Have ever played with building blocks such as Lego and Lincoln Logs as a child? I played with both of them as a child; even though I had Legos as a child but not Lincoln Logs. I happened to been at neighbor who had Lincoln Logs.

If you have played with Legos, you know that they hurt your feet if you step on them with your bare feet.

Do you know what the building blocks of life are? They are tools used to help you grow in life. They are not necessary toys like Lego and Lincoln Logs. Growth comes from building on talents, gifts, and strengths- not by solving problems. In this second tidbits, I will be giving you some helpful building blocks on life.

One of the most neglected areas in many people’s lives is the area of gifts that God has placed within them. Do you know what your Spiritual Gifts are? These are the building blocks of life for each and everyone of us. Do you know what you are good at? Do you know what is your calling in life?

We’ll look at 1 Corinthian 12. In verse 1, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” In verse 2, “You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.” In verse 3, “Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” In verse 4, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.” In verse 5, “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.” In verse 6, “There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” In verse 7, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Let us go into each one individually to fully grasp this.

In verse 8, “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the means of the same Spirit.”

In verse 9, “To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit.”

In verse 10, “to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongue.” Some people has the gift of prophecy, being able to predict the future. I said before, I believed that George Orwell must had the gift of prophecy when he wrote his book, “1984,” A lot of things he had written about is coming true today.

Just like some people has the gift of speaking in tongues, for that gift to be effective there must also be someone who has the ability interpret what is being said.

In verse 11, “All these are work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. In verse 12, “the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body; so it is with Christ.” In verse 13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and were were all given the one Spirit to drink.” In verse 14, “now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” As you can you see, we all need each others to function as a whole. Some are teachers, preachers, doctors, servants, writers, etc.

God cannot take away His gifts and calling in your life. Even if you’ve never done anything with them, even if you’ve failed time and time again, God’s gifts and calling are still resident within you. God’s gifts are never loans; they are always deposits.

Do you appreciate the gifts someone gives you? Do you take care of the gifts or are you careless with it?

When a child received a new toy as a gift, they will play with it until it breaks. I have a black and white teddy bear that I named Eddie, that I slept with until I was 12 years old. If you look at the teddy bear now, you can see the wear and tear on it. It’s no longer black and white; but rather a dirty gray.

Just like when a rich man gave his servants a portion to watched over. Two of them were wise and invest it properly. One was foolish and buried it for safe keeping. When I think about this, I’m reminded how I can be kind of foolish. Growing up, my family wasn’t rich financially but rich in assets. When I inherited some money after my folks passed away, it was more than I’ve seen growing up. I invested it for retirement; but in a way, I became a hoarder with. I figured that money I put away for retirement should be used for retirement, and so I hate the fact of taking it out of retirement to use it somewhere else; even though I need it to live daily.

As Christians, we need to make full use of all the gifts and talents which God has bestowed upon us so that we do not abound in one area while becoming bankrupt in another. Someone once said, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything like a nail.” Don’t allow anyone to take over the driver’s seat in your life! If anyone should take over the driver’s seat , then Jesus, take the wheel.

Never underestimate the power of the gifts that are within you. Gifts and talents are given to use not only so we can fulfill to the fullest the call in our own lives, but also so we can reach the souls who are attached to those gifts. There are people whose lives are waiting to be affected by what God has placed within you. So evaluate yourself! Define and refine your gifts, talents and strengths! Choose today to look for opportunities to exercise your unique God-endowed, God-ordained gifts and calling.

Once again, do you know your Spiritual Gifts? What are you good at? There is a test you can take to find out what you are good at and what your Spiritual gifts are. Once you find what your gifts are, then you can use those gifts to glorify God by being what God made you to be.

These Spiritual gifts are your building blocks of life. It’s not just in churches but in every aspect of life. Employers looks to see if employees are compatible and the right fit for the job. We need each other. A couple find someone who is compatible with them, someone fit nicely with them. My mother was filled with compassion for others, and my step-dad needed that in his life.

We are all one body-with many parts! We need each other if we are to survive and thrive. Don’t you think we should get along then; instead of squabbling among each others!

Do you love a rainy night? Have you ever look up in the sky after the rain to see a rainbow?

The sounds of the rain in the night is so relaxing. It soothes the soul. The rainbow is very beautiful to see.

What’s the reason for the rainbow? What does it represent? How is the rainbow misconstrued and the real meaning is lost and turned into something dirty?

In Genesis 9:13-16, ” I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me, you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So you see the rainbow was created as a promised from God after the great flood during the time of Noah. God promised that He will not destroy the earth again with another flood.

PROMISE: is a declaration or commitment to do or refrain from doing something, creating an expectation of performance.

Have you ever taste a rainbow? This comes from the commercial for the candy, SKITTLES. Now Skittles are lentil-shaped candies with a hard sugar shell and a soft center, produced by the Wrigley Company, a division of Mars Inc. The candy is known for its Taste the Rainbow slogan.

This is just one that the rainbow had been taken out of contact and used for other reasons.

When you look at the rainbow and wondered what is on the other side? When you see a rainbow, you usually doesn’t see a full rainbow. You only see half of it. I’m not saying that you don’t see a full rainbow though. That is very rare.

The rainbow is actually a full 360-degrees circle, not just an arcs. From the ground, the bottom half is usually hidden by the horizon, making them appear as arches. Full circle rainbows can be seen from high vantage points like planes, skyscrapers, or mountains, where water droplets exist below the observer.

The song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” comes from the one of the greatest movie, “Wizard of Oz,” in which Judy Garland would sing that song. I grew up watching the “Wizard of Oz” every year around April. It was a family tradition.

