GRANDPA CHUCK

Since I talked to you last some good things have happened in my life.

The court of appeals sent my 11.07 back to the convicting courts to be reviewed on the claims of ineffective assistance and other things they can find wrong.

The court appointed me an attorney out of Borger to represent me in the appeals process so that's good I hope!

I'd just like to thank you for all your prayers over the past 3 years ma'am.  Every bit of effort you have put forth is certainly greatly appreciated ma'am.

I'm not a grandpa yet.  He's still in the oven but he's getting pretty close to being done!  He is supposed to be ready to come out sometime in January so it won't be long now.  I've got to get me out of trouble so I can hold him when they come to visit.  That will make my day.

I still remember carrying my oldest boy out of the delivery room and into the nursery as if

it was just yesterday.

I found out then what my dad was talking about when he told me how he felt when I was born and he carried me into the nursery.

He said he stood there at the nursery window and told me all the plans he had for us.  He used to tear up when he would tell the story and now I'm the one with tears both when I think of his story and mine.

There's one thing I can say for sure, the man loved me and still does.

Psalms 127:3-4 "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"

Deuteronomy 30:6"The LORD your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!"

DRY LAND

How do you continue to have mercy and a heart of thanksgiving when you have nothing to be thankful about and your well is dry?

It's been a sad season in my little town.

We just learned over the weekend that a young man whose grandparents live here was hit and killed by a drunk driver in his college town.  Their Thanksgiving may be a little hard to celebrate.

My heart is very sad....and I admit I have had to try a little bit harder lately to have a heart filled with joy.

But it occurred to me that we don't always get to have a heart filled with joy because that is not how life works.  We can only hope and try to feel that joy as much as possible.

So has it been evidenced in the words I have to say on this blog and even in my letters to Chuckwa. It seems like there is only so much a person can do or say or write...like eating a cracker...kind of dry.

I have been talking a lot lately with my little brother who seems to also be going through a down time and as I talk to him I think maybe I should take my own big sister advice and fill the well.

There is only one way to do that...but it is important to remember that we just don't always get to feel happy and that's ok.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I looked back at one of my early letters to Chuckwa.

This is an excerpt from November 2013....

I started the day off in kind of a sad state 'cause I called home and talked to my youngest boy.  He was sad and missing me so I got sad, then I got off the phone and went to writing and all I could think of was sad thoughts and cried a little so I took a break from writing.  Then I decided to get up and go talk to a man who just recently moved in here who was a Christian man.  He had his bible sittin' on table with the intention of talking to me and so we talked and then I thought of you and told him the story about you and the letter you wrote me one time that directed me to Hebrews 12.  Your letter became the topic of our discussion.  The cool thing is that he had that chapter in mind for me before  we seen your letter.  We read for 5 hours and I walked away feeling a whole lot better and now I'm sitting here and reading that letter and realizing what a big difference it made in my life.  I will be forever grateful for the gift I received the day I received my first letter from you.

sing anyway

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

MURDER

I have lived in this quiet little community my entire life

and never in one million years

would I have ever believed

MURDER

would be the headlines for our little news sites

This young man went off the deep end and killed his mother and her boyfriend

he had a life, a wife and three little boys

He did the deed in Booker, Texas, up the road some miles, but drove through our little town and stole a vehicle, causing a horrible crash during a chase, and leaving a dead body behind at the home of an innocent family.  He left the other dead body on the side of the road.

BIG

BIG

news day...

not the kind I like

and as the communities and families involved slowly begin to grasp reality

this young man is found guilty yesterday, in a murder for hire plot

*he will serve the rest of his life in prison*

Mike was a little boy growing up in Spearman and friends with both my younger brothers.

They rode bikes, swam at the local pool, popped firecrackers and studied math and spelling.

He went on to become a successful doctor and was convicted of hiring a killer to murder a Lubbock doctor who began dating his girlfriend.

It is incredible to me that such things could happen.

It breaks my heart for all of those involved and yes I admit

I feel great sympathy even for those that committed the crime.

What?Went?Wrong?

this is my opinion and it's not really an opinion because if you believe in the bible...

such a thing that happened to these men and Chuckwa...

could happen to you or me

 Job 1:7

The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."

REMEMBER THE ALAMO

Hello Mam, how are you doing?  I hope all is well for you and yours.  Not a lot going on here.

Thank you for your letter with the information on Custer.  That was some pretty interesting stuff.   I also want to thank you for the post card from the Alamo.  I have never seen it like that.

There are lots of people here in the prison from San Antonio and Houston.  There are a lot of city boys in these places.

I had my mom call the district clerk's office in Perryton about a week ago to find out about my case and the lady just found it that day and said it had fallen through the cracks!  So it has been sitting there for over a year unseen.  The lady said she would get it in motion so maybe something good will come out of that?

I'm not  holding my breath, but I am hopeful.

I just wanted you to know that I am still chuggin' along.  Keep me in your prayers please and I will do the same for you and yours.

God Bless

Luke 10:25-37--I am not forgotten

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 

DREAMS

I have wondered about dreams for years but haven't been able to come to any conclusions.

Are they angels?  Does our spirit live on?  Are they my guardian angels?

I can tell you this if it wasn't for me having the dreams and experiencing it I wouldn't believe it.

That's what changed my outlook on God and the angels and all that stuff.  The Bible teaches that the dead are conscious of nothing at all, but it does say that there are angels.

My grandparents are both passed on and so is Mr. Miller, but the people who were in my dreams were them with the exact same voices.  It sure raises a lot of questions in my mind.

I dreamed last night that I was at the lady's pond where I fished a lot growing up.  She was talking to me in the dream.  I don't remember what she was telling me though.

I sure wish I could have woke up there instead of in this place, but here is where I live.

I'll have to leave the fishing up to the kids for a while.

Matthew 4:11

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. 

BEES IN TREES

I've had my share of experiences with bees.  I worked for this elderly man on my days off when I was in the oilfield.  He sold firewood.  I cut and split wood.

He got a call from a lady who lived in Gainsville who had a tree with some dead limbs she wanted cut out of the top of one of her trees.  I climbed all the way to the top and attached my saw to a rope and then cut the limbs off.

After I got the limbs to the ground I started cutting them into sticks of firewood.  One I cut didn't look like the others, the center was rotten.  It didn't take me long to figure out just what I was seeing.

The next cut I made brought the bees!  This darn limb was full of honey bees and their nest.  Luckily I didn't get stung and just kept on cuttin'.  Those things were swarming all around me too.  I guess the smoke from the saw kept them from stinging me.

I got a real big surprise last night that I never woulda ever expected.  Sheryl's oldest boy wrote me a J-pay letter.  I haven't seen or heard from him in 6 or so years.  He just wrote me out of the blue. I thought that was pretty neat.  I wrote him a letter back.

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

BEARDS

In the latest letter from Chuckwa,

he wrote about beards

I have never in the world given a second thought about such a thing

have you?

I sure wish I had some good news to relay.  I got a letter from my mom and one from Amy.  I am currently behind in my letter writing.

I am growing a beard but I've about decided that I'm not a beard person.  I like a mustache but no beard.  The Supreme Court ruled that we can now grow a beard up to 1/2" in length for religious reasons so lots of people are walking around here with beards.

I've got an I-60 siting here addressed to the chaplin to let him know he can take me off the list.  I'd rather be clean shaven.  There are a lot of other things in the world I'd much rather have than a beard or the right to grow one.

N E Wayz...that's the highlight of my life right now

SUPREME COURT RULING

TEXAS PRISONS ALLOW BEARDS

Leviticus 19:27  "They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh"