Watching Your Kids Improve Their Ways off Thinking

I know everyone is partial toward there children but I am sitting here thinking of how proud I am of my son Christian. He is 15 now and wise beyond his years. As a family we have come to realize that it is not just about us in life. I have to admit my wife realized this fact long before I did. I am finally coming around though. It is so much easier to positively affect someone Else's life than to try and hold it in all for yourself. I am so proud that my son is learning that lesson sooner than I did, in life. He has been taking active steps toward a positive future and in his ability to affect other peoples lives in a positive way. I will be proud of him no matter what "financial living" he pursues. I think he is on the right track for life and GOD has something great in store for him. It is not so much what you do for a living, it is more about who you can influence and impact along the way. I am a proud Dad.

Christmas 2009 was one to remember. Our family got the opportunity to go back to Sea World San Antonio Texas, December 26, 2009. I have to say the last time we went, back in the summer, it was at least 110 Degrees F. It seemed that we could not drink enough water and the place was packed with people. Of course this time of year it is a much more comfortable time to experience south central Texas. This place gets really HOT. The shows at Sea World are always great and never seem to get old. I had my beautiful family with me as well as my brother-in-law Joey and his wife Shawna. They are basically still newly weds as they have only been married for about a year now. It was a privilege to have them along so we could get to know Shawna better and get to know them as a couple. We had a blast and it is a great memory. I am so glad we took the time to go.

I think it's really funny how GOD changes our direction in life. I say funny lightly because there are times that I have not even been close to laughing. As a matter of fact it would have been more like crying. The interesting part is that no matter what the struggle is in my own mind, GOD has always provided. I am in an interesting place in life. On a Friday in late August 2008 I received an unsolicited e-mail from a guy by the name of Tony. I had never met Tony. I later learned that Tony had accidentally sent me the e-mail (or so he thought) as part of a mass emailing to his contacts list. The email was an offer to conduct armed Security under a contract for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Hurricane Gustav and Ike. The money offer was great. The very first thought that ran through my mind was , I hope its not like mall security. The duty location was to be southern portion of Louisiana. Ouch. The last time I worked in Louisiana it was not a pleasant experience. As a matter of fact, at that time, I was of the opinion that a passport should be required to travel to that portion of the country. I contacted the hiring company, in Michigan, and they told me to report to an address near New Orleans as soon as possible. I hit the road that Sunday and was at the door of their office by 0600 on Monday. I was in disbelief that I was back in Louisiana but I was excited about what may be next. I spent all of Monday and Tuesday jumping through the paperwork and firearms qualification hurdles and then was on my first post (night shift) in Plattenville, LA. My partner Frank and I were standing there in a dark shopping center parking lot protecting the high tech FEMA motor home that they use for emergency communication, ie Internet and telephone. The electricity was out for miles, so I figured that a needed cup of caffeine (Coffee) was probably out of the question. I wasn't there very long and I realized that the mosquito must be the La state bird. The Prehistoric sized mosquito's were all around. We stayed in a huge self contained "tent city" near Baton Rogue for a couple of nights. After only two nights the "tent city" was disassembled and we were forced to evacuate due to impending arrival of Hurricane Ike. We evacuated to a very quaint little church camp, that the company had chartered, in northern Mississippi. It was three meals a day and bunk beds positioned in an open bay. It was strange because this place was kind of a twist between an experience I had in the Military and the Boy Scouts. I actually chuckled when I first saw it. There were probably twenty or so security people at the camp with us. After three days of sitting idle at the camp I was asked to go to a location they said was south of New Orleans in the Louisiana Bayou country. I said OMG. What the heck is south of New Orleans except the water. It turned out to be Houma, LA which had very good food and some interesting people. I was assigned to a post directly adjoined a large Bingo hall with an interesting charter by the name of Jim. Jim was a colorful character from Long Island by way of Charlotte, NC. He was an interesting to work with. I got to know several great FEMA employees at this location to include an elderly 86 year old woman by the name of Helena Hicks. Helena had been with FEMA for many years and loved to be around and to help people. One day she told me that being here made her feel useful and it was better than sitting home alone looking at the four walls. We stayed in Houma until January 15, 2009 at which time the center closed. I went to another FEMA post in Webster, TX where, believe it or not, they put me in charge of all of the armed security staff of 9 officers. At this point I told my supervisor that I would just do the best job I could. This was a facility with approximately 200 support personnel. I worked at that location until April 2009 at which point I was moved to and an even larger facility with approximately 500 employees and was once again placed in charge of several arms security personnel. It has been an extreme learning experience that has been enjoyable and has taught me a big lesson. Of course things would not have been so pleasant without my family by my side. We have had the opportunity to experience some great things together in LA and Texas to include great food, NASA Houston Space Center, Galveston Island Texas and Seaworld San Antonio. It has been something that my children will fondly remember for the rest of their lives as one of the adventures that our family went on.

