I’m on my third night of my first set of graveyard shift since I returned to my normal crew. I worked a regular 40 hour straight daylights shift for 10 weeks, so I am adjusting to shift work once more. I have to get back into the routine. I am struggling a bit this time around, but I will be back in the groove soon.

This morning I crawled into bed a little after 6 a.m. I slept until 12:30. I went to the 1:30 p.m. service at church. This is a good thing about having our afternoon service so early. I can now attend worship services when I am on graveyards, which is something I could not do when the service was at 6 p.m.

After worship services I came home. The little boys were all excited when I got home Lisa and the kids came home after the morning service). They, along with the neighbours children had caught a baby blue jay. After looking at the bird (knowing its chances of survival were slim) I encouraged them and went inside. I then ate and crawled back into bed. I was not able to go back to sleep, so I am expecting a long, hard to stay awake, night to night. It will be ok.

I am at work and have other things to do, so I’ve gotta go.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

This was some week. Lisa is now all better. She was sick starting Saturday night, all day Sunday and Sunday night. I offered to bring her to the emergency room several times, but she did not want to go. She felt much better Monday morning, and thinking all was well decided not to go see her doctor. Monday night she was suffering again. She felt better Tuesday, but went to the doctor anyway. We found out she had a kidney stone. She passed the stone and has been back to her normal self since Tuesday.

Lisa felt so bad that she let me buy a new washer and dryer without her input. That is sick for her!

Wednesday, I took my grandfather (Pawpaw) and cousin fishing at my sisters pond. My mom, dad, brother and sister all joined us. It was practically a family reunion. We caught a fair amount of fish. I cleaned them all and Pawpaw took them home with him.

When I took Pawpaw home; we did the obligatory tour of his garden and fruit trees, which is always a wonderful time for me. I love spending time with this 83 year old Cajun who is much more comfortable speaking French than he is English.

Tonight I am back at work on my regular shift. We have a storm approaching and the weather station is predicting severe lightning, wind and possibly hail. It should be here in about fifteen to twenty minutes, so let me get ready. Refineries don’t like these kind of storms.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Monday was not a great day here. Lisa is still sick and seems to have gotten worse. She slept all day Sunday. She did not sleep well last night after midnight. She has had fever, chills, and body aches since Saturday night. She did get some medicine today will see her doctor tomorrow.

Mike came over last night and we had a few glasses of wine (Chilean) and discussed the usual items (history, theology and current events). After about an hour of discussion we went for our walk-a-bout and had a good time of prayer.

Today I went to the funeral of an old Cajun gentleman. My neighbour, Mr Moreau, had struggled with cancer for a number of years. He had a wonderful old Cajun accent and always had gentle and kind manner about him. That old Cajun accent, like Mr Moreau’s was so common here in Lake Charles when I was growing up, but today it is becoming very rare and will soon disappear. Lisa could not attend the funeral because she was so sick.

The funeral mass was held at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. It had been some time since I had attended a mass. It was a beautiful service and was conducted by Father Charles McMillin. I had the chance to speak with Rev. McMillin after. He seems to be a very affable man. It would be a pleasure to speak about our commonality and our differences in the faith with such an apparently good man.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I started Saturday by a trip to the local Jewish Temple for a book sale. I spent $26 and purchased about thirty books. They're mostly history and biography works, but I did get some poetry and philosophy, several classics and some children books. I left there with a box full of books and very pleased.

After returning from the book excursion. I loaded up the little boys and we headed for Longville. I had promised them a fishing trip, but we drove north to Longville in a downpour, so we had to cancel fishing for a while.

The boys and I went to mom and dad’s. I brought along a couple of DVD’s, because I had watched the weather before leaving the house. Dad, Terry (my youngest brother), and I watched The Count of Monte Cristo. Dad hadn’t seen it before. After watching it he was, like Terry and me, impressed with the movie.

While watching the movie, I glanced out of the storm doors into the woods behind Dad’s house and saw what I thought was a hawk land on a branch in a near by tree. Terry got out a pair of binoculars and informed us that we were looking at and owl and not a hawk. I got the binoculars and saw that it was an owl. While I was watching the owl a small branch fell from above and struck the owl. He then flew off.

The rain stopped about the same time as the movie and Terry the boys and I loaded into the truck and headed for the pond to fish. When we got to the pond we found Brian (our bro-in-law) already fishing. The perch were bighting and we caught a mess of hybrid bluegill and a few nice bass as well. The boys have a great time catching fish. I kept a mess of fish and cleaned them when we got home. We will have them for supper one night this week.

Worship services were nice. The sermon was good. I love our liturgy and we are now (for a trial period) celebrating the Lord’s Supper ever Sunday. I think that is great. It makes sense that Reformed Christians would do this weekly. We believe that the Eucharist is a means of grace. John Calvin wanted to celebrate the supper every Lord’s Day, but was prevented from doing so by the powers that be in Geneva.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today was my last day of straight days. I start back on shift next week. I am taking off Monday, which is the day my shift works off, which means I am off until next Friday night. I hope to bring the little boys fishing again tomorrow, if the weather holds out.

This evening I went to a crawfish boil. There are view things in this world better than the combination of hot boiled crawfish, cold beer and good friends. That’s pretty close to Cajun heaven.

Lisa and the little boys are asleep. Morgan and Christian are at their cousins house watching a movie. So I alone am awake at home. I am writing this blog spot drinking a glass of merlot and taking it easy. When I finish this blog I’m going to pick up a good book and read a while before going to sleep.

I am reading a novel right now, which is not something I do very often. It came highly recommended and seems to be pretty well know, though I had never heard of it. Of course I know very little about current fiction. I am more a non-fiction and classics person.

Speaking of books; I hope to go to a book sale in the morning at Temple Sinai in the morning. My friends who worship there tell me that there are loads of books for sale and they will be cheap!!!

Hold on–What is that? Oh- I gotta go I here my book calling me.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I went to see the (company assigned) doctor about my ribs Monday, they took x-rays and have finally given me a clean bill of health, so I can return to full duty next week. I’ll be happy to get back on my regular shift again.

Lisa has finished the medicine for her stomach that she had to take for two weeks. The medicine was hard on her stomach, but now that she has finished it she is back to normal and feeling good.

MK and I got together Sunday evening. He brought over a bottle of Chilean wine . This was our first experience with wine from Chile. It was really good and the price (wow!) was low. The world can use more good, inexpensive wine and it looks like Chile (followed by Australia) may be able to fill this important need. We discussed some controversial aspects from that morning’s Sunday school lesson. I was not there, but Mike filled me in on it from his vantage point. I am going to get the tape, so I can hear the lesson for myself.

That same evening one of Morgan’s guy friends came over to visit with her and watch a movie. She introduced Mk to the young man ( I had meet him earlier). She later explained to him the routine Mike and I have of conversing over a couple of glasses of wine and then going for our walk-a-bout prayer time. She said he thought that was “cool.”

The young man seems very nice, and makes a good first impression. I think he is a member of Sales Street Baptist Church. I believe they meet in art class. I have not had a chance to discuss much with him, but he did seem interested in theological matters.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

The boys (including Christian) and I went to Longville today. Both the little boys caught a couple of nice bass each, and a hand full of small perch. I was hoping to take a mess of fish home, but we didn't catch enough eating size perch to make a meal and we can’t keep any bass under five pounds. We did catch five nice bass, all were between 2 and 3 bounds, but we had to release them.

My dad’s gardens (2-3 acres worth) are coming along. The corn, peas, okra, and melons have all sprouted and the deer have not yet invaded the garden to eat all the pea sprouts, which they are sure to do soon.

Tomorrow is the Lord’s day, so I am off to bed.

Dominus vobiscum,
Kenith

This morning as I walked through the parking lot at work I could hear the calls of male Great Tailed Grackles . They are very pretty birds, though they can be pests as well. I love to watch the males this time of year. They strut around and try to out do one another to get the attention and affection of the more plain looking females.

This evening after a spaghetti supper the little boys and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We listened to the birds as they sang this evening. We heard a Blue Jay, a Robin, a couple of Mocking Birds (my favourite bird), others I could not identify, and then two Killdeer after sunset.

It was a wonderful evening for a stroll; the air was cool and the sky was mostly clear with only a few small cumulus and cirrus clouds. There were cows out in the pasture just south of us and some flowers are still in bloom I walked at a leisurely pace as the boys ran on ahead. One of them was on foot, and the other was pushing along on a scooter.

We walked and watched the sun sink and then set in the west. It was beautiful to see the blues, purples and pinks in the west as the sun settled below the horizon. We were able to wish on the first star to shine in this evenings sky and we talked about nonsensical stuff that 6 and 7 year old boys find interesting. It was great fun.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

We got good news from MK today. Lisa hasn’t been feeling well and had a few tests run. Mike, though he isn’t her regular doctor, took a look at the results and he said things looked ok. MK said that her doctor may want to run another test but we were happy with the news he gave us.

