Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to everyone especially my Dad. Dad I love you and I think you know how sorry I am to have disappointed you. I hope you had a great Father's Day. My wife and children allowed me to watch the U.S. Golf Open uninterrupted which is always a good thing.

Earlier today we went to a church service. This church service was very unlike any other church service my wife and I have attended. It was a Bible study. I didn't really understand what a Bible study church service was about but I understand now. The first 30 minutes of the service was filled with Christian music which was very good. The next 30 minutes was led by the Pastor (who incidentally is the husband of my daughter's first grade teacher and he appears to be a wonderful person just like his wife) reading passages out of the Bible. He would then interpret each passage into common everyday English and he would also relate those passages to everyday life. The services was very interesting and coming from a Catholic background very different. My wife is certainly more Catholic than I and I think she was having a hard time with the lack of structure in the service. Catholic mass is very structured and Bible Church Study is more like a college lecture on the Scripture. The end result in any religion should be the same which is having faith in something other than yourself. Sometimes this message gets lost in the politics of the church or the personalities of the priest but in the end you should walk away with a better understanding of this higher power.

The Bible Study also hosts Sunday school for the children. We were very fortunate today because my daughter's first grade teacher was leading one of the classes. At first my son and daughter didn't want to go to the Sunday School; however; my daughter wanted to go to the class taught by her teacher. This class was designated for children a little older than my daughter; however; her teacher (being the WONDERFUL person she is) said she would take her in this class without any problem. Now my son (who is 4) wanted to go to the same class with his sister and of course her teacher obliged. I was a little worried about my son because he seems to have a hard time sitting still but when we came back to the classroom an hour later he was sitting in the same seat and seemed very interested in the class. Now I know my daughter's first grade teacher is a MIRACLE WORKER because she held his attention for that long and didn't have any problems with him!! She even commented that he (my son) is going to be a great student because he is so serious. My wife and I were both shocked and amazed.

It was a very good day and there are more positive aspects of my life than negatives. Yes, this is a low point in my life but each day I continue to grow and will be the person I am destined to be. One last item; yesterday someone at our Gamblers Anonymous meeting was talking about finally being "cracked open" to fully comprehend they had a gambling addiction. I was "cracked open" 111 days and instead of bleeding to death I chose to rebuild myself into a better person.

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Baby Gracie who turns one today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!