Category: Posts

Isn’t there something magical about a good story.  Whether it is watching a movie or reading a good book, the experience you get feels like your compass is being reset in your brain… all of a sudden you feel what is important in life and what isn’t.

What better time than the beginning of a new year to begin to write your new story, your journey.  Sometimes fears get in the way, fears like forgiveness, risking rejection, not being accepted and learning to love.  I’m quite sure there is a writer of our journey outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even and whispering a better story into our consciousness.  God wants us to create beautiful stories.

Once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life and can’t go back to being normal. (Whatever that is).  As humans we get stuck in this three-act structure…. spend several years discovering yourself and the world, plod thru the middle looking for a mate to reproduce, then spending the end for reflection alone.

But… it’s so much deeper that the common feeling in nearly every person that “life would be perfect if…. you only had such-and-such car, spouse, job… Your story has the power to affect a million others.  As we become better characters, our stories get better and better.

Remember, God is saying,”Write a good story, take somebody with you and let me help!”

This is my take (and a few direct quotes) on the book I just finished, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life” Donald Miller.  Very Much worth the read, click the link and buy it now!

Also a perfect time for one of my favorites…Brand New Day so true… listen and enjoy!

You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again.
But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect, you aren’t either,
and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.
-Bob Marley.

Spent yesterday with two new gentlemen friends.  Enjoyed a nice lunch, great conversation and a few good laughs, hope to do that again soon!

Susan spent the night with me at Sandy Point, we spent the day in Marsh Harbour, car shopping.  Not much selection here, but just need a small truck or jeep… that is running.  Roads to my home are rough and rocky.  Then we had a nice lunch and went grocery shopping at their “Sams”… “Save A Lot!”… not sure where the name comes in… OUCH!  Ramen noodles are my new staple.

Gonna go to bed early… spending that much money on groceries exhausted me.

Ready to get into my new place and get a routine… driving 50 miles one way anywhere is getting tiring and expensive at $4.85 a gallon.

Yep… that’s it… I’m on an Island in the Caribbean and I’m freezing…

The Abacos

The Abacos Islands of The Bahamas are one of the world’s top boating and sailing destinations.

With its own calm sea surrounded by charming islands, each worth a visit, the Abaco Islands are known as one of the world’s top boating and sailing destinations. Not that those who prefer to sleep in a bed that doesn’t rock should look elsewhere: With quaint colonial towns, two golf courses, miles and miles of Stellar Beach, great fishing and diving, and a wonderful selection of hotels and resorts and restaurants and bars, the Abacos are the most complete vacation destination in The Bahamas Out Islands.

The Abacos consists of its own 120-mile-long island chain, basically a mini-Bahamas complete with its own Out Islands. Great Abaco Island and Little Abaco serve as the “mainland,” with a string of barrier islands separating them from the Atlantic. The body of water between – a turquoise Nirvana for those boaters and sailors – is the calm, shallow Sea of Abaco.

Marsh Harbour

Great Abaco Island is home to Marsh Harbour, the “bright lights and big city” of the Out Islands. And to put that into perspective, Marsh Harbour has exactly one traffic light (the only operative one in all The Bahamas Out Islands!). Along with having a great selection of hotels, restaurants and bars, Marsh Harbour is charter boat central, with several full-service marinas where you can dock your own boat or find a rental – both live aboard sailboats and powerboats are available.

Treasure Cay

North of Marsh Harbour is Treasure Cay, a hotel, golf, marina and real estate development wrapped around a beach with the whitest, softest sand you’ve ever seen. To the south lies Little Harbour, a picturesque protected bay where you’ll find a small artist colony based around the Johnston family and Pete Johnston’s Pete’s Pub.

Setting out across the Sea of Abaco from Great Abaco Island, and you can steer toward any one of a number of islands — each a vacation destination in its own right. This is an island hopper’s paradise.

The Cays of Abaco

The Abacos Bahamas were settled by English colonists who remained loyal to the crown after the American Revolutionary War, which is why the settlements like Hope Town on Elbow Cay and New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay have the look of New England fishing towns complete with picket fences and gingerbread trim – of course with the distinctive Bahamian touch of pastel colors.

Hope Town

Hope Town is home to the famous candy striped lighthouse, a favorite photo subject now, but quite controversial when it was under construction back in 1863 because up until then, the islands residents had been making a comfortable living by salvaging ships that wrecked on the offshore reefs.

Man-O-War Cay

North of Elbow Cay, Man-O-War is another Loyalist settlement, a conservative “dry” island, and the Abacos’ boat-building center, with a wonderful naturally protected harbor and boat-fitting and sail shops. Next up the chain is beachy Great Guana Cay, famed for the Sunday barbecues thrown at Nippers Bar that sits atop the island’s tall sand dune, which overlooks Guana’s magnificent seven-mile-long beach.

