Everyone has issues. No one is perfect. No matter how well they were raised, there is always something wrong. It isn’t that I’m pessimistic about life, but things go wrong. Depending on a person’s temperament, each person deals with these issues differently. If you need an example just look at the presidential election and the protest afterward. My views and issues are a little more conservative than that. I am not optimistic that man can solve any problem that he has. Man has been in control of his destiny for over 6000 years. And it seems that on a regular basis, he tries to burn down the world because someone made him angry. When there are no more wars, talk to me about how far man has come. Technology hasn’t improved the temperament. How many companies or individuals are trying to steal everybody else’s discoveries. The US government is talking about getting rid of currency, dollar bills and coins. The Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicle’s tried to do just that by not taking any cash for any transactions. The outcry was immediate and their congressmen told the DMV to reverse their decision. Once that happens for real, the government has complete control of our monies. Then we will no longer have a say so. I have only found one place where man can live peacefully. It is where man surrenders his will to God. Allowing God to make the rules and choices for us. it doesn’t solve all our problems but provides for an authority to mediate all disputes peacefully. Otherwise, it is back to the wars to settle disputes. Aren’t you tired of fighting everyone to get ahead. Don’t you wish for love, joy and peace in your life? And to have a place to live without fear in your life? It has always been there, staring you in the face. And all you have to do is ask God.

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It’s a beautiful day. The weather is mild and the sun is shining. Someone told me if they complained about the weather, they wouldn’t be grateful. In south Louisiana, beautiful weather comes twice a year, in the fall and spring. All other times it is hot and humid. I have lived in different parts of the country. Some were more than beautiful than others. But I always came home to Louisiana. There is no place like home. Maybe if I say it 3 times and click my heels, it will change. It is my home. if I leave it for too long, I get homesick, hot weather and all. But I am grateful for the mild weather. Years ago, I went to Colorado looking for work. I stayed at my cousin’s house. They lived on a dude ranch in a box canyon in Evergreen, Colorado. It was December and the snow was 5 feet deep. There was a creek running through the property. It was as scenic a site that you would ever want to see. But it was up in the Rocky Mountains and below freezing. I stayed for a month. Getting use to the cold weather took some time. Today, another cousin from Louisiana lives in Colorado. He has been there for several years. He sent me a picture of the 1^st snow in his backyard. They will have a white Christmas. If you have never gone to Colorado, you need to go one time. The view from a top the Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide is breathtaking. Now getting back to south Louisiana. The French people who settled the area were a very hardy people. They were self-reliant. They learned to use what food they found here. Cajun cooking is all the rage across the country. And it is the simplest cuisine of all. To most people’s surprise, Cajun food is seasoned not peppered. You start with the basics, onion, bell pepper and celery. My family isn’t Acadian French. My family is protestant French, Huguenots. They came to Louisiana before and after the American civil war. My family were cotton farmers. Of all the crops in the world, cotton is the hardest to grow and harvest. It attests to the persistence of my family. But through it all, they trusted God and believed that all things work together for good. My family has been in America for 400 years.

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One of Napoleon’s generals won a battle because as he told his troops to march to the sounds of the guns. American General George Custer believed the same thing. He won many battles during the Civil War. It has been my battle cry since I began. I would never look for trouble, but when it showed up I faced it head on. I have been in so many battles that no one has ever seen or heard. The battles I fought weren’t bloody like D-Day, but saved as many lives as I could. I have faced enemies large and small. They have always done one thing for me to make me angry. As a wild boar would turn and rend the person, so did I did to the devil and his cohorts. I would run head long into the battle, because God promised me I would come out on the other side. And even if I didn’t I still would have stopped the devil’s plans. The devil isn’t all powerful. If the devil wants to do something he has to go to God and ask permission. The only way he can defeat us is if a person gives him permission. Our faith coupled with the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword dividing asunder soul and spirit. If you want to join the battle, you are going to have to train in the word of God. You start by trusting and believing God Himself and let Him led you into battle.

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After a forest fire in the 1950’s, forest fire fighters found a bear cub up in a tree. The cub survived the fire barely. He had climbed in the tree to escape the fire. It was badly burned but survived. The little bear recovered from his wounds and eventually ended up in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. They named the bear Smokey. The US Forest Service took the bear as mascot. They began an advertisement campaign to prevent forest fires. And in all the commercials Smokey the bear would say, only you can prevent forest fires. Because of the large amount of fires recently in the western US, they have revived the Smokey the bear commercials. This time he says, only you can prevent wildfires. Yet I know people that start fires daily just by what they say. The unfortunate thing about that is that they can’t take it back. A person asked how they could take back what they said. The answer was take a small box of feathers to a mountain top and release them in the wind. Then go and get all the feathers back in the box. It is impossible. And the damage can stay for years. As it says in the bible in James 3:5-6 “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (KJV).

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With all the chaos in this world, I sometimes wonder how man has made it this far. I look at the world and don’t see the stability I saw years ago. And yet when I look back at the past, I find the same instability we have today. Which asks the same question, how has man made it this far without destroying himself and the world? When Jesus lived on this earth in Israel, there was an occupying army controlling His country. The world embraced Christianity until the dark ages. Then war and disease nearly killed off all the population. Then more wars were fought over whatever. Until the reformation came. Christianity made a resurgence. Then wars were fought over religion. Which by the way are still going on. All of this has to do with what you believe. If you believe that man’s way is correct, then you will still fight more wars. And if you believe that God’s way is correct, you will find a way to live peaceably. There isn’t more chaos in the world than before. It is that people aren’t believing that God’s way is right. And their lives are turned upside down. I never had hope that anything would change until I met God. He showed me how I could live a life of peace in the middle of chaos and thrive. Even if I choose to sin, I still can ask God to forgive and restore me. This has made all the difference in the world. When your hope is founded in God, it isn’t easily shaken. It isn’t like people who believe that the only way they can get ahead is through war.

