Thursday, March 12, 2020

OBIT: Donald Richard Holmes January 12, 1935 — March 2, 2020

Donald Richard Holmes
January 12, 1935 — March 2, 2020



Don was born January 12, 1935 in Ames, Iowa to Melvin G. Holmes and Irene Stewart Holmes. Raised in Bellevue, Nebraska he attended Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois and Young Life Institute in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  There he met Barbara Jean Lind of Bellingham, Washington and married her in Bellingham in November of 1959.  The two served together as Young Life staff in Kansas City, Missouri where their first daughter Christy was born in 1960.  Young Life work then took them to Colorado Springs, Colorado where their daughter Suzanne was born in 1963.  In 1965 Don and Barbara moved into her childhood home in Bellingham, Washington and their son Timothy was born in 1967.

Don managed the Mount Baker Ski Area from 1965 to 1969 and the Lind Gravel/Pacific Concrete interests from 1969 to 1972, at which point Don and Barbara opened The Quest Bookstore in downtown Bellingham, to serve the Christian and Seeking Community.  This led to a wholesale book warehouse and export agency, Baggins Books, from which Don eventually retired.

Don loved to read and discuss ideas, with a particular fondness for the writings of C.S. Lewis, from whom Don once received a letter.  

He and Barbara also enjoyed travel, visiting Europe, Russia, Israel, China, and Turkey, before Don’s life was dramatically altered in 2006 by an unfortunate tangle of tree, chainsaw, wind, and gravity.  He spent the last 14 years of his life as a paraplegic in either his wheelchair or his bed which was a huge frustration for he could no longer help his family, but was instead dependent on them to help him.  These years were blessed by his care-giver Aaron Brandt, who — in Don’s words — “made what was almost an intolerable situation very pleasant”.   

At 85, Don died at home in the early morning of Monday, March 2, 2020 holding the hand of a family member.  His passing was as gentle and peaceful as we could hope for and we know he is walking with his Lord in his life ever-lasting.

He is preceded in death by both his parents and is survived by his wife, Barbara Jean Lind Holmes, and his children: Christy Lind Hart, Suzanne Kay Chandler, and Dwight Timothy Holmes; grand-children Kara Maguire, Kelli Sittser, Kayti Christianson, Andrew Chandler, and Juliana Chandler; great-grandsons: Charlie Sittser, Danny Maguire, and Henri Sittser.  He is also survived by his sisters, Margaret Buswell and Carol Butte of Nebraska, his brother Bob Holmes of Bellingham, and numerous fine nieces and nephews.

Don asked that any memorial gifts be directed to www.IJM.org.  Memorial service pending COVID-19 abatement.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Science and the Bible


What is the Relationship between Science and Religion?

The short answer is 'none!'. It is like asking what is the relationship between a shadow and a tooth pick. There is no relationship between them. You can examine a tooth pick in the laboratory but you can't examine a shadow. Religion has NOTHING to teach science and science has NOTHING to teach religion. Religion is trying to discover if there is an invisible reality behind the universe and what it might be like. Science is trying to learn as much as it can about the physical universe that we can examine.

We ought to be quite trusting of the results of the work of honest scientists. It is a self correcting field of study. In the long run, it will get things right. (but some times it takes some time). We believe that if the clear established teaching of science conflicts with any INTERPRETATION of religious books, we ought to take such scientific conclusions very seriously. For instance, for many years it was thought that the age of the earth could be determined by studying the genealogies in the New Testament of the Bible. It was concluded that the creation of the universe was about 6000 years ago.
This was an interpretation that is very seriously challenged by a very large host of archeologists, paleontologist, geologists, chemists, cosmologists, biologists, physicists, and a host of other methods of study to be impossible. A very significant number of these scientists hold strong religious beliefs.

There has been a long conflict between people who hold religious beliefs and some scientist about evolution. It is popularly been labeled as the war between 'Religion and Science” or “Science and the Bible”. We would assert that this is an meaningless conflict. The word evolution simply means change. It is perfectly obvious that many, many changes in plants and animals have happened and it has been firmly established that this has been caused by genetic mutations over a very, very long period of time. So, yes, that kind evolution is true. Humans evolved from a microscopic speck. But there is a second kind of evolutionary thinking that claims to know that the universe created itself. That is not science, it is philosophy. When scientists assert that there is no creator they not speaking as scientists but as  humans with no more authority than anybody else.

There are lots of things that are very widely and rightly believed that are beyond the ability of science to examine. Science can not directly examine emotions, ideas, beauty, truth, values, etc. Science can not verify most of what we read in history books. We believe what we believe about history because we trust authority. You can't put historical claims in a test tube. If a person could only believe what science can prove we would have to be content with very little knowledge.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

People often ask me how I am-
I think I shall tell people that I am at peace with God, my family and my friends which is all that I or anyone else could hope or ask for.

I wish you the best in your own life.

Don

holmesdb@gmail.com

Monday, March 3, 2014

BEING GOOD WITH OUT GOD


Spiritual without being religious -

Many people describe themselves as being 'spiritual' without being 'religious'. We ask “do they have any idea of what they mean”? Would they be hard pressed to give a meaningful response to the question. Do they simply mean that they believe in right and wrong and also believe that they think themselves to be better than others in their effort to be good. Maybe they mean that they think they can be good without God. But why would a person want just to be good? Do they want to be able to think of themselves as being good or do they want just others to think of themselves as being good or do they really want to be good? How good to they want to be – moderately good or really good? Or just better than others. We ask "why bother"? Trying to be good is a real nuisance. It means having to say 'no' to yourself, being honest when one would like to lie to cover their tracks. It means trying to avoid every selfish act. It will impinge on ones life almost hourly to not do what we would like to do or to do things we don't want to do. Is it possible to succeed in being good? Well to a degree, yes. If one works very hard they maybe able make themselves a bit better than others. But Christians would assert that if they want to be their best possible self, they will need God in their lives to help them deal with their pride, envy, self importance, etc. etc. If there is a God we think He will help us make progress but only if we give ourselves over to Christ. He can make us truly good, but we can never make it on our own. C.S. Lewis describes a religion without God as “having all the thrills of religion with none of the costs”.

Saturday, January 11, 2014



Our apologies - blog site was down for three weeks but is working again.

CHRISTMAS BLOG 2013

As we have both about reached our three score and ten (plus ten), we can't help but reflect upon our lives. We ask ourselves “If we had to do it all over again, what might we wish we had done differently.” I (Don) would like to have received a better education, to have learned to play the piano, would to have liked to become fluent in another language,would have tried to spend time gardening with Barb and help more with the cooking, would have spent more time and effort being a better parent, would have made a better effort to tell my parents how much I appreciated them, would have done a better job of planning for our financial retirement, would have made a much more serious effort to try to help people more, would have taken daily walks with Barb and finally made more of an effort to help people build their faith on a firm foundation not related to experiences but based on convictions of the truth of the historical events surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Christ. (two of the saddest words in the English language are 'too late')
 
Then we ask ourselves “What would we like to do with the rest of our lived?” This is a bit harder to answer as we don't know what our health and general energy level will be.
We both work pretty hard a being good parents for our three kids and being good grand parents for our five grand children.

We share these questions with you as a challenge to you to examine your own lives.

The big event of the past year is the marriage on May 26 of our son, Tim, to Kelly
Grotke. They had a pretty big wedding as Kelly is an only child and it was the only time that her folks would be a part of a wedding of a close family member. She is from New York and is a on the staff of a high school working with special needs students. She plays the fiddle, mandolin and the piano. Tim plays the piano and the guitar and they treat the entire family to great music at family gatherings.

How do we spend our time? I spend hours on the computer, responding to email, watching the news (ug!), watching documentaries and movies of classic books on youtube.com and a little writing. I also like libre.com which is a site that reads out loud thousands of books. Progress on a book I want to write is very slow.

I have a small group of friends what I can count on to stop by for visits. I am usually home except for church and frequent trips to our daughters and the grandkids sports games. We continue to have a wonderful caregiver, Aaron, who comes in daily for about three hours and helps me with my morning routine and a hundred chores around the house. Barb runs many errands to the grocery store, the bank, the drug store, etc. She also looks forward the womens Bible Study Fellowship each Monday eve and her prayer group which meets every Monday noon. We continue to be a part of our monthly book club which has been meeting for over forty years.
Book suggest from Barbara:
Radical – David Platt
History books by Paul Johnson
Novels by Howard Spring

Please send us your book recommendations.