I’m working 10 hour days this week, and next, filling in for Patrick L. at the plant. Patrick is in Houston for two weeks working on plans for a new unit we are going to build soon. Patrick’s knowledge and experience far exceeds my own, so I know I’ll not be able to do his job nearly as well has he does it, but it’s a good change of pace for me, and I might even learn a few things while doing it.

I have started listening to a knew set of tapes from Books on Tape . The title of this set is Nicholas and Alexandra and it is by Robert K. Massie (as was the biography of Peter the Great). I own this book and was planning to read it soon but I found the book on tape at the library and have decided to listen to it instead. This volume is read by Wolfram Kandinsky who also read for Peter the great.

I took Russian History in high school and I’ve always found it interesting. I get on “kicks” at times and concentrate in my reading and study on particular subjects. I guess I’m on a bit of a Russian kick for now. I’ve not read much by Russian authors. The only Russian author have been able to read for any period of time has been Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I read his Nobel Prize winning work The Gulag Archipelago while aboard ship in the Navy. I’ve been a fan of Solzhenitsyn since that time. Some years ago I also read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich , which is another great work by Solzhenitsyn.

I’ve tried to read other Russian writer, but not with much luck. I attempted to read Leo Tolstoy’s The Cossacks, but I didn’t get very far. I have read some short stories by Dostoyevsky, though not many. I did notice that the public library has his The Brothers Karamazov on tape, which I have wanted to attempt to read for some time. I think I will try it on tape first.

I've listened to far more lectures on theology, history and economics, etc. than I’ve listened to recorded books, but I am enjoying this change to books. I’m sure I will switch back to the other stuff soon enough.

I have to get up and go to work in the morning so its time for me to go to bed.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

We had a wet storm Resurrection Day in SW Louisiana, but we still were still able to Worship our triune God assembled with brothers and sisters in Christ. We worshipped at First Baptist Church in Longville instead of our on PCA church. Pastor Stuart had a good sermon. Of course I disagreed with him on a few points because I hold to Calvinism and Covenant Theology and Bro. Stuart holds to Arminian/baptistic views. But these are not reasons to avoid worshipping with these precious Christian brethren.

We went to my mom and dad’s house after church and feasted on Red beans and rice along with smoked pork chops. Then it was time to sit around a visit over cups of good, dark roasted coffee (Community Coffee of course). My siblings Sandy and Terry were there. Sandy’s husband Brian and my brother Gerry’s widow (Becky) was also there. Two of Gerry’s children were there and Sandy’s daughter (Recie) was also there. The kids were able to have an Easter egg hunt with their cousins when the rain slacked off. They all got a little wet, but they had a great time and that was the most important thing.

Dad and I walked around and looked at his garden and fruit trees during a break in the weather. It was a good visit. This is something I enjoy to do with my dad and my grandfather.

This evening I caught an interesting discussion on C-Span put on by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They were discussing a book by Thomas Reed titled At the Abyss: An Insider’s History of the Cold War. It was a fascinating discussion on the cold war. There is so much more that we can learn about that era now that the Soviet Union is no more.

I may have to purchase this book. (NOTE: I'm listening to an interview with the former Queen of Iran (on C-Span) as write this). I know most people find this kind of stuff as dull, but I love hearing new ideas, history and different views on things.

I have not been able to post on my other blogs because of circumstances, I hope I can do so in the near future. But for now it is getting late and I need to go to bed. I have to work tomorrow.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I’m off today and have a three day weekend. I’m still on “restricted duty” but next week I will be filling in for Patrick, who has to go to Houston for a couple of weeks. This is good for me, because I will be working 10 hour days. This will help with the bills. There's built in overtime on my regular shift and we have been missing the extra income.

Today is Good Friday, the day we remember the crucifixion (Passion) of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without the passion of our lord there would be no hope of salvation for anyone. All people would be without hope of forgiveness and redemption from the sins of which we all stand guilty of before God (YHWH).

Because of the Resurrection of our Lord, which we will celebrate on Sunday, those who are in Christ have hope of resurrection and eternal life in the presence of the triune God.

I will be home for much of the evening with just the little boys. Lisa is going to a birthday party for one of her lady friends, Morgan is working and Christian has gone to visit his girl friend. So I have grilled some hotdogs for the boys and a steak for me.

I’m reading several books right now and they're all progressing slowly. My time to read is much reduced because I am not working shift work right now. I have much more time to read when I am working nights. I am also reading lots of news, theology, history, etc.. on the web.

I have read the classic biography of Nathan Bedford Forrest titled That Devil Forrest - by John Wyeth. It is a great read. I also recently listened to an unabridged version of Robert K. Massie’s Peter the Great: His Life and World. This too is a great work. Massie is a fine historian and he is a fluid writer. This 48 hour series is worth every minute that it took to listen to it.

Currently I’m listening to Americans at War - by historian Stephen Ambrose. This is only a 12 hour series. The late Stephen Ambrose was, perhaps, the greatest historian of WWII during his lifetime. I should finish this series within a day or so.

I decided to try out a novel on tape, so I checked out Mr. Majestic - by Elmore Leonard. I decided on this book because I saw the movie, which was made from the book in the early 70's. The movie staring Charles Bronson. The book was ok, but the language much more colourful than I like. I may try more fiction in the future, but for now I will stick with the nonfiction stuff I love.

This coming Lord’s day we plan to worship in Longville at the First Baptist Church, where my dad is a deacon. After worship service we plan to go to my parent’s house for Easter dinner and fun. The pastor there, Stuart Graves, is a very good preacher and I have found his sermons to be pretty good. I have to confess that I prefer a more liturgical style of worship than what you find in Baptist churches.

The folks at my own church (Bethel Presbyterian Church) must think I have quit because it’s been so long since I have attended there. Lately I have attended either Covenant Presbyterian Church in Sulphur or First Baptist in Longville for various reasons.

I gotta go,
Kenith

I am back on line here at the house. My old computer is fried, and I have purchased a new Dell Computer. I am hoping to bring my old computer back to life, but that is going to cost me a couple of bucks that I don’t now have.

Lisa is on her way home with the little boys. She is going to pick up supper on the way. She’s picking up boudin (pronounced: boo-dan [you have cut the ‘n’ short]) for all and some beer for me. Boudin is a kind of rice dressing in non-smoked sausage casing. It is an old Cajun favourite.

I am still on light duty at work (because of two broken ribs) and will be for most of this month, but I feel good and I am ready to get back to my regular job. My own doctor (MK) says he thinks it is ok, but the refinery is relying on the doctor they sent me to when I fell and broke the ribs.

I have lots to do tonight, but I hope to blog more later or tomorrow.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

This morning is beautiful. The air is crisp and cool and flowers are in bloom. Azaleas have been in bloom for a while here, but now the flowers have started to fall. I hate to see the azaleas flowers fall, because they are so beautiful and the bush, without them, is rather plain looking. In our front yard we have a number of azalea bushes and some wisteria. When these are all in bloom at the same time the yard is so alive with colour. Its wonderful.

Yesterday the little boys and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood. While we were walking I asked them who made the flowers. Of course they said God. I then asked why did God make them. They know the answer I wanted to hear which is “For his own glory” and they readily repeated it. Then I asked them “How do the flowers give glory to God?”

At this question they were not so sure how to answer and took some guesses, which were pretty good for a 6 & 7 year old. After there several suggestions I told them that the flowers give glory to God because of their beauty and they show us that God is good and likes beautiful things. And added that for such good gifts we should praise the Lord all the more.

MK came over last night, after the little boys and Lisa had gone to bed. At the time he arrived Morgan and Christian were engrossed in a new DVD, so he and I sat at the bar and opened the Bottle of wine he brought with him.

Mike brought over a Rosemount Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. This was (imho) the best wine I have ever tasted. It was truly wonderful. MK, too, was awed by what he had brought. We discussed theology and the Bahnsen tapes he’s listening to, but in the midst of our dialogue, after each sip, we would each comment on the fabulous taste of this wine.

After the wine and conversation, we then went outside to walk and to pray. We prayed for about two miles. This was a good time spent in mostly all prayer time. Mike mentioned how long we have done this together. It has surely been for more than 15 years now. (He said “twenty” but I think it is somewhere between 15 and 20, probably about 18 years.)

MK is a good friend. Outside of my own family (dad and brothers) he is my oldest and dearest male friend. And one of the the times I like best is when we walk-a-bout and pray. These are times of spiritual renewal and encouragement for me.

I am sure the neighbours, if they’ve noticed (because our walks never start before 9:30 at night) must think the walks a bit odd. Here are to middle aged men (though we were young when we started this routine) walking around the block and praying out loud for an extended period of time. (Not a common site in most neighbourhoods.)

