Remember your heart is who you are. Your heart is your mind, will and intellect. This is the part of you that is eternal or immortal. This is what most people call your spirit. Everything you have ever learn is stored in your spirit. All the good things, bad things, everyday experiences are there for you to recall. This shapes what you believe and who you are. So the attitudes of your heart are important part of your life. Each of us are basically the same. We each have parents and came into the world the same way. This is where we differ. According to where we were born and taught as a child determined what we became when we grew up. I like just about most foods. You can tell that by the size of my belly. I like to cook also. My latest thing is jams and jellies. I will taste them to get the consistency right but I can’t eat them because of the diabetes. I don’t want it or need it, but it is there because of my life style or because of what my parents had. Yet I am not going to quite just because I am being tested.  I am determined and persistent. It is an attitude that I developed when I was a child. Some might say I am stubborn. But I am not stupid about what I will or will not do. I have a positive attitude that everything will work out like it is supposed to do. And no matter what happens every morning is new and ready for me to begin my life anew. I didn’t always think like this. It took a force of nature to change me into the person I am today. That force had to move heaven and earth for me to believe and trust that I had hope for the future. I have only found that hope in one person, God’s own son, Jesus.

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I am looking at my cat and she is snoozing away. Her feet are in the air and not a care in the world. I haven’t slept like that in years. I can remember that I use to be able to drink coffee and go right to sleep all night. You look at children and they don’t have a care in the world. They can sleep like a log. My oldest son use to sleep for 8 hours at a time. That boy could sleep more than anyone I have ever seen. As you grow older it seems that sleep eludes you. That restful and peaceful kind of sleep that we all enjoyed when we were younger. What has changed? Why don’t we have a good night’s sleep anymore? I know people that use alcohol to get a night’s sleep. And even worst to use drugs. The things of this world can’t bring you peace. And peace is the only thing that give you a good night’s sleep. So where did the peace go? Why don’t we have peace like we did when we were young? Do you remember the first time you lied to get your way? And how bad you felt afterward. And the lack of peace in your life. How often have we done that so we could get ahead? And what did it cost us to get there? In 1983, Gallup poll took a survey across America. They ask what was the 3 most important things in your life. Surprise, Surprise, #3’s answer was peace or the lack of it in their lives. It hasn’t changed. The answer is still the same. We need peace in our lives to live on this earth. And I know of only one place to get peace in our lives. And that place or person to ask for peace is God Himself. There is no one else that can give us peace in our lives. And you know how to do that is just to ask God Himself for the peace to live your life.

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I have lived in many parts of this nation. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful. I lived in a little town called Golden, Colo. It is a suburb of Denver. There was only several million people in Denver. But the attitude of the people was of a small town. My cousins lived up the mountain in a town called Evergreen. Now that was a small town of only a few thousand. Then I lived in Indianapolis, Ind. You would think that it is one big city. But it isn’t at all. Indianapolis is made up of over 200 towns each individual and distinct. They claim to fame when I lived there was that there was a bank robbery every week. Indianapolis is bisected by no less than 7 interstate highways. The people would come home at 5, change their clothes and go out until 2 or 3am. They did this all the time. It like to drove me crazy. I couldn’t stand living in that kind of life style. I have lived in Houston and San Antonio. I always liked traveling around the country. My parents would take us on vacations all over. The only states I haven’t been to are New England and the pacific coast. My cousins in Pierre, SD., have a 80,000 acre wheat farm. They fly airplanes to check the crops. Life is different everywhere. So are the people who live there. Discovering who those people are has become one of the most important things in my life. There is a real diamond mine in Murfreesboro, Ark. I love to talk to strangers. My wife gets embarrassed when I do. But you never know what you going to find when you do. I guess it goes back to me being shy when I was young. And wanting to meet people freely. Mark Twain said that “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” I don’t travel as often as I would like, but I still want to.

