ChristiansUnite Forums

Brothers And Sisters,

I'm taking some family and personal time off. Some of you might be glad to hear this.   :D

So, if I don't answer private mail or public posts quickly, you'll know why.

Love In Christ,
Tom

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Tom, I wish the best for you & your family. Sometimes a little get away is needed & does the family good ya know? Jesus love & bless you all~ **Miss Ya** until you come back~ :)

NateyCakes,

Thanks Sister. I'm just back for a few posts. I have a list of things that must be done, both family and personal. I still need a few more days. AND, part of my personal time will definitely be prayer and Bible study.

Love In Christ,
Tom

I Corinthians 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Who said you could take time off?  LOL  Just kidding friend.  Hope all is well with you!

Grace and Peace!

Oklahoma Howdy to 2nd Timothy,

Brother, it sure is nice to see you on the board. I heard that you were busy with storm season - chasing storms. I live in Oklahoma, so you don't have to chase them - they chase you.   :D  We have so many storms that I could probably can a few for you, and you could study them at your leisure.  :D

You asked about me. I have my ups and downs with health, but GOD has been good to me and my family. I really have nothing except thanks to GOD, especially for my Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

LOL  Can them up eh?  Now that would be cool!  But I still enjoy getting out on the plains of west Texas and OK.  Its beautiful country!


Glad to hear God is smiling on you friend.   You have been in my prayers and will continue to be Tom.

I suppose I'm going to have to visit CU more often now, because Allinall keeps giving me these guilt trips about not being here  ;D ......lol  (just funnin ya Kevin).   I will make an effort to be more visible, but it may be a few months before things get back to normal.

Grace and Peace!

2nd Timothy,

Brother, I would can an F5 for you, but I don't have a container large enough.   :D

I was just thinking about many duties related to storms over 25 years in police work. Spotting was part of that duty, and I saw many. I also had some close calls, including driving a brand new police car into 5 feet of water that wasn't there 20 minutes before.     :D  I doubt that I was very popular with the chief that day, but I made up for it over the next 3 days. That was a 1979 tornado that hit our city, one of the very few that hit the ground an cut a swath of destruction in Lawton during my lifetime. We've had countless tornadoes get close, especially those still up in the air over Lawton. According to Indian legend, Lawton has natural ground formations and mountains that cause most tornadoes to miss Lawton.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 119:105  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Beps,

I had to have some time away myself. Just finished moving into a new home. We went from a 3 BR to a 2 BR handicapped equipped home. It has been quite an undertaking. Many things had to go in order to have room as there is much less storage space here also.

Are you familiar with the Eufaula Lake area? I spent a summer away from the Navy there with a friend that lives just outside of Eufaula, on lakefront property. We did a lot of boating and fishing on the lake. His Indian ancestors lived there all their lives. He was a diver that worked with the local police doing search and rescue in the lake and streams.

A beautiful area even during tornado season.


I hope that you and your family are enjoying this time.

LOL  You're right...that would take a large container!

Surprisingly, flash flooding I believe is the number one cause of death related to thunderstorms.   I'm guessing the cruiser did not fair too well  :D   The NWS has a new program called, "Turn Around, don't drown!"   I think their hoping the catchy phrase will stick in more peoples minds.


I know there has not been a lot of study concerning terrain as it relates to tornado formation, but I'm pretty sure that legends of this sort were put to rest in Wisconsin when a hill thought to prevent tornado formation did not, catching the locals by surprise.  (forget the name of the hill or the year it happened).   There is still much we do not understand about tornados and how they form.

While I find them facinating, I still have great respect for their distructive power.   I'm sure as a former law officer, you know too well about this.   My preference is to see them out in the middle of no mans land!

Grace and Peace!

Pastor Roger,

I've had some nice and quiet time with my wife. We recently had our 32 wedding anniversary, and we've both decided to keep each other.   :D

I've also spent quite a bit of time trying to research various job opportunities for my son. He gets out of the Navy next month. AND, my daughter and her family are moving to St. Louis. My son-in-law will be doing his residency there for becoming an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. I can't remember the technical terms, and I probably wouldn't be able to spell it anyway.   :D  It's a five year residency, and I'm positive we will have to figure out a way to see our kids and grandkids. Recent job interviews for my son indicates that he might also end up in St. Louis. So, we might just have to become frequent fliers.

