Cow Slobber?

It's my "Sunday" and I'm sitting in the dining room listening to all of the birds sing their morning wake up songs. I've never thought of it this way before, but what a great bit of worship music for

me (since it's my "Sunday", after all). Isn't it great how God always provides? And this is my kind of worship "music."

Another major summer holiday down at the Park. Considering the weather and the number of people we had, it was a pretty good weekend overall. There were no major injuries and no property loss from the storms. (Update - the boy who rode his bike down the dam is ok and he didn't have any broken bones after all.) The final visitation count came in at 47,416 people. We figured if one out of five people brought their pooch along with them, that was over 5,000 canines! Our visitation would have been much more, had it not rained over five inches over the course of the weekend. That sure brought the day use down. We've conceded to the fact that many people are going to vacation locally this year instead of spending the extra gas money on going out of state. What do you think?

We saw the Prince Caspian Chronicles of Narnia movie yesterday with the boys. They really have been wanting to see it. Have any of you seen it? What did you think? We enjoyed it - I guess it was quite a change from the book, though. Collin didn't care for the ending. See what your opinion is.

The boys are both in basketball activities this week. Collin is practicing for the summer Grizzly league (an organized league for the County players to keep up their skills) and Adam has summer basketball camp for the EHS team. Coach Melcher is the head coach this year. I think Adam will enjoy him. (Adam told me that he dunked it in practice last night. Coach M asked him if he was going to do that in a game. This I would like to see!

Our Sunday School lesson this week is on prayer. Give me your feedback on this subject. Does it scare you if someone asks you to pray out loud? Or what about praying for others? Please continue to pray for those on my previous blog. Also please remember: 1) Steve A's situation at work; 2)Peggy W's dad & the move; 3) Rick G's heart situation 4) Steve E's upcoming surgery.

Lastly, it's time for your interpretive Ranger Lesson for the day. I'm somewhat of a wildflower fanatic and this is my time of year. There has been an abundance of moisture (sorry, Rick) and the wildflowers are incredibly beautiful. I picked one of my favorites to show you for today. Does anybody know the name of it? The common name is Spiderwort. Break the tip off a leaf and wait for a drop of sap to appear, then touch it with your fingertip and notice how far you can stretch a thread of sap. This resemblance to a spider's silk may explain where its name came from. The gooey quality of the sap definitely explains its familiar nickname of "cow slobber"! Spiderwort flowers have a very short life - only a single morning - but each plant will produce 20 or more flowers per stem. The stems, leaves and flowers of spiderworts are edible. They may be eaten raw or added to stews. The flowers (which may be either pink, blue or rose-purple) make an attractive edible garnish for salads. Can you see why this is one of my favorites?


Take some time this week and look at the wildflowers. I think the Lord did a great job in their creation. I'll leave you with this: Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solemon in all hos splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27

"Just" not another Blog!

Well, this is it - my first attempt at blogging. I see this blog as a blend of personal, professional, and Spiritual happenings in my life. Please show me a little grace, as I have never done this before. If you have suggestions, as well as constructive criticism, feel free to contact me. (If you have negative thoughts or criticism, send it to my brother's blog....just kidding.)

I want to represent my family, my Sunday School class, a little educational cool Ranger Stuff,and some edifying thoughts in general with this blog. (If that's not what you're looking for here, push a button and make me disappear....have a blessed day!)

I'm sitting here alone (Tamra and Collin are in Lyons visiting grandparents and Adam is working) with the radio on and listening to the song, "We Will Glorify." Pretty cool stuff, especially where it says the Great I AM. It's unbelievable to think that the great I AM cares enough about us to consider our every thought and every move. Why would he do that for lousy old me? That's just too awesome if you think about it!

We had a mini-monsoon this morning (Sat.) about 1:30 a.m. We only received about an inch, but it came down in buckets full. I was out at the Lake, thrilled that the nasty stuff went around us. We're praying to get through the weekend with no major perils. The worst so far was an injured 12 year old boy who decided to ride his bike down the dam (straight down - the whole way). We did also have a water rescue for two canoeists, but they were not hurt. (PTL for life jackets/PFDs). Continue to pray for the safety of our Ranger staff and the general public, as many of them have acquired the "Lake Disease" (this is where they disengage their brain once they get onto Park and Lake property).

We're studying the Holy Spirit in our Sunday School class (New Foundations). If you would like, tell me what the Holy Spirit means to you. I bet there are some interesting thoughts on this subject. Please remember to pray for various items/people in our class. I'll list requests from time to time to remind you. For now: 1)Peggy W's Dad and his health and Peggy dealing with it; 2) KC & Ness traveling and helping with wedding; 3) Our recent graduates; 4) Tamra's Dad, Robert, who is recovering from back surgery; 5)Jeanna S's speaking engagements, etc. 6) Pastor Dave's ministry and assorted challenges for his family and 7) Pastor Jim (and Julie), our new youth pastor. If you have requests to add, please let me know.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a photo of a recent sunrise at our house. There were some gulls flying over our house at the Windy Knob Ranch (that's what Tamra and I call it here) right when I was out taking sunrise photos. If you look at it, you have to think that only God could orchestrate such a sight. I mean, I just can't see that these gulls evolved from apes/whales or whatever else those Darwinists would like us to think. That sunrise could not have evolved from anything - only the great I AM could have painted that picture.

Well, this is it. What do ya think? Have a great day and remember.... we're too blessed to be stressed! Thanks for viewing!
Randy