Citizen Soldier

MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN.

2012-01-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

You know I started thinking about this a few weeks ago and was not sure if I needed to write about it. It has been sticking with me for a while now so I guess I better. Have you ever noticed when you talk with people about the Bible they use the term "Bible times." Let me explain this term, OK back in Bible times people lived a lot longer or back in Bible times life was a lot easier, or better yet back in Bible times is the only time miracles happened. Now this is not true.

Miracles are still going on today but you need to open your eyes and see them because they are all around you. Did you know you are a miracle in itself. Think about this for a second, think about your brain ( I know some people are lacking in this area ) It controls everything in your body and you don't have to do a thing. You don't tell yourself to breathe but your brain does, you don't tell your legs to move when you walk they just do. When you wake up in the morning and roll out of bed (some later than others ) you just do it because of the miracle inside your head that has everything programed to do it. We just do it and when you think about it it is just miraculous. Now you are going to be thinking about your breathing and you realize I was right, you just do it. If we had to tell ourselves to breathe there would be a lot of dead people because we forgot to tell ourselves.

Miracles still take place all around us, just think of a sunrise and all the beauty it transpires. You cannot see it if you are one of those late sleepers but it is the best thing in the world. I always like the sunrise when you are out running and you see the sun come up it brings out a new energy in you and you just keep going and it is like you realize that it is a brand new day and you can do anything. How about a sunset and that is a miracle too. I remember when I lived out in California and my wife and I would sit on the beach and watch the sunset. You want to see something spectacular see that. It just appears that the sun is going down into the ocean. Miracles are all around us.

Miracles happen in our personal life too. If you have kids and realized the aspect of a baby growing inside the womb, that is a miracle and it cannot be called anything else. We all seen the pictures of the baby growing and what happen each week while the baby is growing and you think how can that happen. All I can say is that is a miracle. Then when you have that baby and you hold it in your arms and you feel this love like you never felt before. It is love so strong that no matter what happens you will always love them. That my friend is a miracle.

Miracles happen all around us and all we have to do is open our eyes and see them. I am going to challenge you this week to slow down and see the miracles that are all around you. Take a deep breath and know that is a miracle, see a sunrise or sunset and know that is a miracle, see your kids whether they are home or moved away and know that is a miracle.

MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN.

CELL PHONES

2012-01-07T19:39:00.000-06:00

I was at my armory today for drill and as I was walking around doing things that soldiers do. If you walk around with a paper in your hand you can look like you are real busy, I was busy really. I noticed that people cannot put there cell phones up. They remain in their hands and they are constantly texting on them. It is like if they put the phone down they might just die or shrivel up. I am all for technology and the way it helps us progress in this world. If you are having a conversation with someone, this is the old way conversation you know face to face mouth moving and words coming out. Then they get a text and right there your conversation is put on hold until they text back. It makes you feel like you are second fiddle and that text conversation is much more important then what you were saying. You cannot see people's faces anymore because they are always looking down at there phone and waiting for the response from the last text they sent. I was in a meeting the other day and there the phones are on the table and as the meeting is going on texts come and it vibrates the whole table. What have we come too that you can't just call someone to talk too you have to text them. I had a soldier like that once and I would call him and he would not answer. I would leave a message and still no answer. I would text him and say the words "call me" and He would call me in less then a minute. Like I said I am all for technology but if it takes the place of reality then we might need to second guess it. What are we doing and why are we just not talking. I know I heard all the answers and they all come down to one answer. It is just easier to text then to call. I can only say BULL and that is just me. I guess I am just old school who likes to hear a persons voice when I talk to them and not letters on the phone. How would you like to get "I am pregnant" on a text and not hear the excitement in the persons voice who is telling you. You cannot hear your moms voice in a text or your daughters voice and her excitement in whatever she is doing. I think we need to come back to reality and just talk on the phone. You know if you really think about it it is easier to call then it is to text. So that seems to be my gripe for this week. I think we just need to lift our heads from our phones and see all this great beauty that God has given us. You are missing out on so much.

THE YEAR OF........

2011-12-31T11:24:00.000-06:00

It is that time of year again that whenever you turn on the news they are showing everything that happened in the year 2011. They show stuff like, celebrity break-ups in 2011, strange weather from 2011, who did what to who in 2011. I think sometimes it just gets old and you don't want to look back. Sometimes you just have too look back to see what you did last year. I was thinking and trying to figure out, what did I do for New Years Eve last year. I think I did the same thing I will do this year and that is probably fall asleep and bring the new year in right and that is resting. I went back and looked at a lot of my old posts and realized I had a very good year last year. As far as I can see 2011 has been good to me. I know there was some good times and some hard times but all in all it has been a good year. I went ahead and looked at my running journal for 2011 and I was surprised that I ran 149.2 miles in 2011. My best month was in August when I ran 31.8 miles. It is funny you don't think about these things but we accomplish so much in one year. I looked back on it financially and I got a raise at work that I was not expecting. I went from an E-5 to an E-6 last year and that is a little more money. Some times we think that we did nothing or that nothing special happened in the last year but if you really look back you will see how blessed you really are. It is something you really need to think about because it will not come back to you easy but you have come a long way in 2011.

I know some of us made resolutions last year at this time but do you remember what they were. That is why I don't make any except fun ones like I will not eat anything between the hours of 12 midnight and 6am. I always keep that one because I am usually asleep. Why make a resolution that you will not keep. I know for the next 2 months the gym will be crowded because of people making a resolution but I just think about March and they all will be gone. I guess I should not be so negative on resolutions because if it will change your life for the better I need to be more supportive. If we do make resolutions make them small and a goal you can reach because if it is to outrageous then you will probably not keep it. If you do make a resolution this year I will wish you luck and I hope you keep it.

I will admit that the coming year is going to be tough emotionally for us because our older daughter will be graduating from High School and she wants to go off to college and live in the dorms. She will be going to school here in Tennessee but she wants to live in the dorms. Now that is going to be tough on this guy because he does not want his little girl to move away. I know it happens but it is still tough ( I am tearing up as I type this). My other daughter will be getting her license and that will be a big change too because I know that will mean she will be gone more than usual. I am teaching her how to drive and as of right now she is doing a fabulous job. I am so proud of my girls and I know because I mentioned that a few times through out last years blogs. I think 2012 will be a great year.

So what are your resolutions going to be in 2012??????

THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.

2011-12-26T08:24:00.000-06:00

Well it is now December 26th and we are all sitting around and we all have that sigh of relief. It is over and now it is time to get back to our lives and not worry about if we have given the right gift or not. I am sitting here watching the news and just seeing the stores that are opening early just so they can take back everything you did not want or that did not fit. I am thankful this year because I do not have to be in those lines and I can just sit back and watch everyone else do it. I also noticed all the deals you can get at theses after Christmas sales and I was wondering why did they not give these deals before Christmas and maybe they would have a better outcome. I guess it is all in the planning and getting the green stuff. Now I am looking at the Christmas tree and wondering when I am going to have to climb up into the attic and get all the boxes down so we can put it away for another year. I guess I an start planning for our next great holiday and that is new years day. This is another great holiday because we make all those resolutions and then there is the people that say I do not make any resolutions but we always do. We always make resolutions one way or another. I guess the one I do not like is the gym resolution because for the first 2 months after the new year the gyms get crowded. I belong to a gym and I seen it over and over again and I always say by March it will be back to normal. Well I guess I will get back to the day after Christmas and get ready to get to work, wait I do not have to work today so I can continue sitting around in my sweats and just drink some more coffee. I am hoping that all my readers out there had a great Christmas and I am also hoping that you are not in these lines this morning returning something. I guess I need to get out to the stores and see if I can get a good deal on running shoes, I need a new pair so I can continue running. My other pair still looks good but they are wore out. So I guess I am going to become one of those after Christmas shoppers. I hope you all have a great after Christmas day and that you enjoy your family because soon it will be over and we will all be back to the hustle and bustle of life. Y'all have a great day and enjoy the after Christmas returns or deals.

CHRISTMAS

2011-12-25T06:16:00.000-06:00

Here I am up before everyone else and just sitting here watching the news and drinking coffee. I was just wondering and remembering the times my wife and I stayed up late putting the finishing touches on Christmas. If I do remember right, my wife put the finishing touches on the wrapping and getting the toys under the tree. It is funny how we think back to when we were a kid about what we got for Christmas. I remember the big wheel I got and it seemed that I would not get off that thing. I rode that thing until it literally broke and it lasted a few years. I remember for years that every year I would ask for a race track and I got one and the next one was always bigger and better than the first. Well at least I thought so. Now Christmas seems different when your kids are growing up, it is still exciting but you just don't see that excited face like you did when they were kids. I guess as we get older and they get older we just need to be happy and enjoy every Christmas and make as many memories as we can. So today I just want to say Merry Christmas to my family and friends. Christmas is not the same if you do not have loved ones to share it with. I also want to say Happy Birthday Jesus if not for you we would not have this great reason for the season. To all my readers I hope you all have a great Christmas and also a great next year. Thanks for reading....

THE COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS.

2011-11-26T08:16:00.001-06:00

It is now after Thanksgiving and I remember as a kid that is when we started our countdown to Christmas. I do not remember Black Friday's when I was growing up, I do remember the anticipation of Christmas. In my house we always wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our tree and we did that yesterday 11/25/11 and my girls did it and all I had to do was climb up into the attic to get it all down. They did a great job putting up the tree and it looks real nice. I sometimes get depressed when putting up the tree because I remember as a kid all the arguments we would have in our family when the tree went up. It would sometimes get bad where I would just go outside and let them deal with it. I know I should not be that way because that does not happen now but the memories always come flooding back. I did have some good Christmas's and I still remember some of the gifts I got as a kid. I remember the big yellow Tonka truck and yes it was made out of metal not plastic like today. I remember the big wheel I got, it had two speeds high and low and I played on that thing for years. I remember my first skate board and how many times I fell off of it too. As we get older Christmas does not seem as special anymore, I guess it is because I am older. Well enough about the blah stuff we need to get back to the countdown. It seems the countdown starts in stores right after Halloween and they start putting up Christmas stuff. We seem to go right to Christmas and forget all about Thanksgiving. I guess as they say Christmas has become all about the mighty dollar and not about the real reason. I am very thankful because I am home with my family. So how did you countdown to Christmas? I remember as a kid we would do the paper chain thing and cut off a link everyday until Christmas eve. We had a advent calender for our kids and it would have a piece of chocolate hidden behind the door that you opened. I would countdown the days until we got out of school for Christmas break and then we knew we only had a couple of days until Christmas. I also remember as a kid the one thing you did not want to get was clothes that was a real downer. No matter what Christmas there was you always got some piece of clothing. Now I look back at my list for this year and I asked for clothes. Let's remember what Christmas is all about, it is about giving and not getting. Remember God GAVE us His son. As of right now 11/26/11 there are 30 days until Christmas so let the countdown to Christmas begin. I like to end this blog with a question. What was your best Christmas?

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?????

2011-11-23T19:08:00.000-06:00

    It is that time of year again where we sit down to a big dinner and while we are eating you hear the question. What are you thankful for? It usually gets asked and it is asked every year and we are still stumped by the question. We sit back and you can see their faces and they are just wondering "what am I thankful for?" Now the answers we get are not wrong or are they bad but they are so ordinary. Here are a few examples and these examples are good to be thankful for. I am thankful for my family, I am thankful for my health, I am thankful for my job.

    I want to share what I am thankful for, I am thankful for August 1987. I was stationed at Fort Ord Ca. and I went to church at Seaside Assembly of God in Seaside Ca. That is when I was introduced to my future wife and we became friends and it just moved on from there. I am thankful for February 1990, I was deployed on December 19th 1989 to Panama for Operation Just Cause. I was gone over the Christmas holiday and as any soldier knows that is really tough to be gone over Christmas. I got home in February and my girlfriend(Wife now) still had there Christmas tree up waiting for me to come home. I think the best part was that the tree was still up but it was now decorated in Hearts for Valentines day.

   I am thankful for October 20th 1990, that is when my girlfriend became my lovely wife and we have been married now for 21 years. I am thankful for October 12th 1994, the year my first daughter was born and the blessing that was put into my arms that evening. I am thankful for May 15th 1996, the day my second daughter was born and I could not have been a more happy man. I am a very proud dad of both my daughters and proud of who they are becoming in the Lord.

    I know this one will sound weird but I am thankful for the struggles we had through the years. I guess if life was easy then there really would not be anything to be thankful for. The struggles made us stronger and we learned to trust the Lord more and to rely on each other for strength. I am thankful for the decision we made to homeschool our girls and that has been a big blessing. I guess I am biased but they do have the smartest and prettiest teacher.

   Well if you look back at everything I just wrote I am very thankful for my family. So now I leave the question in your hands and that is what are you thankful for? I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

AUTOMATIC FLUSHERS

2011-11-18T19:24:00.000-06:00

I was standing in the bathroom and it finally hit me. We are so stinking lazy anymore. We have had these in our company bathrooms for years now and I don't know why but it hit me. We cannot even flush the toilet anymore it is all automated. Just do what you have to do and walk away and it will flush all by itself. Now that is the urinals and yes it is convenient but come on how lazy can we be. Now it comes down to the toilets and you are just sitting there and you want to be nice and give that courtesy flush. Before you would reach back there and hit the handle and of course you will yell "COURTESY FLUSH". Now you have to reach back there and find that little button and you just keep feeling back there and it is not very easy to find. There is the next best thing you just try to move your body around so it gets out of the way of the sensor so it will flush. It is like you are doing a dance inside the stall and by the time you are done you are to tired to yell anything. Then a second after you get up off the toilet you hear it flush and you wonder why did I dance in there I should have just stood up.

Then you walk to the sink to wash your hands you just hold them under the faucet and the water turns on by itself. No more handles to turn on or off just slide your hands in and get them wet so you can go to the automatic soap dispenser. Yes just get the soap automatically and wash away. It gets better because the paper towels are all automatic too, just find the sensor and hold your hand under and here comes the towels. Now I do not mind all this but you tend to get use to it and rely on it too much. I do this for a month at work and then I go to my armory for a drill weekend and I go in the bathroom to use it and then just walk away. As I am walking away I realize the toilet did not flush and I have to go back and flush it because it is not automatic. Wow I cannot believe how lazy we got. Well as I go wash my hands I hold my hands under the faucets and actually wait a second or too and wonder why the water is not coming out. Oh yeah I need to turn the handles to get water. I guess I should not complain because there are people who do not flush anyway so I should be thankful something is flushing for them. I guess I should be happy but if they come up with automatic wipers then I must just have to go with the flow. Let's just hope they are gentle.

FOUR DAY DRILL WEEKEND.

2011-11-14T06:33:00.000-06:00

Well here I am again and still not having anything interesting to write about. My family is doing great and my older daughter is looking at Vanderbilt or Lipscomb university for colleges. You know I miss doing this so I just need to make myself do this. I was gone the last four days with the National Guard and it was time to qualify with our weapons again. I was in charge of the HEAT trainer on Saturday. The HEAT trainer is a mock Humvee that teaches soldiers how to handle rollovers. It was fun because they have cameras set up inside and you get to see what is going on inside. Just seeing the looks on peoples faces is the best. I like the ones that come in and never been through it before, you can just see the scared looks on there faces. They go through it and when they come out it is like "Can I do that again." The one person who wanted to do this over and over again was our Chaplain. He was a great sport and did it a few times. At one point I put him as the leader of the vehicle and it was fun watching him let the other soldiers know what is going to happen and what to do when they get out of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is upside down you need to find the unlocked door get out and then pull security around the vehicle. As you know Chaplains do not carry weapons so as the soldiers got out with there mock weapons to pull security the Chaplain got out with his Bible in hand. It was the funniest thing I ever seen and he had his weapon (Bible) drawn and ready to go. I am so thankful for having a great Chaplain for our soldiers. All in all it was a great weekend and but it is always better to be home with my wife and girls. I believe we have a pretty good MP platoon now. You always have changes in the military whether it is people getting promoted and moving on or people getting out and then there are always new people coming in. This weekend proved that our MP's are going to be a pretty good platoon. We have some very good soldiers and some good leadership. Well I said enough for now I will be back. Y'all have a great day. I can't believe this Yankee is saying Y'all.

FAIR WEATHER FANS

2011-10-03T07:44:00.007-05:00

1. I started to think today about fair weather fans. I looked it up and the definition of a fair weather fan is a fan of a sports team who only shows support when the team is doing well. During hard times they usually bandwagon other teams. Now this is true today because in one case or another we are all fair weather fans. Let’s take for instance the Detroit Lions, how many fans had dropped them because of their past record. How many of those fans are now joining back up with the team because they are 4 -0 right now. They are jumping back on the bandwagon now. I also started thinking about a baseball player who might be in a slump right now and not hitting very good or not hitting at all. Sometimes this might be our favorite player and we tend to not support him anymore because he is not doing what he supposed to be doing. Now when a baseball player gets into a slump he has a tendency to blame the coach (Pastor) but it is not the coaches (Pastor’s) fault he is in a slump. So then the ball player may blame the team (Church) and again it is not the Teams (Church’s) fault that the player is in a slump. It is the player himself who is at fault. I don’t believe I have ever seen a ball player who was in a slump change teams (Churches). The ball player would start asking for some advice from the coach (Pastor) on things that he is doing and how he can get better at what this slump is all about. I think that maybe if he came to the team (Church) and asked for help on his slump someone will be there to help coach (Mentor) him out of this slump he is in. I just don’t believe in changing teams (Churches) just because you are in a slump. It probably is not the coaches (Pastors) or the teams (Churches) Fault; it could be your own fault. I think if a player changed teams (Churches) every time he was in a slump he will realize the slump just moved from one team (Church) to another. I have been a fair weather fan when it has come to sports and I will admit that but I have not been a fair weather fan when it comes to my church. I have been in 3 churches since I have been saved and the only reason I left those was because I moved to another state. I have hung in there and seen some tough times but I am not willing to change teams (Church’s) because of a slump. I know I will receive some negative feedback on this once I post it to Facebook but it is how I feel right now and I feel some people are in slumps and there going in the wrong direction by switching teams (Church’s). I think we need to hang in there with the coach (Pastor) and the team (Church) and see where it leads us. One day we are going to make the championship game because we hung in there and we were not fair weather fans.

SATURDAY

2011-09-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

Today is Saturday and it is a day in the week that you get everything done that you could not do throughout the week because you were working. I know we all go through the same thing, we are at work and something comes up and the first thing you say is I will get that Saturday. It happens everyday of the week that when friday gets here you are totally swamped on Saturday. You start thinking about all the things you got to do and you start prioritizing what needs to get done first. The first thing we want to do is sleep in because we get up early every other day of the week. That is a great thought and you go to bed on Friday night and you don't set the alarm and you are thinking, it is going to be great to sleep in. Then it happens you wake up at least twice to go to the bathroom and when you wake up you have a tough time getting back to sleep. You finally doze off and your body clock wakes you up and you are sitting on the couch drinking coffee and updating your blog. Why not you are up and everyone else in the family is still asleep. I still got the list of the things I need to do and most of it is outside and it is raining outside this morning so that should clear up my list a little bit. I think what I will do is just put the list off until next Saturday and then try again. I will just go and hang out with my wife and have a great day. So this Saturday the list can wait and I will not worry about it. Y'all have a great day today and throw the list away. You will never get it done anyway.

THANKS

2011-09-17T07:54:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I wrote on my blog and I want to say I am sorry for not blogging. I cannot blame it on busyness, all I can blame it on is laziness. I do want you to know that I have been getting on and reading the blogs I follow and I always find something that just gets me going. To all the blogs I follow thank for the laughs the inspiration and that little something that make me go HMMMMM. Well my older daughter is a senior this year so know we are looking at colleges and that is a scary process. You really don't know all you got to do until you start looking into it. It makes you say we should have started a long time ago. We will get through it one way or another. My youngest is a sophomore and she can't seem to spend one hour without getting on facebook. I guess I should not say anything I get on there a lot myself. Well I promise I will do better with blogging so I can get all my followers back to reading mine. Thanks again to all the blogs I follow. Blog at you soon.

THE REASON FOR EVERYTHING.

2011-08-14T15:45:00.000-05:00

This morning in Sunday school I taught on God's Glory. It is amazing how we look around and we see His amazing glory everywhere. I know you have seen it too in a beautiful sunrise or sunset or in a flower as you were walking down the street. My daughter Katie has been taking pictures of sunsets, clouds, and flowers. She is the one who took these pics.

I look at her pics and I can just see God in it all, you look at the sky and it is his canvas and and the clouds are His paint. It is just amazing to see what He does with what He has given us.

It is so awesome to look at what He gives us and we just pass it by because we are so busy and we don't look anymore. There is an old saying that sometimes we need to stop and smell the roses. We seem to be in such a hurry anymore we do not notice the things God has given us.

The flowers are there for us to look at and smell and see God's beauty in it all but again we are so busy we do not realize that God has given us a gift and we just don't see it anymore. You want to see the glory of God then all you have to do is just look around and you will see it. He is there giving you gifts everyday and He is just wanting you to appreciate the things He has given you. Just look at the flower and the intricacies of the flower and you just have to stand in awe as to what God has created for you.

The flower is so amazing a when you look at it and bring it up close to your eyes to really see it's beauty. It is so awesome what God has given us. One thing we must remember is this " Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory. Romans 11:36". The other thing to remember is this "The Lord has made everything for his own purposes. Proverbs 16:4". You know when we were created we were created for Him and to glorify Him. I think it is so awesome how God is and He gives us so much to be thankful for. Now you really want to see God, look at your kids and you remember the day they were born and the awesomeness of God and how He created that little child and how it was born. God is so cool. Here is a video by George Straight and remember these words I saw God today.

HOME FROM ANNUAL TRAINING.

2011-08-02T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well I got home Saturday evening from my lovely trip down to Mississippi. It was very hot down there but we managed to get through it. Life is different as an E-6 and you get to get away from the soldiers and have some room to yourself. We had some great training and the time went by fast. One of the big things we trained on was the Hummv rollover. I got trained on running the machine and it was great watching these soldiers roll over and over and over again. Then it was even better when you kept them upside down and they had to get out of the vehicle. I did have a good two weeks but as always I was glad to come home. Today is August 2nd and today it has been one year since I got home from Iraq and this year went by real fast. I am real glad to be home and be with my family. I was wondering something and would like to know what happened to talking without using the F#$% word. I am not a cussing man and I don't ever think I have been but when you cannot complete a sentence without putting the F#$% word in it something is wrong. I just wonder if it is just in the military or is it happening everywhere. I do not notice it much in the civilian side but it seems like when we put the uniform on things change. I guess it could be my older age and my up bringing but it does seem very strange. The other thing that is strange is that the woman are just as bad if not worse. I guess I have to just not let myself get caught up in it and stay the way I am. Well I hope I do better updating my blog as well as the blogs that I read. Y'all have a great night or day as I do not know when you will read this.

ANNUAL TRAINING

2011-07-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

Well I will be gone for a few weeks. I am heading off to the National Guards annual pilgrimage. I was wondering who comes up with the places we go for our annual training. I live in Tn and we are headed south for our training. It is already the middle of July here and HOT and we are heading south where it will be much more HOTTER. I believe the people that plan these thing are the people who do not need to be out in it training. They will be sitting back a in the air conditioning waiting on the reports on how the training is going. I think if they got out in it we would be having our annual training in the fall instead of the middle of summer. Well I will be gone for 2 weeks so y'all have a good time and talk to you in 2 weeks.

TIME TO GET BACK TO WORK AND GET SOME REST.

2011-07-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

Well as I said in my blog before, I took this last week off to help our youth group to sell fireworks and I was the night security. Well tonight is going to be my last night sleeping on the pavement with my aluminum bat in tow. I live in Hendersonville TN and we had our fireworks display last night on the 3rd and our church has the hospitality tent for our city. It is just a very big tent we set up so that people can come and sit down with there food and just get out of the direct sunlight for a break. This year our church gave out free watermelon to anybody who wanted it. We did have a surprise this year and someone donated over 600 Klondike Bars to give away. I also worked this tent all day on the 3rd. I got there around 12 in the afternoon and did not get home until almost midnight, that made for a very long day. It was interesting when you ask people if they want watermelon or ice cream and they look at you funny. I told them it was free and it is like a big smile comes on your face because everything and I mean everything tastes so much better when it is free. We had a great fireworks display and our city out did themselves again. Well now I need to get ready to take that hour long drive to spend the night on my favorite parking lot right outside Wal-mart. Well I hope everyone had a great weekend and a very safe holiday. I have one more day off tomorrow and back to work on Wednesday. That is when my rest will come and then in a week and a half I head to lovely Camp Shelby MS for my annual training with the National Guard. Y'all have a great night.

CUTTING GRASS

2011-06-25T15:33:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday I posted that I was heading out to cut grass. As I got off the computer and started putting on my grass cutting shoes, I got a phone call. We were suppose to be meeting the truck with our fireworks for our stand at 3pm so I had plenty of time to cut grass. Well the phone call was from our youth pastor and he told me the fireworks are being delivered early and we had to be there by 12. So the grass got put off until today when I got home. I was the first night security for watching the fireworks so no one steals any, so I got there by 12 and we unloaded the truck and inventoried everything and set everything up. The crew left at 9pm that night and left me to stay guard. It was a very long night. I did get some company from another guy for about 5 hours so that helped. I left there about 10am this morning got home and started cutting the grass. I want to mention that I have a GREAT WIFE and she helped me out by cutting the backyard while I cut the front. She is a wonderful lady. Well the grass is done for another week and now I am sitting here typing this blog. Oh by the way I want to mention that our fireworks stand is in a Walmart parking lot. That is one store that stays very busy. I was up at 4:30am and there were people going in shopping at that early in the morning. I was just thinking that maybe the doughnuts are fresher that early. Well maybe I will go find out the next time I stay the night. Well y'all have a great day.

HELLO MY FRIENDS IN BLOGVILLE.

2011-06-24T07:12:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a while since I blogged and now I am back for a while and I hoped you missed me. Things have been going OK in my world and I have been staying very busy. Let's see what has been going on. My daughters are well into there summer and are busy at church and hanging with friends. The grass continues to grow and needs to be cut every week. The humidity here in TN increases daily and according to the calendar summer just began. It is going to be a long summer. I got a promotion in the National Guard and went from a Sergeant (E-5) to a Staff Sergeant (E-6). I am on a working vacation starting today and I do not go back to work until the 6th of July. My church's youth group is selling fireworks for the next ten days as a fundraiser to raise money to go to Arizona in August. So as you know I have 2 teenage daughters in this youth group so now you know where I will be working on my vacation. It will be fun and when you deal with the public it will always be interesting. Well I guess it is going to be a very busy summer but as a dad I guess I will do what I need to do to get through it. As I mentioned earlier about the grass, I got to go so I can get started on it. Y'all have a great day.

MEMORIAL DAY

2011-05-25T06:43:00.002-05:00

Well it started a few days ago and yo know what it is. We all need to get out and buy something because we will save a lot of money this Memorial Day. Sales adds are popping up everywhere, on the TV, in the newspaper, you just cannot get away from it. You don't see adds for remember what was done for our freedom, let's take some time to remember our fallen heroes, let's remember the cost of our freedom. So what do we get instead we get this

We need to remember that this Monday May 30th is a day to remember the cost that was paid for our freedom. I know some people think it is a somber day because it deals with death but if you think about it someone had to die so we can live. I was watching a news show once about organ donors and a woman on the show said someone had to die so we can live. That has been a thought that has been going through my head a lot lately. I guess that phrase can fit for this weekend " Someone had to die so we can be free." So this memorial day before we head out to get all those great Memorial Day savings let's take some time to remember this

I hope this weekend we REMEMBER what freedom is all about. To all my heroes who serve today or has already served or has given the ultimate sacrifice. I salute you.

Armed Forces Day

2011-05-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all our Armed Forces.

THE PROM

2011-05-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

Last night was a big night for my daughter, she went to the prom and did she ever look beautiful. It could not have been a better day for her and all the things she did that day to get ready. I was on my way home from work and as I always do I call home to see if I need to stop and get anything. Well my wife informs me to be prepared when you get home because your daughter was all made up and hair done and when I walked in the door she looked great. My daughter was transformed from a young girl to a beautiful young woman and I was a very proud dad. The prom she attended was in Smyrna TN and it was about a 45 minute drive. We took her there and dropped her off and she hung out with some friends there, so my wife and I took advantage of the situation and made a date night out of it. It has been a while since we had a date night and it is something we need to do more often. The prom ended at midnight and we went back and picked her up and she had a great time. Well now I want to show you how beautiful my daughter is.

