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Love without measure....

10/31/2010

As I sit and reflect on the weekend, the words to a Michael English song come to mind..."Love without measure, space without time, life with no crying will one day be mine. Hearts never breaking, hands that don't fight..." Why? simple, the song is about what heaven will be like. While I am totally able to relate to the song, I must admit, many of the things in the first few lines of this song are very real in my life and I am ever grateful. I have a wonderful family, friends and a pretty awesome church to call home. On Friday night, I had the pleasure of spending it with my three favorite men in the whole world. Yes, my Old Socks & my boys. Since David is working nights and weekends, an evening together for the four of us is a rare occasion. On Saturday, we spent a leisurely day at the house and then went to the fall festival at our church, Campground Baptist, to help out with the Faith Riders' booth. This morning, we went to Sunday School and then worship. I must admit, it is such a blessing to finally be in a church which loves the Lord AND appreciate different facets of ministry. It is awesome every Sunday to pull into the parking lot and to park in the 'biker parking' area. Furthermore, we are blessed to be a part of a Sunday School class full of people who love the Lord and desire to grow closer to Him. Are these people perfect? Of course not, none of us are. However, it is a blessing to be in a group of people who realize that no one is perfect and agree to disagree on some things. Worship services at our new church home are also awesome in that worship in song is led each week by Shack on a Rock. I truly appreciate their hearts and ministry. Oh, and they ROCK! Another thing that has been missing for the better part of twenty years is that I get to sit in worship with my Old Socks at my side. In leaving Logan Road and not serving anywhere for a season, I realized just how much I missed those days at Carnesville Baptist Church. Those were the days early in ministry and most every service I was able to sit along side my honey, hold his hand during prayer, and worship with him. Now, before you go getting the idea that I am unappreciative of serving, allow me to explain....Sometimes, as a teacher, proximity is necessary to successfully lead/teach in a classroom. In a similar way, I feel that for a family to get the full effect of worship, it is necessary for the family to be in close proximity of each other. I realize there may be those who disagree with my thoughts here, but that is ok, shall we agree to disagree?
After church, we came home, made lunch, ate a quick bite as a family, then David was off to work another 16-hour shift. (This gets hard for a mom...I hate to see him walk out the door, tired from a 16-hour shift, headed to do another). Then, Chas, Mike & I spent a quiet afternoon at home. This evening, we had the pleasure of riding to Enterprise to eat dinner with Reece, Rhonda and the boys (Reece makes a killer low country boil ;) ). After good food, lots of fellowship and laughs, it was time to mount up and head back to Ozark. The ride was pleasant enough, however, I must admit, the time time has come in LA when leather and gloves are a bit comfy after dark.
As I reflect on the weekend, and even the week, spent with family and friends, I am reminded of a statement Brother Al made at the end of his message this morning...
"Friendship is a relationship based on love, that is expressed through sacrificial commitment to one another, through sharing and confiding in one another, and taking spiritual care of one another." That statement, coupled with thinking of what heaven will one day be like is exactly what my weekend has been like. I am ever grateful for my Savior, family, and friends. It is my desire to have that kind of friendships with family, blood and otherwise. Won't you consider what heaven will be like and what friendship should be like? Until next time, ride safely, live, love, and laugh....it does a heart good.

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Soggy day in LA.....

10/28/2010

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Today ended several weeks of beautiful riding weather. I got up this morning with a monsoon in full swing. I got ready for work and the rains slacked off quite a bit. A quick look at the radar indicated that there was a HUGE cell in our area, but it looked as if the major parts of it were well past me and my route to work. So, I put on my leather, Frogg Toggs, and headed to Dothan. A steady rain soon gave way to an all-but flood. It was one messy ride to say the least. I traveled a safe distance behind a SUV and kept watch for its third brake light for an indication of less-than-desirable road conditions. I traveled behind the SUV at a rate of 50-60 mph. Vehicles were driving cautiously with their emergency flashers flashing. It was a windy, driving rain. So much so, that at times, my ears were filled with water. As I neared Dothan, I noticed emergency vehicles on the northbound lane. A vehicle had crashed and was upside down on the side of the road. It suddenly struck me. The roadway was flooded in the miles I had just traveled, so the car likely hydroplaned. I know, quite a duh moment, right? Seriously, think about this. It was a relief to me that the car was over there on the side of the road and that this had occurred prior to my travel on this stretch of road. Why? Simple, I didn't know the direction the car was headed in before it wrecked. For all I know, it was headed south, as I was. My point in this is that if the car had hydroplaned near me, it could have easily taken me out. Now, while I am all about getting to meet Jesus, I just don't want to just yet, you know? Well, enough of that. I could have met Jesus this morning, but I didn't and for now, life goes on. In life going on, I got to work and began to peel Frogg Toggs off, leather underneath that, and then, the boots, which I had to literally pour water out of. I laid my gloves on the counter in the back of the office. SEVERAL hours later, I literally wrang water out of them. After work, I leathered up and headed home. It was quite a pleasant ride home in comparison to the commute to the office this morning. However, I am thankful for the protected ride to and from work today. My point to any of this post? Simple....are you a biker or a weekend warrior? Maybe you are a biker who prefers the comforts of the cage on days like today. Whatever you prefer to be called or whenever you plan to ride, be sure of a couple of things. 1) Always be thankful for His protection; 2) Always be alert when you ride; 3) Ride when you are comfortable in doing so; AND 4) Radar can be deceiving, so be prepared ;)