Our lives are bursting with gratefulness for our health, our friends and our hope in Christ. “In the world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”

Don & Barbara Holmes
360-734-9648

Sunday, August 18, 2013

One of the things I most like to do in life is to help people develop a fact based believe system rather than beliefs based on anything else.  Our convictions should not be based on our experiences, our faith, our feelings,  how comforting a belief is or on our convictions on the inerrantcy of the whole Bible or on anything else.  Christian convictions should be built on our convictions about the essential  accuracy of the biblical account of Christ, His death and His resurrection and His promise that "I will never leave you or forsake you".   This kind of faith is likely to survive the tragedies that surround our lives. (your thoughts - holmesdb@gmail.com)

Things are going quite well for us ages 78 and 80.  Our health is very good and having our three kids and some grand kids (ages 12 and 13) living very near us is a great blessing.  I have great sympathy for folks getting older and their kids living far away.  Barb and our middle daughter, Suzanne,  and her two kids just returned from a week away on Vancouver Island in Canada.

Back to normal.  Please give me an up date our yourselves. 

Don

Saturday, August 17, 2013

And I think I have trouble getting up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L28TM48bF0

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Feeling, Faith and Fact
Three men were walking on a wall,
Feeling, Faith, and Fact.
When Feeling took an awful fall
and Faith was taken back.
So close was Faith to Feeling
that he stumbled and fell too.
But Fact remained and pulled up Faith,
and Faith brought Feeling too
.
Feeling, Faith and Fact
Three men were walking on a wall,
Feeling, Faith, and Fact.
When Feeling took an awful fall
and Faith was taken back.
So close was Faith to Feeling
that he stumbled and fell too.
But Fact remained and pulled up Faith,
and Faith brought Feeling too
.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Arrogance - I am sometimes accused of being arrogant. I understand the charge but I think it reflects a misunderstanding of the word arrogance. Having very strong opinions based on reasonable thought is not arrogance, just conviction. Arrogance is the assertion of believing that a person could not possibly be wrong. To make that assertion a person is saying that their mind works so well that it could not possibly make a mistake, which is just plain dumb. 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Kipling - IF..... IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE PERSONAL TESTIMONIES - THEY WORK BOTH WAYS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xxMd6graopw&feature=fvwp WHO HAS THE BEST TESTIMONY? WE MUST TIE OUR FAITH TO HISTORICAL EVENTS AND NOT TO SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES DOB

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

three cheers for inequality

This whole bit of the equality of men and women is nonsense - We are different and not equal. ON EQUALITY - Have as much equality as you please-the more the better-in our marriage laws: but at some lever consent to inequality, nay, delight in equality, is an erotic necessity. Mrs. Mitchison* speaks of women so fostered on an defiant idea of equality that the mere sensation of the male embrace arouses an undercurrent of resentment. Marriages are thus shipwrecked. This is the tragi-comedy of the modern woman; taught by Freud to consider the act of love the most important think in life, and then inhibited by feminism by that internal surrender which alone can make it a complete emotional success. Merely for the sake of her own erotic pleasure, to go no further, some degree of obedience and humility seems to be (normally) necessary on the woman's part. (C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns, p 109) *Naomi Mitchison, The Home and a Changing Civilization, pp. 49-50

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

For what it is worth

A few months ago I was in an argument with some folks about the place of emotions in deciding what is true - Wrote the following in response (Making some progress on my book on apologetics) - - Religions Experience and Truth - It is my contention that our subjective experiences should play little or no part in helping us to determine what we think is true. It is the mind that God has ordained as the tool for understanding. It would be hard to exaggerate how much feelings and emotions add to the richness of our lives. We experience the beauty of the world with our emotions, not with our minds. But it is a misuse of them to try to make them the organ of understanding. It is to be expected that anyone who holds any kind of a religion will interpret their experiences in light of their world view. This would be true of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. These experiences are not any kind of evidence for the truth of a particular world view. A persons convictions should be based on external evidence that can be evaluated and not on personal experience. It is not reasonable for a Christian or anyone else to think that their personal experience are some kind of evidence for the truth of their convictions. Any one who thinks that their personal experiences are a kind of evidence for their beliefs is building their faith on a foundation of sand. It is a kind of idolatry to assume our experiences are the voice of God. Mother Teresa apparently lost a good deal of her faith when she quit having the kind of experiences she had before going to Calcutta. This probably would not have happened if her faith was founded on her belief in the essential accuracy of the New Testament writers. This is why is it critical that we teach apologetics. What we have to offer the world is information about the God who became man, and that this man died for our sins, rose from the dead and has promised to never leave us or forsake us and to some day take us Home. This is a message of unspeakable comfort, joy and hope. Note on Mother Teresa Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who has been put on the “fast track” to sainthood, was so tormented by doubts about her faith that she felt “a hypocrite,” it has emerged from a book of her letters to friends and confessors. Shortly after beginning her work in the slums of Calcutta, she wrote: “Where is my faith? Even deep down there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. If there be a God — please forgive me.”In letters eight years later she was still expressing “such deep longing for God,” adding that she felt “repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal.” Her smile to the world from her familiar weather-beaten face was a “mask” or a “cloak,” she said. “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.” Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and was beatified in record time only six years later, felt abandoned by God from the very start of the work that made her a global figure, in her sandals and blue and white sari. The doubts persisted until her death. “I am told God lives in me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul,” she wrote at one point. “I want God with all the power of my soul — and yet between us there is terrible separation.” On another occasion she wrote: “I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.” Shortly before she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she wrote that: “Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear. The tongue moves but does not speak.” (I confess that even in my darkest moments laying practically unmovable for two months in the hospital, concerned about the future for my wife and I, overflowing with confusion and sadness about the future, I never had any experiences remotely like the ones expressed by Mother Teresa. I never got the lease bit angry at God or questioned why this happened to me. I never felt Christ's presence any nearer or farther than at any other time in my life. It is not that I have a great faith but that I had a strong conviction built on Christ and His promises so clearly stated in the N.T.)

Friday, May 10, 2013

William Wordworth "THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US; LATE AND SOON" THE world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 10 So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. 1806.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Renter

The Renter A young man moved into a house full of guys. The first thing he asked the others was “What are the rules of the house?”. They proceeded to give him a printed list of about thirty things covering duties, other visitors, rent due date, etc, etc. They told him it was not an exhaustive list but it was to reflect the principle “be considerate of others as you would wish them to be considerate to you”. He thought this sounded reasonable but found some things on the list to be very irritating – like no parakeets, and no eating pickles in the living room. He began questioning the reasonableness of some of these and other rules. He asked if the landlord had make the rules and they all answered “What landlord, there is no landlord”. He then wondered who the rent money goes to but he didn't ask. He was surprised to find out there was no landlord. Then he asked them if there was no landlord, who made the rules and they said “We did along with the previous folks who had lived there before”. He then asked how did they come to agree on the rules and they said they voted and the majority rules. He asked “ what if the minority decides to rebel against the majority” and they said they fight. He asked further “what if the minority wins the fight?” And they said that the rules change. He decided to move out, he had no desire to live in such a chaotic climate. No landlord? Ridiculous!

Spiritual Without Being Religious?

Spiritual w/o being Religious - Many people today describe themselves as being 'spiritual' without being 'religious'. We ask “do they have any idea of what they mean”? We think that they would be hard pressed to give a meaningful response to the question. We conjecture that what they mean is that they believe in right and wrong and also believe that they think themselves to be better than others in their effort to be good. Maybe they mean that they think they can be good without God. But why would a person want just to be good? Do they want to be able to think of themselves as being good or do they want others to think of themselves as being good or do they really want to be good? How good to they want to be – moderately good or really good? Or just better than others. We ask “why bother”? Trying to be good is a real nuisance. It means having to say 'no' to yourself, being honest when you would like to lie to cover your tracks. It means trying to avoid every selfish act. It will impinge on our life almost hourly to not do what we would like to do or to do thinks we don't want to do. Can they succeed in being good? Well to a degree, Yes. If they work hard they make themselves a bit better than others. But if they want to be their best self, they will need God in their lives to help get rid of their pride, envy, self importance, etc. etc. If there is a God we think He will help us make progress but only if we give ourselves over to Him. He can make us truly good, but we can never make it on our own. C.S. Lewis describes this kind of religion as “all the thrills of religion with none of the costs. Holmesdb@gmail.com

