Top Ten Things I Will Miss about Beaufort

10. The only traffic encountered is when the 'Turn Bridge' is open to let sailboats through and being able to see the dolphins swim along side the causeway.
9. The home we brought Boo to after she was born and where J & M had many friends of late.
8. The church were we got the best Bible teaching that may be hard to beat!
7. The best five years of my Army Career in Savannah at the 429th.
6. Fresh seafood straight from the dock to the grill!
5. The closeness of our staff at the hospital and our department. Great people and friends.
4. Small town feeling and security where most reported crime was petty and insignificant.
3. Driving onto Parris Island (Marine Recruit Depot), and having the Marines salute the car. For a long time my boys didn't know how they knew I was an officer- I told them it was my Jedi Powers! The finally figured out- on their own!- that it was the color of the sticker on the windshield!
2. Having my parents close by. It was great to have them so close- it won't be long when they will move back to Indiana where they will be only a couple of hours away.

And the Number One Thing I will miss about Beaufort, South Carolina

1. My daily runs with M.D.S. (my friend, mentor, and boss) who was my spiritual Paul during my five years working with him on many projects from actual 'work' to home repair! The Lord may surprise me, but it will be very hard to find someone like Mark to work for in the future!

Top Ten List: Why I'm Glad to Be Leaving Beaufort

Top Ten

Things I will not miss about Beaufort, SC

10. Swing bridge open means your 20 minutes trip to Walmart is now 45".
9. War of Northern Aggression.
8. Dysfunctional School System and School Board.
7. Vast number of Liberal and Ungodly churches.
6. Limited number of Theologically-sound Biblically-based churches.
5. Racism: It is alive and well, both ways, in Beaufort.
4. Driving an hour to get to the closest Mall (Savannah).
3. More Mexican restaurants per-capita than Mexico City.
2. People think they are 'big shots' in Beaufort, but are nothing but a stinky fish in a very small pond.

And the Number One Reason why I am glad to be leaving Beaufort, SC...

1. Those !$%@*&@$ Sand fleas that only come out when the temperature and humidity are perfect for sitting on the Front Porch.

Top Ten List

I'll be doing a top ten list about Beaufort, SC.

Friday: Top 10 things I WILL NOT miss about Beaufort, SC
Saturday: Top 10 things I WILL miss about Beaufort, SC

Later Today, a post about what happened 15 years ago today...

Good Bye 'Little Buddy'

Our 'Little Buddy' left us last Thursday, 9 October 2008. We had 12 healthy and enjoyable years together. He was truly "Man's Best Friend".

It was a difficult time for us and our two boys. They are struggling, for the first time, about the concept of death. It is a productive and difficult experience, but is needed. It will make them stronger, especially spiritually. We have emphasized that only Man was created in God's image, not animals. However, God still loves animals, as he knows when 'every sparrow falls to the ground'. He has given Man the responsibility to care for the animals.

We don't know what happens to our beloved pets when they die, but we didn't give the boys a false sense of hope. What they do know is that God gave us the privilege of taking care of one of his very special animals, a miniature schnauzer named Oliver.

Oliver, from the first day we saw you with your brothers and sisters in Brandon Florida until last Wednesday, 8 October snuggling with you on the couch for the last time. You will always be our first 'Little Buddy'. There will be no others. We will always treasure our memories with you.

Oliver 'Little Buddy' Winslow

26 July 1996 - 9 October 2008

The Third Most Stupid Dog Breed

Need I Say More?

Yes, I do! This is from the CBS "Early Show". I didn't make this up, see the article here.

Great New Site

I was introduced to a new website that shows how much Darwin was right. (Not really, his idea of survival of the fittest really looks good on paper...)



This site, http://www.fark.com/, is excellent in that it links many obscure and outrageous articles in a nice, neat format.




One interesting piece is where the author will offer up a recent published picture and ask people to 'Photo Shop' and post it. There are rules, but does not apply to 'Sacrilege'. For example, there is a photo of Barack "I'm a Marxist Baby Killer" Hussein Obama on a plane surrounded by reporters. Here is what some came up with:



1. Obama's face superimposed on Jesus' body with the 'masses' in awe of him.

2. Obama's face superimposed on Jesus' body with the 'Little Children' surrounding him.

3. Obama's body replacing Charlton Heston's parting the Red Sea and leading the Hebrews to the Promised Land.



All very wrong, but yet at the same time, sadly thought of true by many of his adoring fans...



Hmm, and we let these people vote...

You think you wrecked your car...

This is what happens in Bosnia when an car full of angry drunk locals with various weapons tries to pass a military convoy...



Yes, it is photoshopped by a buddy back at home, but the Hummer accident was real, along with the four of us inside. It was in 2002 in Bosnia. My first, and hopefully my last.

I was sifting through pictures and decided to keep this one for posterity, especially since I still had my posterior!!!

Rule of Thumb for those countries in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), if the ground is tilled and turned over, there are no landmines. When we crawled out of the top, we were very grateful that we ended up in a recently tilled field!!!

Camping and Training Up Children

Dad and Grandad took Monk and Tic Tac on their first camping trip this weekend. I thought that Monk would be so germ-o-phobic that he would want a backpack full of wipes and concerned about the diseases he could get by not taking a shower for one night!

