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!