“In our laws ... by the oath which they prescribe, we appeal to the Supreme Being so to deal with us hereafter as we observe the obligation of our oaths. The Pagan world were and are without the mighty influence of this principle which is proclaimed in the Christian system - their morals were destitute of its powerful sanction while their oaths neither awakened the hopes nor fears which a belief in Christianity inspires.” ~ Rufus King, Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1821, Assembled for the Purpose of Amending The Constitution of the State of New York (October 30, 1821)

One of our favorite shots as Jimmy recovered with the help of his
trainee emotional support animal, Mr. Bentley. 

Good Friday morning and welcome. Today, Friday, April 30, 2021, we pause to recognize the birthday of our middle son, Jimmy. This now counts 53 years for him as a sojourner here on the planet. He has been through a lot due to the recent open-heart surgery, however, when we consider how God has provided for him, we are compelled to give thanks and praise to Him. We continue to seek God's best for Jimmy as he gains strength each day. He has the privilege of seeing his children quite often, Jimmy Jr., Amanda and her husband Manny, Alesha, and Alex. God has been good. Happy Birthday, Son. Our love, Mom and Dad. 

I suppose the quotation in the title of today's visit, coupled with what we heard from President Biden, causes me to offer this thought, "My how times have changed." Or, I could have said it this way, "Have we lost our ever-loving minds?" Maybe you see it differently. That's okay because according to what I read, there are quite a few out there that do. And, no matter how many do support this so-called new orientation and approach to government, it will never supplant God's word on what is right and what is wrong. That's not just the way I see it, it actually happens to be the truth. We have the Creator God's word on it. Amen.

Last week, we had ourselves a most wonderful visit with our granddaughter and her family out in SanAntonio, there to celebrate the wife's birthday. This included spending time with our great grands as well, Madi, aged 11, and Ava aged 7 months. It was so good to getaway. We spent some time on the River Walk, ate some wonderful food, and even found the Apple phone the wife wanted (the iPhone 12). The wife is about 9 months younger than I, and, we are already thinking about thinking about what to do to celebrate my 75th coming up in August, that is if God allows me to make it to that date. Three-quarters of a century, threescore, ten, and five years, sounds slightly ominous, but, we left SanAntonio thanking God for His provision, and, we continue to thank Him for His working in our lives. Have yourself a wonderful Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday and I hope you see you again, along the way. May He add His blessings. Amen. .....More later.

Thanking God for my Proverbs 31 wife. (Look it up!)

Happy Birthday on Friday, April 23.

Good morning and welcome. We are okay especially in the context of the book title, "I'm Okay, You're Okay", or at least I think that was the title. I read it many years ago as part of a management seminar. It is Wednesday, April 21, 2021, and, I hope today's visit finds everyone still making progress in the life God has given to us. Don't misunderstand my thoughts, I have far too many times forgotten to say 'may I?' and was required to start over, and over, and over again. We will be leaving in the morning for a short road trip to celebrate the wife's birthday coming up on Friday, therefore, I will be out of touch, as if that is something new, for the next few days. We have Jimmy's daughter Alesha coming over to be with him and to take care of The Mr. Bentley. What about these cool mornings? I went out early this morning and at 46 degrees with a slight breeze, well, it felt a wee bit chilly on my exposed arms. I told Mr. Bentley I didn't think it good to put on a sleeve because I would not want to lose the cool and as I learned as a kid, to do so would make me a sissy. Sorry, I know using that word today might be a criminal offense but after all, I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has been exceeded on me like an archaic relic from the past. 

Lest you get the wrong idea, I am not accredited as a dog whisperer yet, even though I do talk with Mr. Bentley quite often. He is not the best listener and to tell the truth, he is pretty good at ignoring me. He does understand quite a few different words but his stubborn streak causes him to ignore some of them. Words like, stop, or quit pulling, or 'not that way'. He very well understands what those mean but he doesn't always respond to them. Our neighbor Charlotte, who is in her early 80's, loves Mr. Bentley. She has him a tiny bowl of salmon cat food always ready and waiting for him. He looks for her all day long and turns flips when he sees her from the sliding glass window. He, for some reason, loves that cat food snack and he loves the rubs Charlotte gives to him. The people who know a lot about the Shi Tzu breed say these dogs actually believe themselves to be the same as the people they are around. I think, for us, that would be an improvement since Mr. Bentley often acts like we have been sent to serve his every whim. I do not deny that he has become very special to me, however, I have not become as some often call me, a dog person. I am a Mr. Bentley person only and I am unanimous in my conviction of this matter. Just in case you were wondering. 

