Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It has been one of my favorite holidays since I can remember because of such wonderful memories - plus it's one of those holidays that modern merchants have had a difficult time exploiting with commercialism. Well, except perhaps for the poultry producers but they don't have to advertise much since getting a turkey on the table is an American tradition since the time of the colonies! But ... sadly, we have had commercialization come into existence but not Thanksgiving per se - they've skipped Thanksgiving and started putting out Christmas flyers and bulletins and sales even before Halloween has happened. It's one big commercial for gifts until well AFTER Christmas. It's rather dismaying.

But I still give thanks. I thank God for a fairly sound body even though I'm almost 55 yrs old. I still can't grasp the thought that I'm becoming an old man. And it frightens me. I don't accept it very well at all. But I'm still thankful that after surviving 20 years of military life including spent in the Middle East deserts that I've survived and fairly thrived.

I thank God for my wife, my children and grandchildren as well as my brother and two sisters. I'm thankful to have a job (even if I am about to lose it) and I'm thankful to be living in the truly freest nation on the earth.

But mosty I thank God for His son Jesus Christ, who came down to this earth as a helpless baby and became the sinless man and sacrifice for my sins - all of hunaity's sins.

I pray that anyone who reads this and believes that they stop can thank God for all that they (we) have in this world.

God bless and keep everyone that I know and don't know - close and in His heart.

Thanksgiving Month

November - the month of Thanksgiving. Someone on facebook brought up the suggestion that everyday we should post why we are thankful until Thanksgiving Day itself. But why stop there? The truth of the matter is, we should give thanks every day. I was humbled today when I realized that even though I believe in God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) I don't thank Him near enough - and yet it does not stop Him from loving me supremely, without reservation, without condemnation. That realization caused me to stop right in the middle of my workday to just thank Him for:
Being alive
For Him give me life
For loving me (and all humanity) so much that He would empty Himself, leave the throne of heaven and place Himself in the womb of a virgin, become flesh, grow up sinless, be sinless as an adult, fight Satan and evil to a degree unfathomable by an stretch of human imagination - and then die while enduring the tempations of Satan.
For being totally sinless yet becoming sin itself - carrying my sins on the cross of Calvary, on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull - and enduring the shame and horror of it all. But because He was sinless, He destroyed death and the grave and (if we're willing) to destroy the hold that sin has over each of us in our lives - and grant us eternal life.
For the RESURRECTION - without the resurrection, we humans have no hope. But there was a resurrection and so we do have hope: the greatest hope that we could possibly have, that no matter how bad things get in our lives we have hope and faith in GOD.

I have so much more to be thankful for - but that's for later.

"In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever - 'til my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river."

In the Stillness of the Mind

“Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.” - Hans Margolius

"Be still, and know that I am God." - God, Psalm 46:10

If we truly need to have the true, pure perception of the world, the first lesson is to still our mind. The 2nd lesson is that we then open our mind to the One true, pure mind. The world, in it's sinful nature, cannot enlighten us as He can.

Give me God, His peace and His wisdom, anytime, over the world.

Still Traveling

Hello. It's been awhile since I've been here - since 9/11. It's now 0230 - and my youngest son, Steven, is 29 yrs old today. Well, not quite. He was born in the evening so it'll be a few hours. He's been on a much rougher road trip through this life than I have. It's a long story and it's his story so let's just say I'm very proud of him for overcoming so much in his life. He's an OIF veteran like me - Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yes, one of those. I've prayed for him quite a bit since he got back. Lots of emotional pain and turmoil in his life.

But I received painful news 3 weeks ago. A dear, good man that I knew died in a tragic accident in Anchorage, Alaska. His name: Walter Larson. He had a couple of nicknames that he answered to - Sonny and Iggy. He was an Inuit - a Native American Alaskan. He and I went to boot camp together in the fall of 1989 - Orlando, Florida. Navy. Then we went through electronics schools together in Orlando and later at Great Lakes, Il near Waukegan. He was a short, muscular young man. He couldn't march worth a dime but had a great attitude and ready smile. Always laughing, always joking. My wife adopted him like a son and he stayed with us several times while we were at Great Lakes.

Unfortunately he couldn't make it through electronics school but was so well thought-of that the brass transferred him to aircraft structural maintenance. So he ended up working on Navy aircraft structures and served on an aircraft carrier and then got an honorable discharge. I linked up with him the last year on Facebook. And we laughed about many things via the printed electronic word.

Now he's gone. And the world is much worse with him gone but was much better for having had him in it.

Here he is in a couple of his last photos - always clowning around but oh, what a joy of a man he was.

Rest In Peace, Sonny. God bless and keep you. I'll see you at the Resurrection and the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.
























