"And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own."

Made it to Friday. Check. It is May 20, 2011. Check. All is well and everything seems to be up and running. I'll have to get back to you on that one. Not really. Just joking. It is another day and with it comes all that it will bring with it. You are familiar with the routine. Right? We all are because we actually never know exactly what a new day will bring. However, we can know the One who does. Some folks no doubt looked at my grandfather and wondered if he had a 'grin and bear it' attitude about the many challenges that came his way. That wasn't his thinking at all. His life was one of simple faith and the lines from his favorite song reflect his attitude about life: "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand; But I know Who holds tomorrow, And I know Who holds my hand." I didn't really understand this approach to life so much when I was younger and while I would never say I have the strong faith he demonstrated, I can begin to grasp by my own belief in God how that he could have this outlook. I will tell you that a faith walk does not mean that folks laugh in the midst of adversity or trial. No. People of faith feel pain, hurt, anguish, and they at times are worn down by the difficulties they face. Yet, they face it with a resolve and a hope. In themselves? Now that would be foolish. Right? People of faith seek God and His strength to help them to make it one more day, through one more challenge, and to persevere one more time. The Apostle Paul said we do this by seeing the unseen. That's right. The unseen. He also said the unseen is actually more real than those things that we can see. I'll let you think about that to get you started off for a Friday. You can read about it. It's found in the Holy Bible, where God inspired the second letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Chapter 4, especially verses 16-18.

I have to be reminded that in the midst of all the fire breathing I do, someone might get the idea that I am a cynic. I am not. One thing should also be clear. I am not a robotic Kool-Aid drinker that takes whatever the so called powers, regardless of party or affiliation, are dishing out, therefore you want find me doing my chug-a-lug act in lock step with all the so called believers. As for the current situation, the audacity of hope crowd who cannot see that their emperor is pretty much down to his skivvies at this time, well, they need a little dose of reality, served straight up, my friend. In all of this I try to be somewhat of a realist but with a positive spin. The positive part comes from my faith in God, not my belief that the rudiments of this world is ever the answer. Those rudiments or rules for the road, so to speak, are based on a fallen nature operating in a fallen world. The Apostle Paul served at a time when Rome ruled the world. He used his own Roman citizenship to assist him in the conduct of his ministry. He used his birthright as a Jew to gain opportunities to share the Gospel with his beloved people. He participated in the available travel modes, he worked with his hands to help support himself, and he lived in the world God placed him in, not the one he might have liked better. He also suffered at the hands of his own people, the Jews, and he eventually was executed by the Roman Emperor. During his relatively short ministry, operating in a mostly pagan and unfriendly environment, the power of God worked through him and he literally turned the world upside down and brought about change that still reverberates around the globe today.

I am well aware of the escapist mentality. I pretty well perfected my version of it as a kid. I was in trouble more than a few times for day dreaming in class. It was my way of living in a different place at a different time. A place of my own making. One where I didn't have to face the challenges of whatever crisis was in progress at the time. I would guess that some of you have been there and done that. I'm still drawn to it today, however, with God's help we learn that He has placed us where we are - - - today. Not back in history. Not somewhere in the future. But, it's the old, get up everyday and go about your business in the real world, the only one where one can actually make a difference. I hear people say if only they had lived at the time when, and then they fill in the blank. It doesn't take much study to figure out to discover how that imagined 'when' wasn't great every single day either. Why? Broken record time. Because. We are a fallen people living in a fallen world. That's why. Maybe the Apostle Paul can be an example and encouragement to us all. Use what God has provided to you to serve Him. If that is small, He will bless it. If that is large, He will bless it. If it is done in the midst of some pretty tough circumstances, He will see us through. I suppose any of us who are believers would love to be able to pass on the final testimony that Paul did, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7) Notice those powerful 'the's' in his statement. Something to strive for even in our own little sphere where we live and work. I do pray that you will be encouraged and that you will enjoy your Saturday, and that you will also find yourself in service worshipping our great God on Lord's Day Sunday. Amen.          ......More later.