Now you need to look out for the guy in the pic because if you mess with her you will get all of me. I am so proud of my daughter on this prom night. I am glad she had a good time.

TIME KEEPS ON TICKING.

2011-05-04T05:59:00.000-05:00

You ever wish you can stop time. Not go back in time but maybe slow it down a bit. My older daughter is pretty much done with school for this year and she will become a senior in high school. My youngest one will be a sophomore in high school. My oldest is also going to the prom this Friday night and she looks great in her gown. It seems like they were just born and they should still be that way. I mean if you think about it time is just flying bye. My oldest is looking into colleges and she wants to go away for college, now that don't bother me too much until the day she leaves. I guess you could say that I am a proud Dad and that I hate to see her leave. My youngest will be getting ready to take her driving test so she can get her permit. I am so proud of my kids though because they have done such a great job in school and they will do a great job in life. I am glad because they are serving the Lord and care for people. I guess I am just getting emotional and I know that is alright but time is going by to fast. Well time to get ready for work again. Write again soon.

THREE DAY WEEKENDS

2011-04-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

Well here you are looking at a three day weekend and you think "wow I can sleep in." Well have you ever noticed that you work harder on a three day weekend than you do on a regular weekend. Let me share mine, mine started out on Friday morning and yes I thought I would sleep in a little bit. Yes I guess you can say I did sleep in because I am usually up at 4:30 and I got up at 6. My day started out around 7:30 and I was cutting up 2 trees that fell down from one of the storms that hit us 2 weeks ago here in Tennessee. The trees that fell were not mine but unfortunately they fell on to my property so my neighbor and I took care of them and got them all cut up. From there I was able to cut the grass where the trees have fallen and it was probably 1 foot high in that area. Then it was off to the church for our Easter play practice. I am playing a Roman soldier and my job in the play is to whip Jesus and put him on the cross. It is really a tough role because it really makes you think. Well here it is Saturday morning and I was up at 6 and now I am ready to get the rest of the grass cut and then back to church for play practice again. I look forward to Sundays because for me it is a day of rest and yes when I get home from church I start thinking about all the things I can be doing but I don't do it because it is a day of rest. You know I was thinking about a saying that I always say after working so hard on a weekend and that saying is " I can't wait to get back to work and get some rest." Well it is 7: 30 am and I need to get going and get started so I can get finished. I am looking forward to my day of rest and I can just relax.

Now this is the life

Well I need to stop thinking about relaxing and get to work. I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Easter to all. Remember this is the day the Lord has made.

WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT?????

2011-04-20T08:01:00.000-05:00

It seems I have not been writing a lot lately since I got back home. Sometimes I just don't know what to write about and so I just think of things to write about. Then I sit down to write about them and say to myself "self they don't want to hear about that." I really enjoy the blogs that I follow and read a lot of them and it is something I do everyday, so thanks for writing. Well back to my dilemma and wondering what I should write about. I guess I live a normal life and nothing exciting really happens so I just read and not write. So I guess I got a case of writers block and looking for suggestions. I guess if I just open my eyes I have a lot to write about and just sitting here I have come up with a few of them. I still want your suggestions but be looking forward to some blogs about my kids, they are so GREAT. Thanks for letting me vent and thanks for reading. Y'all have a great day.

MY HERO

2011-04-18T17:54:00.000-05:00

We all have Heroes and this is mine. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. I hope you realize He died for you too.

Government Let Down

2011-04-09T14:28:00.000-05:00

This blog was taken from RE-UP! I Am an Army Lifer... and this says it all. Please read

Government Let Down

It has taken me several hours to calm down after we checked online to see what we were getting paid, this pay period. And, not that I should be surprised, we found that our pay has been cut. We all heard the threats of a Government Shut Down, but I never would have thought, in a million years, that they would do this to the people who are risking their lives on a daily basis to protect them. Congress just gave themselves $4000.00 raises and yet, we are taking the hit! I signed a contract and swore an oath to defend this nation against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, so I will continue to serve and guard the people of the United States! But, I find it so difficult to believe that many thousands of families should have to suffer for the lack of leadership in this Country! How many of us have lived paycheck to paycheck, working the most dangerous job in the world? Of all the ways to save a buck, they chose to take it from the people they trained to kill for a living!

There are Values that the Army lives by, we recite them on a daily basis...Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage! I have heard so many soldiers say that they will not work for free but, I hope they realize that, no matter what, we still have a job to do and this Country still needs us! I hope this is a wake-up call for America and we remember what is happening when it's election time!

I am an American Soldier,
I am a Warrior and a member of a team!
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values!
I will always place the mission first!
I will never accept defeat!
I will never leave a fallen Comrade!
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough,
Trained and Proficient in my warrior tasks and drills!
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself!
I am an expert and I am a professional!
I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America,
In close combat!
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life!

I am an American Soldier!

I remember being on active duty and not voting because I was young and stupid. I think it is time that the government realizes how many votes are out there and that if the military will stand up and cast there vote we might have a big change come election time. Guys do your part even if it is by absentee ballot, your vote still counts. I also believe that our Congress and senate should look up to the people that are defending them and this country and not cut there pay. I think if anything the Congress and Senate,s pay should be cut first before anything else. You know when you run a business and that is what the government is a business. A good boss will pay there employees first before they got there's and with our government the Congress and the Senate takes there's first. I believe the tables are turned and we as a country need to take it all back on election day and get rid of some of these so called career politicians. They are not in it for us they are in it for themselves. Let's take our country back. Remember you have the right to vote whether you are home or over seas, cast your ballot and let's not let this military cut happen again. Thanks to RE-UP! I Am an Army Lifer... for letting me repost his blog and add to it. LET'S DO IT MILITARY ON ELECTION DAY. GET OUT AND VOTE.

FLASHBACK TO THE 80'S

2011-03-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

I was at the gym the other day doing my workout and I heard a great song and it really made me laugh and think. I seem to be doing a lot of thinking and remembering while I am at the gym. I guess if I really need to think about something then I will go to the gym and think about it. It just might work well now let me get off that rabbit trail. I started thinking about the 80's, what a great decade that was. We had such great groups like Journey, Foreigner, AC/DC, Van Halen and many many more. The flash back I had was do you remember backward masking and the great controversy there was around the rock music. People were saying there were satanic messages in the song if you played it backwards. I remember this well because it became a big thing and at one point in my life I really believed it. Now that I am older and I look back on it and I realize how stupid this really was. There is a christian comedian who had this as a topic and he said that if we do play our records backwards then maybe we need to hear a message from Satan. I thought that was funny and he also said that if we played it backwards maybe the message is "Hey your going the wrong way." I think it is funny how over the years we have so much stuff that people are against and sometimes when you are against it and you protest it it just makes people want to do it all the more. So now I am going to ask you a question did you ever try playing a record backwards to hear what it said? Well now back to what I heard on my ipod while I was at the gym. What really got me thinking was that the only music that had a message in it backwards was rock music. Well the song I heard was a country song and you play it forwards and you can hear the message. It is a song by Rascal Flatts and here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHeL-6jMgNA I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. Now let's just keep playing them forward.

THE OLD GUYS

2011-03-14T18:50:00.000-05:00

I started this blog off as the old guys and here is why. What is going on with are yound men and woman this day and age. I guess it all comes down to how we were brought and raised up. Now what I am about to say does not represent all young people but it does represent most. I have been brought and raised up to work hard and do it until you are done. This day in age we are finding ways to do things by creating shortcuts and things are not being done right. Well as I said before I am 45 years old and I am in the National Guard and we have our PT test coming up and this is a test that needs to be passed if you want to go to schools or even get promoted. Our PT test consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. You do have guidelines on how many you need to do in 2 minutes to pass and it is not that hard to just pass it. The 2 mile run is the same thing you have a time limit what you need to pass it. Well I took mine today and to just pass it you need to get a score of 180. Well I got a score of 275 and if you look back up and see my age. I am writing this because I have a friend who is in the Guard with me and he is just a few years younger than me and he passed. Someone came up to him and said how come all the old guys are passing the PT test. He got a little offended by it but I told him it is a good compliment. We were brought and raised up differently than the younger kids today. We make plans and we know the PT test is coming up and we start working on it so we can pass it and the younger generation just don't do that. I guess they don't think they will fail it because they are so much younger than us old guys. I am proud to being an old guy and kicking some young kids butt in PT. I guess I am proud but I work hard at it. In the Guard we don't really do PT on a regular basis because we meet one weekend a month but us old guys realize that and we train on our own. I am very proud to be among the old guys. We need to start showing these young kids the way things should be. I guess that is why my daughters don't just get things handed to them and sometimes you got to earn your keep. They are going to do great in life. Well old guys let's get out there and start hunting them down and show these young guys what hard work is.

YOU ARE WITH ME

2011-03-06T15:35:00.000-06:00

Did you know that David was "Lonely." He had 7 other brothers and he was still lonely. Lonliness is one of the burdens we talked about today in Sunday School. David was the youngest in the family and I guess you can say he was the runt of the family. While Samual was looking at his other brothers he was out watching the sheep. He was not even thought of until Samual said is this all your sons. That is when Jesse remembered that David was still out in the field. Can you imagine having a family meeting called and you were not even thought of?

David was no stranger to lonlines. You aren't either. By now you've learned that you don't have to be alone to feel lonely. Two thousand years ago 250 million people populated the earth. Now there are more than 5 billion. If lonliness could be cured by the presence of people, then surely there would be less lonliness today. But lonliness lingers. A person can be surrounded by a church and still be lonely. Lonliness is not the absense of faces. It is the absense of intimacy. Lonliness doesn't come from being alone; it comes from feeling alone. Feeling as if you are facing death alone, facing disease alone, facing the future alone.

Whether it strikes you in your bed at night or on your drive to the hospital, in the silence of an empty house or the noise of a a crowded bar, lonliness is when you think, I feel so alone. Does anyone care. We feel sometimes that lonliness is a curse and we should turn from it. Rather than turn from lonliness, what if we turned toward it? Could it be that lonliness is not a curse but a gift? A gift from God. I woner if lonliness is God's way of getting our attention. Now use your imagination.

Suppose you were borrowing someone's car and you were driving down the road. You noticed the radio does not work and so you start talking to yourself. You can only talk to yourself for so long and then the silence starts to get very loud. You noticed he had some CD's and so you start looking for music, your music(country) and all he has is his music(classical). You are not into classical music and you are tired of talking to yourself so you give it a try. It is not to long and you start getting into the music and you are tapping your finger on the steering wheel and you are starting to hum to the music. You think to your self "Hey this isn't so bad."

Now let me ask you. Would you have made the discovery on your own? No. What led to it? What caused you to hear the music you'd never heard before? Simple. You had no other choice, no other option. You took a chance on a song you'd never heard. Oh, how God wants you to hear his music. He has a rhythm that will race your heart and lyrics that will stir your tears. You want to journey to the stars? He can take you there. You want to lie down in peace? His music can soothe your soul. But first, he's got to get rid of that other stuff in our lives. One by one God removes the things in our lives and it all comes down to just you and God. He becomes our only option and what a great option it is.

If He must silence every voice, he will. He wants you to hear His music. He wants you to discover what David discovered and th be able to say what David said. " You are with me." The Lord is with me. The Creator is with me. Yahweh is with me. Moses proclamed it: For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him. Deut 4:7.

Paul announced it: “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:27. And David discovered it: "You are with me."

Somewhere in the pasture, wilderness, or palace, David discovered that God meant business when he said:
What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Gen 28:15.
The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. Psalm 94:14.
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deut 31:6.

The discovery of David is indeed the message of Scripture--The Lord is with us. And since the Lord is near, everything is different. EVERYTHING! You may be facing unemployment but you will not be facing it alone. You may be facing marital struggles but you will not be facing them alone. You may be facing debt but you will not be facing it alone. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff comfort me. Psalm 23:4. Find that verse in your Bible and underline it for yourself. You are never alone. God is always near and ready to hear our call for him.

Lonliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? If a season of solitude is his way to teach you to hear his song, don't you think it's worth it.

This was taken from Max Lucado's book traveling light.

I WILL FEAR NO EVIL.

2011-03-01T19:15:00.000-06:00

You know when we think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we think of Jesus sitting or kneeling ever so gently. Kind of like this pic.

His face is soft, hands calmly folded as he kneels and prays One reading of the Gospels disrupts that image. Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him, Mark 14:35. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Matt 26:37-38. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44
Equipped with those passages, how would you paint the scene? Jesus flat on the ground? Face in the dirt? Extended hands gripping grass? Body rising and falling with sobs? What do we do with this image? Simple we turn to it when we look the same. We read it when we feel the same. We read it when we feel afraid. For isn't it likely that fear is one of the emotions Jesus felt. One might even say that fear is the primary emotion. He saw something in the future so fierce, so foreboding that he begged for a change of plans. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42.

What causes you to pray the same prayer, to put it another way what is your biggest FEAR? Heights? Snakes? Spiders? Crowds? What is yours?

How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear. But how kind that he told us about it. We tend to do the opposite. Gloss over our fears. Cover them up. Keep our sweaty palms in our pockets, our nausea and dry mouths a secret. Not so with Jesus. We see no mask of strength. But we do hear a request for strength. " Father if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering." The first one to hear his fear was his father. He could have gone to his mother. He could have confided in his disciples. He could have assembled a prayer meeting. All would have been appropriate, but none were his priority. He went first to his father. Oh, how we tend to go everywhere else. First to the bar, to the counselor, to the self help book or the friend next door. Not Jesus. The first one to hear his fear was his father in heaven.

How do you avoid life's Garden of Gethsamane? You don't. You just enter them but when you do you don't enter them alone. While you are there be honest. Pounding the ground is permitted. Tears are allowed. And if you sweat blood, you won't be the first. Do what Jesus did and open your heart and be specific with your garden. Jesus was "Take this cup," he prayed. Give God what you are fearful of. Tell him the flight number. Tell him how long the speech is. Share the details of your garden. He has plenty of time. He also has plenty of compassion.

He doesn't think your fears are foolish or silly. He won't tell you to "buck up" or "get tough." He's been where you are. He knows how you feel. And he knows what you need. Thats why we punctuate our prayers as Jesus did. "If you are willing....."

Was God willing? Yes and no. He didn't take away the cross, but he took the fear. God didn't still the storm, but he calmed the sailor. Who's to say that he won't do the same for you? Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6.

