Galen

No you do not have to be a citizen. At my last duty-station, I worked for a brit, he was finishing his 20 years and he was a senior chief. I also had one peruvian working for me. One Brazailian, and a guy form Georgia (no, not a in-bred toothless hick, this guy spoke witha british accent and was russian) We all served in the US Navy together, and the Peruvian and Brazilian, both were injured and very nearly died while following my orders under my command. Foreigners can join the US military, and later apply for US citizenship (if they wnat to). I have known numerous Philipinos who serve but who also do not wish to become citizens (it effects their tax-status). Otherwise the new house is coming along well enough. I erected the building and hung the walls and roof. I began cementing the basement flooring, but my mixer died. the local stores dont have any mixers for under $700, so I bought one via WWW for $168 and I am waiting for it to arrive by UPS. I just need to dig-out the basement a bit, and cement it. Then floor joists and floor. I hope to be done with that around New years. Then I can blow-on some styro-foam insulation to the walls, wiring, plumbing, and maybe some internal paneling before we move in. then next summer, we can cut some holes to mount the windows. Ta Da B)

Aboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum in San Diego, Calif., 111 U.S. military service members from 48 countries take the oath of citizenship on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2005. DoD photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Michael Larson, U.S. Navy. (Released) Check out the photo: http://jccc.afis.osd.mil/images/sres.pl?Lb...-6901L-001&ref= Cool

May God bless you and her and her daughter

A year ago my eldest sister (Judy) passed away. As soon as we were told, we packed up and flew out immediately. When we got to California, I called and was told that Judy's husband and daughters did not want any visitors, that they would be making all arrangements for the funeral and that they would notify us of when it would be happening. My mother was glad to see us, but she was in histeria and not able to visit with her grand-children. So we went up into the mountains and stayed in her cabin. I called each of my brothers, but they were each too busy to talk, or to allow us to come and visit with them. We sat in the cabin for a few days, until we finally were called with the date and time of the funeral. I called each of my brothers, and found that none of them had even considered taking the time off from work to attend their sister's funeral. They all live within a 40 mile radius. After a two days, I was finally able to convince each brother to attend, but on the condition that should anyone see my bio-father, then everyone could scatter. They really dont like my father. We attended the funeral, and our children had the opportunity of meeting each of their aunts and uncles. It was a big church funeral, in the church where I had grown up. Afterwards the church had a BIG dinner, and they invited all church members to attend. Judy had always been a very active leader in church politics and her husband is a deacon in that church. Both of their daughters attend that church, neither of them have ever dated a boy, as their father is very intimidating and would not allow it to happen. The daughters played piano and organ for the funeral, and it was very nice. One neice has a law degree from UC Davis, the other is studying medicine; they both live at home and are in their 30s, they are very active in church life. My mother was the only one who could not hold it together. After the funeral we all drove to the cemetary and did a grave-side service. then the church members went back to the church for their dinner. None of the rest of us family-members are church members anymore so we all scattered, and I flew back to the East coast the following morning. I wish that we would have had to opportunity to sit down with and visit with my brothers, they each have wives and children, and I think that some of my nephews are even married, so it would have been good to visit with their wives and children as well. It would also have been nice to visit with Judy's family. But suhc is not how a big family seems to function. :)

We are about 3000 miles away from my mother.

How sweet.

More and more of our produce comes from South America and Africa these days. It amazes me each time that I walk through a produce aisle and look at where this stuff comes from now days.

Lot got drunk too.

I a four year old German Shepherd mix (that we got from a pound), she had a litter of 10 before we got her 'fixed', she is great with children, and so long as I am near her she is freindly with strangers. But this summer, once while talkng to a contractor and petting his dog, My bitch came out through an open car window and attacked his bitch. I stopped by an animal hospital to ask about this behavior. A young female vet told me that this is not un-common 'female-jealousy'. She recommended meds that they commonly proscribe for 'female-jealousy', she assured me that it is common in all mammals and is easily treated. This vet was a lady in her late twentys and when she told me this, I laughed in her face (though I soon apologized to her). . Today we live with a 90 pound German Shepherd bitch that is very possessive of me, very jealous and is anxious anytime that I leave her behind. I can not go near other bitches, though other male dogs dont seem to effect any response from her. She insists on sleeping in the same room. When I sit down she must lay on my feet. She is fine with Bonnie and the kids, though when Bonnie and I am talking she must position herself between us. Have fun.

Cool. I once bought gasoline for 14 cents a gallon (Regular) 16 cents for ethel.

Welcome

That is funny.

