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I had a little creature roaming around in my bedroom. The noise he made at night was very unnerving. It was amazing that so much noise could come from such a little creature. I prayed that whatever type of creature it was, he wouldn't come up on my bed while I was sleeping. Unfortunately, soon he began his ruckus during the day as well. One time when I was reading on my bed, much to my surprise, the little creature ran out from under my box spring! I froze in terror as I...
When I was a kid, I was known for not being able to sit for any length of time and be quiet or still. I think this is the case for most children. Children need something to do with their hands and minds, and when there is too much quiet time, it drives them crazy. This is why in the average Sunday school class, the teacher not only talks and tells a story, but often does so with pictures. Then that leads to drawing, coloring or cutting and pasting. As someone who passed the...
The Bible mentions honey 61 times and it mentions bees 7 times. The Lord promises people they can dwell in the land of milk and honey, which sounds like a wonderful thing. Archaeologists have found written records of honey several thousands of years old. They've also actually found jars of honey in Egypt that were 3,000 years old and they ate some. They said the 3,000-year-old honey was as fresh and delicious as new honey. Apparently honey is the only food in the world that...
I love statistics. Here are a few I came up with myself: Somewhere out there a woman will give birth to a baby every quarter of a second. I say we need to find that woman and stop her. I'm kidding! God bless you, moms. You're awesome. Here are a few more statistics based loosely on actual facts: For every bank that gets robbed today, 2,872 puppies will be born and 32 hedgehogs will find new homes. For every plane that crashes, more than a million will land safely, with about 4...
I was picking up a birthday cake for the drop-in center where I work. As I walked out of the grocery store, I realized that the plastic cover on the cake wasn't as firm as I had thought. It had dented in, and I smeared a small part of the icing on the side and top of the cake. I thought I would go back and see if they could fix it. The lady working at the counter was visibly disappointed; she rolled her eyes and was quite dramatic as she went to work. I commented to the other...
As I go through life on this journey of ups, downs, valleys and mountain peaks, I discovered a few things. One of those things is that when you do something on a regular basis, it usually produces results. As an Indigenous man and believer in Jesus, I want to produce fruit that will last. Someone who professes to be a Christian should also not only believe in Jesus and the scriptures, but should live that faith out in action (Matthew 3). Then those actions should make...
As darkness retreats at sunrise, there is no place quite like the mountains to enjoy the first rays of morning light. Shimmering rays dance across the lake, inviting wildlife to leave their shadowy shelters for a cool morning drink. Through the stillness I hear the familiar plink of a fish jumping to snatch an insect. Insistent jays and chattering chipmunks urge me to pay attention to the glory around me. Indian paintbrush, yellow buttercups and purple mountain columbine...
If you could use a little good news today, here are a few stories to cheer you up. We begin in Rio Linda, California, where last December a man dressed as Santa was in for a shock. Highway Patrol reported that jolly old St. Nick was flying a parachute with a motor and wheels. He was on his way to deliver candy canes to community kids when he found himself entangled in power lines. As you might suspect, this sparked the gathering of quite a crowd. Colleen Bousliman, who lives...
There was a man named "Regret." His mother died giving him birth and the only word she said when he was born was "Regret." His father blamed the boy for causing his wife's death and said his mother regretted giving him birth. When he was only a few days old, his father gave the boy to an aunt to raise-he was never loved and was mistreated by everyone; he was the boy who "killed his mother." When he was fifteen he ran away and worked at whatever jobs he could get, he was often...
Just before we left on a tour to Alaska, I bought some cheap bass guitar strings. Figuring that they'd do for the trip, I saved a few bucks and wound them on to my Fender Precision. We were only three days in when the first one broke! I didn't think too much about it until the second one snapped a week later. Then the third!! Before the E string followed the doomed path of its predecessors, I changed it and since there was no place to buy new strings, I finished the tour on...
We don't know about you, but we feel like 2021 has been a tad of a whirlwind. We accepted our roles with Indian Life Ministries just over a year ago! And COVID-19 has certainly kept us on our toes almost every day. But, we have been so blessed and are so thankful. Now that we have been with Indian Life for a full year, it doesn't feel like our learning curve is so very straight up. Instead of straight up, perhaps the angle of the line is more at a 45 degree, not 90. We've...
I sometimes think about the first time I ever flew in a plane, where we were totally dependent on instruments. We were coming into Anchorage Alaska in a Navajo Chieftain and the airport was all "socked in" with fog. The pilot kept checking with the tower as to how much visibility we had & finally got the okay to land when we were about 10 miles out. I remember the helpless feeling I had as we descended into that last fog bank and everything disappeared! I was watching the...
I wonder how many doors you and I stepped through today? I probably stepped through various doorways in my house at least 15 times since waking. When I went downtown, I stepped through the post office door and the insurance agency door. I entered each purposely. I was on a mission; I needed to get to a certain place that only had one way in; I had to go through one particular door. My will totally dictated my movements and the direction I was going. There is another door that...