Until next time, ride safely!

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To cast a stone, or not to cast a stone....

10/26/2010

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Today was another busy day at work. As I sit here, it is eleven thirty-five and the house is almost quiet. Earlier this evening, we had our weekly SOA party. This week's party was a bit larger than in previous weeks. In addition to our regular Gores, we had Casey, Dana & Princess Zadia. Then, before we got the evening started good, David went and picked Alayna up & they came back by for a quick visit. We had all greatly anticipated this ninety minute episode and all sat glued to the tube for it. Yes, some might call us SOA geeks, but who cares? We all find the show interesting, to say the very least. Others will cast a stone and ask how we could bring ourselves to watch such a show. I really don't care what others think and I truly understand that there are groups of bikers who are very real who are very much like the characters and events on this show. The truth in all of this for me is that we may chose to live in sheltered environments, or we may chose to understand the real world a little better, then attempt to go into that very real world and carry a very real light and hope into it. If we live in our little sheltered corner of the world and cast stones at all of those who are not like the 'church folk', look down our noses at them and speak poorly of them, we have not been very Christ-like. It seems that I remember Jesus going into the home of one Levi who was a tax collector. In Levi's home, there was a wild party going on. Did Jesus party down with them? No, I believe He was true to the Father, however, I do not believe He went in condemning everyone there either. I believe He loved them and displayed in His life something that those there, like Levi, wanted, thus, He touched and changed lives. Oh, by the way, that guy, Levi, many may recognize him by another name. That name is Matthew. Yes, the same Matthew who was a disciple and penned the first book of the New Testament. You see, lives are only changed by genuine love and compassion, not by condemnation and casting of self-righteous stones. Further more, it is not our place to attempt to do the job of the Holy Spirit. Many people want to call themselves fruit inspectors and condemn everyone they come in contact with. While there is a place for pointing out something ungodly to someone, we must be careful and remember that there is only one Righteous Judge and NONE of us are able to hold that title. My encouragement to you is simple. SOA may not be your cup of tea, but, don't cast a stone at someone who drinks from that cup. Find who and what He has called you to go to and to be and do it with love and compassion. Until tomorrow, ride safely and be careful of the stones you pick up to throw.

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Invest wisely....

10/25/2010

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Here it is Monday night, almost eleven thirty and I have been home almost an hour. Needless to say, it has been an extremely long day. I went to work a little later than usual because I had no morning appointment. However, the workday did not end until about seven fifteen. When I finally left work, I headed over to the hospital to meet Chas. You see, I had gotten a call from Karyn today to let us know that a dear gentleman our family knows and loves was in the hospital. So, Chas got on Pearl after work and headed to the hospital. When David got up, he and Mike decided to meet us at the hospital because they truly love this dear gentleman and his wife. Mr. Carl, as we call him, was excited to see us and couldn't wait to let his wife, Mrs. Kate know we had come to see him. This couple is truly a lovely couple. They are some of those dear ones we miss from Logan Road. However, we are thankful that leaving a place of service does not mean that you have to end all relationships. I am a firm believer that many people are brought into our lives to make them brighter and to make us richer for having them in our lives. If we cut all ties as we move, were the relationships real or were they superficial? I believe that we should be real in all facets of our lives and that as we invest in the lives of others, we should count that investment for all time, not just for the moment. Too many times too many people use and abuse relationships. Relationships should be about giving, putting into and sincere, wouldn't you agree? I am ever grateful for those who have invested their time and energies into my life, my husband's life and the lives of our boys.
Today at work, I told my boss' father that we might live week to week and month to month, but we do nothing we do to get rich. We do what we do to touch lives in an attempt to make a difference for eternity. This conversation came about because of an ordeal with our bank. You see, we went to buy groceries on Saturday and when Chas attempted to run the debit card, the pin did not take, so he had to re-swipe it as credit and sign for it. No major deal, you would think. However, today, when I went online to check my online banking, the seventy some dollars of groceries we had gotten on Saturday had been charged out of our account twice. Needless to say, I was not happy about this and called our bank to make sure they took care of the OBVIOUS error. Much to my dismay, they were very unconcerned and told me that they would file a claim, however, it would be anywhere from 24 hours to a month for the credit to appear. This distressed me and I simply asked why such an obvious error, which only took one business day to post would take so long to correct, when if I attempted to charge something and the money was not in the account, it would be declined immediately. Of course, this was futile and the whole conversation served nothing more than to push my blood pressure up. I mention these events because it is a clear image to me as to the way many people go through life. It is, in my personal opinion, a double standard. You may play by one set of rules when allowing someone to use their card, however, another set of rules apply if you make the mistake and the shoe is on the other foot. It was as if the people on the phone today were insensitive and could really care less. While I realize I am not a bank executive, I just failed to see the justice and reasoning in the wait. Many people in life treat relationships like this. This is just a sobering reminder to me that we should ALWAYS treat others in the same manner we would like to be treated. If we do this, we will be much richer in our relationships than if we simply use people to climb the corporate, ministry, or whatever ladder we are attempting to climb to arrive at the pinnacle of life. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. May we all strive to treat others as we would want to be treated, invest in lives for the simple satisfaction of doing so, and live each day of our lives real and sincere.
I challenge you not to lay up treasures for yourselves that moth and rust will destroy, but to lay up treasures in heaven instead. Until tomorrow, ride safe and invest wisely!

