Monthly Archives: May 2017

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They Say I’m Supposed to, But No, I Hear The Music!

When and where do you hear music?

This bird stays up ALL night!  I know this because I wake up hearing him with his endless song.

I know that mockingbirds tweet,chirp, and sing day after day, all day long.  But, all night long as well?  Pretty sure he is desperate for a mate.  Or he may just be determined to keep all other male birds away from his territory.  But at 11pm, or 2:30 am, or 4am in the morning he’s calling away.  He has a song in his heart and it doesn’t matter the time, that little bird is belting out his voice to all who can hear.

I’m supposed to be annoyed, I’m supposed to be upset.  According to a lot of articles I’ve read concerning birds singing all night, I’m supposed to be mad because he’s interrupting my sleep.  I’m supposed to be this and that,……… but I’m not, because I hear the music!  What’s irritating to others is a source of music to me!  Go figure!

Definition of supposed—  Expected or obligated actions on your part.  ex. Everyone expects you to act like they would because you’re SUPPOSED to!  You are supposed to act like they do.  Who is “They”? Why am I obligated to “act as they do”.  I can’t. I won’t. Not when I can hear the music.

I recently experienced a time of grief.  With wonderful support from family and friends I might add.  But it was amazing to me how many folks thought I wasn’t grieving like I was “SUPPOSED to” (i.e. grieving like THEY thought I was obligated to be grieving)  But THEY don’t understand.  I heard the music.  I still hear the music.

“There’s within my heart a melody,

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

Fear not I am with you, peace,…. be still,

In all of life’s ebb and flow,………….

I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,

I shall live with Him on High!”

Those are the words to a great old hymn that has been a favorite of my family for years and years.  It explains the music that I hear.  The music from the Holy Spirit that is inside my head!  (What a blessing for me)

A friend of mine (shout out to Jack!!) and I wrote a couple of songs the other day.  We didn’t write words or add a tune like we were “SUPPOSED TO”.  Instead, we wrote and sang the music that was “what we were hearing in our heads”.

So, whether it’s during a time of grief, or a songwriting session, or listening to a little bird, I’m focusing on the “melody” God has placed in my heart.

Where do you hear the “Music” that God puts in your heart”?  Do you hear it in the birds, nature, the mountains, somewhere in your everyday life?

Do you “hear the music”?  Or do you live each and every day in that “box” of “suppose to do it like “THEY” say”?

I’ve learned a lesson from that always singing mockingbird.  Spend more and more time listening to the “Music” and less and less time in the “box of supposed to’s”.    As a matter of fact, I’m going to try not to even use the word “suppose” when I talk with others.  I know I hear it less and less even when it’s spoken to me.  I can’t hear it……….. not when I’m listening to the “music” in my heart.  Thank You Lord!!

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. Psalm 135:3

See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, with a new song in my heart

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I Never Told Him Goodbye

I never told him goodbye.  Even when we were there as he drew his final breath.

My Daddy was a special man.  He and I had a special relationship.  He trained me well, whether it was the chores on the farm, or how to enjoy life, he gave me a lot of his insight and wisdom.  Most of the time I learned just by being with him.  There are many days I can remember riding with him in his beat up Chevy truck. Whether it was riding through the farm, (and opening all those gates) or a quick trip to town, my Dad and I would always have a good conversation about pretty much any and everything.

He loved life, sharing God’s love, and family.  That’s what he was all about.  He had a way with animals.  He could sense when the cow was sick, or when the chickens were hungry.  He knew how to grow some outstanding hay.  He knew when to cut the hay and when it was cured enough to harvest it.

Goodwater Baptist Church was a HUGE part of his and my Mother’s life.  All the people there were his extended family.  I truly didn’t mind “sharing” my father with them.

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
 You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:2-4
I never told my earthly Father goodbye.  We always told each other “so long”.  “So long”, as in  we will be apart for a while, but then we’ll meet each other again.  My Dad is in Heaven.  I will see him again along with other friends and family.  Your friends and family will also be there.  Jesus promised us that.  He promised us that we all will be together WITH HIM!  Those are not just words.  This is how my Father and my family live.  We believe.
I will miss my Daddy.  But only for “so long”.  “So long Daddy.  I’ll see ya again!”
So long to all of you out there.  See Ya!!   Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher
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If It Don’t Fit……..

Solving this Spiritual Mystery

I’m building a log chair.  Should be a rather simple process of putting a bunch of sticks together right?  But you see that one short log spindle laying on the ground in front of the chair?  That one piece has caused the whole log chair to not fit.  The small spindle was cut to fit on the left arm side.  When placed in the holes cut specifically for it, it fit!!  It fit perfect!!  But every one of the other spindles and logs were suddenly no longer tight.

Still in a delay and waiting on building the log house, I chose this log chair project as an afternoon chore.  A simple design, small logs and limbs readily available, the building task was begun.  But instead of a quick construction of my own chair, it became a time when I scratched my head, measured and re-measured.  This fitting together of several log pieces has become perplexing,confusing, and……..a mystery.

How can one piece cause all the others to not fit?  How can all the pieces of the chair fit tightly, until I add the one single perfectly cut piece.  Then the chair is as “loose as a goose”.

Honestly I never figured it out.  Maybe the holes were cut at an angle, or the spindle was bent, or my measuring was off.  What ever the reason, it didn’t fit.  So,……… I got rid of what I thought was the perfect fitting log spindle, and replaced it with another.  Lo and behold if the chair  now fits perfectly together all over.  The connections are tight.  I’m on my way to having a tight fitting homemade log chair.  Never quite figured out the mystery, but the chair is being completed.

8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.  Ephesians 1:8-10 NIV

Friends, if I can’t figure out the mystery of my log chair, then this spiritual MYSTERY of how God wants to Be in our lives is even more complicated to explain.  Through Christ, God “constructs” a perfect fit for us to be with Him.  Our own way of thinking sometimes causes us to try to add what we think is a “perfect fitting piece” to our spiritual life.  But that seems like when our whole spiritual existence becomes “loose as a goose”.  Solution???  Better to let God do the measuring, the carving, the whittling in our lives.  Better to let God have control.  Why God would send His Son into the world for little ole me and you is….. well, it’s a mystery.

I love a mystery.  When the mystery is being lived out daily, maybe I need to focus more on the mysteries and not necessarily trying so hard to solve them.

I’m now looking forward to sitting in my log chair pondering life’s mysteries.  Knowing and believing my God has all the solutions gives me a relaxing fresh breath of life.  It’s still a mystery………

See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth wildernesspreacher, “scratchin’ my head as I go through life”.