Time That Can't Be Replaced 5/25/2019

Good Morning,

The Bible is open. Our dog is munching on a bone. The house is quiet and just the right temperature. My Door County Jamaican Coffee is good and hot. So it must be time to write to all of you.

Today my wife Rene celebrates her birthday, our grandson is here for a visit before heading off to the Army for boot camp and last night we celebrated a wedding anniversary with our two good friends. This weekend is jam packed with things to do.

Today I am going to the shooting range with our grandson Dominick. It seems like just yesterday we let him fire a gun for the first time. He wasn't very old back then and now this man is headed to military training. He will handle his own shotgun today and will do it safely and with respect to others.

James 4:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes


Dominick started summer visits back when he was just old enough to start flying on a plane alone. We used to go up to Michigan and visit my parents with him. Back in the woods of the Upper Peninsula he drove a car for the first time at around the the age of twelve. The old fire lanes and logging roads were the best place to learn. Once he was twelve the summer trips had a surprise. They doubled for a couple years to hunting for a week in the fall. I remember his first duck.

Psalm 90:12 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² So teach us to number our day that we may get a heart of wisdom.

He would work right along side of me and we tackled a few projects together around the house. He would earn a few dollars of spending money.

I recall though, the time Grandma decided to mess with his head. Before visiting us, his parents gave Dom, some spending money. He had purchased something to eat at the airport and had a certain amount left over. He was pretty young and still easy enough to pull a joke on now and then. Dom would count that money every morning to make sure it was still there. Once he was asleep for the night Grandma would throw some random change into his suit case where his treasure was stored. One amount was thirty three cents. She would place it next to or under his clothes . He would then get dressed, see this money and assume that he had been sloppy while putting it away. Then the little man would count it and his count would be off each day. This had the kid pretty perplexed and grandma would lovingly scold him for not taking better care of his money. While walking away she could barely hold back the laughter.  He finally figured it out when the amount rose to more than he started with. He was old enough not to believe in leprechauns although I tried telling him that our friend Steve actually descended from a family of Irish little people who lived in a hollow tree. Grandma has a sense of humor that shows itself now and then. She can be full of conspiracy and made me swear not to disclose her act of jocularity to Dom.  She sent that little dude home with double his original money. I might write about her great knee surgery conspiracy of 2018 this week.

Dom participated in a summer mission trip with us at church. He was part of a team that changed eternity.  And soon before you knew it our summer visits closed their doors  due to him working and extra long school activities.

My point is this. We will never get that time back and we have plenty of great memories. Family members have passed on and we are fortunate to have spent that time with them also. Don't get so busy that you can't find time to shoot with a boy. Take time to play and help them to learn that money doesn't grow on trees. Put away the cell phones and drink lemonade. Go fishing! Introduce them to your friends. Before you know it, those times are gone and time missed can't be magically restored to today.

Look forward to the next time you can spend precious moments with your family and friends. Then do it. Don't be that one who lets things get in the way. Practice laughing, and be jolly. There is too much gloom and doom that arrives at our doors not to enjoy the good times.

Love to all.

Marty