Yes, I am / we are Facebookers. Join us if you'd like (we're under 'Bower Family' in the Charlotte, NC network). One of the funny things about FB that I've seen is the groups that are available for one to join.
Every time we get a new friend, I like to check out their profile for a few keys things. I marvel sometimes at the number of groups I have seen and how specific they are to a certain 'tribe' (sorry for the marketing-speak there). It seems as though any idea one has in their mind can be translated into an invitation to join with others who think/believe similarly. There's everything from 'So-and-so for President' to 'I remember the phrase such-and-such from some previous decade/era'.
When we get these requests, we generally ignore them. We've joined a few, but I mostly just don't want to either spend the time researching what the group really is and who is in it or I simply don't want to associate with it. But I was thinking about what groups I might form if I was so inclined. With that in mind, following are a few groups I would create if I had the desire to. I'd be interested to know which one(s) you would join. Let me know.
1. I think carrot juice is among the healthiest nutrients one can put in their body.
2. I place the receipt totals from my organic carrot purchases under 'medical expenses' in my family budget (see #1)
3. The older I get, the more I appreciate the truth and simplicity of a well-written children's song
4. I like sports as much as the next guy, but I am significantly opposed to any type of public funding for arenas/stadiums.
5. I use to brag about being 'hearty' during the winter months when I lived in the north, but I do not miss the cold temps.
6. I save storage cost/space by keeping unused furniture in my office at work
7. I would like to have the job where you get to come up with names for the new colors that they make.
8. I could not carry a tune if my life depended on it.
9. I think everybody should watch the following video and really think it through: check it out
10. I remember well the meaning of these four words: Kirby Puckett, Game Six
11. I have pulled an 'all-nighter' in my post-student days
12. I think it's easier to type 'How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?' than it is to say it.
13. I have never read Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' and do not intend to ever do so.
14. I wish people would properly use the phrase 'couldn't care less' instead of 'could care less'.
15. I bet you would click on this link just to see if there really is a group by this title.
Who's with me?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Which things are God's?
I read one of those somewhat familiar passages in the Bible the other day. I've heard it, read it, pondered it all before. Or so I thought. There's always more, isn't there? Mark 12:13-17 is what I read and I'm still left with a question or two surrounding it. Join me in seeking the best answers to them, won't you?
The setting has the Pharisees and other religious leaders trying to trick Jesus and 'trap him in his talk'. This is during the last week of Jesus' life before the crucifixion and we've already been given fair warning by Christ Himself that things were about to drastically change. Three times in the previous few chapters, He's pretty well laid it out. They're going to arrest me, mistreat me (with some not-so-uncertain terms to describe the mistreatment), kill me and then I'm going to come back from the dead three days later. Things are heating up.
Now we find ourselves listening to Jesus admonish and teach on a number of subjects in the midst of that growing heat in greater Jerusalem. And taking on all comers. Whenever I've read this passage before, I always seemed to play the role of the out-of-shape but still awkwardly involved fan of a sports team. "Here they come with their best shot, Lord"..."be careful (like I actually have any advice to share as to what to do or say in the situation!)"..."be God and all that stuff but, you know, GO GET'EM!!!". And then, voilà, the Savior comes through with the clutch shot that wins the game! Take that, you punks! Go start 'rendering' and get back to me later. Hey, by the way, Lord, that was some quick thinking. Way to go. And then off I go to my armchair approach to listening to God among us preach away some more.
But then that second phrase got me. "And (render) to God the things that are God's." It was directed to the questioning Pharisees and Herodians for sure. But everybody heard it. And maybe this time I did too. We're in the 'rendering' season with taxes coming due in the coming weeks. But that only starts to cover the Caesar part. And then the other half of the equation still needs more thoughts, conclusions and action. If we are to give the shiny coins to the powers that be, how do we obey the rest? Which things are God's?