Some say there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The phrase “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” is an Irish folktale about leprechauns hiding their gold where rainbows touch the earth. The legend may have originated from Vikings who invaded Ireland in 795 AD and buried stolen gold before leaving. Folklore depicts leprechauns as guardians of ancient treasure who distrust humans and bury gold to keep it from them. The phrase can also refer to sudden wealth, like winning the lottery.

The group LGBTQ also took the idea of the rainbow to identify within their communities and to mainstream culture as well.

Not to defend my present position and situation. Choose to be a person who is on the offensive, not the defensive. A lukewarm, indecisive person is never secure regardless of his wealth, education, or position.

You may wonder why the LGBTQ would take the rainbow and used it as their symbol. To hopefully better explain this is the first nugget of this year long blog is, The beige is usually the least favorite color of people. My favorite color is blue. My mother’s favorite color is yellow. Johnny Cash is known as the Man in Black.

Don’t ever let your quest for balance become an excuse for not taking the unique, radical, invading move that God has directed you to take. When you choose to be on the offensive, the atmosphere of your life will begin to change. So if you don’t like the atmosphere of your life, choose to take the offensive position. Fight the issue, not the person!! You will find that when all of your reasons are defensive, your cause almost never succeeds.

Before judging a book by the cover, you must read it first. In other words, you have to get to know someone before you judge them. We don’t all have to agree with one another. We just have to learn to accept one another. I have nothing against the LGBTQ. I have a cousin who is gay. I also have a friend who is a Transvestite.

What I don’t like is the fact that they are bringing that in our schools and teaching it to our kids. Teachers are sexually abusing our kids by confusing them sexually. The minds of children are still developing, and they shouldn’t be exposed to such things as that.

When I was in school, the rainbow was use as a symbol after the rain. Now it’s used as the symbol for LGBTQ. If you asked me that is confusing to a child. There rainbow flag shouldn’t allowed in our schools and around our kids; unless you are willing to give the whole meaning to the rainbow. A Rainbow is a beautiful thing to see; but somehow it had became something more and confusing.

Being on the offensive and taking the initiative is a master key which opens the door to opportunity in your life. Every morning when your feet hit the floor, you should be thinking on the offensive, reacting like an invader, taking control of your day and your life.

In Joshua 1:6,7, and 9, the Lord says 3 times to Joshua, “Be Strong and Courageous.” We are to be strong and courageous as well.

Like the 2 fishermen who got trapped in the storm in the middle of the lake. One turned to the other and asked, “Should we pray or should we row?” We should do both.

Now back to the real reason for the rainbow. A rainbow is a beautiful site to see after the rain had fallen. Just like someone from the LGBTQ can be beautiful as well. God doesn’t make junk. Beauty is only skin deep. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. We must learn to love and accept one another. To do that, we must take the time to get to know someone and their story.

Just like the rainbow was a promise to God after the flood, it’s also a promise in all these situations I mentioned in this blog. It’s even a promise to the LGBTQ. Just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr states that all men are created equal, and we all shall be free.

The LGBTQ just want to be accepted for who they are. So once again, the rainbow as a promise can be taken as a promise that someday they too will be love and accepted for who they are.

To some, the LGBTQ turned the rainbow into something dirty; but I don’t because they are just as beautiful as anyone else.

As we take a stand to protect our kids by keeping the LGBTQ flag out of our schools and keep them from exposing their lifestyle on our children’s young minds; let us also learn to love and accept one another. We are all created equal, and God doesn’t create junk. He loves us just as we are.

I’m probably going to get some slack for this. Don’t you think it’s time we just learn to love as Jesus would love. Jesus Christ didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world. We don’t have to like or agree with everything or everyone. We just have to learn to love and accept one another like Jesus.

No, I’m not talking about traditional Friday. Friday is always good because it’s the end of the week; that’s why we say, “Thank God, It’s Friday,” or “Finally Friday.” I’m talking about Good Friday involving Easter.

The week before Easter, on Palm Sunday, Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem. You may wondered why go to a place where they want to persecute you? I mean, wouldn’t you want to stay away?

Jesus Christ knew that He must be crucified to fulfill the Father’s will for the people.

Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus had his disciples go into town to get a donkey for Him to ride on into town, to fulfill the promise. As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on the donkey, palm branches were scattered onto the road welcoming Him like a king.

Jesus even knew who was going to betray Him. You may wondered if Jesus knew who was going to betray Him, why would he trust Judas in the first place? It hurts more to be betrayed by someone you know than a total stranger. BETRAYAL: is the violation of trust, confidence, or a moral standard, often occurring when shared vulnerability is mismanaged or a partner acts disloyally to serve their own interests.

They saw Jesus as a king who would save them. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss on the cheek, and now that’s worse kind of betrayal. When the mafia would betray someone they would kiss them on both cheeks.

Pilate questioned Jesus, asking if He was the king of the Jews. And Jesus responded, it is as they say.” Pilate’s wife had a dream in which not to have anything to do with that innocent man. The Pharisees wouldn’t let up, so Pilate washed his hands of the whole things as to say, ” His blood is on your hands.”

This all took place on a Friday, Good Friday to be exact. If you want to get technical though, Good Friday is not actually 3 days before Easter, if you know your math. Could it be that the church set up Friday as Good Friday because it’s the end of the week, and it would give people a 3-days weekend? Even though, Good Friday and Easter isn’t celebrated as much as it was years ago before the world corrupted it.

They put a crown of thorn onto Jesus’s head to mock him at him saying that He was a King. They spit on Him. Above His head was written, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Upon the 6th hour until the 9th hour, darkness came over the land. Upon the 9th hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It had been reported that was the darkest time in history. The reason for the darkness was because the sins of mankind was so unbearable for God to look at, that God turned his face not to looked at His Son, Jesus Christ. It goes to show that evil cannot be seen in the light. Just like the light of truth cannot stand the light; that’s why it stays hidden in the dark.

