Tag Archives: Being God’s Creation

Posted on

Caught Until Mercy Came Along

Poor Baby Deer got caught in the fence.  But with my phone taking pictures in one hand, and my fence cutters in the other, this little fellow is fixin’ to experience mercy from me, ………and FREEDOM!

As  I was driving to the log barn, I saw this fawn at the edge of the field.  He took off running,….. well, running like a deer.  But this time when the poor thing tried to cross the fence, he got caught.  Lord have Mercy!  Wait, maybe I can have mercy on this young deer myself.  I’ll help him escape.

“Lord have Mercy!”  That’s the second most common sayin’ in the South.  It’s almost up there with “Bless Her Heart”.  It ranks just ahead of “Hey, whatcha doin’?”   This deer is in dire need of some mercy.  He is stuck.  He is trapped, caught, unable to get away, and having the “worsest” day of his life. (That’s badder than bad there).  Lord have Mercy. 😉

Hebrews 4:16 NIV  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Definitions of the word mercy:   a compassionate treatment of those in distress, it’s a kind or forgiving treatment to someone in a bad or desperate situation.

Much like this deer, I’ve been in bad situations, even desperate situations.  Just like this deer I’ve cried out!  He cried out “Baaaaaa”, as I cut the fence from around him.  I’ve cried out “Lord have mercy” even as I guess God was in a spiritual sense “cutting me free from fences”. I’m sure you yourself have been caught a time or two.  Did you approach God for His mercy?  I’m betting you did like this deer and kept trying to get out of the situation all on your own.  We struggle and struggle to get out and away, all on our own too many times.  Lord have Mercy!

So take some advice from this deer.  Approach God, allow Him to approach you when you are trapped “in your fence”.  Accept this mercy and grace from above.  We don’t deserve it, but God is more than willing to give to us.  Lord have mercy…….. and thank you Lord.

PS  The baby deer was not hurt in any way (except maybe its pride), just lost a little hair.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, part time hero for a baby deer

Posted on

Do Not Conform, But BE Transformed

I’m nervous.  See, I’ve been talking with several builders who I want to help me finish my log home.  I’m doing the log work, I need these expert carpenters to help with the foundation, roof, and all interior work.  One has already declined because he can’t guarantee HIS work because he doesn’t know how good MY work is.  (Can’t blame him…..It’s not everyday that you hear of a Mississippi ‘redneck’ building a log cabin in his barn in Mississippi and then planning on bringing this cabin out to Colorado piece by piece on a truck).

One of the builders has taken an interest.  He’s got lots of questions.  So I send him the set of blueprints, along with the list of questions answered ( how big are the logs, what kind of tree used, how long have they been drying, etc,etc).  And…… he wanted pictures.  So I sent pictures.  Pictures of my carving and cutting the notches.  Pictures of what I’ve done.  (He’ll have to decide if this Mississippi boy is qualified to undertake building a log home….. and decide if he wants to help.)  That’s when I saw the picture of all the waste.

Man, look at all that waste.  A big ole pile of sawdust, shavings, knots, bark ,….. all removed so that my trees can be transformed.  What was once a tree (that I planted 35 yrs ago) has turned into a log.  This log now must be carved and cut using my chainsaw to be transformed even further.  What was once my tree, what was once my logs, are becoming transformed into something even more special……. my home sweet home.

Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– His good, pleasing and perfect will.

This log home is a physical way of me showing how I live my spiritual life.  I take a tree I planted.  This tree is probably more crooked, bent, not so perfect as what you could buy in the wood yard.  But hey, it’s my tree.  Through a lifelong process, (some days it seems like forever),  I’m gradually cutting and carving (TRANSFORMING) this log into part of my house.

God takes an interest in me (and you).  He sends His Son Jesus to show His Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness to me (and you).  He “helps” me with my own life by sometimes carving and cutting what I’m doing and BEING into what HE wants, what HE thinks is best.  (Call it BEING Transformed!!)

Back to my log house.  The log home builder is going to decide if I measure up to him deciding to build this house. (Decisions, decisions, huh?)  Do you think he will choose to help with this project? ( I’m taking a moment as doubts and fears creep into my thoughts. OK times up, get outa here doubts and fears!)

