Tag Archives: life

Writing Blogs…

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I have written over 1900 blogs. Some have had thousands of views and comments. As I look at the most successful blogs, they have been about fluff. I have talked about time, space, duty, honor, integrity and many other stories. But it seems that if I talk about what I believe in most, no one wants to read it. Stories about life are fine. They will get you from point A to point B. But they don’t solve the basic issue of life. And what is that all important issue of life? It is who you are and where do you belong.

I wandered in life for 30 years. Not realizing that I had solve the issue when I was 8 years old. I didn’t want to believe that the resolution was that simple. So I did my own thing for about 30 years. I ran into walls pivoted and ran into another wall. I kept seeing how dissatisfied I was with my life. I wanted success, but never being able to grasp it. The reason was simple. I was reaching for the wrong things in life. Instead of solving the problem, I was creating more.

A friend saw through me and invited me to join his Amway business. I did join seeing the opportunity. We would meet early in morning at his cafeteria for coffee and business. I would get their early and listen to my friend and other businessman discuss how they solve the issues of life. I listen for 3 months until I realized that I had made this decision and walked away. He showed how I could get back to place that I wanted to be. I am not a religious person. I don’t have dogma’s or doctrines that don’t make sense. What I do have is a relationship. That relationship has given me peace and courage to live my life correctly.

My people don’t want to hear the name of the person who saved my life from destruction. But I have a relationship with the one person who is able to keep me until I go home to heaven. And His name is Jesus.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Having a Merry Christmas…

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For most of my life, I have worked in retail. I liked the work because I came in contact with people. All throughout the year I would see people shop for sporting goods or food. One year they decided that I would be a door greeter around the Christmas holidays. It was interesting to interact and watch people as the holidays got closer. First was Thanksgiving. People began to shop for food and decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. People smiled and greeted me warmly. There wasn’t a grumpy person among them. People would ask about Black Friday deals. I usually had flyers about the deals. Thanksgiving was about food, family and friends and also football. It was a happy time of year.

Then came Black Friday. I was there at the front of the store were everything was stacked up on pallets. One year when they opened the doors at 6am, people came in like a stampeded herd. Then they started throwing TV and other large boxed items at each other to get whatever they wanted. I jumped up on the register counter just to get out of the way. Today is different. You have to get a ticket to get an item or buy it online.

From Black Friday on the mood changed. People were not smiling any more. They came into the store grumbling. I greeted them with a smile and they mumbled under their breath. Only one time did they actually curse at me. But the smiles were gone. The mood had changed. Because you can literally go bankrupt buying gifts for every person in sight. We, our family, decided the we would pull names to buy a gift for the adults. Anyone could buy gifts for the children. This saved a lot of money. We also made pastries and pies for neighbors and other people.

Christmas is a special time of year. It is a time to think about family present and past. It can be a very lonely time if you aren’t surrounded by people who love and appreciate you. And of course, there is Santa Clause. He actually was a real person. Nicholas of Myra, Turkey. He would give food and clothes to poor people in his parish. He was Bishop Nicholas of Myra and Bari, Turkey. He lived in the 4th century. Saint Nicholas is a patron saint in the Roman Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches. His example of caring for people is a goal we should have not only in this time of year, but whenever the need arises. You want to get out of the Christmas slump. Start giving to people who can’t return the favor. Help someone in need and watch what happens in your life.

I want to wish you and your family a very blessed and joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Christmas Season 2025…

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We are in the Christmas Season. That time of year where we begin to think about different things. What we think about depends on how old you are. We all look forward to presents, but if you are a child, less than 12 years old, it is toys and more toys. Today is my birthday and being 15 days before Christmas, my parents decided to make my birthday about clothes. Christmas would be reserved for toys. My younger brother’s birthday was on December 5th. I can remember some of the toys. One Christmas I received a set of pistols and holster from the TV show “Have Gun will Travel”. I still have one of the pistols.

As I grew older, Christmas became about family. All my family, parents, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents would gather at our home for the Christmas meal and fellowship. All the men were in the front room watching football. All the ladies were in the kitchen cooking the meal and talking. All the cousins were outside playing. All my first cousins are boys. Growing up we played on the same football and baseball teams. Of the 9 first cousins on my mother’s side, there are only 6 of us left. With most families, my family lives across the country. My sons and there families join us for Christmas. But I miss 30 to 40 members of my family filling my home. My grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles are all gone. We are now the older generation.

I miss my family terribly. What we did for Christmas was to make memories that would last a life time. Make sure that you and your family make memories that last. Because once the time slips by and you don’t, you can’t go back.

I pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joeseph1637.com

Who is in Control?

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If you look around yourself and the world, you will see people trying to control their lives and the world around them. People are scurrying to control their destiny or reality. To shape what happens to them by being in control. Except that control is an illusion. When the Covid pandemic started in 2020, what little control people had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It is not to say that we don’t have some control. We do, but the real control over our lives is not ours. There is always something larger that controls our destiny.

We chose our paths when we are young. We are influenced by our circumstances and situations are we grow up. Even if we had the perfect circumstances in our lives, there is always something that will skew our lives in a different direction. My dad, after he came home from WWII, wanted to go to college to be an engineer. He married my mom and settled down and was attending university. Then my mom became pregnant with my older brother. Dad quit college and began to work to provide for his family. As I got older and began reading our evening newspaper, I would see engineering problem written on the newspaper. Dad never returned to college.

The bible says that when we are young, we can go where we want. But when you are old, you are led where you don’t want. Understanding who we are and where we belong in the universe is the questions we have to solve in our lives. Everyone knows from the beginning of our lives who is in control of the universe. It has been written in our hearts and minds. I see many people struggle against this knowledge over their lifetime. You see there is only one person who is in control of our lives and the universe and His name is Jesus.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

When Home Calls…

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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

Not Remembering the Past.

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There is a saying by George Santayana from The Life of Reason. It says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” King Solomon said the same thing in the book of Ecclesiastes about 3000 years ago. He said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” The difference is what we choose to remember and do. It is so easy to forget about this detail or that one. Life crowds in on us and we just forget. But time has a way of catching up with us.

Everyone knows what due diligence is. It is being mindful of what is going on around us. It is being particularly aware of what we have to do and how it is going to be accomplished. Sometimes that acute awareness starts when we are young. But sometimes people remain clueless as their life drifts into the void.

I have studied my families history. How 4 families over 400 years have come together in my family. You know what I have seen over those 400 years? I have watched them grown up, be educated, marry, have children and eventually die. They build a life for their immediate family and around their extended family. Some were farmers, some merchants, some pirates, some doctors, but all believing that they were providing for their family. One thing struck me is that they all learned from their previous family, whether good, bad or indifferent.

And in that remembering, we can not only see our ancestors, but we see ourselves and our children and grandchildren. It is because there is nothing new under the sun.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Life is it’s own Reality show.

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Life starts out the same for most people. We grow up going to school and learn what we can do in this life. If life hasn’t beaten you down by the time you graduate from high school. There is a chance that you will be able to accomplish your dreams. There was a big fade 25 years ago, to begin teaching your children at 4 or 5 years old. Wanting them to have an advantage over the other children in school. What happened is that all the children seem to catch up to each other at age 7. In Texas, every child must be 7 years old to start 1st grade. Their high school graduation rate is 90%. Then 62% go on to college. College diploma doesn’t mean that you will be successful. There are plenty of examples of people with a high school diploma that went into technical work that have succeeded. Did you know that Caterpillar Equipment company is paying 6 figures for high school entry jobs. It’s not about your education that counts. It’s is about what you want in life and are willing to pursue it.

I look at the news and it hasn’t changed since I was a kid. Someone is always threatening to go to war over something or other. This restaurant has a bigger, better burger than any one else. Everything is always to expensive and prices are going up. And the President of the US, that we elected, isn’t worth anything. The strange thing about all that is that life goes on. People are being born, growing up, going to school, getting married, having kids and getting old. It doesn’t stop for anyone. Life in every generation repeats itself. And if you astute enough to recognize this, you can take advantage of it.

You know what the sad part of this whole drama, is that with all the getting, education, money, things and power, people still don’t know what they are looking for. We have heard the saying, that being rich is never enough. The answer is very simple. It isn’t always easy, but it is simple. And simple isn’t stupid. There is a hole in us that can’t be filled with education, money, things or power. There is only one thing that will fill that void in us. It is the love of one man, Jesus Christ. With that love, we can live our lives because it will have meaning. Then when we are through with this life, we can go home to heaven with a grateful heart. This is the reality of life.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

People, People, People.

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Everyone wants to be in the position of leadership. We have our own ideas about what needs to take place in that role. The strange thing about that is that not everyone is suited to be in the leadership role. In my working life, I have seen different kinds of leader. Some were great and I wanted to work for those people. Some were not so great and you just tolerated those people. Usually when some the leaders who didn’t know what they were doing would have high turn over. They would also have poor production in the factory or office.

