Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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Archives for November 2025

The cold has descended from the north.

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Winter sets in and reminds us to bundle our fragile bodies with arctic defying layers to protect our ever desired warmth. Oil furnaces start with a mighty puff. Lp and Natural gas furnaces start with a gentle woosh. Wood fires start with a strike of a match in the basements of so many homes. The heating season is on us like Groot on a laser light or a bouncing ball. 

Last week we took a day trip, Drax and Groot stayed at the farm as they do so many days. Playing and “protecting” the chickens from the many predators desiring a quick chicken dinner. As we arrived back home I noticed something “out of the norm”… Groot wasn’t in his normal spot and Drax was unseen. As I maneuvered into the parking spot, parking with the precision of a blind air traffic ground crew. Still no Drax. I approach the house behind Al moving at lightning speed, on a mission to check and make sure his “stuff” in his room has not disintegrated into a vapor while he was gone for hours…  I noticed a patch of blood, large, fresh and in the pattern of a paw… Two large pawed pups made the way into the house right behind Al. 

I discover Drax has a gushing wound on his paw, he is breathing rapidly and very shallow, his gums are pale and he gently lays down in front of me as if to say, “you are not walking past me dad”… I squat down, seeing a pulse of blood oozing out, I move into doctor mode “JESS, GRAB A WRAP OF SOME TYPE, NOW!” After a year’s long wait Jess comes flying around the corner with a towel and I proceed to wrap up the paw… “Direct pressure” I exclaimed “I need to get changed into something more suitable, hold this for a minute while I get changed” In my super man mode I am able to pass though walls and floors into the bedroom where I find a quick change of clothes. Now it’s time for my assistant, “Jess, change into some grubbies…”

Slide the time line forward, Drax is fully recovered and no worse for the wear. What’s with this dog? Last year he chased a plow truck and got a broken paw and bruised lung… leading to the GPS collar (may I add, that’s literally been a life saver).

Job 37:6 Doing great things which we do not comprehend.

For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’

Job37:9,10 From the south comes the storm,

And from the north wind the cold.

From the breath of God ice is made,

And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

I thank God he protected our pup yet again this year as the winter descends like a howling wolf. It was about this same time last year Drax played tag with the plow… winter is a bit rougher in Itasca County than it was in Scott County. There is a side of appreciation to this winter wonder land. It tests a man, makes a man stop and think… God is so much bigger than our “issues” God determines the earth, spins it on its axis and draws the cold from the north, the heat from the south and measures the length of the days… He is in charge, and he is the one we lean on… 

We praise God in the dark, in the light, in the sorrow, and in the Joy.

Today is Sam’s birthday, he has been sober and clean for 1,186 days… There is joy in this thought, even when we feel sad in our loss. 

Join with me in remembering the young man I remember, Sam. How he always took time to help those less fortunate, those in need and those that didn’t fit in. His love and generosity are a guide post for us still today.

Are you feeling the winter blues? Come on, it’s too early for that. Being grumpy, upset and sad won’t change anything, but deciding to find the joy in everything sure makes things better. 

Today, continue the thanksgiving and giving thanks from last Thursday, keep it in your heart the whole year and see what the Lord will do with that… 

C.

Great day to give thanks

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“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever”

The day starts with  making a huge meal, we try really hard to provide all our residents with a meal on every holiday. In addition to cooking a feast of roast beast and smashed taters,  we love giving our staff the day off so they can be with their family. 

But what about giving thanks? We have so much to be grateful for and yet so often we feel we deserve more… More time off, more money, more stuff to play with… MORE MORE MORE! WHEN IS MORE ENOUGH?

A long time ago, I heard a man say this:  He asked the man “How much money is enough?” He replied without hesitation “just a little bit more”

John D. Rockefeller’s net worth was equivalent to about 1% of the entire U.S. economy. Yet what level of contentment did he have? I fear he died needing “just a little bit more” but it wasn’t money he brought into eternity, it was a life lived desiring money…

I have known so many folks that love money, both “rich” and even more so the “poor”. Striving after money, letting the world around them spin in turmoil as they dream about money, believing that “just a little more”  will solve the problems they face on a daily basis… If it were true that money resolves the problem, winning the lottery would NOT bring the lucky recipients to the brink of death, into drug addiction and nearly always ending in a more horrible life than if they hadn’t ever had the huge “win” that changes their life… FOREVER!

The bible talks about this in 1 Tim 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

How is it that the poor, the destitute and down trodden are loving money? By living a life in pursuit of money, it matters not that they never achieve the big win, what matters is they spend their entire life looking for that one big win… an entire life seeking “just a little more”… This sounds like taxes?

The Government is a perfect example of the “love of money” . The government is by design making life better for all folks. Taxes may increase and some taxes are only temporary, like so many gas taxes.. and when the taxes go back down.. Oh wait, they never actually go down, do they?

As a small business owner, I pay a lot of fees, taxes, surcharges, filing fees, I even pay a special tax for being self employed, another special tax to have an employee, and other taxes to do business. Now this coming year we pay a special tax to give employees time off. But at least we don’t see any fraud and gov waste in Minnesota! I would suspect the Government should have resolved health care, homelessness, poverty and every other form of “oppression”… but this is thanksgiving so we should look at new ways to give thanks, TO GOD!

