Not what you might expect

I am strange.  "Well duh!" you say.  Here are some things that you may not know that I am sure will make you wonder some more.
I don't like suspenseful movies.  Do you remember the show "Lost in Space"?  It had June Lockhart, Dr Smith  (the evil one) and of course Robbie the Robot.

As a kid it would freak me out!  I would quickly change the channel till the suspense was over. The picture of Robbie flailing his arms over his head saying "Danger, danger!" along with the music would just do it to me.  Alien vs Predator are you kidding me?  I guess I am just a sensitive soul.  Some of my kids are the same way.
If I watch something like "America's Funniest Home Videos" and a older person falls or a guy gets it... I hurt,  ahh... umm..... somewhere.  Really, it is so strange.  I can deal with pain, see previous blog, but something about the thinking and picturing other people about to get it just pushes my boundaries a bit too far.
Sometimes you will picture a radio personality a certain way and when you actually see their picture you think, "That's not them". Our minds conceive of things a certain way and have a hard time dealing with reality or change.  Videos of old people falling doesn't inflict more pain upon them, no matter how many times they are repeated.  I remember watching an AFV video, the shot was of a baseball game from behind home plate.  The batter fouled the ball straight back, the ball came right at the camera.  I ducked because that ball was heading straight for me.  Everyone else laughed  (at me). Things are not always what they seem.
We do the same with the Word.  We freak out at what we think it says.  We misunderstand and end up in condemnation to what we think it says and live in that deception. Ever read this verse?
John 15:5    I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
I used to get condemned that I wasn't bearing enough fruit until God showed me that the most important fruit we could start to bear was love, joy, peace, patience and so on. (ever try to develop your  "so on"?   It is not all that easy.)     The possibility of not understanding the Word is why it's so important to spend time with the author.  I don't know how many times I have heard that still small voice telling me something that gave me understanding to my previous misunderstandings. Understand?

Drilling for Gold...(the red kind) or Give till it Hurts

Milea has been "hinting" that with our iron rich diet, that being a guy and as of late not having any accidental blood letting, that I needed to go give blood (too much iron in the blood can cause joint pain and more). So, I had time and went down to the local Red Cross to donate. Everything went well till I got ready to give. (please note: I have a very high tolerance to pain, although I have never given birth- not by my choosing- I have stepped on many nails- as a kid and as best I remember all in my left foot, cut the tip off of my right index finger and shocked the doctor that stitched me up because of my calmness, a week later detached the end of my finger that was previously sewn on- which hurt much more than the original incident, sent a giant splinter of wood though my knuckles pinning my hand closed, I could go on but I think you may have gotten the point. So, I sat down on the chair to start the blood letting... I commenced with my normal banter to break the ice, the supposed nurse AKA (also know as) the pile driver commenced to clean my arm and locate the vein (the future location of the beam to be driven in to hold the future structure). (Please note: I have given blood before probably 5 times without complaint or incident).  Here is a picture of my pile driving nurse.

As she started "inserting" the beam I noted that the angle of the beam was about 45 degrees to the predetermined mark over a vein. (being in construction I am good at seeing angles and possible projections of beams). Seeing that my vein was right below the surface and very predominate, I could tell she would strike "gold" real quick.  She proceeded to insert the beam that appeared to go through the vein and further into the muscle (of which of course, I have an abundance of) and continued to nearly the full length of the 1 1/2 to 2 inch needle. Seeing that I was not getting paid for the blood, I gave her my complaint about the beam going through my arm. She responded that she was very experienced and has been a pile driver for 17 years. After which she removed most of the needle and with a sideways motion inserted it into my vein. Upon which she again commented on her previous experience and said she must have driven the beam to the side of the predetermined correct position noting that I must have been inserting to many previous beams in that location and it was hard for her to get it right. (The last construction project in that location was a year or two ago). After reassuring me as to her experience we finished the procedure. Later in the evening I noticed what must be a bug bite on the back of my arm several inches above the location of the beam insertion but on the opposite side. hmmm

Tick, tick, tick.

