Thoughts From Bob

One detail that is never mentioned is that in Washington, D.C. there can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument.

With all the uproar about removing the ten commandments, etc., this is worth a moment or two of your time. I was not aware of this amazing historical information.

On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., are displayed two words: Laus Deo.

No one can see these words.  In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn’t care less. 

Once you know Laus Deo’s history, you will want to share this with everyone you know. These words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched atop the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America.

[Read more →]

Tags: Bible, Life // 4 Comments »

The Bible has a wonderful and powerful capability to lift the human spirit and give hope and faith and love to anyone who can discover the marvelous truths that have been placed there for our benefit.Almost a hundred years ago there were two men in a hotel room in Wisconsin who were both students of the Bible. They had an idea that if they could devise ways to put Bibles where people could read them it would be a blessing to this nation.

Today this organization is composed of thousands of people who are called Gideons and the Gideons have put Bibles in most of the rooms in our hotels. Today many of the Bibles printed by and for the Gideons contain a list of scripture references so even if you never had a Bible in your hands before you can turn to the powerful words of God so you can receive the help and faith in yourself to find the hope you can use to conquer fear, find answers to personal problems, get an idea to help you if you are Anxious, Bereaved, Defeated, Depressed, Discouraged and the list goes on and on.

I have been very blessed in many ways in my life but perhaps the greatest blessings have always come from a lesson learned in a time of adversity. The natural God-given instinct in time of great fear or sorrow or danger is to call out to God for help.

I was an infantry soldier in World War II and I can tell you there were no atheists in the foxholes we dug for our personal protection.

Most of you who are reading this page will remember when a word of encouragement or love or kindness or even a severe scolding changed your life. Words have power.

[Read more →]

Tags: Bible, Life // Add Comment »

I can remember when our kids were little and we lived on a farm. The beginning of spring meant an Easter egg huntThe trick was to hide the eggs in such a way that they would be right in the middle of an unlikely place. They would be overlooked unless a careful examination of the location was made. Imagine the joy in the mind of the one who finds the treasure in the unlikely place.

This joy has happened to many of us but it triggered a real and lasting enthusiasm n the mind of Bruce Wilkinson when he found the prayer of Jabez. It contains only two verses but it has such tremendous power it can change anybodies life that will use it. AND it is stuck right in the middle of some of the most boring reading in the entire Bible, the list of the begats in the 4^th chapter of First Chronicles verses 9 and 10.

The book, The Prayer of Jabez has earned well over a million dollars. I tell you that to illustrate its power. But even though it has such tremendous power it is totally worthless unless it is prayed by a believer.

When you get this prayer I advise you to trace the outline of your right hand on a blank piece of paper. That will give you a very familiar outline that has five points. Then in your own handwriting.

On the Thumb write Bless Me Indeed

On the first finger put Enlarge My Coast

On the tall finger Let God Guide Me

On the ring finger put the words Keep Me From Evil

Then on the little finger instead of don’t let it grieve me put

DON’T LET ME DO ANYTHING I WILL BE SORRY FOR LATER.

Then if you will look at that hand picture at least 5 times a day for a week you will have memorized the prayer and then you can say it many times a day every day.

If you will do that you will begin to realize that you do have God’s favor, and your life will get better.

You will find that your goals really are attainable.

You can actually help more people.

[Read more →]

Tags: Bible, Life // Add Comment »

Certain dignified and noble traditions help us to guard the precious gift of the power of the great United States.

America is only great because her people are great.

This shining example is a steady reminder that we value the greatness in our prominent citizens. The sum total of the heroes at Arlington and other national cemeteries is a constant reminder that those of us who are among the living are challenged to be great as well.

ONE OF THE FIRST HYMNS I MEMORIZED IN THE FIRST GRADE WAS:

Little drops of water, Little grains of sand,

Make the mighty Ocean,

AND the beauteous Land.

AND the teacher told us each of you is IMPORTANT.

Dr. Bob

Here’s more about the tomb of the unknown. 