Prom Again at Thirty Five

On Saturday night April 28 2007 Tathie, who was absolutely
stunning, and I along with several friends went to a Prom event organized by a local radio station. I thought the idea of going to a prom would be a fun group event as it had been several years since I had been to my High School Prom. I figured since my mentality had changed a bit that it may be fun. I was not exactly the prom King in school but I may have had dreams of running over the Prom King with by light blue 1985 two door Nissan Pulsar coupe. Sounded like fun at the time. We have some new friends by the name of Orion and Kim who were able to get some extra tickets for the prom event. It was great that they were able to include us on the free tickets. I think that we had more fun at the restaurant before the Prom than we did at the prom itself. The regular ticket price was $20 but of course it is usually who you know. Thanks Guys . The prom felt more like a club experience which should have had a cover charge. The music was not great and I think most of the group left feeling the same way. It had been years since I had done the club scene and I didn't miss it. The heaviness in the room was very apparent. Some of the people at the event were there seeking something that they will never find by themselves. Tathie overheard some women in the restroom talking about being there to meet men. Tathie and I also ran into a guy that we had gone to church with in the past. He had left his wife for greener pastures but had obviously not found it yet. He was obviously there by himself still seeking something better. As this guy left the event he tapped me on the arm and told me told me to "hold things down". If people continue to do exactly the same things and go down the same roads what gives them the impression that the outcome will be different. I speaking to myself also. I have spoken to and counseled dozens of people through our domestic case work and I will tell you that infidelity has little or nothing to do with physical appearance. It has to do with filling a need or the perception of a need. It is amazing that I have had clients that were very attractive people who's spouses were having an affair with someone who was very appearance challenged. Some more insensitive people may refer to these people as dog meat. I can not exactly explain this except for the fact that it has been true for many cases. If you are placing yourself in a vulnerable or compromising situation it is only a matter of time before you get burned or you get something that you can't kill with Penicillin. The penicillin part is a joke. I would do the prom thing again but the only reason I would go would be to spend a fun filled evening with by beautiful bride Tathie and some very close friends. A special time was the fact that my sister Crystal and her husband Chase attended the Prom with us. That was a fun part because my sister is ten years younger than I am and we had never done anything like that together before. My sister is a great sister and a special lady and we had a blast . I do intend to provide some constructive feedback to the radio station in hopes that they will make some music improvements for the next time. Hopefully some seventies and eighties.

Porn and Unwanted Memories

In recent posts my friend Mark has been addressing some very touchy stuff. He is speaking a level of truth that most people would not even be willing to admit. I only left a brief comment on his blog but that short comment brought back a flood of unwanted memories. He is correct when he says porn is burned on your brain forever. I will take it a step further. Perverted materials, actions and experiences leave an absolutely unforgettable picture in your mind. It is not a cloudy picture, it is a crystal clear picture. I grew up in a single parent situation. My mother did a great job of providing for us but she chose to ignore the rest. Things were going on all around her but she was having to provide. Thank God for my intense involvement in the Boy Scouts starting at age 11. I was able to get around some real men that showed me some balance in my life. Shortly after I got involved with Scouts I got saved. Jesus helped through the rest. I read a book when I was about 12 years old. The name of the book was Satan's Underground. This was the life story of one young woman's betrayal. The betrayal was started by her own parent's. You should be able to trust your own parent's. Shouldn't you? I am not recommending this book as it is certainly not light reading. The stuff she experienced was evil and horrific. That's enough for now. Parents please pay attention.

SACKS OF TATERS

I love the thoughts my friend Mark Asbell had on this subject. Mark comments were in response to a comment our pastor made during the Sunday sermon. It is a funny subject, but sagage is a reality. Don't worry so much about those harry taters. I once had my seventy something year old dad bend over in front of me and I almost flipped back in my chair. The level of modestly people have seems to diminish with age. It was no big deal to my dad but I have not been the same since. My therapist has been helping me get rid of that mental pictures. I feel for the people at the YMCA. I had to endure the sight of only one sack of taters. I can't really picture a whole room full of old hairy saggy taters.

Getting to know people

Getting to know people can be a delicate process and sometimes an amusing process. Like this guy in the photo. It took me a while to figure out what his issues were. He's mostly harmless. It is pretty tough to crack into some peoples spaces or crack into comfort zones. Of course most people that know me realize that Tathie and I have some some farly extensive study on the art of dealing with people. The people that are really close to us know where we gained some of that precious knowledge. What brought this to mind at this particular time was the fact that I have started dealing with some new people at New Spring Church. I have started running the sound for a couple of the kid's classes. This has been kind of a change of pace. I have been trying to serve where there is a need. Running the sound is not exactly a mental or physical challenge but there is a need for someone to serve in this area of ministry. Tathie and I know that this is not all GOD have for us but it is a start. Of course it is not about us. I love and support New Springs philosophy on sowing whatever resources it takes into our children's lives. If Disney and Nickelodeon are going to sow into our children why should we hold back. It doesn't take much to see some of the junk that these shows are sowing. Some of the stuff I have seen on these stations is certainly not what I want pass onto my kids as acceptable. I feel that we only have one opportunity not to screw our kids up. I think that we should financially spend all that it takes to steer our kids in the proper direction.

That's enough of my rant. I started off talking about getting to know people. I have been trying to get to know some people on the drama team but some of these people have been hard to figure out. One of ladies on the team is so quiet that I am certain it has been a stretch for her to even talk in front of the kids much less act in front of the kids. I have been in the class running the sound for approximately three weeks and no one had even spoken to me. For a minute I thought it may be. Finally realizing that no one was going to take the first step, I got every one's full name, SSN, DOB and blood type. Ha Ha. I figured this to be a start. Just kidding, I have learned some names and people have started to warm up a little.