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Sorry for the absence......

10/24/2010

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WOW...I have spent the better part of two hours scanning previous posts. Then, I begin the process for a post tonight and realize that it has been over a month since I posted. I knew it had been days and even weeks. However, I did not really realize just how long it had been. I suppose the move and the emotions surrounding the resignation, etc. took a greater toll on me than I like to admit. What can I say? Those of you who have faithfully followed the blogs, even visiting on days that I did not post, know too well that the whole past three months or so have been packed with emotion. The mere blog posts alone were an emotional journey for me as I gave an account of our lives through the years, carrying you through the highs and lows of our lives and putting it into words was at very least a challenge. I must admit, we have had a few comments on the posts and several private messages sent via the guestbook. However, the regular visits to the website and the unique visits to the site are incredibly humbling. I have shared my heart in these posts and would desire to continue to do just that. However, I have been silent for several weeks for many reasons. As stated, the move took a lot out of me physically and mentally, as I continued to work, as did Chas during the move. Secondly, I have needed this time to reflect, refresh and begin to heal in some respects. Thank you for your patience with me through all of this.

I have a LOT to catch up on. Of course, there was Thunder Beach three weeks ago. We had the awesome opportunity to spend Friday to Sunday there. We passed out a ton of business cards and met a lot of people. Some of them have pics in the Thunder Beach Album on our pics page. Also, some of them added us as facebook friends and are also following us on the website. It was truly a much-needed weekend away and it was packed with opportunities to plant seeds, water seeds, cultivate, weed, etc. Did we reap a harvest? No, but we are not promised the harvest is ours to reap. We are simply asked to do our part.
*As a side bar for Thunder Beach, if you are on Panama City Beach and want a great deal on t-shirts, go visit Chris and the gang at U.S.A. or Beach Memories on Front Beach Road. They are the greatest. We have been doing business with Chris for a couple of years.

In other events since the last post, we have discontinued weekly Bible study at the Bates' house, but still have a little SOA viewing party every Tuesday night at our house. Instead of weekly Bible study at the Bates', we, along with the Bates, have plugged into a local church. We have all made Campground Baptist Church our new church home. We have resumed monthly LAHBW meetings and are hopeful to have a rolling Bible study in the very near future.

I must admit, it is odd and refreshing that for the first time in many years, we go to Sunday School and Worship Service and are simply able to sit as members of a discussion and a worship without having the weight of the world on our shoulders. Maybe some will understand this and others will not. All I can say is that for once, I am not worried about whose toes were stepped on, who might have heartburn with what someone in my family said or did. I am incredibly glad that we are no longer in a position that lends some people to feels as if my family are their puppets. You might think that is harsh, but harsh is what happens to ministry families when the big mamas & big daddys at churches don't get their way.....when their way and desires are more important to them than God's Word and His desires.

It is good to be back in blogging mode. I hope to see you all back here tomorrow night. Until then, ride safely and seek first Him and His Kingdom....

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My name is Sonja. I am known as Road Rash, for obvious reasons. I have been a member of His Blood Warriors since 1996 I served as Secretary of LAHBW since the charter began in February 2002. In October, I became International Secretary and currently serve in that position.

Love without measure....

Soggy day in LA.....

To cast a stone, or not to cast a stone....

Invest wisely....

Sorry for the absence......

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