Thought's About Future Book

This is rough draft material that I'm working on to put in my blog and future book Clarity, Threads of Grace, and Riding Shot Gun With Jesus. I thought you might enjoy it as is. Some of it has been posted separately as wisdom poetry.

If we would know who we are, we must know who Our Father is. If we would know Our Father is, we must look to the Cross. 8/26/15

When I clarify who God is,  I glorify Him.  8/26/15

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ Isaiah 65:1 NIV

Never underestimate God's ability to orchestrate the smallest detail. 9/18

Pray for specifics. God has an eye for detail.

Pray for the impossible. God doesn’t mind a challenge.

Women were made in the image of God, as well as men. Women are not alien creatures.

God can be a fierce warrior as well as a gentle shepherd. His children are made in His Image. Men who callously ignore this fact about women risk injuries that are life changing, or even life ending. Ever heard of the scissors of Lorena Bobbitt? the burning bed? the tent peg that ended Sisera? as Willie Nelson learned, before he was sewn up in the sheets and beaten with a broomstick, you have to sleep sometime.

God is not a puppet, nor is He a button that you push to turn on the power. He is not a Force to bend to our will. He is a Person with a Plan. You are part of that plan. Learn what it is, and don’t try to take over.


Find out what He would delight in giving you, the gifts that would further His plan rather than hindering it. Talk to Him. Find out Who He is, and what He is doing. He has a warehouse full of gifts with your name on it, but you haven’t asked for them.

(this next section are about VW Bug adventures.)

From my Facebook friend Jim German: Hey Mike Dittmer....scrolling thru and saw your post about a vw......I seem to remember....vaguely...10 college kids in your vw one night at ONC 3 in the front....u drove, your brother in the middle..not sure who was in shot gun. Don Sutherland, Bob Duteau, Galen Bennet, me and 2 other guys in the back Gambrelski was behind the back seat.....stopped traffic when we got out ar the ham and Egger downtown K3.....good times great memories

Michael DeMint was not there, but he was there for the time the freshman decided to challenge Hill's Hall, but first they personally recruited all the guys from Gary, which somehow included Phil Gambrel who said he was from Gary to avoid initiation. Michael was there because he tried, along with several other guys, to give me a swirlly. Didn't succeed, but it put him on the Call list. Funny thing, when the guys came roaring out of Hill's Hall, the only guys who didn't bolt were the guys from Gary, including Michael, and it wasn't our idea. Hill's Hall did a lot of chest beating, but nobody was touched except me. The guy who was wrestling champ took me down in half a second. I gave up, but when he wouldn't let up, I used the same technique that I used when they tried to give me a swirly, pinching extremely painful pressure points (nuts, ears, Achilles heels, solar plexus) The wrestling guy jumped away like a scalded cat and said I cheated. I saw Michael, Joe, (from Gary) and Phil all surrounded, but after the wrestling guy walked off, the event dissipated.

Thank you, Jim German, for that recollection. It confirms that Tim Dittmer was on the stick shift. You left out the part where we all lined up beside the car outside the Dunkin Donuts while two Sheriff's Deputies counted (we could read their lips) as the 9 of you guys got out, then scattered before we could be arrested. The deputies were laughing so hard they almost fell of their chairs. The average weight of the 10 guys was 178 pounds. It was 4 in front. I like math. (boys and girls, do not try this at home!)

Editing the Internet

You may notice I revised today's post I Forget That. The beauty of the internet is it is so much easier to edit and revise than paper, carbon ribbon, and Whiteout. The beauty of Twitter is it forces me to shorten the post, and I notice that shorter versions have more power.
These insights, from the Lord, are what made me into a leading anti social social internet leader who seeks grace but struggles with pride, because I'm so talented and good looking.

I Forget That!

Sunset picture by Mary.

You, Lord, are my Teacher. I forget that. Lead me, step by step, into Truth. Keep me from deception. #rmdo #wisdompoet

What is Kalamazoo?