Well I must get to work.
Coram Deo,
Kenith

This morning as I left the house for work (5:35 AM) the sky was just beginning to lighten up and was a dark inky blue instead of black. As I stepped from the house I heard a rooster crowing, a mocking bird singing and the hoarse cry of a blue jay. I love the sounds of morning. The air was cool and refreshing.

MK and his son and my little boys and I all went camping last Friday night in Longville. The boys had a blast. Mk and his son had to come back to town early Saturday morning, but I took my boys fishing at my sisters pond which has been stocked with some hybrid Bluegill and Florida Bass. Christian and his buddy Paul also joined us as did my niece Reece.

The Bluegill were biting and the boys caught some nice fish. I spent all my time placing worms on hooks and removing fish from hooks. The boy’s had a lot of fun and they also provided us with part of our supper. I cleaned a mess of fish and baked them in garlic and butter sauce that same evening. (YUUMMM).

We came home Saturday night and the little boys, after a bath, drifted quickly off to sleep. I took a break and watched a DVD of Charade, which is an old Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn Classic movie.

Sunday morning the little boys and I went to church in Sulphur. The pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA), Bill Smith, was going to baptise he and his wife Susan’s sixth child (2nd daughter). It was a beautiful event. It’s always a great thing to see a covenant child baptised.

Covenant’s liturgy is longer than Bethel’s. Their liturgy is beautiful, but I think our liturgy (time wise) is better. Bill preached an amazing sermon. I have always liked his style of preaching. I think it is because Bill’s preaching is so similar to that of my late bro-in-law (Ron Davis). I do think Bill is probably the best Bible teacher within a hundred mile (or more) radius of this area.

Morgan and Christian attended Bethel and Lisa was out of town. So the it was just me and the boy’s at Covenant. We ate dinner at the church. They had a feast laid out and there was a lot left over.

Sunday night Bill and Susan had a party at their home to celebrate the baptism of their new baby girl. I would have loved to have attended, but it just was not possible.

The computer at home is still very dead. My buddy Izzy (i.e. Israel) has agreed to look at it for me. I am hoping that the computer is, like the Dread Pirate Roberts in the movie Princess Bride, "only mostly dead." I hope Izzy can fix it, but even if he can I think I am going to look into getting a second (inexpensive) computer.

The little boys are both sick, but they did feel well enough to go outside and toss a Frisbee around with Christian, Ryan (my nephew) and me for a little while.

Christian had Ryan cut off most of his curly hair yesterday afternoon. He now has a buzz cut (on most of his head) that would make a Marine D.I. proud. Lisa was not happy about Christian's new “do.” It's quite a contrast; Christian went from shoulder length curly yellow hair to nearly bald.

Morgan was not home yesterday. She went to visit my folks in Longville. My Sister's friend from Mexico is in visiting with her and Morgan wanted to see her (Vonia) while she's here, so she spent the night at her Aunt (Taunte) Sandy's.

Mk made it over last night for our usual wine and then walk-a-bout prayer time. We had a couple of glasses of a nice Australian red wine while we discussed all the world’s ills. We then went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We talked for a little while longer and then he led off our prayer time and later I finished it. We strolled around the neighbourhood praying for a good while (about two miles worth) praying. I find these prayer times to be very rewarding and useful.

When MK left and I came inside, it was just about midnight. Because of the late hour that I went to bed, I had a hard time getting up for work this morning, but I did manage to do so after hitting the snooze button a few times.

I have worked to do.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

My blogging is way down and there are two big reasons for this. Reason one is I am working straight (eight hour) days instead of my usual twelve hour shift work. The other (and bigger) reason is my computer at home has crashed and burned. It's totally dead.

Since my last blog I became another year older. Friday night Lisa and I went out to eat with our friends Gary and Liz and Tommy (TK) and Kelly. We all meet at Café Margaux for the wine tasting time, where we meet and visited with a number of other friends. Then we went to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner.

We feasted and visited. TK delivered a letter from his alter ego (Dr. A.R. Minian) and insisted that I read it allowed to all at the table with us. It’s a great letter, but it took me twice as long to read it as I should have because I laughed (Liz said I cackled) so much while reading it.

Saturday, Lisa and I were volunteers at the American Heart Association’s annul banquet and auction fund raiser. I had to rent a tux (it was a black tie affair). Karen K., who is on the board, was one of the main organisers and she asked if we would help with things. Lisa and I were happy to help.

The event was held at the Isle of Capri Casino. The food was very good. The local Newspaper donated the wine for the event and they had some good entertainment after the auction. We didn't get to enjoy the entertainment (an Elvis show) or dance to the music, because there was work to be done. But we did get to enjoy the food and a couple of glasses of wine. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed myself and I think Lisa did as well.

Sunday we went to Bethel to worship the Lord with others. It was good to praise and worship the Lord for His many blessings that He has blessed us with.

Sunday afternoon the little boys and I went to a near by field and tossed around a Frisbee. We had a good time. Then, after they bathed, we I read several library books to them and put the boys to bed. MK and I were supposed to get together for our wine and walk-a-bout prayer time, but I didn't here from him, which usually means he got called out to the hospital.

Christian brought a young lady to church. He spent much of the day with her playing pool at his (maternal) grandparents house. Morgan came to church, but then had to work afterward.

Yesterday was my 44th birthday. It was also Karen K’s birthday, so Lisa and I went to supper with Karen and Harry. We (actually Harry) drove over to Carrabba’s in Beaumont, Tx. The food and the visiting were both very good.

I have to get back to more important matters.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I had a good weekend. The little boys, a nephew (my late brother's son), Mk’s son, Mk and I all camped out on my parents land Friday night. While the boys played, Mk and I went to my mom’s house and ate some great pork jambalaya that my mom had made. They smoked the pork steaks, used in the jambalaya, in my dad’s smoke house. They were wonderful.

After eating we went back to the “campsite” and started the wennie roast and marshmallow roast for the boys. After they had eaten their full we lit the bonfire. It was huge and burned nicely. The boys had a blast.

We had lots of company my family) around the fire and had good conversation. Mk and I both brought a bottle of wine. His was a nice California “mutt” red and I brought a Chianti.

So it was a night of food, wine conversation out of doors. We visited and watched the boys play. Then as they slowed down we listened as they sat around the fire and told jokes and “scary stories.”

We finally crawled into the tents at midnight. The weather was perfect. The low for the night was 49 degrees. I slept like a baby. I got up at 6:30, and restarted the fire, drank a cup of Community Coffee and then cooked some eggs and bacon over the campfire. The others began to stir about an hour after I got moving. I cooked the all the same bacon and egg breakfast that I had made for myself.

Everyone had a good time. I spent the day in Longville with my boys but Mk had to come back to town.

Sunday was a normal day. We had a guest pastor at church because our pastor is on vacation. Rev. Mark Duncan filled the pulpit in Jim’s place. Worship was good.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I went for x-rays today and the ribs still look very broken, but they are feeling a lot better these days. They doctors still have me on restricted duty for two more weeks. This has helped me to get caught up on my operator training (yyuukk). MK said if they are feeling better than they are healing. He said it is hard to see this on rib x-rays.

Lisa isn't feeling well this evening. We are beginning to thing she may have gallstones. When I was on the phone with MK and described her symptoms, and he said that gallstones were a possibility. Lisa went to bed early. Both the little boys were concerned for her and they went in the room an kissed her and then prayed for her. Those were a couple of precious moments.

Except for Lisa not feeling well, this has been a pretty normal evening. Most of it was spent with the little boys and their school work. Christian spent the evening talking on the phone to a girl friend or outside with a neighbourhood friend. Morgan was at work and has now gone to visit here cousin.

The weather has been awesome lately. The evenings and mornings have been cool and the days have been bright and mild. This weather is supposed to hold out until Saturday evening. Mk and I are planning on taking my to young sons and his seven year old camping tomorrow evening. We are going to go to my mom and dad's place. They have cut down a number of trees and have a large pile of wood to burn. Dad has been waiting for the little boys to burn it. So we will have a wennie roast and then a bonfire.

I hope to then do some fishing Saturday. My job will be to put the worms on the hooks for the boys and take the perch off the hooks. If they're lucky they will catch some bass also. It is lots of fun to watch the boys fish.

I do have a Merlot and a Chianti to bring on the trip. I am not sure which of these two wines goes better with hotdogs cooked over an open fire. I guess we will have to try both. This is my kind of camping, because I can get up and go to mom's kitchen in the morning for breakfast and coffee.

Mk saw The Passion Of The Christ this week and he loved it. We got together the next evening for one of our conversation, walking, praying and wine events. We had a lively discussion on that and a number of other topics. He told me about a review of The Passion that is in Chalcedon Report. I read the review, which is by Brian Godawa. I've read many review of the movie, and this is the best that I have found. You can find the review here: Godawa Review.

