Meet the weird neighbors

Some of the most exceptional people I
know have these big blind spots in their lives. Something about their
way of thinking, their reactions, spirituality or personality isn't
right. Of course, for the Christian, the first reaction to that is
the splinter-beam thing, where I'm wondering what the big blind spot
in my life is. Maybe it's blogging twice about the same thing,
telling the same story twice to a person...Naw, I wouldn't get off
that easy, it has got to be bigger than that.

If you're having a REALLY bad day, is
that Murphy 2.0?

I was sitting among some members of a
family, 3 generations. The oldest asked if I wanted to bring my
children to vacation Bible school. The next said I should put the
sign back up that I had at the previous residence. It's Psalm 51:6
“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts.” I explained
that the reason for the sign is so many people have heard the truth
in regards to their situation, or the information is readily
available, but they avoid it.The scientist or teacher may have seen
very strong evidence in favor of creation, but admitting it would be
to lose their job. The Mormon may realize that the Bible isn't
compatible with the other books Mormons use, but to renounce the
religion would be to alienate 5 generations of family, near and
distant relations and all between. Too high a price, so they stay
where they're at. Same goes for the Roman Catholic or the liberal.

The third generation family member
then spoke up, saying that the Bible is subject to interpretation. I
replied by saying that I wasn't talking abou the difference between a
Presbetarian and a Baptist; but rather, the difference between a
Baptist and a Mormon. Someone who because of additional books, must
suppress the inner conviction that they're living a lie.

Years ago, I think I was listening to
Frank Peretti on the radio, and he related how he was in a debate or
important conversation and had the perfect reply...three days
later. I can relate to that; not that my first reply was bad or
lacking, but having thought about the incident for awhile, like 2
weeks, I now have a second reply, should the same conversation occur
again.

If the Bible is subject to many
interpretations, it has no meaning, no message. If you can make it
say whatever you want it to, then it says nothing. So I wondered, why
not a blank Bible? It would have a black leather cover and gold
letters, but the pages would be blank, for you to write in whatever
you wanted. One could give it to the guys who call themselves
Christian, but live in adultery or watch pornography. Or, maybe have
every other page blank, with the word 'but' or 'although' printed at
the top of the blank pages. That way people could write their excuses
after the law of God.

But you know what? It wouldn't fly;
save for maybe the liberals, they love this kind of stuff. The reason
it wouldn't fly? Because a blank Bible wouldn't allow people to take
the full word of God and twist it to justify the actions. They need
to claim His authority for what they do.

What about you? Do you need some blank
pages in your Bible?

Location, location, location; is what the real estate people say affects a home's value. Context, context;can make a decision difficult. I have a large family, and my income is the only one we have. Usually I work for myself, I run a one man sign shop. Very recently, three weeks passed without a significant job; and things weren't great prior to that.
Then I got a call from a contractor that I've done a number of jobs for in the last couple of years. The work has been part of commercial cosmetic renovation for Knoxville businesses. They call me for hand lettering. I knew that the work was funded largely by local government; the store owner pays a percentage of the total bill, something like 10 or 20 percent, the government picks up the rest. I'm not really wild about government being involved in this sort of thing at all, considering how much I've been influenced by Libertarian thought; but at least the local and state bodies in Tennessee do a better job of living within their means than the Federal government.

As time has passed, I have slowly learned that the money is Federal grant money. To say that those guys spend money they don't have would be an understatement. I was reluctant to participate, but I've learned a few things along life's passage. One is to be sure of the facts, another is to consider things from a different perspective. I thought that maybe it's not my job to find out where the money comes from, it's just a contractor calling for my services. Another thought is that at least it's not a handout, I'm actually working for it, in fact, I made a point of giving them a very good return on what was spent. Also, one could consider the aspect of submitting to government and authority.

Still, what if ten years from now I had to look a 25 year old in the eye and explain why I made a living at the expense of him living in a very wrecked economy. “Well, er, blah, blah, blah...” That's what all the above reasoning will sound like, the fact is that I was just another partaker in the whole scheme-scam. So I turned the latest job down, on the grounds that it was irresponsible and maybe even robbery.