The world is so dark right now, filled with evil. Could God be too upset to looked upon the world and it’s ugliness of the darkness and evil?

Those who are on their death bed and they sees a long dark tunnel with a light at the end. What would you think if you see a light at the end of the dark tunnel you are facing? You would think that there’s hope.

The Long black train represents, temptation, sin, and the devil, encouraging us to choose righteousness and faith over dark influences.

Are you going through a dark tunnel in your life right now? There is hope for you. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel waiting for you.

Just to let you know when Jesus Christ was on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” That is our hope. Jesus Christ paid the price for us all. He forgives us of all our sins. He forgives when we are tempted to do something we know we shouldn’t be doing or be involved in.

Anyway, Jesus Christ had risen on Easter Sunday morning and is ascended up in heaven, sitting with God, Our Father. He will come again for us at an undisclosed time.

In the words of Taylor Swift, “Are you ready for It?” Are you ready to meet Jesus? Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior? Have you seem the LIGHT?

For those who want to accept Jesus into their life, say with me the SINNER’S PRAYER, ” Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer asking for forgiveness of my sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that Jesus is Your Son, and that He died on the Cross at Calvary that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now to come into my life and be my personal Lord and Savior. I repent of my sins and will worship You all the days of my life! Because your Word is truth, I confess with my mouth that I am born again and cleansed by the blood of Jesus! In Jesus Name!”

If you said this prayer with a sincere heart and truly believed, then seek a Bible preaching church with other believers to fellowship with. By saying that prayer with a sincere heart and truly believe it will all of your heart, you will be ready when Jesus shall return for us all. We don’t know when that day will come; we must be ready though. It says that Jesus shall return like a thief in the night.

I hope that you had blessed Easter! I hope that you are ready to meet your Lord and Savior when He returned. I hope you saw light at the end of the tunnel; because there’s hope for you. You are forgiven when you confessed your sins to Jesus our advocate. Jesus even forgives us when we falls into temptation.

You heard me say that I’m just an average Joe with an opinion. I even backed up my opinion with facts. I’m not a journalist, but I have training in journalism. I never want to come across as being too big for my britches. I don’t want to look down on others either.

I bring this up because Gavin Newson made a comment saying that he was just an average Joe, he was just like us to a black audience. Now that’s something he shouldn’t had said at that inappropriate time. He was looking down on them. This all came about over the voter’s ID.

Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, made a statement in which she said that the blacks are too stupid to use a computer or even have one. Senator Chuck Shumer thinks that people are too stupid to find their birth certificate to get an ID. Even Joe Scarborough from MSN said that his wife couldn’t find her birth certificate. How insulting to people intelligence?

Back to Gavin Newsom, he’s trying to come across as someone who is relatable to the average American people as any politicians would do, but he failed at that because people can see right through his lies. Many politicians who has charisma can usually do well in relating to the average Joe of the American people.

Bill Clinton has charisma to do just that; even though he was slime dog. Whereas Hillary Clinton didn’t had that charisma to relate to the American people; thus the reason she lost in 2016.

Barak Obama had charisma and was able to be relatable to the American people when it came to beating John McCain.

Even though, Donald Trump was a wealthy businessman, he was able to reached millions of the American people and be relatable. He happened to say what the American people was thinking; and that was what helped him get elected in the first place. A big thing during the 2016 election was “Joe the Plumber,” an “Average Joe.”

I said all this to make my point for being the average Joe. There will be somewhat of a series from the book, “An Enemy called Average.” We don’t have to settle in being average. Don’t settle for an average life-God wants to launch you past the middle to the top.

Some things require a certain amount of innate talent. Some people are born athletes, scientists, or explorers. It’s in their DNA. Some people will never make it to the NFL, NBA, or MLB. No matter how hard they work, they lack an innate ability.

This doesn’t mean that we are to roll over and play dead either. We are to used what God gave you to be the best you can be in whatever field you’re in.

We are challenged everyday to be and to live in ways that seem to contradict the ways of the world. We are not to devalue people by cutting them down to make ourselves look so much better. When we do that, we’re only hurting ourselves.

In 1 Peter 1:8, “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge.” I could never had minister or be a good friend to Joey if came across as self-righteous. It would only turned him to look the other way. I don’t know about you but I prefer people who are relatable than someone who thinks they are so better.

One of the thing I was told as I was going through counseling is, “God doesn’t make junk.” We are all special and unique in one way or another.

My mother’s favorite song was, “Don’t Laugh at Me.” Don’t laugh at or make fun of someone because of who they are. Don’t harass someone because you don’t approve of how they dress or who they want to be. Just accept one another! We are all God’s children made in his image. It doesn’t matter of your disabilities or if you’re gay, straight or transvestite.

Within every person has been placed a desire to be different, distinctive, to be an original. Deep down inside, everyone wants to be above average. No one really want to just get by. Throughout this year, I will give you some helpful tidbits to live your potential, whatever it may be.

Everyone wants to be loved and accepted just as they are. They want someone who would understands them.

I have a young friend, named Joey, who shown me that. To some he may be different because of they way he dress or his lifestyle. I’m glad that I got to know him personally. I grew to love and accept him as he is. He’s very special to me.

As I told him and will tell you the readers, you got to be yourself. Don’t let the world dictate on who you should be. You must know who you are and be yourself no matter what others may think.

I can understand why my mother loved that song, “Don’t Laugh at Me.” She had a loving heart. She wasn’t judgmental to anyone. I believe that she would love and accept Joey as much as I do.

Remember, people looks at the outward appearance while God looks at the heart. God knows what is in our heart. He knew us before we were even born and still in our mother’s womb. He knew who we would become.

