Pressing Puzzles

I realize in today's family, the roles are changing rather drastically. I can think of another time when roles in the family were shaken up since World War 2. Life today seems more like unwed mothers giving birth to fatherless children and if they are married the couple only has about a 50-50 shot of staying married. I realize this doesn't seem to make sense, but that's the reality of the world we live in. Traditionally, in any house, the father was the person who was always considered the 'head of the household', but that role has deteriorated through the years. How did this whole idea start? Not surprising we can look to the Bible for the answer. As I mentioned back in a previous blog about Leadership, the book dictates that the male is the head of the household and will be personally judged on the spirituality of the members of the family. So we as the males have a heavy responsibility on the welfare of everyone in the family. Sadly, this task for the male o...

My wife has always been a huge fan of Eeyore the donkey, though I was never sure why. I can with confidence say that not all Asperger people ( Aspies ) suffer from depression, but I can understand the weight one would feel if they were under constant pressure of being autistic. I can find myself slipping into a depressive state if things aren't going the way I had hoped or wishing that my conditions would be better. My condition was Asperger's with OCD, but I've never been diagnosed with depression with the other stuff. My wife is a different story. I know depression can be very dangerous.   As I mentioned a second ago, my wife is a huge Eeyore fan, but she wasn't always depressed. If you go back and read "Tragedy and 2009", I think you might have a better idea why my wife has been depressed. I know she wants to feel better and I know she will, it just takes time, love and therapy to help get through it. I don't believe you can get over it completely, ...

I wanted to pause for a moment to insert a very special moment in my life. On July 26th, 2013 1:34 in the afternoon, my oldest daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Sophia Kaye Guyles. This is my first grandchild and to me a very special person in my life. I realize many of you that read this blog might already be a grandparent and so with that I must tip my hat to you. I honestly have no idea what is to come, but I am rather excited. There are many times I have to wonder what do I do? How can I be the best grandparent? I think sometimes I do worry about my Asperger's and what kind of effect that might have on my newest member. I will say that I not concerned whether or not Sophia will be autistic because I'll love her just way she is...just like my children. I just know that I want to make sure that she understands that my wife, children and I will always be there for her, but most importantly...Jesus will be there for her. She will hear what the Lo...

Unlike the personal storms I've had to deal with in my life, I'm actually addressing real natural thunderstorms and other freaks of nature. I'm not sure if all kids were like this or it's just the way we were brought up, but I've always had been terrified of severe storms. Since the days of me being a child, I remember running into my parent's bedroom whenever thunder sounded around the house. Deep down, I believe this is the reason why I created a superhero call "Thunderbolt" when I was a child to take my fears and make them into something good. When I was really young I remember being in a tropical storm (South Padre Island, TX) and stepping out to see the eye of the storm; that was very fascinating. I think the thing that terrified me the most was tornadoes. Living here in Kansas City we've had our fair share of tornadoes. The sad part was that I had relatives that lived in Oklahoma so there had been times when I was visiting and sure eno...

If you've had the opportunity to read any of my blogs, you might have noticed that there were many times in my life that I would thrust myself into the role of the leader. It's been peppered all through out my different postings, from scouting to teaching. I guess the question would have to be 'Why am I greatly drawn to a leadership position when I try to avoid people and conflict?!!!! Arrrrrrr!' Very frustrating! It doesn't seem to make any sense. I guess I could think of it like an 'arm chair quarterback', I would gripe about how things should be; but I actually want to do something about it. It seems like I feel compelled to step up and do the job, rather than simply complain. In its simplest form, I'm the leader of the house...or at least that is what my wife wants me to think. She does a lot of backdoor deals that I tend to be unaware of. When there is life or limb on the line, I'm usually the one who makes the final decision...storms, emerge...