I was looking at today’s newspaper and saw a recipe for Hanukah. And it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet. This year has gone by in a twinkling of an eye. Seasons were given to us to tell time. I’m listening to the song, “I’ll be home for Christmas”. It makes me lonesome for my parents. My years have all been counted by Christmas. My birthday is in December. I would get clothes for my birthday and toys for Christmas. My mother and her sisters would have Christmas with all our families at our house. My mother and her 2 sisters had 9 boys. So when we would get together and everyone got a present. As our family grow, we were limited to one present per person. I miss those days. All the boys would go outside and play. The moms and aunts would gather in the kitchen to prepare the meal. The men were in the front room talking. As we got older, we would all gather in the front room to watch football. When the meal was ready, we sat at several tables. There was always enough food to feed an army. And there was plenty of desserts. After we finished eating, we cleared all the dishes and food. Then we would get the card tables out. we would split into groups of 4 to play hearts. We would get together for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We did this until we were grown men. My sons are grown now. And we still try to get together for the holidays. We started inviting people who were alone for the holidays. Our little house was always full of people. Because the holidays bring such strong emotions, we didn’t want people to be alone. Share your holidays with someone. Don’t let them be alone and remember times and seasons.

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As we grow, we learn. All through that learning process, we are tested. We are tested to see if we learned the material. Test aren’t fun, but very necessary. The process is to prove that the information is valid and worth learning. You know what is the funny part is, that we carry all information we learned with us even into eternity. Whether we use it or not, it is up to us. An educated person is far more valuable than not. It is why this country stresses the point of education. Once we leave our formal education, we figure we don’t have to do homework or test. O contraire, it is only the beginning. Our formal education is training for the rest of our life. But it seems that the older we get the harder the testing becomes. And the more we need to use the knowledge we’ve learned. One of the biggest test I ever faced was when my 3^rd son contracted spinal meningitis. He was only 6 months old. I never felt so helpless in all my life. He had to go into intensive care in the hospital. I had no insurance and $170 to my name. Everything I had learned and believed came into play. Was I going to stand and believe and trust God or was I going to turn away? The doctor told my wife and I that if he lives, he will probably be a vegetable. My wife stayed at the hospital. I went home to see about the other children. There was a peace that come over me that I could sleep. The next morning, the insurance we applied for came in the mail. There were no immune shots for spinal meningitis back then. He was receiving massive amounts of antibiotics. Every day they would test for the meningitis. On the third day at the hospital, the doctor came into the room and announced to us that there was no spinal meningitis in him. The doctor said I know that he had it. he couldn’t understand what had happened. My wife and I did. God healed him. My son suffered no ill effects from the virus. He is now 30 years old and doing well. That test could have defeated me. It could have destroyed all that I learned and believed. But I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.

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I always thought that I would live forever, when I was young and the world was before me. I was 40 years old before it dawned on me that I wasn’t 18 years old anymore. I have always considered myself a young man, even when I passed the 60-year mark. As the bible says a person who is 100 years old is still a child. And I still think of myself that way. But the reality is that I am reaching the sunset of my life. No one wants to die. We all want to live forever. I have goals I want to accomplish and there is still not enough time left. You pay your money and you take your chances. I decided on all the things that I did in my life. No one forced me to do what I wanted to do. My father died before knowing my children. I have one grandson, who I don’t know very well. My wife tries to prove her independence, but if I left it would devastate her. And my sons still need my guidance. And I want to go home. This world isn’t my home. This world is temporary and will disappear in the end of time. So, what do I do? How long do I live? It is still up to me when I go home, barring any accidents or disease. I have walked with God for most of my life. I have done what He asked of me. Now I want the reward He has promised me. Yet I don’t want to leave. But I know that soon it will be time to go. I will be extremely happy and sad about that. You see I am caught between the two. So, I contemplate my mortality.

