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Ta-da! Here they are!  My actual mealworms, possibly a bit larger than actual size, depending on your resolution. I picked up my mealworm farm starter kit this morning, kept the little guys (and girls) with me at my desk all day (don't tell my co-workers), and even took them with me to Bible study, where i used them for my own little show and tell.  Finally, i'm home, and so are they. I was a little concerned that handling these guys would kind of creep me out, but it turns out, they're not that creepy. No.  Really. Anyway, it's late.  I REALLY need to go to bed.  But i will leave you with this. A loose paraphrase of Luke 9:51ish through 54ish. Recently, the disciples had been given power by Jesus to heal sick people and to rid them of demons, and they had been out practicing, per Jesus' instructions.  But now they're back together, and Jesus has decided to go on a journey, and the disciples are with him.  While on the journey, Jesus is...

In the life of every chicken keeper is the daily chore of opening and closing the chicken door, the tiny chicken size door on the back of the chicken coop, that lets the chickens out into the chicken yard.  In my particular case, this also includes walking into the chicken coop (usually in my work clothes), bending down underneath the nest boxes, and prying out the piece of wood which is wedging the door in place, and then wedging it differently to keep the door open. The placement of the door is important because the nest boxes have a slanted top.  This was supposed to keep the chickens from hanging out up there, but apparently the slant isn't severe enough to disuade them, and they hang out up there anyway.   And anywhere chickens hang out, chickens poop. Anywhere. This is important because chicken poop sometimes doesn't stay where it's dropped off, especially if it's dropped off on a slanted surface, and then gravity takes over and if there happens to...

I know what you're thinking......ew. But what i'm thinking is LIVE CHICKEN FOOD! I'm also thinking cheaper chicken food.  Yay cheaper! If things go well, i might also be able to make a little side money, selling mealworms to bait shops or something like that.  But that's getting a little ahead of myself.   I've been reading about mealworm farming for a while.  I joined a mealworm farming facebook group, so i could read other people talk about mealworm farming.  I asked questions, looked at pictures, asked questions about methods about  And then yesterday, i finally worked up the nerve to order my first mealworm farm starter kit.  Yes, that's a real thing.  And yes, i had to work up the nerve.  It's because i hate the feeling i get when i start a new project without the necessary inspiration to see it through.  But i think springtime has hit me now, and i'm finally ready. And excited. Enough about worms.  F...

We are spoiled.  Modern Americans. When someone tells us a story, we need drama and mayhem and action and suspense and every detail of emotion laid out for us, so we can feel it. But the writers of the books of the Bible, were most often not novelists...or playwrights.  So some of the things we read in the Bible are a little bit more like reading a report, a history book.  And because of this, it's easy for us to gloss over extremely dramatic scenes in the Bible.  Scenes filled with mayhem and suspense and action.  We have to kind of work to really see the scenes that are described. Even Hollywood, when portraying Jesus, has almost always gotten it very wrong, making Jesus look so serious and boring and unfeeling...a portrayal which seems to me to be completely impossible for someone who did the things Jesus is reported to have done.  An unfeeling person couldn't have pulled this stuff off. There is a very very short story in Luke, which does...

Last year, around this time, the radio station i listen to, #ksbj, in Houston, was promoting an idea.  An idea that instead of new year's resolutions, what if we picked one thing we want to spiritually improve in our lives this year.  Just one thing to bring before God and say, "please teach me about this and help me to do it." I deeply dislike new year's resolutions, but this idea i felt good about.  To be honest, i didn't really think about it.  I remember sitting in my car, driving down the road, listening to the dj describe the concept - probably much better than i did it just now - and before i could even think about it, i just breathed the word, "obedience." And sitting here, at the end of 2015, looking back, i am so glad for that moment.  As a follower of Jesus, and Jesus being someone i generally can't see with my physical eyes or hear with my human ears, learning to hear Him and obey Him, is integral to following Him, and i needed help ...

One of the things that is good for me about going to the laundromat to do my laundry is that it forces me to have some limited contact with complete strangers - something i don't really do naturally.  But i have to have clean clothes, so ... complete strangers it is. Something that always warms my heart is when i see young dads at the laundromat with their kids, taking care of business.  Family business. I don't think young men - or even old men - really really understand how meaningful it is for a child to have that man in their life, respecting the importance of their daily life, dealing with the laundry, or the whatever, and caring for their kids. I don't have a lot of words on this tonight, but i just want to say.  Way to go, dads.  Way to go, lifting up your kids.  Way to go, letting them know that their thoughts and experiences are important to you.  Way to go, being being gentle and caring and firm.  Way to go, being all the things th...

Many moons ago, when i was in college, i had the wonderful benefit of spending most of three summers in Germany, as part of a short term missions program from my college.  One of the things we would do while on missions, is perform street dramas.  Some of the skits we did were ones we were taught while at home, and sometimes we would make them up on the fly. One such made up skit we performed my last summer in Germany, came to called by us, Blind Bethimaeus.  It was re-enactment of the Mark 10 story of Jesus healing the blind man, name Bartimaeus.  Only, in our skit, i played the part of Bartimaeus.  For this reason, and because i think my team leader really enjoyed saying, "Bethimaeus," the skit came to be known, by us, as Blind Bethimaeus. In the skit, to demonstrate my blindness, i would wear a rag, tied on my head, so that it covered my eyes, and i would begin the skit by wandering, literally blind, with my hands stretched out in front of me, feeling my...