Monday, April 22, 2013

Reflections on the Bible - More stuff to come later

Reflections on the Bible We don't think that most evangelical Christians have any idea of the complexity of believing that the Bible is inspired, infallible and inerrant. We know the the Bible was written by humans, we don't know if, and to what degree, God was involved in writing the Bible. We think the Bible is a pretty much a human book containing some myth, legends, exaggerations, inexactitudes, errors, and LOTS of reliable reportage. We don't know the precise meaning of the word 'inspired' as used by Paul in the book of Timothy nor are we clear on what the word 'scripture' means. Whose scripture, Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox – the three major branches of Christendom who don't agree on what books belong in the Bible. Paul was referring to the Septuagint (The Greek Bible that was translated from the Hebrew) when he wrote Timothy. The Septuagint has books in it that ours does not have. We have very few of the words of Christ in His language. We have His words in the Aramaic translated into Greek, then translated in English. i.e. Aramaic to Greek to English. We have none of the original writing of any of the Bible. What we have is copies of copies of copies, etc. For a VERY informative, interesting and somewhat humerus lecture on the complication of the writing and the transmission of the Bible, go to: “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFs-llHmxNc.” Or go to youtube – “Bart Ehrman” and pic “Misquoting Jesus'. Dr. Ehrman was once an evangelical Christian, went to Moody Bible Instutute and Wheaton College and is now an agnostic. We think he should be a lot more skeptical about his skepticism but his material is very worth knowing about. He is a first class scholar on ancient tests and teaches in the department at Religions Studies at North Carolina University. Some thoughts on the idea of Inspiration: We think that all good acts are inspired by God, that all real beauty is inspired by God and that all truth is inspired by God. He is the author of all Truth, Goodness and Beauty and none of these things exist apart from Him being somehow uniquely and mysteriously present. Where truth, beauty and goodness are present, God's inspiration is at work. The Bible is inspired like anything else on earth is inspired – by being true, beautiful or good. There parts of the Bible that are difficult to include under the headings of Truth, Beauty or Good which we find nearly impossible to believe – like the command to slaughter all all the men, women and children in some cities in Canaan or the drowning of the Egyptian solders in the Red Sea, etc. etc. These things seems to violate God's own nature and God can not be a contradiction to Himself. How do we know what to believe? We believe all that we are capable of believing. But we are compelled to disbelieve what our good sense and reason will not let us believe. There is no use in trying to pretend to believe what we don't believe. We think that God honors our attempt to be honest and reasonable. He is the ultimate reasoner, He gave us to be reasonable creatures. He is the Logos – the Word. Jesus is the Word, the one that is truly Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. The above 'we' represents other like minded persons. Don

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

poem

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tide lifts and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift or firm remain? "I never leave you or forsake you"

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

I DON'T KNOW - Why Jesus had to die for our sins or what the connection is between our sins and His death. I don't know how accurate the history is in the Old Testament. I don't know for sure what is literal and what is figurative in the Old Testament. I don't know if Jesus did all the miracles that the New Testament reports He did. I don't know what the term 'inspired' means in II Timothy 3:16 I don't have any idea of how to understand the book of Revelation in the New Testament. I don't know the connections of the story of the Fall and our sinful natures. I don't have any idea how to explain the disconnect between the goodness of God and the pain, suffering and death in the world. I am baffled at the teaching that apparently billions of the 'lost' will be tortured in hell for ever and ever. I don't know how to deal with the clear cut distinction between the righteous and the wicked in the Old Testament. But I do think I know, at His right hand stands one who is the Savior and who said “What is that to thee, follow thou me?”.

Monday, December 31, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olwr9FdJUjI&list=LPs5xMxy0fHDE Spend 18 minutes watching this It is by a Jewish Rabbi speaking to a group of Persian Jews. VERY helpful to anyone of any faith. Don

Friday, December 28, 2012

SUGGESTION

Just saw Les Miserables - IT IS JUST WONDERFUL - YOU MUST SEE IT. IT IS THE STORY OF FORGIVENESS AND RESTORATION. PLEASE GO. DON

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Update - As some may you may know, I have been mulling over, for a long time, the idea of writing a book on apologetics. I have finally begun I think in earnest. I have been struggling to find the right structure which I have, I think, found. The book will be aimed at two kinds of related audiences: 1) Thoughtful skeptics and 2) People who would have once considered themselves to be Christians and who have either drifted away or who have made a decision that they no longer think it is true. It will hopefully be easier to read than "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I know a lot of people who just can't follow Lewis. I will try to avoid the use of theological words but still deal with theological ideas. If all goes well, I may be done in a month of so but more likely will take six months. I am not going to argue from 'experience' or from the conclusion that the Bible is divinely inspired and that we are therefore obligated to believe it but from the 'facts' of history. Is the report in the Gospels of the life of Christ essentially good history? Christianity stands or falls on the answer to this question. Pray for me as I am very serious about this project. My plea is to follow the evidence. I will self publish and probably put it on the Kindle for free or for very little. I am more interested in finding readers than I am in the possible money. We are doing fine. Have had a great summer with really wonderful weather. Lots of folks over along with our kids and grand kids including two mama dogs and eight puppies. Have been able to sit out on my ramp in the nice warm sun a lot. Am now reading a long bio on Lynden Johnson. Also intend to look into a recommended book called "Bad Religion". I hope you will recover from the shock of actually finding a new post on my blog site. I don't write more because I have nothing unusual to report. Someone has said that nothing is news worthy except the unusual. True? Don

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Delayed Hawaii trip report - Everything went well. Went with my wife, my caregiver, Our daughter and her two kids. The kids loved snorkeling, and swimming every day. I sat by and completely enjoyed the time watching the kids, sitting beside the ocean, reading and watching the waves. Thing going along here as normal with nothing special to report. Don

Thursday, April 12, 2012

TRIP

WE ARE OFF TO HAWAII FOR A WEEK WITH OUR ELDEST DAUGHTER AND HER TWO KIDS ALONG WITH MY CARE GIVER. WE THINK WE HAVE TRANSPORTATION WORKED OUT BUT WE WON'T KNOW HOW EVERYTHING WILL GO TIL WEE GET THERE.
NO OTHER NEWS EXCEPT THAT OUR ELDEST GRAND DAUGHTER IS GETTING MARRIED NEXT OCT IN NEW YORK. WE HOPE TO GO.
DON

Saturday, March 10, 2012

recession???????

It is obvious that some people are experiencing financial problems but we reject the idea
that our country has financial problems. We will believe that our country has serious
financial problems when:

1) Millions of folks quit buying $40,000 cars and men quit paying $80,000 for over sized trucks
2) The parking lots of gambling casinos are not full 24 hours a day.
3) When we no longer can afford to pay athletes, entertainers and movie stars millions of dollars a year.
4) We quit spending fifty billion dollars a year on the luxury of pop, booze, coffee and other drinks when water is
the only liquid humans need. (We are the only creature on earth that drinks any thing beside water)
5) When people quit paying $500,000 for a place to live.
6) When we can no longer afford expensive boats, cruse trips, tourist traveling, secondary condo homes.
7) When we realize that half the stuff we buy at grocery stores is not nourishing and stop buying it.
8) When we quit buying stuff at stores like Kmart that we don't need.
9) When we begin to encourage retired people to continuing using their skills to benefit mankind instead of just entertaining themselves.
10) When we quit spending billions of dollars on political campaigns.
11) When we quit paying for the printing and delivering of tons of daily junk mail to every home in America.
12) When we quit paying thousands of folks to do telephone sales which is VERY annoying.
13) When we figure how to settle our disputes with each other with out the assistance of tens of thousands of lawyers making $200,000 a year. (Count the number of lawyers in the local phone book)
14) When we demand that the advertising business informs people about products rather that spending fortunes on graphics.
15) When millions of women quit expecting to wear expensive rings and jewelry.
17) When most junior high kids quit owning $200 phones in their pickets.
Fancy cloths, perfume, $10,00 movie tickets, millions of folks on netflix @ $18.00/month Etc, Etc,Etc, Etc. Etc.
===================

Are you as annoyed as I am with:
Telephone sales wanting to lower credit card interest rates.
Junk Mail
Things in plastic packaging that is next to impossible to open without bolt cutters or carving knives



Your comment,


Don

Monday, January 16, 2012

Frankenstien

Just finished the book. Remarkable. It is a story of what may happen to a person who is deformed and therefore is unloved. They can become resentful and angry and want revenge. It caused me to try to be more loving to the 'unloveable'.
We are doing o.k.
Snowed a bit last night so the view out my window is better than the bleak winter scene.

Looking forward to our trip to Hawaii in April. Taking my caregiver with us. I would find it very difficult without him.

