What if the power goes out??????

I had to make a post on a discussion board as an assignment for one of my college courses for the paper I am writing. It is about math in the business world. One of the questions I am going to attempt to answer is "What if the power goes out". Then I started to think about every day life, and the power going out. We lose our lives for a period of time. No t.v., or computers, lights, stereos, even our way to cook, all gone for a period of time. What do we do? First, we complain and call the power company. Then we light candles, or get the flash lights out. And wait. This is not a good time. I am here to tell you it will not last (too long). I experienced just an ordeal in 1999, when Hurricane Hugo came ashore in Charleston,S.C. We went 17 days without any power. The first few days were rough, but we (everyone that lived on our street) got to know everyone else real well. See without power your refrigerator and freezers start defrosting. In about 3 days the food in them start going bad, I say this to say we all ate real well. It started with a couple families on the first evening, had to do this before dark or you could not see, would pull our grills to the street and start cooking an evening meal. It was great fun and good food. A few days later we even started doing breakfast like this, everyone would bring a little something and we would eat and learn a little about each other. It is amazing what you can do with a cast iron skillet and some charcoal. But more importantly, we as a neighborhood got to know each other. I for one was not the get out and meet the neighbors type. But when this storm came it changed all of us. We really got to enjoy each others company, kids and pets. We grew closer and became quite good friends. I left the area 3 years later so I don't know if it still continues but each year after Hugo on September 21 we met in the middle of the street just as we had done in the past and had a big cook-out and just relaxed for 3-4 hours and looked back on that time. Even though the power did come back on we stayed very close and would always stop and chat about just things. We realized that even though it was a rough time for many, we were lucky that we have a God that brought a bunch of total strangers together and we learned to play and love and survive through a very tough time. So next time the power goes out, don't complain get, out your grill and invite the neighborhood over and meet new friends. When the power is gone, use the power God has given you to light the neighbor and the world.

DO OVER !!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was my day off and I did one of the things I like to do the most. Play video games, right now I am playing "Tiger Woods 09 Tour" on the Wii. It is not an easy game, so I played the first round of a tournament and did real well. Started the second round and was not doing as well as the first round so I quit and erased that round altogether. A little while later It struck me just how easy it was to just quit and start all over again. DO OVER !!!!!!!!
I remember as a kid we had do overs and it was like a rule everyone got do overs. Boy, I wish life would give us DO OVERS. It would real make life much easier. Looking back on some of the times I wanted a do over, I figure I would have had to have about 30 -40 a day. Many times we want a do over just as the words leave our lips...................oops, wait I want a do over, did not mean to say that, sorry DO OVER !!!!!!!!!
That got me thinking.................... God gives do overs...............The biggest is when we accept him as our Lord and Savior.............He lets us start all over with a new heart and new mind, a fresh spirit. The file on us is wiped clean...............Is that not a great DO OVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But you know God lets us have many do overs, as many as we need. WHY? Because He loves us unconditionally. He loves us so much that he forgets and then forgives..........Man on the other hand forgives but never forgets. God chooses to give us do overs, because He loves us. Of course he would rather us not use the do overs, but they are there if we need them. The one thing my mom always told us was" engage the brain before opening the mouth" these are powerful words to live by. In other words don't hit send if you do not want the world to read it. Have a great evening and may God bless you in all you do.

Parents ?????

I loved my parents and still do. They have both gone on to be with our Lord. My dad was 63 when he left this world. He had a hard last 6-7 years he had had 8 strokes and 3 heart attacks. His last year was spent in a nursing home. My mother tried to keep him at home but it got to be too much for her. Dad put up a good fight , but alas he passed away on Thanksgiving Day about 12 years ago. I have some good memories of him. Most of them revolve around us deep sea fishing each weekend or working with him (we both worked for the same man). But when I think about it, I wish I had had more time to help with his care than I did. At the time I lived in South Carolina and he was in Florida. My mother was 77 when she left this world. I believe she just gave up because she missed dad so much. My brother and I moved her to South Carolina about 3 years after dad died. She drew into a shell and a bottle. At the end she had fallen and broken her hip. The doctors told her she had to go to a nursing home for a while. When she heard this she just gave up and passed on. Again, I wish I have been around to take care of her, but again I was in Alabama and she was in South Carolina. This has been a source of hurt inside of me for a while now. BUT God is so wonderful, He is helping me get through this. Most of you know I am married to Karen (a.k.a. Karen's Korner, Stillmagnolias) and God has sent her parents into my life. Yes even though they get on my nerves. God is giving me the chance to help them through their time of need. I really needed this therapy. Doug (her Daddy) is a wonderful man I have alot of fun with him. He used to go with me and be my cheerleader every Thursday (bowling night). We would spend time talking about our times in the military and just life in general. Well Doug has been diagnosed with that "C" word. He also has no short term memory. I used to drive 40 miles one way to work.Every night when I would get home he would ask me how traffic was and I would tell him. Five minutes later he would ask again and I would tell him, five minutes later and I would respond as before. Every 5 or 6 minutes he would ask and I would tell. So I started to play a game with him rather than get upset about the same question over and over again. When he would ask the traffic would get worse and worse. No harm, no foul, he could not remember and it kept me from getting upset. Wilma (her mama) is the source of problem, that I am working on as you know from yesterday's blog. Anyway she hums all the time and I mean all the time. So one evening I told Karen I was going to get a portable CD player and put it on her mama so we can change the tune every now and then. Karen asked what song I was going to use . Ok ready.........imagine this..........a 79 year old white hair lady humming...................ready.............SMOKE ON THE WATER...............I am a sick person.....lol.