Exploding watermelons?

Hello Thursday. It's good to see you. We are living in some strange times, don't you think, on this May 19, 2011? Strange indeed. How about those watermelons being grown in China? Here's the news item from Reuters that got my attention: BEIJING: Watermelon fields in eastern China are a mess of burst fruit after farmers abused growth chemicals in an attempt to make extra money but ended up ruining their crops, state media reported Tuesday. The article goes on to report that the watermelon fields look like they were hit by landmines. The farmers needed more money so they attempted to grow the melons faster by adding growth chemicals but the weather did not cooperate and the result was field after field of exploding watermelons. If you Google how much food is imported into the USA from china, you will get a ton of sites and articles. CNN had one that said we most likely couldn't even avoid them if we wanted to because they are so totally integrated into the food chain of our country. Sometimes you have to wonder how really smart we are. We know that from a financial viewpoint, the US is practically owned by the Chinese in terms of the debt they hold. Now they are so much a part of the food that lands on our table we most likely couldn't do without it. And, we know for a fact that things like the exploding watermelons are most likely going on throughout their farming businesses. Okay. I'm from Louisiana and we are not thought of as being that bright but does something really begin to smell as much as rotting watermelons wasting away in the hot sun? They are, after all, the Red Chinese, as in Communist, and we are now beholden to them for our cash flow and our food. If that makes sense to you, then you are likely showing up at a different watermelon seed spitting contest than I am.

I suppose I would prefer to go back to the days when all I did was go on and on about all the junk coming over here from China, like the Barbie Doll. What about the safety of our food supply? I'm sure their system is really on top of all of this. Can you remember the baby food scare? Folks, you may think I am an alarmist but it just seems that every week or so I feel like I have walked into a really strange episode of The Twilight Zone already in progress. We see all the elements of weirdness in our news sources each day. All we need is that eerie music to play as we read and for the most part, we weep.Their response to the baby food contamination deal was to sentence a few folks to death or life in prison. That wasn't a big deal for them because they do these types of things daily to folks who speak out for their Christian faith. It's one thing to engage them, to exchange goods and services with them, and to seek ways to maintain order and peace. It's another thing entirely to become subservient to a sworn enemy who is using the billions we send to them each day to build weaponry targeting our defenses. No playing nice will make this problem go away. They now have the most potent power that anyone in this world can wield. Economic power! I would guess that the masses for the most part are pretty much satisfied with the cheap goods available but fail to appreciate that these policy decisions like who we do business with, they do have an impact on how many new folks each day must shop at the Dollar Store. We end up looking pretty foolish in all of this. At least that is the way I see it and may God help us is my prayer. Amen.

Don't blame the messenger here. They started all of this a long time ago but those doctored watermelons that began bursting open all over the place just goes to show you that whatever it takes to fill up the assembly line including the food line, they will do it with their well being in mind, not ours, and we put ourselves at risk to operate as if this were not the case. We spent all those years after WW2 doing everything we could to bring down Communism and now we are up to our necks in bondage to the largest communistic nation on the planet. All in the name of free trade that isn't free at all and some day we may well understand the cost even as we are experiencing the early waves of a coming tsunami. We can't really do much about it at this stage. If we were to impair goods coming in, Walmart would have to shut down within weeks. I read a number of years ago that Walmart was being constrained in some areas in building more stores because the world does not produce enough product. One can only imagine what would happen if the Chinese supply line was interrupted, even for a few days. We might even end up having to go back and figure out how to make things for ourselves again. As late as the early 1960's we still made more than 90% of the shoes we wear. Today, we import 98%. Look down at your feet and see if that doesn't give you a reason to consider all of this. Shoes. Electronics. Raw building materials. Food. Clothing. And, yes, even the toys our children play with. Remember the lead paint used in all those Thomas the Train sets? I know it's not pleasant to think about all of this but it is the reality of our situation today and we have to see it begin to change if we are to once again be that shining city set high upon the hill that President Reagan talked about. At this juncture, only God can help. I pray that He will. Amen.                       ......More later.

