Hey You!! Are You Listening?

Hey you behind the counter! You, yes you in the kitchen. And you, the one driving your car(you shouldn't be reading this if you are driving). You in the desk, are you listening? You in the church pew, are you paying attention? Are you? Really? Where are you right now? Are you comfortable? If you are, you are not paying attention. A battle is raging and we are just doing what we always do, nothing.

You are most likely sitting in your comfortable home in you comfortable chair like nothing is happening and you would not be alone. But folks, our lives are crumbling around us and we are just watching in a daze and we are doing nothing. Our country's fundamental roots are being yanked right out of the dirt and what are we doing? I know allot of us complain, but that is about it.

In November we will either re-elect this current administration who has proven again and again that they want the US to crumble and become something very different than we are or we can try to change the direction with our vote. Your vote is important but that is not the end of it. Right now you and I need to be on our knees in prayer. Ernest prayer. Burdened prayer. Nowhere else to turn to prayer.

Dara Aldy, a relative, shared something with me back on 2009. She gave me permission then to use it and if you would like to read it just click here. This was her call to prayer.

Are you willing to join me? Are you willing to set aside a few minutes each day and pray that God will call up the right man for the job. Are you willing to sit in silence for just a few minutes each day? Are you willing to trust Him! He heard the cries of Israel in Egypt and He will hear our cry of deliverance now. How do I know? He said He would.

Rain and more rain!!

I don't about you, but here in Mississippi we are just about waterlogged. It was reported that we have had 3 times more rain this February than last. I feel it, literally. A lot now but it will be scarce soon enough.

Have you complained? I have. There are things I would like to do on Saturday besides being inside. I am sure there is some advantage to that. As I am typing (is that what I am doing even though I don't have a typewriter) the rain is falling yet again. But it is OK since I most likely wouldn't be rambling on the blog if it wasn't.

We have been well since my last blog at Thanksgiving (to long in between). Shirley and I have been working on our weight and general health. She is looking great and I am so proud of her. She has worked hard and it has paid off in big dividends. I started Weight Watchers last fall and I am making good progress. I have met my first loss goal. I don't have time to work out as much as I like (should). My like about working out wains very regularly, but I do manage to get 2 to 3 times per week in. I have a long way to go but making weekly progress is encouraging. Hopefully my Doctor will be impressed in a couple of months when I go back for my six month follow up. My hope is be off blood pressure medication by then end of the year.

One more thing then I will let you get to your life. My friend Jena challenged us to add something new to our quiet time. I chose to do the 1 year Bible reading. I am glad I did. It is a great tool to get you to read your Bible in an organized way. A bonus is if you find something that hits you then you can study about that a little more. Thanks Jena for the encouragement!

Well, that is it for today. Stay dry, well and God bless.

Thanksgiving

If you are on Facebook, you may have noticed some of your friends doing a 30 days of Thanksgiving countdown. Quite simply, you give one thing per day that you are thankful for. This not a bad idea because we so often forget to thank God for the blessings we have. And blessed we are. I know that many folk are going through some of the roughest times in their lives at this time. I have two friends that lost their husbands, in their 50's, this year and I have ached for them. This time of year seems to make it more difficult to deal with that loss.

I don't know about you, but, I find it hard sometimes to think about what I could be thankful for. We have a tradition at my mother-in-laws as we sit at the table, we each give thanks for something before the blessing and the eventual destruction of the bounty in front of us. The difficulty of thankfulness shows at that time. Everyone of us has had the situation of just saying, "I am thankful for my family". There is nothing wrong with that but we should be thankful for much more. I believe, our problem is we take so many things for granted and don't view them as blessings. Our human nature, at least lately if not always, is to be wanting more or to feel entitled to something we don't have or have not earned or given to us from God's love for us. God warned us about that in the "Ten Commandments", "Thou shalt not covet....".

I hope this does not seem to be "preachie" because I have the same difficulties describing what I am thankful for as well as the next person. I want to lump all of my blessings into one little catch phrase to get myself off the hook. So, I think I will try to list some of my thankfulness now.

I am thankful for:
 1.  Jesus Christ who by giving of his life and rising from the dead has given me the choice to follow him and have eternal life.
 2.  God providing safety for my son-in-law while he was deployed to Iraq.
 3.  My wife who continues to hang with me even on my worst days.
 4.  My children, for they have brought me joy.
 5.  My Mom and Dad, for their unconditional love and the godly heritage they provide
 6.  My brother and sisters
 7.  My extended family (in laws)
 8.  My job, so many don't have one now.
 9.  My church family for their love
10.  United States of America and it's godly heritage that has provided the freedom we have to even have a Thanksgiving day.
11. The things that make life more comfortable (and likely make me more complacent on thanking God).

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May you be thankful today for the blessings God has provided you.

Home

Home at last! Yes he is. His physical body is not yet sitting in his physical house but he is on Mississippi soil and Sonia is spending time with him as he and his fellow soldiers are processing out.

It has been a long year. We thank our great on wonderful God for all he has supplied during this last year. First and foremost his safety and the safety of his unit.

Although the news doesn't report much from there anymore, his deployment was not uneventful, but all are safe and returning.

Thank you 1-185th Aviation Battalion for your service to your country. Because of your efforts we are safer.