David N. Walker's Blog, page 7

College Football Playoffs

The initial College Football Playoff rankings came out this week, and despite the fact that Baylor is the #2 team in the nation and TCU the #5, they were dropped by this august committee to #6 and #8, respectively. Maybe respectively is not the right word since this committee obviously has no respect for football excellence. This same committee left both of these schools out of last year’s playoffs to jump other teams up.

Ohio State is #3, despite the fact that the only team of consequence it plays all year is Michigan State. Alabama and Notre Dame are #4 and #5, although both have been beaten this year. What’s that about?

TCU and Baylor were both 11-1 last season and are both unbeaten this year. Why do they deserve such disrespect? Along with Oklahoma State, they lead the Big 12, which has the best combined nonconference record of any of the power five conferences. What do they have to do?

The records of these two schools are even more impressive when you consider the disadvantages under which they operate. Notre Dame is the only school in the top 8 of these rankings besides Baylor and TCU with an enrollment of under 20,000 students, and in Notre Dame’s case, total enrollment is a misleading figure.

If an athlete is a Roman Catholic and Notre Dame wants him, odds are that’s where he’ll go. There is a lot of pressure within that church for students to go there if the school wants them. TCU and Baylor have no such advantage.

In fact, TCU and Baylor have another major disadvantage compared to the other schools in the rankings. If an athlete lives in Alabama, odds are very strong he’s going to either Alabama or Auburn, and Alabama usually wins that contest. A Louisiana high school athlete is almost undoubtedly going to LSU. What other school is there?

Same with Ohio State—there is no competition from any other major school in the state. Clemson and Michigan State each have one competing school major enough to draw off some of the athletes, but that’s all.

Texas high school athletes, on the other hand, are heavily recruited by three other major universities within the state—Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, although I suspect A&M lost some of its luster when it turned tail and ran away from the Big 12 a few years ago. Texas high school athletes are also heavily recruited by both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, and other recruiters come from states all over the nation to try to get our athletes. That’s a lot of competition for two small private schools to have to contend with.

Considering the recruiting wars and the relatively small enrollments, it’s amazing these two schools are even in the discussion. Considering their records, it’s amazing they aren’t both in the top four. Come on, CFP, let’s get real and recognize quality.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Baylor, Caring, College Football Playoffs, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, football, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, TCU

Good-bye to an Old Friend

Sunday, my wife Sharon and I said good-bye to an old friend. No, no one died. It was a restaurant we’ve enjoyed from time to time through the years. I don’t suppose you could call us regulars, because it’s so far across town from us that we don’t go there often.

Vance Godbey opened his doors in 1955, when I was only twelve years old. His family lived in quarters adjacent to the restaurant, which occupies a number of acres near Lake Worth, northwest of Fort Worth. If we ever ate there back in those days, I don’t remember it, but I’ve been aware of its existence all along.

In addition to the restaurant, they always did a large catering business. My high school class held its ten-year reunion on the grounds of the restaurant and catered by it in 1971. That’s the first time I definitely recall eating there.

My first memory of eating in the restaurant dining room was in the late 1980’s. My partner and I had a client in the town of Lake Worth, and anytime we called on that client anywhere near mealtime, we would stop at Vance Godbey’s for their wonderful buffet. There was no other place quite like it.

I took Sharon to Vance Godbey’s on our first date in 1990. That was the first of many meals we enjoyed there.

The long buffet table had a large variety of salads first, followed by succulent vegetables. I don’t usually have a great appreciation for veggies, but theirs were always wonderful—especially their green beans. Green beans can be anywhere from barely edible to great, and theirs were always on the great side.

At the end of the long table was another one turned sideways to form a “T” with the main table. This one contained eight or ten different meats, which they put on a separate plate since most of us had our main plates full by the time we got there.

The huge dining room had floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows at one end with a view of their patio and the beautiful trees in the yard. If the trees hadn’t been there, I’m sure Lake Worth could have been seen. In fact, I have a vague memory that it used to be visible before the trees got so big, but I’m not certain about that. I also think I remember there used to be a swimming pool there somewhere.

