Tag: blessing

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Poem Short Stories Blog

Merry Christmas, Protectors of Freedom!

It’s that time of year when gathering with family is not only a blessing but a must. However, not all are able to spend time with their families, and many are spending time away to protect us and give us the opportunity to do just that. Of course, I’m talking about our military personnel, who will be far away during this holiday season. I remember the times that I was in the United States Navy and had to spend time away from family. Even though I was proud to do so, Christmas time was a very hard time to be away.

I want to thank our military (especially those serving overseas during this holiday season) for protecting our country. I was recently given a poem by a shipmate (Stephen Holmstrom) who served, as I did, on board the USS Charleston (LKA 113) Even though this poem was written for sailors, I believe it will hold a special place in the hearts of all our armed forces.

The poem I am about to share has been rewritten many times through the years by various people for magazines and such. I, too, have changed a few words to fit my thoughts. I have researched this poem, and as of this point, I have not been able to find the original author. For now, I will put the author as “unknown” and will change this to honor the original writer if I find out who it is. If you, my readers, know who the original author is, please let me know so I can add his or her name to the credits. Until that time is known, I will continue to show it as an unknown author. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I have, and have a Merry Christmas!

“A Sailors Christmas”

Sailors in racks (in berthing area) of Navy ship
U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Jayme Pastoric. (RELEASED)

Twas the night before Christmas, the ship was out steaming,
Sailors stood watch while others were dreaming.
They lived in a crowd with racks tight and small,
In an 80-man bunk, cramped one and all.
I had come down the stack with presents to give.
And to see inside, just who might perhaps live.
I looked all around; a strange sight did I see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stockings were hung, shined boots were close at hand,
On the bulkhead hung pictures of a faraway land.
They had medals and badges and awards of all kinds.
And a sobering thought came into my mind.
For this place was different, so dark and so dreary,
I had found the bed of a sailor once my vision started clearing.
This sailor lay sleeping, silent, and alone.
Curled up in a rack and dreaming of home.
His face was so gentle, the room squared away,
This was the United States Sailor of today.
This was the hero I saw on TV,
This is one of many defending our country so we can be free.
I realized the families that I would visit this night,
owed their lives to these sailors, who lay willing to fight.
Soon round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate this Christmas Day.
They all enjoyed freedom each day of the year.
because of the sailors, like the one lying here.
I couldn’t help but wonder how many lay alone.
On a cold Christmas Eve, I was on a ship at sea, far from home.
The very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.
The sailor awakened, and I heard a calm voice,
“Santa, don’t cry; this life is my choice.”
“Defending the seas all days of the year,
“So others may live and be free with no fear.”
I thought for a moment, “What a difficult road.”
to live a life guided by honor and code.
After all, it’s Christmas Eve and the ship’s underway!
But freedom isn’t free, and it’s the sailors who pay.
The sailor says to our country, “Be free and sleep tight,
No harm will come, not on my watch or this night.
The sailor rolled over and drifted to sleep,
I couldn’t control it; I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours—so silent, so still.
I watched as the sailor shivered from the night’s cold chill.
I didn’t want to leave on that cold, dark night.
This guardian of honor is so willing to fight.
The sailor rolled over and, with a voice strong and sure,
“Carry on, Santa; all is secure!“

Original author “unknown”

Have a Merry Christmas, Protectors of Freedom!!

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short stories

The Challenge of Raising Children

Brothers and Sisters, Brothers and Brothers, or Sisters and Sisters, close enough in teenage years, and let the wars begin. Who is right or who is wrong does not matter. The casualties of these wars are parents. Early gray hair and shaking hands are what parents have to look forward to. Oh, the joys of having children! And, Lord help me; I would not give my children up for the world.

Three young brothers, all about the same age, play together

It always looks like a good idea, at the time, to have our children close in age. This way, your child will have a playmate to grow up with. Right? We also see it as a good idea to have our children at an earlier age, so we will not be quite as up in age when they are out of the house on their own. We realize that our parents give us advice, but they are old and probably do not know anything about how things are done in this day and age. (I see a lot of head nodding and hear a lot of laughter from the older folks out there, right now).

Let us say you have two children in your early twenties that are eighteen months apart. You have set yourself up to have them raised and on their own by the time you hit your mid-forties. You and your spouse can enjoy your later years before entering the retirement age. Well, it may seem to be a smart plan, but it is not necessarily a good idea at all. You and your spouse have not had the time yet to mature as much as you need to be parents. This is not meant to be a slam on you, but there is a lot of truth to it. If you wait until you both are in your thirties to have children, there is a better chance that you will be better prepared for what is about to happen in your lives.

Children turn your lives upside down in ways that are never expected, and are different with every set of parents. The unexpected becomes your norm! If you believe that you know what it is like to have kids, and you do not have any yet, lord help you. You are about to be educated in ways you could never dream of. You think school was hard to get through; welcome to true schooling! The adventures you will go through with these brighteyed little ones are a joy, but also a wake-up call to even the strongest, most levelheaded parents alive.

Reading parent guide books can give you simple solutions to try with your children. You will not find solutions to all the problems you will face as a parent in these books. There will be times when you will have to come up with solutions for your child’s life on your own. You will face problems that have never been written by any author of any book. At times children will send you into the Twilight Zone, pushing every one of your buttons. You are being tested by the best! These angels will at some point become the little monsters you have seen in other children. How about that child yelling at the top of his lungs in the store because he did not get a toy? You will at times, hear people murmur, “They need to teach their children better”. Could you be this parent talked about one day? If you are mentally able enough to handle this once in a while, you are well on your way to having well-behaved children. If you let your little darlings run over you one time, you are in for a long road. This road will lead you into a disaster zone called “The Ultimate Teenager“!

