Good Bye Old Friend!

On June 16 at about 2:00 AM there was a crash outside of our bedroom window.  I heard it, but it did not register with me yet, not until there was a loud banging on our front door.  A gentleman who frequently drives past our house was knocking to make me aware that an unfamiliar white pickup was parked oddly in my driveway.  He stopped to let me know out of concern.  He said that he had never seen that truck in the driveway before and suspected that it was not mine, especially since there was a man walking to and fro in the street.  When I looked, the man was no longer walking but was lying in the street on his back.  I thanked the gentleman for his kindness and put on more clothing and grabbed by cell phone and camera and went to investigate.

A white Dodge Dakota Sport pickup truck was mingled with my poor old F-150.  The man was lying on his back in the street with his feet toward the curb and his head toward the center line.

While the damage to my truck was a concern, the man in the street was my priority.

When I approached him to ask if he was OK he responded, “No, I don’t know where the hell I am.”  When I asked whether he needed some help he said, “You can help me by telling me where the hell I am.”

I informed him that he was lying in the street.  He said that He knew that but did not know where he was.  I informed him that he had an accident with his truck and that he was lying in the street.  He replied saying that he knew that but did not know where he was.  I told him that he needed to move out of the street so that he would not be run over by passing cars but he did not want to move.  He eventually said that he had a few drinks.

Uh huh.

When other vehicles came, I stood waving them away from the fallen man.  Two of the passers by, two ladies, parked their vehicles and approached to try to be of assistance.  I finally persuaded the man that he needed to move to the lawn where he would be safe, and he extended his hand upward for help rising.  But as he rose to about a 30 degree angle he softly said, “Ow, ow.”  Then I noticed the blood on the pavement and felt the back of his head and received a handful of blood.  I said, “O.K.  You need to stay right there until an ambulance arrives.  I’ll get a flashlight to direct traffic so you don’t get run over.”

Apparently he was unaware of being injured.  It seems that he must have begun to step onto the curb, lost his balance, and fell backward onto the roadway, hitting his head and splitting his scalp somewhat.

After easing him back to his lying position, he then reached for his cigarettes and lit one up to smoke while he lay awaiting whatever would come next.  I moved his glasses so that they would not be stepped upon.  He said that he did not want me to call an ambulance.  I informed him that I had to as he was injured.

911 is absurd.  When I called the questions asked of me were ludicrous.  I informed the lady that she needed to get an ambulance to the scene now and that I was done talking with her as I needed to keep the man from being run over.

When the police officers arrived, they seemed to be more concerned about gathering evidence for a DUI conviction than they were about the man’s safety.  They repeatedly referred to me as a victim, which I did not fully realize until later.  The first officer was really very rude.

When the paramedics arrived, they checked the man briefly and loaded him onto a gurney and secured his neck and head and loaded him into the ambulance and transported him to a hospital.

Now it was safe to take pictures of the accident scene, now that the man was safer, no longer in danger of being run over.

Police and emergency vehicles filled the streets with pretty colored lights flashing everywhere.  My little camera and my knowledge of its functions limited the clarity of the photos. Nevertheless, this was the scene.

Here is my part of the police report minus the signature.

I asked the police officer to let me scan it after he gave his part but he said that this was not allowed because of the insurance companies.  I later learned what this means.  I do not know whether or not he knew the real reason but the insurance company did.  The City of Wichita delays the publishing of the report so as to be able to charge the insurance company a fee of $16.00.

Because of this, the man’s insurance company could not assist me immediately.  They were unable to obtain the official report from the City of Wichita and they could not contact their client.  Presumably he was unavailable to return their calls while in jail and then was afraid to answer his phone.

By the way, it turns out that the man lives one block from our house.  In fact, I had to ride my bicycle for transportation to and from the bank, and on my way I saw his truck parked in front of his apartment.  He had it back from the impound lot in driveable condition.  I was left with a crumpled truck forced to a 45 degree angle onto the lawn.  As it turns out, I could actually see his pickup from my driveway.  Incredible!

It was truly disheartening to me that my neighbor did this to me and then took absolutely no care whatsoever for my well-being.  He knew the trouble that he caused me but did nothing to facilitate getting me back on the road and back to work in my tree business.  I dared not allow myself to think about it for very long as it made me angry.  Anger is not a good thing, at least not if allowed to fester.