A few weeks ago I mentioned how my job is in jeopardy. It still is but I have been given a brief reprieve. My termination date has been moved to (at the latest) March 31, 2012. So I'm still teaching for now. And attending college (nights).  Sometimes I wonder why I'm doing it - I am 54, after all. But if one is still moving, then they are still alive. So...keep moving forward.

I do have another teaching prospect with a contract company that's on Keesler AFB. I applied, just have to wait and see.

Life is tough. I wonder how people make it in this life without Jesus Christ in their lives. He is real. Yes, it's about faith and it's "pooh-poohed" by the "intellectuals" of this world. Some say they've read the Bible but it's only mythology and besides, it sure didn't seem to make a difference in their lives. Maybe nothing happened because they never actually TRIED. To actually pray. To take that step of faith.

Jesus is coming back. He's at the end of life's road trip. He's the Hand on the steering wheel. We just have to learn to let Him drive.

On that note, I leave here. I'll share more later. Hopefully, I won't wait so long to do it. 

Until then, consider these words from Psalm 19:1 --  "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands..."

10 Years After 9/11

10 Years After...9/11/01 ► 9/11/11. 

10 years after the World Trade Center was struck by two hijacked passenger planes - and then the Twin Towers and surrounding buildings collapsed.

10 years after a hijacked passenger plane flew into the Pentagon.

10 years after 40 brave men and women, non-combatants, learning via cellphone of the attacks in NYC and Washington, D.C., decided that they would not go down without a flight - and rushed the terrorists in the plane's cockpit. The outcome was brutal yet bravery personified - the plane crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pa. - no one survived. Uncommon courage that day at all the places attacked. New York firefighters and policemen ran INTO the WTC as people rushed OUT. They went into harm's way,  not with guns and bullets, but with their willing hearts and hands to help people get out of the horror that had transpired around them. And many NYPD and NYFD did not survive. They gave their lives so that others might live.

This past weekend, our nation remembered, with telecasts from all the major networks that relived that day - the planes' collisions, the people jumping from the WTC - choosing to die THEIR way, the horrific sight of the massive towers falling, the growing, gray cloud that rolled down the streets between the buildings like a monstrous flood - but it wasn't water, it was dust and dirt and debris from those huge buildings. The after-view of the buildings' fall was just as brutal to witness. The people, vehicles, wreckage, still-standing buildings in the close avenues - all covered with the white/grayish dust that made it look like a alien planet suddenly appeared on our television screens.

The past two days were solemn ceremonies of that day to commemorate the dead - and the families left behind. After 10 years, the sites still do not have completed memorials, but what does exist are moving. At the field in Pennsylvania, are forty, 8-foot tall, white marble vertical slabs, with each slab engraved with the name of the 40 passengers and crew. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spoke eloquent, heart-felt words about those brave souls who sacrificed themselves to prevent an attack on our nation's capital. Vice President Biden also spoke and he was very moving as well.

It was refreshing to see unity there - for the past 10 years there hasn't been much of that in our country. There was for a few weeks after 9/11/01. President Bush gave speeches that inspired, the country was behind him nearly 100% to invade Afghanistan to destroy the al Qaeda strongholds and terrorist training camps.
Then we invaded Iraq (yes, I was there on the ground at the time) and then the country's unity began to dissolve. The rancor of the left (Democrats) against the right (Republicans) grew stronger and now they've polarized the country.

But I digress...

Today, President Obama and George Bush, with their wives, attended the 9/11 ceremonies at the WTC, NYC. Sad, solemn, heartbreaking. And the words were, again, respectful and inspiring.

God bless America - is all that I can finish this with ... I pray for so many this evening.

The Day After Hurricane Irene

This past weekend has been a Rough Road to travel for many people. Hurricane Irene headed up the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.

I had many friends (all loved ones) in my prayers and thoughts for they were in harms' way. I have close friends in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Maine. It was a Category I for most of the time, plowing through N.C. and VA. and then up to Maryland then hit NYC itself, then all the way up to Canada and beyond. Rain was so thick and heavy that even though skies are basically clear, the water that hit the higher elevations is now flowing down and overflowing all the creeks, streams and rivers and the almost the entire New England area is flooding.

Imagine this: 3 MILLION people without electricity. Yeah, scary. And the city, state and federal governments have yet to know the full impact of the storm and how long it will be before the power can be restored.

My prayers are with so many and I have heard from a few of them on facebook - but they're texting via their blackberries or ipads, etc (all battery-powered) because they all say they have no electricity. Some have babies and little children too...so I pray for a quick return of electricity and basic needs to their lives.

My own Road Trip had not been so rough this past week - other than worrying about my job. As I said earlier, my supervisor told me to get ready to be let go in 2 or 3 months.

I am not alone on this Trip. God is with me and my wife. We are in His good hands!

