Summertime

Well, it's been quite a long time since I wrote on my blog, but just kinda felt like writing again. We've had a very busy month so far, with my college class finally over with and I'm taking the summer off. YAY! I'm in training right now, trying to run a half Marathon in March 2011 in Fort Worth. I've started riding my bike about 4 miles a day and also running in the morning about 2 miles. I also work out at the gym 3 days a week on various machines. I'm hoping by concentrating on these various workouts, I'll be ready to race this fall @ the Susan G. Komen Race and then the big one in March 2011.

Last weekend we celebrated with our niece, Britney upon her graduation from Texas A & M University, Medical School. The ceremony was awesome and we were so proud of her. She was so pretty and has such a sweet spirit. I know for a fact the medical field has just received one of the best doctors ever. Congratulations, Britney! We're so proud of your accomplishments.

This next weekend, we're travelling to Tyler to celebrate with our niece Ashley in her wedding. We're so excited for her and can't wait to meet her fiancee. Our nephew, Kory is also graduating that same day from Bullard High School with honors and is the valedictorian of the class. Way to go, Kory! You rock, Kory! We're so proud of your accomplishments also. He plans on attending University of Texas at Tyler! I just think that is so neat!

So, you see, we've got a busy week planned. Afterwards, we're heading back to Dallas and enjoy Memorial Day weekend in Dallas. Looking for a little R & R.

Until next time......

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in the world and especially to mine. Dad is a great person, who would do anything for anybody. A heart of gold. I appreciate the leadership Dad has shown me through the years, allowing each one of his children an opportunity to grow and mature. As a child, he was a displinarion, but as an adult, always lifting us up and allowing us to make our own decisions. I can remember Dad teaching me the way of life, teaching me how to work as a young kid, so that I would be productive in society. Delivering circulars to cutting yards, skirting trailers (taught by my brother) and other miscelleanous chores. Thank you Dad for teaching me truth and showing me how to live as a Christian. Never judgemental, but lifting each one of us in prayer and love and for that I'll be eternally grateful.

On another note, I'm celebrating my 35th Anniversary with U.S. Postal Service. Wow! I can't believe I have worked for the same company for thirty-five years. The first ten years were great with so much to learn in different jobs and opportunities for development. People have often asked me why I didn't go into manangement, but I decided early in my career that management wasn't for me. I could see early in my career how my managers were not supported by upper management and would be hung out to dry. I can truly can say I have enjoyed every job I had beginning as a LSM Operator (Letter Sorter Machine Operator), Computerized Mark-Up Clerk, Telephone/Switchboard Operator (my fav), Claims & Inquiry/Mailing Requirements to my current position as Mailing Requirements Clerk. Customer's have labeled me "the guru of Bulk Business Mail" and I guess you could say that I am. Having worked in Mailing Requirments since 1988, I just about have seen everything come and go and then more changes. I guess that's why I enjoy my job so much. Always changing and never dull or boring. I offer seminars to the public regarding Bulk Business Mail and provide companies with cost-anaylsis showing how much they could save by using Bulk Business Mail. Alot of folks call it "Junk Mail", but I am adamint about calling it Bulk Business Mail. People always joke with me when I politely correct them with their terminology. Having served the public for thirty-five years has truly been a blessing and I thank God everyday that He gave me the opportunity to serve.

Mother's Day, Graduation, and This, That & The Other

I finally have been able to sit at the computer and write on my blog. Wow! I bet you thought I had just fallen off the face of the earth. LOL Thankfully, I'm alive and well, but have been totally busy with school, family, work and everything else in between. I wanted to post earlier; however, I just couldn't find the time or energy to sit at my computer and write something. You see, I have to be in the right mood or you wouldn't want to read it anyway.

First of all, I am finally out of school for the summer and finished with a A in Meteorology, while I ended up with a B+ in my Education class. I really enjoyed my Meteorology teacher and she made the class so interesting, while my Education class just wasn't my cup of tea. Thankfully, I survived and get a little rest for the summer. I've been on vacation this last week and decided to take off this week also. I had my alarm set for this past Monday; nevertheless, I just couldn't get up and decided to enjoy my second week off. I am really enjoying my time off, recouping and energizing myself.