Drop me a note - holmesdb@gmail.com

Thursday, November 17, 2011

still here

Hi -

WE are about the same. Feeling good and enjoying life. See lots of our kids and grand kids. Will all be together at Christmas as our middle grand daughter Kelli, is getting
married on the 18th here in Bellingham. Went out for dinner for our 52nd. The best time in our marriage is now. We are pretty much together 24/7 and mostly at home. Barb reads a lot especially now that she can't get out to her huge flower garden.
I am enjoying college football and reading on my Kindle.

Reading "Killing Lincoln' by O'Riely and an historian friend of his. On best seller list for many weeks. Just reread "the Mayor of Casterbridge" by Hardy. Like the way he has with words. It is interesting to watch the best seller list on "amazon.com'. What a mixed bag of quality writing and junk.

A note about the housing 'crises' There is no crisis. You would think the term means that there are not enough houses. There is a problem for some but 'one persons loss is another persons gain. The houses are not going to sit empty. The banks or whoever owns the houses will simply lower the price to the point that someone will buy it. It will simple be a change of ownership which is not a national crisis though it is a hardship for some who should have never been approved for a loan in the first place. Terrible how the media likes to blow things up. Am I wrong?

We are for Newt. We know about his 'baggage' but he has joined the catholic church and it is reasonable to assume that he has gone through some process of confession and received forgiveness. Any how he is is by far and away the smartest candidate and he knows how Washington works.

We are going to have an adventure this summer - Suzanne and her two kids, Barb, my care giver, and I are going to Hawaii this April for a week. Will be my first big outing since I went back to Nebraska a few summers ago. This Christmas will be the 5th anniversary of my accident. Times flies. The older we get the faster it goes. According to a form I filled out on the computer about, age, habits, etc. I am supposed to live until I am 95 and so is Barb. I don't know if this is good or bad. 17 more years - I can't imagine it.

Our dreary winter weather has begun and has already caused me to long for spring.

Still trying to get serious about writing a book on apologetics for lay people. Would be a bit like 'Mere Christianity' by Lewis but not as complicated. I have a sermon in my head about suffering and am looking for a place to preach it. It has been rumbling around in my head for months if not years. Suffering is not data for thinking as much as it is an opportunity to trust. 'I will never leave you or forsake you" That is the bottom line on the question of suffering.

Would be happy for hear from you so I know that someone actually reads my blogs.
Just click on 'comments' at the bottom of this note.

Best Wishes,
Don

Sunday, October 16, 2011

note

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK1v0L7djrQ

Very interesting from a Russian Priest

It is more difficult to love than it is to endure suffering.

Doing fine after 5 weeks in bed getting over some pressure shores.

Best to you,
don

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

thought for the day

Whatever failures I have known Whatever errors I have committed , whatever follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the consequences of action without thought.

Bernard Barach


I am being interviewed for a job tomorrow - more later.

Don

Friday, July 29, 2011

Thought for the day

One of the most telling indications of sanctity is a persons ability always to see himself in the sins of others.
Antony Padonovo "Free to Be Faithful"

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Hi

Beautiful weather today-sitting outside reading
Just got a new used Mac computer - HIGHLY recommend the Mac
No special plans
We are doing well -

Watch for quote of the day coming soon on this blog.
Don

Friday, July 1, 2011

not dead - still reflecting-

Reasons that make it difficult to pray:

1. It seems silly to give God advice.
2) It seems silly to give Him information. "Dear Lord, bless Sally who broke her leg"
3) IT seem odd to praise God for being what he can't help being, like praising a parent for loving their child.
4) We can never be sure there is a connection between our prayer and what happens.
5) It is difficult to speak to a Being we can't see and who does not talk back. I know there are folks who claim that God talks to them but I think this is figure of speech.

So why to we pray? For the simple reason that our Lord commands us to - that ought to be enough.

Doing o.k.
Don

Thursday, April 14, 2011

why don likes his kindle

Why ereaders like the “Kindle” from Amazon and the “Nook” from Barnes and Noble may replace traditional books. (“ebooks” are books that can be read on a hand held reading device and an “ereader” is the device itself. There dozens on the market with the Kindle and the Book are currently the leaders)

1)  One ereader, at the present time, can hold 3500 books  - they are about the size of a  paper back, weigh less and are about three eights of inch thick.

2)  Cost of books on ereaders:
     a)  There are about 2,000,000 books available for free
     b)  There are about  800,000 books available that sell for between a $1.00 and $15.00-  most best sellers are $9.99(the cost for a ereader is now $139.00 - the original price a few years ago was about $400)

3) Ebooks are available in 8 print sizes at the press of a button. 
From 8 point to 72 point

4) Most ebooks are available in print size as large or larger than most other large print books.

5) Amazon has stated that their goal is to have every book that has ever been printed in any language available on ereaders within two years.

5) Ebooks will never go out of print.

6) Ereaders keep track of where you were when you last stopped reading - no more book marks or lost places.  You may be reading many books at the same time and the ereader will keep track of where you were in each book when you stopped reading.

7) Batteries can last up to thirty days and can be recharged over night. (can keep reading while they charge)

8) You can search for a word or a phrase in all the books, or a specific book, on your ebook reader.  It will list on the screen each book that has the word or the phrase and the number of times the word or phrase appears in each book.  You can then click on a certain book and it will list all the sentences  the word or phrase appears in. Click again and you will be at the appropriate page.

9)  You can underline right on the ereader screen and then search for all the underlined sentences.

10) You can make your own notes to remain on your ereader..

11) Pages turn at the press of a button,  faster than turning pages manually.

12) Only one hand is needed for reading thus freeing up the other hand to eat, feed the baby, etc.

13) Ereaders are wonderful for folks with arthritis with fingers that do not work well.

14) About 25 categories of book listed by best selling.

15) Moving the on screen cursor over a word automatically shows the definition at the top or bottom of the screen.

16)  Books can be loaded into the ereader in about 15 seconds. (The entire Bible, The
complete works of Shakespear , etc. in less than 30 seconds)
17) You can looks up books by title or author

18) No trips to the library to pick up and drop off books - no overdue books.

19) Ereaders are handy and quick to use.  You can even read a bit while waiting in line at the Post Office.

20) 169 newspapers, 90 magazines and Journals are instantly available from around the
world.

21) You can read the first chapter of most books on the ereader for free, then decide if you want to buy the book or not.

22) You can loan a book once to another person from your ereader to their ereader for two weeks at no additional charge.

23) You can register up to six people on the same account. If anyone of the six people order a book, it then become available to all six people at no additional charge.

Why authors like ebooks:

1) Authors receive about a 8% royalty of the selling price of a book published by
a publisher.

2) Authors receive 70% of a self published book on ereaders.    They would rather get
70% of a  $10.00 book rather than 8% of a $30.00 book (a difference of over $4.00 per book) Note: An known author has turned down an advance by a publisher of $500,000 recently because he thought he could make more money by self publishing on
an ereader.

3) Authors can set the price of their book rather than publishers.

4) Authors can add an appendix or a correction to a book on your ereader at any time - now or 10 years from now and do it in seconds automatically.

5) Authors can keep total control of their book (copy rights, etc)

6) Books will stay available even if sales start to slow.  Publishers now quit publishing books if their sales fall below a certain point so the author stops receiving royalty Payments.

7) Authors can have their book formatted for ereaders for about $200.  So anybody who
can make their book available to millions of people without spending a lot of money. 

8) When an author finishes writing a book, it can be made available to the reading public immediately, they don’t have to wait to find a publisher and then wait to get the book printed.

What does this mean for bookstores and libraries?

1)  Book stores, as we know them, may go out of business - Border books (501stores) has already declared bankruptcy., The Barnes and Noble chain has been up for sale for over a year.   Hundreds of small books store are already closed or declining. Other chains are closed: Daltons-750 stores, Crown 198-stores, Walden- 81 stores.

2) Libraries will disappear or change dramatically and maybe become a place to check out eraders.
   
Misc info.

1) Some schools have abandoned books and now supply or require ereaders for all their
students.

2) College students will no longer have to spend thousands of dollars on books as
ereaders will be drastically cheaper.

3) Students, of all ages, won't have to haul around book bags - just one ereader.

4) Millions of trees and tons of ink will be saved.

Answer to skeptics:
"I just like the feel of a book in my hands - not a mechanical device"

Maybe people don't know themselves very well.  It is difficult to find someone who felt that way before buying an ereader and did not change mind quickly after they began using it. Also, it would be difficult to find someone who has given up their ereader and gone back to reading traditional books?

What people really like is reading and we associate that pleasure with a book.  But the pleasure is in the reading not the method.