But God has given them to me to assist in their final years (how ever long that may be) and this gift has started to fill that void I have in my life. Thank God for Parents and In-Laws as they are gifts to us as we are gifts to them.

Why am I here

We have all had a preacher step on our toes during a sermon. But, how often have you heard of a preacher stepping on his own toes. Believe me it hurt too. I am doing a series of sermons titled "Back to the Basics" and yesterday we where on the topic of Jesus Christ. We learned that two names most mentioned in the New Testament used for Jesus were " Son of God" and " Son of Man".
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus didn't just know God, He did not just have a special closeness with God. Jesus was and is the Son of God. What this means is God living among us as one of us. God walking among us,God breathing, speaking, laughing, and weeping as one of us. The God we worship is fully present in Jesus, and through Him, we can discover who God is and what God is like.
He is also known as the Son of Man. We just learned about Jesus is the image of God so it would stand to reason that if the Son of God revealed the true nature of God that the Son of Man would reveal the true nature of humanity, wouldn't? So Jesus as the Son of Man showed us not just what human beings are like; He showed us what human beings are meant to be like. As the Son of Man, he is the image of what God intended for humanity.
When we are honest with ourselves , we know we are not really living the lives God intended for us. We do things to hurt ourselves and others. we have immoral thoughts and desires. We desire people, money, and power more than we desire God. So with that said, my toes are hurting again. See my in-laws live with my wife and I, and my mother-in-law probably grates on every nerve I have, but that is another story. As I was bringing this message it dropped and smashed my toes, as I vizualized Jesus with my mother-in law and realized that I am in no way living my life as God intended for me. For if I was I would be more compassionate to her and stop trying to make her into someone she is not. She has every right to be who she is as I do myself. I realized that God loves her more than I do (not that I do not love her). Through this message I learned that in order to live as God intended, I must and I will try to be more understanding of her. For this is what God intended for my life. And yes I think I might need to see the foot doctor and get my toes put back in place. May God Bless you and Keep you.

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The Long Road

I was Fhinking this morning about the births of two new additions to our extented family. It made me think about the salvation of people. Then I remembered something that is not used much these days as most christians have become complacant about life. I am speaking of the "Romans Road To Salvation". This was very helpful to me, which led me to a life with Jesus in it.All the Scriptures all from the book of Romans. I would like to take you down that road. All the scriptures are from the NKJV and I got them from biblegateway.com. It is a great Bible website.

So lets begin our journey:



Our first step is Romans 3:10 As it is written: “ There is none righteous, no, not one;" I think that says it all. None of us are good, we all have faults.

Continuing on we find Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yes we have all sinned, in impure thoughts, lust, even in our friendships, talking bad about people and the list goes on and on.

Ok lets take another step down the road and we get to Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— This is telling us that even as Adam sinned so do the rest ot of us and through sin we are going to die. So do we die as sinners or do we die with the salvation of Christ.

Moving on, we are picking up some speed now, we get to Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is what it is all about Christ died for us. For you and me so that we could live life more abundtly. More freely without the burdens of the world hangin on us.

Next stop is Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wow is that not a powerful statement. I we continue to sin we will die in sin and go to the fiery pit, but God is giving us a gift, a gift of eternal life through Christ. that is the ultimate gift.

Our final stop on this part of the journey is Romans 10:9,10,13
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
I think this is a wonderful place to stop at this point of our journey. We see that we can have life, all we have to do is believe that Jesus did die on the cross for us, just believe with your heart not your head and you can have eternal life in Heaven with Christ. All we have to do is call on the name of the Lord and believe it is so and we will have a new life, a new heart and a new hope.

I hope you have enjoyed this journey down this road as much as I have being your guide. If you have found this helpful may God bess your journey. If you know of someone who needs to take this journey. Please be their guide and lead them home. Remember this is a long road and is not an easy road but the reward is greater than any thing in this world. May God bless you in everything you do today.

WORK.......WHY?

Why is it people take a job and then call out sick at least once a week? Then they turn around and wonder why their check is short..........Gee wonder why. What ever happened to a good work ethic? I guess it left when we took God out of school and every where else. It states in the Bible "2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you". Therefore we need to work to eat. I can remember when I was 16............many moons ago.........I wanted a new album that had just come out, so I asked mom if I could have an advance on my allowance....................well she informed that if Iwanted that record I needed to get a job. So I did I became a dish washer at the Black Angus restaurant in Ft. Walton Bch.............I have been working ever since. But it seems kids today are handed everything they want.................If you drive by AnyHigh School, USA you will see cars more expensive than the one you are driving and these are high school kids. Then we wonder why kids today have to start at the top and will not work unless they are making 100k a year. I started at the bottom and have worked my way to the top...................not quite there but I see the top of the ladder now. Well these are my fhoughts for today see you tomorrow.