Through the years, Sharon and I have shared several special occasions there. In addition to joining other couples or families, we got our Sunday School class to meet there at least once for a social gathering. Sharon’s sister and brother-in-law held their oldest son’s rehearsal dinner there before his wedding, and I hosted my mother’s 80th birthday party there. Lots of memories.

Vance Godbey’s first wife died back in the 1970’s, and when he remarried, his wife Arvella became an integral part of the operation. His four kids all grew up in and around the restaurant, and his daughter Carol took over running it after he died in the late 1990’s. I managed to get this photo of Carol and Arvella together Sunday.

Carol has had health problems to deal with in recent years, and I’m guessing that may be part of why she decided to close the operation—although she told me Sunday that those problems are all behind her and that she’s fine now. Regardless of health, I’m sure she and Arvella both could use a rest on Sundays.

Arvella assured Sharon and me that the catering business will continue operating as always and that the restaurant will be available to private parties if they’re large enough. And they invited us to a Customer Appreciation Day celebration lunch in a couple of weeks.

I have no idea how many people ate there Sunday, although the line snaked out the front door and the parking lot was packed when we arrived at 11 a.m. People for miles around came to enjoy their last experience at Vance Godbey’s.

I told Carol I’d only seen one larger crowd there. In 1999 five firefighters from area towns were killed fighting a fire in a church in the town of Lake Worth, and Carol decided to raise money for their surviving families. She donated 100% of the proceeds from one Sunday’s crowd to the firefighters’ fund. My memory may be a bit hazy, but as I recall, firefighters from all around served as wait staff that day. At any rate, the crowd was amazing. I hate standing in lines for anything anytime, but that day I was glad I had to.

That day has always stood out in my mind as an example of the type of people Carol and Arvella and the rest of the Godbey family are. I’ll miss the restaurant, and I’ll miss these two wonderful ladies.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, firefighters, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, restaurant, Self-help, Vance Godbey's

Our Out of Control Population

Some food for thought as Nero sits in the White House and fiddles while our borders burn. When I was born in 1943, the population of Texas was just over 7 million. When I graduated from high school in 1961 it was about 9.8 million. The 2014 census estimate was 27 million.

My wife is proud of the fact that Fort Worth is the 16th largest city in the U.S. It’s also the 5th largest city in Texas.

So, what is my complaint? Those of you who live in the wilds of Montana or Utah or Nevada or Wyoming wouldn’t understand. I envy you. You can go get in your car and go somewhere without tripping over several hundred thousand other drivers in your path as they try to get wherever they’re going.

Unfortunately, nearly 100 million of us are crowded into the ten largest metro areas of the country. Here in the DFW Metroplex, I share the roads—and breathing space and everything else—with nearly 7 million other people. Getting to the grocery store is a major undertaking.

The U.S. population the year I was born was 134 million. In 2014, it was 319 million. And Nero continues to fiddle, and more and more people continue to flood our borders and bloat our cities.

My daughter lives in a suburb of San Antonio. The main route to get there from Fort Worth is I-35. The speed limit—in between construction zones—is 75, but one can rarely attain that speed and keep it for any length of time. And you can count on having at least one, and frequently several, jams where traffic creeps along in stop and go fashion.

It’s 253 miles from our house to hers, and Google Maps lists the time as 3.5 hours. With all the construction and other stoppages, it routinely takes us 4.5 hours to get there. That says nothing about how little fun it is to sit parked on an interstate highway.

There is an alternate route that goes through some beautiful country. It’s only 10 miles or so farther, but it’s not interstate. You get to deal with local traffic and lights in every town along the way. Even with that, it would be a far better route than I-35, if it weren’t for the town of Granbury, TX.

Strangely, Granbury has a population of 6,077 people, and yet there are always at least 15,000 cars on U.S. 377 going through town. I haven’t actually counted them, but I’m sure that’s a fair estimate. And there are several dozen traffic lights along the highway to make sure no one gets through unscathed.

