I saw three ships come sailing in ......

These were taken at the extreme range of my camera lens. Three ships on three journeys.The sailing ship in the centre and right was by far the most interesting.I could picture her going to some really romantic places. It was like something out of my book "The Scent of Time" -except The Night Arrow has three masts not just two. Everytime I see a ship like that, there is a pull to travel -it is a good thing I married Stephanie who also has gypsy blood . The ship on the left is a research ship from Norway and on the right the boat that does short trips to look for Dolphins -it gets tossed about quite a bit.Three ships, three different journeys.
Life is like that God calls us to do different things and we cross the path of fellow followers of Jesus called to do something  to make a difference for the Master.I bet that if someone from the research ship fell over board they would be glad to be picked out of the water by the Dolphin Boat or someone from the big ship would be glad to be picked up by the sailing ship.Called to do different tasks for the same Master. 
I hate it when people cause division-"I serve God better than you but not quite as good as him." I am happy with my middle of the road stance -yet it is in the middle of the road you are most liable to get hit. 
Three journeys,the big research ship,the zippy Dolphin boat or the exotic dreamy Island 
 seeker . Which one are you?

A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step

For many years my first wife Kathy refused to go and visit places abroad, that included England."We should not give our money to foreign governments." I tried to persuade her that we needed to go because one day we might not be able. So I would read to her from Georges Simenon -Maigret. He painted a rough picture of Paris but he also like a good writer, spun a web that sparked curiosity. Not to do wrong things, but to see what places were like. In Simenon you could smell the cheese shops ,the flower sellers,the fruit shops and the boulangerie. Hear the musicians and the hum of conversation .The patron with the inevitable Gauloise hanging from his lips, and the Quai des Orfevres where Maigret had his office.It worked ,we went and she was enchanted with Paris,she became animated .We went to different places for five years abroad .Then WHAM she was too sick to go.We went to York then and Durham (I recommend both of these) then she was too sick to go anywhere but her family.
Folks you only have ONE life, this is it. Heaven is wonderful but the Lord expects you to be thankful for this life.This is not a rehearsal to polish up your act . You do not know what a day will bring .When we see one of these beautiful yachts  sliding off into the sunset ,Steph and I realize that we were born gypsies.Remember Lee Marvin ,"I was born under a wandering star..."
Folks do what you can now, do not sit at home as old men and women with a dream in your heart and the empty echo of "I wish I had done that .....now it's too late." We can be cautious but being too cautious can take all the joy of living .Next thing you will be leaving a pile of 'risk assessment forms on your bedside cabinet and filling one in before you get up in the morning . One day one of Kathy's tomorrows did not come, what about you ?

Je pense que......

Do you have a thinking place? The good thing about thinking places is that you do not have to actually be there -just think you are there.It is a place of peace -is it a sign of age that peace becomes more appealing.
Peace not in the sense of not doing anything,but inner peace when you can take time to walk with Jesus. This is my thinking place,the place to which I return even though I do not actually have to go there. The house is beautiful and the island is welcoming and soothing.There I can walk with the Lord, but the wonderful thing and big difference between my thinking place and walking with Jesus is that I do not have to imagine He is there ,I know He is. So in the midst of trouble there is peace, and He pushes fear and panic out. "Lo " He says "I am with you always,even unto the end of the age." My Island gives me peace when there is no pressure .My Jesus gives me peace in the midst of pressure.The difference between the two is stellar.