I will miss the wine tasting event tomorrow night at Café Margaux. I hate to pass it up but spending time camping and fishing with the boys is priceless.

I have posted an article I wrote on religion and the American Revolution on the History blog . It is a bit long (between four and six pages) but I hope some folks will check it out.

It is time for me to finish the two fingers of bourbon (Jim Beam Black) in my glass and go to bed.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

Yesterday was an uneventful day. I'm still on light duty because of my ribs. I didn't my unit, instead yesterday was our monthly Rescue Team training. I am on the refineries confined-space/high-angle rescue team. I was not of much use to the team I was just there. I was supposed to leave tomorrow for Texas A&M for a week long rescue class. Now I will likely be rescheduled for a ROCO Rescue school in Beaumont, Texas next October or November.

Today was a good day. I spent most of it with the little boys. Lisa and Morgan had a mom/daughter day and Christian spent much of the day with his cousin Ryan, so I took the little boys and drove up to Longville for the day. It was a beautiful day to spend in the country. We had a weenie roast and walked about to see how my dad's fruit trees, grapes (muscadines) and land was looking. The birds were actively congregating at the many feeders my parents have out. The Cardinals were there in full force and other birds were seen elsewhere on the property.

My parents (Bud and Dot), my brother Terry, sister Sandy, her daughter Recie were there, as was another niece Shannon (eldest daughter of my late brother). A couple of my parents neighbours had also dropped in for hotdogs and visiting. We had a good time. Later that evening, after the sun had set and a beautiful moon had come up, mom made a pot of dark roast Community Coffee. We sat around, drank coffee and visited some more. Then the little boys and I got back into my truck and headed back for home.

My mom, sister and nieces had gone to the Saturday morning garage sales at Fort Polk. Mom picked me up a framed, matted and numbered print by Clyde Heron. The print is of the great Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. It is very nice. You can see the print here: Lt. General N.B. Forrest .

This morning we worshipped at Bethel (PCA). Our pastor is out of town and Elder Ben filled the pulpit in his place. It was a good to worship the Lord with the liturgy and with the people at Bethel.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Last night I went to see Master and Commander with my buddy Chester. It is a very good movie. That's two movies I have at the theater seen since the first of the year, which is way more than I normally see in a couple years.

Today's big news is the book sale at our local (parish) library. I spent a good bit of time there after work and bought 24 books (all hard bound). I am very excited about several of these books. One of the best finds is Luigi Albertini's seminal three volume work: "The Origins of the War of 1914."

I was mostly looking for biographies and history, but I also scouped up a work by E.P. Sanders (a somewhat liberal) English theologian titled The Historical Figure of Jesus. I also picked up The Wayward Bus by one of my favourite 20th century writers, John Steinbeck. I also picked up several childrens books.

I am something of a bibliophile and would love to go into detail about all the books I bought today, but I think that would make this a very long post, and then I would want to discuss other books in my library. I would be up all night typing.

I did place a new post on As I see it! today. It is (obviously) something I find interesting.

This was a good evening. The little boys did their nightly reading and math work with Lisa and me. Now we have prayed and they (the little boys) have gone to bed.

It is warm and humid tonight winter is going; spring is coming and it will soon be, as it is every summer, very hot and very humid here in SW Louisiana. uuugghhh! Oh well, I think I will pour me a glass of wine (or maybe a cold beer) pick up a good book and read a bit before I go to sleep.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I've not blogged since Mardi Gras day which was a week ago so I will try and catch matters up a bit. I guess the big thing I did was go to see The Passion Of The Christ . I personally found it to be a very good show. I was able to see the movie because my good friend Gary J had an extra ticket for the 4: pm opening day feature and he called me and invited me to go with him and Liz (the wife of his youth).

Wednesday evening, while the movie was still fresh in my mind I wrote comments about it. I posted them on MrWonder’s Bible Chat. Keep in mind that much of what I wrote was in response to other's questions and criticisms. Here is what I wrote:

++++
First: This is a visually powerful movie and it is well made and not cheesy like so many "religious films" these days.

Second: On the subject of anti-Semitism This is what I have to say -- "If you find this movie anti-Semitic it's only because you've come to the movie predisposed to see anti-Semitism where it does not exist."

If this movie is anti-Semitic than so are the four Gospels and many of Paul's epistles. Gibson actually tones down the part played by the High Priest and Sanhedrin by editing out their words to Pilate where they say "His blood be on us and on our children." (Matt. 27:25)

Third: A non-Roman Catholic would likely have played down some of the Mary stuff, but GIbson, as a Roman Catholic, did not over do it either. I don't think he over does it in his portrayal of Mary, but had he pushed things much further he could have.

It is a good movie. I think some things could have been done differently, but I am not a writer, director or actor so I accept this as their movie. They did it their way and that’s that. It is very powerfully done and I think it is a good movie and highly recommend it to all.

It will not return America or Europe to their Christian foundations (no movie can), but it can be used as a powerful tool in the proclamation of the Gospel.
++++

I then add these following comments:

++++
The resurrection scene is very well done, and though short it makes the point. Had I been the writer or director I would have added to it, but I was not. Still even though short it is powerfully done and leaves no doubt that Jesus, who was dead, is risen from the dead.

Remember the title of the movie is "The Passion" and that has to do with the crucifixion of Christ. Gibson did not shrink from the Gospel. He presented Christ as Messiah, the Son of God and God who died for our sins and and conquered death when He rose again from the dead.

If I were a movie maker, I would have done several things differently, but I am not and never will be.

This movie harkens back to a time when Christian themes were treated respectfully by Hollywood. It is a great movie that stays very close to the Gospels. Gibson does do a few Hollywood things, but even these (for the most) part are well done.

I hope everyone will go see it and Gibson makes a ton of money. Then perhaps one or two Hollywood types will at least see that it pays to treat Christian subjects respectfully.
++++

I was told that my pastor spoke out strongly against the movie this last Sunday (I had to work and missed Sunday services). From what I have heard I am sure I understand his position, though I differ with it. Then again, I have never met a person (even a fellow Reformed Christian) with whom I agree with on every point. I even disagree with John Calvin, R.J. Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen and Rev. Ron Davis (my late Bro-in-law) on some matters, and they are the Christian preachers and theologians that I claim as my dearest theological mentors.

The only other interesting thing I did last week was go to another wine tasting event at Café Margaux last Friday. MK made it as did Gary and Liz, and Jimmy and Lois, as well as Jennifer, Karen and a number of other people I know. I did purchase a couple of bottles of one of the Merlot’s that we tasted. The best wine there was a Cabernet, but it was $45 dollars a bottle. That is way over what I can afford to pay for a good bottle of wine.

I worked all weekend and today I am being taken off shift, and therefore I have to start working week days today for 8 hour days. So now I won’t be following my shift or my normal crew. I would be working off today and would have been off until Friday evening. Now I will be working from 7-3 all week and will be off for the weekend.

This is all because of my broken ribs. I did get them x-rayed again Thursday. The good news is the broken parts are touching again. The bad news is they haven’t yet started to mind.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today is Mardi Gras. Lisa and I aren't taking the little boys to any of the parades this year. I really enjoy taking them to the parades, but this year I just can't keep up with them with my ribs like they are. I don't want to take them into a crowd when I am not able to hold or carry them as needed. I also will not let them go with anyone else when I am not there. I don't trust anyone enough to let them take my little boys to Mardi Gras parade without me. Christian is going to the parade with his buddy Paul, and Morgan is in New Orleans with my niece and sister.

Lisa and I are planning on going to out to with Karen and Harry K. We are supposed to eat at Outback Steakhouse. Karen and Harry are nice people. I met them through Lisa, and she met Karen at work.

Last night was a very typical evening here at our house. Starting at about 5:30 PM the little boys began doing some math homework and I helped them with their worksheets (mostly I just made sure they did their work). Then my seven year old and I went over some subtraction flashcards. At the same time Christians helped by doing addition flashcards with my six year old.

After math the boys took turns reading to their mom. While one read the other played computer games with Christian. When reading was complete the boys took their baths, and then I read a book to them. Then it was prayer time and bed time for the little boys.

I next watched a lecture (#17) by Doctor Roochnik in his series An Introduction to Greek Philosophy. This is a good series that I can, and do recommend to others. Lectures 1 through 16 go from the Pre-Socratics to Plato and then in lecture 17 Prof. Roochnik takes up Aristotle until the end of the series.

Lisa and I did some work in the Little boys' room today and that has made my ribs a little sore, so I plan to read or watch philosophy lectures for the time I have left before supper.

I know that sounds exciting!!

Remember we are to live every moment of every day -- Coram Deo

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I thought it would be good to give Lisa a break for her birthday, so on Saturday evening Lisa and I brought the little boys to her sister's to spend the night. Then she and I went on the Beaumont. We checked into a hotel. We then went and sat in the hot tub for a while, for the sake of our injured parts (her pulled muscle and my ribs). After that we got cleaned and went out to eat.