It's easy to start the list with the typical Sunday School answers. My heart. My family. My future. My finances. My...well, everything. But I wondered if there is more. As I thought on the list being compiled, it seemed with all the 'big' things I was coming up with, acknowledgment of who God was and what He was doing in the midst of them is key. Rendering my job to God means realizing that it is from God and needs to be somehow approached for God. And the same with plans that I have for future endeavors, interactions with others whether close and intimate (family) or not so much (the clerk at CVS that I spent 120 seconds with this afternoon), and the dreams that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Those are all fine and good for Sunday philosophizing, but what about the other umpteen hours a week? In discussing this briefly as a family, we concluded that we must render each of the 'little' things to God as well. While we want to give Him our friendships, that must also mean we render that discussion tomorrow that we know will happen at about 4:20 PM to Him as well. We can give Him our finances, but it must necessarily affect what we do with that four dollars that we have in our pocket (even as we drove by the $2 special that two of us did yesterday and wondered about for a very brief moment).
So while I can say that I am rendering my 'life' to God, my prayer is that it is evident moment by moment, decision by decision, action by action, and attitude by attitude. And as I continue to ponder this passage, I trust that the height of Jesus' temple teaching will settle into the mundane details of me.
The setting has the Pharisees and other religious leaders trying to trick Jesus and 'trap him in his talk'. This is during the last week of Jesus' life before the crucifixion and we've already been given fair warning by Christ Himself that things were about to drastically change. Three times in the previous few chapters, He's pretty well laid it out. They're going to arrest me, mistreat me (with some not-so-uncertain terms to describe the mistreatment), kill me and then I'm going to come back from the dead three days later. Things are heating up.
Now we find ourselves listening to Jesus admonish and teach on a number of subjects in the midst of that growing heat in greater Jerusalem. And taking on all comers. Whenever I've read this passage before, I always seemed to play the role of the out-of-shape but still awkwardly involved fan of a sports team. "Here they come with their best shot, Lord"..."be careful (like I actually have any advice to share as to what to do or say in the situation!)"..."be God and all that stuff but, you know, GO GET'EM!!!". And then, voilà, the Savior comes through with the clutch shot that wins the game! Take that, you punks! Go start 'rendering' and get back to me later. Hey, by the way, Lord, that was some quick thinking. Way to go. And then off I go to my armchair approach to listening to God among us preach away some more.
But then that second phrase got me. "And (render) to God the things that are God's." It was directed to the questioning Pharisees and Herodians for sure. But everybody heard it. And maybe this time I did too. We're in the 'rendering' season with taxes coming due in the coming weeks. But that only starts to cover the Caesar part. And then the other half of the equation still needs more thoughts, conclusions and action. If we are to give the shiny coins to the powers that be, how do we obey the rest? Which things are God's?
It's easy to start the list with the typical Sunday School answers. My heart. My family. My future. My finances. My...well, everything. But I wondered if there is more. As I thought on the list being compiled, it seemed with all the 'big' things I was coming up with, acknowledgment of who God was and what He was doing in the midst of them is key. Rendering my job to God means realizing that it is from God and needs to be somehow approached for God. And the same with plans that I have for future endeavors, interactions with others whether close and intimate (family) or not so much (the clerk at CVS that I spent 120 seconds with this afternoon), and the dreams that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Those are all fine and good for Sunday philosophizing, but what about the other umpteen hours a week? In discussing this briefly as a family, we concluded that we must render each of the 'little' things to God as well. While we want to give Him our friendships, that must also mean we render that discussion tomorrow that we know will happen at about 4:20 PM to Him as well. We can give Him our finances, but it must necessarily affect what we do with that four dollars that we have in our pocket (even as we drove by the $2 special that two of us did yesterday and wondered about for a very brief moment).
So while I can say that I am rendering my 'life' to God, my prayer is that it is evident moment by moment, decision by decision, action by action, and attitude by attitude. And as I continue to ponder this passage, I trust that the height of Jesus' temple teaching will settle into the mundane details of me.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
There, I Did It!