Rough News on My Road Trip

A red-letter day in my life (again!)...my supervisor came and told me to be sure to update my resume and be ready to be booted out the door. I'm a "Term" employee in the USAF. A civilian instructor. I teach networking to airmen. Been here almost a year. Due to the ongoing degradation of our country's finances the budget gurus in Washington, D.C. say that we all have to bite the bullet - i.e., depts in the federal government better find ways to save money and remain viable and working at the same time. So...since I'm "Term"  - which is like a "Temp" only with benefits - I'm going to lose my job. Today, two of my co-workers (one Temp, one Term) were given their notices to be out the door by September 30th.

This is one of those times that is a clear test of my faith - anyone's faith, really. I have a wife, mortgage, car payment(s), medical bills, etc. Normal stuff - but in this day and age, it's a tough road to travel on. Make that a ROUGH road to travel on. I'm not scared, maybe a bit nervous. It's not official yet that I'm out of a job but very close.

God be with me, God be with my wife, God be with all those I know that are going down this rough road.

Moving forward

Moving forward through life even when life is hard on you is something we all face. I know I have. This past year has been rough on many people. Japan got hit by an earthquake, then a tsunami and then their nuclear reactors spewed radioactive water and air-borne particles in the northern area of their country. Thousands dead, many still missing.

But they've kept moving forward.

Missouri, Missisippi, Alabama, Georgia - all these states got hit HARD by tornados. Hundreds dead, homes and businesses ravaged and destroyed beyond recognition.

But they've kept moving forward.

Life is that way for all of us. Sometimes it's not a natural catastrophe - it's about personal relationships: infedility, anger, abuse, separation, betrayal, neglect...I'm sure that a person could add their own issue to that list.

The thing is - to keep moving forward, no matter how much it hurts.

When I was a child, age 8, my mother died. She was only 40 yrs old (young). My oldest sister was 14 yrs old - and Mom was her best friend. She had to cope with that plus be a surrogate mother for my older sister, my younger brother and me. Dee did an admirable job. And she got married and had children - and those children now have children. All of them are good, Christian people. Dee's life is an example of moving forward, no matter the pain.

My other sister, Jana. - she too moved forward. She married, had children and now has grandchildren. She and Dee are the salt of the earth types. Doing for others, more than for themselves I think is the key and substance of real success.

If you're having troubles, no matter what they are...KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

Life is precious, it's a gift and it's fragile. Handle with prayer!

The beginning

August 9, 2011

My personal road trip began way, way back in time - the year of Sputnik. Yeah, the Russian satellite that launched the space age though at the time it was more of a space race. The. U.S. of A. was behind and the Russians scared our country out of its wits. But that wasn't my concern at the time. Mine was more, "It's cold out here! Get me some clothes and feed me!" Not that I really was cognizant at the time, but you get the idea. We all have those needs when we're born. And our needs are met due to one thing - LOVE. At least, usually - if we're fortunate to have parents (at the minimum - a Mother) that want us in the first place. Thank God (and I do, truly) that I did have such parents. I also had two older sisters - and later came my nemesis - er, I mean, my brother. Just kidding.
But my road trip began in a delivery room in a small town hospital - a town out in the plains of southwestern Kansas.

That's the far past - here's today's happenings. I went to the VA this morning for some tests due to some past stuff in Iraq (2003). But I'm fine. Then I came home. Not a whole lot more to add to that. More later. Good night!

Day after finals

July 30, 2011 - Last night I took my final for CTE 444. This blog is a part of that class so I am now faced with the question of whether I want to continue using this blog. We shall see. The class was great. I learned how to make a movie, how to do some editing, use special programs to create a better teaching environment. It's a part of my life's road trip.

Don't we all ask ourselves during our life, "Have I made a difference to the world? Have I accomplished anything worthwhile?" Some people despair over that question; others just shrug their shoulders and say, "Nothing I can do about it, so why worry?"  Me --- I think that we all contribute (positive or negative) to the world - as long as we keep the "world" in perspective. Instead of thinking it in terms of being famous world-wide whether as a celebrity or a scientist or politician - we need to stop and think about the world around us, personally.

Have I made a positive difference in the lives of my spouse, my children, my family and my friends? Have I contributed to the bettering of my community, my church...and ultimately, have I done all I can for God?

The final outcome is actually out of our hands. We're born, we grow, we live .. we die. Belief in God makes all the difference, to me anyway. That's all for tonight. My decision concerning this blog will determine if there are anymore to share.

A Web Tool I Love

  Wikipedia - yes, I love this tool. When I became an instructor for the USAF, I thought I would be teaching my expertise...i.e. radars. That surprisingly, was not the case. I found myself tossed into the networking world - network assurance, network addressing (class-full and class-less), subnetting, etc. Then I was also handed the additional area of technology called multiplexing - and there's a plethora of aspects in that area as well.