I finish today's edition with this prayer, "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better".... (Ephesians 1:16-17). Amen. .....More later

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best." ~ Duke Ellington

Yesterday we kept 7-month-old Jedediah for a lady in our Church. Mr. Bentley heard me tell the baby he was a good boy, so he came and laid down on my feet because he thought he was the only good boy in the house.

Good morning and welcome back to me, myself, and I. Sorry about the interruption in my blogging activities but I do have some reasonable explanations, however, they matter very little, therefore, I bring you greetings on this Tuesday, April 20, 2021.  The wife found out her thyroid is out of whack and is now on medication to help remedy that issue. This is not her first time dealing with this problem but it has been a number of years since it last happened. That little one in the photo above was a chunk. He was a joy for us to have in our home, but, I will be the first to admit we both were pretty much spent from the experience. I will tell you this about our current political situation: It gets crazier by the hour. The stuff being pursued by the new regime, well, it's like we are living through an alien world where everything ever held sacred by our nation is not only being set aside but sadly, are also being trampled on. There are some indications that people, you know, the folks that reflect the citizens of our nation, are beginning to begin to see these things and they are becoming concerned. Let's hope this type of awakening continues and we become a different kind of 'woke' people. Awake to the great harms to our freedoms and way of life that are the agenda of this new administration. I know polls say there are those who consider themselves happy about receiving those checks from the government. That to me is a distraction from the radicalism underpinning the actions we see each and every day. Just me. 

This is a photo I posted some time ago to illustrate how time felt during the time we were hunkered down and quarantined due to the COVID threat. 

The other day when I was at the clinic with the wife I observed folks dealing with all the things that come with a fallen world. One elderly gentleman was hard of hearing, therefore, he got up every time they called someone's name. There were folks on walkers, in wheelchairs, or being helped by children or other caretakers. It doesn't take long sitting in the waiting area for one to be overcome with a sense of how many folks are dealing with health challenges in their lives. I couldn't help but feel how blessed I am to still be able to get up and go even though I too have things that no longer work like they did at one time. One older lady sitting behind me observed the older man getting up so often only to be told it wasn't his turn and she whispered, loud enough for me to hear it, "Now this is how I will be when I get old." She wasn't that much younger than the old man, but, as we all know, life is seen through our eyes based on perception, not always based on reality. At any rate, I am thankful we have the medical services we have and I was also glad when the wife came out and said we could leave now. 

Have a great rest of the day. I am glad to report our Jimmy continues to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from heart surgery. God is good. Always. Whether I see it or not, He is! Amen. ....More later. 

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller

Good morning and welcome to our 'today' here on this Monday, April 12, 2021. I'm not keeping up closely with all the political shenanigans going on within our Republic these days, however, I did watch the former CBS anchor, Sharyl Attkisson, doing a speech regarding the current state of news in our nation. It was entitled 'Slanted Journalism and the 2020 Election'. I would encourage any and all to search for this speech and watch it. It's one thing to decry the planted stories, twisted narratives, and fake news, in a general context, but, Ms. Attkisson has done the research with specific stories, their backgrounds, and how they were used to manipulate the public in order to achieve a designed purpose, that being the defeat of President Trump in his reelection bid. I will tell you her work is not based on cursing the winds of political change, it is based on real-time instances where major news media organizations, including for the first time, those in control of the internet, and how they deliberately conspired through the stories written, televised, published, or sent out via social media in order to gain the outcome achieved in the election of Joe Biden. Just go to YouTube, find it, and watch it. It gives anyone who is willing to watch the real truth behind this sad episode in our history. 

Great Grand Madi, reading to her baby sister, Great Grand Ava.

