Mark Spruill – Page 29 – Various stuff from the life of J. Mark Spruill

Human Nature

Jul 012010

My vacation this year has reminded me how much I like nature. Sometimes I feel like I could never get enough of the mountains and the beach. They are beautiful places that show off the wonder of God’s creation.

On this vacation, we headed for the beach. We stopped along the way and spent one night at a swampy lake in Georgia.

Sam paddles through the cypress trees

It was beautiful, but after a little while, the heat and the bugs started bothering us, so we made for the air conditioned comfort of our nice bug-free camping trailer. The next morning, we pulled up camp and finished our two-day journey to the beach. Continue reading »

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Consider This 1 Response »

Jun 252010

What if Jesus had insisted everyone be grateful to him?
What if Jesus had required everyone return the favors?
What if Jesus had demanded what was due him?
What if Jesus had refused to let others take advantage of him?
What if Jesus had forced everyone to do their fair share?
What if Jesus had seen to it that everyone got what they deserved?

What if we all had the attitude of Jesus?

Housework

Consider This 2 Responses »

Jun 222010

I am back from a few days in the mountains and thinking about the question, “How green is green enough?” The earth is definitely getting messed up, but what should I do about it? It seems we humans make messes wherever we go. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the latest big example, but there are plenty others. BP is not the only one fouling the ocean. I’ve seen ocean shores awash with plastic bottles in Haiti, drink cans in the Cherokee National Forest, and cigarette butts almost anywhere imaginable. The air may be smoggy, but the conclusion is clear: We are making a mess.

Of course we humans are not the only ones making messes. If you have ever owned anything, you know it is a constant battle to keep it from falling apart. My house is the biggest example for me. The sun bakes my house paint. Woodpeckers dig in my siding. Tree leaves fall in my pool. Ground squirrels dig holes in my yard and other, more yucky varmits occasionally leave their droppings in my garage. Even the ants have devised a plan to dig all the dirt out from under my concrete driveway so it can crack in a million pieces. I believe their queen has declared war.

Every home purchase comes with a to-do list that never ends. The notepad is longer than the mortgage term because things get written to the list faster than you can cross them off. It seems I spend most Saturdays fighting to keep the small stuff off the list while the big things keep adding on. The only solution is to prioritize. Learn what must be done, and what should wait. The list can’t rule your life or you’ll die with a beautiful house and a bunch of regrets. So, back to the original question. How green is green enough?

I don’t know how green is green enough. However, when I think about my earthly home, there are a few things I do believe:

1) The earth is not my mother. It is my home . . .for now. Just like my house, the earth was built for me, not the other way around.
2) The Builder did a magnificent job.
3) The Builder fully intended for me to care for my house. God planted the garden, but Adam had to tend it.
4) People are more important than houses, but people need houses. Sometimes the house must sacrifice for the people (you should see how my son’s room suffers) but if you sacrifice the whole house, everybody suffers.
5) Someday, we’ll get a whole new house. Until then, we should enjoy and take care of this one.

How do we know if we are doing enough to protect our earthly home? I don’t know. What I do know is that we need to keep working on that to-do list. Keep in mind, we don’t really own the house. We’re just tennants, and the Landlord is watching.

The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.
-Psalm 24:1 NKJV

Worn Out Brakes, and Joy

Consider This, Misc. 2 Responses »

Jun 152010

I had to fix the brakes on my wife’s van yesterday. I didn’t want to do it. It was a lousy job to come home to after a full Monday at the office, but the brakes were making a noise so I decided I better look at them. Bad brakes and mountain driving are not a safe combination.

After dinner, there was a struggle to get the jack in place, a fight with lug nuts that involved a hammer and a breaker bar, and calipers that were at times downright uncooperative. The last rays of daylight were slipping away as Tammy pointed a pathetic excuse for a flashlight at the brake master cylinder. The lid came off easily enough, but I think it took us 15 minutes to get it back on. Now there was just the test drive left to do. Tammy carefully started off, disappeared up the street, then came back smiling. The brakes were working perfectly.

As the old pads (worn almost to the metal) were tossed in the trash, I began to have that feeling of statisfaction that comes from a job well done. It is odd how that works, this inverse relationship. The more you don’t want to do a thing, the more happy you are when it is done. The more difficult the job, the more relieved you are when it is completed. The more you dread the start, the greater joy you have at the finish.

Imagine a day over two thousand years ago, and One who had the most difficult task of all. As the pain and struggles from that long day ended, He declared, “It is finished.” Then came the joy. Perfect joy. Heavenly joy. Unimaginable joy.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
– Hebrews 12:1-3 NKJV

Throw It Away

Misc. 1 Response »

Jun 082010

We had communion last Sunday. It is almost always a moving experience as I eat the bread and drink the juice. Then I toss the plastic cup in the trash and it’s over.

