MAKE GOD LAUGH

     WANT TO MAKE GOD LAUGH?  TELL HIM WHAT YOUR GOING TO DO.  Barry Ward

     This is a saying that my good friend Barry Ward (singer extraordinaire) uses in his singing ministry quite often.  And it brings home many times that I have thought I was going one direction and end up somewhere else.  There have been many life changing moments in my life, as I am sure there has been in yours, and I never saw it coming.
     My younger days dreams were of a ranch, a wife, kids, and a normal life.  Yet "normal" just did not seem to be very attractive.  Maybe because of a personal tragedy I began to see life differently.  I noticed how many people spent their lives in a monotonous manner.  How many lived to work rather than worked to live.  With a little exposure to working in a factory setting I knew that it was not what I wanted.
     I could not conceive of spending a life doing things that did not interest me or spark passion.  I would have been very happy on a small ranch somewhere but the reality was and is that it is a privileged few who have the opportunity.  It always aggravate me that those who the option was available was, many times, not interested.
     I was fortunate to find a life in something that I was passionate about.  And as the future lay before me and I knew what I wanted, the life was taken from me.  It was a devastating blow to lose what I had taken for granted.  I was also fortunate that I was able to pursue many other passions in life.  I could have gone the wrong way but I never foresaw where I am today.
     Does this make me some kind of wise sage that can talk to you every week with great insight?  NO, I am not that pompous.  I find things I am wrong on everyday.  I am human which puts me in a great plurality of those who stumble around learning life the hard way.  I am as fallible and hypocritical as any other human.
     Do I have a wall full of certificates that give me the credibility to tell you things you may or may not want to know?  No.  I am able to write this Blog and relate my thoughts because a lot of people greater than I will ever pretend foresaw the need for a Constitution and the willingness to sacrifice everything including their lives.  Just so I can do this and you can agree or disagree.
      I am sure that I have given God some belly laughs with my plans and dreams.  I am sure I had him wincing many times.  The great thing is I can stumble around and keep trying and he will keep letting me until I finally learn that I am not in control.
     I learned early that life is very fragile and tomorrow is always a dream and today is reality and you had better live it to the full.  Dealing with others tragedies on the fire dept. and EMS was a daily reminder that the next minute is not always there.
     As I am writing this there is a funeral being held for a nice lady that I knew all my life though our paths did not cross often.  Six weeks ago she was found to have breast cancer.  She was my age.  In my life I lost most of my good friends early from cancer.
     We take so many things for granted.  I am always irritated by groups who have nothing better to do than create problems for others.  I hope some day that they will realize that there are better things to do in life than be a burden to others.
     I will continue to send you my views with the thought in the back of my mind that 'man's wisdom is foolishness in the eyes of God'.  I will be delighted to still comment on the self made experts and give you my VIEW FROM THE HILLS.