We continue our journey here dealing with all the things that we currently have on our schedule. God has been good to give us the means, the strength, and the provisions required to handle the challenges we are currently facing. I am up to the Book of Job in my read-through-the-Bible program and I will tell you we have nothing in our situation to compare to his. That's a tough book to read and study as we see a man God offered up to be hammered with horrific happenings bringing great pain and anguish into his life. God had a purpose in doing so. Job was not aware of that purpose. The scale of hurt caused him to lash out even as he was forced to defend his own personal integrity as his so-called comforters berated him over and over again trying to get him to uncover some secret sin. Fortunately, I know the rest of the story, and God and Job are vindicated in the end. The good news is God did not forsake Job even though we may not grasp His full purpose for how things unfolded in Job's great trial. We can be sure that God was at work in Job's circumstances and He is at work in yours, and in ours as well. We do our best to get up every day and seek Him and His help as we face these challenges. 

I do hope you will have a most wonderful rest of the day Monday and may God bless one and all. Amen. ....More later.

Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for us. We greatly appreciated it!

Another day, another Great Grand. This is 2-year old Bella, playing with Sophie
in her pop-up tent.

Good morning and welcome. It is Friday, April 9, 2021, and, we are up and doing a lot of what we have going on here these days. The wife just left to take Jimmy for a mental health appointment, then she proceeds to see a specialist regarding her thyroid report. Jimmy needs to be back here by 11:30 a.m. for the home health care visit, and, the beat goes on and on and on. Life continues underneath the provision of our Great God. The other evening I went to fetch some food that had been ordered via the internet. It was at Olive Garden. Something had not worked right with the ap, therefore, when I got there, they did not have the food. I went inside and talked with the take-out facilitator person. He said he had no idea what may have happened to the online order, which sounded reasonable since it didn't show up. I placed the order and he told me there would be a minimum wait of 20 minutes. I wasn't trying to be difficult, but, I inquired as to why it would be that long. He said there were other people in front of me. I told him we come there often for dine-in meals and we pay the same amount for the food purchased but typically it doesn't take a minimum of 20 minutes from the time an order is placed through the wait staff. He seemed a little flustered but said he would see what he could do. I promise I was not being ugly, I just wanted to understand how people paying the same price for the same food would have to wait longer. He brought the food in about 10 minutes and asked if he had done well. I told him he had, thanked him, and went on my way. It never hurts to ask. Right?

Flashback from my first month of blogging: 

 

Did someone say, GRANDCHILDREN?

Grandchildren! You knew sooner or later it had to come up, right? We are so blessed to have ten of them and they are spread out from college age down to toddlers. What a joy they are and what a privilege to see them through an older set of eyes. I often tell people that when my three boys were growing up I was much too busy making a living instead of concentrating on helping them to build a life. Somehow they got through all that and today they have given me the opportunity to pour myself into their children’s lives. No, I can’t go back and change the past but I can do today the best I know how to influence them, and make a difference in their children’s lives.

You have heard of the stay-at-home dad but what about the stay-at-home granddad or Poppy as I am called? My time between work assignments coincided with the birth of our little Alex, (he’s our number nine). Since Poppy didn’t have a regular job I became the 8–10 hours per day caregiver for this little guy from the time he was about a month old until he was one year. Wow! What an experience! The photo is of me teaching him how to drive. Who else is going to do it? In the summer I also took care of his 9-year-old brother and 7-year-old twin sisters. Some days I had their cousin also so the total crew was 4 supercharged kids and one infant. Challenging? You bet! Exhausting? Certainly! But looking back I believe it to have been a blessing from God that provided for them the care they needed and also allowed me to experience great joy.

Yeah, it’s true that I now probably act like “Poppy knows best” on all subjects regarding childcare and childrearing. I catch the looks of the parents as I give them my informed opinion on these important subjects. My wife, (the grandmother known as MiMi), is always reminding me that in the end, it is their decision on how and what to do. This doesn’t typically bother me because all of my advice comes from down in the trenches, learned on the front line. If nothing else it makes for lively and entertaining conversations, to say the least.

