Mark Spruill – Page 11 – Various stuff from the life of J. Mark Spruill

Hard Places To Get To

Nov 272014

I like to hike. I’m not sure why. It’s just walking. Most anybody can do that just about anywhere. Even so, not everybody goes everywhere. I guess that’s the draw and the challenge of hiking for me. The real fun in hiking is all about the places where some people can’t and most people don’t go.

The trail to the top of the mountain with the beautiful view is usually long, winding and difficult. I’m not saying there aren’t beautiful views that are quick and easy to get to. There are. Though in my experience, those places are usually filled with car traffic, hotels, hot dog vendors, and crowds of people. No. If you want to see the place that few people get to see, if you want to quietly adore God’s magnificent creation in a remote natural theatre, it usually means enduring a difficult path to get there. And so it is with life. To get to those special places in life often requires we take the road less traveled and endure a long and arduous journey. If it’s anything like my experience hiking, it’s always worth it.

Growing

Misc., Stories No Responses »

Nov 092014

An interesting character along the path

Sam and I went for a hike in the National Forest yesterday. Since it was a beautiful day at a popular spot, the trail was pretty busy. We met several interesting characters along the way, but one of the most interesting was a rather old looking individual that was standing beside the path.

As we walked past the spot where he was resting, we commented about how large, strong and tall he was. I did a double take then recognized him as one Mr. Oak Tree. Sam, being the friendly guy he is, stopped and struck up a conversation. “How long have you been resting here?” he asked.

“A lifetime,” said Oak with a playful rustle.

Sam and I glanced at each other with a quizzical look of disbelief. This character had to be at least 100 years old.

I turned to Mr. Tree and suggested he might want to move along the path and see more of the world, to which he replied, “The Creator instructed me to wait here, so that’s what I’m doing.”

We stood and stared for a moment, but Oak didn’t seem to mind. As a matter of fact, I think he almost enjoyed the attention. After I took a picture, we turned and headed on down the path. Looking at Sam I commented, “Don’t you wonder what made him so big and strong?”

Oak can evidently see and hear a lot from his height because he heard me and replied with a windy, one-word sigh, “Obedience.”

Cranberry Bread and the Smell of Love

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Nov 012014

As I write this, I can smell the cranberry bread cooking. It smells so good it makes my mouth water just anticipating the wonderful flavor that smell promises. I think the sense of smell is sometimes underrated because we take it so for granted. Or we complain about the bad smells. Skunks, garbage, BO, poop, road kill, rotten meat . . . I’ll take all the bad, if it means I also, on occasion, get to smell that cranberry bread cooking. If I get to smell a rose, or a magnolia bloom in summer, it’s worth a hundred skunks all the rest of the year. It all comes with the sense of smell, a wonderful gift from God. God, who must have considered an evil, hateful world, and decided the beauty of love, given from a free will, was worth it.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
– Ephesians 5:1-2

Plan B

Misc. No Responses »

Oct 232014

The fire ants have invaded my driveway. They have dug their way down through one of the many cracks in the concrete and begun to excavate. The little buggers are almost unstoppable.

We treated the yard this past Spring, which has proved effective for keeping them out of the ground and grass around the house. Unfortunately, we didn’t treat the driveway. We didn’t think we needed to. We were wrong. The ants have found the nice clean dirt beneath my driveway and are now busily moving it from under my driveway to the top, as they excavate their hidden tunnels. Treating all the dirt under the driveway would be a major effort, so I opted for Plan B.

Plan B basically involves using the ants natural instinct against them. Plan B, implemented this morning, began when I sprinkled a little Amdro Fire Ant Killer around the top of the ant city. The greedy little food collecting workers check out the granules and think it’s food, so they grab it and take off back down the hole and under my driveway to store the “food.” Plan B is so effective because what the ants think is food, is really a poison. Plan B is lethal to fire ants and the queen deep inside the mound because the ants take the poison inside themselves. I don’t have to pour it down the hole. I just put a little near their home and watch the greedy ants grab it and pull it into their lair where they eat it, feed it to the queen, and all die.

I smiled this morning as I watched the ants start hauling the poison down their hole. It’s fun to watch them bring about their own demise. With Plan B, I don’t have to do much. Plan B uses the victims own instincts against them. I like plan B. It’s easy. Sometimes I feel a little guilty though. Plan B does seem a bit devilish. I think it’s because Plan B is one of the devil’s favorite plans too. I wonder what poison he will sprinkle out today?

“For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
– Acts 8:23 NKJV

That’s Noise To Me

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Oct 042014

A sign of the times

There is a sign at a local park that says “Annoying Noises Prohibited.” I took a picture of it because it seemed so silly.