Don't measure the size of the mountain; talk to the one who can move it. Instead of carrying the world on your shoulders, talk to the One who holds the universe on his. Hope is just a look away. Give your fears to God first and let him guide you through them. He has already been through it so who better to turn to.

This was taken from Max Lucado's book Traveling Light.

WHAT'S YOUR MOTIVATION

2011-02-26T15:56:00.000-06:00

So I am going to start off with a question. What motivates you? Now why the question well I needed to get motivated this morning for my long run of the day. I woke up at 4:30 am just because nature called and on my way to the bathroom I noticed my ankle was a little sore. So immediately I thought well I can't run today. I was thinking of excuses to not run, I believe it was just pure laziness and I did not want to run. One of the excuses was, I had to take my daughter into church this morning for a youth function and it made me have to run at a later time than usual. That became an excuse for not to run. I guess sometimes you cannot listen to the little voices in your head telling you not to do something. I am glad I did not listen and went out and did. I ran my 6.2 miles this morning and it turned out to be a great day. I guess you can say my motivation came from the NIKE slogan, "Just Do It." I just went out and did it and glad I did. I think one of the things you need while running is just a great attitude and some great music. So now back to my question I started with. What motivates you?

IMAGINE

2011-02-21T18:08:00.000-06:00

It is funny the things that go through your head while you are working out. You start imagining things like, I could be in bed, I wish I were finished, or I wonder what is going to be going on this week. Our minds are a very powerful instrument. To prove it to you I want you to think about your earliest childhood memory. Mine goes back to when I was around 6 and I had a big wheel tricycle with 2 gears, high and low. It is amazing that we can remember stuff from so long ago. Today we still use our imaginations and we think about the future or we run thoughts through our heads about what we are going to say to one another when we meet. I remember as a boy imagining I was a cowboy or a fireman. I remember playing war with my friends and imagining me as the hero. I looked up imagine in the dictionary and it means to form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case. We all use our imaginations for one thing or another. You can also find the word imagine in the bible. Psalm 41:7 All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, Proverbs 18:11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale, Proverbs 23:33 Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

Now with all that said can you imagine standing before the Lord, what would you do? Here is a great song for you to use your imagination.

I can only imagine

What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

[Chorus:]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
When I find myself
Standing in the Son

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

[Chorus]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel

Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

I can only imagine [x2]

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine

I can only imagine. Now I need you to imagine this, what will the Lord say to you? Will He say "Well done good and faithful servant" or will He say " Depart from me for I do not know you." You can only imagine.

Here is the link for the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LonOTKVmkeo

FOR HIS NAMES SAKE.

2011-02-20T17:05:00.000-06:00

Humility is such an elusive virtue. Once you think you have it, you don't, or you wouldn't think you did. You've heard the story of the boy who received the "Most Humble" badge and had it taken away because he wore it. Oh the things God does to keep us humble and He does it for our own good. I asked a question to my class and I am asking it to you. When was the last time you were humbled?

Arrogance is one piece of luggage that God hates. He doesn't dislike arrogance. He does not disapprove of arrogance. He's not unfavorably disposed toward arrogance. God hates arrogance. I am going to challenge you and make you get into your bible. So here is a few scripture versus on arrogance.
Prov 8:13, Prov 16:5, Phil 2:3, 1 Sam 2:3. Have you ever wondered why churches are powerful in one generation but empty the next? Perhaps the answer is found in Proverbs 15:25 " The Lord will tear down the house of the proud.

God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven't done anything to be arrogant about. The message of the 23rd Psalm is that we have nothing to be proud about either. We have rest, salvation, blessing, and a home in heaven and we did nothing to earn any of it. Who did? Who did the work? The answer threads through the psalm like a silk thread through pearls.
"He makes me........."
"He leads me..........."
"He restores my soul......"
"You are with me......."
"Your rod and Your staff.......comfort me...."
"You prepare a a table....."
"You anoint my head........"
The Shepherd leads his sheep, not for our names sake but for His names sake. Why does God have anything to do with us? For his names sake. No other name on the marquee. No other name up in lights. No other name on the front page. This is all done for his names sake.

With the same intensity that he hates arrogance, God loves humility. Again I am going to have you use your bibles and look up a few verses on humility. Matt 11:29, Psalm 138:6, Isa 57:15, Prov 15:33, Prov 11:2.
God loves humility. Could that be the reason he offers so many tips on cultivating it. Here are a few.
1. Assess yourself honestly. Romans 12:3
2. Don't take success too seriously. Deut 8:13-14
3. Celebrate the significance of others. Phil 2:3
4. Don't demand your own parking place. Luke 14:10
5. Never announce your success before it occurs. 1 Kings 20:11
6. Speak humbly. 1 Sam 2:3
7. Live at the foot of the cross. Gal 6:14

Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self esteem need attention? You don't need to drop names or show off. You need only pause at the base of thecross and be reminded of this: The maker of the stars would rather dier for you than live without you. And that is a fact. So if you need to brag, brag on that.

This was taken from Max Lucado's book Traveling Light.
I hope you have a great and blessed day.

Continuing Education Classes for Woman.

2011-02-16T06:23:00.000-06:00

Classes for Women at

THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED

By Feb. 28th, 2011

NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL

OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.

Class 1

Up in Winter, Down in Summer - How to Adjust a Thermostat

Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.

Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hrs beginning at 7:00 PM..

Class 2

Which Takes More Energy - Putting the Toilet Seat Down, or Complaining About It for 3 Hours?

Round Table Discussion.

Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3

Is It Possible To Drive Past a Wal-Mart Without Stopping?--Group Debate.

Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4

Fundamental Differences Between a Purse and a Suitcase--Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.

Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5

Curling Irons--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Bathroom Cabinet?

Examples on Video.

Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning

At 7:00 PM

Class 6

How to Ask Questions During Commercials and Be Quiet During the Program

Help Line Support and Support Groups.

Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7

Can a Bath Be Taken Without 14 Different Kinds of Soaps and Shampoos?

Open Forum.

Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8

Health Watch--They Make Medicine for PMS - USE IT!

Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9

I Was Wrong and He Was Right!--Real Life Testimonials.

Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined.

Class 10

How to Parallel Park In Less Than 20 Minutes Without an Insurance Claim.

Driving Simulations.

4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11

Learning to Live--How to Apply Brakes Without Throwing Passengers Through the Windshield.

Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12

How to Shop by Yourself.

Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Upon completion of ANY of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

HE RESTORES MY SOUL

2011-02-13T17:02:00.000-06:00

This weeks lesson was very good and we talked about being in a jungle and how the jungle is. I have been to Panama for jungle training and the jungle is a very pretty place to be. If you ever get a chance to go then go. I have never seen so many different colors of green. The jungle can also be a very dangerous place. Now I want you to imagine yourself in the jungle and you stop to rest and you close your eyes for just a few minutes and when you open them up you are all alone. You are stuck in the middle of nowhere and you are not equipped for where you are. If it were the city you can find your way out, but we are in a jungle and everything looks the same. You do not have the tools to get you out either, no machete, no knife, no compass, no nothing.

When we are lost there are a lot of emotions that come to our minds and that is Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and the biggest one is HOPELESSNESS. With hopelessness you have no idea what to do or where to turn. Sometimes you just want to sit on a log and bury your head in your hands and just cry. You will start to say that I will never get out of here. Hopelessness is the bottom of the barrel and can you imagine yourself being that low, can you imagine just for a moment just how that feels. I will share more on hopelessness personally at the end of this blog.

For many people life as they know it is a jungle and they are trying there best to get through the jungle and make it through safely. You know when we are lost we feel hopeless but sometimes a little light comes into our path and that light could be another person or things start to look familiar. I guess being a man I do not like to stop and ask for directions, sometimes we have to or even get more lost. You know we have a shepherd and our shepherd majors in restoring hope to the soul or helping us find hope again when we are lost. He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake Psalm 23:3. Whether you are a lamb lost on a craggy ledge or a city slicker lost in the jungle, everything changes when your rescuer appears. Your loneliness diminishes, because you have fellowship. Your despair decreases, because you have vision. Your confusion begins to lift, because you have direction. Just think of the feeling you get when you arrive safely at your destination.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD,Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul Psalm 121:1-7. God your rescuer, Has the right vision: He has seen the homeland. He has the right direction: He has cut a path, but most of all He is the right person, for He is our God. Who know the jungle better than the One who made it? And who knows the pitfalls of the path better than the one who has walked it.

The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, "Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?" The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, " I am the path."

We ask the same questions of Jesus don't we. Where are you taking me? Where is the path? and He like the guide says "I am the path just follow the guide. Jesus gave us Himself as a guide through this life and sometimes we are in a jungle and we feel hopeless, we need to remember that Jesus does not remove the jungle He just gives us HOPE to get through it and make it safely.

Well as I said earlier I have been in a place of pure hopelessness and it occurred over 15 years ago. I was at the end of my rope and just about to fall off. I could not hang on anymore and it seemed the more I tried the harder it was. I thought it was all I could do just to hang on and I felt like I have lost everything and I could have. I was a christian at the time so we all go through problems but I have a Savior who was there to get me through the hopelessness that I was going through. As I was praying I kept hearing these words to just hang on and together we can get through this. Today I am teaching other adults about God's glory and how in life we need a shepherd to guide us through the jungle and I had that Shepherd to guide me down that path. I love serving the Lord and my life shows it now. Thank you Lord for everything.

My lesson this week was from Max Lucado's book Traveling Light. Thanks for letting me share.

WORRY

2011-02-06T15:45:00.001-06:00

Have you ever heard a ten year old say " I don't have a pension plan". How about a four year old say " I will never pass college chemistry" or a eight year old say " I will be a rotten parent, what if I set a poor example for my kids". You never hear kids say that because they are not worried about stuff like that but as adults we worry. Worry is the burlap bag of burdens. It's overflowing with whaddifs and howells. Whaddif it rains at my wedding. Howell I know when to discipline my kids. Whaddif I marry a guy or girl who snores. Howell we pay our baby's tuition. Whaddif after all my dieting they learn that lettuce is fattening and chocolate isn't. Worry divides the mind. Anxiety splits our energy between today's priorities and tomorrow's problems. Part of our mind is on the now; the rest is on the not yet. The result is half minded thinking. Anxiety is an expensive habit. Of course, it might be worth the cost if it worked. But it doesn't. Our frets are futile. Matthew 6:27 says Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life. Worry has never brightened a day, solved a problem, or cured a disease.

A good place to start is in Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters. He leads me. " God isn't behind me, yelling, GO." He is in front of me, bidding, COME". He is in front, clearing the path, cutting the brush, and showing the way. He leads us and tells us what we need to know when we need to know it. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Heb 4:16 NLT. God's help is timely. He places Himself between you and the need and at the right time He gives you what you need. God leads us. God will do the right thing at the right time and what a difference that makes. Since I know that his provision is timely. I can enjoy the present.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matt 6:34. God will meet all your need "when the time comes". The key is this: Meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today.

God isn't going to let you see the distant scene either. So you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know He leads us and " we will find grace to help us when we need it.

I guess this weeks lesson was for me as I taught it. I tend to worry a lot and that is not trusting God. I guess God puts us in places for us to learn so even a sSunday school teacher can learn from what he is teaching. So let's just concentrate on today and put tomorrow off until tomorrow. This lesson was taken from Max Lucado's book Traveling Light. I am so glad God let's me teach His word. Have a great day.

REST

2011-01-30T21:29:00.002-06:00

Well today's Sunday School class was on rest. The verse we were using today was Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. Did you know that there are 70 million Americans who suffer from Insomnia. It cost us around $70 billion worth of productivity and it is also faulted for 38,000 deaths each year. I think we all have some kind of sleeping problem. I myself have a problem with staying awake. I can get to sleep pretty easy and I could sleep almost anywhere. I guess I got that from the military, there you sleep when you can and wherever you can. Because we are not getting enough sleep our bodies are tired. Think about it, 70 million Americans are not sleeping enough. That means one third of our country is dozing off at work, napping through class, or sleeping at the wheel. Why are we not sleeping because when we go to sleep our minds do not shut off. We are constantly thinking about the next day or the day that has already passed. We are just too busyand it is time to slow down and start resting.

There is only one living creature that has as much trouble resting as we do. Not dogs, they doze. Not bears, they hibernate. Not cats, they invented the cat nap. Not sloths because they rest 20 hours a day. Most animals know how to rest. There is one exception. These creatures are woolly, simpleminded, and slow. No not husbands on Saturday, sheep, sheep can't sleep. For sheep to sleep everything has to be perfect, no predators, no bugs in the air, no hunger in the belly. Everything must be just so.

Unfortunately sheep cannot find safe pasture, nor can they spray insecticide, deal with frictions,or find food. They need help. They need a shepherd to "lead them" and help them "lie down in green pastures." Withot a shepherd they cannot rest. Without a shepherd, neither can we.

I want you to look at something, out of the ten commandments which one occupies the most space? Murder? Adultery?, Stealing?. All 3 of these are worth some ample coverage but God only used 5 words to condemn adultery and 4 words to condemn thievery and murder. But when he came to the topic of rest, one sentence would not explain it. “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.Exodus 20:8-11.

God's message is plain: " If creation didn't crash when I rested, it won't crash when you do. You know if God rested then you can too. We are all tired and maybe it is time we listen to God's words and REST. It must be important to rest because God did and when we do get rest we feel better about ourselves and we are revived and ready to go. So let's take God's advise and start resting. I hope you all have a good night sleep tonight and from here on out.

My class is from the book Traveling Light by Max Lucado.

I have been teaching an adult sunday school class for approximatey 10 years now at the Hendersonville First Assembly of God Church in Tennessee.

FOR YOU MARRIED GUYS

2011-01-24T07:17:00.000-06:00

I was at the gym this morning and getting ready to work out. I was setting my IPOD for the songs I wanted to hear. I said well this time I will just put it on songs and it will just play whatever songs come up. Well I got into my workout and a song came on by Garth Brooks called Somewhere Other Than the Night. It got me thinking about my wife. So I am putting this out there for all you married guys to read and wives if you want too. It is a country song but the lyrics say it all. So guys please read the lyrics or bring it up on you tube to hear the song. Here it is.