Amazingly the damage to my irresponsible neighbor’s pickup was comparatively minimal.  My poor old friend was totaled.

Prior to my neighbor’s indiscretion my truck was parked straight in the driveway, backed in as is my usual manner.  But not after he jumped the curb and slammed into it.

As the following photo shows, the front frame was shifted at least 6 inches rightward.  My poor, faithful, old friend was done in.

Replacing him makes me feel like I am betraying an old friend.  That is silly, as it is only a truck, but I do feel that way.  It served me well for many years and miles.

Stephanie and I both give thanks that this did not occur during a time when I could have been under the truck servicing it.  That truly would have been messy.

The old, faithful, gray truck with leprosy but guts and grit has been towed away.  My stomach hurts when I think of it.  Yet, through this, though it has set us back financially, God has provided that I have a newer truck as a replacement.  It seems to be a good truck, too, a 1997 versus the older 1990.  It has fewer miles and better paint and an air conditioner that works.  So in the end, God has again worked good for us, even through difficult circumstances.

If we are willing to see it, He does this in all things, even as St. Paul assures us.

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The Anguish of Rejection

Rejection is a powerful experience. It can devastate an individual. Everyone experiences it. It can injure a person so deeply that the person never fully recovers. Some people are changed by the experience for the rest of their lives, being influenced by the experience in all of their future relationships.

Reaction to rejection can produce resentment and anger, even rage and terrifying wrath. This can be internalized and directed against onself by the injured person. It also can be directed outward toward others.

Rejection also results in lost opportunities for both the rejected and for the rejecting party. Sometimes these lost opportunities can never be recovered. Other times, they can.

During this season of Holy Week, rejection is a major theme. While we tend to presume mistakenly that we are being rejected, the reverse is actually true. It is the Lord Jesus who faces rejection.

I often wonder how it was possible for Him to live the life that He came to live. From the day of His birth He knew what was awaiting Him at the conclusion of this week. Every day of His childhood, throughout every day of His young manhood, with each step of His journey throughout His ministry, He knew exactly what awaited Him.

He knew that the very reason for His birth would be rejected by everyone. Even Simon Peter rejected it and had to be chastised as Satanic in his thinking. Even His mother, Mary, did not really understand or accept who Jesus was. She demonstrated this when He was twelve, and at various times throughout His ministry as well.

Jesus knew that He would take the sin of world to save the world and that He would be rejected and even hated by the world, including those who falsely imagined themselves to be truly godly. Yet His reaction was never one of rage or spite or hatred. His anger was only displayed concerning the evil that was done. He never responded to the rejection as we would and do.

The ultimate display of this is when He cries out from the cross that the Father should forgive those who rejected Him and murdered Him. But it is also powerfully displayed during Holy Week as He preaches and says:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:37-39)

Amazingly, He makes this statement after the events of Palm Sunday. The people cried out with the very words of which He speaks. But did they receive Him for what these words really mean? Did they truly receive Him as the One coming in the name of the Lord? No. Even as they cried out, they rejected Him. For He was not at all who they were seeking. They proved this on Friday.

Jesus came to town exactly as the Scriptures foretold. He came lowly and riding on an ass. Lowly means more than of low estate. It means that He came in gentleness and compassion. He came with the purpose of facing rejection from those whom He came to save.

Even knowing their falseness and treachery, knowing fully how they were rejecting Him and that which He came to accomplish, still He came in meekness and filled with compassion. This was His people, His city, His temple. He loved them. He called to them for centuries, through the prophets. He begged them to come to Him to receive the goodness that He came to bring. But they rejected Him. Time and time again they rejected Him for their own ideas concerning the kingdom of God. And now that He came to them in the flesh, still they rejected Him. His response? He lamented over them. He wept concerning them. He cried out with yet another compassionate warning.

Luke’s account seems to indicate that He made nearly this same lament earlier, even before Palm Sunday. Only in the earlier statement, He did not make the henceforth statement that indicates the blessed event of Pentecost and the few who would then believe and those few who would hear and believe throughout the centuries until the Last Day.