Monday, March 21, 2011

more speech to text

well here we go again. I'm going to try to do to do the new speech to text. So far it is working pretty well. I still can't get over it. To just talk to a microphone and have this words appear on the page is very strange but it is skews me. But it is very fast. Probably about twice as fast or three times as fast as a person can type. And it is very accurate. To show its accuracy I will not make any corrections to this after I am done and you can see for yourself how accurate it is.

We have been doing quite well lately apart from the fact that Barb had a very bad cold which is now just getting old skews be getting over, that was my mistake not the computer's.

Book club was great last week we discussed new book word new book club and we picked the lemon tree. It is a book about the relationship between a Palestinian family in a Jewish family after the seven days for. It puts a human face on the conflict in the Middle East and it shows that the things are a lot more complicated over there that a person might imagine.

I have been keeping up with the NCAA basketball tournament. I don't have a favorite team this year after Washington lost out yesterday to North Carolina.

I am delighted to find the sun showing a lot more lately it's moving north so the days are longer. I'm looking forward to getting that out doors this summer to sit on the ramp that my son-in-law made for me and read in the sun. I've had quite a few guests lately. Friends that I've known for years come by. I have about two or three friends who I can count on coming by regularly and that five or 10 friends who come by often on.

Our book club book last week was a book called wait till next year. It was a memoir of a girl who was raised in Brooklyn and follow the Brooklyn Dodgers and told the story of her life growing up in Brooklyn and being an avid baseball fans and how the whole city of Brooklyn and city of New York's were supporters of the baseball games. There were three of them the New York Giants the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers it was quite interesting because most of us remember living through those days in the late 40s and early 50s when television was just starting to come out.

Sullivan some of the new skews the. Some of the new news that I think were going to bear watching is this new book that's come out by Rob Bell called God wins he espouses universalism but it is a very Christo centric universalism. His thesis is that the God of love is not powerless to prevent an eternal hell. He has trouble imagining, as I do, billions of people suffering in hell tormented hell for ever and ever. I think the book is going to be probably somewhat divisive and that Eugene Peterson of Regent College has endorsed the book. The author is part of the emerging church and is himself had he himself has an evangelical background. He graduated from Wheaton College and Fuller seminary. His book just came out this week and its already high on bookseller lists. It will be in single watch what kind of activity that stirs up the Christian community.

We like you have been watching the news and Libya and Japan. My goodness what problems this world has but I guess it's nothing new with cars have problems.

I been feeling quite good lately. I've been using my sleep apnea machine which I breathe into every night and seems to be not quite so tired the next day. I've had for overnight stays where they tried to test me to get the setting right on the machine. It's not much fun to sleep away from home all night and in the wake and six o'clock in the morning and told to go home. Greg Misty Suzman, has gone with me at night along with Tim and my caregiver.

Our caregiver Aaron Brandt has been with us now for over three years and he is wonderful young man. We are going to miss him next fall when he starts nursing school. I'm a little bit concerned else will be able to find somebody quite as good he's been a good friend as well as a good worker.

If you're curious about this speech to text software it's called Dragon software and it costs about $50 plus you might have to spend about $20 to upgrade your storage in your computer. Would be happy to hear from any of you. And I will write you back a personal Gmail best wishes to all Don holds that's not holds that's Holmes that's better.

Now that I have finished I can say that I have made no corrections. Many of the mistakes were my mumbling while I was talking. I think you will get better the more I use it. I think it will get better the more I use it.

Monday, March 7, 2011

experiment

hello to all my friends this is going to be interesting to see if this works. I am using a speech to text mechanism to make this blog site. I am talking to a microphone that is connected to my computer while I talk it is taking my words and turning them into words. Sometimes it will make mistakes but it is surprising how accurate it is I have not. I forgot to put a period after the last it is. You have to say the word. For it to print up. Paragraph

I have been feeling quite well lately. We have been getting out some. Yesterday we spent the day with Suzanne and just Barb Suzanne and I because Jamie had taken the two kids in Seattle spend the weekend with his mother in that we had a nice long visit the night before we took Susie out for dinner the first time the three of us have been out for dinner just us for maybe five or 10 years. You will have to be patient with me as I sometimes forget to say the word.. I need to say the word. Oh

I have much to learn to make this work correctly but up to this point in the letter I have not made any corrections. As you speak the words appear. If the computer makes a mistake you can override the mistake with normal word processing.

As you can see it's pretty accurate I will probably be blogging a lot more. It is much easier to talk than to type I. I can talk at a very rapid speed and the computer still does a very good job reading what I am saying it is almost spooky I forget to keep single word. I need to say the word PER I OD when I come to the end of a line.

The computer will take numbers as well as letters. Example 12345. I will now say the alphabet to see how well it does. A BCDEFGH I JKLMNOPQRS the WXYZ. It made a mistake with the letters T and you. It cannot tell the difference between the letter you or the word you mistake it cannot tell the difference between the difference between the letter you send the word you.

We saw Les Miserables on television last night. It was fantastic. It was done in London with a 500 voice choir for the 25th anniversary of the production lateness is still showing into theaters in London and one in Chicago plus numerous showings all of the cut. Country backspace backspacwhoop. Oh well

Does anybody have any good books to suggest. We think we thought that 'Unbroken' was outstanding. We did in our book club and everybody really liked the book. Her current book is wait till next year. It is a book a memoir about a girl growing up in Brooklyn and her memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I hope spring is here. It is sunny and warm out today but we have had lots of free cool weather for the last several weeks.

I think I'm going to like this speech to text is available from skews the it is available by a company called Dragon DR AGL and and it costs about $50. You just install it on your computer and put on your headsets in start talking.
The headset comes with the software it is easy to install. It takes you through a bit of a tutorial where you read into the computer so it begins to recognize your voice. I've only had it for several days now but I am very very impressed how you can talk to a machine and have your words turn the print.

Concerning my Kindle that I got for Christmas; I like it better every day. Some of my friends have one and they like there's justice much as I like my. I do not know anybody has one doesn't like it a great deal. I think this is going to be the reading device of the future. For better or for worse it will be the end of bookstores and libraries. There is no need to cut down all these trees can make thousands and thousands of books and all can be done online less-expensive and faster. You can order a book on your Kindle and 15 seconds later the book in your Kindle ready for you to read. You can change the print size. Almost every book comes with a concordance just like a Bible concordance so you can look up passages and search for words at the flip of finger. For instance if you wanted to type in the word fight and war it would search to every book on your Kindle may be 1000 books and show which books have that those two words in the book and how many times it's in the book then you can click on that book and it'll start skipping through all the places in the book where those words appear and highlight them so there's no need to underline anymore you just as you have a thought in your mind can just type in couple words from a thought and it will find it is quite amazing much more handy than using a concordance with the Bible staff to look it up and spell the word. Also with a concordance you can only look up one word. They cost about $125 and they hold 3500 books. There are about 1,500,000 books available on the Kindle for free. There is another 60,000 books available that you can buy to put on your Kindle. They usually cost at the most nine $nine. 99 each. I downloaded the complete works of William Shakespeare for free it took. It took about 20 seconds to download the books into my Kindle. I should be a salesman for them. Paragraph

I've rambled on long enough time to say signoff I've only made one. I've only made one correction everything I said in this letter so you can see that it's very very accurate. It will improve in accuracy as I learn how to use it.

Best wishes to all, enter
D: M, DON published post

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

2011

I did not ask for or expect a kindle for Christmas. It is an amazing reading device. It looks exactly like a page on a book. It holds 1800 books along with about 1,000,000 books that are free. I have learned that it is not books that people like so much, it is reading.

The family was all here for Christmas, kids and grand kids and son in laws. The high light was the grand daughters playing the flute and the violin and Julianna singing Christmas carols.

Rereading the Voyage of the Dawn Treader for book club on the 20th.

Gloomy weather plus I have been stuck in bed for several days as my wheel chair is broken. New parts coming from back east are due any day.

We are in good spirits and are very greatful that our situation is not worst than it is.I turn 76 next week - my wife and I have a century and a half between us and are in good health as far as we know.

"Be not weary in well doing"

Don

Monday, December 27, 2010

Holmes Family Grace On Christmas DAy

Who would have guessed as He lay in the hay,
He'd be the One, our sins to allay?

From His birth to His death as He came from above,
He taught us and healed us to show us His love.

He called His disciples and taught them to care,
He then changed their lives and charged them to share-

A message of hope of joy and delight,
To brighten our day, contrasting the night,

When ninety nine sheep, their day was all done,
He left them secure, to go find the one.

We're all like that one - lost in the night,
He was seeking to find, to make us alright.

Then when He had found us in sickness and sin,
He called for repentance, our life to begin.

He paid a big price, it should break our hearts,
So we could have life, and get a fresh start.