He could see the storm clouds rollin' across the hill

He barely beat the rain in from the field
And between the backdoor slammin' she heard him say
"Damn this rain and damn this wasted day"
But she'd been waitin' for this day for oh so long
She was standin' in the kitchen with nothin' but her apron on
And in disbelief he stood and he stared a while
When their eyes met, they both began to smile

Somewhere other than the night
She needs to hear I love you
Somewhere other than the night
She needs to know you care
She wants to know she's needed
She needs to be held tight
Somewhere other than the night

They spent the day wrapped up in a blanket
On the front porch swing
He'd come to realize he'd neglected certain things
And there are times she feels alone even by his side
It was the first time she ever saw him cry

Somewhere other than the night
She needs to hear I love you
Somewhere other than the night
She needs to know you care
She wants to know she's needed
She needs to be held tight
Somewhere other than the night

To know she's needed
She needs to be held tight
Somewhere other than the night

Guys tell your wife that you love her and make it real. Look into her eyes when you say it and don't say it just in passing.

VICKIE I LOVE YOU.

THE PRISON OF WANT

2011-01-23T14:24:00.000-06:00

This week’s lesson was on the prison of want. As you know I am teaching from a book called Traveling Light by Max Lucado. This week’s burden that we need to let go of is the burden of WANT. WANT can be a prison all in itself. We always want something bigger, Nicer, Faster, and Thinner. We want. We don’t want much just “one thing”. We want one new job, one new car, one new house, and we don’t want much just one thing. We say we will be happy if we get just one more thing. Then we get those things and the new car smell disappears, the new job gets old and we end up breaking parole and ending up back in the prison of WANT.

The secret to getting out of the prison of WANT is one scripture verse and that is Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd: I shall not want. David has found the pasture where discontent goes to die. It’s as if he is saying “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in life.”

There are a couple of things we need to remember and one of them is “our stuff is not ours”. Ask any coroner. Ask any embalmer. Ask any funeral home director. No one takes anything with them. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. Eccles.5:15

The second thing is “it’s not you”. Who you are has nothing to do with the clothes you wear or the car you drive. Jesus said Speaking to the people; he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."Luke 12:15. Heaven does not know you as the fellow with the nice suit or the woman with the big house or the kid with the new bike. Heaven knows your heart. When God thinks of you, He may see your compassion, your devotion, your tenderness or quick mind, but he doesn’t think of your things.

We must be content with what we have whether a little or a lot, Paul says in Phil 4:11-12 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

We need to know what we have in our Shepherd. We have a God who hears us, the power of love behind us, the Holy Spirit within us, and all of heaven ahead of us. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.

We must be content and to be content we must always remember;

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”

JUST THINKING

2011-01-22T09:21:00.000-06:00

So I was wondering what are you thinking about. I have got on this kick this morning and wondering where I am going in life. I know I have the Lord in my life but you still wonder. I am 45 years old and I have been at my job now for over 20 years. I am very thankful for my job and what the Lord has provided for me in this job. I am starting to realize and wonder where am I going with my life. I have also been in the National Guard for the last 6 years and I like it very much. I do know one thing that when it comes time to reenlist I am not doing this MP stuff anymore. I looked at it and said I will be 48 when I reenlist and it is time to leave that stuff for the young guy. I started to wonder what I will do next and I was thinking of becoming a Chaplain's assistant or just maybe getting out. I am not getting any younger and I do a good job of taking care of myself but I still wonder. I guess I should not be so concerned about my life because I know the Lord has everything under control but I am human and still wonder. As I mentioned before I am the bread winner of my family because we decided to home school our girls and I must tell you that has been the best decision we have ever made. I look back on it and was wondering how we even survived financially but again it comes down to being faithful to God in everything we do and that includes our money. We have never done without, we have done with less but we never done without. I can share all kinds of stories of how God has taken care of us from vehicles to a pair of sneakers. I am thankful to be serving the Lord and thankful that He is taking care of us. Well I got off on a tangent, I was thinking about where do we go from here. I started thinking about my job and life in general and what does it store for me. There have been times we were so slow at work that you wondered if things would change, then you think about what would you do if you lost your job. I have seen a people get laid off and you wonder what they are going to do. I also thought what would I do, I have no schooling to fall back on, I have no other experience besides what I got at the company I work for and the military. Then I realized that I have learned a lot over the years that I have been employed and being in the military. A college education is great and I push that on my daughters because I want them to be better than me. I realized I have real world experience and you cannot get that from a book or from being in a class. I am thinking about bettering myself by maybe taking some classes from the free military schooling I can get. You know I still have a long time before I can even retire but as fast as time is going bye it will be here before you know it. It seemed like just yesterday my daughters were born and I was married. Well I have been married now 20 years and my daughters are 16 and 14. Time flies when you are having fun I guess. I guess when it comes right down to it I should not worry about it but be very thankful that the Lord has my family and I in His hands and will continue to take care of us. Well enough thinking and time to start acting on what the future holds. You all have a great day. What are you thinking about or what do you think?

HAIRCUT

2011-01-18T20:28:00.000-06:00

Today was time for a haircut and my wife has been cutting my hair now for a very long time. I wish I saved the money I would have spent on haircuts everytime she cut it. Well on my head as my hair grows out , right in the front it takes the shape of a heart. My wife cut my hair tonight and she cut all around the heart so people can see it. They say people wear there hearts on the sleeve, well mine is on my head.

My heart belongs to you

I hope you all have a great day.

THE LORD IS MY................

2011-01-16T13:43:00.000-06:00

I was teaching my Sunday School class today on the 23rd Psalm and it got me thinking about some things and so I thought I would blog about it. The info I am sharing is coming from a book called Traveling Light by Max Lucado. When David wrote the 23rd Psalm he did not write to speak of green pastures, his thesis is not rest. He will describe death's somber valley, but his poem is not an ode to dying. He will tell of the Lord's forever house, but his theme is not heaven. Why did David write the 23rd Psalm? To build our trust in God....to remind us of who he is. In this Psalm David devotes 115 words to explain the first two: "The Lord".

Do you sometimes treat the Lord like a genie in a bottle. Convenient. Congenial. Need a parking place, date, field goal made or miss? All you do is rub the bottle and POOF it's yours. And what's even better, this god goes back in the bottle when you are done with it.

Or do you want a sweet grandpa. So soft hearted. So wise. So kind. But very, very, very old. Grandpa's are great when they are awake, but they tend to doze off when you need them.

If you have ever held these views of God then you know the problems they cause. A kind grandpa is to weak to carry your load. And if your god is a genie in a bottle, then you are greater then he is. He comes and goes at your command. A god who looks nice but does little.

Our Shepherd is one who knows us from the beginning of our life until the day we die. Psalm 139:1-18 says
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
Our Shepherd know us inside and out. How do sheep recognize there shepherd? They know his voice, do you know the Shepherds voice???????????

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-01-01T17:08:00.000-06:00

Well it is that time of year again when we start all over again. I wonder how long it will take us to write 11 on stuff instead of 10. It is a time to make resolutions and time to break them. I belong to a gym and I have been going to a gym for the last 4 years. This is the time of year that the gym starts picking up and you have to deal with all the newbies coming in to lose weight. I just keep saying to myself that they will be gone in just a few short weeks and it will get back to normal at he gym.This is what I found on line and will be using it for my Sunday School class tomorrow.
The new year should be a time of reflection for all of us -- to ponder the plans and goals we set for ourselves in the previous year in relationship to where we are at now. How well did you do? Did you succeed in the things you set out to do or did you find yourself coming up short?
The new year offers us the chance to wipe the slate clean and start over once again.

It is a time to set new goals and to make plans as to how you will meet those goals.
As every day in the Lord should be, the new year is a day of new beginnings. My
question to you today is, "What kind of goals and plans will you make in this new
year as you seek to serve Christ and His Kingdom in a greater way?” The goals should be 1) written, 2) personal, 3)specific, 4) positive, 5) measurable. They should also be achievable, believable and
convictional. So let's start the year with a bang and make one of our goals to be closer to God this year. I will also make a goal to be a better blogger than I have been. I hope everyone has a very blessed and happy new year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-25T07:38:00.000-06:00

Well another Christmas is upon us and we have to sit down and wonder, where did all the years go. I remember being a kid and one of the gifts I got was an erector set. I remember building a windmill out of it and I was so excited when I hooked the battery up to it and the windmill started turning. I also remember for a few years all I wanted was a racetrack and I got one every year for about 3 or 4 years. I also remember that my Mom and Dad would stay up late decorating the house and the tree so it would seem like Santa came and did it. I think the hardest part about Christmas was that we had to wait until they got up to open presents. As you know they were up late putting things together and decorating so they were tired. I think one of the nicest gifts I got so far was from my niece April. She sent me a pic of my Mom and Dad dancing together and it brought tears to my eyes. My Dad has been gone now for almost 20 years and I sure do miss him. The years sure have been going by fast it seems like yesterday that my kids were kids now they are 16 and 14. I am also thankful to be home for Christmas. I want to thank all the soldiers who are not home for protecting our freedoms so we can celebrate Christmas. I remember a time when I was gone for Christmas and I was telling my wife that it seemed like just another day when I was gone. I am so thankful to be home. Now I want to say to all who read this Merry Christmas to you and I hope your day is great. I hope for health and good prosperity through out this next year. May God bless each and every one of you. I am attaching a pic of me and my 2 new friends I met last night at the Opryland Hotel.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

"Christmas Cookies" George Strait

2010-12-23T09:03:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

"If My Nose Was Running Money" By Aaron Wilburn

2010-11-27T08:38:00.000-06:00

A little Saturday humor.

THANKSGIVING

2010-11-25T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well it is another thanksgiving and there are a lot of things to be thankful for. The one thing I am thankful for the most is being home with my family. I started thinking about it and if we completed our full tour of duty I would not be home right now. So I am very thankful for being home and celebrating thanksgiving with them. I also think about all our military who are not home and I wish them the best thanksgiving that they can have being away from there families. I know it is hard being away from the ones that you love over these special holidays. I remember once spending Christmas away from the ones I love and it was hard so I have been there. I remember when I was gone over Christmas and my Girlfriend (now wife) left there Christmas tree up for me until I got home. I got home in February and they took the Christmas ornaments off and put on hearts for valentines day. It was the best Christmas I ever had. So I know what it feels like to be away from home. I wish everyone who reads this a very Happy Thanksgiving. So remember today no matter what is going on in our lives to always be thankful for what little we have or how much we have. So what are you thankful for.

WHAT IF !!!!!!

2010-11-02T07:25:00.000-05:00

What if, the two biggest words in the English language. We all asked ourselves the question and we sit back and wonder what if. I know this is a tough question and as I was running this morning it had me thinking about myself and asking myself that question.
What if I did better in high school?
What if I did go to college?
What if I stayed in the military the first time I was in?
What if I stayed selling insurance?
What if the company I work for did not take me back after I left?
These are all questions that I think we can never answer and when you think about things you can what if it to death. What if we would have do this? What if we did it this way? Today is election day and I started thinking about that and I started asking these questions to myself.
What if the President did what he said he would do?
What if Congress took there job seriously and not just a position?
What if our Senators really did what they said they were going to do?
What if they looked at themselves and took the blame for there mistakes instead of blaming someone else?
What if? What if? What if?
I heard this song this morning and here are the lyrics.

What if the armies of the Lord

Picked up and dusted off their swords
Vowed to set the captive free
And not let satan have one more
What if the Church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates
Chorus I:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His faith, yeah
And turn from their old ways
And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day
What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do
Chorus I:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face yeah
And turn from their own way
Chorus II:
He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear, yeah
If only we would pray
Bridge:
If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
Choruses:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face, yeah
And turn from their old ways
He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear yeah
If only we would pray

What if we really did pray for the ones who are running our country? I think better things would be happening and our lives would be a lot better. Let's not think of what if we prayed for our country and seriously get on our knees and pray. No more what ifs and lets just do.

A NEW MILESTONE IN MY LIFE

2010-10-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

Well as you all know from a few blogs ago that my oldest daughter turned 16. Well she has just gotten her drivers license. It is a weird feeling seeing your daughter drive away in the car. It is also a weird feeling when you are so use to being together and now it is just you and your wife. I know my daughters are loving the freedom especially my younger one, she is really liking it. I am just so proud of my daughter and for all her effort into learning how to drive. I know when the time came for her to take the test the rear view mirror fell off the windshield. They had to stop by and get there grandfathers truck which she never drove before. She was a real trooper and did just fine with her grandfathers truck. Well she is on the insurance now and she can drive herself around. I guess one thing that is good about it is we don't have to take her everywhere anymore, she can just drive herself. Now we can also use her to drive her sister around too and me and my wife can just hang around the house. I guess it is a good milestone but also a sad one one because my girls are getting older and soon they won't need there dad anymore and they will be on there own. Well Elizabeth congrats on getting your license and you are doing a great job.

REALITY

2010-10-24T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well I just got back from vacationing in Gatlinburg, we are calling it our second honeymoon. I spent 4 days with just my wife and I in the mountains of the smokies. It was nice to get away and we had so much fun together. I think the one thing that was nice was it was just us, the kids were with there grandparents. It was great and the scenery was even better.

The fall colors were almost breathtaking and I sat there in amazement and wondered how people can say there is no God. We also went hiking on a small little trail to a place called Laurel falls. The sign said it was 1.3 miles but it was uphill the whole way. I kept saying to myself that I hope this walk is worth it and it is not just a guy with a garden hose making the falls. We got there and it was worth it.

We did get time to relax a little and bit and enjoy our time together. The cabin had a very nice hot tub on the back deck. We did take advantage of it, after walking through the tourist trap all day in Gatlinburg it was very relaxing.

I must admit that it was so much fun that we did not want to come home. Coming home means getting back to reality. So we had to say goodbye to our second honeymoon and we hope we don't wait another 20 years to take another.

It is now Sunday afternoon and I just got done watching my Titans beat the Eagles and now to start preparing for the week. I guess the bad thing about being gone is someone filled in for you at work or at least you hope so. It is so nice to get away but you do have to come back to reality and get back in the rat race. I want to thank my beautiful wife for the last 20 years and the many more that will come. I hope you enjoy the pics. Gatlinburg is a great place to visit in the fall. Y'all have a great week.

SMILE

2010-10-18T08:09:00.001-05:00

Happy 20th anniversary to my beautiful wife, you still make me smile.