The Scent of Rome

There is something about Rome that cannot be put into words. It is like trying to describe all the things I love about my wife, yet were I to write them they would fall short of what I feel.
Rome is like A Siren calling .....when you stop what you are doing,you think of her.The famous buildings but the real Rome is like this street .It is a city where people live and love.Laugh and cry and make her what she is. The espresso, the bakeries .The smiling faces and the excited hand waving, the big heart and the beautiful people. Trying to describe Rome is like trying to say what your favorite color is in a mosaic.
One day I am back at the Colosseum, then the bridges and the senate square and ....and ... and.
It is the place,not where you can get lost ,but where you can lose yourself. Imagine Christmas in Rome,
I even sigh over street maps, and look at postcards and tourist books. If I had a wish that The Scent of Time and The Scent of Home could be translated into one language it would be Italian. Black Rose Writing my publisher does not do Italian yet . Yet I still cannot put it into words but often when I close my eyes and take a deep breath and smell coffee and perfume and the Scent of flowers it is the Scent of Rome. Arrive'derci

Rising to the Scent of Home

"My what a feeling to fly,over mountain and forest and trees
I can go anywhere that I please." Abba -Eagle.

How many of us in the midst of a gritty,tearful day,have looked up and watched an Eagle fly,glide soar over head .He catches a thermal and lets it do the work of lifting her high .The pigeon flaps,many times and never seems to get the distance. The hen flaps and never leaves the ground. The society we live in will pin us down,it doesn't like Eagles. She rises higher and higher and looks at the sun.

Thanks to Jesus ,one day we will soar up to be with God . Real freedom is the freedom to love and to love God who is love. Next time you feel trapped ,close your eyes and picture the Eagle soaring up high ,gliding past problems being where heshe was born to be.

In my new book 'The Scent of Home' Drew Faulkner is up to his neck in problems till he starts to look up and realizes for real only the Lord can help. Shifting his focus from the problem to the solution ,from the mud to the sky.
"..and I dream I'm an eagle and I dream I can spread my wings flying high.." God is still in the business of maKING dreams come true. Happy soaring.
 

"Commando"

The name of the "Commandos " struck fear into the soldiers of the Axis powers during World War II and their successors are fighting in Afghanistan today.
When they were formed in 1940.Britain had her back to the wall, Europe had been over run by the Nazi infestation and Churchill the British Prime Minister formed an elite force to strike back into occupied Europe and the later the Far East .

The training was the toughest possible and the guys had to pass all the sections or they had to go back to their units. The memorial is at Spean Bridge and the wild country round about was their training ground. They often went on op's knowing they would not return. So feared were they that Hitler ordered that any commandos caught were to be shot out of hand .They only one who refused to do this was Erwin Rommel who knew courage when he saw it and knew good soldiers when he met them .
Their motto was "United we Conquer" and they built up strong bonds of support and friendship.All the Commandos I have met have been tough,stalky characters who looked as though they could do serious damage with the 'Sykes -Fairbairn' knife.

My character RSM Angus McTurk (from my book The Scent of Time and soon to be published sequel The Scent of Home ) is based on aCommando .

There they stand and it is good that we have memorials to courage not just to remember those who died in World War II but those of the British and United States forces who have paid the supreme price so that we can be free Freedom both internal and external is very costly, these guys stand at Spean Bridge to remind us of that .

Wingman

It must be wonderful to be able to fly one of these. I spoke to a WW2 Mustang (on right) pilot who had covered the North Sea .He said it was so hard to settle down to a desk job after flying one of these.
One key factor was your 'wing man', the guy and /or now girl who flew beside you. They had your back, you could concentrate on what lay ahead. It must have been a great comfort when you saw the enemy to know that someone was flying with you. Who remembers the picture protrayed in the Abba song 'Eagle'

It is not just in aircraft but we have folk who back us up in life.That rare handful of folk who stick by you no matter what.Those you can count on the fingers of one hand .The platinum people. Yet how often do we thank our wingman for flying with us, for being there when the storm comes or the flak starts flying ?

My dad told me that poeple like that in your life you can count on the fingers of one hand if you are blessed .The old man was dead right .Have you appreciated your wingmen? Good old Bob ,good old Susan -just imagine if they were not there. Appreciate them while you can.

I married my wing woman ,but there is One who is even greater ,The One who sticks closer than a brother -Jesus Christ .He promised 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' He is impervious to flak
and covers you (Psalm 91). One thing the devil will not mess with that wing man.