Memoirs From the Middle: How I Survived Being a Middle Child Book

The reality of life is this, what the world offers is fleeting and what God offers is eternal. This is no big secret. Countless billions have heard and/or experienced God from the moment of creation. It is just that not everyone believes. Now I must admit that I chuckle when I observe people who endeavor to turn back the hands of time in belief that true happiness lies in their looks. Our society puts a premium on beauty and youth. But it saddens me to see those who believe it may found in wealth or possessions. Society put great value on these things as well. Perhaps you believe that serenity may be found in some form of modern meditation. Maybe a day at the spa is your way to find inner peace.The truth is that the peace that passes all understanding comes from knowing God and his will for life. I hope this is not a secret to you. If it is perhaps you have just learned something. It could be that finding God's will is not as complicated as you might think. You also need to know that once you make a decision to "follow and seek" as I like to put it, there is no "get out of jail free card." You are still in the world and the world can be a very angry place, i.e. cancer, drunk drivers, etc. And then there are those pesky laws of motion that God put into effect during creation, that should keep us from driving 100 miles per hour. We are responsible for ourselves no matter what a counselor ( and the world) might tell you.Searching for the meaning of life is as old as creation itself. I found myself running back and forth between the world and God trying to find meaning. It was only when I realized that I was playing the monkey in the middle game again that I realized just how futile this competition was. The idea here is to find help. I Found my help in the persons who were closest to me. I also found help in the church I attended all my life. Your help may not be quite so obvious but a determined effort on your part to know God's will in your life will lead to an euphony. I had a friend tell me once that a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a real sage learns from the lives of others. How does one do that? Look closely and see if they are truly happy. When I decided to write Memoirs from the Middle it was my hope to have others learn from my relationships. At the very least I hoped that others could identify their mistakes as just that, mistakes. Also it is impossible to know that you are going down the wrong road unless the GPS is turned on and you have read the manual. (That was a metaphor for the Bible!)Generally the book is about the relationships I had with relatives and organizations that made an impact on my life. My hope is that the readers will identify with these and search their own relationships or contacts for the direction needed to find God's will for their lives.I realize that many people may not have had the life I had growing up. My goal here is to begin to change the lives of their families. Perhaps the lives of their children. Pastor work very hard to convince young couples that once a child is baptized it is the duty of the parents and the congregation to make sure the youngster is raised in a Christian environment. Far too often this is ignored and then it is just becomes the same old same old and no one benefits. For the readers who may be older or have no children, there is advice on how to select a place to worship and begin a Christian relationship with others. The common denominator in all of this is the desire to be happy and have the ability to cope when then disasters come. Perhaps more memoirs can be written and shared with the next generations.Read More