In All Your Ways....

After quite a long week of work, we pulled out Friday evening to head home.  14 hrs. on the road was well worth the chance to see our families.  And for me, it was truly a blessing by God to be able to be home.

As we were pulling out of Georgia, I received a text from a young man Joe.  He lives down the road from me, in fact, he was one of my first sunday school kids back in 1997.  The text read, "Walter, I have terrible news, call me when you get a chance"  As soon as I read this, obviously my mind began to fill in the unknown.  So I immediately called him only to find out the his father Paul Williamson had died by a heart attack Friday morning.  Paul was a dear friend to me.  He had come to the Lord in the same timeframe as I did in 1996.  He lived only a few houses away and regularly attended the bible study at my house on Monday evenings.  This of course was a shock to me and others.  I was overwhelmed with emotion at the moment he informed me, most thankful that God had already directed my path to be home in just a little while.  

When I think of this and how God had used this weekend for me to minister to Joe, who is struggling himself with the belief in the Lord Jesus, I can only be reminded of the truth of our Lord that He directs our path.  

"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path"

So often I find myself wondering whether God is still involved in the direction of my life.  When things are complacent for a season, or when I just don't feel I am listening to His direction, I think it is important that we understand what His promise here is…  

In all your ways, acknowledge, or to recognize, or accept Him.  This has nothing to do with what we do per se, but in our mind, do we accept His presence, do we recognize that our God wants to provide input in our lives.  And in many cases, I find that as we acknowledge Him, He will supersede our way with His will.  This is what I love so dearly about our living God!  He does not leave us stranded in this dry and empty land where there is no water to satisfy our souls!  He loves us!

Well, I will miss you Paul, I will miss your burly laugh, crazy hair and passionate discussions.  I will miss your friendship in this life.  BUT I rejoice for you and all the more I look forward to Jesus' return!  When we are all caught up together in His presence, never to look back, enjoying His presence for millions and millions of years to come!

We are heading back to Georgia for the final days to get our obstacles assembled.  The weather isn't looking promising, but I know God is promising.  I look forward to His will in the coming days...

Day One At Highland Park

This morning came quickly, eyes heavily pressed behind the lids and a pretty comfortable twin mattress to stretch out!  Thankfully, Rickey set the old time double bell alarm clock that would scare the shell off a dung beetle! (that's my attempt at Georgia humor :])
Anyway, the day began with a 90% chance of heavy thunderstorms and consistent winds of up to 30 mph out here in Cedartown.  I only know I rolled out of bed praying for the Lord to give us at least half a day to get the course mapped and the material delivered.  Sure enough, He went even further to restrain the winds and the rains until 4 pm.  At that time, the lightning began to strike all around as we ran frantically to get everything closed up before being struck.  I don't recall ever seeing lightning strike as close as it did today.  At one point I was like, "I've had enough, I am running to the truck!"  Then I realized that the guys still had much to do and as I sat in the driver's seat like a ninny, I knew the only proper thing to do is jump out and help get it all closed up.  HA!  Crazy day!
I read a verse this morning that really impacted me a lot:
Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
What drew my mind closely was the word conduct.  Is my life an example in conduct?  Well, no doubt it would be put to the test today.  With the many challenges of making this event come together and with all the pressure as well,  I know that I can at times "snap" and lose my patience, my cool, my temper!  This would be a great opportunity to be an example, though my self would rather bark out commands, scream at others and throw things when I am upset!  Now, I am not saying it got to that today, but I can honestly admit that it has gotten to that point all too many times in the past.  Does my life really display the transforming love of my Lord Jesus Christ, He who has chosen to take this filthy vessel, break it and rebuild it to a glorious new hope and a future?  I do want to be more of an example.  I know my life has been changed, I know the work He has done in my heart, my mind, my soul, but does my action exhibit the power of God that has done this work inside?
I want to be a faithful servant to my Lord Jesus Christ even in the positions of authority that He has appointed me too for until His return.

Thus, we go….

