When Home Calls…


Have you ever been somewhere when home calls? It’s that deep yearning in your heart to go home. It’s where warmth, familiarity and safety abounds. The call comes even though there is no home to return to. It is the yearning that we have for a safe surroundings. I know that some people have never had safe surroundings growing up. But that doesn’t stop the yearning for it. It can happen at any time of your life. I am a grandfather and my parents are gone and I still yearn for the wonderful family gatherings in our home. Our family would gather every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, since I can remember. Although, things would happen and there would be fights, it was always about the warmth, familiarity and safety of that day. My mom and her two sisters would fight to have those gatherings in our homes. If my dad even thought about not having it, there would be a fight he wouldn’t want. They brought together three generations, so we would know each other and share a memory that would last a life time. Those memories are as real today as they were seventy years ago.

There is more to this than meets the eye. People say home is where the heart is. That is a true statement, but it is not the whole truth. I miss my home when I was a youth. But today I have a home that is calling me. It is in front me, not behind. I have glimpses of what it looks like and I can clearly see it. But I’m on my way home now. It is not only a comfort to know that I am headed home, it is a relief that I’m heading home again.. What is the cry of your heart?

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Psalm 25:16-17

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Our Words.


Words have meaning. When I was in college I took a course on words. It was an English class on the meanings of words. In the class we broke the words apart to find their origins. The American English language is composed of words from England, France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy, Greece, Israel, Africa, Middle East, China, Japan, Polynesia, Spain, Portugal and Native Americans. Our language is a mixture of all languages around the world as our country is. You know who invented the telegraph? The French in the 1850’s because Napoleon III wanted to talk to his troops in Turkey fighting the Crimean War. Today there are so many ways to talk to someone around the world. The capabilities grow every year. There seems to be no stopping it. It is the Age of Information. Words by themselves have no real power. But when they are spoken they come alive. So why is that? It is because we give words power. People sometimes don’t even understand how much power we give words. As the bible says life and death are in the power of the tongue. I have seen it. People say I can’t do it and they can’t. Or they says I wish I would die and they do. The spoken word has changed the entire universe. But it is a broad sword that you can use on your enemies. You should think before you speak. And when you speak you should mean what you say. God has always meant every word He spoke. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise: and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Our words have power.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Weight of Reality


Years ago, I was attending church in Lafayette, La. There was a young man who was a quadriplegic. He could only get around in a wheel chair pushed by someone else. A young woman was helping him with his parents. I was invited to his house by the young women. She wanted me to meet him. He could not speak with his voice, but had developed a system with a pointer on his head to point to letters or words on a board. It was arduous and painstaking to carry on a conversation. But he enjoyed talking to people. We talked for about an hour. It was interesting because there was nothing wrong with his mind only his body. We talked about many things, especially things of the Lord. The last thing he said to me, was what bothered him the most. He said it was the constant drooling that he couldn’t control. I began to cry, because I saw my sin. He couldn’t use his body and nothing could stop me from using mine. Yet I would complain. He couldn’t speak, but I complained when I had to talk to people. He couldn’t walk and I would get tired walking around. He loved life and showed me the truth spirit of Christ in him.

Crain Blanchard

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Have you ever felt like a Square peg in a round hole?


Have you ever felt like that? We spend a lifetime finding out where we belong. It is unfortunate that some people never find their place in life. It’s like wandering in the desert to find water and not finding it. When we find our place, it is funny how things work in our lives. It doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be resistance to our place. I know that when I found my place, the battle began. It was a battle to keep the place I found for myself. And I tell you a truth, I was shielded from the battle for a long time. It wasn’t until I was strong enough to face it myself. But when I enter the battle, it was amazing what happened. I saw so many miracles that it is hard sometimes to comprehend. You see I am a Christian soldier. I know how to wage warfare. I don’t fight flesh and blood. My battle is in the spiritual realm. I fight against principalities, spiritual wickedness and powers in the air. Sometimes I get beat up. When I do, I retreat back to God. Where I know that I will be refreshed and renewed and ready to go back to the battle. My battles aren’t over things of this world. My battles are for the lives of people. If I don’t fight the good fight of faith, people will die and are bound for hell. That is why sometimes I feel like a square peg in a round hole. But I have found my place in life and it is next to God.

Crain Blanchard.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com