A Story of Sadness About a Wounded Warrior

It has been a while since my last post. I hope this is a start of many more post.

It has been sad to see how many of my fellow veterans are struggling. It breaks my heart when I hear their stories. I will share one here, and hope you will support him.

Sgt Michael Thorin was deployed to Afghanistan. He was a platoon leader of a escort unit protecting the caravans of vehicles traveling.

One day he was escorting a caravan, when the vehicle in front of him caught on fire for no reason. It burst into flames very quickly. Sgt Thorin jumped out of his rig and ran to try to save his men. They couldn’t get close, because of the heat of the flames. Two of his men burnt to death.

When I interviewed him this was the toughest part for him to talk about.

To be helpless and watch your men die has to be hard at best.

This is not the end of the story for Sgt Thorin. During his deployment he contracted some virus, or germ. This tore into his lungs. When he got out, he attempted to be a firefighter, and did well for a while. He had to stop working later because his lungs were closing down.

Today he is still alive, but needs a double lung transplant.

He is a very strong Christian, and he said that is what is keeping him going. He posts a lot on Facebook to share his love for the Lord. Go to Facebook and put in his name, Michael Thorin, and be blessed.

There are many more stories like this in my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

What about you? Are you struggling? Please understand the you are not alone. There are over 7,000 followers of this blog and they are in the same boat with you.

Reach out by making a comment and we will support you 100%

Don’t let the dark side take over your life.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!!

Where do I start to Learn on How to Grow as a Christian?

Thanks to those of you who have been subscribing through the RSS feed. It helps us growing on the Google Search Rankings. Help us to continue to grow by signing up today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

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Another shocking announcement! ( That got your attention!) “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World, ” is now out in eBook form. I You can acquire it at all the eBook outlets. It is only $4.99 compared to $19.99 in the bookstores. Help it climb the www.amazon.com best selling list. You can even order it right from this site by clicking on the Amazon icon on the right.

If you want a hard copy with the autograph of the author on it, just click on the bookstore tab at the top of this page to order one. It is only $15.99 plus shipping compared to the $19.99 price in the retail stores.

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I have a podcast here that I did with John Kremer, the marketing guru. He invited me to share unusual places to sell books. Take a listen and hit those streets running: goo.gl/WGTF7

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Writing is something that needs a person who has a love ofr it. It can be very rewarding, but then it can be tedious, and full of days where you form a blank. That is called, “Writer’s block.”

What do you do when writer’s block comes? I step away from my computer and do something else. Most of the time I do crossword puzzles. Crosswords puzzles are my “go to thing”  for many things. When I am stress out, I do them. When I am bored I do them. When I have writer block I do them.

Find your own diversion to help you clear your mind. Believe it or not, I have had some great writing ideas come from doing crossword puzzles. The answers often gave me a word I needed for some part of a chapter I was working on.  

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Some ask, where does it start to have a good Christian life? Is it at the church? Is it from other friends?

Actually both of those are important, but I feel it really starts right in your own home. You have the challenge of being a good example to those around you in your home. This is a 24/7 job. What you do, and others see, can have a tremendous impact of them.

I wasn’t raised in what you would call a Christian home. I am from a broken home, and my mother was the only bread winner for my brother and I for all of our childhood. She provided for us even though she only made about $1.35 an hour during our growing up years. 

She didn’t go to church. That was the only day she had off from work, and she rested. I never once thought she was a bad person because of that. She was my hero; my wonder woman in my life.   

I was able to attend Young Life in high school and that is where I met the LORD. I never missed a meeting, because there was many friends there. They were my example I need to be exposed to.

After I married I made sure my family went to church every Sunday, and when My children grew up and they all married Christian spouses, and have Christian children.

That is how Christianity grows and is alive. It starts in the home.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

Do You Often have “Bad Hair Days?”

Thanks to those of you who have been subscribing through the RSS feed. It helps us growing on the Google Search Rankings. Help us to continue to grow by signing up today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

___________________________________________________________

Another shocking announcement! ( That got your attention!) “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World, ” is now out in eBook form. I You can acquire it at all the eBook outlets. It is only $4.99 compared to $19.99 in the bookstores. Help it climb the www.amazon.com best selling list. You can even order it right from this site by clicking on the Amazon icon on the right.

If you want a hard copy with the autograph of the author on it, just click on the bookstore tab at the top of this page to order one. It is only $15.99 plus shipping compared to the $19.99 price in the retail stores.

_________________________________________________________

I have a podcast here that I did with John Kremer, the marketing guru. He invited me to share unusual places to sell books. Take a listen and hit those streets running: goo.gl/WGTF7

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I thought I was going to have a bad hair day. This was the day I met with my doctor to go over some test reults.

The resut turned out to be not so bad. I have some kidneys that aren’t 100%, (57%) but are OK. I will have to have blood tests for them every three months, and a ultra sound every six months. I can handle that compared to what I was thinking it could be.

This was another one of those examples that 99% of what we worry about never happens, and the other 01% we should turn over to God.

I did have a positive end to the day. I checked my mail at my business mail bax, and there was a check from a shop where they carried my book. They had sold all three of the books I left there on consignment.

While I am on that subject, let me highlight an interview I did with John Kremer. (You can listen to the while thing above in the last paragraph of the lead-ins.)

In that interview, John asked me to share some unusual places to sell books.

The store that I just sold three was a children’s shop with toys, learning programs, and childrens books. The owner was a fine Christian woman who had recently lost her husband. She had one little nook area in the store where she sold Christian books. We agreed to try my books in the store. All three sold.

My wife and I have a hair dresser that has her own beauty salon. She has pretty good traffic. I asked her if she might carry my books near her spot. She agreed, and I sold 26 books at that one spot. My book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,”  has nothing to do with hair styles, etc, but it was unusual, and it was there in the fall before Christmas. How could you go wrong in doing your Christmas shopping while you are having your hair done at the same time?

I had a friend who owned a winery near me. I talked to him about carrying my book in his gift shop. He didn’t think it would do too well, because all the other books were about wine. I told him I would go on consignment, and there would be no cost out of his pocket. He liked that, and agreed to put them in his gift shop. I sold six books in that winery gift shop. Again it was in the fall, and people coming in wehre looking for unsual gifts. I later had a signing there and sold 20 more books.

You need to list to the podcast to hear some other ideas.

Don’t ever think that ANY one store is not good to sell your books. Check all of them out and talk to the owner. Often, offering to have your books on consignment only intices the owners to give it a try.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!