Singing the budgetary blues in a minor key. Think: Shovel being dragged across the driveway!

How about these early morning temperatures these past few days? Bending towards the 50 mark in the middle of May? Now that's what I call a good way to get your day started. I didn't say the same for the afternoons in the 90's which I suppose is only a little preview of what it will be like all day every day throughout the summer. That's okay. That's weather here in these parts. And, I'll take the unseasonably cooler starts, embrace them as much as I can, and be thankful for them. Welcome to Wednesday, May 18, 2011. I heard last evening just how we could get this national debt taken care of. If every man, woman, and child identified as a citizen of these United States would come up with $129,000 each, pay that amount into the U.S. treasury, then we could put this whole thing behind us. I suppose giving out that kind of information is supposed to help us understand better the magnitude of the problem, but it certainly does not do anything to solve it. It is actually very difficult to even know the truth about anything coming out of Washington D.C. No. I am not being negative and while I will admit that keeping up just a little with the shenanigans that go on 24x7 there would tend to make one cynical, that's not what I am talking about. I am actually thinking about all the games that go on in how the numbers end up being reported to those of us who have to pay for them. All parties at all times are using the numbers in a way that supports their agenda. On budget, off budget, this year, out years, accelerated this, that, or the other, and throw in a whole bunch of words to confuse and distract, that's the gobbly gook we have to try and decipher as we attempt to do our duty as involved citizens.

I think the debt ceiling deal is fairly easy to understand. We are currently on track to spend 1.5 trillion dollars more than we have in revenues for the current year. At the present time we are not allowed to borrow that much. That's why they need to pass a law that will allow us to raise the amount of debt that we as a country can borrow against. Those trillion dollar numbers are really difficult for most of us to get our arms around. One thing we cannot deny and that is what this number represents. It reflects a huge black hole called the national debt that is growing at a rate that everyone agrees is unsustainable. We can't keep doing what we are doing but oh by the way, if we don't keep doing what we are doing, at least for now, the whole world's financial systems will collapse. We don't know for sure what might happen but we do know that Senator Barak Obama wasn't necessarily concerned about the impact to the world economy when he voted against President Bush's request to raise the debt ceiling. Yet, he now has his team reading from the Book of The Revelation to illustrate the potential dire consequences if we don't pass this raising of the amount we can borrow. Don't think it doesn't matter folks. Sadly, it does. All of this has something to do with the price at the pump and it has something to do with why we look at the grocery cart and are stunned to see how little we have for what the tally says on the register. All of these things connect and I suppose the unsustainable part is the run away train that no one seems to have the will to try and slow and then stop. Why? Self interest. Politics. Power. About the only thing running efficiently these days are the presses printing money that will have to be accounted for by many generations to come.

Most folks do get the part about the impact on our ability to provide for our families. Recently I was engaged with some fellows and they are very clear on what happens when you rearrange the size of the pie slices within their family budgets. Gasoline is now a much larger piece of the pie. Food prices are becoming a larger slice as well. That typically means that other slices have to be decreased because the overall pie for the average family is not growing larger. The rainy day fund slice has to suffer. The slice you thought you might have to provide for a vacation has now shrunk. The vacation folks are looking at their pie and they are having to readjust because the folks they thought might be coming will likely we staying closer to home. Repeat this scenario over and over in every area of our lives and we begin to see how things like monetary and fiscal policy at the highest levels do trickle down and you and I are left to deal with the consequences. Those who have come out with plans to try and slow the run away train are ridiculed by all sides. Folks don't like to have to deal with reality especially whenever it involves some painful changes. As usual, we are in that check mate position where much talk ensues and very little ever gets done. We will have the debt ceiling raised because there are too many special interests at stake. We will have the vote spun from both sides about how it did or did not add to or take away from the problem. Meanwhile, those of us who trust in the God who created the universe must turn to Him to help make a way for ourselves, our families, and our nation. If we ever needed His help, we need it now! Amen.                .......More later.

