timbslim

My car has been in the shop for a couple of days. That sucks. They are replacing the cooling system. That sounds cheap doesn’t’ it? I started cleaning the grout in the kitchen tile. That has been real thrill. Around 11 years ago Brent Roberts and I were driving north on 69 Highway. We had been to Birmingham. We were talking about seeing demons. I was telling him about what my dad had experienced. He and I both talked about feeling like we were in the presence of something demonic at different points in our lives. Neither of us had personally seen anything that we could say was a demon. That was about to change. Now, I don’t expect anybody to believe what I am about to tell. I actually don’t tell this story much in a public forum. The reason that I don’t tell it is because it does simply sound to weird to be true. So, I will tell you exactly what I saw. You can judge for yourselves. Real or not, this is the way it happened. As I said earlier, Brent and I were talking ab...

Back by popular demand is a story that most of you will remember. If you have heard, keep reading. You might find some details that you missed in the church sanctioned version. I was fifteen. My best friend at the time was Jay Fondren. Jay lived down near Smith Lake. He was actually about 250 yards from it. He lived up on top of a hill. His grandmother, Nanny, lived on the lake just at the bottom of the hill from Jay. I likely drove over to Jay’s. At 15, I would beg my parents to let me drive there. It was only 2 miles away, and it was in the country. There are many benefits to living in the country. Learning to drive a truck at 13 is one of them. I am sure I drove my parents’ little Volkswagen. It was a diesel. Jay and I decided that we would walk down the hill to his Nanny’s and spend the night. We had rented a move on one of those handy VCR tapes, the good ole days. As usual, Jay fell asleep in the floor. I sat on the couch and finished the movie. That was pretty ...

Back in the day I was a drug therapist. Most of you probably know this factoid about me. I have often drawn off the experiences that time of my life provided. As a minister also, I was often called upon to do things that are not common in drug addiction therapy. One particular situation comes to mind. I had a client that I was taking through drug counseling; we’ll call him Jerry. Jerry died. It was pretty common for someone in this type of therapy to die. My clients had an opiate dependency. This would include any opiate based pain killers like Loritab, Oxycontin, Morphine, or any form of Hydrocodone. It would also include Heroin. Well, Jerry died. It was sad. But, I have to tell you about the funeral. I arrive early. I immediately realize that this is not going to be your run of the mill funeral. I am way over dressed. The popular attire is cowboy boots, Wrangler Jeans, cowboy shirts or denim shirts, and mullets. There was one group of people that bore a striking rese...

I was standing there with tears rolling down my face. No matter how hard I tried, I found myself gritting my teeth, attempting to restrain emotion. Mr. Strawn was lying in his emergency room bed, awaiting his escort into the gates of heaven. A patriarch, his heritage surrounded him. I was moved beyond just tears as this heritage, his family, paid tribute to him. I stood with Kathy Sanderson and her family as they spoke to Mr. Strawn all the things that I am certain he knew before this day. I love you was spoken with more than what I would call regularity. Those three words were more abundant than water in the oceans. I stood as each person spoke these words and more. I heard it over and over again, I love you paw paw, I love you daddy, I love you so much. In addition was, You taught me how to be a father, You never said a bad thing about anyone, You taught us how to follow Christ, You left us so much, You were there at our ball games. In any other setting these words would have been re...

I was sitting in the hospital room in Jasper, Alabama. The food service delivered his meal. It was tasteless and discolored, typical hospital food. My grandfather picked up his utensil packet. It had a packet of salt in it, not enough of course. He asked for more and got it, though, he was not supposed to have it. What would one extra tiny packet of salt do. Nothing at all. He picked it up with his big, weathered hand. In that instant it was communicated to me the history of those hands. They had shot at Germans and who knows who what else. They had worked in gardens. They held a beautiful lady named Doris for many years. They were not just hands. They were volumes of life. With one of these hands, He took the tiny salt packet, diminishing it even more by comparison, and he tore the edge of it. He emptied its contents onto the food. That image has stayed with me. Unfortunately, my grandfather did not. I was one of the last, if not the last to speak with him before he died. Why cant I g...

I almost won the poker game on Monday night. I was so close. Man I was playing with skill. I ended up going head's up with my neighbor Todd. He is the Korean guy that lives next door. Head's up is when it's down to two people. We played till 3:00am. I finally went all in. He had a better hand. Back in the day, my grandmother on my mom's side, was a pretty adventurous lady. Might be where I get some of my craziness. She was kind of the life of the party. She died several years ago. But when I was young, I remember her being extremely active. She was about 5'6" tall and maybe 105 lbs. She was little. She was also very overactive. She could get more done in a few minutes than some people could in an hour. She was also always doing crazy things. Riding in a car with her was like a potential death sentence. My grandparents seemed to always have a new Buick. Back in the 70's and early 80's that meant that they owned a land yacht. Those things were huge. And, ...

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I hope things are going well. Or as they say in the country, "I hope thangs is aight." I went to see my pops for Pops Day yesterday. I hope some of you got to do that. I had dinner in Hartselle with my folks. It was good. I actually got wished a Happy Fathers Day twice this weekend. One was funny. The other was someone who just called to say thanks. We were at the Brave's game. All five of us were searching out for a better seat. We got the cheap tickets, the one up where the planes fly. So, we started looking for a better spot. All five of us were walking behind the section that is behind the dugout. Riley Sanderson happened to be standing by me when we passed this lady who was a seat helper, or whatever. You know, it's the woman or man who tells you were you are supposed to sit. Maybe they are called ushers. That sounds good. Maybe churches should have ticket seating. Then the expensive tickets would be in the balcony. Folks would ...