As I reflect on how many of us as Indigenous people have contributed to the highest set of statistics, in a variety of social ills, I'm left with many thoughts. It makes me think more deeply about all the obstacles to success we as have faced throughout North America. So many different tribal groups and so many souls. When I do think more deeply about all we've been through over the last 500 years, my own life fits part of those higher statistics. It's a process of reflection...
Have you ever sensed life passing so fast that you couldn't keep up with it? Every ten days we have to do laundry, and I constantly say, "I just did laundry yesterday!" Christmas always takes me by surprise. I turn 75 this summer; yet I'm sure I turned 17 only a few months ago. I heard of someone doing this with their age, so I tried it and was amazed by what I saw. I imagined a tack pinning the end of a string on 1947, the year I was born. Then I extended that string up to...
What scares you? I fear having a heart attack while playing the game Charades. And public speaking. I fear heights. I get woozy on a stepladder, or looking down a staircase, or when I sing gospel classics like "Love Lifted Me." That's what you get from living your entire life on the prairies, where the largest hill in sight is that mound of dirt a gopher pushed up in your backyard. Of course, fear is healthy if you stumble on a grizzly bear and her cubs. It'll stop you from gi...
My daughter, Storm, has an incredible memory. She can remember everything I ever did that was wrong. Recently she reminded me of an incident that happened when she was a teenager. It was late at night and I remembered I needed some cash for something I had to do the next morning. I didn't want to drive to the bank alone to use the ATM machine so asked my daughter to go with me. She was ready for bed, wearing pajamas with cows jumping over the moon printed on them and house...
When I take a look at my life and everything I've gone through-all the good and the bad-I see various reasons why I went through bad times. The reasons were usually a result of at least one of four things: 1-Temptation and sin; 2-The pressures of the world and bad influence of friends; 3-The attacks of Satan and his demons; 4-Things beyond my control that I didn't ask to happen, want to happen or invite to happen, but nonetheless happened. 1-Temptation and Sin: During my late...
I watched the jet streaming across the sky and wondered at how many people were inside; I wondered where they were going and if they were nervous about speeding along at such heights. How can that plane fly through the same air that we breathe into our lungs? It seems too airy to carry anything. How does that cruise ship carrying 3,000 people, their vacation stuff and enough food to feed them all, float along on water that I can dip my hand into? I would never have believed...
He set His face as a flint, while I flipped. A little while ago I got caught in a blizzard while travelling on the highway with my RV. The snow was blinding! I couldn't see anything-not the hydro polls to my left or right or even a few feet in front of me. The wind was coming straight at me and the snow was blowing in ferocious lines along the side of me on the highway. I had been driving in these hazardous conditions for about an hour. I knew I would be going down a steep...
I am an extremely young grandpa, still able to outrun and outjump thirteen grandkids. It helps that they are seven and under. When they're worn out from trying to catch me, they say, "Read to me." Sweeter words were seldom spoken. My second grandchild, Eowyn, snuggles up on my lap and listens, wide-eyed as three little oinkers set out to seek their fortune. She loves pigs. Loves it when the first little porker buys a load of straw. Loves it when the sweet little swine builds...
It was pitch dark. The heat radiating from the walls of the cell wouldn't leave me alone. Sweat dripped off my hairy body. The night moved slowly-as slowly as the walls cooled. Being in the Administrative Segregation Unit (The Hole), life moves at a snail's pace. There is little to do physically and even less when it's burning hot. Time seems to slow to a stop. A 24-hour day feels like a week; a week is a month and a month is eternity. During the day the noise from steel...
There is an old saying: "It's better to wear moccasins than to try to carpet the world." In other words, take care of yourself and your own life before you try to change the world. When my friends are unhappy, I want to fly in like superman and "fix" things and make them happy. Sadly, in my efforts to "help," I sometimes made things worse by interfering. I didn't realize this until a friend of mine decided I would be much better off living close to her. She contacted realtors,...
Q: Right now it seems like every time we turn around someone has died or is seriously ill. As Christians, we know heaven is a reality for believers who've gone before. But how do we deal with the very human emotions of loss and keep our grief healthy? How do we keep from dropping into depression? People tell us to look to God and trust Jesus, but what does that look like in our lives? A: At the onset, I must state that I am not a therapist and my response to this question is b...
I love old guitars. What can I say? I just love old guitars! A bunch of years back, we were singing in a really remote, fly-in community and I couldn't believe what I saw hanging on a friend's back wall. It was a 1956 Gibson ES125-a collector's classic that was a few years older than me! I'd never played one before, and I was just wowed by this half-century-old guitar!! I was even more speechless when my friend gifted it to me! Two weeks later, I was getting the Old Gibson...