A friend recommended Carrabba's Italian Grill, which we had never eaten at before. We followed Karen's K's advice and found the food and drinks to be very good. We had about a twenty minute wait so we took a seat at the bar. Lisa got a Margarita and I got a Long Island Tea.

We got and order of muscles (clams) as an appetizer. We had never had clams before and they were very good. Without going into further detail, let me say that every thing (both food and service) was very good. We left there and drove around a while before returning to the hotel.

It was a good, relaxing trip. We returned home yesterday afternoon. After we got home the little boys and I played frisbee for a while. They did all the running and fetching, while I stood around and through the frisbee for them to chase. We then played for a while on their game cube.

Last night MK came over. He and I drank a Kendall-Jackson Merlot while we chatted about whats been going on in our lives and beyond. MK is listening to a series of sermons on 1 Peter by Greg Bahnsen and he can't speak more highly of it than he already is. I too am listening to some tapes, but I'm listening to a book on tape. The book is Robert K. Massie's Peter the Great: His Life and World. It has been enjoyable to listen to this series as I drive to work, etc. It's forty-eight hours of tapes so it will take me a while to get through it. I've listened to countless hours of books, sermons and lectures on tape, so it won't be hard.

After some good wine and good conversation, we went for our customary walk and prayer time. We had a good season of prayer, though a soft rain began to fall while we were walking. Praying aloud with a good friend is always encouraging and uplifting. After a good time of prayer, Mike left for home and I came in and spoke with Christian for a while before going on to bed.

It was a good weekend, but as you may have gathered the little boys and I didn't get to go fishing.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

Mitch and Angie T. have a new baby boy!! -- Garrett Mitchel t.-- Mother and baby are doing well. I have not had a chance to see young Garrett yet, but hope to soon.

My fishing trip with the little boys did not happen today. Instead I am taking Lisa to Beaumont for her birthday. It is her birthday tomorrow so we are going to to spend the evening and the night in Beaumont and the little boys will stay with Lisa's sister. Morgan, our daughter, has gone to New Orleans with my sister and niece. They will return after Mardi Gras.

My sister and I did a lot of our growing up in Destrahan, which is just up river from the city and Sandy (my sister) has a number of friends and family connections there. She returns often and nearly every Mardi Gras. I don't have a special love for New Orleans. There are things that I love about New Orleans but unlike my sister I am not close to any of my family or old friends from that area.

Christian, our oldest son, will stay at home tonight or he may stay with a friend or cousin.

Lisa and I did make it to Café Margaux last night for the wine tasting. We did not stay long because she pulled a leg muscle, actually it's her Gluteus Maximus (i.e. her butt muscle) and she is very sore.

We were quite the couple. She was limping and leaning on me for support. I have my two broken ribs and was unable to give her much help. We looked like the walking wounded last night. We cut the wine tasting short for that reason. Anyway Lisa doesn't drink wine; I am the one who likes wine. We did have lots of friends from work and church there and we had a good time, but we just could not stay for very long in our current conditions.

I have things to do, so I will have to go.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I will be working off shift in the morning and will be starting my days off. I won’t have to come back to work until next Thursday. When I leave work in the morning I plan to go by Gary J’s house. If time allows I may be able a beer or glass of wine before heading out. My main reasons for going to Gary’s is to pick up Cigars for Mitch T. Mitch and his wife are having a baby to day, their first, and Gary has Mitch’s cigars in his humidor. The hospital is on my way home, so I can drop off the cigars on the way to the house.

I bought Lisa some roses yesterday before coming to work and they should deliver them to her sometime before noon. Sunday is Lisa’s birthday and the roses are her first gift. We are hoping to go out of town Sunday, but she was not feeling good this afternoon. She seems to have pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve. I hope she is feeling much better after a good nights sleep.

There is another wine tasting event at Café Margaux this evening. I hope to go if Lisa is feeling good. Several of our friends will be there and they do serve good wine along with cheese and fruit.

My options for doing things with the kids this weekend are pretty limited do my broken ribs. I may try and take the little boys fishing this weekend at my sisters pond. The pond is loaded with bluegill and largemouth bass. They would have a great time fishing and I’m ready for some fried fish.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I worked off at 5:30 this morning, went home, crawled in the bed and snuggled with Lisa for a few minutes. I then fell fast asleep. At 7:30 Lisa woke me because my boss was on the phone. They had the refinery doctor come into medical to see me, but I was home asleep. I got up, got dressed, drove the twenty minutes to the plant, saw the doctor and then came home and went back to bed.

I got up at about 1:30 this afternoon. My task for this afternoon was to get my eldest son his driver licenses. We failed to do that because we were lacking one piece of paper work. We rushed home got the paper went back to the DMV but found that hey had closed for the day. We will have to try again tomorrow.

This afternoon I read a very good article from Foreign Affairs Magazine. This candid, informative and even frightening article is titled The Saudi Paradox . I think it should be a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East, Islam and the Arab world.

In the morning I have to hold over here at work to meet with the refinery “big wigs” about my fall in the rain and subsequent broken ribs. I am not looking forward to the meeting. I like to stay under the radar screen here at work. I like to come to work, do my job and go home to my family. It may be boring but I love it.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I was supposed to start graveyard shift last night, but we had a little minor family crisis so I took the night off. Our little crisis was resolved quickly and I was able to spend the night at home. Tonight I will be able to return to work.

I missed the liturgy at church Sunday. It will be good to get back there and worship there. I love to recite the Creed and participate in the worship in other ways as we do with our liturgy.

This weekend I did finish the article The Grace of Justification by Norman Shepherd. The article was written in 1979 and I thought it to be pretty run of the mill stuff and not the least bit controversial. I plan to read more critical stuff on Shepherd, but I do want to know what Shepherd actual said before I read what his critics say that he said.

I have found that my own words and views have been contorted and twisted by people, so I try always give the accused his say before reading his critics. Thus far I have read a recent book by Shepherd ( Call of Grace ), this article and I have listened to four hours of his lectures on the subject, so I think I am ready to read his critics.

There are several critics. One is E. Calvin Beisner of Knox Theological Seminary. I hope to read his criticisms in the next few days.

Last night MK came over with a bottle of wine. We sat at the bar in the kitchen and consumed a Wildhorse Pinot Noir (2000). It was a refreshing wine. It was not spectacular but good.

After consuming a couple of glasses each (which emptied the bottle) MK and I went for a walk. We continued of conversation for a little while, then we spent a fair amount of time in prayer while walking around the neighbourhood.

Now on to other matters: I ordered a new book this weekend. It is titled The Creed. It is a study of the Nicene Creed.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I spent this Lord's Day in Longville with my parents. The little boys and I went up there and we attended worship services at FBC of Longville. I was greatly disappointed to learn that they had a guest preacher and Bro. Stuart would not be delivering the morning message. Our older children went to Bethel PCA (our regular church) and Lisa had an "ox in the ditch" Lord's Day.

Today was the first day that we've seen the sun down here in a good while. The sky cloudless and beautiful. It was a truly gorgeous day. It was nice to sit outside on my parents property and just enjoy the day. It is quiet up there. I was able to watch the birds and listen to the breeze as it slowly drifted through the trees.

I was nice to sit around on a cool clear day in the country, drink some strong, dark roasted Community Coffee and visit with my parents, brother and sister.

The little boys were able to play with one of their cousins. And that is like a heaven sent gift to them.

We made it back to town at about 6 PM. It was a good Lord's Day.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Kenith

Update:
Lisa and Kim made it back from the Houston airport with their passengers. She worked hard all day long getting things ready for a hair show her shop is sponsoring.

I took the little boys grocery shopping today. They're a little harder to handle in a store when you have broken ribs, but we got through it ok. I love taking them to the store. They're always fun, but they're more fun when I don't have broken ribs.

The cough medicine MK prescribed has helped a lot. I am not coughing near as much as I was and this is a great relief. It hurts so much when I cough, but without the coughing I feel much less sore and am getting around pretty good. I was leaning to my right, but I am now able to stand straight when I walk.

I hope to go up and visit my parents tomorrow. If this happens it means that we will worship at First Baptist Church. I really like the pastor of my parents church. He is a fine man and a good preacher and a very personable man. I think he is a good honorable man and my family has well under his teaching and preaching.

There are a good number of theological differences between the pastor at my parents church and myself. But they are the typical old differences that divide Baptists Christians from Reformed Christians. We certainly have far more in common theologically than we have differences and I would love to spend some time discussing theology with him in detail but we have not had an opportunity to do so.

