A Journey


What is that saying, oh yea, a journey always begins with the first step. It doesn’t matter where you are going life is always a journey. The journey from being a baby to a toddler, then the journey from toddler to childhood. Then the journey we make from childhood to adolescent. Then we make that all important journey from adolescent to teenager. For most people that journey almost kills us. Then the journey to adulthood is easier than becoming a teenager. I traveled a lot when I was a child. My parents believe that part of our education was to see the world and all its beauty. Which I still believe to this day. There is so much to learn when you travel and see different people and places. All of this gives you a unique perspective. It increases your understanding about life itself. And what this world needs is understanding. My wife had a limited amount of travel in her life. So on our honeymoon, I took her across the country for 2 weeks. We went through the South and up to Washington DC. The first thing she wanted to see in Washington was the First Ladies dresses at the Smithsonian museum. I wanted to go to the National Air and Space museum. We strayed for 2 days in Washington, but it wasn’t enough time to see everything. Our life with God is a journey that we all must take. Many people are afraid of the trip, because it will reveal what is in their heart. That is the most important part of that journey. The only way to be healed is to see what is there. When we do, God is able to deal with us. The journey had always been about becoming whole with God and as a human being. Take that first step with God and ask Him to heal you. And I promise you, you will never be the same again.

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A Full Moon


I don’t think there is anything more beautiful than a full moon. The bad weather came and went. The skies are clear and the moon is shining. After all it is spring and the rain cleared the air. The earth just righted itself. And I am thankful to God that He hears me and answers my pray. I really didn’t want to be running around in the rain all day. It seems that I am more like a cat each day. I like my comfort. It isn’t always like that. There are times that I just don’t want to see, but I do have to go through it. As God says in every temptation, He always makes a way of escape. So that I or anyone else will be able to bear the trial. I try to learn as much as God is willing to teach me. Because if I don’t learn it the easy way, I will have to learn it the hard way. It is funny how everything is moved through pressure. The wind, the waves, the weather and us are all moved by the amount of pressure applied to us. At the full moon the barometric pressure upon the earth is released. Sometimes strange things happen at the full moon because of this release. But I am enjoying the beauty of it all. It is so easy to find ugly in this world. All you have to do is just look around. But finding beauty sometimes takes time and effort. As you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is a lot to be said about looking for beauty instead of the ugly. As God says in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” {KJV}.

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Weather we like it or Not


The weather is terrible. Nature can’t decide whether it is spring or summer. There has been a series of big weather fronts for months now. Sometimes I wish that it would make up its mind and quit. But the weather isn’t up to us to decide. Today again there is lightning, thunderstorms and rain. I work outside so I will be dodging rain drops all day. It is interesting how the earth corrects itself. If there is anything wrong it will adjust the weather accordingly. Although it seems that the weather has gone wild, it is only responding to what is happening on this earth. I don’t know if you remember acid rain. In the Northeastern states, smoke pollution from different industries set sulfuric acid into the sky. The earth responded with rain to clear the skies and acid rain fell on the Northeastern states. That is until the government made that industry clean up its act. There is a climate change occurring now. How far it will go isn’t certain? Everybody has their opinion on what will happen, but nobody really knows for sure. There is only one person who knows what will happen. And He isn’t talking to us about the weather. The world was design to run smoothly and automatically. Besides natural phenomenon, like an asteroid, the earth works on it own. But you know that even if an asteroid hits this earth, it will adjust for it. People won’t survive but the earth will. It’s too bad man doesn’t work that way. But God design this earth to be self-sufficient. It runs on God’s command. You know what God says in Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (KJV).

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Renewal


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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No Big Secret


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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Owning Up


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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What is Familiar?


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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Comic Books


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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The Gathering


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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Work Ethic


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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