Gun Owners of America and Kenn Blanchard

I enjoy the journey usually more than the destination.

Yesterday, I was named Director of Urban Affairs for the Gun Owners of America (GOA). It's a new position. It didn't exist before. That means that I have an opportunity to take my right to keep and bear arms evangelic skills to the gun owners of America’s cities. That means that I have the great fortune to represent and give light to an under served and untraditional component of law abiding gun owners. I’ve been a part of this battle for the past twenty years but I feel like I have just moved from the “Golden Gloves” to a professional title bout.

A few months ago after looking at the state of some our pro-gun organizations from the inside I had come to appreciate the GOA more. Then one restless night, I had this epiphany and wondered if they would accept an offer. I am excited that they did. It speaks highly of the forward leaning leadership of the GOA. We both knew it was a win-win. Unlike some organizations that have a large number of directors that are big on titles but small in action; this position is pregnant with possibilities. My next move is to find a few willing gun owners to help me as “squad leaders” that speak Spanish, and or Tagalog for a recruitment drive, the rest will unfold. I’m going back to the Arena mentioned by President Roosevelt in his April 23, 1910 speech. It's going to be a heck of a ride. Are you with me?

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ---26^th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt

A Fathers Tip (Goal Setting is for everyone)

I love my son. One of the best things I appreciate with our relationship is communication. He talks to me. He is still a teen, meaning a rebel, a little awkward, unsure and doesn’t share every detail but he provides enough information that I can remember what I was going through in his place to give an appropriate response. All kids don’t share. Sometimes when trying to cross over from child to adult they feel like they are letting their parents down. They don’t know which way to go and will either take on someone else’s personality until they find their own or flounder. Floundering isn’t failure. It’s like a dolphin that got caught in the shallows. Make sure you are there to push them back into the deeper water. It will be subtle. They will not call out for help. You have to be looking at the “shoreline” ready to respond.

Some kids come out the box knowing that they want to be or think they want to be “X”. My variable for these dreams, i.e., doctor, lawyer, scientist, policeman, firemen, etc is the “X”. It is ok that some kids aren’t sure what they want to be when they grow up. Many adults aren’t sure now. I hear things like: What is my purpose? Why was I born? What am I supposed to do in life? These questions aren’t just asked by teens looking at college. The ones that don’t answer them become adults seeking the same answers. It all starts with goals. Goal setting was an over played buzzword of the ‘80’s motivational speaking rush. Not having a goal is just as critical today though as it was then. With a push to excel, a lack of direction can be devastating to a young ego.

What do you do if your kid says, “Am I a loser because I don’t know what I want to do?” Here’s a suggestion. Have the person asking the question take out a piece of paper (or type it on the computer) a list, as grand as possible, of everything and anything they would like to do in life. Call this page five. Think big.

On another page or another section, write/type things they/you would like to accomplish in ten years/five years. Label this as page four, type or write a big number four on the page somewhere. Old timers like me might think that some of your desires may be impossible but they are not so with God. If you are doing what you are supposed to do, He makes it happen. Bunch your dreams them together like grapes. Use a highlighter or pencil (do we still use these) to show similarities. This low hanging fruit can be your intermediate goals.

Now on yet another screen, paper, do an inventory of what you have and where you are now. This is page three. Like the others, type or write a big number three on the page somewhere.

The work and the effort to get you from page three through five are what make up pages two and one. For example, to be a doctor you will need considerable amount of college. You have to plan on where you want to go, how you are going to pay for it, and how you are going to live while you are doing it to get to page 3-5. This is your map. This is a rough idea of some steps required to get from A to B.

Even if you are on the right road, you’ll get hit by a truck if you just stand there. Move. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Sometimes you’ll move fast toward your goals and sometimes you will move so slow you think you are standing still but chance favors the prepared mind.

If you are over 16 years old and wonder what I should do with the rest of my life, I suggest the following exercise for you too. You are never too old, never late, and not an accident. My God doesn’t make them. So, I think you have work to do. What do you think?

Pastor Kenn

“O Lord, O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth…”

Had a rough weekend to start with. It wasn’t physically hard as it was the beginning of a spiritual battle I couldn’t quite see clearly yet. It began with a wedding rehearsal with protestants and Catholics. Two great individuals in whom I love are getting married today. The groom was a control freak until he settled down. The bride remarkably beaming and able to keep all the strange people in order. There was a bright spot in the evening though. Seated across from me at the dinner was a man, that could be my older brother. We had the same likes and interest, he was probably 15years my senior but of a like mind.

And then there was the church business meeting on Saturday. Expert parliamentarians, not ready for retirement pontificators, extemporaneous exhorters of unnecessary discourse. We have modern day Sadducees and Pharisees that have had a history of disagreements with their pastor.

“O Lord, O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth…”

Getting ready to start a busy day (it’s Sunday). Today is the second Sunday of the month and we will have Holy Communion. To add to my stress, my ace, my protégé and younger minister will be preaching out leaving me alone in the pulpit once again.

“O Lord, O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth…”

The Message today will be from the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. “God Makes It Happen”. And He does. He is going to show me, how He does it today I am sure. I’ll be preaching to myself actually. And then when I leave the church, change clothes, and prepare for the wedding ceremony at the University of Maryland chapel, at least I get to see my new friend again. And if things go as I think they are supposed to, witness to him. Illustrate to him that his life is not a random act of accumulated events but everything that has happened has been to save him for this moment. That is the real reason for it all. God Makes it Happen.

“O Lord, O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth…”

When Yogurt Explodes

If you are trying to lose weight or make your digestive system work better, eating yogurt is a good thing. You know yogurt. That stuff in the baby cups with the bright fruit colors like Peachy Peach or Very Berry Blue Berry. Yeah, its kinda “fruity” but the stuff is good for you. It’s good for you unless it explodes on your suit at work. Being a live culture, I found out that gasses build up between the lid and the surface of the creamy goop. At the most inopportune time, it will spit at you when you open it. Beware. Do you know what small droplets of yogurt do to your suit? They make you smell like sour milk or like some baby just did a drive by on you. Maybe its all in my mind but it can influence the butterflies you have when speaking, preaching or presenting when you smell sour milk. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, wrap that rascal with a prophylactic (protective covering like a paper towel) of some type before opening. You have been warned.