What is Kalamazoo?

a. a band instrument for Senior Citizens.

b. a Presidential election slogan. "Kalamazoo and Tyler too!"

c. a fried seafood popular with yuppies, urbanites, and millennials. 

d.a city in Michigan halfway between the Dalys, the Taberskis, and the Dittmers.

e. all of the above.

My daughters, grandsons, Mary and I met at the halfway point between us at the Cracker Barrel in Kalamazoo Michigan

Arranging Flowers

Mary has arranged her birthday flowers.
Me to Mary: You've done this before!
Her late husband and his brother owned a flower shop. She worked there for decades.

Indiana Car WARSH

In Boston, they remove the R's.
They pahked the cah on the boulevahd for a quatah.
In Indiana we keep the R's. We parked the car on the boulevard for a quarter. Then we add one more R.
Take the car to the car warsh.

Humility, My Greatest Challenge

Humility is my greatest challenge, especially since I'm so talented, intelligent, and good looking.

High Intensity Training, Intermittent Fasting, and Hugh Jackman

Interesting observations about running: Was it this spring? or last spring I gave up distance jogging and turned to High Intensity Training around my 1/6th mile cement circle around the condo pond and fountain. I start off with gentle slow jogging with high toe strike, which adds to the work load. There's a little incline around the first bend, which I try to take at tempo to increase the work load, then, as the sidewalk levels out I pick up the pace, again picking up the pace around the next turn and drop off. I try stretching my stride. I breathe in with two steps, out with two steps. Somewhere during this straightaway, my legs and arms start to go numb. During the last month or two, I have started to double the pace of breathing. Not surprisingly the numbness fades. I round the last corner, and both pick up the pace and length of stride.
Here is what is interesting: For a long time, several months, I would run to the last corner and stop. But lately I noted that my arms and legs were no longer tired, so I went around an extra corner and started my second lap, which has the long straightway.
Each day it seemed like I went further and further, and noticed I was still feeling good, until I was running the entire straight.
For the last two runs, I tried to see if I could tire my arms and legs by running faster each time. So far, I felt no fatigue. I haven't found my limit yet.
The other limitation to running is pain in my joints, which is why I switched to HIT training instead of jogging. I rarely have joint pain lately. Since the entire workout is less than two minutes, time is never an excuse. 
None of this is helping me lose weight, even though I only eat once or at the most twice a day. I once ate nothing but salads for 6 months, a fact that my friend Pablo Montez will verify, and did not lose any weight.
So I'm going to add walking. I started walking tonight, around the condo. I'll try to add more and longer workouts as I am able to fit them in. I will ask Mary each time. I'm sure in the future Mary will join me at times.
Another way to lose weight is to extend my fasting to a whole day, perhaps twice a week. I don't get hungry, as long as I'm busy, unless I sit down for a meal with someone. I have no idea at this point how I could work that out. I will mull and pray about it. By the way, Hugh Jackman practices intermittent fasting, but he also works out 2 and 1/2 hours a day. That ain't gonna happen with me.

Short Term Memory Loss and Low Sugar Cooking

Me, Pablo Montez, and Mary

I also made a low sugar cherry pie with Great Value No Sugar Added Cherry Pie Filling