  Where to go to find this? Well, I did what many people do - I "Googled" the topics I needed and invariably at the top of the list would be Wikipedia. I'd not used it before so took a chance. Was I pleasantly surprised.

  I am a knowledge junkie. It started when I was a child and I would sit on the floor next to the book shelf and read the Encyclopedia Britannica. I need to know things, I need to learn. Wikipedia gives me the knowledge I need to do my job. One nice feature of Wikipedia pages is that there are additional links outside of their site that leads to more knowledge. For instance, if I type in "Cicsco Routers" in Wikipedia, it will have an article about it, then a link to Cisco itself. That's just one example.

  This is a tool that I use everytime I need knowledge and it's usually just the tip of the iceberg. If you've not done it - check it out for yourself. Here's the link! Wikipedia

Ethics in Technology

  Just in contemplating the title, the first thought that comes to mind is that technology itself is just a tool - incapable of possessing morals or ethical qualities. Obviously when discussing technological ethics it's about what humans do with technology. In developing a technology itself certain moral questions come to mind: How is it to be made and developed? How is it to be used? Does this technology help others or does it hinder? Does this technology develop individuality or does it threaten it?

  As an instructor in computers and networking these are questions I face when discussing communications security, specifically network security. Computers are a wonderful device if used in a thoughtful, positive and innovative way - even used for amusement.

  But they can also be destructive in nature. For instance, there are in the network community people that are called hackers. These individuals take code and create viruses, Trojans and worms - all malicious tools that are used to invade other computers - individual, corporate, government and military. As a former military man and now a government civilian employee these are things I have had to deal with on a personal level.

  At the time of this writing, we are a nation at war. This war is not just about guns, bombs and bullets but about ideologies, thoughts and beliefs that culminate in violence and death of innocents. The way that these ideologies and beliefs are spread are through the use of computers, websites and blogs that are developed to entice and deceive others to an extreme way of thinking. 

  A person can argue that this is about freedom of choice and a matter of perspective of what is ethically right or wrong in this war of thought. I admit that it is about freedom of choice - but when a technological tool is used that does not enhance human growth but its destruction; when it is used to spread beliefs that enslave women and children (such as the Taliban have in Afghanistan) - then the moral ethics involved are clearly in the wrong.

  In our country, we are to hold ourselves to a higher ethic in using this technology. Yes, we use computers and networks in our fight but we is it in defense of what we believe is freedom and liberty. May we not lose sight of that higher calling.

 

Concept maps

While taking this course on Career Technology Education I was introduced to concept mapping as a planning tool. I found it rather fascinating. It's like putting  your very thoughts and ideas out into the open - visually vice using words. The printed word is the only way I've ever really considered using in making a plan. This new idea for me I discovered to be self-educating and something I will use in the future as the occasion arises. It gives a visual representation of an outline only not as rigid plus you can put interesting pictures, different graphics and even place links to sites online for a student to pursue an even deeper understanding of a subject.

I have a couple of pictures of my concept maps to share. One is the plan map and the other is the lesson map. Unfortunately these are not real classes to teach because I do love horseback riding, which was the concept map I chose.

This is a project I made for William Carey University. I'm aiming for a B.S. in Career Technology Education. I made this a serious video. It's a reflection of who I am. God and nature go together but sometimes we can't go out into nature to find solace. There are times when we have to drop to our knees and find peace with God right then and there - no matter where we are or our circumstances. He is our River of Solace...the Everlasting Water that has no end and washes our sins, our mistakes and worries out to sea -- far, far away from us. It's not about a church or a religion - it's about a person, a mortal, going straight to the throne of heaven and seeking God and His never-ending love for humanity. No matter how dark, He'll bring light to us all.

Long Days, Short Nights (or long nights depending on your point of view)

Here it is - another post that's indicative of the phrase "few and far between". I am not too good at blogging apparently. Much has been happening on this Road Trip. At this time in our country, our leaders in Congress and the White House can't seem to agree on how to get a budget together. Depending on their philosophy, some want to just spend more, tax more (Democrats and Liberals - the same thing). The others are like my own household - spend less, don't go over budget...

The only reason I mention this is because it may affect my employement. I am a federal employee and if Congress and the Prez can't get it worked out, I may just not be going to work for a few days in the near future. We'll see.

More to come...

First Post

This is not only my first post - it is also my very first blog. 

I am a thinker, reflecting on life and it's complexities especially as it pertains to the mystery of human interaction. Why do we think the way we do? Why do we hate and why do we love? What events in our past made us the way we are and how we treat each other?

I do not intend for this to be a singular blog in which it is my thoughts alone but rather to let others give their insights. Perhaps on this road trip called life - and if we're honest, it's kind of rough - we might get somewhere meaningful.