IF IT WERE THE LAST TIME....

Yesterday I was out exploring the island and the following thought flashed through my mind. It probably borders on the morose but I felt the need to write about it anyway. My thought was “If this was the last time you’d ever see the beach, what would you do? And would you do anything differently?” On the way back to the magic bus my mind expounded on this thought and wondered if we applied that to everything in our life, how much better would this world be?

If it was the last time to see you husband would you really be upset that he left the toilet seat up? If it were the last time to see your wife, would you really be upset that she bought a coat that was on sale? If it were the last time to see your son, would you be upset he didn’t mow the grass yet? If it were the last time to see your daughter would you be upset because she came in late last night? If it were the last day on the job, would you be complaining about the copier or your co-worker? If it were the last time to see your father, would you be upset he took your cell phone away?

If we knew for certain something was going to be the last time ever wouldn’t we act just a little bit different? Maybe we would act just a little better, have a little bit more patience, show a little bit more love and have just a tiny bit more compassion for others? But so many of us (including me) just assume our wife/husband will walk in the door at night or our kids will always be safe or our job will always be there or our parents will live forever. I’m not suggesting this has to be our waking 24 hour thought, but just the next time we get ready to complain, be mad or angry, let’s just stop and put things in perspective. There are no guarantees in life and we may just pass this way once. God Bless you, Art.

INTO THE BEACH-REAGAN

The rain stopped and I thought I’d head out to the beach with my good buddy Reagan this morning. I packed my chair including his ball of course. I didn’t know I was in for a spiritual lesson. Now the only part of this adventure I don’t look forward to is the actual walk to the beach, as Reagan normally pulls my left shoulder out of socket. Now as long as he hears my voice, obeys my command to heel we get along fine. But as soon as he starts looking around and sniffing every blade of grass, tree or shrub we have issues. Then it becomes a matter of whose will is going to win.

And then it came to me that this is exactly how my walk with God for 52 years has been. As long as I hear his voice and obey his commands we don’t have a problem. His yoke is light in other words. But as soon as I start looking at what the world has to offer and go to smell the grass on the other side of the path and struggle to follow my will, that yoke gets real heavy. And I think we all know whose will is going to prevail. Take it from me, free will without obedience is a recipe for disaster.

I’m afraid to admit however that I’m more like Reagan than I should be. I think with some daily training Reagan would learn the meaning of the word heel and I’d learn the meaning of obedience. I must be the world’s biggest hypocrite! You all have a great day and Reagan will try not to lower the seas today!! God Bless, Art

INTO THE WILD

Every now and then you make a decision that alters the landscape of you life. Sometimes it changes who you are or defines who you are. Recently I made just one of those types of decisions. After getting my driving privileges back in March, I wanted to ride my motorcycle out west and see the big hole. It's really been a life long dream of mine to spend some serious time out west. Well somebody suggested an RV and just haul the bike. I originally thought that was out of the question due to prices, but then I started researching and low and behold the recession had hit the RV industry too!

Well the next thing you know, Ol' Jed's a millionaire. I'm now the owner of a 2002 Fleetwood Bounder thanks to the persistence of my son and friend. For the techies out there it is 36ft long on a workhorse chasis with an allison transmission and a vortec 8.1L motor and one slideout, with only 21,000 miles. That means it is a "gas" engine as opposed to a "diesel" motor. I like to think she is brand new. Now some people throw caution to the wind and do things without thinking thru the whole plan. I'd like to think I'm not in that crowd but this just might qualify.

After one month of ownership I almost qualify as an expert RV Mechanic advisor. Let's just say I know people who know people that know how to fix things. I've had a brake bulb replaced which just happened to affect the cruise control, replaced blown fuses, repaired a split in a plastic hose, ran a fresh water line to the freezer, hooked up the antenna, digital box converter and dvd player and replaced two hose fittings. Now I'm sure there were some other little things that just escape my mind at the moment. Did I mention satellite tv was installed last week after only one hour on the phone with Direct TV? Now how hard is it?

I am currently on my second (maiden?) voyage at the beach after a great 5 day stay in the mountains at Lake Jocassee. I'm currently at Huntington State Beach Park which is south of Myrtle Beach and north of Litchfield Beach in S.C. We (Reagan and me) arrived about 5 o'clock and I set up the RV while he terrorized his new neighbors. After dinner we found the beach and thankfully only a couple of people were on it as Reagan felt like he had the whole thing to himself. He hasn't figured out the whole wave thing but I swear I've never seen a dog run so much. The only thing that really slowed him down at all was a beached jellyfish.

It's raining today at least in the a.m. which is why I'm writing so early. I think a friend of mine, the only one I have, LOL is stopping by today sometime. I promise (kinda) to update this more frequently now that the great adventure "INTO THE WEST" is beginning. About the only thing lacking on the Magic Bus is the motorcycle lift which should be installed next week. Another degree in engineering was needed to figure that one out.

I love the sound of the ocean waves, or is it the idling of a diesel motorhome I hear?