Life is good ...

Life is good. I saw that on the tire cover of a jeep in a Walmart parking lot the other day. I had just purchased a journal and it seemed appropriate to write that down as the first entry. I think it was a sign. I think lots of things are a sign. I walk alot so I'm always finding things. I believe there's a reason for everything so whenever I find something I wonder why. Today I was walking in the park and I found a golf ball. A couple of weeks earlier I found a golf tee. I walk to work every day. I've found a single dice, a watch battery, an interesting looking bottle cap with three palm trees pictured on it, various coins ... and I always wonder, "why did I find this?" Somehow I think it will all tie in together some day.

I like to keep lists. I read in a Time Magazine story on Benjamin Franklin that he did too. I like to list the names of favorite places like Elk Creek, Mandolin Bridge, Rocky Creek, Little Valley, Colonial Gardens and my favorite ... Heaven. If I need to cheer myself up, all I have to do is read that list and it makes me feel better. I also have a list of favorite things. I like turtles, helicoptors, guitars, harmonicas, autoharp, fishing, road trips, FDP Jams (see www.fenderforum.com ) Family Jams, net surfing, walking, birding, writing, scetching, Independance Day, Memorial Day, vacation, Civil War era stuff, JW Dundee's Honey Brown beer, auctions, coffee, a good book, the duo, my watch, my pocket knife ... the list goes on but the point is, all I have to do is read the list and it makes me feel good. People I admire are Ronald Reagan, James Dobson, and Billy Graham. People I think are cool include George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan. My favorite bands are The Beatles and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

When I'm walking I often get good ideas so I like to carry a pad and pen with me so I don't forget. Today I didn't have either on me but I only had one idea and I remember it. I was thinking about how alot of people don't go to church myself included and all of the reasons why. It usually seems to boil down to not agreeing with the preachers views and money issues. I was thinking how neat it would be if a few people just met together in a park and took turns reading the Bible. No commentary or sermon, just soaking in God's Word. Since many folks have young children there would need to be something for them. I was thinking an offering could be taken but instead of putting it into a building fund or something like that someone could just head over to the local mini-mart and pick up hot dogs, buns, pop, chips etc. and have 'em cooking on the grill. If some can't afford it, that's okay. As I was coming to the end of my walk I saw a group of people from some church playing kick ball and I thought to myself, "that would be perfect ... something like that". I think children learn more from seeing their parents loving and worshipping God than they do by trying to teach them through other means anyway. The whole idea isn't to replace church but rather to give people a place to worship God and pray for and support each other while they're trying to figure out what they believe and what kind of church they want. Maybe churches would be formed by splinters of the group even. I think the key would have to be just keeping everything simple, low key and most of all non judgemental.

This weekend my son and I worked on Knocking on Heaven's Door to play together at a FDP Jam. He's just learning guitar and this will be his first public performance. We also rented and watched This is Spinal Tap and Napolean Dynomite. Today we went to the theater and saw the new Star Wars movie. We also spent more time working on the song for the jam. Tomorrow is Monday and back to work. Memorial Day is coming ... life is good!