Oh be careful little tongue what you say. Oh be careful little tongue what you say. For the Father up above is looking down in love, oh be careful little tongue what you say.

Here it is, Tuesday, May 17, 2011 and here I am touch typing my way into your valuable time and space. I bid you a hearty welcome. When folks ask how I am able to write something every day, I give them some insight into how I do it. The secret for me is to stay at least one blog ahead. That means I write tomorrow's today and then when I come into my office in the morning all I have to do is to edit it one last time and publish it. Well over 90% of bloggers fail to continue after a short run. For many, it is due to the fact that even though they allowed advertising, there was never any appreciable revenue coming in. I can understand that response if a straight profit scenario is what motivated them to get started. Since I don't do advertising on mine and I don't even list other blogs on mine, it pretty much has been mostly an exercise in me being able to share. To share stories. To share life. To share challenges. To share the faith that has allowed me to get to where I am today. And, maybe at times to share something that does bring a smile. The other thing, and many of those who read have noticed, I obviously enjoy putting words on the page. (Often many more words than are necessary but remember, I consider the Apostle Paul to be one of my mentors, therefore, he had some sentences that ran several paragraphs long.) I resist being called a writer but I will not deny that there is some fulfillment in there somewhere. I enjoy reading sentences that do something for me. I enjoy writing a sentence like that. The little write up on my baby sister Kayla had one of those types of sentences in it. I wrote it and when I read it, it did for me what one of those kinds of sentences do. Here it is within the context: "She became a champion. Our champion. A champion of faith, and we literally watched her walk through the valley of the shadow of death into the glistening glow of the fulfillment of her life in Christ." I love the feeling I get when I read the one in bold. Not bragging, just sharing the power of words and how God designed language in a way so that words can evoke an emotional response. I'm actually looking forward to my own appointment with the glistening glow of the fulfillment of my life in Christ.

You have to understand that I came from a background where to be or not to be didn't much resemble a question at all. I can remember getting back a paper I had written and my teacher put red pencil marks all over it. Up in the corner she had written something about how that I showed great promise in my writing. I sure am happy she wrote that note because just looking at all the red stuff could have caused me to throw in the towel. That was a note written by Mrs. Reba Jones nearly fifty years ago. After reading that note the red marks made sense. She wanted me to do better. She wanted to challenge me. She wanted me to know the difference between a well written sentence and one thrown onto the page. A handwritten note to put the entire matter into context. Wow! We are talking about the power of words here. Did her little note have an influence on what you are reading today? I suggest it did and it pretty much illustrates why it is important to consider the words we use. All of us know how we've wished with all of our heart to get some words back that we would like to change, eliminate, or do over. Many times, however,  the damage is done. When the hurtful words make it into print, even on the electronic page, the situation can be even worse because they are there on the record as a testimony that often seems to take on a life of its own. We like to say that we spoke or wrote 'in the heat of battle' but the words themselves speak for themselves. What can we do? Think about it before they are said or written. James, likely the half brother of Jesus of Nazareth, writing in the earliest of the preserved New Testament texts, in the book that bears his name, spent a whole section on the power of the tongue and why we must exercise discipline in taming it. It's a very easy to understand text found in James Chapter 3, Verses 1-18. Easy to understand but enormously difficult to do and that's why we must have God's help to actually do the taming part!

We pretty much live in a culture today where we all are surrounded by coarse words.  I actually first wrote coarse roads but that is a subject for another day. Thank the Lord we also have the delete or erase function on the electronic page. We have spell checker as well. There are also additional software tools for helping to improve the presentation of our text. I don't have any of the advanced stuff, therefore, I use the basic tools to do what I do each day. These tools are neutral in terms of the words chosen by the author. They will support the writing of hateful words or they can present hopeful words. The other day our President's staff caused some controversy when they invited a rapper to perform at the White House who had previously promoted in his songs freedom for some cop killers. He also had recorded songs that directed some pretty hateful speech towards former President George W. Bush. Some supported the invite on the basis of artistic freedom of expression. Others thought it to be a disgraceful situation, where, intended or not, the administration appeared to give their approval to this performer. Words. They can inspire and point folks to God or they can be used as a spigot for all manners of filth and venom. Words matter. Words count. And, that brings me full circle to where I began, talking about word counts and the wordiness of my blogs. Even if they do seem wordy at times, I do hope and pray they will meet the test of being an encouragement to each of us in our daily walk through the life that God has given to us. Until next time, may God bless one and all Amen.           .....More later.