I was a Department Manager and Assistant Manager for our beloved Walmart. There I had every kind of leader you could think of. I did my job to the best of my ability. I was always cooperative with my employees. I tried my best to help them wherever I could. Every year the company would ask the employees to rate their Assistants and Manager. I consistently received an 80 to 90 percent approval rating. I always made sure people were doing their jobs. And if they weren’t doing what was expected, I coached them right out the front door. Each coaching was a call for them to improve their work ethic. They had 3 chances to do so. If they didn’t improve, they left the company.

I always treated people fairly. Always trying to coax or cajole them into working as hard as they can. I never yelled or belittled anyone. I would speak to my employees with respect never wavering about the task at hand. Christmas was coming and I had 2 young men moving pallets of goods into different shipping containers. At first it was liking pulling teeth. They resisted doing anything. At lunch time I brought them to a Subway store and bought them lunch. The results were day and night. Those two young men moved more pallets faster than our receiving team. It’s all about how you treat people.

The point is how you treat people. When the work got hard, I would pitch in and help them. People appreciated that I valued people. They would work for me because of that work ethic. I always believe that working hard and doing your best was the right way to do things. I wasn’t working hard because of what people thought. I worked hard because it was who I am. And because I worked hard all the time, I rose in management. I never wanted to be a store manager because it was too much politics and paper work. But I would always do my best to help people.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

To Life and Perspective

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This happened about 10 years ago. A young friend of mine married for the first time. The father of the bride asked his daughter what she wanted to do. He was going to give her a set amount of money and she could spend like she wanted. She and her Fiance and Parents sat down and planned a modest wedding, by some accounts. She didn’t want an ostentatious wedding. She was going to have a nice wedding and keep some of the money for their future. She didn’t spend thousands of dollars on a wedding dress, but it was beautiful. The groom wore a suit and looked handsome.

Her mother fell off a ladder the Monday before the wedding and broke her foot and took 7 stitches in her head. She said she was going to the wedding come hell or high water. She look good and her sons helped her to her place in church. They have 6 six kids, 4 girls and 2 boys. The wedding was lovely. It wasn’t over the top. The daughter used her money wisely and planned everything. Even the 86 year old grandmother looked good. Grandma was going to her granddaughter’s wedding to celebrate life. She got up and danced several times. She had to be assisted to the dance floor by 2 men. But she was going to dance at her granddaughter’s wedding. The mother with the broken foot hardly left the dance floor. The dad talked to everyone and danced with his wife and everyone that asked him. The food was good and party was fun. They all came to celebrate life itself. Everyone had a smile on their face. They didn’t throw rice when the couple left which is traditional. They blew bubbles. In all it was a really sweet time for the family and all the guest. This is about what God gives to us on this earth. Life is hard enough as it is, but God wants to enjoy and celebrate our lives. As it says in the bible: Ecclesiastes 8:15 “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Beauty in Everything.

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It seems that beauty is an obsession with humanity. The beautiful people are believed to be the smartest or richest of all. People seem to flock to them to be seen. So why aren’t the ordinary people seen the same way. Everyone has a heart, both physical and spiritual. That heart craves one thing to be accepted, not to be lonely. We are social beings and don’t want live along. There is an old saying, beauty is skin deep, but ugly is to the bone. There are people who are ordinary looking. They don’t have the standard of beauty that people are judged by. But there beauty is overwhelming if you look for it. There is a line from and old song by Ray Stevens that says, everything is beautiful in it’s own way. I believe this is true. It is what I look for in each person I meet.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as individual as we are. It has always been up to our perception of things. Yet there are things that are universally beautiful. For instances, a rose is a rose, is a rose, by any other name. The shape, the fragrance is unmistakable, a perfect symbol of love and beauty. And then who would call an aardvark beautiful, except for a few naturalists. Yet it is beautiful. Or what would you say to a jackass or a hairless Chihuahua? They are perfect in their own way. When God made people and things on the earth, He made them individual and beautiful. Even a wild rose in the middle of a trash pile is beautiful. So why can’t we see the beauty in people who are different? People or things that are different are usually shunned. If it is terribly different, we turn our backs to it and don’t even recognize it exists. I have said before that I like to open doors or smile at people. I look for the heart of a person, not the outward exterior. You would be surprised at the tenderness of people’s heart when you express yourself. I have had very few people not respond to my acts of kindness. God said we are like a fountain of water. As it pours out of us, how can sweet and sour water flow out of our hearts? Bitter water spoils the sweet water. Yet if you listen to people you can hear the bitter. That is why an act of kindness is always appreciated by most people. And even the hardest of hearts will crack with a kind word. So look for the beauty in this world and you will be surprised at what you will find. I wish for all of you a good day, especially if it is storming outside. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com