Paradise Lost .....

It was my watch teams first day off since we arrived on Kauai for Rimpac operations. My team and I had decided to take a short hike on the far side of the island called the Na Pali coast. Keep in mind once again that I and most of my watch team are from Oklahoma, Kauai is a major change from reality. After a long 45 minute drive to Kee beach (the farthest point a vehicle can go),we set off on our hike to Hanakapai beach which is only a few miles. The hike was immense fun, so totally lush and green. I was running down these small trails which turned in an instant and could fall off the trail only to be speared or raked with plant life before ending up on the jagged rocks below.
We arrived at the beach only after crossing a meager but beautiful creak with a rope tied across about 4 ft. high. We were all really confused about this because it seemed like a big waste of rope.
It was a classic struggle on nature as the ocean had pushed this meager creek back 90 degrees and forced it over another 300 yards to a cliff region at the far side where it was finally allowed to empty into the ocean. The waves were huge and the beach was gorgeous and we stopped to take in the whole scene. Our next move was to hike up a trail toward the falls of the same name, the trip was steep and quick as the trail moved back and forth across the creek( keep in mind the creek is only 15 to 20 feet across with large and small rounded stones in it , and then
the deepest parts are maybe knee deep). After crossing a sheer cliff area we arrived at the falls and immediately dove in and started swimming, the water was extremely cold, but hey, you only live once. We had only been there for about fifteen minutes when the rain came, It was light at first but soon became a torrential downpour we decided we would head back fearing a rise in the creek. One of our group had twisted an ankle and was slow working his way back down. The lead pack had already been broken out of sight, myself and 4 others hung back and worked with our comrade to help him down. The trail quickly disappeared beneath the onslaught the rain became, we had to guess on the appropriate way and crisscrossed the creek several times. Needless to say each time we came to cross it the water was a little deeper and a little faster. Two of our group decided to stay on one side and not cross again. The three of us slowly imped down the trail and found the beach again. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the creek to get back to our vehicle. The rain was unmercifully beating us down and we were all getting cold as we were in T-shirts and shorts. The rest of our group stood on the right side of the creek which was now a raging river (in my opinion). To our amazement the creek which had been turned aside by the ocean had cut through the 20 meters of sand and spilled directly into the raging waves. The rope that we had once laughed at seemed now to be our only way back across the water was now at least waist deep and very dangerous. It was tough going and I now have a great appreciation for running water and the need to stay out of it. There was no sign of the two who left and decided to stay on the other side. We dispatched all but two of us back to the vehicle to call for help. The water was now nearly 4 foot deep and raging beyond control. Three hours later the rescue team found the two, cold and pinned against a cliff on top a huge boulder. God gives us friends to love and cherish, Love them and stick with them through thick and thin, otherwise we can get washed away.

My Chances....

I'm done washing the dishes and have a sink I need parts for, there is always something for me to fix. Things weren't always this good but I can appreciate where I've been.
After arriving in New York with the puffy orange coat I can remember being tormented by kids calling me carrot boy. One day it was just to much, I went home and up to my room threw my coat on the floor and lost it for quite awhile. I asked if anyone would ever love me if I would ever find that special someone who would like me and my orange coat. That night, I dreamed of a girl I had only seen once when we had picked her up in our old home town for a spring concert at school. I was in New York and this was not the answer I was looking for.
6 years and many moves later I married her, don't get me wrong , I was an immature kid and caused all sorts of problems for us. She was the second best thing that ever happened to me, at the time I would have said the first but I was already trumped and didn't know. She's a southern girl blond hair,blue eyes and petite. She loves to cook and is an excellent homemaker and the best Mom their is. She brought me back to the land of the living and nurtured me into reality. She is the reason I live on the plateau, the dishes are no problem, fixing things are just icing on the cake. She's my equal, she keeps me fresh, loves lives in her. God blessed me way more than I deserved, some day I'll know what I did to deserve her. Until then, I'll just have to enjoy my life and take my chances loving her.

Got Rights...???

As I stood alongside the bus and below the metal sunscreen I wondered if they really knew what's going on . We arrived across the border from Bahrain heading into Saudi Arabia. My unit members and myself had to unload all our gear onto the roadside for inspection by the Saudi police. They were looking for crosses, bibles, magazines and eve n pictures of loved ones to revealing for Saudi eyes. Knowing what little I knew about Bahrain and the way things work I couldn't comprehend how all the other people of the Saudi line could not know what was going on.
In Manama, Bahrain "the Las Vegas of the Arab world" anything can happen for a price. I know that women are imported in for entertainment and most likely never aloud to return. Shieks or high ranking whoever can go and enjoy full vices and I guess not feel bad about it or really care because they are above it all. Women have been and always will be objects or at best second class citizens . How could these inspectors really take their job seriously if they really knew all this. As we started packing up our entire bag of clothes and gear I thought about the Filipino woman we had met several years earlier in Oman. We (10 in all) had stopped at an American fast food restaurant in Muscat because we didn't expect it to be there. This beautiful woman came out from behind the counter when she found out we were American. It was really tough to watch her beg each of us to marry her so she could escape the country. Only three were unmarried and they were advised by our senior that it would major trouble if they proceeded as we were there on invitation from the royal navy. I never will forget it and I truly never will be the same. Thank God your where your at and pray for an end to hell some women face every day.

