We've had some prayers answered here and a lot of you already know of this as the various prayer chains were called for assistance. My 2-year old Great Granddaughter named Segan, daughter to Patrick and Canaan Miller- also my oldest granddaughter, became seriously ill. She was taken to the Emergency Room in Seward, and then flown by air ambulance from Seward to Anchorage, and Providence Hospital. There she went into surgery for an abscess discovered behind one of her tonsils. That tonsil and the golf-ball size growth were removed successfully and after two nights in the hospital both Canaan and Segan are now home. Modern science mixed with so many prayers can accomplish so many things. The growth was causing her great difficulty in breath and coupled with the high fever, the air ambulance was called for. Praise the Lord and thank you to all of you who offered up your prayer support. Being so young, it is doubtful Segan will ever remember this ordeal.
I have decided to dedicate my current writing project, "Badge and the Cross- Night Shift Part-1" to my two brothers, both deceased. My oldest brother Paul Ryan Holmes, who I named my lead character after, had been a West Covina, California police officer. My other brother, also older than I, Larry Joseph Mann (not the last name he was born under), had been a 10-year veteran of the California Penal System. Larry began as a juvenile delinquent and graduated into the big time. But years after being released, he gave his life to the Lord. He was killed by a drunk driver, who was driving a stolen car and had his license revoked for his 9th DWI conviction. Larry was his 10th conviction, along with a 2nd degree murder charge. I am also dedicating the two-part book to my sons, John Leroy, who serves both as a U.S. Marshal in Anchorage and part-time officer for the City of Whittier, also for Joshua Troy who serves with the uniformed division of the FBI in Washington D.C., and James Arthur Lee, who is a captain in the U.S. Air Force. I also dedicate the book to Micheal Henry, (Yes, I spelled Micheal that way when he was born) who lives in Utah with his family. Mona and I have been blessed to have had 4 sons and two daughters. I am saving my daughters for another book. My boys have found the most amazing women to spend their lives with and raise their kids, and I am so proud to be a grandfather and a great-grandfather. Not sure if I'll be around long enough to become a great-great. But I never imagined I'd be around to even become a grandfather.
I have very recently, like this morning, decided to make my current project a 2- parter, just as I have done with "Homeland Security". Part 1 should be published soon, as Mona finishes up the proofreading and I get all the changes made. Agreeing with my publisher it is easier to sell a book for $7.95 to 9.95 than to sell a large book at $24. This current project takes place in Seward, where I was a police officer from 1984 through 1988. As with my other police books based on my career, using fictional characters, nearly all of the cases were actual police cases I worked, except the names were changed and some of the dates. Part 2 will involve my time as Public Safety Director/Police Chief for the City of Whittier during the Exxon Valdez oil disaster and as a Senior Investigator for the State of Alaska's gambling unit. I finally retired from law enforcement in 1994. Shortly afterward, Mona and I became volunteer youth pastors for our church in Fairbanks and that was a very rewarding experience.
Taking a drive into Seward this morning, 60 miles round trip, to pick up a few needed items. This gets me out of the house and I'm able to stretch my legs a bit, or I ride around in those cool electric carts in the store. The worst part is when they run out of juice and I'm at the far side of the store. Yesterday, I got a bit carried away and decided to clean the shed outside. This is more or less used by Mona and the other smokers to get out of the rain and comes with comfortable furniture we've found in thrift stores. but over the winter it was used for storage and was packed. Mona was gone for the day, so I decided I needed to get this place cleaned up to surprise her. Not always the smartest thing to do, especially when the insurance company isn't covering my pain pills until I get Medicare. They desire Medicare pay the biggest chunk first and then the insurance steps in. Now this requires an all-day trip to Anchorage and standing in line for several hours and I've been putting this off for months as I do not like crowds of people in closed in offices. Anyway, I did pay for my endeavor with the shed, but finished it. Now I just need to find a way to kill thousands of mosquitoes as the first crop has hatched and they are hungry. I really hate the pesky things and those battery operated swatters really don't work all that well.