I finally posted again.
Random thoughts that I've had lately:
1. Forty-some years ago, our nation was struggling with civil rights issues. Deep-rooted sin was in the process of being exposed and small steps of progress were experienced. We have now elected our first African American president as a nation. What a moving thought and reality! I can't help but think what the next half century or so might bring. What part of our society is currently marginalized to some degree, only to see tremendous change in the coming decades? May I offer a thought/dream/suggestion? Before I do, please keep in mind that I am in no way comparing the civil rights movement and the experience of black individuals in this country to the group of people that I am about to note. There is indeed no comparison. I simply wonder about the 'who-would-have-seen-this?' surprise if...we elect a home-schooled president (another one, really...it was quite common for most of human, as well as early American, history).
2. Sarah is quite concerned as I type this. I am eating popcorn and blogging at the computer at the same time. Using great caution...
3. I recently perused the items that we have in the downstairs bookshelves. Have I got a lot of reading to do! We placed many books in storage for our anticipated year at the townhouse. I remember going through our library carefully and only keeping certain books on the 'active' list that I planned on reading during our time here. Needless to say, I am way behind. I think the discovery of the $1 hardcover books at Value Village had something to do with that. My 'to-read' list has grown instead, even though I am reading consistently. I plan on reading some to/with the family so that will help. And I decided to start a 'family missions conference' each fall which will include reading a couple more. Progress...slow, but progress nonetheless.
4. Dottie (our dog) is looking at me like she is really hoping I drop a piece or two of this popcorn. Sorry, like I said...using great caution.
5. Feedback time!! I hope to soon post about a thought that I had after seeing a marquee at a local church. But in the meantime I'd like to ask you, my devoted-or-maybe-not-so-much readership...if you had a marquee right now to display your general thoughts on life, what would it say? Maybe mine would say something like "ONLY ___ SHOPPING DAYS LEFT UNTIL LARRY'S BIRTHDAY". Then again, maybe not.
6. Upon returning from our recent trip to MN/WI over the holidays, I was pleased to see the expenditures come in slightly below the anticipated level. I believe there are two reasons for this that stand out amongst others. One, the gas prices went down at just the right time. Thank you, Lord! I think we paid as little as $1.32/gallon though my memory may be a bit foggy on that and I'm not taking the time to look through the receipt files just now. Secondly, we got sick. You do the math. five people (William doesn't count for food expenses...yet) plus the 36-hour flu equals significant savings. Indeed, a silver lining to that dark cloud!
7. For those of you waiting for our annual Christmas web site, well, we're just not sure. We knew with our trip that it would be a bit late. But unless we get motivated for a 'Valentine's Day' or 'St. Patrick's Day' web site, it just may not happen. I guess Facebook may have to settle for an alternative. Stay tuned.
Larry out.
Random thoughts that I've had lately:
1. Forty-some years ago, our nation was struggling with civil rights issues. Deep-rooted sin was in the process of being exposed and small steps of progress were experienced. We have now elected our first African American president as a nation. What a moving thought and reality! I can't help but think what the next half century or so might bring. What part of our society is currently marginalized to some degree, only to see tremendous change in the coming decades? May I offer a thought/dream/suggestion? Before I do, please keep in mind that I am in no way comparing the civil rights movement and the experience of black individuals in this country to the group of people that I am about to note. There is indeed no comparison. I simply wonder about the 'who-would-have-seen-this?' surprise if...we elect a home-schooled president (another one, really...it was quite common for most of human, as well as early American, history).
2. Sarah is quite concerned as I type this. I am eating popcorn and blogging at the computer at the same time. Using great caution...
3. I recently perused the items that we have in the downstairs bookshelves. Have I got a lot of reading to do! We placed many books in storage for our anticipated year at the townhouse. I remember going through our library carefully and only keeping certain books on the 'active' list that I planned on reading during our time here. Needless to say, I am way behind. I think the discovery of the $1 hardcover books at Value Village had something to do with that. My 'to-read' list has grown instead, even though I am reading consistently. I plan on reading some to/with the family so that will help. And I decided to start a 'family missions conference' each fall which will include reading a couple more. Progress...slow, but progress nonetheless.