Bad Trend .....

It seems to me that a lot of people are moving away from a family oriented household. More frequently, I have been seeing kids with not only TV's in the room but also computers. This may not seem like a big deal but I can guarantee it really is . Consider a family with several kids all with there own TV's / computers in there room. Dinner is more likely to be served there and the child is more likely to not come out except for school. Kids need to have supervision and communication with their parents. This trend basically blocks all lines to your children out unless you want to e-mail them. Please keep the TV's and especially the computers out of their room. You don't need any more than two TV's and have one central computer. Don't forget, if you ban these things in their room than you must do the same, lest you become a hypocrite and lose all their respect. God gave us our kids to love and cherish no to push out of sight. Have a meal together and just talk about things. Satan wishes nothing more than separating families and breaking that bond. Stay involved your kids will appreciate it.

Purity Defined,

As I reflect on the last week, I recalled a discussion I had with an intelligent young man I work with. We happenened to be discussing different aspects of our faith and Mary (Theotokos) came up. I stated that the Church declared her sin free only after enough naysayers had said otherwise.
"Sin free";" how can that be when the Bible says that every man has sinned " he quipped. I said she is not a man. But somehow that didn't wash, I asked that if God wanted to could he make someone sin free ? If he could have put enmity between the devil and the woman ? He said that he felt that maybe during pregnancy that Mary could have been sin free but not her whole life. The fact is she was sin free as the Church defined. She has always held that position but just recently defined it. She is purity in a definition and we should respect that . She didn't have to cooperate with God but she did. Through that cooperation our savior was born . God Blessed her and us

A brief Glimpse of Heaven.....

Many years ago I had the pleasure of going to Oman with my Navy MIUW unit. I was on the tiger team which means we deploy first and get the equipment set up. After several days of temperatures close to 130 F, we got acclimated to the conditions and set about the task at hand.
We set up our equipment near the edge of an Omani naval base and within 100 feet of the water.
After setting up and testing to make sure everything was going to work we had to set a watch and maintain till the rest of the unit arrived. I received the first night watch. We returned to the troop ship the Omani's had set up for us as it was still about 3 in the afternoon.
The three of us arrived back at the site about 8:30 at set about preparing to assume the watch.
Our equipment was about 15 feet from the chain link fence and constantina wire about the top and the previous watch had set up camoflouge sun break between the fence and our equipment. By now the word was out at the village, which was just 1/2 mile past the fence and off base, that some strange things were going just inside the base. 4 or 5 boys between 10 and 12 had gathered at the fence and what I suspect were their little sisters were staying a dutiful 100 feet away as their older male siblings had commanded. After trying for a while to talk in broken english they themselves were called away as the sun slowly disappeared into the sea. Evening prayers were announced and we went about continued work to get the site up to snuff.
I've been in other Arab countries and this was the first time I had felt a sense of security as the darkness began to grow. By about midnight the darkness unreal and only a few faint lights could be seen both in the base and the village. I with the other two had been extremely busy and had not really stopped and surveyed the scene. I climbed up on top of our equipment (10 feet off the ground and laid back and opened my eyes. The sky was filled with more stars than I in the midwest could comprehend. I felt closer to the stars almost like I was in space floating . A cooling breeze blew lightly over me and the gentle lapping of the waves brought me back to reality. My time on top was mere minutes but I lived years in those minutes. The shear magnitude of it all was so overwhelming that I can still bring it back as if it were now and my soul is still stirred by it.

My Curse,,,,,

When my parents divorced, my world was torn in two. I can still vividly remember the day my mom pulled me out of class (6th grade) gave me an orange puffy coat and told us we're not coming back. Sucks to be me; but I soon got in with an easy going, respectable crowd that enjoyed partaking of herb. School was going badly and mom was working her butt off to take care of myself and my brothers. A friend and I soon found a dumpster chocked full of adult magazines.
So at ripe age of twelve I learned what it was like to be a man. Day after day, week after week,
my friend and I became very popular kids and had access to everything. We only lived at that location for about a year and I wasn't ready to leave when it became time. By now I smoking daily and had a horribly distorted view of what life was really like. We are all searching for something in this world and somehow I had gotten off to a really bad start. I've been paying for my inadvertent upbringing in many ways. Human sexuality is a beautiful gift created by God. Humans with the help of the devil find a way to distort this beauty and make it bad. To really appreciate my wife has taken many, many years and a lot of heart ache. God bless her. Some people there is nothing at all wrong with adult entertainment, but I know better, I know it was a curse to me . I was searching for something and for a while I thought I was in heaven. Its taken many years and more than my share of grace and a lot of forgiveness. Peace comes in small doses. Love accepts me as I am and the curse someday will be lifted.

Prairie Doug 

Party Time !!!!!