Amazingly, He did not demonstrate anger, only compassion. His compassion led Him to the garden that Thursday evening, where He would be betrayed by Judas and arrested by the soldiers of the temple guard. His compassion led Him to take our blame in silence and to suffer our punishment even unto the death of the cross. His compassion moved Him to take the sin of the entire world, knowing that most would reject His grace and die apart from His communion. Nevertheless, from the cross, He cried out with that great merciful cry, “It is finished!”

The redemption is complete. The declaration of righteousness and freedom from sin has sounded forth. No sin-guilt remains for anyone. And yet billions continue to reject this marvelous declaration. The Lord decreed it in Genesis 3. He has been sending His prophets to proclaim it ever since. He sent His Spirit at Pentecost to confirm it. He established His Church wherein the communion created by this declaration is made to belong to all who are baptized and continue in the faith that the Holy Spirit bestows.

Today the Lord Jesus still cries out: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” Only today His Jerusalem is not contained within walls nor is it limited to a specific location. With His death, resurrection, and ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the walls were extended to the very ends of the earth. Now Jerusalem is wherever His saints are gathered to His means of grace. Jerusalem is now every city where the Church is gathered by the Holy Spirit.

And yet Jesus still laments over the rejection of who He really is. He still calls out to those who imagine themselves to be Christians, begging them to receive Him for who He really is rather than defining Him according to their own thoughts and their own terms. And His compassion is as great today as it was during Holy Week as He prepared to give Himself into death for the sin of the world. He is no less willing and no less desirous to have all come to Him through the ordained means to receive Him as the One coming in the name of the Lord.

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, the night in which the Lord Jesus instituted His Church of the New Testament in His blood. Surely this is a time when we will want to reflect upon His words and to hear His call to be gathered by Him as He says. Surely we will desire to hear again the means by which He says that forgiveness and life are made to be ours. Surely we will want to hear again how He says the Church is gathered to be His Holy Communion of Saints. Surely we will want to hear again how He says that He comes to us and is truly received as the One coming in the name of the Lord.

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God’s Grace in Injuries & Healing

In a post from last month, No longer a child , I told about an accident and injury that occurred, as well as the change in mindset concerning such things from childhood to manhood. The wounds really were not pretty, so I refrained from posting a picture at that time.

Since that time, the wounds have healed very nicely. While they still are not pretty, they are less gruesome than when they were open wounds. So, perhaps it will not be terribly uncouth, or at least not inexcusably so, to post a picture for those who would like to see how well they have healed.

From this photo it is easy to see that it could have been a very serious and long term injury. The Lord prevented more serious injury, allowing the lacerations only to extend through the layers of the skin and not into the flesh, tendons and ligaments, and cartilage and bone beneath. As can be seen, the tissue has knitted together again.

God’s gracious activity cannot be properly estimated, unless one stops trying to be an accountant and simply confess that God is gracious and active in all things. If our eyes and hearts are open to perceive the truth, we see Him at work for our good in all things, even in our carelessness, our weakness, our foolishness, our failures and mistakes, and yes, even in our sinfulness. God’s merciful and gracious love and activity are not limited to what we count as good. His goodness and mercy endure forever. They fill the universe and beyond. If we do not see this, it is because we have our eyes and hearts closed and misdirected.

As my wife prepared to receive her evening’s rest, we briefly discussed this matter. We especially spoke of the future being something that we are not to seek to know beyond knowing that it is as God has promised. We discussed how the worldly premise that the future is what matters being a false premise because what matters is life. “What then is the purpose of life?”

The purpose of life is to live. And life is to be lived in communion with God and also with one another in Him. I expressed that when our hearts are focused upon this, nothing else matters for then all is good. She asked, “No matter what?” I said, “No matter what, because when this is the focus, all else is insignificant.”

God truly is good and His mercy endures forever. He calls us into the communion of His Son, through whom we partake of all goodness even forevermore. When we believe this, then our daily bread is abundantly sufficient and completely satisfying and nothing in this world can take that from us.

