It is finally official - and other misc. ramblings

Yesterday I received (although it was e-mailed out last week) my official orders transferring me to the "Retired Ready Reserve". I am officially a full time civilian again! \o/ Twenty Two years seems like a long time, I feel too young to be retired from anything, and too be honest - if my priorities were not as they are, I would not have retired. I am not going to miss the extra time away in the short term... but in a year from now... I am not so sure. One thing I do know is that there is no going back. If anyone who reads this is thinking about 20 years in the National Guard (I cannot speak for the other reserves, but I believe things are similar for them), even with things as they are now - it will not be like this all the time, the benefits in retirement will be worth the time invested - IMO. I will have a health insurance policy that is cheaper, and better than my current policy through my full time employer, I will have a small paycheck, and I will have access to essentially an "exclusive" club that I can arrange vacations, etc. through. Sort of like what some companies, neighborhoods, and universities already do. Unfortunately most of that does not kick in until I am 60. I am just glad it will be there when I get there, but just in case I set it up that if something should happen to me before then my beloved will begin to draw it immediately. While we were away on our vacation the movie "Good Soil" arrived from R.A.G.E. media. With a slightly confused look on my beloved's face I explained what it was about. She shrugged her shoulders and smirked. Women, they never understand us men! ;-) I have watched it twice since we got home late Tuesday night! A very well done picture IMO. I hope to post a review of it here soon. My outline for my book is pretty much done in hard copy form. I have notes spread throughout an old "leader's book" I have left over from the Guard. I have six characters in a rough outline form. What I am kind of working on now is the 'motivations', if you will, of how they all interact. Not all are main characters, but I am pretty sure I will need a few more support cast. I've never done this before, but I am interested in how far I will actually take this project. Verse for today: Proverbs 18 : 1-4, ESV Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace. The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

Vacation's all I ever wanted...

Well, not really. I do enjoy my work - mostly, still, it's nice to get away from the routine and just do something different. We spent a week visiting friends and family in the Dallas, TX area. It is never an entirely stress free vacation visiting with family (why is that?), at least for us. We saw our first ever rodeo, pretty interesting. Not my cup of tea, but it was something I had never done before. My beloved had a good time just doing some people watching. :) I LOVE the architecture of the homes in the Northern Dallas area. Maybe it's just because of the homes I have seen through my Beloved's family out there, but I really like how the walls are done (Spackle & Drag - I think that's what it's called). It has a textured look to it, not just flat, and the corners are rounded. Very nice. I also really like the hand scraped flooring. It is essentially a wooden flooring that is smooth when first put down, but then is literally scraped and has a more rough (but with out the splinters and sharp edges) texture to it. If I could afford it I would level my current house and have contractors build one just them here. One thing I don't like are the postage stamp sized yards. My old townhouse had a larger lot... granted I had an end unit, but still. Another interesting sporting event happened while I was there. A man named Josh Hamilton really caught my attention. He is currently a member of the Texas Rangers, but has a God glorifying history. He was a first round draft choice, had a fairly decent career in Baseball, and then he threw it all away for drugs. He was out of Baseball for a couple of years, and then God arrested his heart and mind. He cleaned up, and with God's grace, has made it back to the big leagues. My sister-in-law, and her family saw him play at least one game this year (I believe) as a Frisco Roughrider (the AA farm team for the Rangers). Now, I am not much of a Baseball fan, but watching him hit 28 home runs in the Home Run Derby was something. I was also inspired to hear this young man give the glory to Christ when he was interviewed after. I might become a sudo-Texas Rangers fan now. I had more that I wanted to write about, but... I am failing to remember now. I guess that's the danger of blogging 'live' instead of writing it out and then pasting it in. Especially when it is taking me a couple of hours to get it all typed out. :) Verse for today: Psalm 86 : 11-13, ESV Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Crashing back to Earth

Well, my last two week annual training is in the books, and I am back to work after an almost two week vacation, so my mind is working overtime to catch up with everything... LOL I hope to have an entry later today... :) I pray that this will find you all well and enjoying God's grace

I'm leaving on a Jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

... ok, that last part is not true. I know exactly when I am coming home but it helped the post title flow better. :) This past weekend was a blur. I spent Friday with my family and four other families at Hershey Park. That was a lot of fun, but I am finding out that I am not as capable of handling the roller coasters as I would like to think! I did ride the new Fahrenheit. What a rush! Saturday I spent at Antietam helping with the park's Fourth of July celebration. Another good time, albeit a wet one. Yesterday the party I had hoped to welcome home all of my fellow soldiers who had been deployed from my unit turned out to be a bust. Only 5 of them showed up. :( Oh well. The thing I am most excited about is I learned of a DVD that is a short movie about a Christian Samurai. The title is "Good Soil", and stars Shin Koyamada - who also was in "The Last Samurai" (Nabutada).The only thing I am bummed about is that it is only 22 minutes long. For all of those who are interested in the Christian Samurai and would like to see a DVD such as this please order a copy today! To be totally up front, if you order through either the link here, or by clicking on the image on the right, I do receive a slight commission. The same is true of the book, "The Way of the Christian Samurai" by Paul Nowak. Well, I have to run for today. May God watch over each and everyone of you till I get back to blogging again. :)

Why ask questions when you don't want to know the answer?

