Time is a changing!!!

The Fox family is about to embark on a new journey. Just got orders to Valdez, Alaska! So much to do between now & then. Then on the flip side, once we get there, I will have the time I want to do SOOOO MUCH!!! Look forward to posts on parenting, computers, Alaska, and so many other things!

It's hard sometimes!!!

So, I just found out that I'm going to be a father again! While being excited at the prospect....there's a whole lot more to it than that.

When my wife was pregnant with our last child, it was the absolute worst experience. It was literally a nightmare. I wife has epilepsy, and she started having anywhere from 8-12 seizures a day. It was horrible. After most of them we would have to run to the hospital, they would admit her. She'd be there for as long as 5 days, while I watched helplessly, trying to calm our oldest. This continued for about 4-5 months. During that time we had to switch delivery hospitals, as she was now seeing a doctor that specialized in high risk pregnancies. We hated the hostpital. Our oldest son could only visit her for about 15 min. a day. They had a strict policy of not allowing children in, whereas the hospital we started with would let him in for any amount of time.

After the birth, the seizures stopped. But the migraines got worse. A bad migrain would then trigger a seizure. More trips to the ER. Fast forward 3 years and we find ourselves coming to grips with another pregnancy. Protection failed. We had talked about having another child, but years from now. I am scared that we will go through the same things. My wife was also due to have some studies done where they would hook her up to all the neurological devices known to man, and record a seizure. Some answers finally. Now those answers will have to wait. I am scared for my wife's health. While praying, and thinking over the matter, I came to the conclusion that we should not go through with this pregnancy, I hated myself for feeling this way, but I have a family here now to look after. I also have a bad feeling about all of this.

My wife decided that she could never forgive herself if we aborted this unborn child. I don't think that I could survive another pregnancy like the last one. So her decision left me hurt and angry. Our marriage has been rotten for the last couple of weeks. We keep talking and now it is getting better. There are so many things to take care of, and just not enough of me to go around. My work is busier than it has ever been with the introduction of some new laws that the Coast Guard is to enforce.

well, that's all for now.

Wow, where does the time go?

It's been a busy couple of months. I have been busy setting up contact lists for a new system that the Coast Guard has for alert notifications during emergencies. I've also been giving presentations on the new law that was passed, The Transportation Worker Identification Credential. TSA will be doing all of the administration of this new law, the CG will just be doing the enforcement. The TWIC is an ID card. The requirement for TWIC was written into the already in place law MTSA (Maritime Transportation Security Act).

I have also started up the youth group again. The church I go to paid for me to attend the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta, GA. To save the church some money I decided to stay at Ft. McPherson. It's only about 5 miles from the Convention Center. I had a great time, really helped me get back to where I need to be spiritually. I wrote a testimony while I was there. I'll share it now.

When it came down to it, I couldn't count on my training. Instead, I
relied on God. Would I be able to find them? Would I be able to take the
information passed over a radio and know where to look on the chart to
pinpoint their position. I prayed that God would help me find them.


John(12:47) says: If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do
not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.


Being fresh into the Coast Guard I found myself being responsible for
the beginnings of saving someone's life. Four months after I joined this
lifesaving service, I found myself working to save someone. When the
case began it wasn't necessarily life threatening, it was only a
disabled boater. It was getting dark though, and it was winter. So the
possibility was there that it could get ugly.


Getting people to understand the Love God has for them can get ugly
sometimes. It's so difficult to get some people to see that Jesus died
so that they could be forgiven, to be saved. I don't know if I've
influenced someone, to the point that they were saved. So I'm not sure
how that feels. I hear of retreats where hundreds come forward to be
saved. To eat the bread of life.


I see so many similarities between my job in the Coast Guard, and
ministry. Both have the same goals. To save people. That is what the
goal of every mission is. Every mission I do in the Coast Guard is to
prevent the loss of life. Isn't this the same as the ministry of God?
Preventing the bad things in life, saving someone in the process.