True. It is a government thing, and thus not covered by anything Biblical. On the other hand, when you ARE doing fellowships, having the documents do come in handy. Bonnie got involved with prison ministrys at two seperate duty-stations, and she really enjoyed herself and helped others too. That was made possible by her carrying a certificate of ordination. Whether to view the ordination as a 'scam' or not, I think you have to consider what a person does with their 'calling', and how many people they help.

I dont ordinarily publish that I got my ordination through mail-order. Though I did, as you saw. I normally tell people that I got my ordination from the 'Word of Christ in Action church', I dont normally explain that my interaction with that church was via the mail. It seemed to be a huge need in the ministry, within the branch where I was (Connecticut 1978). And a focus of so much was how the Ministry was largely a ministry of laity. We did not 'need' to attend seminary, to be able to study the Word and minister to people, And actually, at my next following duty-station, we were again in a fellowship that was 'far' away from any Way Corp. When I finally did meet the Limb Coordinator (The Lallys) we were called the 'outer-regions Twig'. And I am sure that even after coordinating a Twig there a couple years, The Lallys would have never recognized me had we passed on the street. While in Virginia, there was need within our Twig and on my submarine, a few times for weddings to be done. It seemed a natural extension. Being active in The Word, nobody in the Navy would ever question where the preacher got his credentials. It was not un-common that young sailors find a bride and want to get married. As the Protestant Lay-Leader On-board, I did serve in place of a Chaplain. So I led Protestant Worship services, and celebrated weddings, etc. We led various Twigs in different places, I was the "Country Coordinator-for Americans living in Scotland" 1987-1990. What a goofy title. It was not until 1991, that we finally got to a place where the Limb Coordinator was someone who actually acted like he wanted to even know who his twig Coordinators were. It was in that time frame 1991-1993, that I did some more weddings for folks in my Twig, and the Limb Coordinator there in Connecticut gave me a copy of LCM's "How to perform a wedding" VHS. George and Wilson Whitehead were great people, just wonderful. It was their replacements that flew into a rage when they heard that I had done yet another wedding, and "threw me out". My next two subs I continued doing the Protestant Worship Services and weddings for the crewmen, and we were in twigs in Charlestown and later Washington. Oakspear - I hope that I did not burst your bubble.

Bless you my brothers and sisters; With so many fellow clergy, I am caused to wonder: Who here was ordained first? And Who here has performed the most weddings? Funerals?

I was first 'ordained' by the "Word of Christ in Action church" of fayetteville Arkansas; back in 1 June 1981. I did it via the US postal service, as we truly needed someone who would perform weddings for some beleivers in our area. As it turned out, the Limb Coordinator (Steve Strezpec) could have performed weddings as needed, but he did not want to. He just would 'counsel' each couple until they finally gave up. He threw a majoy fit when he first learned that I had gotten the ordination and was doing weddings for beleivers in our branch. He claimed that I was born of a different 'spiritual father'. I performed weddings in Connecticut, and in Virginia. Then I got ordained again with ULC, 12 Nov 1991. While we lived local to the ULC international HQ in Modesto California. I dod not know they were on the WWW. As I had dealt with Bishop Hensley in person. I then continued to perform weddings in California, more in Connecticut and in Washington. I still carry both ordinations in my Bible. I also went through a course taught by LCM entitled: "How to perform a wedding". I still have a copy on VHS.

Hmm, I had been raised a Baptist, and had seen their inconsistencies in doctrine. The way they abused each other and had learned to distrust 'Christians'. Then I attended a Methodist church for a couple years (though I never join them like I had the Baptists), but I saw many of the same things going on. When I was witnessed to, it came within a day after I prayed asking for G-d to lead me to someone somewhere who truly knew and operated G-d's Light and Power. She knocked on my barracks door and offered me the PFAL class. I went to a public Exhibition and paid my money. I waited 6 months for the next class to be run, checking in with them when I could. I attended PFAL and thought it was great. I shared with friends, things I had learned and they thought it was great. I read my collaterals. I got a 'Youngs' concordance and began doing Hebrew and Greek word-studies while underwater. I really enjoyed that I did not need a degree in theology to study the Bible (of course back in 1979 that was before I got my MA in theology). I thought the fellowships were great, and it was so wonderful how a ministry could run as a laity (without assigned clergy). I continued going to the house where I had taken the class every other Saturday Evening when they held 'fellowships' (and when I was in port). I got to share some of the word-studies that I had begun doing, it was great. I even brought a few friends. After a few months, someone asked me what twig I was 'in', but at that point I had never heard about 'Twig' and had never attended one. I eventually got assigned into a twig fellowship. Come to find out, where I had taken the class was a branch home (where WOWs had been living and it was coming to the end of their year so the WOW home was getting ready to dissolve). I attended Twig, but the coordinator was also a submariner, so it got disrupted every time he was underwater. So different Twigs would pop up, and run in different homes, according to who was in port any given week. Some friends needed to get married (Harrell and Fran), but they really did not want to go before a JP. They said that they had been going to see a guy for counseling (Steve Strezpec), but he was dragging it out and it looked like he was not going to do it, or at least he would not soon enough. The Harrell was being transferred and the only way to bring Fran was if they were married with a license. So since we were in a laity ministry, I filed for my 'ordination', got it, and a week later I performed a wedding for them. The next Twig, the stuff hit the fan. Steve Strezpec showed up, apparently he was ordained and the leader of the state, and he told everyone that he had been leading Harrell and Fran along, but since they were not Way Corp, he had no real intention of marrying them. His true intentions were to convince them to go Way Corp. He made a big statement that I was born of a different spiritual Father, and he threw me 'out'. At that time, I also had orders in hand, transferring me out of the area, so I went to Virginia. I got into a twig there.