Even though, I may just be an average Joe, I don’t want to come across as someone too proud; that I end up looking down on someone who may seems odd and different. Some of these politicians seems to forget that when campaigning. Not just politicians though, even some pastors will also look down on some people as well and comes across as being self-righteous.

My step-dad dislike those who has this big ego and thinks they are better than someone else. I had a co-worker who ego was so big that he felt that he was the best. I couldn’t stand working with him some days because of his big ego. I tolerated him but that was about it.

So BE YOURSELF, don’t let someone cut you down because they don’t approve of you for whatever reason. We are called to stand out, not blend in.

Throughout this year, I will give you some nuggets from the book, “An Enemy called Average,” to hopefully help you stand out in the crowd . There might be weeks that I will take a break from this series though. May you grow from this as I know I did. I wouldn’t have missed a thing in getting to know my young friend, Joey. I love and accept him as he is. If anyone was to hurt him, they would be sorry.

BE YOURSELF!!! God doesn’t make junk and he loves you no matter who you are. If God loves you, I too can love you as well.

How many really knows who St. Patrick really is? How many knows the reasons why we celebrate St. Patrick Day and who it’s honor? Like a lot of holidays, St. Patrick Day got lost and forgotten about. Holidays like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, etc. According to the world’s standard, St. Patrick Day is just another day to party for no real reason at all. So in this blog, I will give you a little history of who St. Patrick is; so you will know why we honor him on March 17. I will even give you some of the traditions behind St. Patrick Day and see if it’s relevant to who St. Patrick is.

St. Patrick is the primary patron saint of Ireland and a revered Christian missionary known as the Apostle of Ireland. Even though he was born in Britain, he was enslaved in Ireland as a teenager before escaping, later to return as a bishop to convert the Irish to Christianity, establishing churches and founding monasteries.

Some of the key facts about St. Patrick are: he was born into a Christian family in Roman Britain, the late 4th century. He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by Irish raiders and spent 6 years in slavery in Ireland, where his faith deepened.

For those who didn’t know, the English and the Irish had an ongoing feud between the 2 countries. For those who have Irish and English in their DNA, you can say theirs a inner feud going on inside of you, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

After escaping Ireland, St. Patrick experienced a vision instructing him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He was ordained a bishop and returned around 432 AD, spending decades converting pagans, baptizing thousands, and ordaining priests.

You may wondered why go back to where you escaped from? Usually people want to forget about the past. When God calls you to do something, you better obey. Don’t be like Jonah! When God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh, he disobey God and went the other way, only to be swallow up by a whale. Eventually, Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh.

St. Patrick was Romano-British, not Irish, but is considered the foundational figure in converting Ireland to Christianity. His work brought Christianity to the Irish people, transforming the nation’s spiritual landscape and establishing a legacy celebrated globally on St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick is credited with using the 3-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity(3-person in 1 God) Another popular, likely mythical story is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland into the sea.

First of all, I love having a shamrock shake from McDonald’s every year around St. Patrick Day, that’s part of my tradition. Besides, McDonald’s make the best Shamrock shake.

Now the shamrock is a 3-leaf clover representing Ireland, derived from the Gaelic seamrog (little clover).

Whereas the 4-leaf clover is a rare mutation of the common 3-leaf clover, with 4 heart-shaped leaflets instead of 3. It’s widely considered a symbol of good luck and positivity. They say when you find a 4-leaf clover it will bring you luck. The Irish is known to believe in luck. Do you feel lucky?

Another tradition around St. Patrick’s Day is eating corn beef and cabbage. Corn beef and cabbage is considered an Irish-American dish, not a traditional dish from Ireland. While popular on St. Patrick’s Day in the US, Irish immigrants in the 19th century substituted cheaper corn beef from Jewish butchers for their traditional, more expensive bacon and cabbage. The traditional Irish meal is actually boiled bacon(pork) and cabbage, not corn beef.

When we would make corn beef and cabbage, we also would add potatoes and carrots as well to the dish. You can cook it together in a crock pot like stew or broil the corn beef separate from the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. What is left over, you can make Reuben sandwich.

Even though the Reuben sandwich isn’t traditionally Irish, it originated from New York City Jewish or German-Jewish deli, it was pick up by the Irish.

Another tradition around St. Patrick’s Day is the idea of having “Green” beer. Thar’s not a tradition for me; even though I like beer like anybody else. I mean, “Hell Yeah, I like beer.” I’m just not into green beer. Sure, it’s just green dye in the beer.

The tradition of green beer for St. Patrick’s Day originated in the United States, likely in 1914 by Dr. Thomas Hayes Curtin in New York City. He introduced the drink by adding a drop of “wash blue” to beer.

I’ll stick to my shamrock shake or Irish Mocha instead of green beer, thank you, please.

Have you ever been to Ireland?

The country of Ireland is off the coast of England. It’s a beautiful country. I would love to go to Ireland when I retire to check out the beauty.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, which marks the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death. We just celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this past week. Now you know why we honor St. Patrick on March 17. It’s good to remember why we celebrate certain holiday instead for just a reason to party and drink.

Another tradition was wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. When I was in school, if you didn’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, you were pinched. Now days, if you pinch someone, you could get charge with sexual harassment.

I hope that you had wonderful St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. I hope you celebrated by giving honor to the man we celebrate the day for. I hope you enjoyed your corn beef and cabbage and to those who drinks “green” beer enjoyed that too. May the luck of the Irish prosper you this year.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

By training your child the right way, they are more likely to remembered it when they get older. I was baptized Catholic as a baby, went through Catechism. Now CATECHISM is an authoritative summary of Catholic doctrine, covering faith, sacraments, morality, and prayer.