This photo is of our number ten just after he was born. He is a remarkable child and he’s now 16 months old and his dad calls him, “a one-man wrecking crew”. I call him and all the rest jewels in a crown God has allowed us to have in this life. Some people live far away from their grandchildren and only see them occasionally. We typically see all of ours at least once or twice a month and sometimes even more. There are days when things are going bad and trouble seems to be brewing all around and you think perhaps it would be better if you didn’t live so close or know so much. But, when it is all said and done we wouldn’t trade anything for the blessing God has given to us in being able to be smack dab in the middle of the life and times of our kids, their wives, and all our grandchildren! The Bible makes it clear, they are a blessing from Him and we thank Him for them all. More later………………

We are still at it and we know that's only by and through the provision of Almighty God. Amen.

Good morning and welcome. It is Wednesday, April 7, 2021, and, we are heads down into the current discombobulated ebb and flow of life as we know it. This morning I was up and going early to get ready to take Sir Bentley Barksalot, Esq., to his grooming appointment. He is always excited about riding in the truck until he figures out we are on the freeway and headed in a direction he is not as interested in. The wife had written detailed instructions to the groomer so he is there now awaiting his turn. Yesterday, we had this secured fixed appointment to receive the Pfizer COVID vaccine, dose one. We are subscribed to the Kelsey Seybold Medicare Advantage program which has since its beginning been the highest-rated medical provider for seniors in the Houston metroplex. We had an appointment. They told us what time to arrive and what time we could expect to receive the shot. Guess what? The appointment had nothing to do with scheduling. It was there only to secure the vaccine, but, when you arrive you have to go to the end of the very long line. We did. We actually were only there for a grand total of 90 minutes but may I say this about that: You would not have found a more upset and disillusioned group of line waiters because they all had fixed appointments. Many were quite elderly and had trouble standing for so long. But, we now have followed the Government-directed protocol and we, like the rest of the senior lemmings, went over the cliff together. We did it because. I will leave it at that. Yes, I am aware there are more conspiracy theories concerning COVID, the spread, the vaccine, etc., etc., but, we ended up doing what we thought was right for us. Period.

Another great and grand, Gabriella, (Gabi), with her golf clubs.

I am glad to report Jimmy is still doing well in his recovery from heart surgery. The wife continues to deal with some issues but we are working to get them checked out via our medical team. We also continue to be overwhelmed by the many folks who are holding our family up through their prayers, concerns, and support. We are so thankful to God and how He uses people to provide His hands during times like these. Maybe soon I will be back on a more even keel, (((nautical) The situation in which a watercraft is floating or proceeding in a smooth and level manner. (idiomatic, of emotions, etc.) The state or characteristic of being under control and balanced.))). Have a blessed day and may God add His blessings to it. Amen. ......More later.

Happy Birthday to our very first grandchild, our granddaughter, Tiffany Marrie!

Okay. I have been away for a few days but I am back today, Monday, April 5, 2021. It is a special day in our family. Here is my posting to commemorate this day on Facebook:  "Today we think about our very first grandchild, our Tiffany Marrie as she celebrates her birthday. She is also mom to our very first great-grandchild, Madelyn Joy, and most recently our latest great-grandchild, Ava Ramona. The photo of the three of them is from yesterday, Resurrection Sunday. We thank God for Tiff and we continue to seek God's best for her and her wonderful family. May He add His blessings to your special day. Our love, MiMi and Poppy."

I've been away dealing with all the issues pertaining to the stuff that happens to be on our plate at the moment. Last Thursday, we spent the afternoon in the ER with the wife. She had some unexplained chest pains and once they checked her out they referred her to her regular medical team. It so happens that she has a video visit with her cardiologist this morning, therefore, we will see what that yields. We need to get her medical situation sorted out over the next few days. Our son, Jimmy, came home Friday afternoon. He is recovering very nicely from his triple bypass heart surgery last Monday. We have been doing our best to see to his needs while trying to keep the wife resting. Fortunately, as God has provided, we have the wife's sister still here recovering from foot surgery. She is now up and about on the boot they gave her and she has been a tremendous help as we chase this, that, and the other.

God has been good and we thank Him for Jimmy's progress and we seek His provision as we chase down the wife's current medical issues. Meanwhile, from my tiny part of the globe to yours, I wish you a most wonderful week as we thank God for the coming of our Lord and Savior to die, be buried, and resurrected on behalf of any and all who will put their faith and trust in His saving provision. Amen. ....More later.