Because I always do what Dewey says.

This is a rock. This is a big rock. It is, in fact, the biggest wild rock I have ever seen. Oh, sure, there are some bigger domesticated rocks or maybe some bigger rocks in zoos somewhere but this is the biggest rock I have ever seen in its' natural habitat. The reason I took this picture in the first place was because I was instantly reminded of the days when I customized trucks for a living. I worked in a shop with several bays and 2 buildings. We always had the radio on to either country music or some kind of rock music (now don't get ahead of me here). I remember one day we had it on some heavy metal music and the singer was singing over and over again, "I want to rock!!! I want to rock!!! I want to rock!!!" Eddie was an older man who worked in the other building and he just happened to be walking into our building when the lead singer was carrying on. Eddie walked through and without a pause just said, "Man! I wish somebody would give that guy a rock."

And now for something completely different...

Not an anniversary to celebrate

We are going through a video series Wednesday nights at our church entitled "The Journey Through Grief". It is designed especially for those who have suffered the death of a loved one but I have found it to be very good for anyone who has suffered any kind of loss. Part of the healing process involves talking about the person or even writing them a letter saying goodbye. It has been very good for me in my divorce. I only wish I had seen it sooner. So, as part of my own journey I would like to say goodbye to her. It was 3 years ago today that she left me and I still have a hard time believing it sometime. I am having a hard time right now just writing her name. I don't want her back but I miss her every day. I also don't need anybody's comments. I just need to say goodbye. It is not what I want to do. It never was. Goodbye Rhonda.

Kohls Schmolls

Here's the deal: since June 2011 I have been receiving mailers from Kohl's Department Store to my address with my ex-wife's name on them. She has never lived at this address and I don't want to get them anymore. So, since June '11 I have been sending emails, letters and phone calls over and over again and I always get the same response. So I told the last lady who responded to me that I would share with all my friends on Facebook, Twitter and blog how this tells me a lot about their company. So, you don't have to read all of it. I just wanted to do as I said I would do and share with y'all some of the correspondence. It may not seem like a big deal to anybody else...and evidently that's the problem. Thanks for reading. Here's the last email: Dear Mr. Blair, Your e-mail was forwarded to my attention in the Executive Office of Kohl's for follow up and resolution. As it is my intent to provide our customers with quality service, I appreciate the opportunity to review your concerns. I regret your disappointment with receiving your ex-wife's mailers. I understand how frustrating this may be. As requested, I have forwarded your information to the Marketing Department for processing. Our mailers are printed and addressed six to eight weeks in advance and held with the US Postal Service until the delivery dates printed on the mailers. Due to these lead times required as part of the marketing process, it may take 12 to 16 weeks to stop receiving your ex-wife's mailers. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Mr. Blair, you are a valued customer, please do not hesitate to contact me at 1-262-704-9154 with any further questions or concerns. We look forward to serving you again. Sincerely, Tameya Tarkington Executive Correspondence Advisor Kohl's Department Stores Me: Thank you Ms. Tarkington. Unfortunately this is the same response I have gotten month after month. Everybody passes it on and nobody ever takes care of it. How hard could it be!? Nobody will take responsibility and just click "delete" over the name. Disgusting. It tells me a lot about your company. Somebody put in the effort to connect my address with her name but nobody will undo it. Prove me wrong.

I should be so eloquent...

As pastor of Christ Fellowship (http://christfellowshipchurch.blogspot.com/) in Wise County, I often tell people they should come to our church, if for no other reason than the view. Our back deck looks out onto Lake Bridgeport and the sunsets are usually pretty incredible. Our church is right next to the dam and that, of course, was brought up when we were debating on a name change. Thankfully we settled on Christ Fellowship instead of the Dam Church or something similar. Our church has a great relationship with the Unchained Biker Church in Chico a few miles down the road and I got the opportunity to preach there last night. I have been going through a series on Heaven and Hell at our church and so I asked some of the congregation about what they thought I should preach. Should I give them Heaven or Hell? They overwhelmingly agreed that I should preach on Hell so I did. Leave it to Speedy, the pastor of the Biker Church, to bring it all together when he said last night afterward that they should have put a banner out advertising that the dam pastor was going to give them Hell.

Good day at the range

I took my niece, Blair, to the gun range yesterday. I found out on our way over there that she had never shot a gun before so it was pretty exciting for her. And I have to say that she did incredible! You may not think so by looking at the target but we shot all kinds of ways. I had her shoot 2 handed, one handed, and left handed from pretty close to very far. After the target got pretty full in the center, I told her to aim for the left or right shoulder or the white box up top and she did really well. "Some" may call this gun "soul-less" but not Blair. She loved it and so did I.