I was confirmed in the Lutheran church. CONFIRMATION is a Christian sacrament or rite that strengthen baptized individual allowing them to confirm their faith, receive the Holy Spirit, and become full member of the church.

I was even invited to a Nazarene church as a child by a friend of our family.

So you see I was taught about Jesus Christ as a child. Yet there was a period in my life that I doubted God really loved me; because of the sexual abused I went through as a child. Because of the training as a child, I was able to turned my life around and return to the Lord. I’m now a member of a Nazarene Church.

This is why it is vital for parents to raise their children up right. They may struggle in their life but if they are raised right, they will remembered it and become the person they are to become.

It’s the parents jobs to raise their children not the schools; despite of what Joe Biden had said, “The kids belong to the schools not the parents. It’s the schools jobs to raise the children not the parents.”

Teachers are to teach, just like parents, Godparents, and even the church; but the parents are to actually raise their children.

Another thing the Pandemic did was opened the parents’ eyes to what was being taught to their children in our schools, and they didn’t approve of it; at least the good parents. Some parents put too much trust in the schools to the point that as long as their child was being educated, that was fine with them.

When the parents protested the schoolboard for what they were teaching to their children, Joe Biden called them “DOMESTICE TERRORIST.”

Even though I graduated from public schools, I’m now in favor of homeschooling, that way our kids will be properly educated.

Imagine a couple that has just learned they are expecting a child. They don’t know the baby’s gender, personality, or future. All they know is that within 9 months, they will give birth to a baby. Then they will resolve to guide their child’s development and shape his or her future as best as they can. While parents prepare to meet their child’s every need, their efforts are limited because they are still discovering how to best care for this new life. You know what you ought to do, then do it, not halfway, but out and out.

Don’t let the government and teachers tell you that you have no rights to know what is being taught to their children! Parents must take responsibility for raising their children up right or they will end up indoctrinating them.

Used to be the college was considered to be rather Liberal and was responsible for shaping the mind of our young people; but now it had drifted down to our high school and elementary schools. They come to realize that a child’s mind is still developing. If they want to be able to indoctrinate them, they must start at a young age.

Back when Adolf Hitler was in charge in Germany, under the Nazi leadership, they were indoctrinating young boys to separate them from their parents. Yet, those on the Left has the galls to call the MAGA REPUBLICANS Nazi. It goes to show that once again the Democrats are trying to rewrite history by spinning the truth.

Teachers may demand a raise, but for what they are doing to our kids today, they don’t deserve a raise. Instead they should register as a sex offender, because what they are doing is a form of sexual abuse. They are sexually abusing our kids by confusing them.

Children who have been sexually abused may display a range of emotional and behavioral reactions, many of which characteristic of children who have experienced other types of trauma.

Teachers are telling their students that they are a pronoun rather than who they really are. They are even saying that they have a right to change their sex if they want. The schools are even allowing TRANSVESTITE in our schools to teach and read to our kids. They are sexually abusing our kids by doing that. I would rather have someone like Kirk Cameron comes in to read the Bible than what is being done.

It’s used to be in my days, if a girl would dressed up as a boy or play with a boy while they are still developing, they were considered to be a “TOMBOY,” and a boy who played with dolls and such were considered to be a SISSY.” It was considered to be normal and a part of the facts of life. Back in my days in the movie, “Bad News Bears,” Tatum O’Neal played a young girl on a little league team with the boys; which was considered to be normal.

The Left had twisted around to make something more out of it than what it is. They should let a child grow up to be who they are to become. If they choose to become gay when they become older, than we must accept their decision.

There were 2 others good movies, “Tootsie”, and “Mrs. Doubtfire,” were good comedy that should be taken as a comedy and not taken literally by our Woke Hollywood and the Left.

Another reason why Trump won big in the 2024 election was because parents didn’t like what was being taught in our schools and wanted school choice. Parents was also against the idea of men not being allowed to play in women’s sports and to be allowed inside a women’s locker room; especially when their daughters was inside. They didn’t want temptation to kick in. They was protecting their daughter, and vice versa.

I know of a young gentleman, a friend of mine, named Joey who was harassed because of they way he would dressed in women’s clothes. When he was in the men’s locker room taking a shower, some men would shouted, “female in the room,” at him. When I heard about it secondhand I was very upset about it. They hurt him and I wanted to hurt them for it.

Just like when a girl, who would dressed like a boy would entered the girl’s bathroom, she would be teased and said that she was in the wrong bathroom. That incident brought tears to their eyes, upsetting them.

As I had told my young friend, Joey, “You got to be yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” We must learn to accept that. At the same time, it the parents job to raise their children not the teachers.

Don’t get me wrong there are some parents that shouldn’t be parents. Some parents are abusive and not just physical. I grew up in an abusive home. I told about being sexually molested but there was also physical, emotional, and mental abuse in my family. Yet it was mild compared to some.

My young friend, Joey was also abused by his parents much worse than myself. He was sexually molested also.

How a child is raised will determine how he will grow up. If the parents raised their child up right they will remembered when they are older. If a child isn’t raised up right and was abused, the abuse will scar them for life, making them to have bad abusive relationship as they get older.

So parents raised your children up right or the teachers will step in and indoctrinate them, molding them into what society want of them.

Don’t judge someone by they way they dress or their lifestyle they choose to live. Just love and accept them as they are. I love and accept Joey as he is, if you don’t like that that’s your problem to deal with.

If you noticed any abused happening in the home or in our schools, don’t be afraid to report it. Teachers should teach and not indoctrinate our children. They shouldn’t sexually abused them by confusing them sexually. I had no one to turn to when I was being molested and abused; but luckily I was able to get the help I needed. Teachers, like Social workers just want to tear apart family.