This evening began our trip to Cedartown, Georgia to prepare for the next Tough Mudder.  Myself, Chris DuBeck, Sasha Pudov and Rick Lyons all jumped into the "Georgia Mud Runner", or just my Chevy truck, and pulled out late in the evening Saturday night.  Sasha has pulled us through the late night hours and DuBeck pulled through the latter.  I just slept in the back seat.  When not sleeping, contemplating…

I must say that this has been I think the most difficult trip for me to prepare for.  With the realization that my family would be staying behind looming over my shoulder all week, I was unable to focus on anything at all!  I have been asking myself why, with only one real answer coming to mind; expectation!.  When I agreed to this Tough Mudder gig, I had in my mind that the family would be with me on the journey, though the reality was that they wouldn't be able to come to every event, I blocked out that truth from my very scrambled mind.  Now the moment has come and it has been really difficult for me!  I miss each of them so much!  Holding my daughter last night as she gently wept, wiping her tears quickly from her eyes in an effort to be strong and just give daddy one more smile, hugging Daniel closely as the realization that I would not be there in the morning became suddenly clear, giving tearful Walter a strong hug imputing the responsibility of being the man of the house and embracing Jacob as he wept in my arms not wanting to say goodbye.  Then to say goodbye to my love, Christine, had torn into my emotions so greatly!  Whoa, I could hardly constrain myself at this point to follow through with this trip.  

Now, I know many would read this and think, hey Walt, it's only a couple weeks (with a hopeful little trip home for the weekend!), but this may be the longest I have been away from my family ever.  And as I said earlier, my expectation was that they would be coming along for the journey.  But, this is what I agreed to, this has now become my responsibility and I need to be focused on this commitment to fulfill my obligation.

This trip has already given me a lot of time to think about things as well.  I see how the Lord has been using this through the last week and continuing to show me one (of many) particular weakness in myself.  I am the type that takes on a new challenge and wants to conquer it!  For instance, Tough Mudder laid on me the task this week of obtaining two cargo nets for the Mystery obstacle.  Well, after some searching, it would have been impossible to purchase and have delivered the nets in time for the event.  So, I took on the challenge to make them myself.  In the midst of packing, spending time with the family, purchasing materials and securing deliveries for the coming week, I decided to make cargo nets in my living room.  And mission completed!  With the help of my children, we were able to make the two nets in time. 

Well, I also noted that in the midst of this, there were many things that suffered in my life to take on this new challenge.  And it is becoming more apparent to me now that many things I think I do, I don't do at all!  I am always chasing the next challenge.  As a father, I want to be there training my children, playing with them, investing time into their lives.  Though, I have all these ideas in my mind to do with each of them, I find that I never really get to the part of doing!  I want to spend time with my older boys explaining the way of life, raising them up to be strong and preparing them to be leaders in their future.  I want to spend time with my daughter, talking, laughing and enjoying her lovely personality.  I want to be on the floor, racing cars around the table and making weird and obnoxious noises with my younger boys.  I want to be training them in music and the trades and how to be a good servant of our Lord and of others.  And I also want to be spending quality time with my wife, loving her, praying with her and enjoying every breathe of this precious life with her.  

I found comfort in the words of Paul the Apostle:

"For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is not longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God- through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

I understand that in me dwells nothing good, that is the flesh.  That my strength must come from Him, as I serve and submit to Him, the law of God, in the Spirit.  He will guide and direct every good thing that I desire to do.  I want to be more submitted to His will, I want to be more the person He desires to be- in me!

Much to consider, much to do!

The Prudent Considers Well His Steps

Today, we made the trip over to Paige with our tools and trailer, expecting to meet with the Tough Mudder guys, but they cancelled last minute in an effort to chase a plane that was eventually grounded due to the snow in New York.  So, needless to say, we decided to pull out the quads and "survey" the course!  Now I haven't had much experience on atv's, but I jumped on headstrong, thinking that I can handle whatever comes my way. HA!  Immediately, I went for a jump on the motorcross full force.  I quickly learned that I need to respect this very powerful machine as I launched off and came smacking down hard enough to presume that I just busted my rib cage against the handle bars!  As I just curled up on the quad holding my chest, wind knocked out, not being able to speak and in a terrible amount of pain (while Rick decided to follow me in the same manner, luckily a bit lighter so he didn't experience the same suffering), I began to consider just what kind of idiot I had become!  A verse in Proverbs (14:15) ends by stating that a prudent man considers well his steps.  I certainly had not done that!  Now I am suffering the consequences.  No, I do not believe that my ribs are broken, but I am in an immense amount of pain and soreness.  All this and I haven't even begun to assemble the mudder coarse!  

