Fallen Angel

(Click the title to see her link)

I don't know about fallen angels and the theology behind it all, but I do think this woman has a cool site. It's patriotic in a world that doesn't seem to value patriotism, and she thinks paratroopers are cool...Having been one, I have to agree! In fact, I've been inspired to scan all my photos of jumps and post them - come back soon to see them. I was attached to the 9th Division, 109th MI (CEWI). We were an airborne infantry company providing recon and intel. How about this for a logo...

E co. 109 (LRRP). Stealth - Secrecy - Security. Infantry amidst the chaos; taking the oxymoron out of Military Intelligence in the 80's.

Some things don't need words

Engineers

Dear Mr. Blogger,!

Some "engineers" like who they are, when they are engineers.

They have mottos like the army guys...

"An idea without a deadline is just a dream...."....and
"Engineers, Turning Dreams into Reality".!

Respectfully submitted..
Wingman

What next?

It's been hard to find time to write lately. I struggle with this creative thing...if I allow too much creativity to influence my life, I struggle to do the "engineer" sort of tasks I'm tasked with at work. If I allow the "engineer" stuff to take over, I find myself becoming rigid and, no longer like who I am. It's always a tough balance. A friend commented recently, One Nation Under God? was difficult to follow. I re-read it. It is difficult to follow. It was hard to write and filled with too many thoughts. So even though this Blog is mostly for me, I fixed it anyway. When you don't know how to express your thoughts or your heart; you can always write a letter to the wind...

I realized my Blog is backlogged like 6 thoughts. I wrote the title, maybe the first sentence, and then saved them as draft for later. One day the wind will blow that way and I'll pick up one of those drafts...hopefully just not all of them at once : )

Life in three thoughts

Life is not about the end of the story where you put down the book with a satisfied sigh. It's about all the chapters inbetween that make your heart race, bring a smile & make you cry as you work your way, deliciously exhausted to the end, where you get to say...That was a Great Story!

Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

...and my favorite, like the first but just a little edgier.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty well preserved body. Rather you should skid in sideways, throughly spent, completely used up and proclaiming loudly "Wow, What a Ride!”

PS-If you don't get it...you're on the wrong blog :)

One Nation Under God (Revised)

I had a small debate about the Clinton administration with my boss...I noted that the question is really, "are we still a Nation under God?" We both agreed that the answer was no. The Nation needs our prayer and I'm jealous of a friend of mine. She and her husband are going to the National prayer breakfast with George W! Too cool!!!

On a different note, Saddam Hussein is about to be hung, and I've been considering this morning how I feel about the execution. As a patriot, I think he needed to hang (though I do wonder if was really him?). As a Christian, though I believe in capital punishment, I still wonder... A neat thing happened this morning. The Lord said to me, "Pray for the president with your daughter." And I did. It was an emotional experience and one filled with tears. I wonder what she thought, but she too prayed, really prayed. She's 10, and though she doesn't understand world events, she understands W. needs prayer. I'm so proud of her.

Merry Christmas!

What can I say...it's my profession!

...and Wingmen

I have a Ranger buddy, and he'll always be there. But as I climb the ladder, I guess what I need these days is a Wingman. He may not know how to field strip an M-16 or navagate through the dark of half this country, but this I know. He's got my back these days. And my front. And the flanks. In this world I live in now, I don't need a Ranger buddy as I once did...my life is no longer on the line. But when you fly high and fast in the business world, you need a wingman. Wingmen can quote Sun Tzu, "Keep your friends close..." They say things like, "Mav, we don't have fuel for this kind of stuff," but never leave your side. They say, "Slam on the brakes, he'll fly right by." And, "Anybody seen a green out here?" We play, we joke, but we get the job done...consistently. You know what else? Sometimes out of the blue, on a terrible day, he might leave you a message that says something like, "You have a gift Mav, of holding the team together, making us believe that everything is going to work out." He calls me Maveric, 'Mav," and I call him Wingman and Ghostrider and...Chuck. We deny each other flyby's, "the pattern is full," but know we never would. He's my living GPS; I think he befriends me out of pitty :) You need a wingman in life...Thanks Chuck.