4. Dottie (our dog) is looking at me like she is really hoping I drop a piece or two of this popcorn. Sorry, like I said...using great caution.
5. Feedback time!! I hope to soon post about a thought that I had after seeing a marquee at a local church. But in the meantime I'd like to ask you, my devoted-or-maybe-not-so-much readership...if you had a marquee right now to display your general thoughts on life, what would it say? Maybe mine would say something like "ONLY ___ SHOPPING DAYS LEFT UNTIL LARRY'S BIRTHDAY". Then again, maybe not.
6. Upon returning from our recent trip to MN/WI over the holidays, I was pleased to see the expenditures come in slightly below the anticipated level. I believe there are two reasons for this that stand out amongst others. One, the gas prices went down at just the right time. Thank you, Lord! I think we paid as little as $1.32/gallon though my memory may be a bit foggy on that and I'm not taking the time to look through the receipt files just now. Secondly, we got sick. You do the math. five people (William doesn't count for food expenses...yet) plus the 36-hour flu equals significant savings. Indeed, a silver lining to that dark cloud!
7. For those of you waiting for our annual Christmas web site, well, we're just not sure. We knew with our trip that it would be a bit late. But unless we get motivated for a 'Valentine's Day' or 'St. Patrick's Day' web site, it just may not happen. I guess Facebook may have to settle for an alternative. Stay tuned.
Larry out.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Don't watch this...
...if you enjoy soccer to any degree and currently have any liquid in your mouth. I'm just sayin'...
And, no, I will not mention how many of these things I have done in my 'career'.
Enjoy!
And, no, I will not mention how many of these things I have done in my 'career'.
Enjoy!
Monday, October 27, 2008
To consider when voting...
Yesterday was a beautiful Carolina Sunday. Among the various activities that the day involved was a sunny afternoon with a lawn chair and some reading material. The fact that it was all in full view of the kids enjoying their bike-riding was an added bonus. I chose to peruse a recent edition of the "Answers" magazine from the folks at the Answers in Genesis ministry. I happened upon an article that I thought was timely in light of the voting that our nation will have the privilege of doing in the coming days (or, in the case of the Bowers, enjoyed by taking advantage of the 'early voting' option here in NC). I share the link here with the hope that you will read it and be challenged as I was. I would love to hear your thoughts after doing so.
Here's the link
Happy self-governing!
Here's the link
Happy self-governing!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Too Many Choices
I try to live a simple life. I really do. In fact, I can be pretty much a simpleton at times. Not much fuss to me and nothing too fancy. And it also doesn't take much to confuse me either. But this is getting to be a little too much.
I guess if you lead a simple life, many decisions are already made for you. What some call lack of initiative, others trumpet as efficiency. And we try to be efficient. But there are two examples that I have come across recently that perplex me. And they both have to do with choices.
Among the first things I do most every morning of my life is take a shower. This is typically not a good time to force me into a choice. But the other day, there I was. Just me and a bar of soap and not one, not two, but...well, I actually stopped counting at three, but I'm not really sure how many there were. Bottles of shampoo. Sarah is extremely gifted at many things. Finding free shampoo is among them. Did you know you can get free toiletries from your local pharmacy? Explaining how that happens is for another time, but let me give you the end result. You get lots of types of shampoo. And if you're not careful, they can all end up in the shower stall at the same time.