Wait...what?

I had some friends come over to the house today and of course my dogs got all excited as dogs will. My friends are dog lovers and so they petted them all and then one of them points to Bo and says, "He needs a filipet." "A what?", I asked. He repeated, "A filipet." "What the heck's a filipet?" "A what? No. A PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWDRIVER!" He looked at me like I was the crazy one. I finally understood what he said. "Oh, ok...wait. Why does my dog need a phillips head screwdriver?" He gave me the same look as before, like I was the idiot. "What?", he said. "I didn't say your dog needed one. I need one!" Oh good grief. So I got one for him and half expected him to hand it to Bo but he turned around and tightened up my door knob. Weird.

One of these days I'll actually blog again...

Until then...

As for my previous post...

"The problem with quotes from Hitler found on the internet is that you don't always know if they are true." -Abraham Lincoln

It's not about hunting.

Compare

This is how they protect school kids in Israel. We give our kids condoms and "gun free zones".

Now what?

Every Friday I try to send an email to our church family and close friends. Today, just before I sat down to do so, I heard on the news about the shooting tragedy in Connecticut. Now, so much of what I had intended to write is just not as important. Now, all the plans for Christmas and Sunday preparation that will still go on, just don't matter as much as they did just a little while ago. Along with the president and most of the rest of the country, I cry for the families involved directly and indirectly. I can't comprehend what kind of insanity would invade a person and cause him to do such a thing. The question I am left with is, "Now what?" Now what do we do as we see our country go over not just a fiscal cliff but a moral cliff as well? Now what do we do to protect ourselves? Now what do we tell our kids and grandkids? Now what is going to happen next? I don't have all the answers to all those questions but as I wonder how many other people we pass by every day that are bordering on that same kind of insanity, I do know that now is the time to share the "light and glory" (Luke 2:32) of our Lord Jesus to everyone we meet. This is a nasty old world and it is not going to get better until Jesus rips open the sky and comes with a trumpet sound and a loud voice to come get us (I Thess. 4:13-18). The answer is not more or less guns. It's not better laws or safer schools. The answer is Jesus. So, now what do we do? Hug your kids. Love on your neighbor. Speak Jesus. Speak Jesus. I love you all. Todd

Great news!

Obama phones cure blindness!

2nd Amendment

Dorky Carter

I have posted this picture before but it is even more special today. The little girl on the front row with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face is my dear friend Dorky Carter. This picture was taken December 7, 1941 when her mother heard that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. She thought the world was coming to an end so she got the kids together for one last photo. Dorky passed away last night at 2:17, peacefully and surrounded by her family. She was the toughest old gal I have ever known and she will be missed.

Tell me again there is no God.

Of course God loves everybody but it's obvious He loves Wise County best.

No more Kohl's.

Last June I sent a nicely worded and understanding email to the address at the bottom of the Kohl's flyer that was sent to my house. Tonight, 5 months and dozens of flyers later, I screamed at some guy who probably lives in India to take me off the mailing list right now! I kept yelling at this poor guy to not put me on hold, don't transfer me or take a message. Don't send me to somebody else. Man up and hit the delete button over my ex-wife's name. The same ex-wife who has never lived at this address but to whom this junk mail is sent. *sigh* He gave me the corporate number to call between 8-5 CST M-F. Half a dozen emails, letters and phone calls over 5 months and still nothing. How hard can it be Mr. Kohl? Well, anyway, no more Kohl's for me.

Bummer.

Sorry Pennsylvania kids. The candy is not going to be near as good this year at the Sandusky house.

My bad idea

All of my life I have felt the need to say what I feel. When I do, I mean what I say. Evidently, the problem is that I am not eloquent enough to keep from hurting feelings. When I was a kid and would get into trouble by my parents, they would want to know why I did such and such and so I would tell them. Bad idea. In school, my teachers would have a problem with me and I would tell them what I thought of them. Bad idea. In my work life, same with the boss. Bad idea. The lesson I learned through all of this is just to keep my mouth shut. And I have to admit that has worked pretty well. It's not right, but I have gotten by. Well, life hasn't changed now that I am in a leadership position. I thought that I was speaking the truth in love. I thought I was doing what needed to be done. I even thought I was being helpful. Evidently, it's still a bad idea. “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Caption this...