PS - Wingmen have cool mom's!

John

I want to write about a funeral. I want to write about a wingman. But I feel compelled to write about John. I hope Steve Farrar will forgive me if this is copyright infringement... It's the personal stuff about Jesus that matters, Steve captures it well.

"John was staggered by Jesus. That's the way it is with people who hang out with the Lord day after day. They can't stop talking about Him......And when a guy's spent forty-two straight months walking alongside the King of kings and Lord of lords, he's bound to have a few impressions on certain subjects......Think about eating meals over the campfire with Him...rowing a boat with Him into the teeth of a storm...confronting dangerous enemies with Him...praying with Him on the mountainside......sleeping under the stars with Him...walking on the beach with Him at sunrise...watching Him lose His life on a cross......" Watching Him lose His life on the cross. (Finishing Strong - Steve Farrar - p.127)

...Steve's work
......my shortening the text

Be aware of Wonder...

Be Aware of Wonder (1 of many to come)
It's important to be aware of wonder. So important. I reminded my Wednesday evening Kids Klub class at Church. Max Lucado helped me... via Matthias (If I'm lucky, he'll keep his post up for a while).
25 Questions for Mary

Ranger Buddies

Everybody needs a Ranger Buddy (or a wingman). Even if you've never been in the Army, it's the concept that matters. Let me tell you about mine. Gary. He didn't become my Ranger Buddy until I got out of the Army, he was still in. We did so much together. We had each others back so to speak. And we created a bit of mischief...nothing too bad! He stayed at my house, and he at mine as the years went on. We hung out in the mountains and my life rested in his hands as I leaned backward off a cliff - a show of faith I guess...and an amazing rush! We climbed bridges together, prayed together, worshiped together...and have gone our seperate ways these days. But he's still my Ranger Buddy. I still trust him with my life, and my wife - I'm not sure which I find a greater tribute! I wrote to Gary today...and his Mom. Ranger Buddies moms are cool. Gary's mom is cool!

From Generals to Joshua

In 1985 I served under LTG Palastra, CG, I Corps & Ft Lewis. He was a political man f who always wanted to be a Pentagon officer, and became one. Well decorated, but not a soldiers General. In 1986 General H. Norman Schwarzkopf...Stormin' Norman!...took command. At the cermony Palastra rambled on. Then Schwarzkoph took the podium and our spines tingled, our chests swelled... He said nothing, he just surveyed us as he would a battlefield. "I appolgize for my silence, but I wanted to appreciate all of you before me," he began. He praised us, and pumped us up, and left the stand in short order after these words, "the best way to thank a soldier is to not make them stand for a long time on a parade field...Commanders, dismiss your troops." We would have followed this man anywhere!

Joshua... Joshua and Strormin' Norman had some things in common. I can hear his final speach before the thousands (read Joshua 24). He recounted the history of a people and God's deliverance. Challenging them. I believe the people were moved in spirit, they tingled with pride in who they were, and their chests rose to their high calling in God. And I believe they shouted his final words with Joshua - having heard them so often..."Choose you this day who you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will choose the Lord!" The people went wild in affirmation. The soldiers shouted HOOAH! in Hebrew (anybody know how to say that?). And Israel remained faithful beyond Joshua's days, faithful until the last elder present at the great speech died. Then, as my daughters like to say, "Pride comes before the monkey," and Israel fell away. ( Joshua 24-Judges 1).

So what's left to say. Choose you this day who you will serve...but as for ME and MY house, we will serve the Lord!

The importance of being dangerous

From Sheakspeare...
Let me have men around me who are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and men who sleep at night.
Cassius, over there, has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

Caesar describes Cassius in these terms. I don't read Sheakspeare mind you (I don't even care if I spelled his name right!), but I find these words interesting for some reason. There's something wrong with leaders who fear men like Cassius isn't there? I think maybe Rome collapsed, among many other reasons, for lack of men like Cassius. Men like Cassius are dangerous aren't they...if you're Caesar. So were men like Stephen and John. Paul, Matthew, Joshua and Caleb. Dangerous men change the world. Not deep thoughts today - just thoughts.