There is a reason God allowed us to get up today. But it is our choice whether we will give Him the glory that is due Him.

Good to see you. You can feel good about the fact that you are reading this page. That's right. Since the last time I left you, a huge number of folks here on the planet have left this life for what awaits them in the next. A huge number. Some 153,000 people die every day. That's over 6,400 per hour. That's nearly 56 million per year. If I make it another five years to age 70, some 3.9 billion people will have died during my lifetime. This tells us that death is as certain as life itself. Therefore, when I say that we can feel good about being here this morning, on this Monday, May 16, 2011, based on statistics alone, we are blessed. Blessed with life. Blessed to be able to get up and go. But blessed for what reason? The Sunday School children can help. One reason is to let our little light shine. The other is to rise and shine and give God the glory, glory, children of the Lord. How about? If you're saved and you know it, then your life should surely show it. We've all heard the saying, blessed to be a blessing. We become a blessing when we connect into God's plan and purpose for our life. That is the truth my friend. God has something for each of us to do and He has shaped us to be enabled to do it. Many never even think about this throughout their entire lifetime and end up pretty much just occupying space for their time here. I don't want that for my life because it doesn't have to be that way. We can become all that God would have us to be as we seek His help and begin to reach out in touching others for His honor and glory. I thought we all might benefit, including me, from a little sermon emanating from my pew this morning. May God bless us all as we seek Him. Amen.

Our small group that meets each Wednesday evening for prayer and Bible study is currently reading through the Book of Esther. For a writing that never once mentions the name of God, He sure is seen in His providential working on behalf of His people in almost every verse. Esther became queen because of her beauty, inside and out. When she was confronted with a decision to intercede on behalf of her people, she had to make a decision. She was rightfully concerned and even frightened in taking the lead in this matter. Here's her response to her cousin, Mordecai, who had raised her: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” (Esther 5:11) Mordecai sent word to her regarding this matter. His words reflected a deep faith in his God. They are some of my favorite from this Book and even from the entirety of God's word:  “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”(Esther 5: 13-14) Wow! How does that connect to you and I today? It could mean that we, you, and I, are positioned at times to accomplish something God would have us to do. It may require courage and it may make us nervous, but we further His Kingdom when we follow His leadership. That ties into my opening comments if you sit and think about it for a while. Go ahead. Trust me. Read the Book of Esther and see what I mean. I am confident that God will bless. Amen.

God's care for His own is very much on display in the book that bears Esther's name. She along with Ruth are in very privileged territory in having writings named after them. I will be the first to admit that Esther's story is one that sounds almost too good to be true. In fact, many folks reject it because of that reason. But to me, all of God's working on behalf of His people sounds that way. I love the unfolding of these nuggets of great truth. It just so happened..... Yes, and God was involved. People operated based on the context of their outlook on life. It just so happened that the king needed a new queen. It just so happened that the king couldn't sleep one night. It just so happened that Mordecai's act of heroism had never been recognized. It just so happened. Back then it just so happened and today it is still the same, it just so happened in my life, and in your life. We have the promise of God that we belong to Him and if we have believing faith then we are His beloved children. The just so happens continue and so does God's involvement in the affairs of His very own. Just last Tuesday our little prayer group was pleading before the Lord for a certain outcome for a dear lady in our group. God heard. That outcome was realized. We gave Him the glory for it. The naysayers will say that was the way it was going to be anyway. We give God the glory. They might question what we would do if it had not just so happened the way it did. We know that God cares and we would give Him the glory regardless of the outcome. That's how it works? Absolutely! That's enough because I'm pretty much all tied up in my own 'it just so happened' stuff, and all of this is way over my head anyway. That's okay because He is all about listening to our heart. There are days when I thank God for what He allowed me to write. This is one of those. Have a great day and may God bless each one. Amen.           ......More later.

