I hated to edit what I originally wrote here, but I believe Clay is off track and off the path God would have him on. I guess if I could ask Clay one thing it would be, when he looks at the road ahead of him, who does he see leading him down that road...does he see God in those that are directing his path....if those in your life did not tell you they were Christians, would you know they were? God reveals himself in the people around you...look around you...do you see God?...if not, then you are on the wrong path and there is only one who can take you in the right direction, but you have to ask for directions

My Brother In-Law wrote this poem when he was battling Cancer. I thought it was such a beautiful poem and in it I see parts of him....Talent, Sensitivity, Love of Nature, Strength, Kindness, and Appreciation for Life..I miss him

Tall Sturdy Friend by Pat Grimes:

I listen at night to hear your powerful creaks and cracks as they resonate like amplified home run swings off a solid oak baseball bat through the quiet wooded night. I first learned of your fate while enjoying a solemn back woods stroll to find you bent over at a 45 degree angle, your trunk half the way splintered by some torrid rainy night's driven wind. Yet you didn't yield all the way to your ultimate demise. Instead you braced yourself halfway down on a stronger sturdier healthy supporting cast of other trees. I figured I would help you out and cut away a few of these helpful timbers to ease your graceful and eventual fall to your final resting place on the forest floor. There I could easily access your bountiful telephone-pole-shaped length for fire wood. Yet even with the culling of these bracing trees you stubbornly refused to drop as if in defiance of natural gravity. I noisily revved up my mighty chain saw to slice you at the trunk and expedite this menacing process. But only after I seared and scarred your thick bark with the whirring blade did I hastily withdraw my machine as if to grant you a last minute reprieve.

You see my old friend, it pleasantly dawned on me that you and I share some similarities. Though your end is imminent you still resist and fight for hope. Through no fault of your own you are in this position. You strain and fight till the end. So take your time, old friend. Maintain your will. Enjoy the young squirrels as they playfully leap limb-to-limb. Savor the purposeful songs of birds and bugs. Relax and enjoy all the subtle sounds and scenes that your remaining days offer you and value the time you had to live.

I love these 2 pictures :)