Here are some headlines for you to peruse through: "Religious Freedom Conditions Worsening in China"....U.S. Army Veteran Who Wanted to Avenge Muslim Attacks Around the World Prevented From Setting Off Bomb at a Long Beach, California Rally"...."Trump Wants to Charge Migrants a Fee to Apply For Asylum and Has Called For Immigration Courts to Decide on Asylum Application Within 180-Days"...."Anti Semitic Assaults Tripled in 2018"...."U.S. Measle Cases Surpass 700 as Outbreak Continues Unabated"....UN Issues Urgent Warning on Growing Peril of Drug Resistant Infections"...."Trump Wants to Designate the Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organization, Egypt has Already Done This".... "Philippines President Duterte Threatens to Dump Trash on Canadian Beaches".... "Department of Defense to Send 320 People to U.S./Mexico Border".... "North Korea Warns of 'Undesired' Outcome if U.S. Won't Change Position on Nuke Treaty".... "Anti BDS Law Ruled Unconstitutional in Texas"...."China Court Sentences Canadian and Chinese to Death for Drug Crimes".... "China Arrests 251 People for Film Piracy".... "American Chinese Family Paid Out $6.5 Million in University/College Admin Scandal for Spot at Stanford".... WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Sentenced to 50- Weeks For Jumping Bail, But Still Faces U.S. Charges and He is Fighting Extradition".... "White House Asks Congress for Billions More in Border Funding".... "Fear Spreads as California Prosecutors Pursue More Parents in University/College Admin Scandal".... "University of North Carolina-Charlotte Shooting Leaves 2-Dead and 4- Injured, Suspect in Custody".... "Violence Broke Out at May Day Rally in Paris, when Masked Vandals Smashed Vehicles"....ISIS Inspired Terrorist Tried to Blow Up Plane with a 'Meat Grinder' Bomb".... "Huge 1,100 Mile Wide Asteroid, 'God of Chaos', to Pass Near Earth, NASA Already Discussing Asteroid's Possible Effects on Earth's Gravity".... "U.S. Government Says U.S. Military Action in Venezuela is Possible".... "India Launches Mass Evacuation as Huge Cyclone Approaches" (On this side of the world we call them hurricanes)...." "15 Policemen and Their Bus Driver Killed by Terrorist IED Blast in India".... "Palestinian President Abba Rejects $10 Billion Offered by Saudi Arabia to Accept U.S. Peace Deal".... "Palestinian Sentenced to 5 Years For Trying to Sell Land to Israeli Jew".... "Poll Shows Americans 'Overwhelmingly' Reject Impeachment of Trump".... "Cruise Ship Quarantined After Measles Found on Board"..."Health Insurance Deductibles Soar, Leaving Americans With Unaffordable Bills".... "Trump Files Formal Request to Strike Down All of Obamacare" .... "Pentagon Reports Military Sexual Assaults Have Risen by 44% Among Females in The Ranks".... "Former CIA Case Officer Pleads Guilty to Chinese Espionage Conspiracy".... "China and Thailand Launch Joint Naval Training"...."Britain to Ban Wild Animals in Circuses".
For those of you who have not read my book, "A Coming Storm", Part 1 tells of a giant asteroid striking the earth in Southeast Asia. I had received many of the components to this book from a series of dreams. Part 2 is now been completed, but awaiting editing and this story is wrapped around good versus evil, when Satan is released from his thousand-year imprisonment to once more tempt mankind. This story ends with the Battle for Jerusalem between the godly and the ungodly. I hope if you get a chance you might give "A Coming Storm" a read. In Part 2, mankind again has the ability to communicate with the animals, but loses this ability when they turn away from the Lord and take up arms for Satan. A lot of action in Part 2, just like reader will discover in the first book.
As I've heard from so many other writers and I endorse this, every person carries within themselves the ability to write 3 books. Now a writer, his foray into the written word is numberless. Give it a chance, take up writing and expand your possibilities.
Well, that's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'll check back in with you next Monday. Again, thank you for all your prayers for Canaan, who was dealing with fear, and our little Segan. God Bless, BILL