Not that bad, celebrating your birthday with Jesus!

Okay. Even the biggest and best have problems but Blogger is finally up and running again. For those who thought it good for it to be down a while longer, sorry. For those who start their day reading my little stories, well here it is and we're off and running again!

Welcome to Friday, May 13, 2011. Friday the 13th causes many people to be a little on edge, the bad luck deal and all of that. I would hope that we who are believers would have nothing to do with all of this superstitious stuff. Bad things happen every day. Bad things happen to many people, many believers, and they happen also on Friday the 13th. I do hope you and yours are well. This Sunday, May 15th, would have been our baby sister's 59th birthday. Kayla Jean was taken early from this life to her eternal home, on June 26, 1979. She was barely 27 years old, married to a Marine Captain, and the mother of three precious daughters. We've had some huge losses in our family over the years, and I mean huge. But Kayla's death has always haunted us because she was the baby of our family and we always thought of her in this way. When mom reached her limit and decided to apply the board of education to our seats of knowledge (all six of us at the same time), it was actually the plumb tree switch to the seats of knowledge, all of us older kids begged on behalf of Kayla because we did not want her to have to participate in what was no doubt our deserved justice. After dad died in January 1954, Kayla as barely a toddler continued to go and hide behind the curtain over the closet at the end of our hallway. That was her little game of hide and seek she played with him each evening when he got home from work. I don't know if I remember this or not but it seems that I do. Sometimes we hear stories so often they become our personal memories.

Leukemia. We all learned more than we ever dreamed about this dreaded disease. It came up suddenly and from the moment of discovery she was given very few options for any long term prospects. Young. Frightened. Worried about her family. What would our baby sister do? She turned to her faith and allowed it to sustain her, and sustain her it did! She held up through countless radical treatments that required as many waivers for potential harm as it did potential benefits. She persevered. She began to gain insight to the extent that she could see her privilege of soon meeting her Savior. Hurting? You betcha. No one loved her children more than her. She hated leaving them and Robert but she had a peace about what awaited her on the other side. There she was. In a pitiful situation with many days marked mostly by excruciating pain. How did she cope? She began to make contact with people with whom she felt led to speak to about their eternal destiny. She made a list, and checked them off after she was able to share her testimony and encourage them to seek God. She became an inspiration to people we didn't even know. She became a champion. Our champion. A champion of faith, and we literally watched her walk through the valley of the shadow of death into the glistening glow of the fulfillment of her life in Christ. We do not forget her, and we thank God for all she did to influence others before she left for home.

Kayla with Mary Beth, her youngest.

Her death presented perhaps the greatest challenge to our faith. That human reasoning is always poised to pounce with that cry of 'WHY? '. But we measure our sorrow against her own testimony of anticipation of meeting her Savior. She hated to leave because of her family but she also exulted in the expectation of seeing Jesus, and she is now with our Daddy, Granny and Paw Paw Mac, our older brother Jimmy, our beloved brother in law Kenneth, Uncle Curtis, Uncle Jack, Aunt Jean, Aunt Helen, Uncle Asa, our Andy boy, and so many more. So on Sunday we say: Happy birthday baby sister, but we also say: See you later sweetheart over there in that land where we'll never say goodbye again. Do we still have trouble dealing with this? After all these years the answer is: Yes we do. However, I think about a song that ministers to us all when we can't make sense out of the difficulties that plague our steps here in this life. Here's how it goes: "There are moments on our journey following the Lord Where God illumines ev’ry step we take. There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us, As we try to understand each move He makes. When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers, turn to Him. Chorus: Bow the knee; Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see. Bow the knee; Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity. And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan, In the presence of the King, bow the knee. There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall, The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow. And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel; We are tempted to believe God does not know. When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight. Bow the knee; Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see. Bow the knee; Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity. And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan, In the presence of the King, bow the knee. That's the answer. Worship the Lord our God. May God bless the memory of our dear sweet baby sister. Amen.            .....More later.

