Huachuca City, AZ., RV Park (WA-CHEW-KA)

The filling station in the pictures is the Office for our rv park. K & N RV Park here in Huachuca City, Az. Price of gas has changed a little! One of my brothers' has a restored Cheverolet the same vintage as this one.


The owner of K & N RV Park lives in this beautiful home which looks like it could be in Provence, France. It has statuary and gardens surrounding the home. Others in the park say the inside of the home is absolutely beautiful.

View of the snow covered mountains around us.



This nice home is For Sale just across the street from the owners' home here at the rv park. It is a very quiet corner and spacious lot with a two car garage and swimming pool.

The next town from Huachuca City is Sierra Vista right at the gate of Ft. Huachuca. There is a Target and Lowes' in Sierra Vista plus many restaurants and other services available. Larry has the choice of several golf courses near here. Ft. Huachuca has been existence since 1872 and is still U.S. Army Intelligence Headquarters.

A friend recommended this place and we love it. It is 20 miles below Benson, AZ., where we parked last year. It is 20 miles to Tombstone and 60 miles to Tucson. And, we are 30 miles from Nogales, Mexico. There was a shoot out yesterday at the Nogales border. We have to go thru the Border Patrol to get to Benson.

View of the K & N RV Park where we are parked. There are many retired military people in this small park. They knew where to revisit when retired.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL.

Larry is taking me to a Greek restaurant in Sierra Vista Sunday evening just outside the gates of Ft. Huachuca. It is 75%, sunny and dry air here today. Larry is playing golf at Ft. Huachuca right now.

I am sure Huachuca is Apache. Cochise was all over this country. Helen

Marinated Cajun Shrimp

Shrimp in the shell, deveined, marinated in olive oil, Tabasco, lemon and pepper, and seafood spices. Here cooking with buttered and garlic salt bread.

PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM, Tucson, Arizona

What an overwhelming experience...1000s of airplanes, past and near-present...in hangers and out in the arid Arizona air. Probably more than 5000 aircraft. Inside were hundreds of airplanes, space aircraft, choppers, small and large. My favorite was this ... the Blackbird, an enormous 2300 mph airplane:
One display honors Commander Dick Scobee who piloted the Challenger space ship that exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all the crew. We met Commander Scobee and his wife June at the Air Force Academy where our sons were roomates.

Here are other interesting airplanes among the 1000s we saw:

What Did We Do...He Asked

A pastor friend I met during our last year of travels wrote asking what contributed to the rapid growth of my last pastorate. I’ve thought about his question for a few days and the following is what I replied to him.

Dear (friend),

Your congregation is not a NCD, but some of these ideas might work for you, though it’s difficult, often, to convince an established, traditional church to change its ways. But here are the ideas you asked for. Good luck, and more to the point, may the Holy Spirit guide you.

GRACE AND TRUST. Because my last pastorate was a new church development I believed then and still believe that it was important to establish a mantra which would eventually saturate the church family’s life and communicate the foundation of our individual and corporate relationships. Grace – that quality of Christ which we experience in his unconditional love toward us which we must offer to others, even with those with whom we disagree. Grace sees each person as a child of God and loved infinitely by God in Christ. TRUST – an intentional attitude toward another, saying, “Until you prove otherwise, I will trust you, trust what you say and trust what you say you will do about an issue we are debating.” If a pastor demonstrates grace and trust toward his/her congregation the people will eventually get the message and begin to behave in a similar manner. Grace and trust enable a people to be, as Bonhoeffer encouraged, “little Christs to each other” and thus avoid the ugly scenes which, sad to say, sometimes characterize a congregation.

EMPOWERING THE LAY LEADERSHIP. We instituted a management approach wherein the lay leaders were empowered to plan and implement the ministry of the congregation without being micro-managed by the hierarchy of elected officers. The elected officers, the elders, who in turn were charged to be the spiritual leaders of the church and cast the vision of what they believed God wanted us to fulfill. The lay leadership, in turn, was expected to plan and implement ministries which drove the church toward the stated goals. Empowered leadership enabled us to move much more quickly toward a fuller life together in Christ.

EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN. We insured from the beginning of the church that men and women would be equally represented in the decision-making and leadership of the congregation. Each gender brings invaluable experience and insight to the life of the church.

STAFF RELATIONSHIPS. It is essential that grace and trust are daily experienced in the ‘staff team’. No congregation will grow spiritually if there is mistrust and acrimony among members of the staff team. We worked hard as a staff team to support and encourage one another, shouldering burdens and work responsibilities and being absolutely loyal to one another. I believe a church will suffer immensely if such a relationship does not exist and fostered among staffers. Every staff member was seen as an invaluable resource to other staffers. My philosophy was – find the best person for the staff position, pay the person well, trust him or her and get out of the way and let them do the work. Constantly looking over a staffer’s shoulder does not foster a healthy work presence.

MISSION ORIENTED. Mission drives a church’s life. Without a genuine and eager sense of mission given by God, a church turns inward and loses its life. The more a congregation gives itself away in mission to others, within and without the church, the more that congregation thrives and is blessed by God.

