Has it really been since Thanksgiving?!!!

WOW!!! I can't believe it's been since Thanksgiving since I have blogged!!! Just to catch you up a bit, in case you haven't figured it out, I have moved from Lockney to Hydro, Oklahoma. I am the manager of the Chemical Weed Control (www.chemweed.com) location here. We do industrial weed control for oil companies, utilities, pipelines, refineries, power plants, etc... If a guy (or gal) doesn't want anything to grow there, I'm your guy. I travel all of western Oklahoma and the Eastern Texas panhandle. I have an awesome crew of guys here.

Moving from Lockney was a tough decision for me. So many friends, leaving behind an awesome church family, the community, and the fire department. The toughest thing was leaving my 2 girls behind. They are my life, but it was time for them to see their dad living and happy with his life. I get to see them often, and cherish that time with all my heart.

This move has created a few challenges for me, things that you don't take into consideration when you move. Finding the right church family to continue my walk with Christ. Learning new grocery stores, finding a good barber, restaurants, etc.... But I am adjusting well.

Oklahoma is a beautiful state! I have really appreciated all of God's beauty here. The trees, the rolling terrain, and the people have been awesome.

My role here is to make sure my guys are successful. I have an awesome, hard working team!! I have taken lots of life's lesson and implemented them here. Taking from former bosses and experiences, both bad and good, and helping my team to succeed. Chemical Weed Control is an awesome company to work for. They give me the tools I need to make my location successful. By far, the best organization I have ever worked for.

I have leased my home in Lockney to a young man that is going to purchase it soon. Right now, I'm living at my office. It used to be a alternative school/home for troubled kids. So it has MANY bedrooms.

Although I find myself missing my girls terribly, I'm loving life and living everyday to its fullest.

Don't know if I will get back here daily or not, but will at least to make very effort to come here weekly to share.

Thanks for reading!!!!

Thanksgiving!!!

Just wanted to share a few things here today, things I'm thankful for.



1. My kids Jonathan, Kirsten, Sarah and Lizzie! They are the reason I get out of bed every day!



2. My church family here in Lockney. I love them very much. They have seen me through some very difficult times.



3. The United States of America! Whether you're Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, we live in the single greatest democracy in the world.



4. Our service men and women that, past or present, are fighting for our freedoms. I especially want to be thankful for the parents and family members of those service men and women.



5. Friends, both new and old, that encourage me daily.



6. My mom. She continues to inspire me!

7. My sister Shellie.

8. My home, car, food, daily stuff we usually don't put a lot of thought in being thankful for.

9. Small town living. Don't know how much longer I can make a living here, but thankful for my time here.

10. Jesus Christ! I left him for last cause I wanted the space to tell you why. You see just at the right time, he came into my life and rescued me. I was lost, but now I'm found. Cleansed, redeemed, justified, sanctified! Romans 5:6 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Think about that for minute. Christ died for me? Preston Belt? With all of my problems, faults, iniquities and sins, he died for me? I spent most of my life thinking he died for the Godly folks. The folks who were perfect in every way. But right here in the bible it says He died for me!!! And you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A pricked heart!

The girls and I made a fast trip to Quanah this weekend to check on mom. We had a really good time there with her. On our way home this morning we stopped and worshipped in Childress this morning. Trey Morgan is one of my favorite preachers and that whole congregation lifts me up. During one of the prayers this morning, my heart was pricked. The guy giving a prayer this morning asked forgiveness of our sins and then said something else, he asked that we forgive those who have sinned against us. That may not be a big deal for most of you, but it hit me right where it hurts. When was the last time I asked that I forgive those who sin against me? Then tonight here in Lockney, guess what Jay Don's sermon was? Luke 11:1-4 "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, " When you pray, say:

"Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation".

Now I have read this several times. And I try hard to pattern my prayers after this. But, again, how many times have I asked to forgive everyone who sins against me? Not very often, if I ever have! Too many times I remember the things others do to me. And too may times I try to pay them back or get revenge.

Today I am going to start praying that I forgive everyone who sins against me.

Letting go

Why is it we have such a hard time letting go of loved ones, even when we know they are going to a much better place? Paradise. I can't quite get my arms around that. Wondering what it must be like to see paradise? I catch myself wondering that often.