PS: There's a beautiful presentation of the song Bow The Knee on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEr4GNz70U

Chattering chatter and nonsensical noise.

Top of the morning and welcome once again to that little time out where I typically can make nearly everyone feel better about themselves, at least by comparison. I'm not sure if Dr. Phil would agree with that approach and to be honest, I haven't ever even thought about Dr. Phil, one way or the other. He's probably a decent chap but not anyone I've ever watched or followed. But, it is good to see you, and just how in the world are you doing, anyway? Fine. Me too. Or, at least that's what we all have been conditioned to knee jerk forth and back between each other. It is Thursday, May 12, 2011 and this has been one more week. I think that's supposed to imply a real doozy but I didn't really mean to communicate that, I just thought writing those words looked pretty good on the page. As far as how most weeks go, in most of them we all could join in the song, here a doozy, there a doozy, everywhere a doozy, doozy. Maybe I am going through a phase. I would call it my eclectic phase but then I would have to look that word up so that I could make sure I knew what I was talking about. I actually might be stuck in an eclectic phase that has lasted from the time I was a little kid but I didn't know the word then and they most likely called me spirited or maybe given a little to being slightly eccentric. No. You have not landed on the word for the day blog. Those people would have much more knowledge about what they are doing than I do.

I hear people talking about when they were required to lay their heads on their desks in elementary school for a rest break. That's not a hard image for me to conjure up but I'm not certain I recall having to do it. I do remember doing those atomic blast responses where we all got down under our desks. Later when we viewed those film clips of utter devastation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it pretty much showed the futility of those exercises. But we live and learn.  However, there are days when laying my head on my desk for a few minutes does sound like such a wonderful idea. Instead, I usually zap me a warmed up cup of Community and I'm off and running again. There are some researchers who really don't have much to do these days. They keep looking into the relationship between things like diabetes treatment drugs and caffeine. Most of them indicate that drinking too much caffeine especially in coffee tends to make these drugs less effective. What's next? I'm already reduced to sucking on a sugar free cinnamon disc. Next thing you know they will be writing about how the cinnamon itself is a problem or maybe the combination of Splenda and cinnamon create new issues. Did someone appoint these folks to dog my steps or what? Thus far, I have stuck with the Community but there is this gnawing realization that I will have to deal with it one day soon. I've tried the decaf so I don't even want to think about it. I suppose if I eventually end up giving up my Community I'll just have to resort to laying my head down on my desk. Now I know what it means to be fearful of those fellows in white coats trying to catch you.

I can always tell when they are picking on me. It's not enough for them to persecute, they have to get personal with it. I say that because it's one thing to write reports that deal with issues in a general way. But, what about when they call out the exact drug you are taking? There's dozens of others out there guys. Maybe it's because you take the most widely prescribed generic. Don't muddy the water with facts. Okay? Why my specific prescription? Or better, why me? When I see my doctor next month I will speak to him about all of this. My idea is to bump up the dosage to compensate for the conflict. Knowing him, he will most likely advise a gradual reduction in the offending ingredient. He and those research guys all know each other. They are in this together. Am I wearing a sign on my back or what? Okay. You do know I am only kidding, ...only kidding, ...only kidding.... Right? And, I am so very thankful that taking a handful of pills at night, and another four in the morning, along with watching what I eat, has given me, with God's help, a pretty good level of control over my diabetic condition. It is a constant consideration and one that I never expected to have to deal with. Yet, God has been good to me in allowing me to find out about it early and in helping me to do the things I have to do to help myself. Meanwhile, the report writers will continue to do what they do, and most of us will seek that smallest of loop holes that somehow and in some way exempts us from their findings. Things like: That report came out on a Friday and today is Thursday, so all bets are off. I didn't say it was a reasonable evaluation but lets not talk about it anymore for today. Drag up that chair over there and lets enjoy a cup together. May God bless one and all. Amen.           ......More later.