It was a trying decision. The way things have been, I actually wonder if we could live without one or more of our utilities. Phone? No, if work does come in, that's most likely how it will. Internet? No, I've got good contacts from my web page, and I need to be able to send emails. Electricity? No, laundry would pile up really high, and food preservation would be difficult to learn and do. There are times when our $65 phone bill is repeatedly $100 because we have to continually pay the reconnect fee.
I'm not trying to be depressing, or elicit sympathy, just trying to let you know the context of this decision.

So often a decision is between difficult A, and difficult B. Then, after you make it, others around you think you decided wrong.. There you are, alone, and wondering. The phone doesn't ring 10 minutes later with a great paying job; as though God was saying, well done, you passed the test.
A couple of introspective days pass, but I've had some ideas about using the history of this area to promote tourism and create jobs for those with less work than me. I was meeting a neighbor, asking about history, and a generalized conversation ensued. They asked what I would charge to paint their house. I gave them a price, and got a more than a week's worth of work. As it turns out, I might just like painting houses as much or more than signs, at least in terms of the business complexity. A few other sign jobs have come in, we're OK.

Remember the future generations.

Life is complex, which is one of the things that make it difficult for people to be informed in today's world. So...in an effort to help the public be clearly defined as to what the true agenda of Liberals and their comrades in the Pravda main stream media is, I propose that Republicans offer to raise the debt ceiling by not a penny more than what is required to service the national debt.

 They all howl about it as though it's a financial calamity and the end of a once great respectability worldwide. It would be fun to watch their reaction. They would be caught off guard for just a second, then go into automated shift about old people dying without their prescriptions.

Things have been busy, so I've had little time to write. I had a big paint job in Knoxville to finish, and we moved our household. The house we moved into was quite thrashed; but I've learned something in the process. With a large family, if we moved into a pristine house, it would be inevitable that we bring it down a notch or two. The children make paths in the yard where they play, things like that.
But if we move into a really beat up house, then do repairs, it brings the look of the place up 5 or 6 notches, at least. That's how it appears to be working out here. The landlord is happy, the wife is happy, probably the neighbors too, and it's fun for me to do the repairs.
This house was built in 1900. It looks like it had wood siding, which was later covered with those 12 inch tall by 24 inch wide tiles. Some of the tiles have broken, which makes the place look bad. A hodge podge paint job doesn't help either. I don't want to be working with that old tile material, but as it turns out, I don't have to. The rent here is pretty cheap, which suits me fine, 'cause I'm the king of cheap. His majesty was quite pleased to realize that all these scraps of “Polymetal”, which is a knockoff of “Diebond”, work well as replacement tile pieces. I had a number of 12 inch by 8 foot long pieces, imagine that. This material is a layer of black PVC plastic, about 1/8 inch thick in the middle, with a thin sheet of aluminum of both sides. It's light, rigid, resists weathering well, and comes with a nice painted finish. The pieces I have are white. I'll try to insert a couple of before and after pictures below

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Not only are we able to do some renovations, but I like other things about this place as well. We get along with the new landlord better than the old one; I'll skip the details. This one lets the kids go into the hay field, he lets me use part of the barn for working and storing paint. The barn! Man, what a neat old structure. It's a two crib, hand hewn cantaliever design. It's had extra parts and newer roofing put on, so you can't see it's history from the road, but it's all obvious from within.
A little looking around has revealed that this Boyds Creek area is rich in history, and historic structures. I once had hopes of renovating bad looking structures and walls in Knoxville, but decided that it would be better to work closer to home, in the Seymour area. I have what seems like some neat ideas, but that's another topic, I'll probably handle it through my other website, Donahuesignarts.com
Years ago, I spent a lot more time in the woods, I taught my children to labor by using a crosscut saw with them, to get all our firewood. There are something like 60 different kinds of trees here in East Tn. If you like hardwood trees, this is a real joy. So now I'm back to going in the woods with antique tools and the younger children. I make things out of dead trees; mauls from Hickory, gluts (wooden wedges) from Dogwood, fence posts from Locust and Cedar.