When I finish my blogging I plan to read a paper titled The Grace of Justification by Dr. Norman Shepherd. I am reading Shepherd because there's a big controversy swirling around him, and I am trying to get a handle on the controversy. I've read a fair amount about it and so far I don't see why there is so much hoopla. There are good scholarly Reformed Christians on both sides in this controversy. Some of Shepherds defenders are first rate Reformed theologians and the same is true of many of his detractors.

I am still struggling with this stuff. I'm trying to read all the Shepherd stuff I can find and I plan to read as many of his critics as I can also. I have already done some of both but need to do more.

I need to get to my reading, so I will close this blog and get to work

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

Today is the umpteenth day of cold steady rain here in SW Louisiana. Lisa and here friend Kim left for Houston this morning to pick some (work related) people at Houston International Airport. She called when they got there and said that it rained the whole way. I had looked at the radar before she left and knew it looked bad. I hope they have better weather on the return trip (which should begin shortly).

My ribs are still hurting. I won't mention that every time because it will likely be true for a long time yet. Worse yet, I still have a cold and it is accompanied by a cough. Coughing is murder. MK has given me a prescription for cough medicine. I have been putting that off, but I am now more than ready to stop coughing.

I'm hoping to get out of the house today. I have to go by MK's house and then run a few errands. I plan to take the little boys with me. That should be interesting. They're a lot to handle when all my bones are in good shape. I will have to keep a tight reign on them.

I visited MrWonder's Bible Chat long enough to post the four part article by Keith Mathison. It was received in the way I expected it to be received. MrWonder is a Baptist with strong anti-alcohol views. I made a few comments and then bowed out.

I was once an active participant on the site, but when Gerry was sick I started slacking off. When Gerry died I tried to keep up with it but my heart wasn't into it and I quit. Today I visit the site now and then, but seldom join in any of the discussions, and when I do post, it is only one or two comments, and then I back out again. I don't plan to ever get real active again.

Let me start doing the things I need to do. Gotta go.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

Yesterday was the worse day of pain from my ribs (As the old Cajuns say "I ye yie"). I think it was for two reasons, I did way too much the day before and because I have a cold and coughed a lot. Coughing is very bad news. I had planned on going to our prayer meeting at church but I was not up to it.

Today I am doing mostly nothing that takes effort. I am going to sleep, read, type out bog and email stuff, watch some DVD lectures on Greek Philosophy that I found at the library and that's about it. In other words I am going to rest my fractured rib bones.

I have recently started emailing a long but important article by Keith Mathison. The article is in four parts and is titled Protestant Transubstantiation. This first section is subtitled "Biblical Witness." The second part part deals with Historical Testimony from the early Church to the Reformation. Part three is on the original understanding of the Reformed & Baptist churches. The last part is perhaps the most important. It is on the Origins of and Reasons for the Rejection of Wine by modern American protestants. I hope others find Mathisons article as informative and interesting as I did.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today, I am plenty sore because of my broken ribs. I also have a bit of a cold and it kills me to cough. I am off work until Monday night, so I do have a little bit of time to recover some.

After work yesterday I went by Gary's house for a few minutes before coming on home. MK came over about 9:30 with a couple of bottles of wine. We opened and drank a Ravenswood Zinfandel (2000). It was a deep red wine that was smooth. I really like this zinfandel. This is not a "white" or "café" type, but a true full bodied dark red zinfandel.

After two enjoyable glasses of wine and friendly conversation, MK and I went for a walk to pray. We had a good season of prayer. We also had further conversation and another glass of wine.

MK and I have been walking and praying for a good fifteen years now. These evenats have always been time well spent. Years ago we drank a beer when we walked, then we moved to Scotch and now, while we usually have wine with our prayer times, we still switch back to Scotch now and then.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

Today is my last day on daylight shift. I am not actually working my job because I got injured yesterday.

The weather here has been miserable. It has been raining constantly for a several days. Of course with this job we can’t but things off until after it stops raining so we have to work in the rain.

We had an important job to do so the crew and I went out to do the work. I climbed up a couple flights of stairs to check something out. The steps were slick and on the way down I loss my footing and fell. I had a 10” pipe wrench in a holster on my belt. The pipe wrench wedged into the grating and I landed on it. The wrench jammed into my side and broke my lower two ribs (ouch).

I guess I will be on light duty for a while.

I am back at work again after some good days off. Nothing special happened on my days off. We did have lots of rain proceeding a cold front. It was 34 deg. this morning and it is supposed to be 29 deg. tomorrow morning. That’s a pretty normal low for just after a front this time of year.

Last night I did make it to Café Margaux for a wine tasting event. Jennifer F. is the one who told me about it, and she was the only one that I knew there. Lisa was supposed to go with me, but she was tired and didn't make it. I had also told MK (Seep) about it and Gary J. but neither one of them could go either.

There were eight different wines that we got to taste and every one of them was good, but there were a few that I really liked. The Rombauer Carneros Chardonney was excellent. It had unique flavour that really appealed to me and I think it was Jennifer’s favourite as well.

Another wine that I really liked was the Marietta Cellars Old Vine Lot 32. The Marietta Cellars is an old favourite of mine. Susan V. of Lake Street Liquor Store first turned me on to Old Vine Lot wines several years ago. They're always very good.

I am at work and I’m feeling a bit under the weather so I will close for now.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I was born to bilingual (French/English) Louisiana Cajun parents. We were Roman Catholic, as were almost all the Cajun familys back then. I was baptised and then raised Catholic until just before I was to make my first communion. We were living in Eunice, deep in the heart of Cajun Country, and a baptist preacher came to our house and invited my dad to a Revival Meeting hosted by the First Baptist Church.

My dad attended the revival and had a dramatic conversion experience. The next night he took us all to here Rev. Angel Martinez preach. It is then that we left the Catholic Church for the Baptist. From that point on I grew up Baptist, but since all my kin people were Catholic, I still attended Roman Catholic services occasionally, either at weddings, funerals, or attending Sunday mass when I stayed with cousins.

During my service in the Navy, I developed a desire to know and understand the Christian faith better. This came about because of a spiritual and intellectual crisis that I went through at that time. I left the Navy a confirmed Baptist, but realised that there were good Christians in many different churches.

My first break with traditional Baptist teachings came shortly after I had been married. My parents, while strongly Baptists, were never part of the hyper anti-alcohol types, and I did drink a beer now and then. One Sunday the pastor at the church Lisa and I were attending preached a very strong anti-alcohol sermon. I remember he said "I can tell whether some one is a true Christian by looking and seeing if there was beer in the refrigerator." This was on a rare day when I just happened to have a few beers in our icebox.

I commented to Lisa that by the preachers statement he would consider us non-Christians. I had been reading the Scriptures a lot and saw that wine was a very common and good thing according to the Bible. Something was not right; either the preacher was wrong, or I was mis-reading the word of God. I determined to do an in depth word study on wine in the Bible. After much study, I was convinced that the traditional Baptist position on the issue of beer and wine was not Biblical.

This conclusion, while it validated my practice, bothered me greatly because I had acquired the desire to be a minister of the Gospel. Now I would not in good faith, be able to preach the Gospel because I disagreed with a strongly held Baptist position.

Not long after I finished my study there was a controversy involving the pastor at our church. I went to the pastor to discuss the issue with him (it involved abortion). While he maintained that abortion was wrong, he justified it in this case because of an individuals nearness to him. While our conversation was congenial it was clear to me that we would have to move on.

Before Lisa and I met she was attending and Presbyterian Church, and her brother-in-law, Ron, was nearing ordination in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Since our marriage, Ron had been ordained and had become the pastor of Lisa's former church.

When I first meet Ron I was greatly surprised. All I knew about Presbyterians was that they were theologically liberal. Ron loved the Lord, knew the Scriptures better than anyone I had ever meet and was theologically conservative as was the PCA (The PCUSA is the liberal denomination). Lisa and I decided to start attending the Prebyterian Church. I thought the Reformed (Presbyterian) view of baptism and and predestination were mistaken, but Ron was a great teacher and these things while held by him were not pushed.

Ron and I had become close friends, our families were very close and we visited regularly. Ron and I debated the Scriptures often. He contiually incouraged me to study the Scriptures, doctrine and history. He challenged many of my views; we were involved in a running debate on predestination. I studied the issue continuesly so I could point out his error, but he kept answering my objections. After two years I reluctantly admitted that the Scriptures did teach God sovereignty even on the point of predestinating those who would be saved.

In the next two years we would debate baptism and there too I came to understand the Reformed understanding of baptism to be correct.

My theological jourrney has been fun and exciting (for me). I love to study the Scriptures, biblical doctrine and Church history. I read theologians from most all Christian views and love to do so. Still, today I am Reformed in my theology.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Kenith

I am still awake at this time in the morning because I have been awake all night for the previous five nights at work.

Craig C. and I left work this morning at about 5:45. We went to visit with Gary J. He had three glasses of wine waiting and we each enjoyed his pinot noir. It was smooth and had good body. I was impressed.