We twelve gather here, this day in December,
His birth and ours a joy to remember.

So thanks to the cooks and the food on the table,
But thanks most of all for the One in the stable.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

ramblings

I sometimes think that life is a miserable experience with a little happiness thrown it and at other times I think life is a great experience with a little misery thrown it. I have concluded that for some folks life is a great experience with very little miserableness and for others it is almost all misery with very little happiness. But for most of us it is a mix of both. Some days this and some days that. My moods seem to change with the winds of the moment. Reading the news gives me a very jaded view of life. The suffering of lots of folks everywhere gets more coverage than the great acts of kindness and mercy that are all about us. I have days of misery (less and less as time goes on) and other days of inexpressible happiness. I had a day in the hospital where I was flooded with a kind of happiness that lasted for about five minutes that was like nothing I had experiences before or have experienced since. I could give no reason for it except it was a gift of God.
"I am convinced that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will someday be revealed in us" - Paul
I am counting on it.

Went to the "voyage of the Dawn Treader" last week and did not like it. They way overdid the actions scenes. Reepicheep and Eustace were great. The words of the Lion at the end were marvelous.

All of our three kids and five grand kids will be here for Christmas dinner
Best wishes on this Christmas season.
Don

Monday, November 22, 2010

suggestion

I have just discovered a wonder website. Booknotes.org It is interviews of 800 different authors talking about books they have written. It is video and talking and each one is 1 Hour long. I AM enjoying it a great deal.
DON

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Hi

No new posts lately because we have no news.
Have been feeling very good lately - chest pain has let up
a lot. Been getting out a lot especially out to Suzanne's
to see the kids.
Reading more and enjoying football season.
Life is good for us again and I am glad
I can say that because I did not feel that way
for too long of a time.
Best to all who try to keep up with us.
Don

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

back to living

spent the last four weeks on my side in bed getting over a pressure sore on my rear.
Fairly miserable? Yes but not as bad as it may sound. Up today for two hours and hope to go to book club tomorrow. Can't type on my side so no communication until tonight.
Not much reading. Otherwise doing well.
Best Wishes
Don

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

hi

Very active lately. Went up to Mt Baker with Tim and Andy - they hiked -beautiful weather. They stopped for a swim on the way back at a resort. Have seen the kids a lot lately. Grandkids-Kara getting ready to move to Italy. Kelly back in Spokane - plans unknown for the fall. Kayti back to Westmont for final year of school.

Reading "Best Defense" by Alan Sershowitz - it is kind of a defense of defense attorneys. VERY interesting.

Christy and Greg after a busy summer of guests are on extended sail boat trip.

Suzanne is recovering from a week long stay in the hospital after a mysterious aliment in her lower stomach. Still not diagnosed so we are praying for a good outcome.

It was Very painful.

Barbs and my help is holding up well.

Have a new renter in the barn and he looks like he may become our new caregiver when Aaron leaves the middle of March.

Send me a note.

Don

hi

More news soon -
Did you hear about the Russian who accused Krushev of being an idiot?
He got arrested for revealing state secrets.
News tomorrow

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Hi

Home from Nebraska almost three weeks and things seem to be going pretty well. Julianna was baptized this morning and turned 9 yesterday so we had a big family bash today after church with about 25 family here.
Just finished "Bonhoeffer" 550 pages.. Highly recommend. Get it from your library as it costs almost $30 new.
Am rereading Narnia as Andy is reading it so I have to get current.
Barb had a wonderful two weeks in Hawaii with her sister-in-law. Came back very tan.
Weather has been wonderful - warm sunny days. I sit outdoors every day in the sun from about 2:00 to 7:00 and read.

Kara, Christy's eldest is comming home from N.Y. tomorrow for a week before she goes to Italy for the Fall term. She can keep her jo via computer while she is there.
She is a kick.

Seem to be getting a better hold on life with each passing month.

Don

Thursday, July 15, 2010

nebraska trip

Well I did it. Got on an air plane and flew to Omaha Nebraska to join my two sisters and their families for a 4th of July bash at my sisters farm just outside Licoln, Ne.
Everything went well. I was accompanied by my daughter, Suzanne, Her husband and their two kids. There were almost 30 people there with 13 kids between the ages of 4 and 14. Meanwhile my wife vanished to Hawaii for two weeks with my brother's wife, Donna. She just got back today. So we have had quite a summer so far. Reading a biography about Bonhoeffer, the first full length bio on him in 25 years.
Startling - He seems to be saying that Christ is always at war with the institutional church because the institutional church is preoccupied with staff, program, budget and its reputation rather than the preaching of the Gospel. It is in competition with Christ and the preaching of the Gospel.
Very Interesting. The title of the book is "Bonoeffer" (550 pages)

Don

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

no sun

We haven't been able to see our beautiful Mt. Baker for ten days. Where is summer as I love to sit out in the son and read? Juliana and Andy were here all afternoon. Kayti and her boyfriend also came by for an hour. We had a very nice social day.
Still reading the "Great Burn". Lots of early 20th Century American history about the West - a very good read. Go in for my second sleep apnea test on the 10th and hope they can help my daily fatigue. I am always tired.
no other news
Don

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

humor to keep your spirits up

Grandson to Grandpa "Grandpa, can you make a noise like a frog?"

Grandpa "Why do you want me to do that?"

Grandson "Because dad said that as soon as you make a noise like a frog we get to go to Disneyland."

Life the same. Doc says my leg mending fine. No restrictions.

Reading 'The Great Burn" About a fire in the early 1900's in MOntana, Idaho, Wash and Canada that destroyed four towns and was bigger than the state of conneticut. Lots of history including a lot about Teddy Roosevelt.

Also a famous kids book "The Hunger Games" My friend who writes books about Harry Potter says it is the best book he has read since Harry Potter. More later.

Hope to drive again soon but my wife hopes I do not.

What do you think is the difference between 'knowing' and 'believing'?

leave me message by clicking on 'comments' below

Don
Don

Sunday, May 23, 2010

hi

Been feeling fine lately. Reading more and spending lots of time with the grand kids with homework etc. See the doc tomorrow for final xray of leg. Not returned to driving yet but hope to soon.
No special plans till July Barb to Hawaii and me to Nebrasks.
Hope to send book recommendations soon.
Blessings
Don

Thursday, April 22, 2010

news

van fixed
bone mending well according to x-rays yesterday
am up and around as before the wreck
doing ok
world is in its normal mess, but no worse or better than ever.
'in the world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer for I have overcome thr world'

nephew in Nebraska in a serious car wreck and well be mending for many months.
my sis will become a care giver like Barb
cheerfully

don

Monday, April 12, 2010

Latest musings -

I am ofter accused of valuing the mind more than the emotions. I plead guilty for the following two reasons:
1) The emotions are of no value is determining what is true or in determining how we should direct our live. The emotions have no inner compass to truth or actions.

2) The mind is the God created instrument whereby we can discover what is true and what is not. It is also the control center for our lives as to what we ought to do.
Doing what is reasonable and following our conscience is about the same thing as obeying God.


(Van will be fixes in a few days)

Best Wishes.
don
Holmesdb@gmail.com

Friday, April 9, 2010

dumb

Well here I am tucked in bed again. Doc says I should heal fine. A bit tired again but should should be back to 'normal'in a week or so. (After they get my wheel chair fixed which quit working Thursday eve. Never a dull moment here.

The hospital staff was WONDERFUL. They discovered that I may have sleep ackneia (sp?)
The brain keeps having to wake up to tell the lungs to get moving. So a person does not get the deep sleep they need. Fatigue and snoring are prime symptiom (sp) which fit me well. Going to pursue this with more tests later. They say there is much they can do to help.

Just finished having Pizza with my grand son Andy. What a fun kid to be with.

I don't feel alone and my spirits are good.
Don

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Update

Dad is home. He was discharged late this afternoon and we got him home and tucked into bed in about an hour. In addition to his broken femur, he apparently broke his ankle too.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Surgery update

Dad's surgery went great. They put in a rod along the whole length of his femur and they expect him to go home tomorrow and to be no different than the day before the accident. In an non-paralyzed person, the pain would be debilitating, but for him it's not a concern. Strange blessing.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

broken leg

Suzanne here. Dad asked me to let you know that he broke his thigh today. He is, as some of you may know, learning to drive again, and something went wrong. He hit the house (near the basement door entrance) with the van, damaging the door, the van, and his femur. It's a break clean through, with one part sitting at an angle to the other part.

After the accident he didn't realize that he was hurt, so he went inside and transferred himself from his chair to his bed for a nap. Then he happened to notice a weird bulge and thought he had better see a doctor.