Several years ago, I came across a YouTube video illustrating our population problem with the use of gumballs. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM1YU-Ni_84) This video illustrates the nature and magnitude of the problem of allowing an unchecked flood of immigrants to enter our nation. Aside from the dangers posed by the terrorists we allow to enter and the unemployed aliens we allow to bloat our welfare system, the sheer numbers of people entering, added to our already huge population, are going to sink the good ship U.S.A.

And Nero continues to fiddle while all this is happening.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, Fort Worth, friends, Heaven Sent, Largest cities in the U.S., Largest metro areas in the U.S., Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, San Antonio, Self-help, Texas Population, U.S. Population, YouTube

Seeds of Destruction

A republic such as the United States with its universal suffrage, which many people erroneously call a democracy, has its own ultimate destruction built into it from the beginning. Universal suffrage—allowing every citizen an equal vote—sounds like a wonderful concept. It sounds like the only fair way to run any nation, but it carries the seeds of its own destruction inherent in it.

In 1790, Andrew Fraser Tytler famously quipped that “A democracy [republic] is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy [republic] will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy [republic] will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy . . .”

As a side note, I’ve never understood why we call our government a democracy. A democracy is a system of government wherein decisions are made directly by the people. Imagine calling every adult American to a meeting every time a decision has to be made about anything. The only true democracies I’m aware of in our history would be the New England town meetings in the colonial era.

What we have in the United States is a republic, a system wherein the people elect representatives who make the decisions to run the government. Originally, the right to vote was accorded only to landowners, and we had good, responsible government as a result. Through the years that has been changed so that now the only requirement for eligibility to vote is having had a certain number of birthdays, and our nation has suffered as a result.

In order to vote, one does not have to have any education whatsoever. He does not need to be able to read or write or exhibit any understanding of the issues involved in an election—or even speak our language. Cases currently in the courts seek to prohibit election officials from even being able to determine whether or not a person seeking to vote is a citizen. This is insanity.

Voters have simply learned that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury, and politicians have learned that they can keep themselves in power by paying people with public money in exchange for their votes. Statesmen need no longer apply. We don’t want people in office who will apply wisdom and fairness in their decisions. We prefer politicians who will lie to us, telling us what we want to hear, appealing to our base natures rather than dealing in right and wrong.

Don’t be fooled into believing that social welfare programs are about helping the poor, because they aren’t. They are about keeping clever politicians in office, to the detriment of the very people they purport to help. Our welfare system has created a class of citizen permanently enslaved to the dole and made it almost impossible for them to escape that fate.

How can we possibly think it’s either wise or fair for two of us to get together and outvote a third person who has something we want, thereby allowing us to take it away from him, even though he earned it and we didn’t? That’s basically what we’ve done in this country through universal suffrage. We now have a majority of voters who pay no income taxes at all. What do we think they will do to those of us who work and create the wealth of this nation?

What can we do to correct the situation? I can’t imagine any way to appeal to all the freeloaders to give up their freebies. I expect this situation to continue to deteriorate until Jesus returns to set up His millennial kingdom. Only then will we have true fairness.

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Benjamin Franklin, exiting Constitutional Convention:

“We’ve given you a republic, if you can keep it.”

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Political Tagged: Andrew Fraser Tytler, constitution, David N. Walker Author Christianity 101, David N. Walker Christian Author Heaven Sent, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author Fancy Series, Democracy, Government, Jesus, Millennial kingdom, Republic, Suffrage

Missionaries

I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who devote their lives to full time pursuit of God’s work. In particular, I have great respect for those who give up their familiar surroundings and comfortable lives to follow God’s calling into the mission field. My greatest respect of all is for those whose calling leads them into perilous areas where their lives are in constant danger.

A young lady I place in this last category is leaving in less than two weeks to live and work in one of the most dangerous places on earth—the Middle East. To protect her privacy, I’ll call her Ruth, after one of the most important women in the Bible.

Ruth was raised by missionaries in a country that is overwhelmingly Muslim, so she’s been around Muslims all her life. Given that, I suppose it’s not at all surprising that God would call her to a Muslim country for her own mission work, but the specific area He called her to seems like a stretch to me.