 I am glad that this happened though, truly I am!  It has reminded me that I am here to work and need to be prepared to sweat and exert much energy into the next few weeks, I cannot be acting foolishly.  Oh, it could have been much worse, and I am thankful to the Lord for His protection over me and at the same time thankful for the quick lesson in life.  I do look forward to the work ahead and I wouldn't be a bit of worth to anyone laid up in a bed with cracked ribs or something!
BUT THIS IS TRULY FUN!  We had a blast running around the coarse in a more responsible manner after this.  The weather cleared up, it is still a bit chilly.  I am hoping next week will be a bit warmer, as the forecast is saying it will be.
We finished the day by heading to the church and framing a bit, pulling some electric wires and getting the drywall loaded into the building.

 I do want to be a man that considers his ways in all things.  I know God has allowed this day to pass as a reminder that every moment is a gift from Him and that I want to be considering all that I can do to glorify His name in my life, to share His love with all around, to direct as many as I meet to Christ, and to be prepared to meet Him soon!  He's coming, are we considering our steps, are we redeeming the time He has given us?  I want to be...
Tomorrow we meet with the excavators on site to schedule the Mudd moving!

Back To Normal, Well Almost!

Today we made an effort to bring our lives back into some sort of schedule.  It is an interesting challenge trying to do all the things you do at home in a different place and still call it home!  I took the morning to catch up with work in NJ via email and phone while Christine made an effort to school the kids!  She is wonderful and is doing quite an amazing job with this being relocated to the sticks in Texas for a month!  The kids were altogether well responsive to the idea of school here, although I think the challenge for them is that this seems like a vacation time, but indeed it is not.
In the afternoon, I left for a bit to meet with the Tough Mudder guys at the event site.  We left from there and, believe it or not, Rick and I did the food shopping!  The grocery store is about 20 miles from home.  Quite a difference for a bunch of people that have 5 grocery stores within 5 miles of home in NJ!
I was glad that we were able to bring our evening focus back on the Lord with family devotions.  The last few days of travel threw us all out of whack.  Jesus is faithful to comfort the downcast, displaced, disorganized and frustrated!  I thank the Lord that He meets us, He has been our only source of sanity and peace at times as we have been challenged in many ways.
The cabin is about 6 miles into the woods between two state parks.  We have NO neighbors.  Dense woodland surrounds us.  It is quite freaky at times, but serene and peaceful at others!  The sinks drain into the backyard, as well as the laundry water, HA, I wanna see you get away with that in NJ!
They voted in a burn ban for Bastrop County today, this means that no outdoor fires are allowed at all.  A little bummer for the family, we will have to make smores over the wood stove I guess.  I little more challenging for Tough Mudder.  Their signature obstacle is the Firewalker, 2,000 bales of hay burning up in two days as people "courageously" run through it.  They asked if I can design something special in it's place.  I have some ideas.  I pray that God would grant me wisdom and the capability to complete such a task as the coming days are already jammed with intense demands!
Oh, and by the way, it is Rickey's birthday!  24!  YEEEHAW!  Enjoy this clip as we celebrate the day.

Home Away

I can say that God is always seeking to secure us in His grace and His love.  We met up with Cowboy Church and now attended our first service with them.  It was quite a wonderful time.  They just upgraded from a dirt floor in the last few months!
The body of Christ was so friendly, loving and considerate toward us.  It reminds me so much of the wonderful bunch of people God has brought together back East, at Crossroads Calvary.  There is something to be said about the love of God and His people!  I miss my family, but thankfully, till we return, God has blessed us with a family here.
Pastor Bubba introduced me by saying this, "Well, today we have some guests with us from New Jersey.  You can tell that they must get a lot of snow up there."  I replied, "about 36" right now!"  He said, "I don't mean that, but you can tell that they get a lot of snow by just looking at the front row, their all his kids!  This man must get snowed in quite a bit!"
It was a wonderful experience.  Pastor Bubba asked if we would sing a bit, so I couldn't refuse the opportunity to glorify the name of our Lord in song.  Rick and I sang a couple songs that we wrote, the people were extremely blessed!
God has sent us here, not only an answer to prayer for us to find a church family, but also answering prayer for them as well.  They are in need of finishing the bathrooms in the church.  To date, they have a porta john for the men and an outhouse for the ladies!  The new bathrooms need the electric, drywall, paint, tile, fixtures set, etc.  They haven't had anyone there that knew what to do at this point.  Just as well, we are looking for ways to be of use for the Lord and His ministry, so I offered up our abilities to help them over the next few weeks.  Pray that we get much done!

