PCPrays

I feel like I am stuck in a Peter Pan world.  A world that does not want to grow up.  A world that hates growing older and fights it with every thing it has.  We idolize youth and many people around me refuse to grow up.  One of the signs of a person who refuses to grow up is that everything is about them and it’s all about right now.  Their are many areas that we could talk about financially, spiritually, emotionally.  Refusing to grow up always causes pain and brokenness.  For your self and those around you.

I have a friend that I have known since middle school who is in the process of a divorce right now.  About two months ago my friend had a series of vertigo attacks.  First time in his life and they have stopped now so we are not sure where they came from (he would say stress).  He also worked two jobs to help support his family.  But during one of the vertigo attacks that he had his wife told him he was a lazy bum and took their son and left.  She went to her mother’s house.  He has been allowed to see his on only twice since then and yesterday he called me and told me that “Roger, I miss my son”.  He is broken inside.  Still working the two jobs and broken.  It’s called a broken family for a reason.  His wife is not thinking about what’s best for their son.  She does not care (or is too blind to see) that their son is going to be shuffled around between two families for his whole life.  It’s a very sad situation.  Neither my friend or his wife are Christians.  But I am praying for them.  That God’s mercy will work upon their hearts.  And that He will bring healing to the brokenness.

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It’s always a good thing to be back home after a vacation.  We had a great time but it was hard.  The trip up went fine.  We did not get to leave PC until around 4 p.m. so it was about 2 a.m. by the time we reached the cabin.  Only got about 5 hours sleep before we left to head off for the AT.  To be honest it kicked our butts.  Only about 100 yards into it we were out of breath and sweating profusely.  We only made it for about half of what we planned.  But that’s ok.  It was very beautiful but I was a little disappointed.  I was hoping to see waterfalls and lots of wild life and we had neither of them.  But it was still nice to be out there.  Once the girls picked us up we had a great time (Thank you girls, we love yous).  Spent one day at Fontana Dam and it was very nice.  I have a photo bellow of it.  Really four photos that I was able to merge together.  Hope you enjoy.

And the trip back down was fun.  We dropped the Bells off at the Atlanta air port (driving to the Atlanta air port was not fun) and then stayed the night in Atlanta and had lunch on Monday with my good friend Lance.

Also still need to be praying for Allen, Missy and the kids as they are with Allen’s ex’s family.  Don’t know how that is going to go..

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My mom got me a new camera for my birhtday.  I know my birth day is not until August 12th but she got it early so that I would have it for my trip on the AT later this week.  It’s really a great camera.  It’s an Olympos Stylus 1030 SW and it does just about everything.  The main feature I like (ok love, my father in law when I showed it to him said “there’s nothing happer then Roger with a new toy”) is that it’s water proof!  How cool is that?  I’m really looking foward to getting some good underwater shots.  I will be sure to post them when I do.

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Apparently Miley Cryus is rather big with young girls.  And as I was driving to work the other day they were talking about her on the radio.  I guess she took some questionable pictures on a cell phone with her boyfriend and the pictures leaked onto the internet.  The radio host were talking about how she was perceived as a good role model for young girls but were wondering how/if the pictures are going to change that.  They even took callers who all said about the same thing “I can’t believe she did that” or “I will not be watching her show any more” and so on.

The thing is that there is a problem with role models.  When we put some one on a pedestal we expect them to be perfect and are shocked when they are not.  Just as we were shocked to learn Michael Vick was involved with dog fighting we are shocked that Miley Cryus would have such photos taken.  But should we be?  Everyone is a sinner and with more popularity and money we just have more and more chances for sin to enter into our hearts.  1st Timothy 6:10 says that “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” or as Dave Ramsey puts it; money magnifies character.  A loving and giving person would become even more loving and giving however a selfish and self centered person would become even more selfish and self centered with more money.

Personally I think that anytime we look to TV for our role models we are going to be disappointed.  We pick role models just because they can sing or act or play a sport.  Should we not be a little more discerning then that?

I have several role models and I know each of them personally.  To be honest most of them go church with me.  And while I know they are not perfect they are godly and honorable.  From the way they treat their wives to their service for Christ and the way they do business they act with integrity.  And they have earned my respect.  And that really is what a role model should be some one who has earned your respect.

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Here it goes. This is my first attempt at blogging for something besides a class project.

As you might have read from Roger’s posts, we are preparing for a 72-hour hike on the AT. This is kind of a birthday present to me. I have wanted to make a trip like this since I was in my teens. For those who are keeping score I turn 33 on Friday July 25^th which is the first day of this interesting journey. I do not know how well we have trained for this trip. By about sunset of the first day we will know for sure. Either we will be enjoying the view from the top of a mountain or we will be dead in our tents nursing our aches and pains. I hope and pray that it is not the latter!

The first day should not be too bad. We have planned to hike right around 7 miles the first day. However, in that 7 miles there are many switchbacks and a vertical climb of about 3,300 feet. The second day, in my opinion, will be the most difficult. We have planned to go a little over 10 miles with many climbs and descents. When/if we survive Saturday’s hike Sunday’s hike should be a breeze. This should be our longest day of hiking. However, most of this is down hill so hopefully that will make the trip not as bad. We will decided on our way to Sunday’s campsite if we are going to watch the sun rise from Fontana Dam or from our friend’s cabin in Murphy, NC where our wives and my daughter are spending the weekend. Either way, Monday all of us plan to do a day trip into the Great Smoky Mountains. Roger and I want to do some Geo-caching while we are in that area we will see how that plays out with time, the weather, and location.

No matter how sore we are or how wet we might end up getting, we will at least eat good! I found this awesome website while we were preparing the menu for this trip. The site is http://www.freezerbagcooking .com. They have a lot of good information and many recipes. All of the meals require a lot of work before you leave home but while you are out in the woods just boil water and the right amount to your freezer bag and wait 10 – 15 mins.

Speaking about the food for the trail, on that website, I found a way to bake cake on the trail. So I will be having a birthday cake with my son and my friend on top of a mountain in North Carolina on the Appalachian Trail for my birthday! How cool is that?!

That should cover about everything for the first part of my summer vacation. Then the fun begins. Joy oh joy.

After our day trip, Roger and Nyssa are going to drop the four of us off at the Atlanta airport. We are flying up to the Northwest part of the USA to go see my ex-wife’s family. We are staying Monday night in Seattle. Tuesday morning as a family, we are going to rent some specialty roller skates and go around Seattle for a few hours. We are all really looking forward to this.

When the skating is over, we are heading south toward Knappa, Oregon to go see the family. This will be great! I have not seen my stepson Tyler in about 7 years. I have seen a current picture of him and WOW has he grown! He is the Senior Patrol of his Boy Scout Troop and is currently working on his Eagle Project.

The rest of the trip will need all the prayers we can receive. On one of the days we are there, we are going to see my ex-wife and let us just say that we did not leave on good terms and it has a big chance of not being a pleasant meeting. I ask for prayers that this becomes a healing time for my kids and I. Taylor still has a lot of bad feelings towards his birth mother and Aria does not remember her much at all. God has blessed me with a wonderful and supportive wife. How many women do you know would gladly go on a trip to visit your ex-wife’s family?

Well that is about all I want to get into for right now and all the time I have to write this blog anyways. Please lift all of us in prayer for this entire trip. May everything we do glorify God and be pleasing to Him.

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