He is at St. Joe's and is scheduled for early morning surgery. He'll be at the hospital for a couple of days and then back home.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Spring is here

Finally have something to write about. I'm driving again after 3 1/2 years. Have a learners permit like 15 year olds do and can drive with another person who has a license. Went out with Tim once and then with a friend three times and have now been out with Barb three times. It was awful the first time but I have now got the hand of it and happy to say it is quite easy. Will try to pass the driving test in a few weeks. Have already passed the written and the eye test. So my dear wife will resign as my driving Mr. Daisey.

Feeling better each week. The sunshine helps a lot and have seen the grand kids more which is lots of fun. They are reading well and making great progress on their math. They now have 15 chickens, two dogs, two cats, two rabbits and two goats.

Book club was yesterday in our home. Read "The Help" - # one on the best seller lists. A book about how domestic help viewed their white bosses in the fifties. Worth reading.

We are very happy with our renter in the barn and the young couple in our basement.
They both work for a Bible software company and have recently acquired a dog. So far it get along fine with our border collie.

Have been following the progress of electronic books lately. They are going to revolutionize the publishing industry. It will be almost the end of bookstores and libraries. Look up the news about Amazon's Kindle at Amazons web site.
Everybody that has one seems to like them A LOT. I'll wait until the price comes down to get one.

Drop me a note - Holmesdb@gmail.com
Don

Thursday, March 18, 2010

hi

Nov 8th

Hi to all - your patience is rewarded - a new blog - amazing.

I don't write often because I don't have much to write about. We are continuing to make weekly progress in out new life. It will be three years this Christmas - hard to believe that I have not walked for three years.

We had the family over yesterday for Andy's birthday. He has been looking forward to it for months. I don't think they had much of a celebration at the 'deisky dom' (orphanage)in Russia. At the same time we also celebrated our 50th as of today.


we had a wonderful evening. Tim and his girl friend played guitar and violin and we all sang "I'll fly away'. Our kids gave us a electronic gadget with a screen loaded up with about 200 family pictures that stays on all the time and flips pictures every 10 seconds. Shows kids at all ages and many of our trips to Europe. It helps keep many wonderful memories alive.


So how are we doing? We are on a roller coaster. Some days ( not many) are awful and most days are o.k. and many days are wonderful.. Surrounded our family yesterday made me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

I will try to soon catch you up on books and Videos but will begin now with "Same Kind of Different as Me" You can read the blog at Amazon.com.

The normally gloomy winter is here but the grand kids are looking forward to snow.
See them about twice a week. Andy will probably come to spend the night this week.

We now have the barn, that I remodeled into an rental, rented. He is a retired fisherman who is going back to electronic school for two years. This is turning out to be a good investment for us. Our basement renter is moving out as of Dec. 1 as his is buying a condo. We have another fellow moving in immediately -
a man who is a professional picture painter and also teaches anatomy and physiology
at the local tech school and has several other jobs. He was raised in South Africa
so has a Brit ascent. He has had some medical training which we are glad about. We are happy to have two fellows around.

We wish you all the best with God's blessings.

Don

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

2010

75 Years ago today I was born in Ames Iowa, the son of two probably afraid 20 year olds. Where has 75 years gone. We ought to try to live well as we can't go back and we probably wish we could do some things over and do better.

I have felt great lately and am getting closer and closer to a restored life. We bought a new Van yesterday that has better hand controls on it that maybe I can drive. It would be fun next summer to pick up the grands and take them to the park to play.

We are going out for dinner this evening to celebrate the 75th. The kids are going to have a todo at a later date on the week-end.

Our son in law is here painting the basement to get it ready for a new renter that I hope we can find soon. Our barn renter is doing well - he has been here for about three months now.

Reading "Hole in our Gospel" by the head of World Vision" about how we Christians have dropped the ball in helping the poor. It is a very disturbing book but I think we all need to read it.

Our Saturday morning men's group is reading Mere Christianity. For me it is about the 10th time and I still thing it is the best Christian Book in modern times. I suggest that everyone read it again and and again. I know a philosopher friend who says he may have read it a hundred times and he taught in a college.

We are having a very mild winter so far. My Sisters in Nebrasks have been covered with almost record snowfall and low temperatures.

Best Wishes and Blessings to you,
Don

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Q

ten years ago we had to deal with y2k which turned out to be much ado about nothing so this year came in quite calmly. All the early to mid twenties grand daughters were home with out eldest daughter, Christy along with two of their boy friends. A busy but fun time.

Quote from "Hole in Our Gospel" - "The only people who will find happiness are those who have sought and found an opportunity to serve" Albert Switzer

The point of the book is that we Christians are not even close to living up to our responsibility to the poor. The expectation of helping the poor are very clear in the Bible. Our much of our giving goes to the poor compared to how much goes to pay staff salaries and keep up our buildings. A very challenging book. Someone has said that no one will get into heaven without a letter of reccomemndation from the poor.

We are pretty much the same. We are now in our fourth year since my accident.
What can I say about it? It is awful, being paralyzed but life still continues to be good for us. I have gained tremendous sympathy for those for whom life is difficult - millions of whom are way worse of than I am. My family has been great and we have a sufficient number of friends.

I will miss college football being over as friends sometime have come over to watch but I will probably get more reading done.

Best wishes to all - love to hear from you - Holmesdb@gmail.com

Don

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Dec 12

Thought for the day:
"Sin is pleasure for the moment but creates memories of regret that last a lifetime."
Been feeling about the same - up and down. I seem to be tired most of the time. My always cheerful wife keeps me going. It amazes me how well she has accepted her role in life. I would get depressed being around someone in my condition night and day.

Christy's kids will all be home for Christmas as well as our own who are always home.

I would write in my blog more often but don't have much to write about. If you want to write in my blog I will reply.

Don

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Nov 19,2009

Hi faithful blog viewers -

Well we did it. Made it to our 50th year wedding anniversary. (nov 8th) We opted out of a big to do. Neither of us wanted it so we didn't do it and we are very comfortable about out decision. Had a family dinner with out kids and also celebrated Andy's 10th at the same time.

My best friend from High school and my best friend from college both phoned us last week and it was great to hear their voices and catch up on their news and reflect on many wonderful memories.

We are doing about the same. Some good days and some bad ones. Get to church weekly and usually one or two outings a week. Usually see the young grand kids about once a week. Sunday heading for Christy and Gregs for a Sunday dinner and to a concert at the college on Monday night.

We continue to be thankful for God's care shown to us by family and friends and my my caregiver.

Barb has been reading more than I (you know - football season) but the books one or the other of us have read include:
Mosiac - a chronicle of generations
Count of Monte Crisco book and video
Sense of the World - blind man who traveled the world
Rebecca - Book and Video
Jane Eyre - book and movie

by Anne Rice: (secular writer of the Vampire series who has recently become a Christian )
Christ the Lord
Out of Egypt
Road to Cana
Out of Darkness

Book Thief
Same Kind of Different as me (THE BEST OF THE LOT IN OUR OPINION)
Finding Calcutta - Mary Poplin (very good)
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Still Alice
Strength in What Remains Tracy Kidder
The Help
Home

Continue to recomend the Video - Doubt and also liked the almost three hour video -
The Tunnel

We have a new renter in the barn and are seeking a new renter for the basement as our renter of four years has bought a condo and in the process of moving out.

I have several friends who visit me almost every week.

Spend lots of time watch news on our computer.

If you have questions about us - just ask.

God's blessings on you.

Don (and Barb)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

sept 1st

We have had a wonderful summer - lots and lots of sun and warm weather. Barbara and Suzanne and the grands are on Vancouver Island for a short vacation. Barbara gets home tomorrow evening. I have been looked after by my friends and the guy who lives in the basement.
My sister Carol and her husband Denny were here for a few days and left yesterday.
It was wonderful to have them and they have agreed to try to get up twice a year which will be wonderful for me to look forward to.
Our son Tim is off on a trip to New England for 6 days with his girlfriend for a wedding and to visit her relatives. Kayti, (Christy's daughter) is off to New Zeland for quarter of school. Kelly is off to North Carolina to see her boyfriend. Kara in now living in Manhattan, NY working to interviewing canadates to teach in a private school system called uncommon schools.
Felt really good all the time guests were here.
Great Movie -"Radio" about a retarded black boy who is befriended by the local football coach. I highly suggest it.
Been reading books on apologetics that only a theological nerdly guy like me would like so I won't recommend (God, Reason and Theistic Proofs).
Any recommends of books from anyone would be appreciated.
Thanks for your prayers to keep my spirits up.
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Don

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Hi

Great day today. Sunny weather for book club at a home on the Lake. Good discussion of "Finding Calcutta" by Mary Poplin. Tomorrow we are all to the county fair with the Grand kids and Suzanne.
Keep looking up.

