Buck Snort and Bucking Broncos

Wow! What a difference a night a sleep makes!  I don't know for sure why I slept so well last night, but I feel AWAKE and ALERT for the first time in many, many mornings.  A new batch of Neupro patches arrived yesterday, with a higher dosage this time.  Perhaps the patches are going to help . . . but personally I believe that the prayers of so many dear friends have been answered, at least for one night.  I am SO grateful for the faithful, persevering prayers of my precious wife and so many others.  My hope and my prayer is for God's healing long-term; don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited that the patch seems to be helping with my sleep patterns.  However, this is an expensive remedy that would be cost-prohibitive over time, and the drugs are simply masking the symptoms rather than eliminating the problem itself.  Regardless, I will rejoice TODAY in God's provision of sleep for TODAY.  As Jesus so aptly said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Amen!!

Us and the Dumenils near the top of Mount Evans

We've just enjoyed four days with our friends Jacques and Marie from France, and their daughter Irene.  It was no problem at all to pick right up where we left off a year ago in our friendship, and we had lots of time to talk, laugh, tell stories and open our hearts to one another.  In reality, this is exactly why we believe the Lord gave us this home in such a beautiful location - to provide a place of rest and refuge; a warm home where weary travelers can find a few moments of peace, and leave with their hearts encouraged.  Which reminds me:  I need to create the sign to hang at the entry to our driveway:  "The Juniper Tree".  The name, obviously, comes from the Biblical account of the Prophet Elijah who fled from the wrath of Jezebel into the wilderness, and sat down under a Juniper tree - exhausted and discouraged.  God met him there, and sent an angel who gave him food, water and rest.  The Scriptures say that Elijah ate and drank, and "went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God."  So may our home be a place where weary travelers find food, drink and rest, and leave with renewed strength for whatever God has in store for their lives.

We took the Dumenils to a well-known local dive called "The Buck Snort Saloon" on Friday night.  As you can see from the picture, it is a log building dating back at least a hundred years.  The inside of the Saloon is literally covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti, and hundreds and hundreds of one dollar bills attached with pins, tape, chewing gum (maybe not the gum, but it sounds good) all over the walls.  Each dollar bill has written on it someone's name, or a joke, or a comment about the service at the Buck Snort.  Believe it or not, even though this sounds really tacky as I write it, in the Buck Snort it all just "works" and creates a great, fun atmosphere.  I"ll say more about our memorable evening at the "Snort" in a moment.  The next day we all drove up to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the Frontier Days rodeo (the "Daddy of 'em all").  What a day!  We bought cowboy hats, ate corn dogs, got Jacques, Marie & Irene to pose as outlaws for an Old Tyme photograph, and watched as young men filled with testosterone took flying lessons off the backs of enraged bulls and bucking broncos.  It was "Awesome" (one of the new Americanisms that Jacques and Marie learned while they were here).  We had a great conversation on the way up to Cheyenne about Christian history, the difference between Catholics and Protestants, the Trinity . . . pretty much covered the gamut in two hours.  As we arrived in Cheyenne Marie commented to me, "That was a great conversation".  All in all, our four days together were a wonderful reunion with some of our dearest friends.  God is good.

I do want to tell one funny story that sort of unfolded while Jacques and Marie were with us.  Being a die-hard Auburn graduate, I often wear my Auburn cap, or an Auburn t-shirt when I'm out and about.  On Friday morning I took the Dumenils down to the open space park below our house, and we hiked around the three mile track.  As usual, I was wearing my Auburn baseball cap.  At one point we passed a jogger coming from the opposite direction.  I said "Good morning", and he replied, "Good Morning, and War Eagle!" (For those less educated in the finer aspects of life, this is Auburn's battle-cry).  Funny where you run into Auburn people.  Anyway, this led to a conversation with Jacques and Marie about the unique aspect of American culture where people become rabid "fans" of their alma mater, and it doesn't matter how long ago you graduated, or where you go:  you're always a fan, and you love to meet someone else from your school - it's like a shared camaraderie, if you will.  This is a completely foreign concept for Frenchmen, as in French culture you're not a "fan" of anything.  To the contrary, it's almost a national "right" to be cynical and critical of any institution, the government, etc.  Don't get me wrong:  The French love their country, but you won't find them hanging the French flag outside their homes like so many do here in America. In fact, Jacques said that hanging the flag in France would only cause people to wonder if you're "all there", or assume that your home is a government office.

That night at the Buck Snort there was live entertainment.  I spoke earlier about the great atmosphere at the saloon, and as the band was preparing to play they were interacting with the crowd, and people were talking loudly, laughing, telling jokes (you get the idea).  It's a small area, which lends itself to lots of interaction.  At one point I went to the restroom, and as I was returning to our table the gal who's the lead singer (it was a couple who were playing that night) said something like, "We've got a table of guys here tonight from Birmingham, Alabama!"  As I passed by I said, "Birmingham, Alabama... War Eagle!"  and immediately one of the guys replied, "War Eagle!" and waved his Auburn cap at me.  I said, "No way!" and we high-fived each other.  This led to a longer conversation with their table, and I found out that they, too, were headed for the rodeo the next day.  Afterwards I turned to Jacques and Marie and said, "See what I mean about people from the same university sharing a common bond?"  Jacques asked me if I knew the guys at the other table, and I said we'd never met before.  Again, they were amazed.  You would never strike up a conversation with the next table in a restaurant in France; it's just "not done".

The next day at the rodeo Jacques and I were walking together towards the main exhibit hall when an older couple walked up to me, grabbed me, and while pointing at their Auburn shirts said, "War Eagle!".  I laughed, shook their hands, and we talked for a few seconds about where we were all from, and what brought us to Colorado.  "So",  Jacques said as we walked away, "Do you know those people?".  "Never met them in my life,  I replied.  He shook his head and laughed in amazement at this crazy American culture (which he and Marie absolutely love, by the way).  This series of encounters got me to thinking, however;  When you're a "Fan" of something, your enthusiasm is contagious and you want everyone else you meet to become a fan too.  And when you meet someone else who's a fan of the same school (or band, or movie, or whatever) you share an immediate bond.  This is the way it should be with our faith - that we're such big "fans" of Jesus that we can't help talking about Him wherever we go.  And we should be fans of our local church, and we should want to invite all our friends and new acquaintances to come with us because we just know they'll be encouraged and want to join too.  I want to be even more excited about my relationship with Jesus than I am about Auburn's football program (and that's saying a lot!).  There's lessons to be learned in the little moments we share in life -- lessons that I believe God wants us to hold onto and gain wisdom from. 

As you can tell, I'm feeling great today!