Mighty People Garden

I met George W. Alexander on a Deep Sea Valkyries dive trip in 2018. George is a Marine who served 18 months in Vietnam and spent 4 years on active duty. He was working on his second PhD at the time. He has published over 13 books on his life long passion of Karate. He has beyond excelling at karate and even becoming a master. He is now working on his juris doctorate. He attributes being active both physically and mental is what has helped him in many areas of his life. His three go to things in life post military is to have a Mentor, a good support system, and establish goals. He says that those three things are important to help anyone transitioning out of the military and keep moving forward. He also has a dive company in Florida so look him up https://www.silentoceanscuba.com/

This week we work more on reading about Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and the birth of Isaac. What's interesting is that Abraham is trying to pull the same trick that he did with Pharaoh.

Abraham was only lying to himself!He apparently has not learned his lesson yet! Neither did Sarah. 

Abimelech saw through things though and sent Sarah on her way. Apparently Abimelech had some relationship with God himself and was able to discern the truth on what Abraham was doing. Alas, Abimelech gave plenty of reward to Abraham and let Sarah leave without taking her to bed. 

Sarah laughed about getting pregnant at her age with Abraham at 100 years old! 

Hegar and Ishmael got the boot from Abraham and Sarah's fold and were forced to wander out in the desert with but one bottle of water. They both cried to God and God promised a nation for Ishmael. 

From the moral injury and healing side of things, do we learn our lessons? Do we keep telling ourselves lies from our service that are not conducive to our healing? Do we cry to manipulate our way through things or at some point do we realize that we have to bring the problem to God for his grace and mercy? 

The choice is ours. 

One of the toughest jobs we ever have in life is not as being a member of the military and the challenges of being in the service, but rather, our job as a parent. When one of our children gets sick, we try to “fix” the issue. What happens though when the “illness” relates to mental health for our children? The how and what we do to help things are not quite so easy to navigate.

Sara and Kira Schaffer join the From Pain to Purpose Radio Show today to share their journey in mental health. Sara (mom) and Kira (teenager) share some insights in Kira’s mental health challenges since she was a young child. She had some challenges in middle school with peer bullying especially which led to self harm. Changing schools from public to private helped some because private school saw her as an individual but it didn’t solve the “problem”. The years of struggle had taken a toll.

Sara and her husband found a treatment home in East Texas that provided a welcoming long term place where Kira could get the residential help that she needed to help her grow to where she is today. Alas, both Sara and Kira are positive and hopeful that Kira is in a much better state of mind than where she was. The realization is that the problem was the problem and that neither Sara or Kira own that they “caused” anything but what they have is a journey to heal and can do it in a supportive manner. Kira’s parents remain engaged in guiding Kira as she moves into adulthood and find her way and her purpose in life. Thank you both for sharing your story, being vulnerable, removing the mental health stigma, and helping the veteran family with some parallels in moral injury, healing, and recovery.

#veteranpodcast #VeteranVoices #VeteranAuthor #mentalhealth #teenmentalhealth #Veterans

This week Eva and Darrell cover Genesis Chapters 18 & 19. Once again we see another human (Abraham) attempting to negotiate with God. Sarah had her own laugh in thinking that God was joking and now that she's of old age, she was going to have a baby within the year. She laughed. Abraham had a visit with the Lord and three men. These men were heading to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham asked if 50, no 40, no 30, no 20, no 10, could be spared if they were righteous? These three men came to Sodom to visit Lot. The entire town wanted carnally to take these men. However, Lot was trying to protect them. The three men made the townsmen blind so that they could not find the door. Alas, Lot tried to get his family including his sons-in-law and daughters (presumably at least 4 people or more who chose not to leave) along with his wife and two virgin daughters (which would have made 4 more people) that could spare the town. His sons-in-law actually laughed at Lot and wanted to participate in assaulting the three men. But Lot only escaped with his two virgin daughters and his wife who turned into salt when she looked back at the town. In the mountains near the town of Zoar, Lot's two daughters got their father drunk on wine and took to bed their father on two nights, each ended up pregnant. 

Coming to us from Canada is David Morrow an Army Reserve Infantry soldier who served with American forces in Afghanistan. 

 

Returning from Afghanistan injured and without a clear sense of direction he fell back on his education and launched into a teaching career he hated. His back injury left him with some physical ailments that required his wife's help.  He also had to figure out that he was also suffering from PTSD and his life was spinning out of control. He had to make a change. He leaned into figuring out that he had to get back to the basics of his physical health which helped his mental health. 

 

Canada has approximately 500k veterans but there is no clear statistical data to support how many veterans there are in Canada nor how many are actually using veteran services  or care since medical care in Canada is socialized. Unfortunately, Canada does not do well to support military veterans and their care or with their benefits. Canadian veterans do not have a veteran service organization that advocates for them like we do in America. In essence, Canadian veterans do not have a voice. But more than that, there is a new initiative by some mental health therapists across several provinces who are helping with Medically Assistance in Dying (MAID). 

 

What he learned is that together, we can make a difference. We in American can help give Canadian Veterans a voice! 

 

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Join Eva and Darrell as we discuss Genesis Chapters 15, 16 & 17. If you want an example of how to have a discussion with God, then this is the episode for you. Sarai (Sarah), Abram (Abraham) and Hagar all have conversation with God. They talk about having a family and what is to come for their households. Big changes on their new names, having sons and kings to be for generations to come. But first, all the males must be circumcised. The covenant is now with God and Abraham. Ishmael and Isaac are Abrahams sons. 

Living with intention is not about perfection; it's about making thoughtful choices that lead to a more meaningful and fulfilling life. By embracing this mindset, you can create a life that not only meets your needs but also brings joy and purpose. Remember, every small step you take towards intentional living is a step towards a brighter, more focused future.

My prior year words have varied, but they usually were kept manageable based upon the things that I was going through at the time. Having a word for the year has always help me stay focused on where God wanted me to go in life and not stay stuck. One thing though through sickness and such, we should not allow ourselves to shrink back or into ourselves. That serves no one. So, be intentional folks! Let's grow! 

This week's episode, Eva and Darrell follow the path of Abram and Lot in Genesis Chapters 13 & 14. But they soon realize that between their camps, are too large for the area to sustain them. So they make the decision to separate, though in doing so, Lot ends up near Sodom and falls prey to temptations in the area. Abram catches wind of Lot's situation and gathers some troops and rescues him. We see Abram has growth as he deals with King Melchizedek.