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I hear people talk about the real deal.  It is something that they suppose is authentic. Or let’s get real is another saying. What they are talking about is reality. So many people have adjusted their reality to make it what they want. You have to ask yourself what is reality? How to you define real? Well I know that the earth is real. The sun, moon and the stars are real. Then if they are real, then all of creation is real. Yet the bible says that the earth and stars will disappear just like a curtain being rolled up. This earth and all on it are temporary. Then what is real? What is truly real? You have to ask yourself what will not disappear at the end of the earth. Then you have to believe that someone or something is in control of our future. I don’t believe it is a rock or crystal or someone doped up and chanting. Your perspective is what you believe is the right and real way, almost. What we believe does alter our destiny, but it doesn’t change the outcome of the world. The real plan has been put into play and we can’t change it. All we can do is believe and follow along. We aren’t smarter or stronger than God Himself. We can’t change His plan in any way or aspect. The only thing we can do is to accept or reject His offer of eternal life. We are eternal being and will live forever. But where you live is up to you. When you die there are only 2 places to go, heaven or hell. And if you don’t live God’s way here on this earth, you will not live in heaven with God. It is a very simple choice to make. And all you have to do is ask God and help will arrive.

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Why does honor and integrity cost us everything? There is nothing more precious to us than our life. Yet we become willing to risk it all for honor. These human values are most precious and valued above all things. We see it in the animal kingdom, where a mother will defend her children to the death. Where the parents give all that they have for their offspring. Honor, courage, and integrity are strong values in our lives. People who don’t follow them consider themselves worthless. What is it about those values that would make us want to do whatever is necessary? How many people do you know that follow that way of life? Probably just a few people come to mind. One of the most honorable person I know was an uneducated woman from south Louisiana. She spoke fluent French. She was a maid and very poor. She saw a need in Haiti and went an opened an orphanage. For 20 years, she worked with the poor people and helped young people get an education. She didn’t asked for things for herself. Every so often she would come back to raise money for the orphanage. She worked in Haiti until she couldn’t physically do it anymore. This woman had honor and integrity far above most people I know. What is your life about? Is it just to a acquire things in this world? Or do you have a purpose or plan to accomplish something honorable in this life? Honorable doesn’t mean that you have to go to Africa or have to give everything you have to the poor. It means being true to yourself and God. There are many wrongs that need to be righted here just outside your door. All you need is to open your eyes and see what needs are around you. There is no greater love than this, to lay down your life for another.

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We decorated the front porch of our new house. It is the first Christmas in our new home. My wife took great pains to find just the right decorations for the house. Now I am going to electrify it with lights. But this year I am not feeling the joy or exuberance of Christmas cheer. Everything seems to be in place, but the joy of Christmas has avoided me. As I get older, I think about my mortality. I also think about the things I want to accomplish on this earth. it just seems that time is running out. I am also thinking about my parents and younger brother, who died 2 years ago. I am not trying to be the Grinch that stole Christmas. I want my joy back. I do understand that people get nostalgic at this time of year. But It shouldn’t take my joy away. I am mortal and immortal. Both parts reside in me. When my mortality ends, my immortality will continue. The other night I rode around looking at the Christmas lights. Some were just beautiful. I do enjoy it so. I just feel a lose right now. I also know it will subside into the joy of the season. You see the joy of the season is the reason for it. And the reason for the season is Jesus the Christ.

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Growing up we have dreams of great things. We want to succeed at everything we do. We want to be a hero to our family and friends. It is the desire of our heart. When we grow up, it seems to turn out differently. Even though we accomplish our goals, there seems to be a let down at the end. We don’t turn out to be heroes we saw as a child. Everyone’s life falls into the ordinary category. And extraordinary seems to happen once in a while. Our lives are based upon the ordinary. There are basic things that we do. Everyone grows up, works, marries and has children. However you live your life, the extraordinary comes in when you live your life for others. There are people, who are extraordinary having given their lives ordinarily. And you will never know their names. Extraordinary lives aren’t just the heroes on the battlefield or the fireman or policeman. They are the ordinary people who love so much, that they are willing to give their lives helping others. My mother, a special education teacher of the hard of hearing and hearing impaired, work with twins, who couldn’t speak in the 1^st grade. She worked with them until they graduated from high school and went on to college. Committing your life is an Godly attribute. God puts into our hearts the love we need to live the life. And this is what is extraordinary.

