Today I was coming out of St France Hospital and as I crossed the parking lot I happened onto a momma duck who was frantic because her ducklings had all fallen into a drainage hole!  As I arrived on the scene the Tulsa Fire Department was rolling up (pictured above) and they quickly removed the drain cover, lowered a man (head first) with a sack into the hole, and retrieved 8 baby ducks...

It was a beautiful sight as the baby ducks were reunited with their mother and she began to lead them away...

Hats off to the Tulsa Fire Department for duty "above and beyond" the call of duty.  It was a wonderful scene to behold.  Personally, however, I am hoping that momma duck will take a parenting class:  first she leads her ducklings across a dangerous drain grid, then (after being reunited) begins to lead them across a busy street!  Mercy!

We were finally able (after a 2-year delay) to hold our High School 50 year reunion.  It was originally scheduled in 2020 but, because of Covid-19, we kept "pushing it back" trying to wait for a safer time.  But last month our time for reunion finally came..  Graduates from as far away as California, New York and Florida were able to join us in Tulsa.  We had 771 in our graduating class; 144 are now known deceased and over 150 were able to attend the event.  Activities included a picnic at LaFortune Park, tours of the Gathering Place and the revitalized Greenwood district, and a concluding dinner and fellowship.  All in all it was a wonderful two days.  

I've enjoyed each of our reunions.  "Tracking" friends that I have known for years (some since grade school) always brings me a sense of amazement.  Some, who seemed so "behind the scene" during High School, went on to become prominent leaders and successful in business.  Some, who were popular, smart, or excelled in athletics during High School, faced significant life challenges and struggles.  Some, who seemed to have little or no spiritual interests during High School, experienced dramatic faith conversions and went on to work as missionaries, pastors, youth and children's ministers.  (There were at least 7 who were ordained to pastoral ministry from my graduating class).  It reminds me of the truth that life is hard to predict and we never really know what might be coming our way.  

All of my classmates have turned 70 now.  I have no idea whether or not another reunion is being considered for the future.  But one thing I do know, one day there will be a reunion like none of us have ever experienced during this life...

One of the things that is clear, as we study the lives of those who followed Christ, is that, over time, their lives were changed.  Consider the amazing transformations:  Peter, who was impulsive and denied the Lord three times, became the apostle of steadfastness.  (The theme of steadfastness under trial is the main focus of the epistles he penned). John, who was known as a "son of thunder (a man with temper management problems) became the apostle of love (as evidenced in the epistles he wrote).  And Paul, who at first was a persecutor of the church, became one of the church's great apostles and missionaries.  In each of these cases (and in many others) through their relationship with Christ their lives were changed.  As we continue our journey through the season of Lent, I am convinced that our lives can be changed too...

It's the time of year when spiders build large webs around our home (which is semi located in the country).  One of these webs recently took shape near our front walk way; it was attached between a tree in our yard and our front lamp post.  A rather large spider was busy at work and paused only for a moment to make sure we weren't going to bother him.  (Or her, I really couldn't get close enough to tell).  I teased our adult daughter, who is quite small in frame, telling her not to get too close.  I warned that given her weight and size, if she got tangled in that web the spider might just have her trapped!  She laughed but seemed to heed my warning and kept a safe distance.  But as I thought about our "jesting" with each other I realized that it is usually not "the web of another" that entangles us but rather the webs that we ourself spin through our lies, deceit, and sin....

We almost had a calamity the other day as we prepared to launch our church's Pumpkin Patch.  The pumpkins were originally scheduled to arrive on Friday afternoon.  This time was scheduled so that our Scouts, youth group members, and school sports participants could be present to help us unload the truck.  Each year it is a blessing to have so many young people doing the "heavy lifting" as 900 pumpkins are moved from the back of a truck to the appropriate pallet's in our Pumpkin Patch.  But, this year our truck could not make it at the scheduled time.  Instead, it arrived on a Tuesday morning at 9:30 (while school is in session).  Further, our church was experiencing email difficulties and we had difficulty communicating about the immediate need for workers.  For a while I thought there may be only 4 of us who would be working all morning and afternoon trying to get our Patch set up.  But then a miracle happened., the Faithful showed up...

The Prayer Garden at my church looks beautiful right now.  That has not always been the case; even a month ago it was more of an eye-sore than a source of inspiration.  But several members of the church decided it was time to give our Prayer Garden a little "tender love and care" and they did just that.  The transformation has been amazing and now it is truly a place of beauty.  People are visiting it once again; it is again a place for meditation and prayer.  Once again it has become a place of blessing for many....

Recently my wife and I were enjoying a restful Sunday afternoon when an awful "crashing" sound caused us to look into our garage:  the ceiling had fallen in.  At the time we had no idea what had caused the collapse, but we immediately knew we had a big mess.  It took several days to clear out ceiling panel and insulation.  It took several additional days to move items from our garage into storage so that workers could begin their repairs.  It was hard to believe how quickly things had gone from "relaxation and peace" to "shock and chaos."  But sometimes life is just like that:  on the surface all is going well, but then "the ceiling crashes in!"  What do we do when we are awakened to discover that life is now a mess?...

Today is Easter Sunday.  For many, it will be a wonderful day of worship and fellowship with friends and family.  In anticipation of our grandchildren arriving this afternoon, one of my Good Friday goals was to mow the backyard.  (Get it in shape for a big Easter egg hunt). But about half way through the project the unthinkable happened:  the front wheel came off of my riding mower.  The "pin" holding it in place had snapped and wheel came completely off.  Fortunately, a friend came to rescue me.  The same thing had happened to one of his tractors and he knew exactly what to do.  In short order, he had me "up and mowing" once again.  But sometimes, things aren't that easily repaired.  Sometimes when "the wheels come of" we are faced with a true crisis...

It is a very common practice, as we begin a new year, to make "new years resolutions."  Usually these are stated in the form of goals that one wants to achieve in the new year.  Often times they involve intentions to change ones behavior:  exercise more, adopt a healthy diet, read the Bible each morning, etc.  The problem with setting these goals is that although we may begin the year with sincere intentions, often by February we have already lost our momentum.  By the time we come to December we are lamenting about how far we have gotten off track and how we need to work harder at these goals next year.  Maybe we need a different approach...