Teenage girl acting crazy
Teenage boy and girl look like trouble

All teenagers are, to put it nicely, a nightmare! If you think your children will be the same lovable creatures when they hit the “Teenage Zone” as they are; now, you are in for the ride of a lifetime! You will swear this cannot be your child. Parents that believe it is easier to raise children close in age will be hit with the double feature of nightmares.

As a parent, you will learn how mentally stable you are. Children will take you to the edge of your sanity and then push harder. This is all in the growing phase for the child as well as the parents. I have heard said, You pay for your sins with your children. This is a distressing reference, but it does hold some truth. You will start to understand the pain your parents went through with you. You will appreciate your parents more. This is the circle of life.

You are a legal adult by age, but you become a grown-up when your first child arrives. You believe you can do a better job than your parents did. This in some cases is true, but for most of us, it is a wake-up call about the wonderful job our parents did to raise us.

Grandparents enjoying each other's company with no children in sight.

How can a grandparent enjoy a child more than the parents? Now, I am a grandparent, and it is becoming clearer to me why this is. I am now going to lay this secret out for you. Grandparents enjoy their grandchildren because once the visit is over, the children go back home! Grandparents are on cloud nine watching as their own children go through child raising struggles. Your parents tried to teach you. Well, now it is your turn! You will find yourself acting the same as your parents did with you. You will finally know the nightmare you put them through.

You will start looking forward to the day that you and your spouse can have your home all to yourselves. Your parents will ask you, “Do you remember when we told you to wait to have children and not rush into it?” They will laugh when you answer, “No.” They will always be there for you, as you will be with your children. However, the advice for you will only come when you ask for it. No longer are your parents bound to raise you. They tried their best with you, and now get to sit back and watch how their teachings took hold. Yes, your parents made mistakes, and yes, you will too!

Parents have the hardest job known to the human race! We do not understand this until we become parents ourselves. You may look at the way other parents raise their children and try to follow them. This will help in some ways to give you a starting point. However, children need unique teaching designs set for their understanding. Parents with multiple children understand this. Although you love each child with the fullness of your heart, you will find your love different for each of them. This is the awesome thing about love, it can expand in as many ways as is needed. If you do not think so, just talk to parents who have four, five, six kids or more. They will tell you they love all their children, but in different ways for each one. Because of this, I believe the definition of love should be a bunch of question marks expanding into the unknown.

Young boy at the table with his family, holding hands for prayer before dinner.

Children are a blessing from the good Lord above. Children may bring you closer to God as you cry out for his help. Be patient with your children and allow them to go through the different phases of life. This will help your offspring to become well-rounded adults. Disciplining your children is showing the love you have for them to grow up to be the good people they can be. Allowing your children to “run the show” is telling them you do not care how they turn out in life. A respectful adult comes from the years of love and training given by their parents. There is no magic formula for raising your children, but you must do the best you can for them, as your parents did for you.

Children are hard to raise. They, at times, will have you wondering if there is a grand solution to raising children. The only thing I can tell you is, do not rush into having them, and love them no matter how crazy things may seem. I hope in some way this helps. If you are a teenager reading this, try to take it easy on your parents. They are doing their best for you. Take care, my friends, and do not forget to follow me. Remember, we are all in this together.

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Blog posts

Your choice – cause pain or blessing

Every choice we make through life will leave ripples throughout the rest of our lives. We can make up for mistakes but there will be some sort of ripple like dropping a stone in water. Using this same prospective with good things we choose, once again there is a ripple effect that will spread. With these so called “ripples“, there is cause and effect to others around you. Others will fall within these ripples of your life choices. So not only are you affecting your own destiny, you are in turn, causing changes in other destiny’s as well. The sooner that you come to this conclusion, the sooner you can change the outcome of not only yourself but many of those around you.

Splash in green water making ripples

Most people look at these things as affecting your immediate family but that is just the tip of the iceberg. If you make a decision to drive your car while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and wreck into a store front, you have just changed the lives of several people. One event of your own choosing can and will cause the ripples to spread, not only to the ones who happen to be at the store but to their families, the store owner, the stock holders, the police and fire departments and the list goes on and on. Now this maybe a drastic way of explaining the bad but it gets my point across.

Let’s take a look at the good that can be spread. If you help someone in need, whether it be with cash, food, clothing or a roof over their head, you have started a good set of ripples. Not only have you helped this person in need but others have probably witnessed your kindness. This will not only help the one you helped but the ones that seen this as well. All of the sudden these witnesses will want to help someone too. This is because, whether we want to believe it or not, people tend to follow other people’s lead. A kind heart will help others find kindness in their own hearts. And, of course, the person that you helped will want to help someone in need somewhere down the line.

I said earlier in this post that the choices we make in life will affect the rest of our lives. I stand by this, now let me explain why. Once you choose to do good or bad, it is done. As of yet, we don’t have a time machine to go back and undo what has been done. All we can do is learn from these things and decide whether we want to continue doing the same things. History is History and cannot be undone but we can learn from it and take a different path if we choose to. Key word here is “Choose“. We must make an effort if we want a different outcome next time around.

The question you must ask yourself is; what kind of ripples do you want to be known for? It doesn’t take any great feat to change the lives of others. One simple choice can cause a world of hurt or a world of blessings. The good news is, we have the ability to choose a different course of action! We may have caused ourselves and others pain but we can choose to change and hope for forgiveness from those we have hurt. On the other side of that, if you have been hurt by someone’s actions, will you hold a grudge or forgive them? One piece of advice I will give you, holding a grudge will do nothing good for you but forgiveness will free your soul. Take care my friends and Remember, we are all in this together.