I’ve known Ruth for five or six years now. Her mother spoke to our Sunday School class when I first joined, some 17 or 18 years ago. When Ruth graduated from college a few years ago and answered her own call to the mission field, I immediately became one of her regular supporters, both in prayer and financially. Through the years, I’ve become almost a cheerleader for this young lady.

She is now with her third mission organization, and she has spent a good bit of time doing mission work in Muslim countries in the past, but it’s different this time. God has put a love for the Kurdish people on Ruth’s heart, and that’s where He has led her to go.

The Kurds occupy portions of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. Fiercely independent, they never knuckled under to Saddam Hussein when he was in power, nor have they bowed to any other would-be conquerors. This makes them mortal enemies of ISIS. As a friend and missionary to the Kurds, Ruth puts herself in the position of being a mortal enemy of ISIS also, although she personally bears them no malice.

We’ve all heard the stories of how ISIS kidnaps women to be used and/or sold as slaves—most likely as sex slaves. Any woman they come across is in danger, but Ruth is a pretty, slender, petite young woman that any ISIS member would probably salivate over.

When I met Ruth for breakfast recently, I told her of my fears for her safety in light of this proclivity of ISIS, and she assured me she is aware of the danger. She thanked me for my concern, but her attitude is that if God calls, her place is not to question, but to go. Period. I love and admire that about her. She is a much stronger and braver person than I am, and my hat is off to her. I can’t think of anyone alive today for whom I have more respect. I thank God for her and pray that He will keep her safe.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christian missionaries, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, ISIS, Jesus, Kurdish people, Kurds, Middle East, Saddam Hussein, Sins, Works

Independent Voting

People often say—or write—”I’m an independent. I vote for the man (woman), not the party.” Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Nobody wants to follow blindly or be taken for granted, so being an independent sounds like a well-thought-out position to take, doesn’t it?

I wonder how well these ‘independents’ understand our political system. Have they ever studied political science? Not government, but political science—the study of how political power is achieved and maintained.

The United States is governed by a two-party system, and thank God for that. Look at the instability of nations which have multiple parties. There is little continuity in the running of the government as the various parties jockey back and forth.

Party leaders must put together coalitions of splinter parties in order to gain a voting majority to govern, and as soon as one of the splinter parties becomes dissatisfied with whatever the coalition leaders are doing, it can remove its support, frequently causing the fall of the government and bringing on a need for new elections. This is a costly and inherently unstable system.

Under our two-party system, I may be unhappy during the times when my party is out of power and the fools (Well, they’re not MY party, so they must be fools.) running the government are screwing everything up, but at least I can count on some continuity. If we elect a Senator for six years, he/she will be there for six years, barring unforeseen circumstances. I don’t have to worry about a government crisis forcing him/her to run again sooner than that.

One of the little understood but inherent facts of a party system is that our votes not only support a candidate, but they also support his/her party. If I vote for a Republican for the Senate, I’m voting to keep Mitch McConnell as majority leader, whether I really like him or not. If I vote for a Democrat for the Senate, I’m voting to return Harry Reid to power as majority leader.

Maybe I don’t like the Republican running but I’d rather have McConnell than Reid in power. I have a choice to make, and I need to understand the ramifications of that choice. If I vote for the Democrat, I voted for Reid, whether I wanted to or not. Vice versa if I voted for the Republican.

Okay, maybe you never thought of that, but it’s pretty easy to see. But let’s say I like Reid and Obama and other Democrat leaders and want to support them in national elections, but I don’t like the Democrat running for the state House of Representatives in my district, so I vote for his opponent. This is a state matter and has nothing to do with national politics.

Think so? Think again. Political parties get their power from the grass roots. The more individuals they can get to identify themselves as party members, the greater their power. And the more state and local offices they can win, the greater their power.

