Mark Spruill – Page 27 – Various stuff from the life of J. Mark Spruill

What Chicken Little Knew

Oct 122010

The walnuts woke me up last night. They fall from the tree beside our house onto the roof, making a terrible racket in the process. My poor roof suffers from the pounding.

Every year I think “This is the last year I am putting up with that.” A few weeks ago I even crawled on the roof to take care of the issue, but it was already too late.

A Walnut Tree Hangs Over My House

My plan was to cut off the limbs that were hanging over the roof with a pruning saw. As I started to saw on the limb, it started to shake. Not a good scenario with a bunch of ripe walnuts hanging over my head. I briefly considered topping my bald head with a motorcycle helmet I had stashed in the garage. Perhaps an acceptable plan B, but I couldn’t deal with the thought of my neighbors driving by and seeing me standing on the roof of my house wearing an old motorcycle helment while playing dodge ball with a tree intent on pelting me with black walnuts. After a few more minutes of timid sawing and pondering the danger, I gave up and slinked off the roof. The tree trimming would have to wait until next year.

Now the walnuts are falling pretty regularly, making me flinch during the day and waking me up in the night. For some strange reason, it reminds me of Chicken Little who cried, “The sky is falling!” when he got hit on the head by an acorn. As I narrowly escaped being bonked by a black walnut, I realize Chicken Little might not have been as crazy as he first seemed.

Here’s the thing: Chicken Little wasn’t wrong about the sky, he was just wrong about the timing. One day the sky will fall. And when that day comes, I don’t want to be running around looking for a motorcycle helmet. I want to be prepared.

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place . . . “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
– Revelation 6:12-14,17 NKJV

Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Oct 082010

A Spider Lily in the Middle of the Yard

Bloom where you are planted. It’s the best way to get your beauty noticed. . . and to keep from getting mowed over. 😉

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. – Luke 12:27

Old Story, New Light

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Oct 022010

I was blessed this morning while reading the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. I challenge you to read it from the King’s perspective. If you are like me, you may find that you can relate more to his arrogance, impetuousness, remorse, worry, self effort, attempt at faith and . . . God’s rescue. Daniel is a real hero. The king . . . is me.

Check out Daniel Chapter 6

Let the Chips Fall Where They May

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Sep 292010

When I was a small child, I used to play in the back yard with a friend named Benji. I don’t remember much about Benji. We moved away when I was 6. I remember even less about Benji’s dad. But there was one incident involving Benji and his father that has always stuck with me.

It happened one hot summer day in Benji’s side yard. Continue reading »

Ragweeds In My Brain

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Sep 252010

I woke up this morning with weeds growing in my brain. Saturday mornings are a time when I sleep in a little bit, and if I am not careful, the weeds can take hold while I lay in bed contemplating the day. When I feel the weeds growing, I know it’s time to crawl out of bed and do something about it. I reach for the weed-killing Word, and talk with the Master Gardener.

Weeds are a constant battle for me, but my garden is too important to ignore them. They only get tougher to iradicate if I let them grow. Vigilance and quick action is the key to a healthy garden.

“Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
– Mark 4:18-19

The Last Swim of Summer

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Sep 192010

I went swimming today, perhaps for the last time this year. The day was hot and the pool water was warm, so I jumped in. I love that feeling of reckless abandon when my feet leave the deck and I am flying toward the water. I break the surface and the water envelopes me, inviting me into a different world. I am in a liquid universe where I can fly along the bottom or float at the top, moving easily in three dimensions. I may be made for the earth, but the water was made for me. All Praise to the Creator.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. . .
Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
– Genesis 1:1,9,10 NKJV

A Faint Reflection

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Sep 162010

A few nights ago, I went out with my little telescope to look at the stars. The light pollution in Atlanta is so bad that it makes it very difficult to see anything unless it is very bright, but I still found a few things worth seeing. There were some binary stars, a few barely visible galaxies, and three planets.

Venus was visible as the brightest planet. In fact, I think it is about the brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and moon. A little bit later, Jupiter rose in the South Eastern sky. It was bright, reflecting the Sun’s glory from millions of miles away. As I peered at it through the telescope, I could even see its moons. I decided to try for a bigger challenge.

A little up and to the right should be Uranus. Would it even be possible to spot such a far away planet? I searched. There were dots of light everywhere. But focusing in on one, in the right spot and about the right brightness, I noticed it was different. Stars appear as a pinprick of light, but this was a miniscule disk of blue-green color. I had found it.

What a wonderful creation. Almost 3,000 times less bright than Jupiter. Smaller and much farther away, it is a tiny disk of light far out in space. And yet, for those who take the time to look, it is still faithfully reflecting the glory of the Son.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18

Battered

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Sep 132010

: A Battered & Tattered Butterfly

Ever feel like this?

This guy was sitting on my back patio, just slowly flapping his wings up and down. I don’t know if he could still fly or not. One thing I do know, he’s been through a lot.

When I took this picture, I could definitely relate. That was a few days ago. Today, I realize that I am still in the catepiller stage. I am grateful that when I break from my cocoon, my butterfly life will be in the Father’s meadow, full of sunshine and beauty. And my wings, will be eternally perfect.

Life Near the Trash Can

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Sep 052010

Flies! I hate ’em. They really know how to mess up a lunch at the park. Buzzing around, landing on my hamburger, gnawing on my fries, sipping on my straw, they drive me crazy! Where did all these flies come from anyway? I can only assume they’ve been breeding on the junk thrown in the trash cans. But they are not satisfied with that. No, they have to come out of the trash can in search of MY food. They refuse to let me eat in peace.

The real issue is that the trash cans are too close to the picnic tables. People are too lazy to walk far to toss trash, so they make a free fly smorgasbord right next to where they set the good food. Now nobody is happy but the flies. They can have rotten food for the main course, then chow down on my hamburger for desert.

That’s the problem with living too close to the trash. You end up constantly swatting flies. And in the end, even the good stuff gets spoiled.

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
– John 12:42-43 NKJV

Driven

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Aug 272010

I was in an upscale shopping center. An out-door mall of sorts with parking in the middle and shops on each side. The parking lot was full of BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexuseseses. (I’m not sure how to pronounce, much less write the plural of “Lexus.”) I even spotted a Jaguar and a Porche. Clearly, not the same vehicle mix as the Wal-Mart parking lot.

It was obvious that the folks in this shopping center had the resources to do a lot of good. Perhaps many of them did. Or perhaps they spent all their income on cars. I can’t throw stones. I spend a lot of my extra income on “toys” like a boat, a camper, and a swimming pool.

However, this particular walk through the automotive cream-of-the-crop did get me wondering what the world would be like if all that money was spent on something else. Kind of a what-would-Jesus-drive thought. But with the exception of a borrowed donkey or perhaps a fisherman’s boat on occasion, the only transportation Jesus had was his feet. Even my 1999 Chevy van seems extravagant compared to that.

So what would Jesus drive? Well I think that depends on where He lives. Does He live with me? Is He really my Lord? Am I allowing Him to do with me as He wills? Does everything I have REALLY belong to Him? If so, then I only need look in my driveway to know the answer. If you want to know the answer too, just peek out your window when you get home tonight. Can you see it? Whose car is that in your driveway?

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