Year: 2013

Next Thursday I will head back into Angola for another Kairos weekend. This time we are headed into Camp J for the first time. This is a disciplinary camp where inmates are placed who are considered to be a security risk either to themselves or others. When a prisoner comes to the Angola for the first time they are likely to be housed at Camp J until the prison officials can get a good idea about what kind of risks they pose. If a prisoner at any camp, violates the rules, he is likely to be sent to J. Camp J is not a pleasant place. Those assigned there for disciplinary reasons are in lock down most of the day. Their food is fashioned into untasty loaves. The lock downs are cold in winter and hot in summer. Lock down is miserably lonely.  We will not be ministering to those in lock down. Rather we will serve the small community of inmates who help run Camp J by serving as orderlies, on clean up crews or in administrative positions. There is no chapel at J and few diversions for this group and the chaplain has had on his heart […]

Mardi Gras this year was great. I didn’t catch any beads. I didn’t watch any parades. I didn’t drink anything with alcohol in it. I didn’t hear any loud bands. I didn’t fight any crowds. Like I said, it was great. I spend the day with basically one person. This person is my best friend so that was great. I took her to lunch and she fixed me supper; neither was fancy, but both were fantastic.  We didn’t watch the State of the Union. I thought it was ironic that the State of the Union was delivered on Mardi Gras. I didn’t watch because I’m well aware of the condition of my country and the guy delivering the speech has no clue and, in fact, is one of the reasons it’s in trouble. Like I said it was strange that the speech was delivered on Mardi Gras. You could almost hear those watching in person and on television cry out “Throw me something mister” as their drunken eyes pleaded and their hands reached out for something they didn’t earn or deserve. I missed it all. I’m already aware of the state of my union and it’s blessed. Our king […]

It’s Superbowl Sunday. I could tell yesterday at the Super market where folks were filling their shopping carts with drinks and snacks and meats to grill. The streets of the nation will be quiet this evening around kickoff time. It’s kind of strange. I bet you could count on one hand the true fans of either the 49ers or the Ravens here in Lafayette. Even I, I will admit, will probably watch the game, after all it is the “super” bowl.  I will enjoy the day but not because of the game. A trial I have been going through for months came to a quiet end this week. While I have been praying and struggling, God has been working. He has worked things out in a miraculous way that makes things, in the long run, better for me and for those I love. What super thing is God doing in your life, while you just watch and pray? Perhaps the lost loved one you have all but given up on is being drawn to Jesus. Perhaps the broken relationship, the one that’s “beyond repair” is being quietly stitched back together by the hand of the almighty. Perhaps the desperate […]

I have lots of beautiful wonderful women in my life, starting with my wife and including my daughter, grand daughters, great grand daughter, daughter in law. I don’t want to think of them in combat.  It’s not that I don’t think they are capable. Maybe I’m just way too old fashioned, but it just doesn’t seem right. To be truthful, I’m not too thrilled about anyone I love being in combat. There are way too many wars. I understand that life is combat, particularly on the spiritual level. We are at war and women are in the thick of it. But there is just something about outfitting ladies with weapons and setting them out on battlefields that doesn’t seem right with me. When I was in the Navy, women were just starting to have a more significant role. The problem in those days was that they were limited to shore jobs. So they tended to take up those positions, making it harder for the guys to ever draw any land duty. I wasn’t happy with that scenario either. I know it’s great that women have the vote and equal rights in employment and all that. It seems these days […]

Feeling appreciated is one of the greatest needs we have. When you share with someone your appreciation and gratitude, they will not forget you. Appreciation will return to you many times. Steve Brunkhurst My grandson, Nicholas, is spending the night with us. He is hoping to attend the David Thibodeaux Stem Academy next  year. He will be old enough and his mom teaches there so it would be convenient as well as a great learning experience. Attendance requires an application including recommendations letters and an interview. We picked him up after school yesterday to get him a haircut in preparation for the interview. He had two of his teachers’ recommendation letters. They were glowing. Upon careful reading, they were also completely accurate. I sometimes forget how great a kid he is.  Would it be wise to consider all the great attributes of the friends and family members who complete our lives every day? Maybe we should sit down and write “letters of recommendation” for our spouse and kids. Maybe we would increase our appreciation for the great gifts they are in our lives.  I know there is one kid I appreciate a lot more this morning. Be appreciative and […]

Matthew 6:19-21 New International Version (NIV) Treasures in Heaven where moths and vermin destroy, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

We  can all look back on times in our lives when we see the hand of God. There was the near medical disaster or the storm that didn’t blow us away or the financial disaster that didn’t materialize. We can see the special people that became part of our lives and without whom we would not be the same. We call these things, “miracles.” These are miracles because they show the intervention of a powerful God in the lives of ordinary men. But the real miracle is God’s constant intervention and involvement in our lives. We live in a state of perpetual dependence upon Him. We just don’t always recognize it. We don’t always see that every breath we take is a miracle. We don’t acknowledge that every bite of food is provided by Him. Saddest of all, perhaps, is we let slip by the miracles of opportunity that he serves up to us every day of our lives.  It is His plan for us that we live lives of perpetual dependence on Him. Nothing we do on our own is worth anything. Every good thing comes from Him. Surely there are big events that shake up our worlds, […]

Now you are the body of Christ,