Don

Monday, August 10, 2009

sorry

I have not been blogging lately because the news is not much fun. I am asked often "how are you". I normally give the pat answer that everyone else does "I am fine", but I am no no longer going that. I am going to say "not so well. Ever since my accident life has been difficult for Barb and and I'. It continues to be so. The pain in my chest has been awful for several days. See the Doc next week but don't expect much. This is part of the deal for many folks with paralysis. The guys in the wheel chair group have told me so.
BUT, as long as we are alive we can hope for better days.
Barb Christy and Kara are at a cooking movie today. I was delighted not to be invited.
Finished re reading "The Woman in White" It is the third time I have read it. It is a 600 page adventure, mystery and romance. The author - Wilkie Collings was more popular in the 1900's than Charles Dickens. I will read it again sometime.
It has been a joy to sit in the yard the last few weeks. Warm and sunny but do hate to see the winter come but it is the prelude to next Spring.
Have had lots of help lately doing the stuff I used to do around the yard. Walls repaired, Gate fixed and lots of clean up near the barn, which has been rented to a woman for the past two months. She has a good job but likes privacy. She also has a border collie like our but they do NOT get along.
Barb continues to be a brick but our life is not as much fun as it used to be, at least I don't think I am as much fun for her as I was.
"Casting all your cared upon Him because He cares for you."
Blessings to all
Don

Sunday, July 19, 2009

thought

I have never had much patience with pacifism and their fuzzy thinking. They are always asking 'can you picture Jesus shooting someone with a guy?' I just realized that there is a perfectly good answer - 'yes' if you can picture Him putting a millstone (millstones weigh about 200 pounds) around a persons neck and throwing them into the sea. This is exactly what he suggested and it is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. (So what would He say about abortionist?) Jesus said that 'they' (the person with the millstone) would be better off - presumably because it would stop them from doing further harm to their own souls.

No news here. Our book club book this month is "The Cellist of Sarajevo" - The story of how three different people coped with life under bombardment and snipers. I do suggest for your reading.

My friend John Granger's new book "Harry Potter bookshelf" came out last week and is doing well. After Barb read it she is back reading the Potter books again.

How to post more frequently.

Don

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Hi

Still here. The pain in my chest which has been with me ever since in got home seems to be letting up. It that continues, I will be a very happy camper.
Days are pretty much the same. Friends come over to visit. The grand kids stop by often after Suzanne recuperated from her operation. All appears to be will with her.
John Granger, My friend who writes books about Harry Potter was here for a day and it was great to see him. He acknowledges being THE authority on the Harry Potter books.
Am reading his book "The Harry Potter bookshelf". Over my head but good reading anyway. Also reading a bio of Henry Jackson who was President before Lincoln and another book for book club.
Tim gets off the boat for 6 straight weeks before going back to his two weeks on, two weeks off schedule.
Christy and Greg are in Hawaii for two weeks.

Drop me a note at "Holmesdb@gmail.com" if you wish.

He sustains us,
Don

Friday, June 19, 2009

suggestion

Go to 'samekindofdifferentasme.com' and look at the video and read about the book.
It was our book club discussion book today.
We are o.k.
Don

Saturday, June 6, 2009

a prayer

O Dear Lord, come quickly

To heal the millions of folks who have lost their minds and spend every day staring into space;
To heal the millions of friendless folks who live in rest homes who have no future to look forward to;
To rescue the millions of women in forced prostitution around the world;
To rescue the millions ow women who are stuck with men who abuse them;
To rescue the millions of men, women and kids who are hungry and dying;
To relive the millions of folks who live with daily pain;
To rescue the millions who live in fear of the daily violence of war:
To rescue those who are bewilder by the pain and suffering in the world;
To heal the minds of the millions in prisons and jails all over the world;
To heal the millions of folks blinded by their own sin and can not see the beauty of God's goodness.

O Dear Lord please come quickly to heal us all.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

hi

It is a beautiful day in Bellingham. Barb is delighted to sit on the patio and read after doing her gardening. She has a beautiful flower garden to enjoy when the sun is out.

Life continues to get better for us. A year ago I could not have imagined it ever being this good again. Not driving yet. It is hard to practice as we have to take the driver seat out, etc. Reading lots and doing stuff - church, lecture at the college, little league softball (Dull, as no one can throw strikes) but the whole family is there so we visit. Also enjoy sitting in the sun - I sometime feel like a 95 years old man just enjoying the sun.

Just found a new renter for the barn I had almost finished remodeling when I got sidelined. He is a 49 year old parts manager for the local Ford Dealer. Just moving to Bellingham from a nearby town. I think we will be friends. He goes on mission trips every year so will be a Christian friend for us.

Trying to do some writing but not very successful at it. It is hard.

Suzanne is going to have an operation on the 28 of May so Barb will be busy either at the hospital or with the kids for several days or more.

Christy and Greg are out sailing today and Tim gets back on his boat for another two week stint starting tomorrow.

We look forward to our netflix fix every week. Saw the the "Illusionist" last night. A complicated mystery. Enjoyed it but do not give it a high recommendation.

Barb is reading Ann Rice's books. She is a VERY famous secular writer that has become a Christian and is now writing 'for Christ' as she puts it. I have never heard of her but my literary friends says she has a huge following. You can look her up on the web -'Annrice.com"

Hope all is well with you,

Blessing
don

Monday, May 18, 2009

thought for the day

It is a great relief and benefit to be caught in our sins. It, at least temporarily, frees us from the illusion of our own righteousness and forces us to fall humbly at the feet of Christ. B. R. Pembly

Saturday, May 16, 2009

book

Finding Calcatta by Mary Poplin - go get at the Library
Bookfinder.com new for about $12.00
Can read reviews at Amazon.com
Happy to be alive.
Don

Sunday, May 10, 2009

hi

Heard jo ann poplin speak at the college last week - She teaches PHD students at Clairmont in California - a very heady school.

She has spend her live in a religious quest before spending 6 weeks with Mother Teresa and was completely converted to Christ. She spoke very openly to about 200 students at the college.

A girl asked "why can't I be good without God". I went away thinking she was answered:
"You may be able, relatively to others, to be a good person but God will make you a better person than you could be without Him." i.e. If you are interested in being a good person, why not be the best you can be and you will need God to do that. If you are only interested in moderately good compared to other people then you can probably to that on your own. An specific individual Christian may not be as good as a specific non Christian but they would be a better Christian with God than without God.
I thought this was a great answer. Hitler might not have been a very good person even with God but he would have been better than he was. Mother Teresa might have been a pretty good person without God but was even a better person with Him.

Does everyone know about netflix? We have been in it for two years. WE have recently teamed up with another couple that we see ofter so for $5.00 a month per couple we can get new movies as fast as we send them in. Two a week if we watch the day we get them. Net flix pays the postage both ways. No trip to the video store and no $8.00 movie tickets and no late fees. Go to netflix.com for full info. WE watch histories, documentaries but mostly dramas. They have thousands of great dramas. You can click on a title and get a synopsis, the industry rating, the average viewer rating (1-5 stars)

Just saw Rebecca - one of the best mysteries we have ever seen. Master Piece Theater. We will watch it again some time.

Great to have summer here again. Love to sit in the Sun and read and watch the dot.

Would be open to good book or Video suggestions.

Don (watching the obituaries)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

hi

No new news -
Must see Video - Woman named Golda - Great documentary on the 3rd prime minister of Israel and a great survey of what has been going on in the middle east.
Barbara just got back from Hawaii where she and Tim (our youngest) spent a week on Lawai. It is wonderful for her to get away once and a while from her ball and chain (me)

I was well looked after in her absence by a friend who moved in with us for a week.


All is well.


Don

Monday, March 30, 2009

note

Did you hear about the atheist tht was complaining about Christian holidays and was told to relax because there was also a day to honor his beliefs - April 1st -
The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God'

another early morning thought

Does prayer work?
Of course it does EVERY time.
The only problem is that we don't know HOW it works.
It is perfectly obvious that prayer APPEARS to be an unreasonable activity:
God does not need our advice or information or even our praise.
We pray: 1) because we can't help but do it some times and 2) because
we are commanded to pray by a very good Authority.

When something happens that we pray to happen, we can never know for sure if our prayers had anything to do with it or not. It might have happened even if we had not prayed. The command still stands and we should not get attached to the results.
Thy will be done - - .

So there!!!!!