That state representative has the ability to appoint people to positions of power. In concert with others of his/her political beliefs, he/she can affect legislation that directs the state government. Wielding this power helps to build his/her party. A governor has even more power to fill appointive positions and steer legislation in the direction he/she wants, once again building the power of that party.

People register surprise when I tell them I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I couldn’t, since I understand these principles. In 1978, I was tempted to vote for a Democrat named Kent Hance for Congress. His opponent, George W. Bush, was a man of little reputation or accomplishment at that point in time, and Hance was a man of courage who held conservative convictions, and I admired a lot about him.

I nearly voted for him, but I knew that a vote for him was also a vote of support to Tip O’Neill, the Speaker of the House, Robert Byrd, the Senate Majority Leader, and Jimmy Carter, arguably the weakest, most ineffective President we’ve ever had. That was a trigger I couldn’t pull.

If your beliefs more or less line up with those of the Democrat Party, by all means vote that way. If they line up more with the Republican Party, then vote that way. But if you don’t like either party and think voting independent is the way to go, then at least understand the ramifications of what you’re doing. They’re probably much more far-reaching than you realize.

What are your thoughts on voting?

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Benjamin Franklin, exiting Constitutional Convention:

“We’ve given you a republic, if you can keep it.”

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Political Tagged: constitution, David N. Walker Author Christianity 101, David N. Walker Christian Author Heaven Sent, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author Fancy Series, George W. Bush, Government, Kent Hance, Politics, Republic

A New Direction

After much thought during this hiatus the last few weeks, I’m announcing a change of direction in my blog posts. A pretty major—and somewhat daring—change of direction.

When I first started blogging, almost without exception my writer friends warned me to avoid two subjects: politics and religion. That’s like telling my wife to avoid sugar and chocolate—very difficult to stick with.

Christianity is not really a religion. It’s a relationship. It’s all about a personal relationship between a believing Christian and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who make up the God-head. However, most of the world thinks of it as a religion, and if you quote something from the Bible or discuss spiritual topics, people consider that to be religion.

Under that definition, I guess I’ve been discussing “religion” in my blogs for at least two or three years now. I wrote a series of blogs in late 2013 that became the basis for my book, ­Christianity 101: The Simplified Christian Life. Prior to that I wrote a number of blogs on specific Christian subjects, so I guess I’ve really never adhered to that part of the advice.

On the other hand, I’ve scrupulously avoided discussing politics in my blogs. My writer friends told me that writing about politics would drive away half of my audience, and I believed them.

With all the ungodliness, moral depravity, and pure foolishness going on in our nation today, however, I can no longer stand by quietly watching our once-great nation edging ever closer to the edge of the abyss that swallowed up Rome, Greece, Persia, and other great nations throughout history. Both as a citizen standing up for my country and as a Christian standing up for what’s right and godly, I feel I have to quit straddling fences and stand up and be heard.

Besides that, I think we all write better when we write about something we’re passionate about. My uncategorized blogs are usually a bit blah, because there’s no passion behind them, but I’m very passionate about things that affect our nation, common sense, and the rights of individuals which have been trampled for decades now by rampant socialism and the “entitlement” mindset it promotes.

For the last year or two, I’ve followed a rigid policy of posting Christian blogs every Tuesday and uncategorized blogs every Friday. As I return from my sabbatical, I am changing that format. I’m not restricting myself to any specific day of the week, nor to a certain number of posts a week. My posts will generally be either Christian or political in nature, and they may appear on any day—three times a week or once every three weeks.

I think most of the writers who know me are mature enough to allow me to stake out positions with which they disagree. I certainly hope so, because I don’t have enough friends to be casting any of them aside. However, if the fact that I take a stand on an issue facing our nation causes someone to unfriend me on Facebook or unsubscribe to my blog, so be it. I’ll continue to love all of you anyhow, whether we lose communication or not.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Archives Tagged: "Entitlement", Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, Socialism

Sabbatical

Ever just plain run out of gas? Nothing left in the tank to power the engine that cranks out your work?

That’s how I feel lately. For some reason, when I reach down for an idea or inspiration, nothing seems to come out. I feel like I’ve been forcing words onto the blog posts lately instead of letting them flow. Same with my W.I.P.