He will choose to help.  Why?????   Because he’s not using not so perfect trees,….. he’s not using logs that have not been cut and carved,……He’s not looking at an amateur log builder,…….., Or a Mississippi ‘redneck’ ,  or whatever you and I could see as an excuse. What will he see?  Will the builder agree to build this project?  And Why??

Yes, the builder will agree to this.  The Builder will see the transformation.  From trees to logs to what I have been seeing all along from day one.  My HOME SWEET HOME.   (BAM!  The sound of my microphone dropping.)     😉

(Picture of what my TRANSFORMED logs will look like!)

log home int

See Ya!!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher,    part time (full time) transformer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Have You Taken a Road Less Traveled?

My order is ready, at a town two hours away.  I make the decision to go get it myself.  The best decision I make today…….. is to travel on the road less taken.  The back roads, the dirt roads,……. away from the hustle and bustle.  I met someone who I haven’t talked with in a long while,…..  Myself.

It would have been so easy to hit the four lane, the expressway, and follow the crowd.  I’m sure I could have made the trip in under two hours, (instead of the three and a half).  There was the possibility of sending someone else to get it for me.  Matter of fact, why didn’t I just have it shipped to my home address.  Nope, I’m going to make this decision.  This trip will become part of my journey on Earth today.  And like the poem says, taking the less traveled road has made all the difference.

Here are some of the things that happened to me.  My radio hasn’t been that loud since,….. well, I didn’t know it would play that loud.  With the windows rolled down, (who needs air conditioning), I had the music blasting.  Country songs, a couple of praise songs, and then… Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ down a Dream”.  Yep, it’s sing along, karaoke time.

Stopped at a country store, got a Root Beer.  Thought about, well, for a while there I thought about nothing.  Until an old rock and roll song came on…… highway to the Danger Zone!

It dawned on me that my phone hadn’t rang in a while.  I check it.  Sure enough, there is no service here!  I would later realize that I’m surviving without my phone.  What is amazing to me is that in this modern world how we have become slaves to our phones.  They are mobile devices which means that we must let them follow us everywhere.  Then we religiously check them to see if any messages have come in, to see if facebook has done anything that I need to know that very instant.  I do the unthinkable…… I cut mine off.

That’s when I saw this kid on a bicycle.  He must have been about 12 years old.  As I’m driving past a large graveled driveway, I see him.  There is a mud hole about the size of my truck in this driveway.  I see him.  “Don’t do it” I yelled.  I actually did yell out loud.  (I’m the guy in movie theaters that yells “don’t go in there” to the screen during a scary movie).  As I’m yelling, the kid plows his bike into that big ole mud hole.  It probably wasn’t but a few inches deep.  But his reaction was priceless.  In his mind, he must have jumped the Grand Canyon, or won the Olympic gold, because he raised his hands up in the air in victory.  I laughed from the bottom of my heart.  I just witnessed the glorious victory of a twelve year old kid on his bike winning some gigantious event!!!!!!  And now I’m jealous.

I miss those days when I used to ride my bike through the mud holes.  The days of stopping at a country store for a snack and drink.  I miss those times, especially now in this world we face and live in.  But wait a minute.  It’s my decision.  I can choose how I live in this crazy world.  I can follow the crowd on the interstate, or literally and spiritually, I can take the back road.

(Jesus said), “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to LIFE, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14

That scripture sounds like a “country dirt road” to me, doesn’t it to you?  I mean spiritually we can follow the “interstate” and let life pass us by, or we can make the deliberate decision to take the narrow road.  Follow Christ’s teachings.  Live the Christian way of life.  It’s a narrow road, but it makes me come alive.

As I make my way back home from this trip, it dawns on me.  There is a HUGE mud hole about 5 miles from my home!  I’m not twelve years old anymore, but a part of me has and will never grow older than that.  I don’t have a bicycle, but I do have a Toyota Tundra pick up.  It going to be a thrill to hit that mud and plow right through.  I can taste the victory now.  There’s room in my truck for all of you to join in.  Better yet, get in line.  Join me!  We’ll make a convoy!  A blasting radio is a must!

Safe travels on your journeys.  My prayer is that you spiritually take and follow the narrow (back country) road.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, part time stunt driver!!