ARLINGTON CEMETERY – Jeopardy Question

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns —- All three missed it —

[Read more →]

Tags: Life, The Soldier // 2 Comments »

To my friends

I have an interesting job in the North Heights Lutheran Church in Arden Hills, MN.  This is a church that has 8000 members, two campuses and about 12 different services every Sunday.

One of the functions at most of the services is provided by a team of people we call altar ministers. These are volunteers who have been through a training program and who are willing to come to the front of the auditorium after the service and offer to pray with anyone who wants to come up for prayer.

We usually work in teams of two altar ministers, the official title of the job. We will listen to and then pray for and with the person who comes up for prayer.

I was introduced to the job of being an alter minister by a friend who was an altar minister and he asked me to come up with him and see what it was like to be an altar minister. When I watched Carl Brostrum pray with people I decided I would attempt to take the training and join the team of altar ministers. That was in 1990 so I have had a unique opportunity to witness the remarkable power of prayer.

I can truthfully say that the fifteen minutes more or less in that job has become the most valuable thing I do in my week.

It is no longer a surprise to me when some kind stranger will approach me and say, “Do you remember praying with me?”

Usually I will answer, no. I can honestly say I do not remember because my goal is to forget the time I spend at the altar rail BECAUSE IT IS REALLY NOT ANY OF MY BUSINESS, I am just a simple connector between the person who needs the prayer and the Holy Spirit. I just happen to be there. I cannot claim any of the remarkable things done to and for the person who comes to ask for prayer.

[Read more →]

Tags: Bible, Life // Add Comment »

 A few years ago, when Luella and I went to visit her son, Joe, in Scotland he took me to see the Falkirk Wheel.  It is one spectacular invention.  There is a huge museum there to show you how the canal system moved a lot of commerce over a hundred years before the railroads.There are literally hundreds of fancy yachts today that can use this system to move a sizeable luxury ship or boat from the Western to the Eastern side of the land. 

In the beginning there were two canals:

The first, Canal Forth and Clyde, was built in 1777 between the harbors of Grangemouth and Falkirk connecting Glasgow with the west cost of Scotland.

The second, Canal Union, between Falkirk and Edinburgh was finished in 1822.

Because of geographical difficulties, which created a difference of 79ft.in elevation, the two canals were connected by 11 locks.

In 1963, after 150 years of existence of this water way with 11 locks the construction of a huge water carousel started. This extraordinary idea was finished in 2002 and became a symbol of Scotland. This invention saves not only time but also energy.  

This is the only rotational boat transporter in the world. It has two arms and each arm forms a kind of huge tub filled with water. Boats enter the tub either at the higher canal or the lower one, then the tub locks up and the huge arm starts rotating.

The “tubs” are filled according the Archimedes’ Law.  So the weight of “tubs” are nearly balanced.  To open the upper and lower lock and turn the whole system by 180◦ they need an engine of 22.5 kW which only uses 1.5 kWh

Here’s a link to a 7 minute video showing a boat going into the tub and then being rotated up to the upper canal.

It is a very interesting place to visit.

The canal system is still a very beautiful way to travel across Scotland.

It is probably one of the most interesting mechanical devices I have ever seen.  It was a fun day.

Tags: General, Life // 1 Comment »

Excitement on May 16

You never know when you wake up in the morning what are all the potential surprises in store for you as the day unfolds.

From the perspective that I enjoy the picture and plan of our lives is in the hands of the creator.  We only think we are in charge. 

This morning was not particularly unusual.  My wife, Janice was very pregnant in fact the Doctor’s Last exam had assured her that things were normal and they predicted the birthday would be sometime next week.

We lived very near the new Clinic we had built and it was located on a small farm on the East Edge of Brighton, Colorado.  May was one of the busiest months in our practice because we were trying to get all the calves vaccinated, dehorned if they needed it and we would castrate the bull calves.  In 1957 a large part of that sort of animal husbandry was done by the veterinarian.  We wanted to get most of that done before the flies and maggots would be a challenge.

The new hay would soon be ready to cut and spring was in the air.