Yes, I know all about the Lake Eufala area. We've spent time in the area several times on vacations and short getaways. The whole area is gorgeous. My wife and I would consider getting a small place and moving to an area like that after she retires. We have an empty nest, so we have also thought about a smaller home. I hate the thought of moving after 25 years in the same house, but I also need a handicapped equipped home.

Brother, I hope and pray that you enjoy your new home.

Love In Christ,
Tom

2 Corinthians 5:17-18  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2nd Timothy,

Brother, I was responding to one of hundreds of emergency calls and was almost in the path of the tornado. It was lights and siren at 25 MPH, and you could see about 30 feet ahead. I was two blocks away from a man in a collapsed building call. The area I drove into 5 feet of water was under a RR overpass, and I had never seen water standing there. It had pumps for heavy rain, but all of the electricity was out. The man and numerous others were already dead, but we were able to help a large number of injured people. I was given another car by the boss and told not to drive into water. Just about the entire fleet was damaged in one way or another before the end of the disaster duty, so I wasn't the only one with car problems.  :D   The entire department worked around the clock until we were able to get some help from the National Guard. The results of a tornado are a nightmare.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Glad you made it through that brother even if the car didn't  :D.   I'm sure you could share quite a few stories like that one being a former police officer.   I used to love hearing my Grandfather tell stories of old.   As a matter of fact, he wrote a small journal of his adventures that the rest of us still talk about to this day.

I'm willing to bet your's would be just as exciting if not more!   :)    So when is the BEPster Autobiography coming out?    ;)  (hint hint)

Grace and Peace!

BEPs,

Have a great time off Brother.  We all need a little R&R from time to time.  I have and will be praying for you my friend.  Don't go chasing/catching any storms.  That's a bad idea!   :D ;)

Later Bro.

 :P

"You've never seen miss this house, or that house, and come after you!"    ;D


Besides, BEP likes driving into rising water...not chasing storms....lol   :D

Oooo.  F5.
I'm married to an F5.   ;D
Rita is an F5.  ;D

Mr. BEP – I’ve heard St. Louis is fairly miserable in the summer months – but at least it’s in a ‘red’ state.  I’m working with my company actively seeking a transfer out of the ‘blue’ state (state of evil) I’m currently in to a ‘red’ state.  We’ll probably end up in the Texas Hill Country where my wife’s folks live – just a stones throw from Lawton! (OK - maybe more like a few hundred miles - but close!)

I pray your new meds work out for you.

God bless,
Jim

Brother, I do have a huge file of personal notes and reports. Some of the memories are good or funny, but many of them are bad. If I had things to do over, I would do it again, but I would have stopped at 20 years instead of trying to do 30. I did love the work and serving the people.

I did write a book for my family, but it wasn't about me. It was about other family members, many already home with the LORD. My entire family are strong Christians, so I would have to clean up my R-rated experiences considerably before I could write anything about police work.   :D  I'll simply say that reality is many times more strange than fiction, and much of it is bizarre.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Brother, I think that you would enjoy Texas Hill Country. There are numerous areas in Texas that are beautiful. I think that I like the green and lush East Texas the best. Oklahoma also has some gorgeous areas in the Eastern part of the state, many with mountains and lots of lakes. I also think that you would enjoy the people in this part of the country. The folks are still plain and friendly here. If I ever move again, it will probably be to Eastern Oklahoma or Texas. By the way, there are places so dense with forests that they have to pipe sunlight in, especially in the wilderness and mountainous areas of Southeastern Oklahoma. There's a small city in that area where lots of circus performers retire to, and I've kidded my wife about us fitting in well there.  :D  She didn't think that was funny and sent me to my room. I can't remember the name of the city right now.  

Reference the new meds, I just started them today, so the verdict still awaits. I am at least up and able to move around some today, so I'm optimistic.

Reference St. Louis, I'm just glad that the kids and grandkids will be close enough for us to see from time to time. I don't know how they do it, but we have an airline out of Oklahoma City that sells one-way tickets to and from St. Louis for $49. So, I'm sure that we will be using that airline pretty frequently. My son also has some possibilities of a job in Dallas. We'll simply be thankful if they finally settle somewhere close enough for us to see them. I absolutely must have a dose of my grandsons pretty often. The oldest one is working on 5, and the little one is working on 2.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.