~Walt Sr.

Cabin Cleanup and Treehouse Layout

When we finally got to the treehouse, It was a MESS! There were old food, piles of dirt, messy floors, and even someone's ladies, dirty underwear and shorts under the sink! We had to do a big cleanup! We were preparing for a good, nice rest, but what we got was a big mess! Mom and Dad were running around the house cleaning left and right. All of us kids and Rickey unpacked the trailer from all of our stuff. We all had to remember the verse Philippians 2:15, 'Do all things without complaining and disputing.' We tried our hardest to follow this verse. Without God's provision Dad would have had to go to Texas without us for four weeks. Even with all the messes, we all are extremely blessed to have been able to come.
Now I will describe the layout of the treehouse. First you drive in on an bumpy, dirt road. When you pull up you go down some stone stairs and walk into the door. Once inside there is a single room with a living room and kitchen in it. Also there is a door where you can go onto an outside, screened in porch. In the main room there is a table and chairs, sofa and two easy chairs, a TV stand, and a wood burning stove. Also there is a flight of steps that go up into a loft. Up there you will find a bathroom, a big computer desk, a queen sized bed (we also added two additional beds and a crib), and a book shelf. Mom, Dad, Markie, Jofey, and Jacob are sleeping in this room. Once in this room you can go onto a second-floor, bridge-porch that connects to yet another room. In this room you will find a dresser, bed, and a TV. Chris Dubeck, Who is one of my dad's workers, will be sleeping in this room. On the opposite side is a door that leads to a flight of stairs. If you go down the stairs you will end up on a deck. Then you go forwards and then turn left and you will find another room. In this room, there are two twin beds (we also added two additional beds), washer and dryer, and a bathroom. Anneliese, Daniel, Rickey, and Me are sleeping in this room. That is the layout of the Treehouse!

*Walt Jr*

First Things First

Matthew 6:33 says, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. We were about 5 miles from our cottage when I heard the Lord speak to me.We were passing a church that I had seen and it caught my curiosity on my last visit to the Austin Area. The church, Cowboy Church! I passed this church while scoping places to stay last visit, I wasn't sure I would ever see it again, but it reminded me of a video interviewing this type of church during our Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS for the kids last year.

Well, I noticed the guys were out working on the ranch, which is the church also, and knew that the Lord wanted me to stop by. After 42 hours of travel, we were all real tired, but I knew we were supposed to make this stop. Sure enough, the pastor, Bubba Fowler, was working on the water pump house when we pulled in. It was quite an amazing opportunity for us, the kids had time to stretch out and play on some tractors and ranch equipment, while Rick and I gave a hand to fit the door for the pump house.

This truly was God's desire for us though we in the flesh were not happily responsive, but what a

great blessing to find Bubba. His like-mindedness in Christ has given us immediate comfort and fellowship in the Lord. He is our Pastor in Texas! What an amazing Texas experience! Honest to goodness cowboys, loving Jesus! We were sure that this would be the church we visit the following morning.

~Walt Sr.

Our Trip Has Begun!

On January 6, 2010, our family began our adventure to Austin Texas. Our objective: to build Tough Mudder Austin. Just what does this mean? Well, the total head count in our van was 9, Myself, Christine, Rickey Lyons, Walt Jr, Jacob, Anneliese, Daniel, Joseph, Mark and our dog Daisy, to drive 1,800 miles south!We left our home at 5:00 p.m., after a full day of packing our 20' enclosed trailer with household items, clothing, mattresses, all our tools, materials for the event, and of course some big toys, two quads!

The travel was tough, we made it only 500 miles the first night. The next day, after hearing of major storms that will be passing through the south, we decided to drive the 1300 mile balance of our trip straight through.

Exciting events and challenges on the trip, YES! Mark threw up all

over himself and his car seat early on our second day. Rickey was given a great opportunity to strengthen his gag reflexes as he cleaned Mark up until we could pull over safely. Ha, what a mess! But we cleaned up and moved on within an hour. Second obstacle, a blow out at 6 a.m. in Louisiana. The rear trailer tire gave up after a long hard trip! Thankfully, we were prepared for this kind of thing! Up an running in an hour. After 42 hours of travel, we made it to our destination, Smithville, Texas.

~Walt Sr.