This last weekend  my darling wife and I went on a spur of the moment trip,  my inclination is to stay put and relax, hers is to explore, (it is really a strange thing because that inclination is totally opposite of our personalities, I am more daring and she likes safety.  But then, being around me is far from safe, so she must have an inward desire to live on the wild side). Friday morning I asked her if she could get off work, after a  trip into the office to do a few things and me attending to my  gardens, we finally packed and got on the road by noon!  The weekend was full of hiking the woods and trails of Natural Bridge and Buckhorn Lake State Parks, but due to the slightly wet (drizzly) weather on Saturday and Sunday we (I), who didn't want to freeze off my nether regions out in a boat, weren't able to get out and on the beautiful lake. The lake is a man made one, of which this state has many, and rather large (we are not talking acres probably easier measured in square miles), and set in the hills of Eastern Kentucky which are now very green and lush with flowers all over the ground and trees.
Our hikes along the trails were pleasant, even if hilly, with many interesting and beautiful flowers, rocks (excuse me, boulders- Milea seems to have developed a boulder fetish which is yet to be fulfilled in our yard... wondering what to get her for a birthday or Christmas? A BIG rock and I am not talking diamond would delight her...) and trees, oh yeah then there are the small brooks and the chipmunks. Our normal banter and teasing were in full bloom (when we could catch our breath enough to talk).  After our hike on Saturday we went back to our more than ample "cabin" more like a medium sized 3 bedroom house with kitchen, to rest and read. When all of a sudden I awoke with such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter... well I sprang to my feet because Milea did one of her SCREAMS and a movement quicker than I have not seen the likes of since she had dreamed of a mouse in our bed years ago or the last time I made an honest attempt to tickle her feet (which results in not a movement to get away but rather to kill). My (now natural) instinct, to get away (due to the whole kill thing), was slowly being brought into check, due to her being six feet away and on the other couch and I was personally not responsible and in less trouble. What had aroused my heart rate was that she had found a tick crawling up her arm and her quick movement was the flinging motion to get it off her.  "You did WHAT?"  Was my well thought out response to her explanation.  Now I was desperately searching the "wood tick camouflage" colored carpet not to be the hero, but rather not wanting the thing to find me.  As I searched, I instructed her on wood tick etiquette, things like... thou shall not fling ticks upon or towards thy neighbor and other important things like hold them till you can kill the suckers and so on...  Her defense was the usual "I couldn't help myself" schpeel. After not finding it we went back to reading after itching, scratching, checking ourselves over and over and over for more ticks, I at least moved to higher ground. There is nothing like having a tick (or getting a tick thrown at you) to get the mind's imagination working in full gear... here a tick, there a tick, everywhere a tick, tick. After a recovery period and further scratching and checking we went to dinner and came back to the room for further reading, which was rudely interrupted by a yelp and yet another fling and more reinforcement of etiquette instruction, as well as searching for movement in the carpet and my personal space.  After a long while of searching and instruction we went back to our reading and imagining... Thankfully my mind relaxed... after remembering that my personal bug magnet was in the room and not sitting next to me! (Its true, much to her displeasure.  :)  )
A while later I heard a calm "Its crawling up my blanket",  she had needed a blanket because I would not get near her until the bugger was captured and beheaded, (see comment on bug magnet).  I gratefully got up  removed it, beheaded it and praised her for her calmness and NOT FLICKING IT TOWARDS ME!
And yes it was probably the same one...(see comment on bug magnet).  Now we could get back to normal life after more checking and mind imagining.  
As I awoke early this morning one of my first thoughts was what if we had the same response to sin that Milea had toward that tick.  The repulsion, the quick get it out of here and far from me response that holds no, not even a seconds hold on our being...  Sitting here and writing this I realized that sin is a lot like a tick, it tries to attach itself to you and then live by sucking the life of God out of you and possibly infecting you with its own disease.  I repeat...  what if we had the same response to sin that Milea had toward that tick.  The repulsion, the quick get it out of here and far from me response that holds no, not even a seconds hold on our being...