annual event designed to send boxes overseas to various countries to children who normally would never celebrate Christmas. It's an opportunity to share some of the blessings that we've enjoyed because we were fortunate enough to be born in this country. There is a list of suggested items to send, and there are also labels designating the gender of the child and the general age group. I chose the ten to fourteen year old group because I think they have a tendency to be neglected. I believe a lot of people want to buy something for the little kids, which is great also, but regardless of your age, it's nice to be remembered. We bought everything we needed at Wal-Mart. They have pretty good prices and a decent selection. We both bought an assortment of schoo...

 This Thursday will be Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again already. I was listening to several Christian broadcasts on Sunday, and of course the theme was on giving thanks, which is always appropriate, but seems to take center stage during the week of Thanksgiving. I believe it was Dr. Charles Stanley who mentioned that when we thank God in every situation, even when we don't really feel thankful, just the act of thanking God can bring about a change in our attitude, and sometimes even in our circumstances. For the past few weeks I've had gratitude on my mind. I'm a fairly negative person by nature. I can find the worst in just about any situation. If I catch a lot of fish I can start feeling unhappy because I have to clean them all. If I should make a good bit of money on my catch, then I have to pay more in taxes. With that kind of attitude, it's hard to win at all in anything. However, as I mentioned, I've been thinkin...