Thank You Lord for all You have done in my life. Amen.

Good morning and welcome. Today is Thursday, August 30, 2018, and I appreciate you showing up for today's conversation. I am a blogger. I write about things. Because I choose my topics some might get the idea that I live an idyllic, trouble-free life. Let me set the record straight. Each and every day we wake up to about every kind of trouble one might imagine in terms of the burdens and concerns we carry. We are blessed to have a large family. We all live in a fallen world. We love our family. Our family is made up of dozens of individuals who are dealing with challenges each and every day. My point? The wife and I are constantly interceding to God on behalf of our children and their families, our grandchildren, and our great grands. In addition to these near and dear to our hearts, our extended huge blended family is also fraught with the stuff hurled at them by this world. At any given time, we are praying on behalf of many within our family sphere who are dealing with health, family, job, or emotional difficulties. We also have those in our Church family who are struggling. My point? Simply this. We need God's help. Period. That certainly includes yours truly. I am living proof of the testimony of the old spiritual, "It's me, it's me, it's me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer." Amen.

Now that I have cleared that up let's see what we can come up with for 'the rest of the story'. The other day I was recalling a story to a younger lady about something that happened to me in the 4th grade. She has children of her own but couldn't believe that I can remember all of my teachers from my elementary days. I can, beginning with the 3rd-grade teacher in the rural Louisiana town where we moved after my dad passed away in 1954. This younger lady said she would be hard-pressed to name all of her grade school teachers. Here's the interesting thing about this. I'm certain I could not come up with the names of my kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-grade teachers in Port Arthur, Texas where we lived before dad's passing. I can claim a few memories from my school experiences there but not with clarity. I've written many times about the block on my recollections that came as a result of us losing dad so early. It has been a source of frustration from time to time. God blessed me with good recall but the first seven years of my life, are, at best, fuzzy images that I can't pin down. I do remember the stories I've heard about the experiences I had, but, these are second-hand accounts, so to speak. That mental block brought on by a traumatic event is a reality. My greatest loss here is in not being able to remember my dad, him as a person, and, his voice. And, as a serial blogger, I can only imagine the material I have on the other side of that wall. Who knows? It may all come tumbling out. One day soon.

I know. Part of what I do here is to make others feel better about themselves. Baggage. I have mine. You have yours, but, all of God's children do have them some baggage. And, yes, I have read a lot of material about this blocked out part of my life. I have not sought professional help. I do know that hypnosis is often used, but, I have issues with that which I will not go into at this time. Now you know what makes me such a well-rounded person. The bottom line: We all are who we are, able to function the way we can, only by the grace of God. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I believe I've been blessed more than I can ever thank God for in the life He has given to me. Maybe, knowing the details of my first seven years, He concluded it not to be interesting enough for me to get hold of it. I'm just joking, don't write me a letter challenging my understanding of theological constructs. I do know this. I am thankful. Yep. Thankful. Even with the cares of this life, I am thankful that God knows and I know He knows and He cares and I know He cares and He will never abandon me and I know He will never abandon me. Reminding myself of that makes me hopeful, (as in calm assurance), therefore, I recommend that we all remind ourselves of these truths. Amen. ....More later.