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No longer a child

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13:11)

Yesterday I had an experience that brought this passage to my mind. I cut a gash in my leg just above my knee. This gash is not far from one from my youth, when I was teenager. It is about the same size and severity. But when I was a child, this gash was debilitating. It kept me from participating in PE in Junior High School until it was healed. But yesterday, I examined it to see that it was a clean laceration that cut completely through the skin but did no serious damage to other tissue beneath the skin, walked to the truck, acquired my first aid supplies, applied some antibiotic ointment, a bandage, gauze and tape to hold the bandage in place and the wound closed, and finished the day’s work.

Truly a man thinks and acts differently than a child. Part of this comes from the responsibility of adulthood and manhood. A man dare not let the troubles of the world beat him down. He has responsibilities to fulfill. So he presses onward.

I tended the wound more thoroughly when I arrived home. My wife was aghast. This is why I did not tell her of the event when we spoke on the phone. She heard discouragement in my voice and commented on it, but since there was no reason to share the cause with her at that time I waited. I will be out on the job site a bit later again today.

St. Paul used this contrast to make a point regarding a person’s spiritual walk through this world. He used this contrast to demonstrate the difference between what we perceive now and what we will be shown when the Lord brings us to heaven. When we see and know the Triune God face to face, we will understand fully that the many gifts that He has bestowed in this world were insignificant contrasted to the restoration to His Holy Communion. Then all of the struggles and trials of living in this world of sin will fade, as will the many temporal gifts. But the Holy Trinity remains, as God gives Himself to us through His means of grace we receive the everlasting gifts of faith, hope, love, the gifts of the very presence and activity of the Trinity in our lives. When a Christian grows to understand this, spiritual maturity has been reached. No longer is the person impressed by this or that spiritual gift, and much less so with the worldly gifts. Now the person appreciates and relies upon the gift of God Himself, that which remains forevermore.

The New Year Began with a Surprise

The first week of the new year has been very busy and trying.

New Year’s Eve at about 11:30 pm I noticed that the water pressure was very low. “Oh no!” I thought. I knew that the old galvanized iron water pipe must have burst finally. So I checked and found water bubbling up from deep in the soil of the front yard. “Oh no!”

I turned and went back into the house and filled the sinks and a couple of small buckets with water so that we would have some for the morning. I knew that most stores would be closed the next day and that I might have trouble obtaining parts to patch the line.

Saturday, New Year’s Day, I dug the hole to find the break in the water line. The hole, the first of four that I would dig, was about 6 ft long by 2.5 ft wide by 4 ft deep. Thankfully both Ace Hardware and Lowes were open for part of the day so that I was able to purchase the PVC compression couplings that allowed me to splice the line. Our next door neighbor graciously allowed us to fill buckets from his house so that we could flush the toilet and do other immediately necessary water activities. By nightfall the patch was complete and we had water again.

Monday I called the city central inspection office to purchase the required permit. The rest of the week I dug three more holes, two the size of the first and another about half that size. I rented a trencher for the 40 or 50 feet between the holes. Sadly, this trencher trenched so narrowly that the trenching shovel was very hard to use in removing the bottom crumbs of soil. I checked to see whether any of the irrigation supply or other plumbing supply places had a tool for removing such crumbs. Of course not. I could not even find a suitable scoop that I could purchase.

So I invented one. I needed one that was about 3.5 inches wide. So I made a scoop with which I could drag the soil to the larger holes for removal with a shovel. It was even more effective than I had hoped. Dad often quoted the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention.

Such work has a period of learning connected with it. The city requires that only certain types of pipe and fittings be used. Connecting to old copper pipe/tubing deep in the ground is challenging, but someone invented a wonderful adapter called SharkBite®, that one simply shoves onto the existing pipe after cleaning it thoroughly. It bites onto it and seals the union. Wonderful product!

Of course, finding the old copper line was a challenge, not having any record of how it exited the house. That hole was actually the largest of the four, being much wider. This was also through the gate through the fence to the back yard and under a sidewalk.