There was a 'for oily hair' shampoo. There was a 'for normal hair' shampoo. There was even a 'for close to normal hair that you think might be starting to get a little oily' shampoo. OK, maybe not that last one, but I wouldn't doubt it is in the works. There was even one called a 'repair shampoo'! Repair? I had no idea there were so many types of hair, let alone a shampoo to deal with them. Apparently, Sarah tried one and didn't like it. (Simpletons like me don't have opinions about one's shampoo.) It's still in there though it was replaced by something else. And then my in-laws were visiting and along with their joy, merriment and general good times, they brought a couple more types of shampoo to thwart the evil that lurks within their hair. With the new flight restrictions regarding quantities of liquids, it makes perfect sense that it was just better to leave their shampoo here with us. I think a few of the shampoos got to know each other and formed a new type or two. And I believe the green one and the blue one had to be separated. One can't just go about combining these shampoos together. One must use caution.
So now when I close that shower curtain, I begin my day with an important decision that I must immediately make. What kind of hair do I have? And that quickly transitions to 'which one did Sarah say she didn't like again?'. And then there's these bottles of 'body wash'...
So anyway, the other night William is feeling a bit 'punky' for the first time in his five and a half months of life. And by 'punky' I mean that mom and dad decide that we will go the route of some OTC medicinal assistance. I don't like to put that kind of stuff in my body and that generally affects my parenting too. But even simpletons like me understand that everybody will be happier in the morning if we just make this exception. So it's off to Walmart for some magical elixir.
I'm not exactly sure how many thousands of square feet our local W is (oh, don't think I don't know that we can all just call it the big 'W'...), but I must admit that I was somewhat surprised at how many of them were devoted to curing the many varied ills of your local family in need. It actually played out like a comedy sketch. Well, to me it did anyway.
I had an inkling that a significant search was going to be involved before I left that evening. (After all, if there are fourteen kind of shampoos in our household alone...) My game plan was to simply look for the term 'infant' on the boxes, bottles, or what have you. From there I would start checking out symptoms and come to a conclusion. I scheduled about seven minutes.
Twenty minutes later, I had concluded that while I still hadn't found what I had come looking for, I would mark certain spots for future potential ailments that could befall our family. There was a whole wall of medicinal help based on malady (cold, allergy, left-handedness, indecision), age range (infant...which was labeled as 2-3 years old on one label...please explain that one to me!..., child between five and forty-two with a birth month during the winter and in an odd-numbered year, and ageless...probably for the simpletons), and other helpful characteristics (you can drink your medicine, chew it, mix it with your favorite Mexican dish, or attach it directly to various parts of your body for optimal affect). Who knew?
While I could amuse myself with my plethora of choices, it didn't go so well with others on a similar quest. One lady and her son could not narrow their choice down before their husband/father had taken the car back to get an oil change and tire rotation, practiced casting with a new rod'n'reel, and made out a wish list of electronic goodies for the soon-coming holiday season. I think they decided to just deal with the sneezing and dripping that was going on and save the money for one of those gadgets for dad. He must have been good this year.
But I was not afforded that opportunity. I had to press on. I ended up buying the two least expensive boxes that had the term 'infant' on them and hoped for the best. And, yes, I felt silly when I got home and realized that one of them was for 2-3 year olds.
Maybe choices tend to paralyze you as they do me. Well, that's fine. But this Walmart nation of ours does help when we least expect it. And those of you sanguine, like-the-color-red, have-been-to-Europe-before, was-in-a-car-accident-in-the-last-four-and-a-half-years, under-six-feet-tall, don't-know-how-to-tie-one-of-those-fancy-Boy-Scout-knots, 26-45 year olds with slightly oily hair and a sniffle know exactly what I'm talking about.
I guess if you lead a simple life, many decisions are already made for you. What some call lack of initiative, others trumpet as efficiency. And we try to be efficient. But there are two examples that I have come across recently that perplex me. And they both have to do with choices.
Among the first things I do most every morning of my life is take a shower. This is typically not a good time to force me into a choice. But the other day, there I was. Just me and a bar of soap and not one, not two, but...well, I actually stopped counting at three, but I'm not really sure how many there were. Bottles of shampoo. Sarah is extremely gifted at many things. Finding free shampoo is among them. Did you know you can get free toiletries from your local pharmacy? Explaining how that happens is for another time, but let me give you the end result. You get lots of types of shampoo. And if you're not careful, they can all end up in the shower stall at the same time.
