April 28, 2008

Words of Wisdom

Last month I made a flying trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to perform/speak at an inter generational men's breakfast at Sandia Presbyterian Church. It was the first time they had tried this event, but hearing the responses from attendees, it sounds like it could become an annual event for them. I had a great time performing, as well as seeing some of Albuquerque with my host, Mike Molony. Mike is a performer in his own right, having worked in radio broadcasting for 26 years, and doing some stand-up comedy too. Mike, thanks for your wonderful hospitality while I was there.

While travelling in New Mexico last month, I had the opportunity to see a few sights in the Albuquerque area.

One of my hobbies is Geocaching (treasure-hunting with a handheld GPS), and this trip took me driving to the top of the Sandia Mountains. Take a look at my GPS screen: it went that way for 13 miles.

I visited Tinkertown Museum, which is an amazing creation of Ross Ward, a woodcarver/tinkerer. His museum houses 100s and 100s of hand carved figures, buildings, circuses and anything else you can imagine. Ross used to tell people,

"I did all this while you were watching TV."

I love it! I also read a sign that Ross had painted that I liked, but can't figure out who to attribute the original saying to. It says,

You don't stop playing because you grow old.
You grow old because you stop playing.

How true. I hope I never stop learning how to have fun throughout life, whether it is a time of harvest, or a time of trials. John 14:27 says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." -AKJV I've grown into the realization that no matter what life can throw at me, I can still have peace. The world offers us satisfaction (peace) through the material things we get, or through power over others. The Bible's teaching is contrary to that, in that we can have peace at ALL times, knowing that God provides all of our needs, whether in slim times or hearty times.

If you are not at peace about your own life, let me challenge you do talk to folks at your church, or within your community of believers, and discover true peace for yourself. Or, give me a call, and maybe I can offer some words of encouragement, hope and peace. I would find it an honor to share time together with each one of you.

------------------------------------------

April here in Minnesota has been WEIRD. That's the only word I can think of to describe it. Here's why:

I had some shows booked for April, and every one of them cancelled or changed the date. With no shows for the month, I set my focus on getting my DVDs filmed, edited and packaged. Due to construction at the studio, I had to cancel that time slot also.

I did end up with a few bookings near the end of the month, but I found out how I could spend my time accomplishing other things.

I went and watched Deanna (15 years old) earn a spot on the JV Golf Team at her high school. I played tennis with Dale (12 years old) and Debbie to get Dale ready for his summer on the tennis team. I honestly believe that tennis is Dale's sport. He has excelled so quickly, and plays it so naturally. Go Dale!

I have started a short course in the use of Adobe InDesign, a computer publishing program. My hope is to re-release my magic/clowning lecture notes from 18 years ago, "The Creative Mind", using this program, as well as compile many files from my computer into more manageable formats. The course is about 18 hours long, and I've completed the first 3 lessons (about 5 hours).

One more strange thing about Minnesota is that you can never predict the weather. Last week it was sunny and 70 degrees, so I planned a get together here in Mora with the East Central Minnesota Geocachers group. Saturday rolled around, and Minnesota got socked by a snow storm. In April. Mora only received about 2 inches, but other parts of northern MN received as much as 16" in 24 hours. Thankfully the folks that I had invited were all hearty outdoor people, and more showed up than were expected. Here is a photo of some friends out searching in the blowing snow:

--Doug, Jeff and Bill. I took the photo.--

As you read this blog, please feel free to post comments at the bottom of each listing. I love to hear from you all, and what is happening in your lives.

Until next time,

DonB!

No comments:

Post a Comment