Family – Pathway Journey

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023

Praying for Rain

The year was 1824 and we had moved from Tennessee to the foothills in Alabama after our crops in Tennessee had been gathered in. I had bought 20 acres of land in the valley below the mountain plateau I first crossed with General Jackson in 1812.

When we were settling into the new homestead, we immediately began cutting logs for a small cabin. We figured the land on the downside of the mountain would be the richest ground. So that’s where we cut the first trees for our house, gaining logs, and clearing a cornfield at the same time.

December 29, 2022December 29, 2022

Tick-Tock (not TikTok)

I remember as a child hearing the tick-tock of an old mantel clock in the home of one of our elderly kinfolks. At the top of the hour, the clock would make a gong for the number of the hour. It was always a little creepy to me. The passing of time is kind of weird when you think about it, like the whittling off of your life second by second.

October 25, 2022October 25, 2022

Community

Growing up, I lived three miles up a country road from a major four-lane highway. Traveling up Sand Valley Road as a child of ten years old, I could name every family of every home on that three-mile stretch. Fifty-seven years later, many of those homes are filled with strangers.

June 16, 2022June 16, 2022

For the Men in Grubby Ole Caps

NOTE: Happy Father’s Day! This post is about hardworking men with dirty fingernails because it is Father’s Day, but we love and appreciate hard working women too!

I have an old grubby cap they I usually wear when I’m working outside. It has never been washed and probably never will be. At this point it has its own history. It was promotional cap from a business, so I got it for free. The ole cap is well broke in about like me. There are some frayed threads, stains, and the dark color has faded from the sun and rain. When I eventually throw it away, I will revisit a few memories.

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022

Where Do We Go From Here?

PRAY FOR THE FAMILIES OF UVALDE, TEXAS!

It is horrible thing when two neighbors have a quarrel, and one kills the other. It is so unthinkable when an evil person kills at random one or more who are innocent and vulnerable with whom he had no quarrel. It is unthinkable because normal, descent folks just cannot imagine why anyone would do such a thing—it is unthinkable.

There is the usual rush to put a “why” on the “what”. Most of us who have an ounce of compassion first think about those in our lives who approximate the same age as the victims, then a deep sick feeling wells up in our souls to the point we quickly change the channel in our mind to something less painful. We whisper a prayer for the hurting while our souls scream, “WHY?”

May 7, 2022June 23, 2022

The First Woman’s First Day (Mother’s Day)

The fellowship of Adam with God was complete. His worship of God was flawless. This was why he had been created. Mankind was the reason God had created this lush, verdant creation called Earth.

God so desired to bring all of mankind from one created being, all people would be of one blood. In Adam was all who were ever be conceived. He was the complete creation formed and brought forth by God. Through him, all others would come forth from his genetic pool.

March 30, 2022March 30, 2022

Old Men

I remember when I was a boy looking at old men in wonderment. They were either my grandfather or someone else’s grandfather. I knew my granddaddy was once a farmer and he still dabbled with farming. He helped my Daddy with a few things, had a garden, and sometimes had a little patch of corn. He got a few dollars every month from the plan put in place by FDR.

March 16, 2022March 16, 2022

Whatever a Man Sows…

Springtime is just around the corner and some of us with a need for dirt under our fingernails, plant a garden. Anyone who plants a few seeds revisits the ground in a few days to look for the seedlings bursting forth from the ground. The small green sprigs give a hint of a harvest to come.

December 20, 2021December 20, 2021

Christmas, More Than a Cute Story

Somewhere along the way, Christmas became morphed into a nice “Hallmark Channel” feel-good story told with hot chocolate in hand before a cozy fire. What is there not to like about a young couple away from home delivering a baby in a stable? Light the star, cue the shepherds and “Action!”

November 18, 2021December 27, 2021

Dirty Old Man

God made man from dirt. He did not make a mud pie; He made a man. He created a body from the soil. Before God breathed life into Adam, the body in essence was a corpse. A human body without life is a corpse. We rightly consider resurrection as a miracle from God. The first man was brought to life just as the Second Adam (Jesus the Messiah) was brought back to life through the lifegiving power of God. God raised Adam from the dirt.