America’s inner spirit has been domesticated by a new culture that rejects excellence and embrace victimhood, leaving a deep cultural vacuum. The solution isn’t to simply complain about it. It’s to revive a new cultural movement in America that puts excellence first again.

This blog is off the book, “Nation of Victims,” by Vivek Ramaswamy. You may wonder about the title though. I remembered growing up my dad would say to my mother, “You’re raising candy asses.” I just feel that works for a title, as we are becoming a nation of CANDY ASSES. People are becoming overly sensitive at every little things you say or post on Facebook. Some will even say, “it’s not politically correct to say those things, you might offend somebody. Some of the great comedians would be canceled because they are too offensive like George Carlin and Bill Engvall. People can’t take jokes like they used to without being offended. You can’t call someone stupid when they do stupid things.

This is what George Orwell had in mind when he said that the best way to control minds in society was to control its language first. American culture seems to have been overtaken by a battle using language to exert social control.

Someday soon, Americans may think “equity” and “equality” mean the same thing, just 2 pleasant words for social justice, with only the vaguest memory that they somehow used to be different.

Progressives claim that racism was woven into America’s fabric since its inception. You think that America had gone past racism when we elected Obama as President as the first African American as President. But the opposite had happened though, the Obamas used racism as a calling card in every situation. They even created such program as DEI to avoid discriminating because of race.

The right way to make further progress as a country isn’t to eradicate every last remnant of racism at all costs, constructing ever-more elaborate linguistic purification rituals to do so. Rather, we should allow those final remnants to gradually atrophy to irrelevance. Ours is a culture riddled with contradictions, always trying to purify itself, so obsessed with its flaws that it can no longer recognize its own virtues. The dying civilization inhabiting the plains of North America, collapsing under the weight of its insecurities.

In the process of working hard to overcome our disadvantages, we gain not only glory, but character. United States began as a nation of underdogs.

Democracy was supposed to give them equal rights, capitalism was supposed to ensure equal opportunity for upward economic mobility, institutions like Christianity were supposed to instill them with the right values, and their own virtue was supposed to do the rest.

The Civil War torn the United States apart, and as we tried to rebuild ourselves, we fought a cultural battle over the cause of the conflict. The process helped forge us into the nation we are today, establishing our nation’s memory and articulating core principles of its identity.

There’s actually a lesson there: even the most critical thinkers have their blind spots, and race can easily be one of them.

Freethinkers tend to be canceled in every time, just for different reasons; the only way to avoid the trap is to avoid canceling people at all. Yet we seem to do just that in cancelling someone because we don’t like their viewpoints on life or their lifestyle choices.

Equal protection law had been about protecting victimized minorities, but the majority struck back and subtly protected itself from victimization too.

When the government burdens individuals on the basis of their membership in some group, the question is simply whether the nature of that group is relevant to the purpose the government is trying to achieve.

Critical Race Theory is a term that’s often used these days but seldom defined. They teach that in our schools to indoctrinate our kids.

The Republicans are losing the culture war, and it’s not just because liberals control the media, universities, Hollywood, or even business. The Republicans aren’t just losing to wokeness and its many victimhood narratives. They’re losing because they’ve adopted the tactics and principles of their opponents and, in doing so, stand for nothing but the pursuit of power. Democrats may have been the first to master telling tales of victimhood, but lately Republicans have decided to join them in spinning out stories of persecution. They sacrifice core principles for short-term political gain.

Liberals often say that conservatives voted for Trump as part of some white backlash against an increasingly diverse nation.

We should be proud of our strength in innovative, knowledge-based industries.

We have become victims of history, born too late, trapped in the middle of a decline ordained by forces we didn’t create.

Those on the Left sees math as being racist and sexist.

Young people are taught they shouldn’t view their feelings about racism or sexual assault as a way to get into college.

The pro-laziness movement launched by the Covid Pandemic to have the government to forgive student loans. Most of the younger generation don’t have the same work ethics as the older generation. They rather be on their smartphone than do actual work. What scares me, they will be taking care of us in our old age.

A big reason why President Trump and the Republicans won big in the last election was the Wokeness being taught in our schools turning our kids into victims.

At one time, the Democrats was the party for the Feminist Movement; not when asked to defined a woman, they cannot defined what a woman is. Instead they are more apt to represent the LGVTQ.

I’m entering into a sticky situation here; which I’ll explain later.

A lot of parents were upset about men playing against women in women’s sports and for entering the women’s locker room. Parents didn’t want men to walked into the girl’s locker room while their daughter was dressing. They felt and so do I feels it’s inappropriate to do so. If you say or do anything, you’re a homophobic.

This is where it becomes tricky for me. To get this straight, I have nothing against homosexual or a Transvestite. First of all, I have a cousin who is a homosexual. Secondly, I have a young friend, who opened my eyes to people who are transvestite. He likes to wear women’s clothes, he was molested as a child by his parents, and he is gay. I loved and accepted him just as he is. I even told him that he got to be himself, and not let the world dictate to him differently.

We must learn to accept one another without judgement. We should get a chance to know someone before judging them. I’m glad that Joey trusted me enough to opened up to me; so that I could get a chance to know him. He’s a beautiful young man with a big heart.

Those who have been abused as a child like I was, you don’t have to remain a victim. Even though, I was a victim of child sexual abuse, I don’t have to remain a victim. I’m a survivor.

Stop letting the world victimize you! One way bullies win over their victims is by keeping them as a victim. Just like the only way the Left win is by keeping us as a victim. By remaining a victim, they can control us better. Just like when an abuser win over the victims they do so by controlling us and keeping us as victims.

I remembered when I was going through counseling to deal with my sexual abuse, I had a so-called memory, in which my step-brother was giving me a bath; even though I was old enough to do so myself. When I relived that dream, I said no; but in reality that didn’t happened.