The little cup that held the juice that represented the blood of Christ, tossed away as if it is nothing. It felt a bit strange, like the little cup ought to be more important. But if the bread represents Christ’s body, and the juice represents Christ’s blood, then what does the cup represent? I guess . . . nothing. What else do you need?

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
1Corinthians 2:2 NKJV

My Week-end Plans

Misc. 2 Responses »

Jun 012010

It has been my observation (along with a little help from C.S.Lewis and The Screwtape Letters) that one of the quickest ways to make someone mad is to frustrated his plans. Such was the case with me this past week-end. I wanted to go hiking in the woods, but I did not.

I’ll spare you all the details. Suffice it to say that the list of desired accomplishments for the week-end was much longer than the week-end would allow. What I had hoped would be quick, easy projects turned into long tedious ones. I got more and more frustrated as the end of the day on Monday approached. I could see the opportunity for my hike slipping away and I still didn’t have my projects done. As late afternoon arrived, I stomped out of the house, slamming the door and yelling. Nevermind that it had been my plans to do the projects. All I could think about now was MY plan to go hiking.

My holiday . . . My projects . . . My plans . . . My time . . . I just hate it when MY stuff gets messed up.

Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? . . . Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”
– James 4:1, 13-15 Netbible.org

HElium

Misc. 2 Responses »

May 252010

I bought Tammy some balloons a few days before Valentines day. There were three helium filled balloons. One for Valentines, one for her birthday, and one just because I love her. Two of the balloons have long since deflated, but one is still around.

3 and 1/2 months and still floating!

Believe it or not, the just-because-I-love-you balloon is still floating. That’s close to four months now. I have never had a helium balloon last so long. I have tried to make some guesses as to why this particular balloon is still in the air. Perhaps it’s because it was a little bigger than the others. Or maybe it was filled a little fuller . . . but four month’s worth? For a dollar store balloon?

I’ll probably never know for sure the secret of why this balloon has lasted so long while so many others have faded and dropped. But if I had to guess, I would say it’s because of . . . integrity. No cracks. No tiny holes. No blemishes. No thin spots or weak points. A balloon made for holding HElium and nothing else, doing just that.

As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever.
– Psalm 41:12

Quiet Places

Misc. 2 Responses »

May 172010

As he walked through the parking lot on the way to the shooting range, my son placed the hearing protectors over his ears.

“It’s quiet,” he quipped. “This would be a good place to pray.”

I looked at him and smiled. It struck me kind of funny that he could stand in the parking lot, simply covering his hears, and suddenly declare himself transported to a place of prayer. It wasn’t that he was in a quiet place, it was just that he had made his place quiet. Sam was right. It’s the perfect attitude for talking with God.

Feelin’ Guilty

Misc. 5 Responses »

May 082010

Saturday yard work guilt: Spraying Round-Up weed killer on those tough, determined blades of grass that grow right through the tiniest crack in the street or driveway. Don’t you sometimes admire their tenacity? Did you ever think maybe, if they can live there, they deserve to? Any old weed can grow in a flower bed.

I Once Was a Paper Clip

Consider This 5 Responses »

May 042010

Sometimes I feel like God’s paper clip. Not because I hold things together, but for another reason. Perhaps it’s because of that need we all have to be needed. A need for significance. Let me explain.

Every profession has it’s tools. Carpenters use hammer, saw, level, measuring tape, nails, etc. Some tools are essential; used every day; especially cared for and protected; greatly appreciated because they provide such great usefulness. Other tools, nails for example, are literally a dime a dozen, or less. Good for one purpose. Used once. Easily replaced or substituted. Needed, but not special.

Well, I work in the computer industry. The tools of my trade are things like computers and software, cables, screwdrivers, keyboards, cable testers and . . . paper clips. When the cable modem or DSL router won’t work or the CD gets stuck in the CD reader, you need a paper clip. Grab a paper clip from the nearest desk, bend it straight, push the little recessed “reset” button with it, then toss it aside. There’s plenty more paper clips where that one came from. A useful tool no doubt, but not very extraordinary.

If this is starting to sound like a poor-little-me pity party perhaps that’s because it probably is. But in the process of writing about poor little me, perhaps I can remind myself (and maybe even a few others) that being God’s bendable, useable paper clip is not all that bad. The screwdriver and the computer may get used a lot more, but there are times when only a paper clip will do the job.

You never know when God will reach down, give me a quick bend, and use me to set something right. I trust he doesn’t toss me aside when he’s through either. He has a whole toolbox full of bent paper clips like me. If you asked him why he keeps them I believe he would say, “Those aren’t paper clips! Those are special tools. I keep them all. You never know when I might need them again.”

Anyway, I would rather be one of a thousand paper clips in the bottom of God’s tool box than the most prized tool in the devil’s workshop, wouldn’t you? Stay bendable, be ready for God’s hand, and keep looking for that next reset button.

Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? – Romans 9:21

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