Signs of Character

 Wasn't it that great observer of the human condition Clint Eastwood who said scars are a sign of character.?

The Frolic from Mt. Nebo has its share. I mentioned a while back that at some point in the camper's history a tree limb fell on it. The previous owner told me that there were two holes that resulted from that incident, one about the size of a tennis ball. Actually, there were three. Two of them are far enough back on the roof that they can't be seen. The other one is right on the little camper's forehead. 





"Where'd you get that?"

"Me 'n' and oak tree got into it one night. You should'a seen the oak. It lost a limb."

My resources or abilities don't allow for getting the little trailer back into pristine condition. It will be a whole lot "prissier" than it was when I got it. 

Except for the door and some touchups, I finished the external painting. I have the panels on the front temporarily mounted. 



The red is International Harvester Red. During the short time my dad was a farmer, after WW2, when he and mom were newly-weds, he had a Farmall tractor. So it's in his honor.

I was talking to a young man the other day. The first part of his life has been at least a little rough, a good bit of the roughness was self-induced. I'm glad to say he's doing better now. I pray that he contniues. He's like the Frolic. He carries some scars. He told me, "What I've done has made me who I am. The statement is sort of a personal application of the hardscrabble philosophy, "Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger." I know what my friend means, and truly hard times can lead to growth of character. It can also lead to bitterness, depression, anger and its unsavory cousins, etc. After I thought about what my friend said, I think for the child of God,  a better way of putting it is, "My life and all that has happened in it is my past. Clearly, all of that has marked me, I've got scars. But, it is the grace of God that has made me what I am."

The extra good news is, God isn't lacking in resources, wisdom, or patience to make us all that He wants us to be. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We camped in Frolic for the first time. It's officially done.

Image
 I finally got Frolic on the road, so that means that it is basically done. Do you ever really finish with these sorts of things? Today is Monday. I got Frolic off the blocks and took it out for a ride on Saturday. I needed to burnish the new brakes and I wanted to see how it pulled. The last time it was moved was when it came here from Mt. Nebo WV. I was in the truck, but my friend who helped me out did the driving. Everything seemed good. Last night we (Kathy and I) did an overnight at Douthat State Park, a campground about 20 miles from here. We took notes on what we had forgotten, and what we need to diddle with, but basically, everything worked fine. Here are some pictures and comments of/about the trailer when I got it and what it is now.    I found the trailer looking at Criag's List. It was sitting on blocks in a back yard in Mt. Nebo WV. At the time, I was living in Guam. With the help of some friends from my church, I was able to put new tires on it and drag it ...
Read more

Moving forward, slowly, on three fronts:

Image
 My project has been delayed by some joyful travel and rainy weather. Last week, we spent the remainder of our frequent flyer miles to visit our son and his family, in Texas. A late plane/missed connection, extended our trip by a day, United put us up in a hotel. It was nice, and the delay gave us an opportunity to have a lovely meal and a great visit with some dear friends. Rose and Tom served at Faith Church in Guam. Tom was our pastor. They "retired" a year before us and live in the Chicago area.  It was all great, but none of it advanced the renewal of the Frolic. Jesus gives new life instantaneously, not so, when Howard does it. Anyhow, I've been able to spend a couple of days working on the trailer this week. Partly because it has been rainy, and partly to stave off boredom with some tedious tasks, I've adopted a strategy of going back and forth between several tasks. I'm continuing to remove the skin, where needed. It looks like all of the wall siding will ...
Read more

Big Trip #9, Utah, Arizona, & New Mexico

Image
 I need to finish this travel log up. I figure I'll do one more Big Trip post after this one. Ten is plenty. Our granddaughter, Carrington, is an artist. While we were at her and Harrison's house, Frolic was parked out front. She gave us this lovely portrait of our camper before we left. Before we leave, though, here is a picture of Harrison and Carrington with Clark. We left the Provo area and went South in Utah. When I planned the trip I failed to take into account that this was Labor Day Weekend. That kind of complicated things. We were fortunate to find a campground with an opening. As the name would imply, Bryce Zion Campground is between two of Utah's national parks.  Here is the entrance to B/Z Campground. The other picture is the view from behind and to the left. We had hoped to see both National Parks, but crowding at Zion slowed us up, so we decided to just enjoy Zion. As usual, our pictures don't do it justice. It was a fairly short trip down to the Kaibab Na...
Read more