After a second glass of wine I came home; Lisa and the little boys were already up. Lisa greeted me with her beautiful smile and a kiss. Even after twenty years of marriage my heart still melts every time she smiles at me.

I slept until after 2PM. Not long after I got up the little boys came home and I had time to spend with them. We played their Game Cube for a while. Then we ate supper and I had to get ready to leave the house.

Lisa and I started dance lessons this evening. We are taking a class on a dance called "West Coast Swing." Lisa knows how to do it already, so I am the one actually taking the class and she is assisting me.

After the class I brought Lisa home, went and picked Christian (our 17 year old) from his cousins house. We got home; I said prayers with the little boys. Lisa had said them already but they wanted to pray with me (I love that!). Then Lisa went to bed.

Morgan, Christian and I then watched a movie on DVD titled Ever After. It was a cute movie.

Before the movie started, I poured myself a class of home made Stout beer that my friend Fred S. had made and given to me. I later poured myself and second glass of beer. A good movie at home with my older children with a couple of good home brews makes for an evening worth living.

Now to the sad news. We got an email from the pastor of our church to tell us that a good friend and member of our church has been diagnosed with some sort of cancer. This breaks my heart. I don't know what kind of cancer it is, but I will close this blog now and use the rest of my time awake in prayer for my friend Jimmy S. and his family.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

The Super Bowl is over and I didn't watch it. I'm at work for my last (#5) night on this set of graveyards. I might have watched it had I been off, but only if I had gone to a Super Bowl party that Lisa and I were invited to. I don’t tend to watch pro-football.

Our Red Beans and Rice with deer sausage and cornbread were very good last night. Tonight had chilidogs with all the trimmings. After we all feasted on hotdogs we had a little time to sit around and chat. I found out that several of the guys had made a bet last night regarding one of my common sayings that I did not realise I say. The thing that they were waiting for me to say was (this sounds pretty goofy) "awh shucks, that's too funny." Well I said it, while laughing, after a story told by Danny N. All the guys broke into a big laugh and Danny said "I won." That is when I realised that I was the butt of some kind of joke. It is good to work and be able to enjoy yourself too and we do get to do that here sometimes.

In the morning when I work off (about 5:45-6:00) I am supposed to run by Gary J’s place. He said for me to come by and he would let me try the Pinot Noir which is his latest wine that he made. A glass or two of wine in the morning should be just right and help me drift off to sleep when I get home.

Well I have work to do so I have to sign off for now.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today is my third night on graveyard shift. Things have gone pretty good so far. I brought out groceries and cooked for the shift tonight. I cooked a Cajun favourite Pain Perdu (pronounced “Pan” [you have to cut the ‘n’ very short] pehr-du). This translates in to English as “lost bread” but is known by most folks as “French toast.”

Walter D. and Mitchell T. assisted with the cooking. While I was busy with the pain perdu, Walt cooked the bacon and sausage and Mitch cooked some scrambled eggs. We cooked enough to feed fourteen people and we even had a (very) little bit left over.

Tomorrow night we're supposed to have red beans and rice with deer sausage. And Sunday night we are planning on chilidogs. This new shift is going to do a lot more cooking on shift then my old shift. I'm going to have to watch weight.

I don’t have much to place on the blog about home, because my time during the day at home is spent mostly sleeping.

I will sign off now with a very full belly.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today was a good day. I got up with Lisa and helped with the kids this morning. Later I went to visit my Pawpaw Adam. We had a great visit. I heard a few new stories and laughed hysterically a couple of times. Mrs. Esther (my step grandmother) invited me to dinner (diner is the true name for what is these day called lunch). Mrs. Esther is an elderly Cajun lady and today she had made chicken gumbo, potato salad and baked sweet potatoes. It was all very good and I left full.

Pawpaw and I did not tour his garden today (this is very rare) because it was cold outside and I did not want him out in the weather.

My mom and sister showed up at Pawpaw and Esther's while I was there. That too made it a good visit.

After leaving there, I ran some errands and then took the little boys grocery shopping. Lisa thinks that I must be crazy to take those two little boys shopping, but I find it to be great fun. They get excited about everything. I remember them getting all excited about some Sponge Bob frozen waffles. (No I did not buy those, I bought the generic [cheap] brand)

Lisa and I have two teenagers and a six and seven year old. Things can be, and usually are, very hectic around the house, but I love the life I have with my wife and children. I would not trade this life for all the boy's toys in the world.

I believe true joy is in the seemingly mundane life of family. It is found in loving and serving your wife and children. Scripturally I am the head of this house, but we learn also from the Word of God that headship and rule means service. The head is the servant of all those whom he rules over.

I fall far short of being the perfect husband and father and I pray constantly that the Lord will make me to be far better than I am and that my children will learn from my mistakes and do better than I have done.

I am a man most blessed by the Lord God.

Dominus vobiscum,
Kenith

Today (now yesterday) was a good Lord's Day. Lisa, the kids and I went to Church. The worship service was excellent. We have started using a different liturgical format which I think is wonderful. The worship service was a great blessing.

This evening I was asked to speak to a group of men that are struggling with some of the teachings at another local Reformed Church. I think we had a good and productive discussion. I hope all these men will continue to persevere in the Reformed Faith.

After that I went over to my buddy TK's house. TK is the one who arranged for me to have the discussion with the men above. At TK's house we had a couple of beers and discussed how things went with the group earlier. We were both encouraged by the way things went.

After that I came home to the family. The little boys were finishing up with their baths. I was able to visit with them a little while before I said prayers with them and sent them to bed.

At 10 PM my buddy MK came over with a couple of bottles of red wine. He wanted to do a blind taste test, so I got four classes from the cabinet and we did the taste test.

It is amazing how wines differ. the first wine was a Beaulieou Vineyard - Costal merlot (2000) and the second wine was a Fonte AL Sole - sangiovese/merlot (2001). The first wine was ok, a good everyday wine, but the second wine was very smooth and nice.

After our wine tasting we went outside to walk around the block (several times) and pray. We had a good time praying before the Lord our God. It's always a pleasure to pray with MK. We've been doing this for 15 years now. Its always a joy.

Saturday I did go to Eunice with JD. We went to the Savoy Music Center and caught the (Cajun music) jam session. It was great fun, and I can't wait to bring pawpaw and my little boys to it next time,

I did buy a tape about playing the Cajun Accordion. I own an accordion and need to learn how to play something.

BTW: I picked up a CD by Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin and Canray Fontenot. The CD is La Musique Creole and it is "WoW" good.

It is late and I need to get up early. I will write more when I can.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

It has been a little while since my last blog. Things have been busy at work and we or off line at home (computer problems). I will try to catch up on things now.

Last Saturday night Lisa and I went to a Mardi Gras ball that we were invited to. They had a really good band there and we had a good time. Our (Lisa’s) niece, and here boy friend, both belong to the Mardi Gras Krewe (Krewe de Sauvage ) that but own the ball, and we were their guests.

The rest of the time between my last post and now have been uneventful. I have been on day shift (working from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm). Days during the week are almost always busy and there is not much blog time.

When on days I usually get home between 6:00 and 6:30. The little boys have a bed time normal bed time of 8:30, so most of my time is spent with them and helping Lisa get them ready for bed. They have to read to one of us (they both prefer to read to their mom) and I usually read to them as well. We have also started doing flash cards (addition) before bed. I always say their evening prayers with them when I’m home.

Our older children have their own things keeping them busy.

Yesterday I got home a bit late. After work Mitch T. and I went to Gary J’s house. We had a few beers and a good visit. Gary ordered some cigars for Mitch to hand out when his baby boy is born next month. So we had to try each a cigar to make sure it was worth handing out for such a momentous occasion.

Tomorrow I am hoping to go to the Saturday morning jam session at the Savoy Music Center in Eunice. I plan to go with my little boys, and Jeremy D. I hope my buddy David (pronounced--Dah veed) H. can meet us there.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I just finished watching The Pianist. This is a powerful, heartbreaking film. It cut into my soul.

Adrien Brody's portrayal of Wladyslaw Szpilman surviving the atrocities done to the Jews in occupied Warsaw, Poland is magnificent.

I wish everyone could see this movie. It portrays man’s inhumanity to man. It shows human courage and dignity, as well as human cruelty and depravity. It present good and evil among the Jews, Poles and Germans alike. It doesn’t glorify any one group and demonise another as you might expect. It shows that there were kind, good, courageous people among the Jew’s, Pole’s and Germans and it depicts some from each people who chose evil. This is true of the Germans, Poles and Jews as well.

I was really struck by that part of the movie where Szpilman is shown to be starving. In these scenes his hair is straight and long, he is bearded and his face is gaunt and withered. At this point in the film Brody looks hauntingly like my brother Gerry did in the weeks before his death from cancer last July. I was taken a back by how much he resembled my beloved brother in those scenes. It broke my heart. This too added the power of the film for me, but even without that personal experiance, the film is a very powerful statement.