This fact is the cause of my being injured. In this area we have a motion sensor light that seems to prefer to turn off at critical moments. Thursday evening was such a time. As I stepped across this large hole through the gate the light turned off, causing me to misstep and fall. Catching myself against the wall with my left arm extended I injured my shoulder quite badly. That night I was in agony all night with no position that did not feel as though my shoulder was tearing apart. Ice and hot packs and Ibuprofen seemed to be of no benefit. Relief came slowly as I pressed on for the next two days through the pain. The inspector gave his approval Friday so that the holes and trenches could be refilled. Perhaps the work actually helped with the healing. I made a tamper for my mother-in-law’s trenches a couple of years earlier. It really compacted the soil and worked my arms thoroughly.

The shoulder still hurts, but it seems to be healing so that today I can return to working in the trees. Such things continue to amaze me. How the body has been designed by God is truly something that fills me with wonder and awe. Moreover, I know that He kept my injury from being as bad as it should have been. I could have and probably should have received broken bones as well as torn ligaments. His protection far exceeds even that of which I am aware.

So, now the long needed work of replacing the water line has been completed. I was able to finish the project as the threatening snows approached, the first small flakes falling as I folded the tarps and put away the tools. Even in this I see God’s gracious activity, for the water line broke at a time when we could do without running water for a day and when I would have the next day free to make the needed repair. If I am willing to see it, God’s gracious activity is manifest in all things. Thankfully, He makes me aware, even when I often want to grumble.

This is the greatest miracle of all, that He works in the heart to convert me and preserve me as a son of the true faith. This works in me repentance from what I would be and do and think and say so that by the Holy Spirit’s tireless work, the sanctification given in my baptism is manifested in my life. What greater miracle could God work than to convert me by grace through faith so that I am saved and declared to be righteous for Christ’s sake and that this justification and sanctification are made to be manifest above and beyond what I would do according to my own reason and strength?

When the Lord brings this to my awareness, I find myself realizing that this year has begun very well for me and my house.

Remember, Be Careful!

How often do mothers and fathers cry out with these words to their children and wives to their husbands? “Remember, Be Careful!”

Yet even while being careful, things like this still happen.





This is the second day, when it looks much better. I’ve started soaking it in vinegar today, to help reduce the swelling. It looked rather bad when I pulled my hand from my work glove.

It was the end of a long hard week, with many challenges and long laborious hours. But Saturday night was the end of a good week. Overall it had been quite productive and all the challenges had been met successfully and without dangerous incident. Saturday had been a long day. One tree had been felled, other trees and their canopies raised and their deadwood and internal growth cleaned. The limbs have been cut up and chipped. The logs and stump had been cut and all but the last load of the largest logs had been loaded and hauled. It was after eight o’clock and darkness was encroaching and as I was swinging one of the logs into the pickup, I did not swing quite highly enough, and the log slammed my finger against the edge of the tailgate. The finger and log rolled over the edge of the tailgate into the truck. I rolled the log off my finger and cried out, “Ow! Shoot! Oh that hurts! Ahhh!” (Yes, those are the actual words.)

Then I looked at my glove to see whether I’d torn it. I had not, but I observed the flow of red oozing into the fabric over my knuckle. Extreme pain and red are signs that things are not well. The man who had taken some of the logs and was helping me load the ones he did not want asked me if I had broken my finger. Thankfully, no. I removed the glove and found that I peeled back the skin from over my knuckle. It was bleeding but not badly. So I asked the customer for a bandage, and a few minutes later, having found one in the house, he applied it to my finger. By then I was feeling dizzy, nauseous, and even faint. I knelt down on the ground, and then lay in the grass for a couple of minutes. Then I finished loading the truck, drove home, unloaded the truck, and went in to tell Stephanie, who helped me clean it and apply peroxide and a new bandage.




Now this is what I must present to the world as I try to keep my finger straight so as not to reopen the wound. I hope that others understand.



Such occasions as this are truly observances of the goodness of the Lord. Certainly the injury could have been much worse, which He prevented. But even beyond that, it is an occasion to observe the marvelous design that He created in the functioning of our bodies. That such an injury can occur, and yet the skin can pull together and mend again, that the bruised bone also will heal, the trauma to the flesh will be repaired, and all without any work on my part. Such is the goodness of the Lord. Such is His good and gracious will. Such is His providence.

Therefore, though I am frustrated with myself for becoming too tired to work carefully and for my misjudgment that caused me this injury, nevertheless I find myself thankful to God for His great mercy and continual protection and never ending display of His love.