I know why Cable/Satellite TV do this, but I still get sucked into it. Lately Spike TV has been playing the six Star Wars movies over, and over, and over, and over... well, you get the idea. My beloved and I grew up loving those "first" three movies. We've even played "one upsies" on who had seen them the most (I won ;-) ). Well, last night Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was playing (followed by Ep. IV). I don't know why, but I have come to realize that this is my favorite episode of the series. I mean, how can the Jedi be confused about what Vader (Aka Anakin Skywalker) does? The prophecy stated that he would bring balance to the force... at the time, the Sith had not been seen in what? A thousand years? Meanwhile the Jedi have this huge building right smack dab in the heart of Coruscant! Granted, by the time episodes I-III hit the theaters I already know about IV-VI. I think I like it because it lays so bare the true nature of man. I don't think this is George Lucas' intention but if you think about it you will see what I mean. Anakin's whole aim is to protect his love. Since he 'failed' his mother, he sets out to protect and save his wife. But in the end he is so drawn to power that he turns. One line sticks out in my mind as I write this. "From my point of view the Jedi are evil." Wow. In the end how are we to determine what is right and wrong? As a Christian I know it is by God's Word. He is the only way we can know what is true and just, because He is the only perfect judge. In closing I just wanted to mention two unrelated things. The first one is, my beloved wanted me to trim up the boys hair. She wanted me to do this last week but I let it slide until last night. Well, I butchered the sides. It's not too bad, but they look like whitewalls on a woolly mammoth. LOL. The other is, I am in a desperate search for an old regimental crest. I am working on my "retirement walking stick" that I started at AT. I am almost finished with the surface, but I want to put branch insignia on one side, and on the other the corresponding regimental crests of the units I had belonged to over the years. I have been digging through my twenty two years of misc. junk. I have found two of the three, and the one I was sure I still had... I can't find. I've already written three letters with no replies. If anyone who stumbles across this little blog knows where I can find a crest (pictured above/left) please click on my profile and send me an e-mail. Verse for today: Proverbs 3 : 9-12, ESV Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Trying to figure out what to write about

I have no idea what to write about today... I've noticed that I am allowing myself to get distracted more easily lately. I am pretty sure I struggle with ADD so it's not all that hard to do. Still, I also struggle with the mentality that if I just try hard enough I can over come it. Unfortunately this has not proven to be the case. I have a lot of projects I want to do. I want to get a deck started for my beloved (she's been patient for nine years), I've started a story line with the goal of writing a paperback size transcript - even if it never gets published, there are several repairs/projects that I need to get done around the house, not to mention I need to really work on certifications for my job - and book learning is not my forte, I even want to start studying Aikido. See, I even got distracted while trying to get this entry in! LOL. I guess I am getting a little distracted by coming up on the end of my (reserve) military career, and the 4th of July. So many things to occupy my mind... oh look, a shinny penny! Verse for today: Proverbs 24 : 30-34, ESV I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Random thoughts

This morning I awoke a little earlier than usual due to a bizarre dream. I was dreaming that my work computer had some kind of weird music playing that I could not possibly turn off. Near the end of the dream a co-worker (I think) was showing me some kind of prized possession, but it was only a pair of plastic dagger like things (with the dull flat edges and everything). For some reason this disturbed me enough to wake me up. I thought about it some and decided I needed to back off from a few things. Not sure how I came to a direct link there, but... anyway. Facebook is going to take a little hit though. ;) As I lay there praying I decided to pick up and read Matthew 7 (I am slowly reading through the New Testament, one chapter at a time). Matthew 7 starts off with a set of verses that is popularly quoted when someone (usually a Christian) is trying to tell someone "it's none of your business".

"Judge not, that be not judged." (Matthew 7:1, ESV)

A lot of people use this verse to say that they feel that it is not for us to reveal what is perceived as sin in others. But the verse does not stop there. Judging, and trying to help another person deal with sin are two entirely different things. God's Word does a pretty good job when it defines sin (I like to review Exodus 20:1-17 personally... pretty much anything you can think of can be weighed against these verse to see if it is a good thing or not... the trick is to check your own heart honestly). The key is to honestly investigate yourself (taking the log out of your own eye), and then helping your brother with his "speck". Note: our issues are always larger than our brothers. The whole chapter is something that is excellent to study and just "chew" on. Verse for today: 2 Timothy 3 : 16-17, ESV All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God [2] may be competent, equipped for every good work.