The Big Inning

I heard once that God created the earth during a baseball game, more specifically, the big inning.  I never knew all that much about the Bible but I remembered that bit of humor when my memory could not hold on to other jokes.  The only other line, or Scripture, I held in memory was the beginning of the 23rd Psalm: The Lord is My Shepherd.  Though my years of wandering apart from the Lord, I kept those words as my source of strength.  Following the birth of my beautiful daughter, I began attending church service and learned much more about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Though my spiritual path, as I heard it called, led me slowly through processes of the church, I did not learn much about whom the Lord was or what He meant, or should mean, to me.  I kept some distance from the Lord for many years.  I thought life was good, relatively speaking.  I had a wife, a family, a home, a job, and things.  What I did not have was love.  In this world it seems to me that love is elusive, seen only occasionally on the faces of an elderly couple who speak a language known only between them.  I wish I could find that kind of love before my time on this earth ends.

Aside from the ‘big inning,’ my beginning came at the end of life as I knew it.  That is a long and perhaps boring story but one that is very personal and important to me.  I may go into detail on that if or when anyone asks about it.  Meanwhile, I intend to use this ‘blog’ to post various stories of my new life as a Nomad for my Lord and Savior.  I am not one who goes around preaching about Jesus Christ and God.  Rather, I wander the world helping people in need.  I go where my Lord and Savior guide me.  I have few, if any, building skills but I do whatever work needs to be done.  I take along a few tools and I generally travel by camping trailer.  I do have a few things that come in handy -- ears for listening, eyes for conveying compassion, hands for holding or working, and a heart for caring.  I also have a wonderful gift for doing whatever I do and I am not sure what anyone would call it.  I believe that gift is what folks call a Spiritual Gift.

In the summer of 2010, I was searching for something to keep me busy.  I had recently ended a 38-year career of working five days a week and found myself with no wife, no job, a new neighborhood, and a new problem.  That problem was what to do with myself.  It took me a while but I found and joined a group called United Methodist NOMADS.  The term, NOMADS, is actually an acronym for Nomads on Mission Active in Divine Service.  NOMADS is an organization with a website through which I am able to identify people and places in need.  I go on-line, select a few projects, and wait for word on places and work.  Generally, I find a few words that describe what the project entails; sometimes the words are only near in describing the actual work needed.  No matter.  I go anyway.

I will post now and then photos and brief descriptions of what I encounter during my travels.  I will state repeatedly that credit goes to the Lord who sends me.  I do not expect anyone to understand my intentions or reasons, but if you do, thanks.  I welcome comments and questions.