This weekend marks the return of my eldest son from his first 9 weeks of college. I have tried to not
get to excited as I don't want him to think I really miss him. It's really pretty silly behavior but he is our first and I love him a lot. We are planning to prepare several of his favorite food groups and hope that he can settle back into the security of being here for fall break. Relationships between father & son have always been a mystery to me. He never really seems interested in conversation
unless he is away and then usually opens up and starts talking. I'm sure at some point it will all get
easier and as long we keep him in our prayers he be doing alright. For now I'm content to enjoy the homecoming and pray that time will forget our house for a while.

The Big Mouth.,.,.
One of my biggest problems has always been the subject of gossip. It almost never fails, after confessing my sins, someone or my own stupid self will entice me into talking about something or someone. Such has been my struggle for some time now until something I never could have imagined happening happened. I had partaken several times in discussing a certain female who I had heard many bad things about. It had been difficult for me to even go to this persons house knowing what I knew in my heart was true, so I thought. Events occurred and this person was divorced from her spouse whom I was sure was a saint. Within a few months, I found out this person was dating was dating my nephew. Now realize this my nephew is a great young man , not without issues of his own. Regardless, I was not really happy about this new problem that was occurring. The talk continued, wondering if he new all the bad things she had supposedly done.
Fast forward a few months "yes I said a few months" a wedding was announced and I was pretty sure he just completely flipped out. Time is said to heal all wounds and it occurs to me God has no relation to time. He transcends it and I know that in those moments of my weakness
he was shaking his head saying Doug my son don't you know me ? I knew what I was saying wasn't gospel so why was I doing that. As I watch my niece loving and caring for her kids and my nephews as her own I know that I was so wrong. God has forgiven me I just hope she can.

Hot Water......
Not so long ago never mind exactly when I discovered a minor leak in the line of the hot water heater. This was very stressful for me in that I had just removed and repaired the lines several months earlier. Once again I stepped up to the plate and told my wife I was more than capable of fixing it as I had the previous time. I had taken an easier route before of using CPVC instead of sweating in copper. I concluded I may have had a bad fitting which was married up to another piece of copper pipe. I decided to go back the same way and proceeded to remove the water heater
and clean up the damage. Fortunately it was a Saturday and I had the time to get the parts and make it all work. By the evening of the same day I had completed the task at hand and prepared to turn on the water, assuring the natives that they would all have a good hot shower tonight. Damn I'm good I thought as I turned on the valve. I proceeded to the water closet to inspect my masterpiece and rejoice in a job well done. Upon getting to the closet I noticed a small leak on the same connection I had just replaced; no problem I'll just tighten it up. When I put the wrench on the connection and turned the connection broke and instantly hit with the full pressure and everything was for not. I was instantly reminded we could have had a plumber fix it.
I proclaimed its really not that bad, we can just shower in cold water. The natives poo- pooed the idea and made plans for a hot shower elsewhere. I being right and dirty proceeded to prove that's its no big deal . Upon entering the shower I knew I had to be strong and enjoy it with all sincerity. Quiet was the key, they were all listening. The next ten minutes was the most agonizing I had ever experienced. I now know what hell will feel like. I couldn't take any less time they would know I didn't enjoy it. God has always appeared as a heat source; ie the burning bush, a pillar of fire, a consuming flame. I truly believe hell would be more like dry ice . The absence of God's burning love for us his creation. If you don't believe me just try it, I guarantee it is hell on earth.

Every Breath You Take..... ... ... ... .. . .
I've always enjoyed swimming , ever since I can remember I have cherished the ability to swim. Only a few times can I think of that I ever got scared while swimming . Most of the time this occured when kids or my brother got me in a bad position and I was held under to the absolute freak point. As I swam my laps this morning a thought occured
to me, how often do I take for granted the air I breathe? I always try to push myself a little further and get in more strokes to my breath . What kind of show would I put on after getting in a long set and come up to breathe and find nothing ?!! I wish all people could take time and appreciate what they have each second . A couple of times a week in front of the Blessed Sacrement , prayer and breahing deep can cure anything you have including fuming????..... ..... ..... ...... :)

i still remember vividly the first time i awoke from death. i was in boot camp in San Diego and had little regard for worship or God in general. We were allowed to go to services for the first time in 3 weeks since being indoctrinated. i was just wanting to get away from the absolute control our Master Chief's had over us. (I still feel like everyone should have to go through boot camp or something similiar to experience a loss of freedom.) i had planned on getting a couple of packs of extra smokes after the Mass because i could make a little extra money from those who were'nt going. i filed in with a couple of buddies who were in the same boat as myself. We took up a position in the rear of the theatre (keep in mind i'm from a town of 10,000) with probably 400 to 500 other young men around us . Sure i had been baptised and recieved the Sacrements as a kid, but you see i had to when i was younger. This was different but i was just in search of an escape, i had no plans of continuing after i was out of this prison. Then it all changed, not really paying attention to anything but my person freedom i heard the entrance song start up. For the life of me i don't remember the song but I just melted. I was caught up singing for all I was worth. I walked out knowing there was a God and he is greater than anything we can create in our simple minds. How is it that so many people go through life searching for something they don't know. We die at 25 and are buried at 70 knowing less than the day we arrived. How is it I was able to receive so much that day and others never did?