Tag Archives: love

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

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

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

There are Good and Bad Conseqences.

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Consequences, most people think about bad ones instead of good ones. There are both good and bad consequences. Sometimes making a bad choice turns into a good one. Those are few and far between. For the most part, we think that our decisions are the right ones. The bible says that man thinks he is right in his own eyes. Until everything goes south quickly. Then we are in fix it mode and try not to tell anyone about. Unless it is monumental and we can’t get out of it. I am not saying that everything we choose is bad. The good is mixed in there with the bad. Unfortunately there is more bad than good. And you know that this is true.

I am writing this because my mother in law died last Saturday. Her life, as far as I saw was that mixture of good and bad. I have plenty of good memories about her, but the bad memories have influenced her family far greater than the good ones. My wife would go to her aunt for advice and comfort, knowing that she could not or would not talk to her mother about whatever. My mother in law had progressive dementia the last few years of her life. My father in law is a decent man, but he also made good and bad choices. Everyone has. There is no getting out of them, unless God changes the circumstances. Both my father and mother in law are Christians. I have seen them live a life for Jesus. So I know where my mother in law is, in heaven. Her trials and tribulations are over. I am grieving for my mother in law. Not only for her absence, but for our family and the legacy that she left behind.

When we think that we are completely right, that is when we need to look at what we have done in this world. To see whether or not it was right. Or whether we need to change our ways. We need to stop and consider what our decisions have done to our family and in general the world around us. And if we judge rightly with the wisdom of God then we can be satisfied with the decisions we have made. God bless and keep you wherever you go.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com