I met a man yesterday for the second time. 

 The first time, we hardly spoke as I drove him to pick up a rental car from us while his car was being worked on. He had sat quiety reading his bible as I drove and it was I who started the conversation by asking his proffession, being the nosey old cuss that I am. He just said "Oh, I work for God, I have a small church and a little ministry over here on this side of town" and had given me his card, and that was that,  or so I thought. 

For some reason that night at home I looked up his Church's website.

 

This man and his wife, for over the last 45 years has served as Ministers for the Lord... Within that time for the last 20 years they have ran a program for the homeless and less unfortunate. Each day they opens their doors and their hearts for those they don't even know.

He funds much of this by traveling throughout Louisiana and Mississippi teaching programs in small seminarys of these areas taking hm away from his own usually three to five days a week up to three weeks a month.

Yesterday, as he climbed back into my car, after being away for 2 weeks he asked me "So John, how have you been?" and we talked all the way back to where he was to pick up his car.  

 As we got out of the car he took my hand and looked me in the eye and said "John, you have a Blessed Day".

And I knew I had already had one.

I have a new friend in Lake Charles, Louisiana now... A friendship that I know will last a very long time.

And I think I know where I'm going to church this coming Sunday.
 Lord...Show me your way.

Ageless

With age.. tender memories tend to come back even more often. 

Thoughts of the good times visit you and as you think of them, you smile.

Memories are your own little reward to yourself for living a good life....

I had a dream last night or maybe a subconsious memory.

In it we were all sitting on their front porch while Grandma shelled her peas and Granddaddy read his paper.

A car went by and Daddy questioned who it was because he didn't recognize the car, so Bob and Bud jumped up and ran out to the road to see where it was going.

Wayne scooted on his belly over to Tippy and climbed up on top of him. 

Mom yelled at the boys asking them if they saw where the car went?

Richard and Bill were out by the old gas pump throwing rocks at a wasp nest on the side of the garage.

It all happened in just a second seems like,  but thats the way dreams work.

Like a flash in the pan.

Miss you all very much....See More

Megan's Journey


The way we see ourselves is very important because it is that image that helps to empower our hopes and dreams....

Who and what she will become, lies within those visions of herself....

May there be no limits nor boundries to what she can attain in life....
  
She has so much ahead of her...

May her journey through life be wonderful....

My Lucky Day....

I found this dollar bill folded up into 4ths several years ago on a sidewalk in Austin, Texas.         

I remember that upon finding it, I smiled and thought to myself "Wow, I found a dollar, this is my “Lucky Day" which changed my attitude for the rest of the day.  It wasn't until later that evening that I discovered its oddity when unfolding it and how lucky I truly was.  


So now, I carry  my "lucky dollar" with me in my wallet and keep it there to mind me how fortunate I am.

Since then, each day, I drop a folded or what I like to call  a "Unicorn Rolled" dollar to the ground over my  shoulder and I don't look back, not caring "who" is going to find it, but only the hope that someone will and feel "lucky" at least for a little while. 

Many people would say that "throwing money away" like that is silly and I have been asked "Don’t you realize how much money you have lost doing that?

My answer is... I haven't lost a thing , because I feel that if I can't afford to give a dollar away each day,  then I'm not doing something right and I need to re-think my attitude towards life and being lucky enough to be here to enjoy life.

So...If by chance... you ever find one of my "lucky dollars" along your way... I hope you smile and enjoy  feeling "lucky" for a little while.

Then maybe,  if you feel really lucky and share my feelings.  You will take that dollar, and drop it over your shoulder to pass its luck on to someone else...

Running Away To Alaska

One of my favorite stories that my grandfather use to tell me was that when I was about 4 years old he came upon me walking down the road heading away from our ranch/farm in Central Texas dragging a small suitcase.  He asked me "Where ya going boy?"

 I answered "I'm running away to Alaska, going to strike gold and then come back and tell everyone Nanny, Nanny, Boo, Boo!"
He stopped and watched me walk ahead. Then he pulled up beside me again and told me "Ya know... I don't think your going to get there before dark."

He told me, I stopped and thought for a second and then asked him, "Granddaddy, Can you give me a ride back home?"