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When Moses went back to Egypt as a prophet of God, He told Pharaoh that God would bring plagues upon Egypt if he didn’t let Israel go. Pharaoh laughed at Moses and told him to go away. After Moses prayed, the Nile River turned to blood and all the fish died. Pharaoh called Moses and asked him to turn the Nile back to water. He said he would let Israel go. When Moses did, Pharaoh hardened his heart and wouldn’t let Israel go. Moses prayed again, and frogs came up from the Nile and covered Egypt. Frogs were one of Egypt’s gods. Pharaoh called Moses again. He asked Moses to pray and remove the frogs. He would let Israel go. Moses asked Pharaoh when he wanted the frogs gone. Pharaoh answered and said tomorrow. He was going to spend one more night with the frogs. It was because he didn’t want to give up. He knew that the frogs were a disaster. And he knew that his life was a disaster, but he was unwilling to surrender to God. Do you recognize your life? I do. I was unwilling to give up my disaster. Until it became so unbearable. At that point I didn’t know what to do. Thank God, He sent someone into my life. Even then, it took 3 months of talking to me to convince me. But I surrendered. God opened heaven for me. My life has been blessed. God goes before to make the way. Oh yes, all of my gods fell away and disappeared. That place where you spend one more night with the frogs, is being caught between the rock and the hard place.

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Isn’t it funny how your life revolves around the sun? We rise up from sleep and go to bed with the sun. Benjamin Franklin said, early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. But much of our life depends on the sun. We say it is a beautiful day when the sun is shining. Then we say it is a dreary day when it is raining. What makes the day any different when the sun shines or it’s raining? It is a perception. It is what our brain tells us from past experience. We can do more when the sun shines. Make hay while the sun shines. Then when it rains, we are limited to indoor activities. I don’t like to get wet either. I am like a cat. But once I am wet them it’s alright. If it is cold and wet, which happens often, it is miserable. But there is something to be said for a rainy day. It seems to be quieter than most. Or is it that our mind is quieter. We choose the quiet or slower activities. Unless you want to run around your house and break things. I love to listen to the rain on a tin roof. I always felt sorry for the workmen who work in the open and especially on rainy days. It is all about perception. What you see or think you see will determine what you do. In reality a sunny day and a rainy day are the same. There is no real difference between the two. You can do the same thing you want on each day. I like to choose the rainy day to stop and reflect on what is going on in my life or read a book, or do an activities that quieted my mind. You see all days are the same. God said, He makes it rain on the just and the unjust. God also said, this is the day the Lord has made, so rejoice and be glad in it.

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It is a theory in quantum mechanics that states if you observe anything, it will change the variables of the observed object. Thus changing the end results of the observed. It’s a theory that kind of loops in on itself. It is also about the uncertainty of people. There are so many variables that affect our lives. Some of these variables are simple and some difficult. It is certain that we are changing every day and every minute. We don’t know what the end result will be even if we observe the changing effect. A meteor about a foot width hit the earth and created Crater Lake. A grain of sand in space can hit an asteroid and move it out of it orbit. Let alone the Wall Street stock market falls and all hell breaks loose. Or our country loses industries because they are going to overseas locations. And 13 million people are out of work. There are 35% of the American population on welfare. 53% of Americans are working and paying taxes. The American population has declined in the past 60 years by 20%. There are 76 million people who are baby boomers. These are people born between 1946 and 1964. They will all reach retirement age in 14 years. This is the majority of American people in the US. This is the uncertainty principle. What will happen to America? When the majority of people working retire from working and paying taxes. Economic collapse comes to mind. The Federal Government is spending money like there is no tomorrow. Guess what if they continue there is no tomorrow. It is time for a revolution in this country and I am afraid it is going to be violent. I personally think that the uncertainty principle needs to be applied to all elected officials everywhere, local, state and national. What are you going to do to change this world today?

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