ANONYMOUS GIVING. Many persons are fed up with the local church begging and manipulating the members to ‘give money’. On the other hand, when a people are treated like adults and responsible disciples, given honest information about the needs of the church’s life and ministry – they will give as they are able. Therefore, we instituted ‘anonymous’ estimates of giving upon which we built the church’s budget, plus trusting God to provide additional funds as needed. God will provide if a people are faithful in the mission God gives them.

A CLEAR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES. We stated publicly and often, from the beginning our life together, what we believed the purpose of our existence to be … and fleshed that purpose out by stating the principles by which we managed our worship and ministry. Many new members stated the ‘purpose and principles’ were what led them to join the church.

Many faithful and effective church leaders can give you, my friend, other examples which helped their church grow literally and spiritually. Blessings! Larry

Politics and Religion

The Progressive Liberal Left, born primarily in the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, believed and still believes that humankind can be perfected by a larger, centralized government that knows how best to perfect humankind. The PLF believes that only the 'intellectual elite' knows what is best for America. The people, seen largely as 'uneducated peons', simply 'don't get it,' simply cannot understand the deeper implications of the larger-than-life issues. The PLF (read 'Progressive Liberal Left')believes 'progress' must move beyond the Constitution because the Constitution is 'evolving', always 'becoming', rather than being a static document.

Relate the above to the Presbyterian Church, USA:

The Progressive Liberal Left of our beloved church believes that 'progress' in the larger issues that dominate our life today (abortion, military involvement, sexual lifestyles, etc.) can only be resolved by the intellectual left-leaning elite of our church. The PLF of our church knows best and the rest of us peons simply don't get it! Our constitution, so to speak, is the Scriptures and the PLF believes the best interpretation of the Scriptures must see the Word as evolving, interpreted in the light of today's enlightened experience; i.e., only by the intellectual elite of our church. We have to move, the PLF believes, beyond the traditional understanding the Scriptures.

I understand we should be open to how the Holy Spirit might reveal to us something new. Many questions in our lives are open to question, subject to debate -- see women's rights, racial equality, etc. But some truths do not change. The PLF says, as a 'progressive' Atlanta pastor said to me several years ago,"No, all truths are open to change; nothing is sacred or set in concrete. Today we know better than past generations"

Red Rock Canyon & Ranch

Snow on the mountain between Pahrump and Red Canyon:

Ever seen a Roadrunner? Fast little buggers!

Many species of Cactus (or is it cacti?)

The Krupp Diamond(33+carats), Richard Burton bought it for Elizabeth Taylor (it belonged to Vera Krupp who owned the Ranch...the same Krupp family of Germany and big guns!

The Ranch House which included a secret bedroom which we were allowed to see:

Red Rock Canyon...sand dunes frozen in place:

Musings, 012810, in Nevada

As I get older my drive off the tee doesn't go as far as it used to, but, of course, it has nothing to do with my swing speed at contact. Just so you understand: since I don't see as well as I used to, I decided to keep my drives short.

Does Obama consider us so dense we cannot see through his unwillingness to tell the truth? Two million jobs saved (not created, you see) and three millions jobs lost. Hummm. I get it: two million people did not lost their jobs. Three million did.

If I contract Alzheimer's, I hope someone will tell me before I can no longer understand what is being told me. But don't confuse Alzheimer's with normal aging.

As RVers like to say, "Home is where I park it." I've discovered that if I have a problem of some sort with Texas Molly II and don't know what to do or how to fix it, all I have to do is stand out from the rig, fold my arms and stare at TMII. Eventually, another RVer or two will show, saying, "Got a problem I can help with?"

Obama failed to mention in his SOTUA: (1) Gitmo and (2) the Christmas bomber in civil court. Of course, he repeatedly blamed George Bush for most every ill in America. Hey, the teleprompter told him to say it!

Golf is a lot like life. Keep it in the fairway and you will stay out of trouble. Stray from the straight and narrow and you will suffer.

When Jeff Gordon wins his fifth championship and I'm too old to celebrate, someone party for me, raise a glass to # 24.

Obama will 'freeze' discretionay spending, but (!) will spend $30,000,000,000 to create jobs. Or is it to 'save' jobs? I get confused. I just don't get it, do you?

I believe Danica Patrick will be a winner in the ARCA series, to the consternation of many rednecks in NASCAR. When she beats Dale, Jr, watch the fur fly!

Obama says his administration has had more success than his predecessor at killing terrorists. It is an impossible claim to verify, like many of his claims.

I'm a Peyton Manning fan, but a huge New Orleans Saints fan. Saints over Colts by 3.

If John McCain could strut like BHO and look down his nose at the crowds, he'd be our President now. But strutting is an art form. Snobbery is not.

I'm not a Tiger Woods fan. Neither was I a Wilt Chamberlain fan. For the same reason. But I should be fair. Tiger only had 12 bimbos. Wilt had 10,000, so it is reported...by Wilt!

When a golf partner recently made a 40' putt on a sloping green, I remembered what an Arkansas friend said on the occasion of making such a putt: "Just like lettuce, nothing to it."

I've played football, tennis, baseball and ran track. None with notable success. But golf is the most humbling game I've ever played ... and the most addictive.

God does not deduct from the alloted time of man those hours spent in fishing.