hmm, every hurricane? every earthquake? every rain storm? every drought?

Hmm, we have just recently moved to a 'new' area. One realtor that I was dealing with (when I was still shopping) keeps a caddy parked at the airport with it's keys in it. Just so anyone can use whenever they come into the area. His realestate office door has no lock, and when asked he told me, that if anyone wants to use his phone or computer to surf the WWW, they can. Spending a little time inside the local American Legion Post, I have noticed that nobody carries their car keys. they keep their keys in their cars. that way you never forget where they are. Come to think about it, our last home in Southern California was in Atwater. That house did not have a lock mounted on it's front door. we sure have lived in a lot of 'high crime' areas in between these two examples though.

Some good posts. I do agree, that often I find when I am speaking with a family member, I am being forced or pushed into something. I do think that there is something about sybling relationships that often cause each to be trying to manipulate the other.

1- I do. 2- maybe, my experiences as a Baptist were about the same. I coordinated fellowships for many years (1983-2001), in our various homes as well as Lay Leader onboard each boat I served on. All of the 'bad' experiences that I saw or went through in TWI, all envolved Way-Corps. My career was such that I really had very limited exposure to Way-corps. And most places where we have been stationed there simply were no Way-corp around, so it was usually just us doing fellowships. We had a lot of fun, doing fellowships, running classes, helping people, doing weddings.

My syblings are spread out over a period of 30 years. They attend family dinners twice a year, and can not stand each other. None of them follow sports, but when they get together nobody has anything they want to say, so they turn-on a ballgame and it is the only time any of them watch. Bonnie and I have tried to fit in with them, but if I actually try to 'talk' and see what someone's life is like or what they are doing, it offends everyone else. Bonnie is very well liked by each of my neices and nephews, but again she is the only one in the family who knows what any of them are taking in college, or what their ideals are for career fields. We do try to make it out there and visit the family every five years or so. My eldest sister died a couple years ago. We flew out for her funeral and come to find out, none of my brothers had even planned to attend her funeral. They all lived locally to each other. But they really have never 'liked' each other. I had to talk, repeatedly to each of them, to convince them to attend. None of them had even planned on getting the time off from their jobs to attend. As it turned out, each of us brothers were scheduled to be pall-bearers.

When I lived in Scotland, I attended gun shows and even bought a few (pistols, shotguns, and single-shot rifles). We had to file paperwork with the loacl constabulary, but it was not difficult. Traveling through customs took more effort. The bobbys did not 'carry' but they had a locker back in their Police Station where they would have to go before they could be issued their firearms. I was told that not ALL bobbys were qualified to use firearms, it took an additional level of training. I had some inter-action with the MOD as well. They ran rubber Zodiacs around into each lock and bay, patroling the waters. Underneath their seat was a locked cabinet with firearms. They had to radio-in to get permission to un-lock their cabinet and access their firearms. We often visited a local game-warden, at his home. He carried a shotgun everytime he left his house. It did seem that the masses of the population were united in their ideal that firearms were not allowed to the masses.

I do understand that many corp-leaders acted this way. Though certainly not all Twig Coordinators did this. Some of us felt that it was our duty to protect our Twigs from those abusive 'leaders'. I led numerous Twig fellowships, around the country and over-seas, and with confidence I can say that I have never told anyone that I (or for that matter anyone else) was 'the' man of G-d. My understanding from PFAL has been that each and everyone of us beleivers, is a man of G-d. :)

Smell? ugh, never saw that one. I dont smell my hand after doing that. krysilis- "Admid it guys.....tell us what you think of the boob-challenged women." Okay, I admit anything you want me to admit. I often find that flat-chested ladies are far better looking everywhere else, and HUGE breasted ladies often look like their really un-comfortable.