For Tic-Tac- I was expecting to have to call in a helicopter to rescue him from the top of a tree that he climbed up but not able to get down.

I was close on latter one: I overheard Tic Tac tell Monk "just push the boat out with me in it, I can catch fish out in the middle easier!"

To commemorate our first official camp-out, I gave them both a compass and a special little light with a white and red light. Late into the night they were both using their compasses and their lights in the woods. There were other boys who were there with their Game-boys, PSPs, iPods, etc. There were others who were playing football and fishing also. However, there were two older men who had brought 'adopted' boys that either did not have a dad to bring them or whose dad were deployed overseas.

During the weekend, they both made comments about how impressed they were with Monk and TicTac and how they were so interested in figuring things out together as brothers, involved in the 'outdoors', and how polite and knowledgeable they were with their compasses.

I am so proud of my boys. Even though the homeschoolers had been there all day Friday, we got there after the evil public school let out. That meant there were a few of us who had to set up in the less desirable areas. But for only one night? I've camped in worse areas!

R and I have stopped counting how many people have made comments about how impressed they are with our boys. We know that God calls and convicts people to many different ways to teach and raise up children.

The last time I checked, there is no command in Scripture that says "Thou shalt instruct thy children until the 18th year age in thy home setting and deem all other methods as evil." We are commanded to train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but the decision to homeschool or not is up to individual families to decide. Sometimes when we are around very committed homeschooling families, we are made to feel that we are living in sin by not making the same decision for our family. We did not make our decision lightly and we are aware that we are responsible to train our children. However, I do read passages where many mighty men of God were trained in the local 'schools'.

Daniel was probably 12-14 years old when he was carted off to Babylon and was enrolled in the Babylon Independent School District where King Nebuchadnezzar was the Superintendent. God was faithful!

Also, I believe that Jesus also grew up in the Nazareth Public School System- of course back then it was run by the local Rabbi and they were 'enrolled' until they reached the age of manhood. As did most other boys in the Jewish culture like Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

We are called to be the salt and light: Matthew 5:13-16

13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

My boys are being salt and light in their world. They are sealed by God's Grace because they have professed Jesus as their Savior. That's the bottom line! Everthing else in life is for God to lead them. God has sealed them and belong to Him! God has blessed us with the privilege to be their earthly caretakers, aka 'parents'. We take our calling to train them in the Lord seriously.

We do not 'worry', as we learned this morning in church. Worry is a sin! God has led us to entrust our children to Him, and He will lead us in the way to raise them. Whichever way He leads us, we will never have regrets or feel guilty! We do pray often about how to raise our children, and we want to be faithful stewards of the blessings God has entrusted to our care.

Feeling guilty or worrying after obeying God's instruction? Seems to show a lack of faith or one who is confused.

Hmm... kind of like asking someone if at the grocery store is out of bananas and the reply is yes, we have no bananas. Huh?

Or to quote anyone who has given or received directions while driving (especially with your wife): Driver: Do I turn left here? Passenger: Right. Hmm...

Hypocrisy and Murder: Barak-Style

Barak 'The Baby Killer' Obama,



In my hospital parking lot, I have noticed quite a hypocrisy of sorts. It doesn't make sense, at least to this author and casual observer.



Maybe it is sad that some physicians, or medical professionals, are thought of being astute and scientifically savvy. Of course there are exceptions. Click on the Empty Suit, courtesy of the New Yorker, and read the article on Barak's Abortion Stance. This is not about the abortion debate, it is about murder. Cold Blooded Murder of living humans who survive birth but are unwanted. It is chilling to think this is someone who may win on charisma and flash. Some say he has no record to stand on, short on credentials.

I submit to you he does have a record to stand on. A scary and purely evil record. And just when you thought Barak was bad, read about his wife and her beliefs...

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=obama_is_the_most_pro-abortion_candidate_ever&ns=TerenceJeffrey&dt=01/09/2008&page=1

Abortion is a very important issue to me, but one that I don't especially line up with because I understand that there is more power in how the states treat this issue. The president usually does not have much legislative power (bar the Supreme Court) to affect this area. However, when it comes to the most heinous stances, sometimes it boils over and must be said.

Bottom line: I can understand physicians who are pro-life, pro-choice, anti-choice, pro-abortion. Call it what you want. But I cannot process with my mind how an Obstetrician, if he/she is worth their salt, look at the stance Obama has taken and be in favor of him? This is Obama's only significant stance he has taken during hit time in the Illinois Senate and the US Senate.

Of course they would probably say it is a minor thing, his message of change is what is important. Well, let's see and go back in time: 1935 a similar person had a message of Change and his name was Adolph Hitler. "Unite for the Good of the Fatherland" was his election mantle, sounds eerily similar to Obama's trademark saying in 2008. Hitler, as we all know now, began the 'extermination' of the less-than-desirables: Elderly, handicapped, gypsies, blacks, non-native Germans, finally the Jews.

Obama thinks it is acceptable to kill human beings because it might lead to the infringement on Roe v. Wade. What a pathetic and evil stance to take.

Obama, and those who stand with him, have innocent blood on their hands. Too bad that baby who survived birth, but died an hour later of starvation and exposure to the elements doesn't have a voice or a vote.

I guess for that doctor with the Obama sticker missed the day they discussed the "Do No Harm" class.

Hypocrisy at its finest.