I wanted to say a belated Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mother-in-Law, Judith Prince, along with my fantastic Step Mom, La Rue Kennedy. My mother-in-law is truly a wonderful Christian lady and loves all of her children very dearly. I for one am her favorite Son-in-Law (the only one) LOL. Mom La Rue is a very precious lady with great Christian virtues and values. I have never liked the word "Step-Mom" and have been forever trying to come up with something better.

There's something about May that always brings out the best in us, especially if one has a member of their family graduating from High School or College. We just recently attended Midwestern State University's Commencement exercises and to say the least, it was phenomenal. My nephew, Daniel Nix, graduated from Midwestern State University, with a Bachelor of Science Degree. This young man, is not only married and has two beautiful children, but works full time and then some. He takes care of his family, enjoys family time at his swimming pool, reads, collects coins and other unique items, along with a myriad of other interesting things. Not only did he accomplish his goal of graduation, but graduated with honors at MSU. Wow! Daniel is a very smart and talented young man and I really commend him for all of his efforts in his school work.

On another note, Rhonda and I got to enjoy Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder Band. It was beautiful! Ricky sang with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra and is a very talented artist. He's now into Bluegrass and much of his show is Bluegrass. He throws a little bit of his country and gospel, but overall, it was a fantastic show. If you ever get a chance to see Ricky in concert, you definetly want to go.

Happy 50th, Rhonda

Happy Birthday to the love of my life, Rhonda. This last Friday night, family and friends gathered at El Mejicano Restaurant to celebrate my beautiful wife's birthday. She looked awesome and was surprised indeed with all the hoopla I had planned for her 50th! I know you're not supposed to ask a lady her age; however, I don't think she'll mind me posting this milestone on the world wide web. LOL I think I had more fun planning the party and just knowing how excited she would be when it finally happened. From the limo ride to the party and seeing her excited face when we walked in the party room to all of our guests that had arrived for her big day! And a big day it was.

The last week of planning this party was pretty crazy trying to find everything that I needed. My niece Cheryl came to my rescue with lettering for Rhonda's picture board. I couldn't have done it without her. And trying to keep everything a secret from my wife was not easy at all. She knew I was up to something; however, she didn't know exactly what was going on. Friday, I was running ragged all day long, planning this and that, picking up flowers, balloons and various other items for the party. My sister Cora, along with my niece Dana met me at the restaurant and provided all of the expertise on the decorating. I told them what I wanted and voila! Looked really pretty! From the Mexican buffet to the magic show by Steve Mills, blowing out the candles to unwrapping the gifts; everything went just perfect. I think everyone enjoyed the night and had a great time of love, laughter and surprise. Rhonda was so excited to see our longtime friends and family from around the state, along with all of our local friends and family.

Everyone enjoyed the magic show and Steve was fantastic. He is a professional and touched our heartstrings with his last trick talking about Rhonda and my dream. Wow! It was phenomenal. Steve is a good friend of mine and an excellent magician to say the least. Thank you so much Steve for making Rhonda's night such a night to remember.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life. I can't imagine my life without my beautiful wife, Rhonda by my side. Through all of our ups and downs, health and sickness, I can definetly say, it's been a wonderful life. Filled with joy, love, laughter, sorrow, happiness, peace and the list goes on and on. She keeps my momentum going and encourages me when I get down and out. And believe you me, here lately with college, I've definetly had some hard days; however, through it all, life is good and I wouldn't have it any other way. We went through some hardaches, with Rhonda's dad's bout with cancer and then my mother with cancer also. It seemed like life couldn't go on; nevertheless, with God all things all possible and we came out stronger than ever with hope on the horizon. The last few years have been very difficult with Rhonda's ankle problem; however, again God has been with her and she is now on the road to full recovery! Praise the Lord for miracles, His mighty deeds to perform!

Rhonda - if you by chance read this and I'm sure you will, I just want to say I love you with all my heart and soul and would like to close with the "Love" chapter found in I Corinthians 13, NIV: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"Breakfast at McDonalds"

I received this message below in my e-mail inbox and found it so good, I wanted to share it with everyone! This is a good story and is true, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

"I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, and 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called, "Smile." The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally. Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch...an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentlemen, close to me, he was "smiling" His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something.) He just wanted to be warm.

"Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope." I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down, my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope." We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give. We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed. In my own way, I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to:

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE."