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When we begin life, our soul is pure and free. We don’t have discipline or structure but we are innocent. We prize that innocence above everything else. We protect our children so that they can be innocent as long as possible. We make sure that nothing is said or done around our children. We want to give our children that opportunity to have a choice in their lives free from this world. Then tell me why does the world try to destroy that innocence as fast as humanly possible? We learn by example. As we see and hear, touch and taste our way through life, we learn. There is nothing that escapes our memory. If it is seen or heard, we will evaluate the information. Then we store it to use or not at an appropriate time. We look at TV and see the cesspool that it is. There is very little that is worth watching let alone the cable channels. Hollywood is as occult as any satanic worship. It is rare that they have produced any worthwhile movies. There might have been 5 in the last 10 years. There are 1000’s of movies made every year. And what all this does in to produce a stain on our souls. That can’t be washed away with water, booze, drugs or sex. And the stain produces violence, war, disease, famines, droughts and every evil that plagues mankind. The only that the stain can be removed is by the washing of the water of the word of God. And that is it. There is no other way to get rid of it. Only God can remove this stain from our heart. And the only way is for you to approach God and ask for forgiveness. When you accept His offer, Jesus will come to live in your heart. And you will be free from the stain.

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No one likes to reveal to just anyone who they are. They want to keep their secrets to themselves. It is more appealing to others to see a mystery. And try to find out who the person really is. It is what attracts people to each other. Too much of a mystery makes people afraid that the person might be evil. Evil only attracts certain kind of people. But did you know that people wear on their sleeves who they really are. It is like a beacon flashing in their face. It is the most amazing thing that people are so transparent. Just like you can see through your skin, you can see a person’s heart. You can’t see everything but you can see who the person basically is. What is more interesting is that people try to hide who they are with clothes, attitudes, money, alcohol, or even sex? But who they are shines through every time. It can’t be hidden with anything on this earth other than death. So how do you see who a person really is? It is much simpler than you think. Every part of your body is connected. The physical and the spiritual are connected. And there is a pathway between the two. Our heart is spiritual. It is who we are. And our physical body is connect to our heart by the life of God. That direct pathway to our heart is our eyes. This is how we gather our information about life along with our senses. But what people don’t understand is that our eyes are a mirror of our heart. They reflect out of us who we are. And if they are filled with light the whole body is fill with light. Because the eyes are the lamps of the soul.

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Contentment is being satisfied with who you are and what you have. In today’s world this seems like a tall order. Everybody is pushing to get the latest craze. If it isn’t a new phone, it is a new watch, phone, and a computer put together. Then there is the new car syndrome. If your car isn’t 6 months old or less, you haven’t succeeded. Let us not forget clothes. If you don’t have the latest clothes, you just can’t go out of you house. And if your house is not up to date, Lord have mercy on my soul. There seems to be a driving need to acquire things. We must acquire bigger things or better things or our life isn’t worth living. That idea is a total lie straight out of the pits of hell. It is an idea to make you discontented with your life and everyone and thing in it too. Do you remember when one toy at Christmas was a real blessing? Or do you remember going to get an ice cream cone with your family? I can remember going with my family to get a cold mug of root beer. It was so much fun and I was with my family. Your life is what you make it. If you don’t participate in it, it still goes on without you. That is even sadder than being greedy. Take back your life and be who you are supposed to be. Don’t let everybody else tell you what you are supposed to be. It is for your self-worth and inner peace that you need to do this. Don’t let the world dictate to you what is important to you. Stand up and be yourself. For as God has said that contentment and Godliness is great gain.

