The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

The last number of weeks have been filled with patience, trust, faith, and reliance in God, myself, and those around me. So much is happening in life at the moment. Wonderful and horrible. Some of it is a mixture of the good and the bad.

So much has challenged me to seek patience, to strive to understand myself and others, and to rely upon God’s strength and wisdom.

As a general rule, I don’t write specifically about family, friends, or work on my blog, so I won’t share all of the details of the last month. However, I can share that I have learned much (once again) in the last months.

The main thing is that life is full of contradictions. That’s what I’ve learned. There are opposites that don’t make any sense together. Life is wonderfully simple yet complex at exactly the same time.

I have started a list below. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

I am a deeply private individual. Yet I share many of my thoughts with the whole world on this blog.

I am a procrastinator. I am goal-oriented.

I am confident about what I want out of life. I am followed through life by my own insecurities.

I am logical. I jump to conclusions.

I think that I can know the mind of another person fairly well. I have absolutely no ability to read another person’s thoughts.

I don’t always enjoy what I do. I don’t always do what I enjoy.

I want to take care of it all by myself. I trust that others will take care of things inspite of me.

I am creative. I am analytical.

I cherish the moments that I have. I feel guilty about the moments that I have lost.

I am an immensely patient person. I can sometimes be anxious.

I love people. I am greatly annoyed by some of them.

I can be afraid of the unknown. Stepping out with faith into the unknown excites me.

I love to listen to other people talk. I want them to be quiet and listen to me.

I am a shy introvert. I have no problems at all with making a fool of myself in front of a crowd or the majority of individuals.

I am full of faith. I am full of doubts.

A few of the many things that I have been doing, generally speaking … walking barefoot on a cool night … reading the newspaper on a sunny afternoon … being there for family … sitting quietly beside my grandmother’s bed … placing my trust in another person … praying in a deep way (something that has been missing in life for awhile) … stepping forward into new and interesting things … knowing where i’m headed … having my confidence put to the test … realizing that maybe I don’t know where I’m headed … watching the person in the car next to me lip-synch with the music on my radio … talking with a good friend about life’s joys and life’s pains … driving down a congested highway into an amazing sunset … thinking about nothing in particular … thinking about everything at once.

Since I haven’t posted much of my own here recently, I thought I’d steal a few links from my friend Curt and others.

Curt posted yesterday on the the topic of “Why marry?” His posted was prompted in part by a post (”Reason to marry“) from IreneQ’s site.

OK, that’s it for me… back to watching the conclusion of The Bachelor. And yes, I have considered the irony.

Every small Texas town has at least one restaurant that sells fried chicken in huge, greasy quantities. Peachwater has two.

The first is called the Great Yellow Chicken. It’s over on the corner of Sixth and Bowie Avenue.

It’s one of those places that has gone through the extra expense of having special napkins printed up with a logo and a little slogan. The napkins proclaim it to be the “Finest Chicken Eatery in Town.” As far as I know, napkins can be trusted. They’ve never lied to me before. Neither has my stomache. Try the okra or mashed potatoes. It’s good stuff.

The second chicken place isn’t half bad if you are able to not think about the name. Bernice Oltram has owned and run the place for longer than anyone can remember. Everyone just calls her Aunt Bernice.

She is a sweet lady who is completely oblivious to the unappetizing and generally offensive name she so carefully selected for her business. Aunt Bernice named her business Aunt Bernice’s Legs and Thighs. That’s the actual name of the restaurant. No kidding. I promise that I’m not making that up. She does, after all, sell chicken legs and thighs.

You can find Aunt Bernice’s Legs and Thighs off of Third Street near the city park.

Oh, and then there is the sign. The words “legs” and “thighs” appear in green and pink neon next to a wooden cutout of a dancing Aunt Bernice. She is either doing the Charleston or the Lindy Hop. Not quite sure.

Next week: A review of Thai cuisine in Peachwater, Tx. It will be a short review since there are no Thai restaurants in or near town. It’s an untapped market if anyone wants to invest, but be warned, if you want to pull in the Sunday lunch crowd, you’ll be competing against the Steak Palace over in Upper South Jackson. And man, that’s good eating.

[Jeff's Note: I've been spending a bit of time in the public library in Peachwater, Tx. I'm researching a couple of different topics for a possible book. Here's a clipping from an old paper.]

As written by Alfred Wurstchestershire in News & Commentary, Peachwater’s leading and only newspaper, on April 1, 1988.

Throughout the history of Peachwater, Tx., many stories have been told. Some are hard to believe, but they all contain small amounts of truth.

Some deal with reality. Some don’t. Of course, there are the outright lies.

As an example: In 1976, an allegedly “secret government facility” was discovered by hikers in the deep backwoods of the Adalaskegan Nature Preserve.

After the facility was reported to appropriate authorities back in town, a town meeting was hastily called so that the leaders of Peachwater could devise a plan. It was decided that a small force of armed men (mostly hunters with rifles and shotguns) would be sent to investigate. The building was discovered to be empty. It appeared to have been that way for some time.

Upon closer investigation, one of the men realized the building to be the metal shed which had gone missing during that tornado which tore through A. G. Fogerty’s farm two years earlier. The storm had set the building down in a perfectly upright position nearly six miles from any roads.

But this simple fact didn’t stop the rumors. Peachwater was alive with the talk of a government conspiracy.

The building reportedly is no longer in the woods. This only adds fuel the fire. I’m not sure that anyone ever noted exactly where the building was in the first place. It might be there, and we just don’t know it. And if it is there, what are they using it for?

Suspicious bunch of people, aren’t we?

Although the Chinese Market has a wide variety of vegetables, noodles, and fish still complete with their heads, it does not (I repeat… does NOT) have any butter. Just thought everyone should know.

The text of the Taguba report is archived at Cryptome.

Worth a read. My comments later.

Sometimes I get a song stuck in my head and just can’t quite get it unstuck.

Sometimes that’s a bad thing. Like the other day, when that Jessica Simpson song, With You, stayed in my head for hour upon hour upon hour. “With nothing but a t-shirt on/I never felt so beautiful/Baby, as I do now.” aaahhhhhhh!

Then there are the days when a stuck song can be counted as a good thing. This has been today’s song:

From the rising of the sun
to the going down of the same,
the name of the Lord shall be praised.

From the rising of the sun
to the going down of the same,
the name of the Lord shall be praised.

So praise ye the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord.

From the rising of the sun
to the going down of the same,
the name of the Lord shall be praised.

[A MIDI file with the tune in case you want to sing along.]

The lyrics from this song are from Psalm 113. Similar words can be found in Psalm 50 and Malachi 1.

God’s Word through the prophet Malachi struck a chord with me. Especially when I read it in The Message, a modern paraphrase of Scripture.

From The Message, Malachi 1:11-14:

I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They’re saying it everywhere: “God is greater, this GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.”

All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, “Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,” and when you say, “I’m bored–this doesn’t do anything for me.” You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air–act superior to me, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is GOD speaking to you!

A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me–an expensive sacrifice, say–and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!

The name of the Lord shall be praised!