Are you a Candy Ass? In the words of Bob Newhart, “STOP IT!” Stop being a candy ass! Stop letting the world turn you into a victim. Stop letting the Left used their power to control you to keep you being a victim. Just say NO! We are not going to remain a victim anymore. Instead, we are a survivor and we will survive. We must stand up to the bullies in our lives who want to keep us as victims to control us.

Do we not simply care about the old people?

The COVID pandemic should be a wake up call for America. This nation wasn’t doing enough to care for the vulnerable older adults. There are reports that our seniors in nursing homes are being neglected and abused. They have suffered from isolation, depression, and abused.

It boggles my mind that there isn’t more outrage over this. What the heck? Why aren’t people responding and doing more for the elderly? Do we simply not care anymore?

Don’t they know that when older people thrive, everyone thrives?

It’s almost like the elderly are shunned and put away to die. They don’t want to be bothered by the elderly’s problems and illness. Bill Gates and Dr. Nazi Fauci was looking at ways to eliminate the elderly totally and eliminate the burden they bring about. They were doing sick experiments on orphans to eliminate the crisis of our elderly.

This reminds me of the old TV series, “Logan Run;” which was based upon an old movie of the same title. In the series, as they turned 30 years old, they are eliminated, just to ease the burden. Those who could would set out to escape before they are killed. They are pursued as they look for sanctuary city.

This is nature, not just human nature but animal nature as well. When animals become too old to lead, they typically face a decline in social status, reduced capabilities to forage or defend and may be ousted from their position by younger, stronger individuals. In hierarchical groups like wolf packs or lion prides, leaders are often challenged and replaced when their strength wanes.

It seems, we humans tend to do the same as the animal kingdom. We don’t want to deal with the burdens of the elderly and shuns them into isolation.

The United States do a lousy job in caring for our elderly. Countries that do better at carrying for the elderly are: Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Japan.

Sweden has excellent public health services, municipal funded home care, and focus on keeping seniors active in their communities.

Switzerland offers exceptional healthcare quality, high safety, and strong support for the elderly, allowing seniors to live comfortably at home.

The Netherland is known for specialized care, high accessibility to doctors, and strong support systems with many residents over 60.

Japan combines a high life expectancy with a strong cultural emphasis on filial piety, alongside advanced care programs like “Orange Plan” for dementia.

Norway features a top tier healthcare system, high pension coverage, and strong support for aging in place.

Yet in the United States, we do lousy job in caring for our elderly. Those who wasn’t able to put away extra money for retirement only has their social security to live on and that doesn’t last; as we are now living longer because of advance healthcare. A lot of them ended up working past retirement age because they cannot afford to retire. Even if you do happen to have extra money put away for retirement, that too can be lost due to the high cost of medical and nursing home care.

There was a reason why in the past, people had big families. By having big families, you not only guarantees helper living on the farm, but you also guarantee your children being able to take care of you as you become too old and unable to take care of yourself.

Now days, adult children are not able to take care of their elderly parents as well as themselves and their kids as well. Some may not want to because they sees them, as a burden or just don’t want them around as much, causing them to be shunned. I can understand this being raised in a dysfunctional family. I mean, I love my parents; but you can only tolerate so much of them before you need a break from them. Sometimes they can drive you crazy.

When they talked about the older Jews starving and freezing in the Ukraine, it just doesn’t happened there, it happens here in the United States as well. There are elderly people who are homeless here as well; even in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo Housing isn’t as quick to help them find apartment and help. They are struggling to stay alive in homeless shelters and some are even living in hotels; which isn’t cheap by no mean.

The city of Fargo should be ashamed of themselves for this epidemic crisis. They rather build things they don’t need over providing proper homecare for the elderly who are homeless. Fargo Housing should be ashamed of themselves for not being as quick to help the elderly, and yes that includes me.

This reminds me back during World War 2 when Hitler and the Nazi was executing the Jews and putting them in concentration camp. The elderly and the weak were the first to be killed in the gas chambers because they were seen as being a burden and useless.

When I was younger, I have to admit that North Dakota had nothing to keep the younger generation in the state; and I was all for bringing high paying jobs into the state. Now that I’m older, I sees that the elderly in the state and especially in Fargo are being neglected and forgotten about.

As a teenager, I saw anyone 30 or older as being old. So I can understand why the younger generation doesn’t want anything to do with the elderly. To them, they see the elderly as being old, useless, and out of touch with society.

Don’t they realize that the elderly have a lot wisdom to share. We didn’t get old without being young and dumb at first. Don’t shut us out because you see us as being too old, useless, and out of touch with reality. Don’t shut us out because you are embarrass to be around us.

The elderly gained wisdom through hard living. They can teach the younger generation a thing or two. The elderly are shunned in the workplace and in churches as well. When you get too old to keep up, employers will find ways to let you go. They don’t realized that they have better work ethics than the younger generation.

The church looks for ways to attract the youths to church but forget about the elderly in the process.

United States should look at doing more for our elderly like the countries I mentioned earlier. The elderly shouldn’t be struggling and living on the streets because they are seen as a burden. We need better a better system to care for our elderly than what we have. The elderly worked hard and paid their share of taxes for it.

Why should the illegal immigrants get help faster than our elderly citizens?

May whoever read this be encourage to speak up for our elderly like me against our corrupt system.

This week blog was about caring for our elderly. Next week, we’ll be the flip side of this.

If you are reading this and is led to believe that something needs to be done to help us elderly people who are struggling. Please get involved by contacting your Congressman, Senators, or even your city council. It’s time an investigation is done to end the corruption that is in our government agency.

Do have bad habits that need to be broken? We all have some form of bad habits that need to be broken. In the book, “Atomic Habits,” we’ll take a look at easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones.

