Spring is the hope of renewal. Of all the seasons, it is the one that shows us great promise. Every tree, bush and flower is in bloom. My mom had her favorite flowers. They were planted in the backyard. They were red and white amaryllis. The flower looked like a trumpet announcing spring. I have those amaryllis plus orange, white and solid red ones. These flowers only bloom in the springtime. Spring is the hope of a new future. Hence we have New Year resolutions and the Lenten season before Easter. All this is preparation for the renewal of spring. Thus the saying that hope springs eternal. It is also the time of festivals such as Mardi Gras, the flower festival, the wine festival and if you can believe it, the poorboy festival. This one is dedicated to a sandwich. The biggest festival is Festival International. It is the largest francophone festival in the world. Every French speaking country in the world descend upon our state to celebrate the French culture we share. Hope is so important to us. Without it we wouldn’t believe that things could change and get better in our lives. Our children are a source of hope and renewal in our lives. We want better for our children than what we had. That our children will turn out to be better than we were at everything. And where do you think that this hope came from in the first place? As human beings our capacity for destroying is unrivaled by any other species. So where did hope come from? We have to look at who started all of this world. Go back to the beginning and see what God did. How He put into motion the planets, the stars and especially our world. Then He put man on it to live a life of hope and renewal. That renewal that we all search for is there for us, right in front of our faces. And all we have to do is ask for it. And hope does spring eternal.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

I have never made the reason I write this blog a secret. Life is difficult as it is so I have written to show how I make it through the day. I have always wanted it to be simple enough for anyone to understand. But enough knowledge to be informed about what is real and what isn’t. There are many obstacles or hurdles that we must jump each and every day. Some seem soon insurmountable. When my brother died last year, for almost a month, I felt lost. If I hadn’t been able to write about it I probably would have been lost for a lot longer. Sometimes you don’t think things effect you as much as they do. Since I have known the Lord, I have been optimistic about life. Each day to me is a new day. Whatever I screwed up yesterday, it is gone and will never return again. I have always tried to show a way through this life with God. But not as a co-pilot but my Father. He is in charge of everything. There isn’t one thing that happens on this earth that God doesn’t know about or is doing something about. You wonder why things happen the way they do? The world was set in motion by God. He showed man how to live and be happy. But man’s choice was not to follow God. You can’t blame God for what you choose to do. Most times we are asking Him to get us out of the situation. And God is willing to help us through life if we ask Him. He doesn’t carry a big stick and hit us with it. He is a Father who loves us and wants all His children to come home to live with Him. Again it is no big secret what this blog is about. What will you choose to do with your life?

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

One of the hardest things in my life was and is owning up to my mistakes. I like to think that I am a reasonable and bright man. But it isn’t always the case. I make mistakes like everyone else. I have made some I will never talk about. God only knows what they are. This makes me a human being. I am not perfect. This makes me nervous just talking about it. But I had to see my flaws before I could go anywhere with God. It isn’t fun. It is a pain in the rear. God accepts us just as we are. Afterwards, He begins to work on us to change. When His light shines on our lives, it reveals what is there. I had things tucked away so no one could see it, including me. As God shined His light on my heart, things became visible. And I cried a lot. This is what I was supposed to do. God only worked on one thing at time. So I wouldn’t be over powered by the process. What is happening is am being turned into the image and likeness of God. A process of which is not over. Until I stand before God in heaven, the process will continue in my life. Thank God. As it says in the bible in Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

For most people Saturday is a day off from our regular jobs. It is a time to run errands and get honey-dos finished. It is funny that we say we are off from work but do more work than we do at our regular job. This is all too familiar to us. Sometimes we get to do things that are just for fun on our day off. Unfortunately that is mostly rare occasions. I should say fortunately. If we didn’t try to accomplish our goals all the time, we would become complacent and lazy. Doing things that are familiar is how we operate our daily lives. It is also how we learn things by repetition. My wife and I went to our grandson’s baseball game yesterday. It is out in the open. We sat in lawn chairs while we watched 10 year olds play their hearts out. It was a fun day. But it is all too familiar. We have done this for years with our sons. Many times familiarity will breed contempt for life. Which will lead to behavior that will destroy things. I have watched people over the years. Some have accomplished things in their lives, while others have gone into a death spiral. Things that they did became familiar and then a habit. Then if the habit was a bad choice it lead to death. Did you now that a habit is formed by doing something over and over for 30 days?  And it can be broken by not doing it for 30 days. It all comes back to the familiar choices we make over and over again. We all have a free will and can choose the path we walk on. As the bible says broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow is the gate that leads to righteousness. And few that find it. Look for that gate and choose that familiar way in your life.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

Comic books began to be published in 1922. Since then there has been an array of graphic novels to suit every taste. Superman appeared in 1938 with his super powers. During WW II, the writers of Superman began tell their viewers that the power to change things was in our hands. They didn’t want to destroy the image of Superman but he wasn’t real and couldn’t help win the war. After WW II, Red China began to educate the masses with graphic novels about the glories of communism. My favorite comics were Archie, GI Joe and Sgt. Rock. In the 70’s comics turned into videos. Then came computer games. There were always sports games to play but the games turn dark because killing was involved. Then there were games with wizards and dragons. Then games became wars against other nations. It all got to a point where I wouldn’t let my sons play any game on the computer that involved killing. I wasn’t going to let them become desensitized to killing. It is against everything that we are. No one is immune to the effect that killing has upon a person. My dad fought in WW II and earn a bronze star medal for valor in combat. When he returned home, he would not allow a gun in the house. I never grew up learning to shoot. I was in the military and learn to shoot an M-16. The point is you look around and see that killing isn’t as repugnant as most would think. It is because people have learn to kill with no shame. If you look back at our history you will see why. The bible says in Matt.6:22-23 “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