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Last night there was a super moon. The moon was closer to earth than it has been since 1948. It was big and yellow. You know why it was yellow? It is because the sun’s light reflects off the moon. I was talking to a young person last night about the effects of the moon. The moon affects tides and weather. The barometric pressure builds up from full moon to full moon. It is released at the full moon. This is why so many things happen at the full moon. The moon is an important part of our lives. The sun gives light during the day and the moon at night. The full moon comes every 29.5 days. Therefore, the moon is used in so many calculations in science. It is exact. Why do you think that it is? When you look at the world and all its elements, you have to wonder why God did this for us? God created the earth and the heavens for us. The sun and the moon and stars were given to us to measure time and seasons. The measurement of time is so that we will understand that we are finite. There is a season to our life. The only person who is infinite is God. Yet God did this for us. All of creation reveals to us who God is. You understand why He did that. It was so we couldn’t say we did know about God and what He stood for. God tries to reveal Himself to us in every way. So, at some point in our life, we will accept Him and become part of His family.

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I have been on Facebook for quite a few years. I have been blogging for about 4 years. Everything has changed and has remained the same. I have watched people for most of my life. Seeing what they are or not doing. What is interesting is that human activity is predictable. It is the same as it was before and yet it is different. Let us call it being normal. Everyone wants to be normal. They want the things that life holds. Such as a home, job, family, children and wealth. And when a person gets into trouble, they know where to go to try to get out of it. Most people don’t want to live there, but will go there for help. It seems that people don’t believe that living in the presence of God is normal. But you know it is the only place in the world where you can be normal. The life we have was given by God. The drive to have a home, job family, children and wealth was given by God to us. This world was created by God. He put everything into motion. And without God there is nothing. That is why you know that God is the only person who can help you in any situation. Just so we wouldn’t forget, God wrote His laws and commandments on our heart. So, that we could easily access them when we need them. And guess what, there isn’t a time or season that we don’t need them. So, what season are you living in?

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Growing up I quoted that motto for years. It is a very familiar saying for anyone who was involved in scouting. It meant to be ready for anything that happened or we needed to do. Scouting taught us to learn as many different things about life as we could. It was a wonderful experience for me. I wish that I could have taken advantage of it more than I did. As we prepared for death, we also prepared for life. School also was a place to prepare for our adulthood. My parents wanted to help us as much as they could. They purchased a set of World Book encyclopedias. I read the entire set of books. It really helped me in college. Then comes the time when you apply all the knowledge you have acquired. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. But applying knowledge to experience is what is called wisdom. And just because you know something, doesn’t mean that you can handle the situation. You won’t know until you are in the situation. Wisdom was what I first prayed for. I saw how much I didn’t understand about life.  You get to those places when you are thrusted into them, like the first time you hold your new baby. We are always learning about life. It never ends. Each day is different and the same. But with God’s help, we can live our lives to the fullest. And be prepared to face tomorrow with joy.

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Yesterday was Veteran’s Day. Today is the day after. When we send our love ones off to war, we must deal with the inevitable. There is a real possibility that our soldier will not return. Throughout the ages people have been sending their sons and daughters off to war. For each person, the reality of war which is death, comes home to roost the day after. Death is so foreign to us. It isn’t a part of our overall life, although it really is. If it was part of our lives, why do people mourn so much when a person dies? The pain and suffering that we experience tell us that we aren’t prepared for death. Yet death is the ultimate expression of our love and commitment. Military medals were invented to give to families of soldiers who gave their lives in battle. In the US Army during the Civil War, the medal was a red ribbon, the red badge of courage. Death seems to be one of our constant companions. So how do we deal with something as foreign as death? In 2004, our second son joined the US Army and went to war. The US was still in a shooting war. He was an infantryman. So, we knew that he was going to be in the middle of the fighting. The possibility of him dying in a foreign country shook both of us. We didn’t want to upset him, so we smiled until he left for war. My wife and I came to the understanding that our son could die walking across the street or in a foreign country. We knew that he was in the hands of God, no matter where he was. And we had to trust God for his life. We began to pray and God gave us peace about his situation. He now lives by us. He grew up over there as do all people who go to war. We are thankful to God for our son’s life. We are now prepared, somewhat, for death, on the day after.

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Yesterday was the U.S. Marine Corps’ birthday. They were founded in 1775. Today is Veteran’s Day. A day that we honor the men and women who served in our military. My family has a long history of military service to the United States of America. My family came to this country in 1637. They first served in the militia to protect the frontier in Massachusetts. During the American Revolution, my family from Maine to South Carolina served in the Continental Army. My family in Louisiana served in the Atakapa Militia to protect New Orleans in 1776. My 4^th great grandfather was one of the U.S. Naval Commissioners during the American Revolution. My 3^rd great grandfather served in the War of 1812. My family in Louisiana fought in the Battle of New Orleans in 1814. My 2^nd great grandfather was a colonel in 9^th Louisiana Confederate Army. My cousin was a general and governor of Louisiana during the Civil War. My great grandfather served in the 17^th Texas Confederate Army. My father and his brothers served in WWII. My cousin Felix died at Inchon, Korea with the 1^st Marines. My brother and I served during the Vietnam war. My cousin Charles, Air Force, died in Thailand during the Vietnam war. My sons and nephews served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Army and Air Force. My family has always answered the call. We believe in the United States and will preserve and protect it. God gave my family the opportunity to be free and live godly lives. God, thank you for America and all our freedoms.

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