16

2010-10-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

Well my oldest daughter is turning 16 on the 12th of October. I have been sitting back and thinking how time has flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday that we had her. I remember the night she was born and my wife was in labor all day long. She was a stubborn little thing and just did not want to come out. Then we found out she was turned the wrong way and they had to do a c section. She was born at 8:54 pm on a Wednesday night and it was nice because a lot of the youth group we were in charge of showed up to see her born. I never looked and felt so proud when I carried her out to show my little girl off. Now she has her drivers permit and ready to take her driving test for her license. I also started thinking about when I turned 16 and it was so long ago that I do not remember what I did on my 16th birthday. You know I thank the Lord for both my girls and that they are healthy and strong and if I don't watch myself they will pass me out in height and be looking down at me. So to my daughter Elizabeth I want to wish you a Happy Birthday. Well I guess the best way to end this is by asking what did you do when you turned 16?

In God We Still Trust - Diamond Rio

2010-10-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

VOICES

2010-09-23T07:30:00.004-05:00

So I am going to start out this blog this way, what voices do you listen too? I know as a runner I sometimes just got to motivate myself to just do it. I start thinking before I even start running how I can get out of it and not do it. I know everyone feels this way and we listen to the voices in our heads and we tend to follow them. So what voice are you listening too. While I was out running today and struggling and listening to my voices a song came on my ipod. This song just started to motivate me and I listened to it the rest of my run, I just kept hitting the back button and listening again and again. It made me think about the voices that tell you you can't do it or there is no way you will accomplish what you are about to do. These voice stop us before we ever get started and then we wonder why we can't do what we need to do. The name of the song is The Voice of Truth by Casting crowns and here are the lyrics;

Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
You you'll never win
But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth
Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth
But the stone was just the right size
to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me
But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
The Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
'Cause Jesus you are the Voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. oh you are the Voice of truth.

Let's listen to that still small voice and tell us we can do it if we just put our strength in Him. We must listen to the voice of TRUTH.

RUNNING

2010-09-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever watched runners as they are running? I am writing this because I am a runner and I enjoy running. I have always noticed before I got into running is that runners never seem happy. Now I know why because it is hard work putting in all those miles that we do. I got to say and I will be honest and that is when I start running I need about a half mile or so to get my groove. Once I get going it seems to get a little easier until you hit that first hill and then you are saying to yourself" why am I doing this". I am out there at 5am and I try to do anywhere from 3 to 4 miles every time I run. I am also very aware now that I am a runner to watch them as they are running especially on the roads. I know we are not special but we need to watch them so we do not hit them. I am one of these people who run against traffic. I tell my wife that I run that way so I can see the face of the guy who is going to hit me. I guess you could say I want to be the last thing that goes through his mind. She does not like me talking like that so I don't. I am really enjoying running and I hope to be able to do it for a long time. Another reason I like it is that I am older than a lot of guys in my platoon. I always tell them that you need to beet me in running and so I give them a goal to meet. Kids now a days are just lazy and they have not beaten me yet. Well I got to run talk to you later.

CELL PHONES

2010-09-18T07:59:00.000-05:00

What is a phone, it use to be a device that you talk to people on. It use to be a device that you stayed in touch with people from across the country. Times sure had changed, have you noticed we don't talk on them much anymore? We don't talk because we text and I believe this use to be writing a letter but now it is quicker than the mail. I have no problem with texting as long as it is used in the right places at the right time. I guess what I am trying to say is we don't talk anymore. These devices called cell phones has changed the way we live our lives. I have seen texting and driving and you hear the stories of how accidents happen because of this, people still do it. There is so much technology in that little device we carry everyday that if we left it at home our lives would be in total chaos until we got it back in our hands again. I started to just watch people now and see how long they can go without picking up there phone and it is interesting that it is not a very long time. Yes I do have a cell phone and a limited texting plan and the reason I have this is to get in touch with my soldiers. I did not have texting on my phone for a long time because I guess I am too slow at it (still am slow at it). I have tried calling my soldiers and the call would go into there voice mail and I would leave a message. I would not get a call back and I would try again and still no response. So here is why I have limited texting, I would text them and just put in these words CALL ME. I would receive a call back within a few minutes and I can pass on the information I need to pass on. I guess I am still just old fashioned and would rather talk then text. I have 2 daughters and both of them can't wait to get cell phones but there is only one that wants to text on it, that is all she wants to do. I guess I need to just flow with it and catch up to the times and not complain about it. I am one of these guys that I have to have my keys in my pocket and if I don't I start feeling lost and start panicing about where my keys are. I guess now I will have to worry about both my keys and my cell phone. I guess I am just complaining a little bit but it is a part of life and sometimes we just need to catch up with it. Cell phones are great and they come in handy when your car breaks down or you are lost but have you ever noticed that when you breakdown or are lost you are in an area without a signal. I have AT&T for my phone service and the only reason I use them is they are the only phone that works well where I live. Well enough of my griping I need to go text a friend and see what we are doing today. TTYL.

When the World Stopped Turning: A 9/11 tribute

2010-09-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

DISTRACTIONS

2010-09-06T14:15:00.003-05:00

I was at church yesterday and our pastor talked about distractions and I started to think about all the things that stop me from serving Him properly. I started wondering about some of the things that distract me and I realized Facebook was one of them. I get up in the morning and the first thing I want to do is check and see what is going on in Facebook world. It is a great little gadget but it keeps me distracted. How many times a day do you go to it just to change your status or see if there are any new updates. It has become a distraction to me so I am taking a break from it for a week and just not get on it. Now think about what is distracting you and maybe you need to take a break from it for a while. I also noticed that we are always so busy that as soon as we get out of bed in the morning we are already thinking about the day and wondering where we need to start and how are we going to do it. I start my day off with God and it is always a great way to start my day. So just sit back and think about things that distract you and stop you from doing other things or stop you from just concentrating on our Lord and savior. I will be back on Facebook in a week but it is just good to sit back and take a break with no distractions. I hope you can find what is distracting you and just take a break from it.

THE OLD MAN, A BOY, AND A DONKEY.

2010-09-05T06:14:00.002-05:00

An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town.

The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding..
The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right,so they changed positions.
Then, later, they passed some people who remarked, 'What a shame, he makes that little boy walk.'So they then decided they'd both walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decide to carry the donkey.

As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well... Kiss your ass goodbye!

ASSORTED THOUGHTS

2010-08-28T06:49:00.003-05:00

1. Save the whales. Collect the whole set.
2. A day without sunshine is like...night.
3. On the other hand,........ you have different fingers.
4. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
5. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
6. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
7. He who laughs last thinks slowest.
8. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
9. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese that is in the trap.
10. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
11. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
12. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
13. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
14. How many of you believe in psycho kinesis? Raise my hand.
15. OK . . . so what's the speed of dark?
16. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
17. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
18. Every one has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
19. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
20. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
21. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
22. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
23. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
24. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened?
25. Just remember - if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
26. Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
27. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. it's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.
28.there is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us is doesn't behoove any of us to poor mouth the rest of us.
29.I used to complain about my old worn out shoes until I came across a man that had no feet. So, I took his shoes......hell, he didn't need em !
30. Hookt On Foniks Werkt Fer Mi
31. SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES ..... THEY ARE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING ... BUT THEY STILL BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS.
32.Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like -Calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist."
33.Any married man should forget his mistakes, there's no use in two people remembering the same thing.
34. REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL
35. Always remember the words of Mark Twain: "Don't expect too much of human beings. We were created at the end of the week when GOD was tired and looking forward to a day off."
36. Rap is to music, what an Etch-a-Sketch is to art.
37. Good looks will get you a good looking woman with a good body but only $$$ will make her tail wag ---that's why they call them "Bitches".
38. "Ever stop to think...and then never start again?"
39. Remember, what is common knowledge to some is a revelation to others.
40. "We cannot expect the Americans to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of Socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism."Soviet Leader Nikita Khruschev, 1959
41. "If in this life you have a good wife, at least one good dog, 1 good horse, 1 great fishing boat and a decent truck to pull it with and enough sense to know which is the most important then you have truly been blessed."
42.More Gov't control is easily translated into= If you turn your guns into plows, you'll spend the rest of your life plowing for those with guns.__________________
43. " Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young."
44. "True friendship is like sound health;the value of it is seldom known until it be lost."
45. He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of his devotion.
46. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

RELAXING

2010-08-07T08:42:00.003-05:00

Well it has been almost a week since I got home and it feels great. I spent the last few days just hanging with my family. We went to the movies and just got caught up on everything that I missed. I even went back to the gym this week and now I know that I am out of shape( round is a shape). Things are going great though just relaxing. I do not go back to my job until the 23rd of this month. It is good still getting paid by the military. Today we are having an open house for all my friends and family. My wife has it arranged for people to come by between 3 and 7 today. This way if they are not at church tomorrow or working tomorrow that can stop by and see me and welcome me home. I am getting back into my groove again and now I am looking at the grass and saying that it needs to be cut again. Well I just thank God that I am home and my whole unit came home safe. We had no problems. Well thanks to everyone for your prayers and your support.

HOME AT LAST.

2010-08-03T07:00:00.005-05:00

Today is a very special day and the reason it is special is I am at home. I am sitting here drinking coffee and updating my blog in my own house. Oh what a feeling. I arrived home around noon time on the 2nd of August. It was so nice to see my family in person and not on skype or hearing them on the phone. I guess you can say I will miss the guys I have been hanging out with over the past year but there is some I will not think about again. It was a very special day to get that hug from your family and just feel them in your arms. My daughters were excited and just seeing the change in them was great. One change was when I left they had braces and now they are off. I cannot say it enough but I am so glad to be home. I think one of the good things is I can wear what I want now and not wear that uniform for a while. I get to make the decision on what to wear and not wear. It was really great to see my loving wife and just see her smile at me the way she does and she looked great when when she picked me up too. Now it is time to unpack everything and get back to the world of being a civilian again. I really missed my family and I hope this does not happen again for a long time, at least I know now that they can handle it and be OK. Well I am going to go and enjoy this day.

ALMOST HOME.

2010-07-29T15:32:00.002-05:00

Well I am on the slow journey home from Iraq. We left Baghdad Iraq on the 22nd of July, there we went to Kuwait and spent about 4 days there. Then we finally got the word that we are heading home. It was a very long flight and yes it was very boring but we endured and now we are in Camp Shelby Mississippi demobbing. They are really stretching it out here and if we did it all straight through we would be done by now. They are having us go through one station at a time. Lets say for instance today we cleared dental and it took 2 hours. That was it and we got the rest of the day off. We are all sitting around doing the army motto and that is hurrying up and waiting. I believe we could have been home by now but oh well we are on our way. We will be leaving here in a few days and I am anxiously waiting to get back home to my family and friends. The heat in Mississippi is so much more humid then in Iraq but like anything it is easy to get use to it. Well I will write again in a few days when I get home. I want to say publicly thanks to my family for all there support in this deployment. Thank you Lord foer a safe trip so far.

RESPECT

2010-07-19T00:19:00.003-05:00

I was always told that respect is earned and not given. I was also told that you must respect the position even if you don't respect the person. I guess this is a griping day for me. I looked up the word respect in the dictionary and it said it is a deference to a right, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgement; respect for a persons rights; to show respect for the flag; respect for the elderly. The condition of being esteemed or honored; to be held in respect.

Now the reason I wrote this is I have to give respect to a position and not the person. I have met some people who I respect them and there position and that is awesome. I have to many people that I have to report to in whom I do not respect them as a person. I do it because of there position over me. I am not sure if this is wrong but with everyday that goes on that respect keeps diminishing. It is a shame that a lot of the guys that are under this person is losing respect for this person too. I know when I get home I will miss a few of these guys but there is some I won't even say goodbye too. I guess the respect is being lost because of hearing "it is a team thing" and when we do things as a team this person is not there and I feel if it is a team thing the whole team should be there. It is coming down to "Do as I say and not as I do" and that is something I won't do when I become in charge of a group. Well enough griping for today and I am glad I have a place to vent and thanks for letting me do it. Have a great day.

IT'S BEEN A ROUGH YEAR

2010-07-15T08:36:00.002-05:00

But not everyone is as lucky as I am........

The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid asked, " Can you afford fries with that?"

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient funds" you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them.

Hot Wheels and Matchbox are trading higher then GM.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children's names.

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.

Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

Motel six won't leave the light on anymore.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

BP Oil laid off 25 Congressman.

And Finally

I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, and our bleak future, that I called the Suicide Hot line and was connected to a call center in Pakistan. When I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

TIME IS WINDING DOWN.

2010-07-12T07:52:00.003-05:00

They say time flies when you are having fun and time does go by fast when you are busy. Well we have approximately one week left and we have nothing to do. Time seemed to have stopped and the days are dragging by. I guess you could say we are looking forward to going home and that could be making time stop. It is like we are waiting on Christmas morning when we were kids and the closer it got the slower it came. I remember when I got called back into the army during Desert Storm One. Now here is the military thinking I got called back in in January 1991 and they sent me to Germany to train me for the desert. Now that is an oxymoron, but I said that to say this. We got to Germany and they said we will be here 2 weeks before going over to the desert. We started our training and the first week went by fast then the war ended and we sat around after that waiting to go home. I guess I just need to plan my days better. Right now my days consist of sleeping during the day and then I can't sleep at night, watching movies and eating. I guess I should be happy because our missions are over and we are staying on the FOB until we leave. I guess I am ready to be home and get back to a normal routine and see my family. I really miss them tremendously and they miss me. Well I guess I cannot rush the military when there motto is hurry up and wait. I will be home soon and I am very thankful that the time has finally come and we can leave. I want to thank the people that are following my blog, I am not the greatest writer in the world and I write about my feelings. Thanks for following and thanks for letting me follow your blog. Signing off for today and you all have a great day.

VICE PRESIDENTS VISIT.

2010-07-06T02:17:00.002-05:00

Well we had the honor of the Vice President Joe Biden come and visit us here in Iraq. I think the funny thing about his visit is that everyone is hush hush about it. We were told we had a VIP coming to visit us but they did not want to say who. So if you are a good soldier and wanted to find out you just go to Yahoo or Google. They had the story coming out of his visit and where he was going and why he was here. Everything is suppose to be OPSEC but Yahoo and Google already put it out. I did not get the pleasure of meeting him but I did get the pleasure of being one of the guys who sat on the side of the road waiting for his motorcade to pass so we can stop traffic and let it go by. I think it is funny that they said he was here to celebrate the 4Th with the troops and a lot of us troops worked so he can go to where he wanted to go. I guess I am complaining a little bit but it was boring just sitting out there and waiting, then you get the word he is coming and it is over in minutes. Then we wait to do it again when he is done with the meeting. We had to sit out there for 2 days and it was not fun but it is interesting when you block traffic for about 10-15 minutes how irritable people can get because you stopped them. I guess it gave us a piece of home because as Americans we are always in a hurry too.

