Historic Day

Today is a kind of milestone for me. This is the day that my gardening blog: In the Charamon Garden surpassed this blog in readership. I never would have expected it! When I started, I would get two or three readers a day if I was fortunate. Now readership has soared to new heights. Of course I am pleased with this new success. Both blogs have always been more popular than my ministry blog because you really have to be interested in missions and evangelism to read Mission South Pacific.

Let me just say to the thousands of readers of this blog (OK, maybe scores) that I thank you for stopping by and occasionally commenting. I look forward to a lot more writing and reading what you have to say.

I Believe in Bondo

I really dig this stuff.

I’ve been using it or something like it for decades, starting in Australia with a similar product. In Adelaide (really, Para Hills) I lived in a double-brick house with the interior walls rendered in plaster over mortar (no straight walls!) and used it to fill holes to put screws in when attaching something to the wall. Just drill the hole, blow the dust out, fill with Bondo or something similar, wait for it to set-up a bit, then screw those suckers in.

Later on, in the sign business (hand-carved and sandblasted wooden signs) I used it to correct defects, mistakes (you can carve it with woodcarving tools) and for installations. You can sand it, prime it and paint it.

Today, I am using it to repair closet doors. We live in an old house and the

Garlic and Stacy Peterson

People are so interesting! Maybe “mystifying” is more accurate. Some weeks ago, I posted a blog regarding the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. It has received over 2,684 views! Other stuff that, it seems to me, is far more important is far less popular. I’m not sure of the psychology of this but it has been surprising to this blogger.

Then there is my seldom-read garden blog: charamongarden.wordpress.com. The most popular post on this blog by far has been a little article about what happens when you don’t weed your garlic patch. Can you believe it? 50 views of “The Garlic Lesson” out of a total of 238! No other post on my garden blog even comes close.

This is not disturbing since the goal of this blog (Whitticisms) was never about numbers. I am gratified when people choose to read my scratchings but my goal is to produce quality writing about a variety of subjects: science, apologetics, religion, politics, literature, current events, etc.

As we begin a new year, I want to thank all who read Whitticisms, Charamongarden and Missionsouthpacific. Very special thanks to all who have commented pro or con. May 2008 be a great year and may God bless us…every one!

Broken Down in Break Week

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

(Robert Burns, To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough)

It is Break Week at Sunset (and, consequently at Charamon in Abilene) which includes Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to getting a bunch of stuff done (won’t bore you with the details) but Brenda and I are reluctantly entertaining the worst cold (bacterial, apparently, as opposed to viral) we’ve had for years. Our doctor kindly saw us both and has given us the requisite antibiotics and steroid shots and a breathing treatment for your’s truly.

It would have been satisfying to leave some shamefully neglected tasks in our powerful wake as we plowed through the murky waters of waiting work. But, truly, as Robbie Burns warned, our plans have gone “agley” (whatever that means) and we are left with “nought but grief an’ pain / For promis’d joy!” Oh, we’ll weakly eke out some effort and put paid to a few of the more impatient chores. But a much more glorious and joyful outcome had been anticipated. Bummer!

Fundraising Forever

    Fundraising is the bane and blessing of missionaries and ministries.  It is something missionaries and those who recruit and train them must do constantly.  That’s what I’m doing today…getting out letters, brochures and reports as fast as I can but also being as personal as I can.  So far I have resisted machine-addressing the envelopes.  Hopefully, someday, we will have so many donors that it can’t be done by hand.

Fundraising is a blessing because you are rallying those who believe in you and what you are trying to do for the Lord!  The work of missions is impossible without someone to go and someone to send.  The one is a blessing to the other.

Fundraising can be a bane because those dollars are hard won!  There’s more than enough to go around but convincing your donors of the worthiness of your cause is a challenge.  Fundraising takes a lot of time and energy…one is tempted to think that energy is better invested pursuing the ministry task.  The fundraiser must remember that without partners the task is impossible.

As we approach presidential elections, it is amazing how much the candidates are able to quickly raise for political causes and how difficult it is to raise funds for spiritual causes.  I think it ought to be the other way around!

Be sure and have a look at our Mission South Pacific website: www.missionsouthpacific.wordpress.com.  You like the logo?  My son the artist designed it.

MISSION SOUTH PACIFIC

The Whitticisms blog, you may have noticed, is my “pressure release valve.” On this site, I can pontificate about anything that strikes my fancy, riles me up, piques my interest, etc. (and too many things do!).

But my real work is a non-profit ministry we call “Mission South Pacific.” This is a multifaceted form of Christian mission work in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia.

You may have a closer, more detailed look by going to our website. And, of course, if you wish to contribute to the cause, your help will be gratefully received and acknowledged. Our contact information may be found there. And, of course, if you have any questions or would like to discuss this work, I will happily oblige.

New Blog on Gardening

For all those who love the soil and growing your own food…especially using organic practices, I want to announce my new blog, In the Charamon Garden. You can find it on the blogroll or here.  I hope you like it.

It is an account of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat (or thefeet) as I try to keep my family well stocked with seasonal vegetables in the tough conditions of the semi-arid part of Texas. Rainfall is uncertain, soil is alkaline, weather conditions uncertain, and time to garden is scarce. But, I like the challenge and when things go right the produce beats anything you will find in your local grocery store. The picture at the top is what you can get when things go well.

I like to read about gardening and am presently listening to an audiobook (on my way back and forth to Lubbock and elsewhere) to Animal, Vegatable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. I’m about half way through and it is a very good read if you can stand the odd narration. They also have a website that you might find interesting.

Please! No More O.J.!

If you want to watch the news in the last few days, you’d better be interested in what is happening to O.J. Simpson. Frankly, I could not be less interested. Journalists have some way of measuring interest and only report what titillates the general public. If this is what people are interested in…we’re all in trouble!

Notice how “O.J.ism” has trumped plane crashes, earthquakes, war, political turmoil, and hurricanes. Here at the Whitsett household, we are disgusted. We have had all we can stomach without puking. We are thinking seriously about boycotting American newscasts until further notice. What is it that makes this guy so fascinating? On second thought, don’t tell me…I don’t think I would like the answer.

Living and Dying Well

Bob Vance

1928 – 2007

 

One of life’s compensations is to be in the acquaintance of extraordinary men and women. Even though I did not know him as well as some others, I think all who knew him would agree that Bob Vance was one of the most outstanding.

I think I was drawn to Bob for several reasons.

Only a few copies left!

I want to remind readers about my book, The Urgent Revolution, which is available from SIBI Extension School Bookstore. I am proud of the reviews by the late Cline Paden and the late Richard Rogers. Have a look (click the link on the right: “Books by Dwight Whitsett,”), read the reviews and order a copy online. I think you’ll benefit and you’ll be benefiting our ministry as well.