West Saint Paul Antiques

 Christie Walsh Lyons

 Looks to me like Nancy is telling Santa what you were REALLY like at home. And you're sticking out your tongue at the camera, and Santa is grabbing you by the lapels to give you a good shaking.

Robert E Griffin Was thinkin the same, Christie. Passive-aggressive Claus. And snot-nosed kid.

Of course, my sister was nearly 8 and much more worldly-wise than me.

From the past - when the Korean War started (mom and both aunts living with us worked long hours at the arsenal making munitions) my grandpa Jesse James Griffin came to visit for a while.

We returned the favor a few years later when Disneyland opened and we took a train from Minneapolis to Huntington Park, CA to visit him. He was a tall drink of water and I must have inherited some of those genes!

(Pictured with my sister Nancie)

Dark. Got up before breakfast. Ugh. Daylight came later. Double-ugh. DST is of da debil. smile emoticon

But God has given me grace and strength to see another day and give praise to the glory of His grace.

And so I do. BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

‎"Robert E Griffin, June 8th, 2017 at 12:24am"

 March 15, 2011

It was a good day, very laid back, with lots of time reading (and translating Matthew 12 from the Greek - that is work!) I finished with a special time with the bride, dinner at a local Tex-Mex restaurant, calls from my kids, and a bowl of Cherry Garcia ice cream (Ben & Jerry's).

Now to bed and wake up beginning day one of my 64th year, having successfully survived the 63rd anniversary of my birth.

One last pix of this adorable boy as he rides off into the Wyoming sunset . .

Thankful today for God's sovereign guidance of all things (and especially of ME) in a world that hates Him.

"Careless seems the great Avenger; history’s pages but record one death-grapple in the darkness twixt old systems and the Word. Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own."

~JR Lowell, This Present Crisis

Because I could not stop for Death

By Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –

As long as I'm updating status, thought I'd offer another pix of the bride and I from our dating and courtship days (back in the '60's - NINETEEN 60's, smart aleck)

No idea exactly where this was - somewhere in upstate NY at a state or county park with grogeous falls and lovely tree-covered hills. Maybe some NY friends would know of the place?? Heading toward Niagara, but found this place a much more peaceful and beautiful rustic spot.

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Bob

There’s a story that Thomas Wheeler, CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance Company, tells on himself. He and his wife were driving along an
interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler
got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station
with just one gas pump. He asked the attendant to fill the tank and check
the oil, then went for a little walk around the station to stretch his legs.

As he was returning to the car, he noticed that the attendant and his wife
were engaged in an animated conversation. The conversation stopped as he
paid the attendant. But as he was getting back into the car, he saw the
attendant wave and heard him say, “It was great talking to you.”

As they drove out of the station, Wheeler asked his wife if she knew the
man. She said that she did. They had gone to high school together and had
dated steadily for about a year. “Boy, were you lucky that I came along,”
bragged Wheeler. “If you had married him, you’d be the wife of a gas station
attendant instead of the wife of a chief executive officer.”

“My dear,” replied his wife, “if I had married him, he’d be the chief
executive officer and you’d be the gas station attendant!”

~~

So, which of these two had the greater influence on the other – the husband
or the wife? You see, in any relationship, both parties have an influence on
the other. After 42 years of marriage, I have influenced my wife to be
different than she was when we met 46 years ago (she now uses a computer and
even has a cell phone) and she has influenced me to be different than I was
42 years ago (I eat more vegetables than I used to!). It would be
interesting to consider which of us has had a greater pull on the other
through the years. I have no doubt.

But an even more important question is this: Who has the greater influence
on the other — you or the world? That is to say, has the world around you
shaped you and made you what you are today, or have you changed the world
around you by your influence on it?

Christians are called by God not to be transformed by the world, but to be a
trans-forming influence on the world. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
described our calling in this way: “You are the salt of the earth; but if
the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for
nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do
they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives
light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew
5:13-16)

Make a decision today not to let the world pull you away from God. Rather
determine to live in such a way that will draw the people around you closer
to God.

March 4, 2011

This weekend marks 38 years since my ordination. I had finished grad school Dec 1970 and started full-time pastorate the same day. By March 1973 I had accepted a senior pastorate and stood for ordination. About 20 ordained men came and questioned me for hours, then some stayed for the evening and assisted the church in ordaining me.  Challenging and momentous day.

After finishing grad school and serving as full-time pastor since Dec 1970, on March 6th, 1973 I stood for ordination. A council of 15 veteran pastors/professors quizzed me for four hours on my doctrinal and Baptist beliefs/practice. They unanimously voted that I be ordained to Gospel Ministry. That evening in our little country church in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, I was ordained with these men gathering around me, laying on hands. This is always a special day to remember a milestone of life and again rejoice in the gift and calling of God to serve His Church.

I was just a few days shy of my 25th birthday. Don't know about you, but I had set goals of my life to reach by then: getting married, getting my Master's Degree, getting Ordained, being senior Pastor in a church, and having a Baby. These were all reached, as that morning Teresa and I brought our first-born home from the hospital.

Wife said do NOT go out in public with this new shirt (a gift). So I drove her to the clinic, then took her car (bucking and gagging) to mechanic shop to evaluate. Then walked another block to the Wesc Federal Credit Union to say Hi to my friends. Then walked home.

Not sure what the deal is, so just took a selfie - no rainbow bandana. Will leave it up to both my friends here to weigh in on wearing a shirt like this. Remember, I am a real man, secure in my manhood. What say ye?

Getting ready for the Cowboys game tomorrow. Row 14 end zone. Tiffany, a volunteer from the Chicago area, and I were chatting this morning at the conference and I told her we were doing the father/son time Sunday and she came out with these signs she made. LOVE youth workers who see a need or op and jump to do it!

Ushering in the 10 Days of Awe.

Calling to the 2-days of celebration for Rosh Hashanah at sundown as new year begins.

Then the 7-day Feast of Trumpets.

All preparing for that most solemn assemly on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

[Picture taken in Worship Service today. And yes, this is what I wore, preaching from Mt 23 on Pharisees and false teachers who had long tzitzi (fringe in each corner) and broad bands on their tephelim/talith to gain attention and focus.]