adding to song titles to make them more relevant to the coronavirus quarantine

Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber – Stuck With U at home for 2 straight months

The Weeknd – Blinding Lights when I saw the sun for the first time in 2 straight months

Billie Eilish – everything i wanted has already been delivered

Luke Combs – Even Though I’m Leaving the living room, I’ll just be in the kitchen

Sam Cooke – Bring It pizza On Home to Me

The Lumineers – now the mailbox feels like a Long Way From Home

Jonas Brothers – wash your hands for Five More Minutes

Fitz and the Tantrums – 123456 7891011121314151617181920, ok now rinse your hands

Luke Combs – Six Feet Apart is how my dates always went anyway

Maroon 5 – Memories of the sports

The Pretty Reckless – Death by Rock and Roll, caused by Covid-19

Julia Michaels – I’ll Give It To You if I don’t wear a mask

Jason Aldean – you Got What I Got because I didn’t wear a mask

Panic! At The Disco – Hey Look Ma, I Made It a mask
Judah & the Lion – Suit and Jacket and sweatpants

JP Saxe & Julia Michaels – If the World Was Ending …wait, is it not?

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car that I haven’t driven in weeks

No Doubt – Spiderwebs inside my car

Green Day – Wake Me Up When September 2020 Ends

The Civil Wars – I’ve Got This Friend who I haven’t seen since March

Donny Hathaway – This Christmas I’ll be getting everyone hand sanitizer

P.M. Dawn – I’d Die Without You Purell

Elvis Presley – Just Pretend to hug me

Three Dog Night – grab a cheap flight if you’ve Never Been To Spain

Tim McGraw – Please Remember Me your Zoom ID and password

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

sign of the times – I must be old

I was out delivering Uber Eats one night and made a delivery to a young woman who called me “sir.”

Twice.

After the deal was done, I looked at myself in the rear view mirror and wondered, “What did she see that makes her think I’m a ‘sir.’ I don’t know if it’s wrinkles, my shirt being buttoned all the way to the top, or my receding hairline…”

Or maybe she meant it as a gesture of respect. Yes, let’s go with that. Anyway, that was… fun.

-Out of the Wilderness

God, I thought I understood You

I’ve been a Christian for a few decades now, and you’d think I’d know everything there is to know about the partner on the other side of this relationship. I have His letter (the Bible), his daily guidance, not to mention tons and tons of patience He’s had with me because sometimes I do stupid stuff like this:

And yet while I’m reading a book in the Bible called Hebrews, along with another book by William Barclay that explains the historical background from that time, I’m astounded by the level of detail and depth of love and concern God has for people.

So a quick illustration that might help with what I’m trying to say. Have you been to Disney World lately? Actually, that’s not a fair question since Mickey’s home is closed for the foreseeable future… but if you’ve ever been there (and I’m assuming the other Disney theme parks are like this, too), you might have noticed the extreme attention to detail all around the park. Even in the resorts on site, you might possibly think at the end of your vacation, “Golly gee, they thought of EVERYthing.” I believe there is a reason and a design behind even the smallest part of the park, like bear claw marks on the floor of the Country Bear Jamboree, for example. Subtle tributes to Disney’s past can be seen all around the park, as well. Here’s a list of a 21 things you may have missed at Disney.

That’s how reading through Hebrews is blowing my mind right now. God really did think of EVERYthing! It’s pretty wild so far and I’m only in the first couple of chapters of one book in a big Bible. It’s truly fascinating.

-Out of the Wilderness

 

One Mimosa down…

You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.

Last week Nashville had a storm blow through and boy did it blow through! In total 5 trees came down in my back yard and in the following week a few of the trees were completely sawed up and taken away. One of these was a Mimosa tree that I loved since my first day in the house. It produced the most beautiful flowers!

I will never forget it’s final stand, which I’m quite sure saved my roof. The tree was only a few feet from the back of my house and when a tree further out fell towards the house, the Mimosa blocked it from making a direct hit on my roof. I’m sure this would have caused a lot of damage to my roof. Instead, the Mimosa took the brunt of all that weight and power behind the falling tree.

Today my yard looks a lot different than it did just two weeks ago.

2020 just keeps on hitting, doesn’t it?? Stay safe out there!

-Out of the Wilderness

Turtle power!

I was just minutes away from arriving at the ultimate 2020 spring break destination when an almost unthinkable thing almost happened… almost! Driving on a two-lane road I could see in the distance something in the middle of my lane. I’m sure you’ve seen this before: a turtle slowly crossing the road. After passing him, I slowed to a stop and ran back to assist him in his adventurous kamikaze-like mission.

animal turtle tortoise depth of field
Photo by daniyal ghanavati on Pexels.com

Only one problem… an oncoming car. I was so sure the driver would see me standing on the side of the road, and therefore be attentive to what’s happening in front of them. Also, it’s important to note the speed limit on this road was 45, so this car was not going slow by any means. I could see the driver’s face. She wasn’t looking at me (that’s good, I guess) but she also was not showing a look of attentiveness. My gaze lowered to the car’s tires. Wouldn’t you know the turtle was in the exact WRONG spot, perfectly lined up in the path of this this vehicle of death!

BUT!!!!!

No exaggeration, at the very last second the driver became fully aware of what was about to happen, so she swerved sharply away from the turtle and onto the sandy shoulder of this coastal road. The thing is, now the car was coming for me! Was I willing to die so this turtle could live? I hadn’t thought that far ahead, to be honest.

Almost involuntarily I shifted into a 3-point stance like I was playing defense against Michael Jordan. I don’t know why my body did this, I guess it was just a response to the oncoming threat. In a split second I thought that whichever way the car went to avoid me (to my left or to my right) I would throw my body in the other direction. Think of a soccer goalie during a penalty kick, heaving their body towards the ball, except the exact opposite.

woman in black t shirt and black shorts playing soccer
Photo by Retha Ferguson on Pexels.com

Now I saw panic on the driver’s face as she hurdled towards me. I guess I can be most thankful for the sandy shoulders on either side of the road because the car slowed down quite a bit as the driver and her passenger regained control and slowly drove by me on my left side. After they moved back onto the road to continue their drive, I ran out to grab the turtle, who certainly had a story to tell his other turtle friends that day.

As I set him in the nearby brush, folks in a convertible passed by and affirmed my good deed. I’m always happy to stop and help turtles in dangerous situations, and this one could have been traumatic in about 27 different ways! I’m so glad it wasn’t.

-Out of the Wilderness