Today I am thankful for so many blessings. On the last day of hunting, we took a trip to the cities and left our pups to play outside. New GPS collars keep them out of the woods as the brave hunters stock the big one, shooting anything that moves… Well, Drax cut his foot, it was bleeding badly, we got home and he is fine now but he showed signs of anemia (blood loss)… we moved into action, stopped the bleeding, bandaged him up and saved his life… I thank God we got home before he died. I am thankfull that I had first aid training to fix him up and Jess had the touch to keep me and Drax calm while directing Al to bed. 

This may seem like something tragic but God was in this as well, his hand was directing the rescue of our awesome BIG pup, and today he is no worse for the wear aside from favoring his foot from time to time. But last year he got hit by a car and survived (that’s why we got the GPS collars) so yes, we are thankful, but this is only a small example of what we are thankful for…

You see, we have Sam’s Place, and as I cook the second turkey at home, and we prepare to head up to Sam’s Place to finish preparing dinner, I thank God we can do this… we have a healthy church to attend on Sunday, we have a great family that calls and reminds me how great our boys are, we have health, we have chickens, pups, we have so much to say thanks for…

But let me tell you about the greatest reason to give thanks, JESUS! 

I realized many years ago that God created me for a purpose, and in that life of struggling before I found my purpose, I lived for myself, made choices that were me centered. I learned that I was not a good person and I was not doing the things in this world God wanted me to do, in fact I am a sinner that needed to Turn form my self serving life and discover the joy God had for me in serving others, sharing the Gospel and doing something good. 

The day I found contentment in trusting God’s plan, my life didnt get easy, it didnt get fun, it didnt change to rainbows and unicorns… It got harder, it got purpose, it got value… my life became something greater than anything I could have created, I started serving GOD. Life finally made sense! No more Monday night football games and driving home drunk. No more Thursday night sitting in the bar until 9 pm. No more avoiding my responsibilities. No more living for myself. Rather I died and God raised up a new man in my place. And I have never been more joyfilled, thankful and content. 

On this cold Thursday, I ask you one question: Do you know Jesus, and does Jesus know you? If not, what are you waiting for? Do you also need to do what I did in my life? Do you need to do things your way? Is it working for you? Ok so that’s more than one question, but I think you understand what I am trying to say.

Just to be clear, you can not save yourself and nothing you do can help you become saved. You can do nothing to add to your salvation. Surrender your life to the will of Jesus. WHATS STOPPING YOU FROM TRUE THANKFULNESS?

Thankful and grateful this beautiful winters day, C

Stop Kicking the Goads… You are only hurting yourself!

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Are you as stubborn as a mule? Are you as determined as a donkey? Are you as cantankerous as a cat? Are you as bearish as a bull? Are you as grumpy as a goat?

Why? 

This week I was observing somebody that continues to “kick against the Goads”, day after day, pushing, fighting every rule, blaming every problem on someone else… Even though they are the one causing the pain, discomfort and trouble… 

Goad: A board with spikes strategically placed behind the legs of an ox to prevent kicking and backing up. A long pole with a spike on the end used to direct oxen. 

The words of the wise are like goads…Ecc 12:11 

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:14

This reminded me of one of my all time favorite skits, from Bob Newhart:

STOP IT!

Look it up for a good laugh, (Im not allowed to post the link I guess).

Is this normal? Does everyone try to push against the simplest of rules? Why do we make our lives so painful by always pushing against simple rules? I thought “perhaps it’s a lack of self control?” or perhaps someone protected them from consequences in the formative years? Or maybe they just like to feel pain and discomfort? I for one, do not keep pushing against a goad, or do I? I mean think about it, are we the author to our own pain and trouble?… probably, I guess… 

As I get older, I realize the pain I inflict on myself because I have my fierce independence!! It is truly a ridiculous cause… When my oldest son Chris was about 3-4, able to speak, able to understand, able to talk… I told him “Don’t touch the fireplace, HOT!” and he agreed it would be a bad Idea… I walked out of the room, and seconds later I heard the whale of a small boy as he left his index finger print permanently on the glass door of the fireplace… WHY?

Imagine if he had listened, imagine if he had never stretched out that right hand and disobeyed Pops? Imagine if I had protected him from ever falling down, getting burnt and never let him have his BB gun in the house to shoot out the window… perhaps he would have become a mid forties man, kicking at the goad, causing his own discomfort and pain… never to understand if he just stopped kickin, just stopped rebelling, just stopped fighting everyone that cares… life could actually be wonderful!

How often do we keep kicking against the goads? How often do we just fight everyone that cares… why?

I challenge you and myself to this: As the week progresses, decide to stop fighting that one thing that you know you should or shouldn’t be doing… Here are some ideas:

Follow the stupid rules that you keep getting in trouble for.

When your spouse says that one thing, just to push your button, let it go.

When the paper is delivered to that bottom step, say thank you to God that it’s delivered.

When your mom calls you and starts to nag you again, tell God thank you that she cares.

When your daughter makes that mistake, Thank God she still speaks to you.

When your son calls at 2 am, thank God it’s not THE SHERIFF.

A simple change like this can and will change your life. Tomorrow, just don’t kick one time and think about how much better that feels, then the next day, do it twice. I’ve heard it said “If you want to change the world, start by making your bed”

in other words, start with something you can do, and tomorrow, maybe tackle something you thought you couldn’t do…

When you go nowhere, nothing happens. If you know you need to change, just start.

C