Tomorrow will be a gathering of people. It is the annual stockholders meeting for a local electric company. Back in the 1930’s when electricity first came out, cooperative companies were formed across the state. What this did is the users of the electricity became the owners of the company. In the meeting they will discuss how well financially the company is doing and any other business they need to do. Boring is the right word. But the company needed to get the people involved. There are over 100,000 members of this cooperative. So they decided to make this an event to attend. For the longest time, they have had a band to play music during the meeting. People could even dance if they wanted too. Then they started giving away prizes which includes a car this year. People started flocking to the meeting. Last year they had over 12,000 people attend the meeting. They are hoping for a larger crowd this year. We use this electric cooperative at our house. It is the lowest electricity rate in our state. When I say low, last month’s bill was $68.00 dollars. Our home is all electric which is the lowest rate they have. When I hear what people are paying just 20 miles away, I thank God for this cooperative. You know there is a gathering coming soon that like this meeting so many people are going to miss. Whatever the reason people have for missing this meeting is the most important one in your life. It will happen in the last days of this earth. And all people will be gathered together including the dead. As the bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This is a promise of God and it will happen whether you are ready or not.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

All my life I have never been afraid of working. Since I was 13 years old I have had a job. Back then my parents asked me if I wanted an allowance or money when I needed it. Since I was working I decided just to receive money when I needed it. Even in college I worked. I was taking 12 hours a semester and working too. It was a lot to handle but I did just fine until a romance and a fraternity came along. I have always tried to take responsibility for my actions. However things turned out I had to make a choice each day in my life. I won’t say that it was easy but it was always simple. I waited to marry because I didn’t think that I was ready. When I did decided I was 32 years old. The only time I really became afraid was each time I brought a son home from the hospital and held him in my arms. I looked at my child and the realization that I was responsible for this human being. And each time I dedicated him to God. And asked God to take care of that child. What God did was to give me peace. Because you see God is ultimately responsible for each of us. And all I had to do was to see the needs of each child. Even when any of my children became deathly ill, I was at peace. My wife didn’t quite understand why I wasn’t running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I didn’t have too. All I had to do was my job. Because you see all things work together for good, for those that love God and are called according to His will.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

It’s raining today. The thunder and lightning woke me up this morning. But some people become afraid of this. But I find it very soothing. Because I know that by this act of God that He is still in control. It has a very calming effect upon me. It is like listening to ocean roll into the shore or ducks flying into a lake.  There are many things that God does to bring peace to this earth. And if you don’t listen or look for them you will miss them altogether. Peace is important in our lives. It is how we can deal with everyday life. And with the lack of peace can bring turmoil. Everybody wants to find that place of peace or the lack of noise. I enjoy the delivery service because most of the day it is absolutely quiet in the truck. I enjoy talking to people but silence is golden. Each person strives to find that place of peace. For some it is in the middle of chaos with people all around. But when we find that place it seems to us a perfect place. So look for your place today. See if you can find the peace that God has promised to all of us. As the bible says, God makes the sun to rise on the good and the evil and He sends the rain on the just and the unjust.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

Our lives consists of so much time. When it is used up, it is over. There is no more time for us. We can’t reload time in our lives. We are responsible for the time we are given. We have to use it wisely. It is too bad that we can’t make people use their time correctly. And God won’t make you obey with a big stick. We have free will and can choose what we will. That is why when we stand before God there is no excuse we can come up with that will justify our lives. And make no mistake we will stand before God in judgement. But God gives us opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing. If God is anything, He is the God of second chances and third and fourth and fifth and so on. But time waits for no one on this earth. For that matter neither does it in heaven. When God set time in motion, He did it for man to tell the time and seasons. He divided day from night and season from season. He gave us feast days to celebrate the time of year. God set the stars and planets in motion on schedule having each one moving in time. We went to a reunion Sunday and my wife became lonesome for my parents because they are no longer alive. I told her that is what the reunion is about, to remember those that have gone on and greet the new people that have arrived. In other words to mark time in our lives. Time is so important to us because it is a gift from God to help us decide what to do in our lives. It would be a great shame to waste the precious time you were given. Because as we all know time waits for no one.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes

It’s a new day and my cat is just as hungry as ever. She greets me at the same time every morning. She had to adjust her time for day light savings time. Because I wasn’t getting up an hour earlier to feed her. But life is going on. It is time to write my blog and get ready for work. It seems like a regular Monday. But it isn’t. I am a day older and the circumstances are different today. My job hasn’t changed but it still will be different today. I sometimes wish life hadn’t gone by so fast. My wife and I went to a family reunion yesterday. It is something that I have been going to since I was born. Each year new faces appear and slowly but surely the old faces disappear. But it was a beautiful day and the fellowship and the food were good. My 3^rd son is preparing a garden in our yard this yard. I already have plans for the fruits and vegetables. I started canning food. My parents and grandparents use to do this when I was little. I can still remember when my mom and her 2 sisters, my grandmother and her sister came to the house with a large sack of okra. They use to put band aids on their fingers because the okra has spins. They cooked or I should say smothered the okra and divided it amongst themselves. The okra was very tasty. So God gives us each day to live our lives for good or bad. He wants us to live a good life but it is not always the case. Our free will chooses the path we will take each day. Make no mistake we choose which way we go. There is a scripture that I have quoted for many years about each day. It says, this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. I will rejoice and be glad in each day because it is a gift to me from God Himself.

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New E-Book: Le Dragon Rouge et ses soldats fantômes