It seems I have heard grace mentioned over and over this weekend. I'm so thankful for the grace of God, that He cared enough to send His only begotton Son that we could have life and have it more abundantly. I recently attended Bro. Doug's Saturday Night Alive Praise Service and Bro. Doug exhorted the church to allow grace to cover us and how God's grace is sufficient. I'm so thankful for God's grace and mercy. And just this Sunday at church, Pastor Holley spoke on the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and how Jesus chided everyone that was passing judgement on the little woman at the well. You know, sometimes, we get in our own little world and think that we are doing just fine, not realizing that each and every day we might be committing sin or have faults that offend Jesus. However, Jesus just takes us in His arms and says, we are forgiven by the grace of God. Hallelujah! God is great and greatly to be praised.

I hope this little story helps you as it has me. Sometimes, we just need to look around and smile and allow God to work in us. We may never know whose life we could touch.

- Smile the next time you go to McDonald's. -

Burr It's Cold Outside

Wow! What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, in the falls it was in the 40's, today it's freezing cold with snow and ice and the area completly blanketed. What a beautiful sight, especially if you don't have to get out in it. I made it out early this morning with my dentist's appointment right @ 8:00 AM and as I driving over there, I heard on the radio that SAFB was on red weather alert. I immediately called my wife and informed her she might want to confirm with her boss whether or not her office would be opening. After my appointment, she called me back thrilled to say, she was to stay at home for the day! Wow! I'm jealous and here I am sliding my little "Pony" all over the place and bracing the storm.

Having a little spare time after my appointment, I head over to IHOP (one of my favs) and order some hotcakes and hot maple syrup. Nobody makes pancakes like IHOP. I enjoyed the morning, reading the paper and relaxing before I again brace the storm. I knew I had training at the Main Post Office in the afternoon, so I wouldn't have very long till I had to go to the class. Finally at work, I began to finalize on a few projects and then I drove me and my co-worker to the training class. I just couldn't believe the Post Office had a training class on a day like today, especially since the teachers were having to drive from Fort Worth. Hopefully, they made it in last night, but they were driving to Amarillo tonight. Sometimes, the Post Office just doesn't make sense; nevertheless, they don't have to because they are the Post Office and they can just about do anything they want. LOL We're trugging along with the class, when I noticed on the computer time that it was getting later in the day. Realizing I hadn't yet taken my lunch and the day was getting late, I asked my trainers if we could go ahead and leave since it had already started snowing and I knew we would have to drive a little slower. They politely let us go and we headed toward the parking lot. When I got to my car, little did I realize that the snow and ice had come down quite a bit, so I needed to de-ice my windshields before we could leave. After getting everything de-iced, I drove up a little ways to pick Mary up; however, the parking lot was so icey, I couldn't stop and had to move forward. I know she thought I was a little crazy, but didn't know what else to do. I thought oh, well, I'll have to turn it around and go out the same way I entered. The parking lot adjacent to the Post Office is not very wide, so I knew I would have to be very careful, especially in the ice. Little did I realize, I would get stuck in the parking lot. My little Mustang has those racing tires on it and rear traction, which makes it very difficult to maneuver in the ice. I rocked it back and forth, until I realized, Uh-OH, I'm stuck. Here I am in the middle of the downtown Post Office parking lot, stuck and couldn't go anywhere. Mary is waiting at the door, so I rolled down my window and informed her I was stuck, but would call Maintenance and have one of our guys come give me a little push. Oh, brother, how embarrassing. Oh, well, I went ahead and did the only thing I could... Call Maintenance. After hanging up, I thought, I'll try it again, this time moving my steering wheel back and forth. Voila! I began to move slowly; nevertheless, the guys were already out there, hee hawing and having a great time at my expense. Maybe they got a good laugh for the day! We all need to laugh a little more. I picked Mary up and we drove slowly back to our office. About midway, my other co-worker at the Business Mail Acceptance Office called me and stated that Mary had left her purse at the Main Post Office where we were training. We were about mid-way from the Post Office, so I turned around and headed back. Laughing all the way, Mary and I had a great time thinking about all the funny stuff that has happened at the Post Office. I have worked with Mary for approximately twenty something years. A wonderful lady and a beautiful Christian woman! She has great character and is someone you can depend on.

We finally made it back to our office and by that time, it was nearly time for me to get off. Wow!