There is one thing I noticed here over the 2 days I was out there. The Iraqi people have a great care to take care of there own. I sat there and watched as people just stopped and picked up people who were walking. I don't think they knew them they just stopped and picked them up. The other thing they do is they will stand on the side of the road and just wave and people stop and pick them up. It seems like they know and trust there own to just pick up a stranger. That is something we will not do in America because we lost our sense of trust.

I think the funniest thing was we had to block the road one more time for the Vice President to go to the LZ so he can catch a helicopter to leave Baghdad. It was no more than a minute or two after the birds took off the alarm goes off Incoming, Incoming, Take cover. A lot of times you here this and nothing follows but this time something followed and there was an explosion from the incoming. I don't know how close it was but I got my but back into the MRAP where I had a little more protection than being out in the open. Well I guess all in all he had a good visit and no one got hurt.

Well he is gone now and we go on like he was never here and we continue the countdown until we leave this country. That is something that I am looking forward too. Well enough about his visit I just hope it was worth the trip.

FRIENDSHIPS

2010-06-29T07:14:00.003-05:00

There are a few good things that came out of this deployment and one of those things are the friendships that I have made. You really don't think about it much but all along you were friends but on a different level. I have posted in an earlier blog about the friends I have made and how people are different when you get to be with them 24/7 and you see there little quirks. Some of the people that I have hung out with, they will just stay acquaintances but some have become good friends. Like my roommate for instance, we were good friends before we were deployed but since we hung out together and shared the same room our friendship has grown. I believe that friendship moved on to a whole new level. I know things will change once we get out of here but our friendship has grown. I am really glad for that because they know how we are and if this ever happens again and we get deployed together, we can request that we room together.
Now let me tell you about another friend that I got close to while I was over here. That friend is my wife. She has been a real trooper while I have been gone and you don't realize what you got until it is not there everyday. I have to thank technology because they let me see her everyday on Skype and that is a great tool to have. I was told once that you have to get close to God and you can get closer together. That is what we did we got closer to God during our separation and as we got closer to Him we got closer together. The way I can explain this is imagine a triangle and God is at the top. Now put yourself and your wife on each side of the triangle. As you get closer to God you get closer to each other. We had a saying that we ended our letters with and that was "See you at the top" or "Still climbing".
I am proud to say that come this October I will have been married to my best friend for 20 years. Sometimes you don't like to be apart but sometimes being apart brings you closer together. I love you Vickie.

BALANCE

2010-06-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

"God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired, 'Where have you been?'

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, 'Look, Michael. Look what I've made.'

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and, 'What is it?'

'It's a planet,' replied God, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance.'

'Balance? 'inquired Michael, 'I'm still confused.'

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. 'For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things.'

God continued pointing to different countries. 'This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.'

The Archangel , impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, 'What's that one?'

'That's Pennsylvania , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and plains. The people from Pennsylvania are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things.'

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, 'But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance.'

God smiled, 'Not very far from Pennsylvania is Washington , DC . Wait till you see the idiots I put there.'"

ANOTHER DAY CLOSER TO PARADICE.

2010-06-24T06:44:00.002-05:00

It is so funny how you look forward to getting to where you are going and when you get there you start looking forward to leaving. We are getting ready to leave here and I cannot share the date yet but it is soon. Our mission here was cut short because of the drawdown of troops in Iraq. I am not saying I mind and I will be glad to get out of here. I have enjoyed it somewhat. I have enjoyed the friendships that I have made. I guess when you only see eachother a weekend a month it is hard to get to know people. When you are with them 24/7 you get to know more than you want too. There are some people here you think would be cool and then you hang around them and they are compltete idiots. I had a great opportunity to hang out with some officers on my missions. The only thing I can say is they were great. Sometimes when you see an officer they have this you are below me attitude. Not the ones I met and had to work for. I worked for generals, colonel's, major's, lt colonel's and even some captains. I will tell you this they were the greatest people to be around.

Well now that we are winding down, you don't realize all the stuff you accumulated over the months. Most of it is stuff people sent you and you just hung on to it. I have already mailed home 2 big black boxes of stuff. Most of it was things they made us pack and we did not use at all. Let me give you a for instance, they had us bring an extreme cold weather suit, poly pro tops and bottoms and a lot of snibble gear that we did not need or use. I guess they were taking precautions. You never know if it gets cold here. Well enough on that.

I am not going to gripe on this one because I am thankful for this opportunity to serve my country and be here. I always said when people asked me why are you going to Iraq? My answer would be so someone else can come home. Now there will be someone coming to replace me and I can go home. Well like I said I am very thankful. Soon I will be home and get back to my wife and girls.

I HOPE YOU MISSED ME

2010-06-21T02:15:00.004-05:00

It has been a long time since I blogged last and I figured it is about time I did. I have been keeping a journal instead of being on here and I thought it was for safety reasons. Part of it was and part of it was the connection speed and the internet going off and on. I have been doing real well and the mission we were on was the best mission anyone could be on. We are doing a PSD( personal security detail) mission and I cannot say what we were doing or who we were doing it for until after I get home. I will share some of the fun stories without giving all the opsec away. I have been doing real good here and I am really glad that my family is doing well at home without me. It is amazing the support I have from my family and yes they miss me but they are also doing a fine job without me.

My wife always wondered how she would be without me around and she did a great job. Let's share some of the things she accomplished so far while I am away. We live in TN and as you know TN had there 100 year flood and we got a lot of rain. The last thing I heard was around 18 inches in 3 days. Now for TN that is a lot of rain at one time. Well our driveway washed away and of course it was gravel and it became a big part of our front yard after it was all done and overwith. She handled that well and got the driveway all taken care of and she just handled it and as I always told her that I am real proud of my wife. She got the basement all dried in by the help of Olshan and now my basement will not be getting anymore water in it. Her next big project is getting the second bathroom put in. A man with 3 woman at home needs a second bathroom. She has already got that lined up and will be done before I get home. I am real proud of my wife.

Now my girls have accomplished some things too. My youngest (14) Katie has song a solo in a talent competition called Fine Arts and it is put on by the Assembly of God. It was her first time singing a solo in front of judges and for a competition. She did real well and missed the next step by one point. I am so proud of her too and she sent me a copy of her singing on a disc so I can be a part of it too. Now my oldest (15) Elizabeth she was at the same competition and did a piano solo for the second year in a row. I wish I was like her and can pick up things as fast as she can. She also missed the next level by one point. She has also been driving on her permit now for almost a year and she is so looking forward to getting my truck. She might be disappointed because I am not giving it up. Well again and I cannot say it enough I am really proud of my wife and girls.

I have been with a great bunch of guys and I would serve with them again in a heartbeat. I will be the first to tell you that the army has not changed in a long time. They are still doing stupid stuff and making everyone else do stupid stuff with them. When I got out the first time back in 1990 and I stayed out for 15 years and got back in. The one thing I pondered was surely things have changed. No it has not and what happened was the people doing the stupid stuff before are still in but now that just have a higher rank. Sometimes it feels like the higher up you go the more brain cells you lose. Now mind you this does not go for all of them but a few I know right here in Iraq it fits to a tee. I have been back in the guard now going on 6 years and I have 3 left on this contract. I guess over the next three years I have some thinking to do. Well I wrote enough for now I hope everyone who follows me reads this and continue to follow. I am back folks and will be updating this blog a whole lot more. Thanks for reading.

FINALLY MADE IT TO IRAQ

2010-02-22T04:32:00.003-06:00

Well after spending 2 glorious months at lovely Camp Shelby Mississipi and then a great time in Kuwait I am finally here. We made it to Iraq destination is to remain unonimous for secerity reasons. The weather here is not bad so far and I know it will be getting hotter. I spent the last couple of days doing the army stupid stuff. Let me explain we had to get all our gear on a bus instead of a truck like we were suppose to get and then we had to cram in the bus and find our seats. All this time we have gear on our laps and then we do the hurry up and wait thing. The bus did not have the air running and so we sit with gear in our laps and we are sweating because of the heat. Wait it gets better, then we finally get moving and we get to our destination. Guess what happens next we have to get off the bus, now remember our gear is on our laps and go make sure our weapons are cleared in the clearing barrel before we can go into the FOB we were going to. I believe this was the reason I got out the first time. I thought after being out 15 years things would have changed but no they have not. I think it is just the stupid people from when I was in before just moved up in rank and are stupid still but getting paid more now. Well enough complaining I am doing fine and since this is my first full day here, I will not complain to much. I hope everyone who reads this is doing good.

MISSISSIPPI

2010-01-10T19:29:00.003-06:00

I have been down here for a while now and I still think that Camp Shelby sucks. The weather has been good then bad then good then bad. It just can't make up it's mind. The training is going good and I am glad to be getting it but I am ready to go and get my tour of duty started and done. My family seems to be doing good so far and I am calling everyday and hearing there voices. I am glad to be able to do that and just talk and video chat with them. They are coming down to visit me in a few weeks and I cannot wait to see them. It feels like it already has been forever but it has not. Well I am glad to be here and it seems like we are all getting along pretty good so far. That is a plus and we seem to still be able to laugh no matter how stupid some things get or how bad the weather is. I guess if we are still laughing things are still going OK. I hope the laughing continues.

HEADING BACK TO MISSISSIPPI

2009-12-28T07:52:00.003-06:00

Well I head back to Mississippi today and so I will get on as soon as I get a chance and let you know how things are going. So if you don't here from me in a while you know why, no Internet. Well see you when I see you and I will write as soon as I can.

Christmas Time by Dana Robinson

2009-12-24T08:03:00.000-06:00

I want to say THANK YOU to all the men and woman
who are serving our country this Christmas.

Christmas Time by Dana Robinson

THE TIME HAS COME

2009-11-24T15:24:00.002-06:00

Well I know what you are going to say, where have you been? I have just been around and keeping busy and did not have anything good to write about. Well as the title says the time has come, it is about a week to go and we have to report in and get ready to go. The time is finally here and reality is really sinking in and I am realizing that I am going to miss my family tremendously. We are heading for lovely Camp Shelby Mississippi on Dec 6Th and will be down there for approximately 2 months. Then we head to Iraq. I will try my best to keep up with the blogging while I am gone so this way you know if I am staying out of trouble or not. I am doing good and my family is doing good but I think the closer the day comes the harder it is going to be. I am actually looking forward to going and serving my country and I know this is what I signed up for. Well I just want you all to just say a prayer for me and most of all say a prayer for my family because I think they are going to need it. I have been away before and it has only been about a month but a year is going to be a different story. I think they are going to be fine and they have so much support around them with the church and her parents are here too. I promise to stay up and keep all my readers informed of what is going on from day to day. Well I need to go and I hope you all have a great day. I will write again soon.

MISSISSIPPI

2009-10-15T05:48:00.003-05:00

I just got back from 3 weeks of training in Mississippi and I had a pretty good time. The one thing that really sticks out to me is, there is only one thing constant about the army and that is change. If you like to go to a place that is very hot and humid, Mississippi is the place to go. You can always count on a rain shower at some part of the day so the heat can get even stickier then it was. It seemed like it rained the same time everyday, just as we were going to chow it would rain and then we would have to eat in a wet uniform. As I look at it I had some really good training on the ranges and firing all these different weapons. We also qualified with the M-4 and the M-9, but I really enjoyed firing the 50 cal. Now that was fun feeling all that power in your finger tips, it was loud and I had a great time. The barracks there have a lot to be desired they are old and dusty. They are open bay barracks and once one person gets sick it just spreads to everyone else. You think all the money that goes through that place that they would be improvements and modernization but NO. We had a lot of soldiers go through there and they have a small PX and with that said you know there was always a line. All in all though I had a good time and got some good training. Now it won't be long until we go back there again to Mob and head out for our deployment. Well enough said there, I hope you all have a great day and everything comes your way. Remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel and with my luck it is probably a train.

I AM HOME

2009-10-11T06:14:00.003-05:00

Well just in csae you were wondering where have I been hiding? I have been down in wonderful Camp Shelby Mississippi for the last 3 weeks. I did not have a computer to get too for the first two. When I did get to a computer it was in a internet cafe sponsored by the army. It was blocked and I could not get on. So I am sorry if I missed anything fun and exciting, I will try to get caught back up. I am just hoping everything is good and that everyone is fine. It won't be long now and I will be back in Mississippi getting reay to MOB for our deployment. Well just stopping by to say hello and read some blogs I missed. You all have a great day.

PONDERISMS

2009-09-03T12:59:00.002-05:00

PONDERISMS
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

Life is sexually transmitted.

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about see ing UFOs like they used to?

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

In the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole @#?}%&! box to start a campfire?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"

Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt.
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

DEPLOYMENT IS GETTING CLOSER.

2009-08-28T19:38:00.005-05:00

Well I haven't just written in a while and been just copying and pasting things. Well I just got done reading coffee pots article when and it really had me thinking. When did summer end and where did the time go. It seemed like it was just yesterday that we got the word on our upcoming deployment. It seemed like it was just yesterday that my girls were still toddlers. WHEN did they grow up. We went away the other day for some good family time alone and it was great. I took some time off from work and we went to a place called Fall Creek Falls and we loved everybit of it. Now it is coming closer and the National Guard is keeping me busy. I just got home from a weeks training at FT. Campbell KY and I am home for 3 weeks and then I will be gone for 3 weeks. Then I come home for 2 weeks and gone for another week. WHEN did time become so important and now I know WHEN. It became important a year ago when we got alerted and now the time has come and time is even more important. I only have a little time left before I will be gone. So I don't know when WHEN happened but it happened to quick. I want to say thank you to the blogs that I read because they make me laugh and as coffee pot says they make my eyes sweat. Thanks to all of you and again. Here is a pic of my girls now. My wife is on the left and younger daughter in the middle and older daughter on the right.

THE MUSIC STOPPED

2009-08-19T07:33:00.001-05:00

THE MUSIC STOPPED
For those who are unaware: At all military base theaters, the National Anthem is played before the movie begins.
This is written from a Chaplain in Iraq :
I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped.
Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.
Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to
quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1000 Soldiers standing at attention to do ?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start.
But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off:
"And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you. Remember them as they fight for us!
----------------------
Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. Many have already paid the ultimate price..
Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins
LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq , north of Baghdad

BUMPER STICKERS SEEN ON A MARINE CORPS BASE.

