The Misadventures of Buck Tanglewood

By Gary L. Sisk

In a world where fantasy and faith collide, meet Gary and Shelli in an arena where misadventure meets mercy. Catastrophic events have become the new norm for Shelli as she merely raises an eyebrow to edge of bizarre life incidents.

Gary believes that adults are just older kids. He doesnt keep his crayons inside all of the lines (if you know what I mean). In fact, when Gary is coloring pictures with the grandkids, Shelli has a new house rule: all individuals, including Gary, must remove all crayons from all nostrils after playing walrus and especially before answering the doorbell.

The grandkids have a saying that has been passed down to them: It aint an adventure til someone falls in! ......Shelli keeps Fire and Rescue on speed dial.

Buck Tanglewood is an adventurer, treasure hunter, hero, and friendas well as Garys alter ego. When mild-mannered Gary and Bucks personalities blend, something always seems to break, blow up, or burn down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490843483

Gary L. Sisk

Gary and Shelli Sisk have been the pastors of Harvestpoint Church in Delavan, Wisconsin since 1989. Both are graduates of RHEMA Bible Training College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Gary also earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling/ Family Systems Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Shelli is an author as well as a short-term missionary to Ghana, Africa. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2014 Gary L. Sisk.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

Cover Photo: Gary & Shelli (circa 1977)

Capone’s Original Old Time Picture Studio

223 Broadway Street

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

Photographer: A.J.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4346-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4347-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4348-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014912192

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/11/2014

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

New House Rules

New Outside Rules

Christmas Morning

Court Ordered Snow Shoveling Classes

Christmas Stocking Shopping

Carpets And Candle Wax

I Won!

Catwoman

Gluttonus Maximus

Kicking Brain Rocks

The Monks In The Mall

Putting Things Away

Flaming Marshmallows

Old Mabel

Old Blue And Johnnie, Too

I Win, Again !

About the Author

Dedication

T o my wife, Shelli, whose passion for Jesus Christ and mercy towards me helps make life an amazing adven ture.

Acknowledgments

S pecial thanks to brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Cheryl Sisk, as well as friends, Jeff and Cindy Weber, for allowing me to borrow some chapters from your l ives.

Also, special thanks for the encouragement to put these stories into print from sister, Sharyn Sheen, and friends, Catharine and James Creek.

And finally, special thanks to a mentor and a friend, Johnnie Visgar. I know you slipped off to heaven ahead of me. I’ll catch up with you, later. I will miss the nearly four decades of walking the trails of ‘Tanglewood’ with you while scouting for the biggest ‘buck’. Say ‘hi’ to my dad.

Preface

A number of the men in my church were struggling to figure out how to ‘walk in love’ toward their wives. Frustration was obvious. Some were ready to give up trying. They wondered if, somehow they had become ‘damaged goods’ in the process, and were trying hard to cover up appearances of failures within their families, and especially in their marri ages.

This is typical of what most of them were like:

Just a guy trying to do the best he could, but often making a mess of things, not knowing how the mess got started, or how to fix it. He has ‘quit a thousand times’ in his head, but forces himself forward. In his heart there is a desire to do what is right, yet it feels like trouble is only a tomorrow away. His hope is to be the ‘hero’, the ‘lover’, the ‘friend’, but he tends to focus on what seems to be going wrong, instead of what goes right. His wife is not perfect, but she is great. His kids are, definitely, not perfect, but they really are great kids. His job is far from perfect, but it is a great job. The life he leads is laced with intermittent moments of greatness. So, he has a great wife, great kids, a great job, a life that is pretty great, but not perfect. Not fully understanding his ‘true identity in Christ’, (in his own eyes) he has fallen short, again.

I invite you to ‘settle for greatness’! That will be our bottom line starting point. [Shelli’s next book will deal with the subject of our ‘true identity in Christ’.]

Marriages have three other relationships in addition to the ‘Spiritual Relationships’. They are:

(#1) ‘Business Relationship’ (ie. bills get paid, lawn gets mowed, kids get to soccer practice, go to work, go shopping …….. ‘stuff’ gets done’, etc.)

(#2) ‘Intimate Relationship’ (ie. If I have to explain this one, we need to talk!)

(#3) ‘Friend Relationship’ (ie. having fun, ‘hanging out’, teasing, cuddling, joking, laughing together, long walks, ‘date nights’, etc.)

Couples can have their ‘Spiritual Relationships’ moving forward, their ‘Business Relationship’ functioning, and even their ‘Intimate Relationship’ is pretty good, but something still feels wrong. Some undefined thing is definitely missing. Most often, what they are missing is their ‘Friend’. Many started out as ‘Best Friends’, talking for hours on end, and now they find themselves feeling lonely in the midst of much successful activity. The ‘Business Relationship’ has consumed most of their time and energy edging out the bottom of the list ………. the ‘Friend’. Collapsing in exhaustion at the end of the day has replaced conversation. They cannot even remember the last time that they laughed so hard together, that they ran out of breath.

In the arena where mess meets mercy, mercy always triumphs. My hope is that you laugh and learn from Gary’s ‘messes’, and Shelli’s ‘mercies’. Some have asked if these stories really happened. All of the stories are based on real life events with some character and plot embellishments that I call ‘bells and whistles’.

Of course, the ‘fictional’ character, ‘Gary’, is not really me! And his ‘fictional’ wife, ‘Shelli’, is not really my wife, Shelli ……… whew! .……………

I would like to ask you to begin by saying two things. First, say, "My spouse is not my ‘Enemy’!" [Still working on it? I’ll give you another moment.] Next, say, "I miss my ‘Friend’." And now ……….. let the laughter begin …………

Introduction

A ll is never what it seems! Gary stares off into space … …… seeing everything … … seeing nothing … ……. a hint of a smile just beginning to form. Darting around in the little ‘man caves’ of Gary’s mind, we spot ‘ Buck Tanglewood ’, the greatest adventurer, explorer, and treasure hunter that Tanglewood Junction has ever known! When Buck’s truck burps and chugs into town, children shout, ladies swoon (whatever that means), anyway … ….. squirrels in the village park tremble at the very mention of his name!

Back at the cabin, we spot Gary’s wife (I mean, Buck’s wife) dancing among the flowers near the waterfall. Shelli is patient, beautiful, godly, gifted ……..

[Gary shoves his chair back from the computer desk, shoots two arms of victory into the air and yells, "SCORE!!!" ……. that is, if his ‘fictional’ wife ….… EVER READS THIS!!! ……. ‘scootching’