What is paradise? Paradeisos is the Greek word for paradise meaning "a place of blessedness, from the base meaning garden - paradise". As i was driving home today, I spent most of the afternoon thinking about what heaven must look like. I wondered what a dry land cotton farm would look like in heaven. What a pasture must look like and if there is any animals there grazing. What a city must look like, with it's streets of gold. What a building looks like and if there is buildings there. I know that Jesus has gone to prepare a home for us. Is that just a resting place or does it resemble anything here on earth. John 14:1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." And we sing the song "I've got a mansion just over the hilltop" that paints the picture of a huge home in heaven. Solomon talks about how this life on earth is "meaningless, chasing after the wind" our true treasure awaits us.

I'm going to miss Helen Foster. Her long talks and her gracious smile. But I know that she's in a better place now, with Van. And I hope she's met up with my dad and they are all friends looking down on us!

October 8,1971

October 8, 1971 was a day that changed my young life. It's the day my dad was tragically taken from us in a farming accident. A day I think of often. Wondering about all the "what if's" and "why's". There is never a day that goes by that I don't think about him. On my walks/jogs I go by the house that we lived in when he died. Remembering when I was a child playing in the yard, plowing and planting with my toy tractors. Getting mad and throwing fits cause my rows weren't exactly straight. If he was nearby when I was throwing one of my temper tantrums, he would come over to where I was at, take the rake or hoe that I was making rows with, and make them straight for me. I have memories of him teaching me how to set an irrigation tube from a ditch, and when we would get home he would have to hose me off outside before mom would let us in the house.

We miss you dad! Can't wait to see you again!!!

Just some thoughts

Well, this has been some crazy ride, the past 6 weeks. I don't know if I have ever been through as many emotional highs and lows as what I have been lately. I have learned more about what I am made of over the past few weeks than any other time in my life. Studying for the LSAT has pushed me beyond many limits that were in my life. I have a brand new perspective on life. I can do well on this test Saturday. I can get into law school. And I can succeed in law school.

I was told by my guidance counselor in high school that I was not college material. That I needed to focus on a trade or just farming for the rest of my life (those are her words not mine). Well, I have proved that wrong. And now, for a guy that's not college material, I am about to embark on a new challenge.

I don't know where all this will lead me some day, but, I do know that God is leading me. He's always there no matter how cloudy it may seem.

I want to say thank you! To all of you who have encouraged me in this endeavor and have taken the time to say a prayer for me. God's still answering prayers!

I have a couple of prayer request. That I will take the knowledge that He has given me and apply it to the test Saturday. The second is for a dear friend of mine. Caitlin Clark taught my LSAT prep class. She just learned of a tumor on her brain. Pray for her and her family.

Remembering 9-11

Just some random things I remember about that awful day 8 years ago.

I was in the process of trying to get a defoliation plot out on some cotton that morning when I got a call from Mark Nutt that a plane had hit one of the towers. The cotton still lacked a couple of weeks being ready to defoliate so I went to town and stopped in at the D&J Gin here in Lockney to figure out what was going on. As I walked in the door, the second plane hit the other tower, then the news of the Pentagon being hit. I can remember thinking, "is this really happening on our soil?'. The collapse of the first town just sent chills down my spine. My thoughts and prayers immediately went to the folks trapped inside when it collapsed and the folks attempting to rescue them. The second tower falls. The looks on the people on the street, covered in the soot, walking aimlessly. The look on President Bush's face when he got the news as he was with a group of school children in Florida. The humanity of the people at the sites, all pitching in together to help. The firemen raising the flag at ground zero in New York. The president's speech the next day from ground zero. The thoughts of friends and family that were traveling that day. The need to go and hold my kids close. The relief to know the friends and family that were traveling safe on the ground, not at home, but safe. The complete shutdown of financial institutions and transportation. The images of the people at the sites holding pictures of loved ones unaccounted for. The heroism of the folks on United Airlines Flight 93.

The days that followed are not as clear as the day it happened in my mind. I have the special editions of the Plainview Daily Herald and the Lubbock Avalance-Journal that were published that day and the day after. I can remember going to Plainview that afternoon and seeing Danny Andrews, the editor of the Plainview paper, standing in the middle of 5th and Quincy selling the paper.

The event completely changed the way I look at patriotism. I had a brand new perspective on America. On that day, and the days that followed, we were no longer Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, but we were one nation, under God. The national anthem, every time i hear it now, has new meaning. I can listen to the words and imagine what the writer was seeing and feeling.

I will never forget!