Insights From The Rocking Chair

 I have already received several emails this Christmas season with life lessons learned in each one. This one is no different. Read the following then I will comment at the end. I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped  the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know  that!" My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be  true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I  told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she  snor...

Okay, so Thursday was a rough day. We said our first good-bye to my son-in-law, the next will come the day after Christmas. Tuesday his battalion  was given a great deployment ceremony. A very patriotic and moving experience. Thursday morning the event was much more subdued. A simple formation, the unit commander spoke, then the last few minutes with the families then out to their aircraft. We stood and watched as they started the big engines and then the rotor blades, and then moved into flight formation and then they took off.  I am still awed by the sound of the engines and the skill that it takes to lift that UH-60 Blackhawk into the air, rotate it then move forward to a specific spot and then all lift off at the same time and move forward to their destination. Here is a snippet of the sights and sounds of the morning. This is video

It pains to me to write this blog. Once again and way to soon we are having to prepare for another deployment. A lot has changed in the 2 1/2 years you have been home from the last one. Cayden is now older and more aware and there  has been another addition with Grayson our 16th month old. I am trying to grasp your feelings from a father and husband point of view but I can just only imagine the turmoil of emotions you are in. Of course I don't won't to forget to add the loss of your dad so close to this event and leaving your mom to handle those things on her own. I just sat down and wondered just how much you might be able to handle emotionally. I can offer you no more than the Word of God for comfort and if I thought you looked elsewhere or not at all for help I couldn't bear it. As before, Shirley, Cathy and I will be here to help wherever it is needed. We will try to see ahead with God's vision what needs to be done and get taken care of. No matter what you se...

Last night was a fun night! Shirley and I went with Sonia, JD and the boys to the Mississippi State Fair. Jay was off on an adventure of his on with his Sunday School teacher and his "girlfriend". That is another story all it's own. We had a really good time. The air was crisp and weather this year, DRY, unlike last year.  It is so much fun when you take the little one's especially when they are very young and are just noticing things. The midway was seemingly very interesting to Grayson. The flags flapping in the wind and the lights and sounds that he just couldn't quite take all in. Cayden is older now and enjoys the smaller rides. Well, at least some of them. There is a boat ride that isn't that much fun. I know this from experience! I was duped into riding with Cayden a year or too ago and neither of us liked it then. But for some reason last night, he thought he wanted to ride it. He may have, if the ride had started quicker, but it took some time for...

When you: Choose to hate... Choose to steal ... Choose to be unfaithful... Choose to kill... Choose to tear down... Choose to dishonor... Consider the consequences first

I will just tell you up front that I am breaking ranks with a lot of folks on this, but common sense has been lost in the debate. Let me also state that I am conservative in my views on religion, politics and life. I lean more to libertarian views than republican. I have become convinced that the 2 party system is failing and is nothing about this country and the benefits to it's citizens, it is about who has power and what can we do with it. Now back to the mosque. If you are of the persuasion that it shouldn't be built because it is a mosque or because of it's Islamic religion then maybe you haven't considered the consequences to opposing it's being built. Would you want to be told you can't build the church of your religion on property you own if it is in the proper zoning area? I don't think we would. So, if we succeed to stop this renovation and conversion, however ill advised it may be, then we run the risk of just that happening. Our nation's con...

Time has flown since my last post. It just seems the older I get the more time fleets by. This morning I awoke around 4. I don't know why really, but that has occurred the last three or four nights. As I lay in bed quietly listening to my wife's rhythmic breathing, my thoughts moved to a song that we are working on for church, "At Your Mercy Seat". The title caught my eye and I just had to hear it and read the lyrics. What a powerful song. From every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, There is a calm, a sure retreat found beneath the mercy seat. There is a place where Jesus sheds the oil of gladness on our heads, A place that all beside more sweet; it is the blood bought mercy seat. Chorus I will come, I will bow down, pour my burdens at Your feet; I will come, I will bow down at Your mercy seat. There is a scene where spirits blend, where friend holds fellowship with friend; Though sundered far, by faith they meet around one common mer...

This Sunday the male quartet I sing in at church will be singing the song "Let Freedom Ring". We have practiced this for several weeks getting ready to really let it "RIP" for July 4th at church. The song reminds us of that heartbeat of desire for freedom in everything alive. No matter the oppression, that desire lurks beneath the surface of every being on earth. The song reminds us also of the sacrifices made by so many whether through death or by their participation in securing our freedoms by walking up to the gates of hell so others won't have to. Those reminders are necessary or we will take our freedoms for granted and loose them altogether. The song also reminds us that Christ walked up to the gates of hell, unlocked the door, and left it open so that souls, that believed in His blood redemption, could not longer be held captive by Satan and his minions. He bought our freedom with His sacrifice upon the cross and stamped pardon on our souls. Oh, I hope th...

I haven't posted in long while. Generally, I am moved by an event or something I hear or read and I have an opinion to write. I have had quite a dry spell lately and time has just been limited. The other day I received an email that caused a stirring deep in my soul. I had to look inward and be honest about how I might respond in this situation. I am going to reprint it here but don't know where it originated so if you are the author let me know and I will give you credit. If you have read it before, then let the Spirit stir in you once again. If you have never read this, then I suggest you get some tissue before beginning. "The Living Bible" His name is Tom. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very cons...

After marrying and our children were added to our family, I always heard the saying, "Just wait until those grandchildren come". I thought people were nuts, because all I could think about was getting mine grown. Well, as always with old sayings, I found this saying to be true, but this post is not about my grandchildren although I believe I could write pages if I had the time. This time I would like to tell you about my grandmother. A woman that has lived long enough to see the 5th generation. Lillian, as her friends and family know her, is my ma maw. Being so young the first time I saw her, she was quite blurred. Later she would come into full focus. I wish I could write a novel about her, but sadly I don't know all I would like to know about her, but I will try to tell you what I do know. She was raised in the Mississippi delta. If you have never been there, it is quite the dreary place in the winter. The farm land stretches for miles and is almost void of trees except...

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20(NIV) Are we ashamed? Do we (I) have courage? While channel surfing last night during commercial breaks, I ran across a movie on TBN. It caught my attention, because a guy was heckling another guy in a diner about being a Christian. He also would insult him by calling him Jesus. It was obvious that the heckler was trying to make the Christian mad so he could prove the point he was trying to make, that all Christians where "hypocrites". The Christian young man eventually responded very quietly and caring about God's love for him. No matter what he said, the heckling continued and even got to the point I thought the guy(heckler) was going to hit him (Christian). When the food for the Christian arrived, he did however reach and pick it up and messed up the plate. After all that, the ...