I mean, who decides what’s annoying? And how do you enforce such a crazy law? If I bring a baby to the park and it cries, would the police come haul the poor kid off to jail? Are the cars roaring past on the nearby highway breaking the law? They are certainly making an annoying noise to me.

Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy, but it seems like there are a lot of noises that annoy me these days. The traffic noise, the background “music” that plays where I eat lunch, refrigerator motors and A/C compressors humming, machines groaning, beeping and clacking, cell phones ringing, people yelling to be heard above the noise . . . there is noise everywhere. Why does it have to be so?

Since when did people become so afraid of silence? Perhaps it’s not really that they are afraid of what they won’t hear in the silence, but what they will hear. For many, the noise is just a cover up. A distraction. A constant overpowering and drowning out of an unknown sound or a still small voice. Maybe what they fear most is not the silence, but what they might hear in it.

You can turn up the TV to cover the creaking noises in the house late at night. You can plug in your ear buds and crank up the iPod music to drown out the voices. But know this: Even though you can’t hear it, the house is still creaking. And that voice . . . it’s still there . . . waiting to be heard.

Just Enough Clouds

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Sep 162014

Yesterday afternoon, as I drove west on the interstate, the setting sun glared in my eyes. There were a few clouds just below on the horizon, but the sun was still too high for them to provide any protection for my tired, squinting eyes. It was hard to focus on the road.

I thought about how we sometimes use the expression “clouds on the horizon” to mean trouble ahead, and wondered if maybe we were being a bit too harsh to the clouds. A few minutes later, the sun dropped a little lower and the clouds did their work. Instead of tired eyes squinting into a harsh, bright sun, my eyes were now feasting on the beauty of a glorious sunset. The clouds diffused the overpowering sun and erupted in a colorful chorus of praise to the Creator. I praised Him too. A few clouds made the view of my westward journey an intimate treasure.

I woke this morning thinking about what I might learn from the clouds. The simple lesson came through. And so I pray this morning, that God will send just enough clouds in my life to keep me focused on the road. And that He will use those clouds to make my life a thing of beauty, for His glory.

Obedience

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Sep 082014

When you don’t know what to do about something, do the next something you know.

Mosquitoes

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Aug 262014

Mosquitoes make me angry. They quietly touch down on my skin, stick a barb in me, and start sucking my life blood. Sometimes I feel a little sting as they bite. I look down and swat, slapping myself hard and spilling out a few choice words, but it’s too late. Even if I manage to crush the evil bug, he’s already bitten. The red spot and nagging itch are already an inevitability.

I tried to write this post outside, but I was chased inside by mosquitoes. Rarely life threatening, they are annoying, frustrating, creatures. One or two now and then are hardly noticed, but go to a place where it has been wet for a while, and you will suddenly be relentlessly attacked by swarms of them. They can bring misery into even the most beautiful place, just like some people I know.

We all know some mosquito people. They are the people who get under our skin and slowly suck our life blood. Pestering, annoying, biting and stinging, they eventually drive us mad. Of course, different things get under the skin of different people. Some may affect us strongly, while not affecting others at all. The same thing that can be endearing to one, can be annoying to another. To some people, maybe even I am a mosquito. Maybe sometimes that’s why I feel like I’ve been swatted.

Flat Tires and Such

Poetry No Responses »

Aug 052014

Wordle 172

He kicked the flat tire and left his car baking in the sun.
It was a signal his irritation had reached a tipping point.
His brain was all jumbled by a flamboyant appetite for fun.
But the troubles along the way had left him out of joint.
Would he heed at last the sound
Of the truth he’d found?
Instead of break him,
The trials make him.
Would his life disclose the bliss
Of this?

How Old Will I Be?

Misc. 1 Response »

Aug 022014

Having recently survived another birthday, I am reluctantly reminded of my age and the fact that I am getting older. What I also realized is that I will forever be getting older. Someday, I may die. Someday, I may get a new body. Someday, I may live in a different realm. But I won’t get a new “me.” This “me” is an eternal being.

We often speak of people who have died saying they would have been some number years old if they were still alive. That’s not exactly right. It’s the wrong way of thinking about a being that has an eternal spirit. I shouldn’t say my grandfather would be 107 in a couple of weeks if he were still alive because, my grandfather WILL BE 107 years old on August 12. He, just like me, will forever be getting older.

We all are getting older every minute of every day, and the process will never stop, so we might as well get used to it. Besides, there are some advantages to having a birthday. There’s parties and presents and hearing how much you are loved. It’s a time for celebrating. I wonder what kind of birthday parties they have in Heaven? I bet my granddaddy is gearing up for one right now. Maybe a big old angel will blow a horn to start the party, and God Himself will tell the story of how much He has loved my granddaddy since the day he was formed in his mother’s womb. I would love to see it. Who knows. Maybe someday I will. Perhaps we’ll celebrate his 150th birthday together.

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