I am a man blessed so greatly. I know that I am no better than those millions of people swept up and shattered during World War II. I am no more worthy of peace and happiness than they were. Yet I do live in peace and prosperity, while they were swept up in a overwhelming tidal wave of death and destruction. Why? God alone knows.

Time and again in history individuals and masses of people have been brutalised and slaughtered by their fellow man for the most senseless of reasons. We all have ancestors who were brutalisers and who were brutalised. This is part of our common heritage. It is a product of the fall, and only the New Creation in Jesus Christ will finally end our corporate inhumanity and bring true and everlasting peace.

Dominus vobiscum,
Kenith

This morning I went and picked up a tux for a Mardi Gras ball that Lisa and I are going to tomorrow night. After picking up the tux I went to visit my grandfather. It is always a joy to visit with him.

His name is Adam (pronounced ah-dahm) and he is old. When he passes away my link to the old Cajun world will die with him. Pawpaw, like his generation, grew up knowing little English. French was his first and only language as a child. Even my mom could not speak English before she started school.

I love to sit and talk to my grandfather. He is full of stories of his child hood. He has a strong old Cajun accent and often he has to stop because he can not think of how to say something in English. He will then revert to French, most of the time I can follow these short excursions. But like most Cajuns of my generation, I speak very little French. I find it very sad that here in South Louisiana, our native Cajun language is almost dead.

Pawpaw has told me many stories from his childhood and young adult years. Most of them I have heard a number of times, but they're always worth hearing again. He's a good story teller, even in his broken English.

Pawpaw, like his father before him (and so many others back then) was a sharecropper. He is a man of the soil, and even now at eighty-three he maintains a garden year around. We have a pattern to our visits. I will sit in a chair next to him and we talk about some current events and family matters. I then ask about old things and listen as he tells his stories.

After a good conversation, I tell him that I need to leave and stand up. He has a bad hip and it hurts him to stand, but he always insists on standing even though I tell him not to. His answer is “I have to get up some times.” We then go outside. He then invites me to look at his garden with him, so instead of leaving I go with him on a tour of the garden and fruit trees. This always takes a minimum of thirty minutes, and I usually leave with something to plant in my own yard. This morning he gave me a Japanese plum tree. I will plant it this afternoon.

We look at each crop, discuss how it is doing and if it is not doing well discuss the reasons for this. Today we looked at the sweet potatoes he dug up this morning. They were mostly small and we talked about why that was so. Next we looked and the mustard greens and cabbages. And on and on.

These times spent with Pawpaw are threads of gold in my life’s tapestry. He is a wonderful man and I love him dearly.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

This is my last graveyard shift. I work off in the morning and plan to go to Gary J’s house and have a beer or two before going home to sleep. A beer a 6AM is pretty good if you've been up all night working. We just rotated to our new shifts. Gary and I were on seperate shifts of the last year, so we have not been able to do our early morning, after work beer and wine sessions for a while. I an a few ours we begin again.

Gary has some old missionary friends staying with him this week. I have wanted to meet this friend of his for some time. He is supposed to get up and visit with us. These folks are with New Tribes Missions and are serving with some Indians in Mexico, as did Gary and liz.

We started the shift this evening with one extra person on shift, but JW had to leave because his wife’s grandmother is gravely ill, and Craig C. bailed out of here a short time later. Craig wife called and said that the baby was on the way.
Craig just called from the hospital a little while ago. He and his wife have a brand new baby boy who weighed in at 7lbs. 15 oz. Momma, baby and dad are all doing fine.

I've started reading a biography of Nathan Bedford Forrest titled That Devil Forrest by John Allen Wyeth. It was first published in 1899, is still in print and comes highly recommended. This is the second biography of Forrest that I've tackled. Several years back I read Andrew Nelson Lytle's Bedford Forrest and His Critter Company which is published by J. S. Sanders & Company as part of their Southern Classics Series. It is a fine book as well.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

At work we are, as of tomorrow night, changing shifts, so my beloved shift from 2003 is no more. Friday most of us, along with our spouses (if you had one) got together an went out to eat and then went to OB’s and then Yesterdays to continue our “passing a good time.” Lisa was, of course, most beautiful. The other ladies looked nice as well, especially Dee.

Saturday my daughter, the little boy’s and I went to Longville to visit with family. We had some well seasoned, (Cajun style) boiled shrimp for dinner (the noon meal) and then my dad, brother, young sons and I went outside to do some shooting with our guns. This is always fun.

Tonight Lisa went to see the Elvis impersonation national championship (the prize was $50,000) and the local favorite won. I came home and got the little boys ready for bed and then put them to bed, after that my buddy MK came over with a couple of bottles of wine. We drank a nice bottle of Sangiovese and opened a Yellow tail Shiraz-Cabernet blend before he had to head back home.

I have to get up for church in the morning so I have to shut this down. Bonne nuit.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I did make the trip to Lafayette Tuesday, but My son and his friend bailed out on us so it was just me and Israel “Izzy” P. It was his first trip and we had a good time. I enjoy climbing but just as fun was the trip over there. Since it was just two of us, and not four as we originally planned, we did not go in the minivan as I had planned. Instead, Izzy picked me up in his Corvette Z06. (his Z06 is yellow like the one in the pictures)

This is a fine automobile and was fun to ride in. Izzy did show me some of what it is capable of. All I could say was WOW!! I am very impressed with this beautiful car.

After we climbed around at the Rok Haus for a few hours, we went and got us a bite to eat and headed back to Lake Charles.

Izzy invited my son and I to go to his place and play video games. He has three computers hooked up together (LAN) so we were all in the same games. We played Desert Combat and Battlefield 1942. This was a blast and my 17 year old son thought it was great. When we left he told me that we needed to get set up like that.

Izzy and Christian both did a lot better than me. Izzy’s really good and Christian was pretty good. I was glad I was able to do just a little bit of good in the game.

On Wednesday I ran a few errands and then took a nap so I could work tonight. I am here now and it is quiet. I have 3 1/2 hours to go. This is my last day on shift with my 2003 crew. Next week we go to our new shifts and I am loosing three of the five guys that were on shift with me this year. I really like these fellows and hate to part with them.

Our crew and the crew of the unit we share a control room with are scheduled to go out to dinner and then to a club Friday night since we will not all be together next year.

Gotta go to work.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

LSU did it. We won the Sugar Bowl!!!

What a game! Lisa and I went to watch the game at the house of some of our friends. We ate, drank and watched the game. I also paced back and forth, chewed my nails, cheered, and moaned. Lisa said I was the most energetic and loud person there. The Tigers scared me a few times but the came through it victorious.

After last night Nick Saban could be elected dictator for life if there were plebiscite held in Louisiana today.

Now back to the daily grind I am at work again today, but tomorrow I am off and hope to do a couple of important things. I plan to visit with my grandfather in the morning and then tomorrow afternoon I hope to go to the Rok haus with my son, Izzy and perhaps Paul S. and do some indoor rock climbing. I will be the oldest and the plumpest person in the group, but I think I can still hang (somewhat) with the younger crowd.

I have to go so I so can finish up my work and head home.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today is the last day in our work week here at the refinery, and at days end I will have put in 76 hours this week. I can’t complain because they are paying me nicely for working all the overtime.

Today has been a pretty typical Sunday. Things are going well and it is quiet out here. Yesterday was a busy Saturday so a slow day to day is welcomed.

We had and awesome dinner (lunch for those addicted to modernity). It was a gumbo with wild duck and deer sausage. The deer sausage was very good and the duck too was very tasty. We also had the requisite potato salad to go with (in) the gumbo. It was a true South Louisiana Cajun feast. Walter D. and Mitch T. provided the ducks, the sausage and then cooked everything. Those fellas can cook!!!

I finally got around to reading Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard. It was certainly different. Kierkegaard is arguing against Hegelian concepts that are not at issue today, so much of the book is (IMHO) no relevant to our day. At the same time I did find some of the discussion and insights in the book to be very interesting and wonderful.

Lisa and I are going to some friends house to watch the Sugar Bowl this evening. I hope LSU can pull off a victory tonight. Geaux Tigers.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

New Years eve has come and gone. I was awake at the stroke of midnight, even though I had gone to bed at 11. I purchased some fireworks for the kids and Mike S. came over with his son and we all popped firecrackers and other assorted items. The little boys had a great time.

Lisa watched television while we did the firework thing and our daughter went to her cousins house to bring in the New Year. Mike and I enjoyed a bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot while we popping the fireworks. Yellow Tail is an Australian brand of good inexpensive wines.

We did not celebrate at midnight because I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to come to work. This morning has been a busy one for me a few others, but I hope we can still have a nice day here at work.

Kenith