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Everybody wants to be different. They have different hair, cars, clothes or manner of speaking. It sometimes funny to see how far people will go to be different. Most of it is just fads. But everyone has a story that needs to be told. You see when your story is told, you make a difference in this world. It like a tale being told. It is funny how some authors are not recognized until they are dead. The same happens to a lot of people. Some are never recognized. But people go on being different. It sad that people think they will be ordinary if they don’t do something outrageous. Where are all the people that did spectacular things in their lives? Most of them are living quiet lives with their families. I’m not saying don’t be different. What I am saying is affect the world around you for the good. If you are a farmer, teach people to grow food. If you are a businessman, help those that are struggling. Whatever you are doing, do something about the needs that you see in your community. Everyone has a story that needs to be told. You have a story and don’t think for a minute it isn’t worthy of being told. God doesn’t make junk. Man makes junk out of lives. I just have to laugh at the things people do to be different. It always makes me realize how precious in God’s sight His people are. You see we are all the same, even though we look different. For God isn’t a respecter of persons. Everyone is the same to God. He looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. And we are the image and likeness of God. So differences don’t really matter to God and shouldn’t to us. So do unto others as you would have others do to you.

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He is an American Icon. There are very few people who know what he was about. It is true that he walked about with a pot on his head. It was the easiest way to carry his supper pot. He was a vegetarian. He was single handedly responsible for creating the apple industry in America. He did it one tree at a time. He would plant orchards or nurseries in the wilderness of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. He had a supplier of apple seeds in Pennsylvania. He would go there and load up on apple seeds. Then walk to Ohio or Illinois. The American Indians believed that he had the Great Spirit with him. They left him only. He never wore shoes or had money on him. He did own the nurseries that he planted. It was the wilderness and was given the land. He was a Christian man that spread to gospel to the Native Americans as well as the pioneers. He would sing hymns or read from the bible and people would feed him or give him a place to sleep. Most times he slept outdoors. This simple man, who never married, had an adventure with God. He traveled most of the Ohio River valley. He didn’t see the big picture, but was willing to follow God wherever. Just think if you followed God on an adventure what would happen. You will never know what God has planned for you until you are willing to surrender. Once you do surrender, God will transform you into a person who will conquer your world for God. This humble man died before the Civil War. God spared him the horror brought on by man. John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

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The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. Mathematically it is correct, but not always in life. You have heard the sayings, I take 1 step forward and 2 steps behind. It seems that harder the task the behinder I get. It took me 2 years to research a book. The next one took me 5 years. And that’s not the longest. I took 25 years to research my best one. It sometimes get frustrating when I don’t receive the reward up front. But I know that the reward isn’t always measured in monetary gains. I am a distance runner. I am in for the long haul. I like to run also. When I began running, most people would double over in pain after a mile. I developed a resistance to pain. I wouldn’t even be breathing hard. I enjoyed running. No one could catch me. So I ask you the question again, How far is far? I was watching a movie where children were walking across a wilderness to reach to other side. They commented how far it was. And the people responded and said, what did you expect, it is the world. Do you ever think you will reach the other side? Where will your travels take you? Some people end up across the street from where they started. Some end up across the world. To get to the other side of where you are going is always a journey. I like to do that in a hurry. But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes I receive my reward instantly. Sometimes I receive my reward after 25 years. But I always know that I will not stop until I get to the other side, come hell or high water. So how far is your far?

Crain Blanchard.

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It is what we have in common with a star and an elephant. If you don’t believe me just eat some greasy food. Humor has been used to get people interested enough to start talking to each other. Laughter makes us feel good about ourselves and others. Do you know how many muscles it takes to smile? It takes 2 muscles and it takes all the muscles in your face to frown. I was in the grocery store the other night shopping and watching people. A woman picked up a pack of paper towels. She looked disgusted and throw them into her buggy. I started laughing. She looked at me and smiled. I said, it was late. And she said, and it has been a long day. Laughing made her day. She walked away laughing. Life is serious enough and there needs to be a way to let our stress and anxiety out. God gave us an outlet, laughter. Let me tell you a joke. What is a syllabus? It is what clowns use to go on field trips. I told my family this joke to make them laugh. It worked. Even God likes to laugh. I have believed a scripture that Solomon wrote almost 3000 years ago. It says that a merry heart works good like a medicine. A merry heart is what will keep you young and alive. So look around at this world and laugh. And keep a smile on your face and people will respond.

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