Except that morning it was snowing.  It was going to change some of our appointments perhaps so I headed to the office.  My first job would be to turn the dogs out to the small exercise run we had and clean the cages. Yes, back in those days in a new small animal clinic we did the work ourselves. For some reason we didn’t have many farm calls that morning so I was back at the clinic at about 10:00AM

Janice called the clinic and asked if we were busy and I told her that not at the moment we were not.

She said she wasn’t sure but maybe we should head to the hospital this afternoon.

Dr. Bill Waddell was not only our doctor but had become a dear friend.  He began his practice in 1951 the same year I went to work with Dr. John Thimmig as new vet graduate.

[Read more →]

Tags: General, Life // 1 Comment »

Little Orphan Annie

I had a few rabbits and a few sheep and was just starting in the 4H club.   

The phone rang one day and it was Frank S. Aichelman the son of Uncle Frank that I have already talked about. 

Frank had a few sheep and one of the ewes had twins and would not take care of one of the babies.  He asked my mother if  it was OK with her if he could give me the orphaned lamb. 

Mom asked me and of course I was excited for the opportunity.  Frank drove in the yard a few minutes later with this poor scrawny little lamb.  He  explained that she needed to be kept warm and suggested for a few days that she get about 3 ounces of milk per feeding from a nursing bottle. 

Mom still had a bottle or two left from taking care of my brother Bud and so I began to try to feed the lamb with mom’s coaching and help.  I don’t think it took very many days for the lamb to sleep all night and of course she and I became good friends.  I had a dog named Towser and a pigeon I had saved from some sort of problem so if I went to the field to thin my  sugar beets Mom could see where I was.

I  was on my hands and knees thinning beets and wasn’t much good at it.  But she could see the dog or the pigeon or the lamb because they were watching me work.

[Read more →]

Tags: General, Life // 2 Comments »

The day the bank closed.

The main cash crop for the farms around Brighton Colorado was the Sugar Beet.  There were three beet checks and the last one of the year was the last Friday in October.

The Sugar Beet Check was the one the farmer used to settle the accounts with the suppliers who helped him raise the crop.

There were three checks and the first two were usually spent to defray the labor cost to get the beets ready for  the growth period that got the beets grown big enough for harvest.  We planted them as early as the ground was warm enough to have the seeds germinate and they kept on growing until they were finally stopped by frost.

The sugar beet seeds grew in a cluster so that when the beets came up in the spring they needed to be thinned so that the beet could grow separated from others in order for it to reach its optimum size.   If the beets were not thinned, the tonnage for the crop would not pay the expense of growing it.   If the beets were allowed plenty of room and nutrients for growth they could become much larger and of course were more valuable. 

The worker who thinned the beats would use a short handled hoe and work either stooped over, or worked on his hands and knees and removed the beets so that the beets were 8 to 12 inches apart.

When the beets were thinned they were cultivated with either a horse drawn device or a tractor that had knives that cut the weeds that naturally invade any crop.  The second cultivation put a small ditch between the rows of beets so they could be watered with irrigation.  Then they might need to be cultivated another time and maybe had to be gone through with a hoe to remove the weeds. 

[Read more →]

Tags: Farming // Add Comment »

 Sugar Beets

One of the major crops in his development of agriculture in Colorado was the sugar beet and it had a major impact on the economy and brought many different racial segments to the population.  These are the recollections I remember with great joy in thinking about the ways working in the sugar beet fields gave me some jobs and allowed me to meet countless other people who were in the sugar beet business. 

The sugar beet was first and foremost a cash crop which meant it would return more dollars per acre than most other crops…  The disadvantage was that it needed a factory to process the sugar from it.  Unless there was a factory the common farmer had no way to refine the sugar.

The Sugar Beet Factory in Brighton, Colorado was built in the early 1900s.  It was started by getting farmers to give some money to begin the construction and I am sure there were some wonderful stories about the faith and vision and foresight of the men and women who conceived the idea and made it happen.  There were factories in Germany and I am sure some of the German immigrant farmers could see the opportunity to have a crop that would give those cash…

The other factor was the railroad which went through Brighton on its connection between Denver and Laramie Wyoming.  That line was completed in 1872 and became a wonderful way for farmers to get their produce to the Denver market.

[Read more →]

Tags: Farming // 1 Comment »