Chainsaw Training, part two...

Here are three good reasons to join the Arizona Southern Baptist Disaster relief team!

At the very top, and hard to see is Daniel, a journeyman tree guy that works with John. In the middle is our fearless leader, Chris. Bottom left is a great young guy named Seth.

Here I am, just hanging out. Chris is giving me expert instructions. Climbing trees is almost as much fun as climbing rocks. Almost.

I went on to climb just a few feet from the top. The large branch that curves to the left above my head is where I finally wound up standing on. Very exciting!

Chainsaw Training...

We place gear and size up the job of trimming these three sick pine trees.

Everyone helps out carrying things. Lots and lots of equipment is involved.

The area has to be cleaned and tarps are put down to protect our climbing ropes.

This is John giving instructions on what the duties of a"ballast guy" are. John has forgotten more about tress and how to cut, trim, prune and climb than I will ever know.

February 21, 2010

When this passing world is done,
When has sunk yon glaring sun,
When we stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o'er life's finished story,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When I hear the wicked call
On the rocks and hills to fall,
When I see them start to shrink
On the fiery deluge brink,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When I stand before the throne,
Dressed in beauty not my own,
When I see thee as thou art,
Love thee with unsinning heart,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When the praise of heav'n I hear,
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harp's melodious voice,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me,
Wakened up from wrath to flee,
Hidden in the Savior's side,
By the Spirit sanctified,
Teach me, Lord, on earth to show,
By my love, how much I owe.

-Robert Murray McCheyne, 1837

Boy, does this thing stink...

Norm worked and worked trying to remove the head of this poor cow. No way was this going to happen without the use of my very nice and nearly new SOG multi-tool.

She sawed and sawed and managed to get cow 'stuff' in all parts of my nearly new multi-tool. As I write this, it is resting in bowl full of vinegar.

You would have thought she found a gold nugget!

We stopped at my Mom's to show off Norm's new trophy. For some reason the smell did not get any better.

We go riding...

We had our own gang of off-road riders on a great desert day.

We split up so Norm and I could get home first. It all changed when Norm saw something off the side of the trail.

My trusty steed. We picked this machine up on 9/11/01. Except for some warranty work, this quad has been trouble free.

Oh, no! That is Norm investigating her 'discovery' and I think there is a smell in the air.

Thanks Todd...

Still will we trust, though earth seem dark and dreary,

And the heart faints beneath his chast'ning rod;

Though rough and steep our pathway, worn and weary,

Still will we trust in God.

Our eyes see dimly 'til by faith anointed,

And our blind choosing brings us grief and pain;

Through him alone, who hath our way appointed,

We find our peace again.

Choose for us, God, nor let our weak preferring

Cheat us of good thou hast for us designed;

Choose for us, God; thy wisdom is unerring,

And we are fools and blind.

Let us press on, in patient self-denial,

Accept the hardship, shrink not from the loss;

Our portion lies beyond the hour of trial,

Our crown beyond the cross.

-W.H. Burleigh

Gold Rush Days

If you look real close at the background, you can see a lady pointing at the pooh from this colorful bull.

We only looked at about a thousand of these booths. I know they were all different, but after a while they all looked the same.

We help in a rescue...

We have no idea how we get into some of the situations that we do. We are both a work in progress and the Lord is still forming us the way He wants us to be. Saturday evening we were getting ready to close up the emergency service center and secure it for the night. I think I forgot to mention that we were not only serving as the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief assessment team, but we had been given a state of Arizona promotion to security team members by having a key to the building which allowed us to shower, so we had no problem with the additional duty. But, we digress. As I was trying to lock the door, the state's network engineer resource management man, Owen, (a really nice guy) came back with the above HAM radio. I have no idea how the HAM radio system works, but it is a really good thing to have when problems occur. Owen picked up a call for help by another HAM radio operator that came across an injured hiker that could not walk without assistance. After a few seconds of discussion, I called 911 and relayed the information as it came to Owen. Norm ran to the truck and brought our road atlas so we could locate the hikers position and help direct the rescue services. The on site HAM operator provided Owen with GPS coordinates which improved the accuracy of finding their location. After one small glitch, (talking with the 911 operator twice, the Maricopa sheriffs office twice and the Phoenix Fire department once and almost having the Tonto Basin Fire department come to our location) the Maricopa county helicopter airlifted the hiker to safety. I think Owen had at least three HAM radio comrades helping him and the rescue departments. It was a great feeling to help someone and see the HAM radio system function as well as it did.

Our trip to Tonto Basin, Arizona...

River Crossing, Tonto Basin, Az...

In July this creek/river is a dry wash. Not today! It was quite an adventure.

Tonto Basin ...

This is the fella that took us over the river. His name is Dan and he is an authentic Arizona cowboy.

Two weeks ago this was solid flat ground.

That is the residence satellite dish that was in solid ground with concrete.

This is the water line from the flood.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Tonto Basin, Az.

This is our headquarters and part time residence. We are doing assessments for the work that our disaster teams can do.