Hey folks, I am back from Hot-lanta. The Braves got beat by the Red Sox in both the games we went to. Likely, they will also lose the game tonight. Sorry Braves people. I would like for them to win tonight. I just am being realistic. We had a dang good time. As you may know, John, Wes, Tyler, Riley and I went to the games. We stayed at John's aunt Candy's house. She's a trip. She stayed up and talked to us til 2:00am Saturday morning. I got about 3 hours sleep that night. I was beat. Wes and I talked til about 5:00am. Candy, John's aunt, has a dog named Buffy. It is a small dog. I am not sure what kind. Of course, Tyler is scared of dogs. Evidently, so is Riley. I am sure that they will love me giving this information so freely. But, if you have ever been around them and a dog it's no news to you. This was a lap dog. We were getting ready to wind the night down. Candy was going to bed. She said, "Buffy, lets go to bed." I was going ...

Last night I had dinner with Holly and Sandy. You might know them. They live close to me. Great girls. Holly was in my youth group in Jasper. Sandy is from two-tooth, Alabama, her words. Sandy's cats are cool. Sandy also just bout a BMW Z4. Wow! Jake Pohly came by last night about 12:00am. I had to sign something for his trip saying that I would pick him up from Florida on August 15. Road Trip! Woohoo! Man, he's gonna be gone for two whole months. "Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too closely to the shore. Disturb us Lord, when with abundace of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Distrub us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture ...

I am tired of pressing buttons to hear things in English. Last time I checked we spoke English around this joint. There is a guy at a famous Philly Steak Sandwich shop in Philadelphia who is gettin all kinds of crap for putting a sign up that says, "Orders in English Only." I don't think it's too much to ask. Do you? Anyway, the restaurant is called Gino's. It's has really good Philly Steak sandwiches. English is our language. Deal with it. I hear they speak Spanish fluently in Mexico. Order your food there. I am also mad at the companies that make you press "1" to hear directions in English. How about tell them to press "2" for directions back to Mexico. I am good with that. Get a dictionary. Take a class. We speak English. My mom was at the insurance office about 7 years ago. She witnessed a wreck. She said that when all the dust and cars settled that 14 Mexicans climbed out of a 7 passenger van. Love to have seen that. She said that all ...

I won at poker last night. Hallelujah! I am so excited. Ross, Halie, Chad, and Sara were playing too. I talked to a guy today about getting ready for ski season next year. That means a lot more to me than it used to. Now I have to get my left knee back into shape from the surgery that I had 4 1/2 months ago. It hasn't been easy. It is a lot harder than when I tore my miniscus. It was in the same knee. But, the surgery was easier to heal from. This ACL crap has taken its toll on me. I'll be ready. Brad Jones and I went to Boston to work at this conference about 6 years ago. I believe it was in 2000. I like Boston. The people are mean; but, the city is great. We flew into Boston's Logan International Airport. We had rented a car. Actually, the company had rented it for us. When we got to the desk of the rental car company, the lady informed us that we had a Ford Aspire. Now, that may not mean much to you. I will elaborate. A Ford Aspire is about the size of a shopping cart. I...

Saturday, we watched Alabama almost win aganist North Carolina. It was the baseball game for those of you aren't sure. It was a good game. I had a great time in Tuscaloosa, God's Country. After the game, we went back over to Mugshots. I had another one of those famous hamburgers. You know, I don't really like hamburgers, fast food ones. For me to want to go back and eat another one is a pretty big deal. Afterwards, we went back over to Tyler's, Wes', and Parker's house. That is where John and I stayed. We sat on the porch and talked for about 2 hours or more. Once again, I found myself sitting with people and talking about real stuff. Some of it was very deep and difficult. There was confession, laughter, Biblical application, prayer, John attempted to sing. But, it was un-solicited; it happened without a schedule or prompting. We just sat on the porch and the Holy Spirit lead us. IT WAS REAL. They asked me if I would go to church with them on Sunday morning to ...

Friday, Chad Brown and I left for Tuscaloosa. We came down to hang out with Tyler and Wes Sanderson. Went to the Alabama North Carolina game. They lost the first one. We are watching them play again tonight, on tv. Alabama is ahead 2-0. Last night we ate at a place called Mugshots. I ate probably the best burger I have ever eaten. Delicious. We also played a little Texas Hold'Em. I lost. Go figure. For the love of God would people please drive in the right lanes. All the way down here people were riding in the left lanes. The left lanes are for people who are passing. Please spread the word. It is not the lane for women who are placing cell phone calls and driving 60mph. Sorry ladies. It was only your side doing it yesterday. I know that some guys do it to. But come on, guys look at driving as a competition. When I get in my car, I am focused. I must win. That doesn't mean that you have to drive like a bat out of hell. You still must be precise in your move...

Any of you ever witnessed the Pohly gang at a swimming pool. It's the 8th wonder of the world. Truly a sight to behold. They bascially see if they can drown each other. It is a constant frenzy of activity. There are 7 offspring for those of you who don't know them. While one is jumping off the diving board, another is jumping off the top of the slide, as a another one is sliding down the slide, while yet another one is waiting at the bottom of the slide to tackle the one coming down, while another one is flipping the last one off the float and drowning the one that is on the float. This is what I got to see yesterday. The Pohly 7 went with me to my parents pool. My dad and mom just sat on the porch and watched and laughed. My mom cooked hamburgers, made chocolate ice cream and gooey butter cake. Good stuff! Last night I had dinner with the Shults. Michelle is a pretty dang good cook. You know, there are certain people in my life that I feel totally free to share my heart with. ...