There was a 'for oily hair' shampoo. There was a 'for normal hair' shampoo. There was even a 'for close to normal hair that you think might be starting to get a little oily' shampoo. OK, maybe not that last one, but I wouldn't doubt it is in the works. There was even one called a 'repair shampoo'! Repair? I had no idea there were so many types of hair, let alone a shampoo to deal with them. Apparently, Sarah tried one and didn't like it. (Simpletons like me don't have opinions about one's shampoo.) It's still in there though it was replaced by something else. And then my in-laws were visiting and along with their joy, merriment and general good times, they brought a couple more types of shampoo to thwart the evil that lurks within their hair. With the new flight restrictions regarding quantities of liquids, it makes perfect sense that it was just better to leave their shampoo here with us. I think a few of the shampoos got to know each other and formed a new type or two. And I believe the green one and the blue one had to be separated. One can't just go about combining these shampoos together. One must use caution.
So now when I close that shower curtain, I begin my day with an important decision that I must immediately make. What kind of hair do I have? And that quickly transitions to 'which one did Sarah say she didn't like again?'. And then there's these bottles of 'body wash'...
So anyway, the other night William is feeling a bit 'punky' for the first time in his five and a half months of life. And by 'punky' I mean that mom and dad decide that we will go the route of some OTC medicinal assistance. I don't like to put that kind of stuff in my body and that generally affects my parenting too. But even simpletons like me understand that everybody will be happier in the morning if we just make this exception. So it's off to Walmart for some magical elixir.
I'm not exactly sure how many thousands of square feet our local W is (oh, don't think I don't know that we can all just call it the big 'W'...), but I must admit that I was somewhat surprised at how many of them were devoted to curing the many varied ills of your local family in need. It actually played out like a comedy sketch. Well, to me it did anyway.
I had an inkling that a significant search was going to be involved before I left that evening. (After all, if there are fourteen kind of shampoos in our household alone...) My game plan was to simply look for the term 'infant' on the boxes, bottles, or what have you. From there I would start checking out symptoms and come to a conclusion. I scheduled about seven minutes.
Twenty minutes later, I had concluded that while I still hadn't found what I had come looking for, I would mark certain spots for future potential ailments that could befall our family. There was a whole wall of medicinal help based on malady (cold, allergy, left-handedness, indecision), age range (infant...which was labeled as 2-3 years old on one label...please explain that one to me!..., child between five and forty-two with a birth month during the winter and in an odd-numbered year, and ageless...probably for the simpletons), and other helpful characteristics (you can drink your medicine, chew it, mix it with your favorite Mexican dish, or attach it directly to various parts of your body for optimal affect). Who knew?
While I could amuse myself with my plethora of choices, it didn't go so well with others on a similar quest. One lady and her son could not narrow their choice down before their husband/father had taken the car back to get an oil change and tire rotation, practiced casting with a new rod'n'reel, and made out a wish list of electronic goodies for the soon-coming holiday season. I think they decided to just deal with the sneezing and dripping that was going on and save the money for one of those gadgets for dad. He must have been good this year.
But I was not afforded that opportunity. I had to press on. I ended up buying the two least expensive boxes that had the term 'infant' on them and hoped for the best. And, yes, I felt silly when I got home and realized that one of them was for 2-3 year olds.
Maybe choices tend to paralyze you as they do me. Well, that's fine. But this Walmart nation of ours does help when we least expect it. And those of you sanguine, like-the-color-red, have-been-to-Europe-before, was-in-a-car-accident-in-the-last-four-and-a-half-years, under-six-feet-tall, don't-know-how-to-tie-one-of-those-fancy-Boy-Scout-knots, 26-45 year olds with slightly oily hair and a sniffle know exactly what I'm talking about.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)