HABITS are automatic, repeated behaviors accounting for 40% of daily actions, structure by a cue, craving response, and reward. It can be anything from smoking, overeating, or whatever else. Some habits can be addictive and hard to break.

Just because you have bad habits, it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person or bad to the bone. Good peoples have bad habits that they need to break as well.

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.

You learn these habits from your parents or childhood, good and bad habits. Throughout your life, you practice your habits and it grows on you. The longer you have them the harder they are to break. They are sunk in deep into our thinking process. It’s all about getting rid of your stinking thinking.

A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly-and , in many cases, automatically. That you are doing it without even thinking you’re doing it.

No matter what the habit may be, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about. Like the song, “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Unfortunately, the slow pace of transformation also makes it easy to let bad habits slide.

Habits are a double-edged sword. Bad habits can cut you down just as easily as good habits can build you up. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to build habits that last. People make a few changes, fail to see a tangible result, and decide to stop. If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not because you lost your ability to improve. This is why many New Year’s Resolution is broken early in January if not by February. It becomes hard to break those habits that formed you.

It’s good to set goals for yourself; but not always easy to achieve. When I turned 50, and saw that I have an Uncle who lived to be 84 and an Aunt on my real father’s side who lived to be in her 90’s, I made a goal to changed my diet and start eating healthier. I was doing good for awhile and even lost around 50 pounds. Things happened that put a damper on that goal.

Why is it so easy to repeat bad habits and so hard to form good habits?

Habits are like exercise, meditation, journaling, and cooking are reasonable for a day or two and then become a hassle. Changing our habits is challenging for 2 reasons: 1.) we try to change the wrong thing and 2.) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.

We are not born with a preset beliefs. Every belief, including those about yourself is learned and conditioned through experience.

A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. Like hearing things over and over again as a child that it becomes a part of you. Part of the way I am is because how I was raised and the what my step dad had drilled into our head.

Sometimes we crave certain habits like craving smoking, drinking, eating certain foods as chocolate, sweets, chips, even coffee. A person can even crave certain people to the point of them being a bad habit to break. You can’t just get them off your mind. They are not just in your mind but also in your heart as well. When that person isn’t around for some reason other then death, you cannot think straight. They are constantly in your thoughts and dreams. You miss that person so much you can’t think straight. You can’t get them off your mind. Your heart may be breaking because of it. I have someone like that in my life. I never thought it would happened that I would become attached to this person but it did.

Some people are able to break habits easily when they come to the Lord. I heard of stories of people who quit drinking cold turkey once they accepted the Lord. They were sanctified. I even heard someone being able to quit smoking because of people praying for them. So it can be do done in breaking bad habits; just that some habits are harder to break. I’m here to tell you that God is still working on my life. He’s helping me form good habits and get rid of bad habits. I’m a work in progress.

If you find yourself in needing help to break free from those bad habits, will you say with me, “Search me, O God, and know my heart today; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

If you prayed this prayer, seek help immediately either through a good Bible preaching church, getting involve with AA or other agency to help you fight your demons whatever it may, get counseling by a good qualified counselor. There is help for you to break those bad habits that is harmful to you.

What is your love song? Or as Thomas Rhett sang, “What is your Country Song?’

This Valentine’s Day we will discuss some songs that is part of someone love song.

As I said last year around this time, we all have a story to tell. We all have a love story to share. Well, we also have a love song.

Taylor Swift had a song out that says it best and that is, “Our Song.” What is our song? What song describes your relationship. What song was played at your wedding?

Sure Taylor Swift had written song after breaking up with someone and made them famous. When I had wrote song, I would write song about people I knew as well. I had written songs about old girlfriends as well. Songs such as: Dream Girls, She’s My Girl , and Queen of the World for example.

My folks, who was married for 40 years love song was “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson. I even wrote a blog on that for their anniversary. That song came out about the time they were married.

My folks also had another love song as well and it was, “Your Mama don’t dance and your daddy don’t rock and roll. For those who knew my parents, knew why that was also their song as well. My mother was a child of the 50’s growing up on rock and roll music. Whereas, my step-dad was more into slow dancing and waltz. They never did much dancing because of their different dancing style. I’m not saying they didn’t go dancing. There was a time they did go dancing. One time, they took me with them. My mother told me that an older black woman danced with me; which was my first time dancing with another woman that wasn’t my mother.

Most couples would dance to the song, “Put Your Head on My Shoulders,” not my folks though. It would have been good to see since my mother was quite a bit shorter than my step-dad.

There’s a love song that I really like and if I would had gotten married, I would have it played at my wedding. That song was, “The Wedding Song- There is Love.” I just loved that song.

Some may say that “The Dance” by Garth Brooks can be a wedding song as well.

The most popular love song played at weddings is Unchanged Melody. Other songs are Can’t help falling in Love, All of Me, At Last,

Elvis had a love song that he dedicated to his mother called, “Mama likes the Roses.” But how is that considered a love song for couples? As a rule: a man would marry a woman like their mother, while a woman would marry someone like their father.

This is about your personal love song not just the greatest love songs ever. That’s a whole different blog all together.

Everyone of us have a personal love song just like we all have a personal love story about the one we love. I shared last years some of my love stories last year.

What love song played at your wedding? What love song described your relationship with your significant other? May this Valentine’s Day, you reminisce about your love song in your relationship. If you want, go ahead and share it.

I knew about the love songs for my folks but not the love song not the love my mother had with my real father. Maybe because they had a special kind of love for each other. I cannot understand why though. Just like the song goes, “What Forever for?” That song could also described my folks. It could also be someone’s love song as well.

This is a short blog. Once again, what is your love song? Share it with your love ones and reminisce about it with them and your family and friends.