Years later, I actually did make it to Alaska while in the Navy. I did pan for gold and I did stand up,  face what I figured at the time would be about where my home in Central Texas would be, put my thumbs in my ears, wiggleed my fingers  and hollered as loud as I could  "Nanny, Nanny, Boo, Boo".

 And I left there if nothing else "feeling" a little bit richer.

Bull Nettles, Cows, Horses and Memories...

The man walked up as I took a photo of the old sagging wooden house that sat along a back road in Central Louisiana. I asked for permission to take some shots and his answer was "Have at it! Shoot away, it's not much left to look at. 

As I continued to take my shots we struck up a conversation. He would explain what each building had been over its life on the ranch and farm that I learned he had grown up on. We compared what it had been like for him in this small parcel of land in Allen Parish and the ranch and farm that I had grown up in Travis County.

The  more we talked, this old country boy from Central Texas and that old country boy from Central Louisiana we figured out real quick that we shared some common interest. Bull Nettles, Cattle, Horses, a respect for family values and Memorys.  Where I had traveled the world, he had hardly left the Parrish. Still the same, over the next few minutes we learned we actually had a lot in common, becaused we had both been "Raised Country".

 We talked about how to get rid of Bull Nettles since that was what he was in the process of doing when he saw me stopping alongside his ranch.  I shared with him my storys of digging down to their root and throwing a handful of rock salt to rid my Dad's land of them. He replied that he didn't knew of that remedy and would have to try it out. He shared his opinon that they stung so bad and there was no stopping it no matter how much scratching and rubbing you did to try and ease the pain.

 Then he grinned while he looked around to see if anyone was listening even though we both knew where there wasn't a soul within a mile and asked "Ya know, they say there is only one way to stop it from stinging don't ya?" And with a smile I answered "Yea and a couple of times I was almost stupid enough to try it!"

We talked of working cattle by horseback not like they do today with the motorized four-wheelers or motorcycles.  Then the subject went to horses after I noticed a beautiful paint and a roan off in a distance and how much we had both enjoyed riding but those days had long past for both of us. 

We talked about how things and people had changed since we had been kids and how courtesy, honesty and family values didn't seem to mean a whole lot to people and how it has gotten to the point that ya just didn't know who you could trust nowadays.  We both got quiet and just stood and listened to the country for a minute. Then, he broke the silence with  "Ya see that window on the right of that old house over there? I acknowledge that I did and he stood looking at it for a minute without saying anything. Then he added "I was born in that room, Now, I guess I'm just hanging around to see which one of us is going to fall  over first."

I shook his hand and thanked for his time. His answer was "Hell, time is all I've got left."  I corrected him telling him that time is not as important as the memorys he carried within himself.  He smiled, turned and walked away, and I returned to my car to continue on down the country road.

A Letter to Our Military

"So Help Me God". 

The last four words of a oath that many of us have taken for our country.
A oath that says that we will defend what we are proud of and will fight
for, if need be.

For those who have raised their hand and made
the decision that, for at least a portion of their life, their defending our rights
and freedoms were or is their highest priority, By doing so, please know your actions
holds our respect.

"Standing Duty" for one's country can be considered one of the most
honorable actions that a person can ever do. Know that your actions are
worthy and remembered and that we back here at home are keeping you in our prayers.Just as the soldiers standing beside you " has your back", those of us who have "been there" stand behind you and support your actions.

It does not matter where, when or to what capacity you have or are giving to our country.  It is just the fact that you were willing to step forward and  say "I will go" that brings you our trust, respect and appreciation.

Know this, that when your "Duty" is complete you can come home, stand proud, and know that there are many of us who feel your actions as a member of our military will always be held in our country's highest regards.

War, is not a pretty thing. War hurts, destroys, and cripples and I wish that
God would take the act of making of war away from us and out of our reach.

But as long as there is the possibility that our rights and lifestyles here in the United States of America are jeopardized by wrongful acts of others, then I am happy, proud and comfortable in knowing that you are there to defend us.

To Each and Everyone One of  You.

God Bless You and Keep You Safe.

Petty Officer John C. Glass. Veteran, United States Navy