The outer islands up to Great Guana are easily reached by the Abacos scheduled ferry service – think local bus, but with a much better view and friendlier passengers – from Marsh Harbour. To reach Green Turtle Cay, you first head north on Great Abaco to Treasure Cay, where you can catch a boat for the short hop. There you’ll find the quaint town along with a full-service marina and hotels and dive and snorkel services.

The diving and snorkeling is excellent all through Abaco Bahamas, with several protected underwater areas such as Fowl Cay National Reserve and Pelican Cays National Park, massive reefs with swim-through caves that are seasonally filled wall to wall with silver baitfish, and even dive spots at the edge of the reef where you’re almost guaranteed to see Caribbean reef sharks.

Fishing is huge in the Abaco Islands, from the excellent bonefishing in Cherokee Sound and out in the “marls,” to the blue water big game species like marlin and tuna that prowl the Atlantic side within easy sight of the outer islands.

It’s a little windy and rainy here today, still so beautiful. A great day for watching football and relaxing.

Drove the 50 miles yesterday morning for a feast in Little Harbour. I got to meet my future neighbors among others. There was so much food, then on the way back to Sandy Point a neighbor invited me for dinner… Lobster, Prime rib, pork… Almost fell asleep at the table…. way too much food! Great Day!

A long long time ago, a man named Joseph was forced to go to the city of  Bethlehem to be counted for the census (They didn’t deliver to your door, just so you could throw it away, Not that I would ever do a thing like that); he was with his betrothed (fiancee’), Mary, who was extremely pregnant. Joseph put her on his donkey for the trip, what a gentleman.  The donkey was not happy with the situation, I am sure.

Mary and Joseph passed many cities along the way.  There were possibly a few lights from village fires, but I am quite sure there were no blinking lights in the trees (if there were trees), head bobbing rain deers moving electronically, lighted metal frames in the shape of animals, or even candy canes.  There was no men in red suits at the malls or local quick stops taking orders from kids who had studied the Sears Catalog intensely.  This all came the next year, I am sure!

When Joseph and Mary arrived at the inn, there wasn’t a room to be had.  There were no phone books, expedia, gps, or iphones with instant hotel search.  They were both very tired and Mary was ready to give birth at any moment.  The inn keeper, was a kind man.  Out of the goodness of his heart, he allowed them to stay in the barn out back.  It was the only place he had available, for there was no room in the inn.  The time came for the child to be born.  In that barn, in a manger (stack of hay) Mary delivered a boy, who God had instructed her to be named Jesus.  She wrapped him in swaddling clothes (not a cotton hand smocked white gown or even a one piece jumper from Walmart) and placed him in a manger.

As this miracle of birth occurred, something else was happening elsewhere in this region.  There were many shepherds who lived in the fields and tended their flocks of sheep by night. An angel appeared to them, quite out of no where. The shepherds were very frightened, and the angel said, “Do not be afraid, for I bring you tidings of great joy”, (Great news)  There was a child  born tonight, who has been sent by God as the Messiah.  (I can just hear the Sheppard’s mumbling in disbelief) Christ was born this day, away in a manger, in Bethlehem.”  The Shepard’s began to spread the good news!

At the same time, some other men were traveling from the East, who were either kings or wise men.  (Who knows?)  They were following a star that preceded them, and all of a sudden the star stopped over the place where Christ was born.  They entered the barn and presented gifts, NO not to Mary, Joseph or the Inn Keeper, gifts to the Christ Child.  They didn’t even play “Dirty Santa”. They presented the child with Gold, Frankincence and Myrrh (the last two being something like incense), not a play station, a ipad, clothes from Gap, or even so much as a stocking gift from Walgreens.  What they presented was what they had as personal possession… no shopping.  (Interesting concept, Hummmm!)

Thus the Story of the Birth of Christ!  Merry Christmas!

None of the above was meant to be blasphemous in any way. Have a sense of humor, I know I butchered it a bit.  But seriously, think about it.  Where and why and when did all the gift giving and spending come from anyway.  Looks to me like we should have stuck with a gifts for Christ, like helping at the food pantry, giving of funds for the needy, volunteering to help build a house, taking a family into our home, etc etc etc.  You get my point.  Hey I’m as guilty as anybody.  It was fun playing Santa all those years… but… if we had never started it, would they miss it?

I am NOT as cynical of the modern day Christmas season as this small parable lets on. Christmas is meant to be a time of joy and celebration.  Couldn’t Christmas be more like Thanksgiving, everyone enjoying each others company.  Thanking God for giving us his son… Just a thought! I have become more of a traditionalist about Christmas, preferring “Silent Night” to “Santa Claus is coming to town,” not sure if that is circumstantial or just because I am getting old.  (Not that old) but however you choose to celebrate is fine – keep in mind the true meaning of Christmas.   It is far greater and way more lasting that what lies under the tree, be it real, pre-lit or my favorite, the silver tree with the color wheel.

Warmest Wishes from the Island and May the Peace of Christ be with you and your family this Christmas Season and always.  Spread the good news!