Made a taco pie from low sugar barbecue beans and rice with chicken. I add a teaspoon of kelp powder (don't tell Mary) and disguise the flavor with garlic, chili powder, ginger, mushroom, and turmeric. I use Heinz 75% sugar free Ketchup, Great Value Black Bean and White Corn Salsa, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. It had cream cheese and Mexican cheese mix layered in. I sprinkled cheese on top after cooking, then added sour cream and poured Mary's favorite Ortega original taco sauce on top Got the Salsa idea from daughter Wendelyn Daly, the diced tomatoes and green chilies idea (a long time ago!) from sister Terry Eshelman. (or was it her late husband Kris?)
Mary asked for seconds.
Me to Mary: You love sweet barbecue sauce. You'd eat a sandal if it had sweet barbecue sauce on it.
Mary: I don't think I'd eat a sandal?!
(I still think she would!)
Since I've known her, Mary has had short term memory issues. She is high functioning because she has super Ninja awareness, she religiously keeps a calendar, and she uses me to fill in the blanks. Her short term memory worsened during her hospitalization with super high blood sugar (800) and intestinal blockage, which needed major surgery. But even then she kept the staff in the dark with her humor. They asked her if she knew where she was. Her answer? Well, I'm not in Kansas!
Recently, when Mary's relaxed, I've noticed multiple instances of her short term memory working
But,when she's under pressure, like getting ready for her nail appointment today, she can't spell. She ended up cancelling today's appointment cause her tummy was upset.
A few months back, her afternoon readings were always well over 200. A fasting reading was between 180 to 200.
She took her blood sugar at 4 this afternoon, after eating breakfast at 11:30. Today's reading was 167, technically her best reading ever, and especially good for her for a non fasting reading. 

Thought I should pass on the mostly good news.

A Specific Prayer for Wisdom

Another specific prayer for wisdom? Lord, stop me from presuming! (Silence helps.)

Is Mary Teasing Me?

There was a large gaggle of deer the other night at the West entrance to the park. Mary got excited, started counting but lost track because there were so many.
Mary: There were more than three, weren't there?!
Me: There were at least 9.
Mary, in the voice of the Count: 1 deer, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! 2 deer, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! 3 deer, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! 
(I think she's teasing me??)

The Grace of Attracting the Best

God has given me a special gift.

He has given me the grace of attracting the best.

My first wife, who passed away in 2008, set her sights on me 8 months before our first date, when both of us were dating others. Upon seeing me, she told her best friend "That is the man I'm going to marry!"

8 months later, on our first date, she gave me a kiss, and told me that she loved me. After 15 days of confusion on my part, I told her that I loved her, and I asked her to marry me. We were married for 40 years.

Lynne, (on the left) with her best friend Geri, about the time that we first met. This was the stunning outfit she wore.

I have some of the most talented and faithful friends a man could ever possess. I blamed a lot that on my late wife Lynne, but that doesn't explain how Mary came into my life, and it doesn't explain you, my new friends on the internet.

Only the special gift and grace of attracting the best can explain why you are reading this now.

Many of you have had far more successful careers than mine. Many of you are far more adept at writing, poetry, photography, and the skills necessary to navigate this new internet world than I am.

Yet here you are, reading my blog.

I have prayed for you. I have prayed God would rain down grace on your every step. I have prayed that grace would well out of your heart like an unstoppable flood, and the the lives you are touching will smell the aroma of the frankincense and myrrh of our Crucified Christ.

(This was an excerpt from my blog and future book Clarity, Threads of Grace, and Riding Shotgun With Jesus: The Power of the Story

To Russia With Love and Maggie Thatcher

Believe it or not, not everybody in the world lives in America, and not everybody is on Facebook.
I have a blog that I have inconsistently and intermittently authored since 2010. I have been fickle with the name and finally came back to original The Shepherd's Journal.
I have decided to continue my efforts because of my audience. The majority are from other counties. The biggest number is from Russia, even on today's post.
During the Cold War, a surprising number of Russians came to deeply admire the Prime Minister of Britain, Maggie Thatcher, who's influence was at least partly responsible for bringing down THE WALL in Berlin. The Russian admiration for her ran so deep that Maggie Thatcher fan clubs sprang up across Russia.
I, too admired Maggie. I once told Lynne that if I was single, I would think of asking Maggie for a date. She said she wouldn't lose any sleep over my confession. 
I fell in love with Lynne the same way. I deeply admired her for 6 months and 15 days before I proposed.
Maybe, if God ever permits me to go to Russia, I will find REVMADDOG fan clubs in Russia.
God is good!

The young Maggie Thatcher, before she was Prime Minister of Britain.

This is the outfit Lynne was wearing when we first met. Geri Kile (Busch) was one of her best friends and was present when we met. We were both dating other people, but had a date 6 months later. I admired her deeply.