Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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The despair that comes from strength.

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When I am strong, I fail, when I am weak, I am strong!

God gave me a strong body, that body is definitely breaking down and starting to fail… The morning pains associated with waking up. The knee that needs injections. The hands that once turned oil filters. The shoulders that pop and crackle. The eyes that once saw clearly. It’s no lie that youth is wasted on the young.

 If I knew then, what I know now, I would not be the man I am. Instead, I would be a different man that does not know what I know now.

One life lesson I am still learning is trusting God to always do what is good and right! 

About two weeks ago Jess and I hit a bump in the road with a situation at Sam’s Place. I wont get into the details, but it discouraged us greatly… We started to question the WHAT, WHY, WHEN, and HOW… Looking into all our alternatives, questioning God himself, asking God… are we hearing your voice? Is this still what you are asking of us? And then, three days ago… I sent Jess this text:

 “Do you think our discouragement about Sam’s Place is because it’s a satanic attack?”

Low and behold, My asking that question has changed our hearts almost overnight. The situation changed dramatically, we got some news that helped us to realize God is still bigger than our issues… God let us know we had been operating in our own strength and we needed to pray more and lean on him more, and so… reclining back, into his arms, we now step forward with his strength.

I am indestructible, unstoppable and in control! Until God destroys my plans, stops me in my tracks and removes me from the operators panel of my life… Jesus regains the lead and I once again, I get out of the driver’s seat, taking my proper place as the tour guide, on the bus that Jesus is driving.  Jesus determines why, where, when and how that bus is operated and I simply tell others about what is outside the  windows of that wonderful tour bus. 

Its difficult to be given the role of “leader” in the Hazzard family tree… Hazzard men are strong, fearless, determined and focused, that leads to being the most important person on the planet! Imagine being so strong that you become blind to restraint! I was once told… “Manly strength is the power to do so much, yet restraining that power for the good of everyone but yourself”… self sacrifice for the good of others? BUT I LIKE TO TAKE CARE OF ME! Like the great words of agent Smith…

ME, ME, and also ME!

How easily I can turn from God and lean on my own understanding, forsaking the words of Jesus “I will never leave you or forsake you” 

How quickly I forget that Jesus has mended my broken heart, held tight the ropes of unbelief, lifted me out of the sewage in my very own Kidron Valley. 

Jess and I are on track again, the unstoppable team with the unstoppable dream. Now, I start playing in a new arena… FUNDRAISING. I know, this is the part that makes you want to avoid me. Do you remember playing “hide and seek”? I was excellent at finding others, not so good at hiding, so, with no further ado… “ready or not, here I come” I am coming in strong. Like it or not, I’m comin in hot. I am asking for donations, and I have God on my side! Or should I say, I am on GOD’S side? 

Today I officially started the unofficial fundraising at Sam’s Place! What are the goals we have to achieve:

Adding Air conditioning for our residents’ comfort during the hot times of the year.

Adding an elevator

Replacing the ramp that meets ADA for our residents safety. 

Updating the kitchen.

Exterior upgrades like paint & awnings.

A van to help residents get to appointments. 

Pavilion for smoking. Away from the building. 

Operational costs of programs that integrate community involvement.

Upgrade our security system.

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Visit us today on the web and contact us. Help us make a home for someone in need.

Welcome to the Sam’s Place family located in the great north woods of Minnesota:

Sam’s Place

200 Huskie Blvd

c/o PO Box 313

Bigfork, MN 56628

218-256-9154

samsplacebf@gmail.com

https://www.samsplacenorth.com

https://www.facebook.com/p/Sams-Place-61559249289857

Thank you, Charlie.

The Smile, The Dash

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I remember seeing a photo, probably at the end of the war. A man hanging on the entrance to a train.  Looking at the platform. Another man held a woman in a firm embrace. Her feet in the air. A loving kiss. The man on the train had a genuine smile. The two on the platform reunited. A man and woman, in love. Welcomed home after what had probably been a few years of war overseas. 

Or the picture of a woman running to the waiting arms of a man. A hand made sign hanging outside reads “Welcome home Hector” A small boy close on the heels of his mother, racing to the loving arms of the man that would return home, changed forever, but home at last. A big smile on all three would be recorded forever. 

In times square, faces, faces and more faces all with smiles. 

A petty officer dances on the streets as a nearby gal watches with a joy filled smile. 

The look on a person’s face tells a story that words struggle to convey.  “A picture is worth a thousand words” pops into my head. 

For me? I don’t remember moments that made my generation dance in the streets, kissing a stranger in Times Square, or confetti flung from windows high above the streets as the “world celebrates” a single event.

Instead, I remember: 

Iran-Iraq War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Tiananmen Square Massacre, AIDS Epidemic, Chernobyl Disaster, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Olympics Boycott,  Iran Hostage Crisis, Emergence of disco, Breakup of the Beatles, Elvis Dies, Ted Bundy, Watergate and the end of the Vietnam Conflict. 

That doesn’t mean we didn’t have things that made me smile. I honestly believe there was a better platform for my “boomer” friends. Don’t get me wrong, Boomers had their fair share of hard times… but gen X?  We had “World Hunger” & “AIDS” celebrations. We are the “Forgotten, Latchkey” generation. So what made us smile? Ask any genX about “MTV” and fond memories are almost always the response. Or say the words “Asteroids” and see a bit of a grin start to form. Or ask them what it is about the phrase “gag me with a spoon” Ask them if they knew any “headbangers” or maybe ask them about which of the “brat pack” they most identify with… 

Every generation has something to smile about, some are big events with streets of confetti, some are sneaking cigarettes and watching MTV before your friend’s dad gets home and tells everyone to get outside and not come home until the street lights are on. 