Rather than cheat readers with substandard work, I’ve decided to take a small sabbatical. It may be two weeks, or it may be a month. I don’t know. I’ll still be with you on Facebook and emails, but no new posts for a little while and probably little or no work on my current novel.

Please bear with me. I’ll be back—hopefully roaring back with new and interesting stuff for you to read.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Sabbatical, Self-help

Triumph at Last

Those who know me well know that, with the exception of my high school years, I’ve always had to fight the battle of the bulge. Two or three years ago, tired of what weighing 260 pounds did to both my looks and my future health, I decided to do something about it.

When Sharon and I met, I weighed 220, and I was determined to get back down to that number. Like a lot of people losing weight, I’d lose some and then regain most of it. It took a good while to get to 250 and maintain it. Then the push was to 240 and trying to maintain that.

Going from 240 to 230 seemed to take forever, but it finally happened. Then, as I dipped below 230, I began a year or so of serious yoyoing. 226 – 228 – 225 – 229. Bounce, bounce, bounce.

Two things make it even harder for a diabetic to lose weight. First, we’re not supposed to skip meals. It’s important that we eat (at least) three meals a day, and I had meds to take that required it. Secondly, with the exception of Januvia, as far as I know all diabetes meds have weight gain as a side effect. I used Januvia for a couple of years, but it’s such an expensive brand-name med that I finally asked my doctor to switch me to something else.

As I’ve neared the objective, I’ve reported my progress in another post or two, but each time, I would bounce back up a few pounds. Then I started struggling again.

Yesterday morning, for the first time in nearly 25 years, my scales displayed the figure 220. Success at last. I’m sure there will be blips from time to time, but now I know that I’ve done it and can do it. And, now that the goal has been reached, I don’t intend to stop here. I intend to go for 210, maybe even 200 eventually.

It’s probably too late to reverse some health problems I’ve developed, but maybe I can at least keep them from getting worse. And 220 pounds on my 72 year-old body don’t look exactly like they did on my 47 year-old body. That clock won’t run backward. But it’s been well worth the effort. I’m elated to be there.

What weight gain/weight loss problems have you had to deal with? How have you handled them?

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, diabetes, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Januvia, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, Weight-loss

Family

You know how, if you haven’t seen family members in a long time, you get a yearning to see and visit with them? I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have a loving family that elicits that type of desire, but most of us do.

In my own case, I’ve lost my father and younger brother and sister, but my mother and older sister are both still with us, and I treasure opportunities to spend time with them. As my 99 year-old mother’s mind has declined, the visits have become shorter and less rewarding, but there’s still something about spending time with this woman who has loved me for over 72 years now.

My sister lives some 1500 miles away, so we don’t get to see each other as often as we would like, but when we do, we pick up like we saw each other yesterday. All the shared experiences of growing up together, the mutual security of having loved each other all these years—no matter that we each have close non-family friends, as much as I treasure these friendships, they’re not the same as family.

Obviously, my daughter has not known me as long as my mother and sister, but the father-daughter bond is a super special one. I only get to see her every two to four months, depending on what’s going on, and that’s not nearly enough for me. I suppose if I got to see her daily it still wouldn’t be enough.

I also have six first cousins I love very much, including two who are like sisters to me. I treasure every moment I get to spend with any of them, particularly those two.

In addition to my blood relatives, I feel a connection with the body of Christ, in particular those Christian brothers and sisters I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person and more especially those with whom I’ve established ongoing personal relationships. For some years now, my wife and I have been a part of a Sunday School class, and for the last ten years I’ve been the leader of that class.

I’ve come to regard the people in this class as my family. When I see them on Sunday mornings, it’s like walking into a family reunion. When I don’t see them, it’s like missing my family.

What prompted this post is that circumstances have kept me away for the last two weeks, and I’m realizing how much I miss these wonderful people. It’s almost like having withdrawals, and I can’t wait until I get to see them again Sunday.

Whom do you find yourself missing when you don’t see them?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

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