2009-08-08T05:38:00.002-05:00

Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club""
Water-boarding is out so kill them all!""
Interrogators can't water board dead guys""
U.S. Marines -- Travel Agents To Allah""
Stop Global Whining""
When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"
Naval Corollary; Dead men don't testify."
The Marine Corps -- When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight""
Death Smiles At Everyone -- Marines Smile Back"
"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"
"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? .... A little Recoil"
"Marines -- Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"*
"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"
"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"
"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden -- It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"
"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Brawl"
"One Shot, Twelve Kills -- US Navy Gun Fire Support"
"Do draft dodgers Have Reunions? If So, What Do They Talk About?"
"My kid fought in Iraq so your kid can party in college"
"Machine Gunners -- Accuracy by Volume"
"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy -- Blessed Be The Peacemakers"
"If You Can Read, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Veteran"
"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything.*
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." - Ronald Reagan

FRIDAY FUNNY

2009-07-24T07:24:00.002-05:00

Dear employees,

As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go. So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to be let go. I cannot think of a more fair way to approach this problem.They voted for change; I gave it to them. I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic

DON'T FORGET ABOUT NEXT SATURDAY!!

2009-07-21T07:26:00.001-05:00

As you may already know, it is a sin for a Muslim male to see any woman other than his wife naked.
He must commit suicide if he does.
So next Saturday at 4 PM Eastern Time, all American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists.Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this anti-terrorist effort.
All patriotic men are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not Muslims, and to demonstrate they think its okay to see nude women other than their wife, and to show support for all American women. Since Islam also does not approve of alcohol, a cold 6-pack at your side is further proof of your anti-Muslim sentiment. The American government appreciates your efforts to root out terrorists and applauds your participation in this anti-terrorist activity. God bless America ! It is your patriotic duty to pass this on. If you don't send this to at least 5 people you're a terrorist-sympathizer and are in the position of posing as a national threat.

Tennessee’s largest Guard unit to deploy

2009-07-15T12:30:00.001-05:00

This is the Unit that I belong too.

The Associated PressPosted : Monday Jul 13, 2009 18:26:52 EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s largest National Guard unit, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, has been ordered to mobilize for an upcoming deployment.
The specific date and location of the deployment were not announced Monday, but Tennessee National Guard officials have said the unit won’t deploy until the 2010 fiscal year, which starts in October.
The unit has been on alert for a possible deployment since last year when the military said the Knoxville-based unit was one of four National Guard units that could deploy to Iraq.
Last month, the military completed a withdrawal of combat forces from Iraqi cities to outlying bases while more troops have been sent to Afghanistan.
“The world situation is constantly changing after seven years of deployments, and the current situation will determine how and where the regiment is utilized as part of the Global War on Terror,” said Brig. Gen. Max Haston.
The commander of the regiment, Col. Jeffrey Holmes, said the units’ soldiers have been training collectively and individually for the past six months in anticipation of the deployment.
“Our soldiers and families are prepared, and we’re ready to get it started,” he said.
The regiment comprises more than 3,000 soldiers from across the state. The regiment last deployed in June 2004 to train Iraqi security forces and assisted with provincial elections.
“We began this process three years ago and it will be gratifying to have the opportunity to finish the job,” Holmes said.
The regiment will go to Camp Shelby, Miss., for training before deploying.

EMBRACING IMPERFECTION

2009-07-13T05:38:00.004-05:00

This is a story a friend e-mailed me. I liked it so much I thought I would share it. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning to dance in the rain!

Embracing Imperfection When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: “Baby, I love burned toast.” Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!” You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship! "Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket – keep it in your own."

Happy 5th of July

2009-07-05T07:01:00.002-05:00

Well the 4Th is over and all the celebrating is done. Now we sit back and clean up the mess and wonder what did I do yesterday that got me so wore out. I think it could of been from the games we played or and I dare to say it, all that food we ate. Today we wake up get ready for church and start another day. Yesterday we remembered our Independence and we thanked all the men and woman who have served this great country. I am very thankful for them but it is the 5Th now and we must still remember that they are still serving and defending our country and keeping us free. As my time comes closer to relieve some of these men and woman and let them come home, I am ready to do my part and do it proudly. I started thinking and so did my wife that I won't be here the next 4Th of July and she will be watching the festivities by herself and not cuddled up with me. She got a little sad but when she said I am proud of you for doing what you are doing it made it all the better. I am proud of my family for their support and most of all for there love. To all my fellow service men and woman, keep up the good work and come home safe. Happy 5Th of July.

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO VENT

2009-06-27T06:01:00.004-05:00

Well a big thing happened this week, we lost two famous people, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. I am not venting about that but about the media. It is a shame that a person dies and 3 hours later we have a hour long show on their lives. Here is my vent, I am tired of seeing the news media give all this great attention to a sex symbol and a very weird man and not to our men and woman who gave the ultimate sacrifice this week. We had soldiers die and wounded this week and all we get is a little blurb. I believe that when we lose a soldier we need to honor them just like if they were famous and let the world know that this person gave the ultimate sacrifice. I am sorry for the loss of these people and the loss for their families but I have brothers and sisters fighting a war and dying for this country. Now that I am writing this I realized that what we do this for is so that the media can do what they want because we are fighting for the freedom of the press and the freedom of everyone else. I am sorry for complaining but I am glad that I am serving my country and getting ready to go over myself. I guess all I have to do is love my family and come back home. I know they are proud of me and I believe that is all that matters. Here is a pic of my family keep them in prayer after I leave. Thanks to some great blogs I have been following and I love reading all of them. Thanks for your support.

ANOTHER WEEKEND CLOSER TO LEAVING.

2009-06-09T07:17:00.002-05:00

Well we had a normal two day drill this weekend. It felt really weird just going for two days and not three and four like we have been doing. We will be on a normal schedule until September when we leave for our three week annual training. Right now we are getting ready for a PT test in July and I am going to try and beat my old score of 256. That is a good score for a man who is 44 and still beating these young guys in my unit. The one thing I learned with the National Guard is you need to stay in shape on your own. That is one thing that I do and I lead by example. I guess it is just pride but I love getting out there and pushing these young guys by yelling that they should not let this old man beat them. I always do and I know one day they will get even with me. Well as for me I am getting my mind ready and I just ordered some cd's on how to speak in Iraq language, this shall be fun. Well I am glad that I have this blog it is always good to look back at what I did write about. One thing I am glad for is a very supportive family and that is what you need to get by. Have a good day.

FAMILY TIME

2009-06-03T07:24:00.002-05:00

I had a wonderful time last night. My daughters went out and worked for their Grandmother so they can earn money to take their mom and I out. I am so thankful for my girls and their willingness to do things for others and not just themselves. They did it so we can do something together as a family before I got deployed and was gone for a year. Well here is the fun part they took us roller skating and I had a great time. It was a good workout and it was fun. The one thing you got to watch out for is all those little kids who cut in front of you and they don't even look where they are going. I want to say thanks for the memories that have been placed in my head to always look back on. I have a lot of those memories and as they get older there are going to be a lot more. So I want to say a big THANK YOU to my daughters for taking us out. I am very proud of you and I know we will do it again. Y'all have a good day.

TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPING AWAY

2009-05-29T07:21:00.001-05:00

I am amazed at how fast time goes by. It seems just like yesterday that my youngest was born and now she is 13. My oldest will be 15 in Oct. Time keeps going no matter what you do and there is nothing you can do to slow it down. I have a bout 6 months left at home and I will be gone for a year and I hope it goes by as fast as the days coming up to leaving has. I started realizing the things that I will miss while I am gone and one is my 20Th wedding anniversary and my older daughter turning sweet 16. I know they will be ok and I trust God in everything that goes on in my life and that He will take care of them. I just know time is very precious right now and I need to take advantage of it as much as I can. Remember we are but a blur here and time just keeps on ticking whether we like it or not. I hope you all can look back and see where you were a month ago or better yet where has 2009 gone, it is half way over with. Just think it won't be long and we will be singing Christmas carols again. I hope you all have a great day.

THANKS FOR OUR FREEDOM.

2009-05-21T19:14:00.002-05:00

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day

we honor Soldiers who protect our nation.

For their service as our warriors,

They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;

Some were volunteers;

For some it was just yesterday;

For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,

On land or on the sea,

They did whatever was assigned

To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.

They defended us everywhere.

Some saw combat; some rode a desk;

All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,

For low pay and little glory,

These soldiers gave up normal lives,

For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;

Don’t let politics get in the way.

Without them, freedom would have died;

What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,

Who kept us safe from terror,

So when we see a uniform,

Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

WELL I AM BACK

2009-05-15T18:38:00.002-05:00

Well I have not been on in a while so I thought I would pop in and say hello. I had nothing interesting to write about lately so I did not write. Well we have been busy with training lately and it has been fun. I just finished and passed the Combat Life Savers Course. It was a very interesting course and I got a lot out of it. The one thing I was not looking for was having to stick someone with an IV. I got my chance and I was nervous but I did do it and it was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be. I guess what helped was that the person I stuck had very good veins and you can hit it easily. Well I am sorry for not writing lately and I will get back on the ball and keep people informed about what is going on. Thanks to all my readers and most of thanks for reading. See you soon.

ATTITUDE

2009-04-20T07:30:00.003-05:00

I have a shirt at home that says" It All Starts With Attitude" and I got to thinking about that. You know when you start your day it all starts with your attitude and if you wake up with a bad one you will have one. I wore this shirt to the gym this morning and it just had a smiley face and the word SMILE on it. It seemed like everyone I passed read it or just seen it and smiled or they read it and said the word SMILE. I think I might have changed their day by wearing that shirt because they did SMILE. So try something new this week and start you day off with a SMILE and see how many people SMILE back at you. To all the people who read this I hope you all have a great day, a great week, and a great month.

THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

2009-04-08T08:04:00.004-05:00

Well this is the week that we celebrate the person who has given the ultimate sacrifice. That is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He came down to this earth as one of us and he went to the cross as one of us. He suffered and died on that cross so we can have the freedom we have today. Our soldiers are doing the same thing by defending our country so we can have that same freedom that Jesus died for. I am very blessed to be a part of His kingdom and thankful for what He has done for me, without Him things would be a lot tougher. I am glad and being in the military He is mt Commander in Chief because I serve Him and He is always there for me. If you do not know who He is, then I suggest you find out and ask about Him. You can ask Me and I will share because I serve in the U.S. Army and I am also in God's army. Let's remember Jesus this Easter and everyday for giving us the Ultimate Sacrifice for our freedom. I praise you Lord for dying on the cross for me.

DROPPING IN TO SAY HELLO

2009-04-02T08:43:00.002-05:00

Well I thought I would drop in and say hello to everyone. I am getting ready for another 4 day training mission with my unit. I like these times and the reason that is is because I am one of the instructors and I don't actually have to go through all the training. There is one thing I do like to do and that is teach soldiers. I should think about doing it full time someday but for now that is the last thing on my list. The first thing on my list is to get things in order and ready for this upcoming deployment. This may sound strange but I want to go, just because I know I will be replacing someone else and they get to come home to there families. Well the weather here in TN is suppose to be nice this weekend but a good chance of storms tonight and you know the Army's motto if it ain't raining it ain't training. Well I am off just wanted to drop by and say hello to all who reads this. HELLO.

THANKS

2009-03-27T18:32:00.002-05:00

The Soldiers Life
Submitted by: Roxy J
Author: SSgt. Scott E Hilligoss

The soldiers life is not for all
A soldier must be willing to give his all
He is overworked and underpaid
A truer patriot was never made
Ready to go at any time
Wherever there is trouble or the first sign
His courage and honor are unsurpassed
Ready and willing to complete the task
Travelling to lands both near and far
He stands his post and looks at the stars
Wondering what he might have done
If he had not chosen to carry a gun
Remember the next time that you are driving by
And see the flag flying proud and high
That somewhere out there a soldier stands
Weary and cold in a foreign land
Protecting our country from our foes
Standing tall and proud come rain or snow.

FRIENDS LEAVING

2009-03-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Well today I said goodbye to two friends. We were at church today and two of my friends are leaving this coming week. It is hard to say goodbye because on the one hand you are glad it is not you and on the other you wish you were going with them. I know that my time is coming and that it will get here soon enough, but the more you think about it the faster you want the time to go. I know it will get here faster than I want and I will be saying goodbye to my family and I know that will be a hard time. They are getting ready and no matter how ready they will be it will still be hard. I think the hardest thing in the world is saying goodbye. I know my friends will be OK we prayed over them and sent them on there way with God as the leader. I think that is what we need to do is pray more for our troops and always remember why they are there. I sometimes feel like this is a venting station and I am glad that I can write here and vent. Well let's always lift up our soldiers and most of all the families that are keeping the home fires burning. Guys and girls you are forever in my prayers.

RUNNING

2009-03-18T07:10:00.003-05:00

Well I finally got back outside running today and it is a lot harder than the treadmill. I hurt my foot about a year ago and been nursing it. I finally started running on a tread mill about 6 months ago and was doing great. I had to get outside because it is better air and you get to see where you are running not just the 4 walls that surround you. Well I got outside and I ran 3 miles and it felt great and I am so glad that I am better. I like running outside because you get to pick where you are going and what scenery you want to see. Well I am just really excited to also get back out with my friends. Well as you can see I like running and they say it is a good calorie burner. I am also still working out with the weights and getting into shape. It is starting to pay off because I can notice a difference in myself. Well enough said about that and I want to say to whoever reads this that you all have a great day and I really enjoy the blogs that I follow. To all you soldiers out there you are in my prayers, let's get the job done and come home safely.

JUST STOPPING BY.

2009-03-12T18:56:00.003-05:00

Well it has been a while since I wrote last and I wanted to stop in and let everyone know that I am still here. We had a four day drill weekend for training and it went real well. The weather was OK but the wind could of eased up a little bit. We were out in the middle of an open area and it seemed you could not get away from it. I am really starting to notice how the time is going by. We have another Family Readiness Meeting this week. This week's meeting they are having a representative of the Red Cross come in to explain there role in things. I think we got a real good family readiness group. I am really going to start getting myself going physically so I can be ready to go. Strong body ,strong mind is what they say . So I am going to really start pushing myself so I can be ready when the time does come. Well you all have a good day and remember to always pray for our soldiers and that they come home soon but not before the mission is complete. Have a good night.