I see the smiles recorded in history on a train platform, in times Square, On a big screen watching the Breakfast Club… and I realized something… all those before us, all those after us and even ourselves, we all have a smile to talk about. We all have a fond memory, of something. We can all share something that was valuable… but, like so many before us, we will all pass into the land of memories. Collected in a shoebox, a hard drive. Maybe a slab of granite in some StPaul suburb, a mothers last effort to preserve that memory engraved into a headstone, forgotten after only a generation or two… a year connected to another year by only a small “dash”… a dash that represents all the smiles of joy, screams of sorrow, groans of discomfort and days of remembering. 

So many years before me, so many years after me, so many memories in my “dash” I want my dash to be one of joy to those I have influenced, I want my dash to be remembered for the next 40 years by anyone I meet as a memory filled with a smile on their face. I will be forgotten one day, one day I will simply be a picture in a shoe box that hears the words “Mommy? Who is this man? Is he my great, great grandpa? He has a nice smile!” 

I pray your legacy outlives your life and that your smile makes another person’s smile just a little bit warmer. 

God Bless, and “Rock on dude”, Charlie

Crawl spaces, everyone has one somewhere

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I was told once that farmers see cows from the “udder-side”, x-ray techs see people from the “in-side” but in my line of work, I see a lot of houses from the “under-side”.

How do we as Christians see people? Do we see the broken days of failed marriages? Or the messes and destruction from bad choices as parents?  Maybe we see the failures caused by years of selfishness and unforgiveness? 

How should we see people? Should we “FORGIVE AND FORGET?” Should we “LOOK FOR THE BRIGHT SIDE”? Or maybe we should look at the world through “ROSE COLORED GLASSES”?

I think Jesus showed us this example very clearly: 

King David was an adulterous murderer.

Mathew was a thief against his own people.

Saul who became Paul was a bureaucratic murderer that used others to kill his opponents.

Moses was slow of speech and humble.

Adam failed in protecting his wife and then threw her under the bus.

The woman at the well was, not a pinnacle of society. 

Jesus never said “live and let live” Jesus never said, “Well, that’s their truth” Jesus never said “lets just agree to disagree” instead he spoke truth though a profit, convicting David… Instead Jesus called the thief out of a tree for dinner. Instead he confronted and asked “why are you persecuting me?” Instead he used a sinner to free his people. Instead he had consequences of being put out of the garden that are in place to this very day. Instead he told her to stop sinning. Jesus judged everyone, calling some “whitewashed tombs filled with dead mans bones”

A donkey talked to the man that was beating him… God used the Donkey to judge this man and for correction. Maybe the next time you think some “donkey” is talking to you and telling you how you need to change…. LISTEN, before he kicks you, in your butt.

I think about this stuff when my body wreaths in pain as I descend a scuttle hole under a house, tools and replacement pump in hand, to provide comfort to those that are struggling that day. How often do we pass by opportunities in our daily jobs, travels and interactions just to say later… “That “person” was so much less human than I am.” Or “That person did “such and such”!” Or we simply just think…. “If they were as good as myself (you fill in your own words here)”

Donkeys are not stubborn, they are cautious, too bad we don’t follow the example of the “donkey” and show some caution when we start forming thoughts of others… We really don’t know the journey they are on. BUT… I also think it’s safe to say… don’t drive 20 under the speed limit until you get to the passing zone and then speed up to 10 over the limit just to slow down at the next no passing zone GRRRRRR (sorry, personal rant there).

This week I was learning a bit about CPTSD and PTSD… PTSD can be caused from a singular event, it can cause nightmares and mess up the daily lives of people, but today I want to mention CPTSD (Complex PTSD). 

From what I understand, so far, CPTSD is a childhood trauma response. Generally caused from betrayal and trust issues that form deep in the early stages of development of a child.. In other words, those that you should be able to trust the most, causing repeated trauma, betrayal and abandonment. This type of PTSD is different in many ways and needs to be dealt with properly, this PTSD causes extreme issues into adulthood… the physical, emotional and spiritual trauma, all linked to trust, betrayal and abandonment. For me, this has manifest in Fibromyalgia, a constant physical pain in every part of my body… It is by far the hardest thing in life for me to manage. Keeping myself busy is the best physical therapy I have found… Antidepressants helped with the pain for a short time, but caused a huge weight gain that seems harder than it should be to regain the BMI of my youth… This condition actually has increased my pain now. 

I guess my point is a parable of the old “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes” Don’t judge, until… The bible says “do not judge” or does it? The Bible is all about judgment, we have to judge, it’s impossible not to judge… When someone is being abused, we should judge! When someone steals, we should judge! When we decide to turn right vs left…. We judge! We need to judge “rightly” for the right reasons, the right motives, the right purposes… Judging rightly can be difficult, but necessary! 

So, back to crawl spaces. Nobody says “I sure wish I could crawl under that house… I love tight spaces filled with dirt, mice and spiders. I love it when I can hear a raccoon scurry away but it’s too tight to turn and see it charging me… just like with people, sometimes we just need to stop and avoid the worst of crawl spaces because they are just too dark, too dirty and too dangerous. Sometimes we just need to help those that were forced into that crawl space, lend a hand, provide light, or just let them know we are there and there is still a way out… 

I have been in every type of crawl space, steam tunnels with rats, wet trenches by lakes, hand digging a place for ductwork to fit… I’ve been dirty with asbestos, dust and sand, every crack and crevice of my clothing filled, eyes covered with spider webs and once I got face to face with a snake.

Crawl spaces are like people, the one place nobody wants to see, because it reveals the worst places in life. Its not fun to go there but sometimes it’s just unavoidable. 

My Prayer for you today is that God, the ultimate mechanic, can enter your dirtiest crawlspace, clean it up and make it a glorious space to actually visit and work. Charlie