Well, God was with me that day in February of 2003, I was able to find
their position and direct our boat to the place they were. We towed them
into safety, so that they could put their boat on the trailer and go
home. I found out that they had a toddler on board that day. It could've
gotten ugly. I like to think that I had a hand in seeing to the safety
of their lives, saving them when they were most vulnerable. The Coast
Guard stands for hope when the future is unsteady to mariners in
trouble. Jesus stands for Hope to us all, He came so that we may be saved.


How awsome it is, to have a job that I get to strive to be the things
that Christ is for us all.


Well that's all for now.

The Virginia Tech Murders

Well I just wanted to comment on the murders at Va. Tech. This abomination has to stop. I mean What could possibly make someone kill so many of their countrymen? Even the nutjobs that commit murder have to have some idea of what they are doing. "A crime of passion" is a copout. Saying that the person didn't know what they were doing due to the frame of mind they were in, come on.

"Oh...you were mad, I guess that's ok that you killed 5 people." They'll just do some time in a mental hospital. Since when does your frame of mind make it not as bad. Give them their due. Sure let them see a psychiatrist while they're in there...but make them responsible for their actions.

Tighter gun control isn't necessary...let's start by enforcing the laws we already have in place. Then reevaluate the situation if that doesn't start to work. People who move to this country from somewhere else should have to wait to get a gun, make them get their citizenship. I'm ok with making it so you can only get a gun at a registered place, and make everyone register their guns. These are all things we could have done that wouldn't take away from the right of owning a gun as a citizen of the United States.

If someone gets seen for a mental illness, take the right to own a gun away. Having a gun means that you have responsiblities to yourself and your family. Accountability is a must. When you were a kid, and screwed up...were you held accountable for your actions. As soon as I was old enough to know right from wrong I was held accountable for everything I did. If I chose to do something then I was held accountable for the consequences of what I did, good or bad. Whether I was mad or not.

Ok, that's all for now.

Church

It's been a long time again, don't know if I have any readers or not. A lot has been going on here. My boys are getting so big. Ok, on to the meat and potatoes of it. I have finally found a church that I really like. I'm getting ready to transfer my membership down here from my old church in Virginia. I've volunteered to become the youth director.

Right now the minister is filling that role. I've never felt that it is the minister's job to perform that role as well. He/she has enough on their plates with the whole of the church, but now they have to be responsible for the youth too? The church should step in and take care of that. Members of the congregation need to step in, and it shouldn't be one of the Youth's parents.

Well, it's getting late, time to turn in.

Communication

How important is communication? Lately my wife and I have been having some marital issues (Don't all Marriages!). When my first son was born my wife went through post partum (spelling?) depression. This had a profound effect on our marriage. She never got any help with this until a lot of the damage was done. She became very unreceptive in conversations/arguments. She took to yelling at me to get a point across. This became a way of life for approximately two years. I couldn't ever/still do have a hard time talking to her about anything as far as my feelings. The depression is gone but some of the habits are still around. She has been telling me that we need counseling together, I don't see where it is needed for both of us though. I have told her that I would go with her if she truly believes that we need it. I have told her that I will try very hard to begin talking to her and communicating. Some of the things that she has gotten most mad about is that while I was busy with Hurricane Katrina/Rita response I wasn't really expressing my feelings. It was a very stressful time and a lot of it was very emotional work. After all it's very hard to tell someone who is dying of dehydration that help is coming...and not be able to tell how soon or if they would get there in time. I dealt with a lot of calls like that. So I need to remember what it means to communicate with my soulmate.

Been a While

Well it's been a while since I have posted anything on here. Not that anyone reads this. So what has been happening in my life. I am now 26 yrs old, I guess that makes me a little wiser. I wonder what has happened to Common Sense in today's society. Here in New Orleans there is a lot of crime, typically it is some young black guy. I see little kids running all over, I blame the parents. Parents need to punish their kids. Children need to be spanked, not in excess or anything. Something needs to be done though. I am afraid of when my own kids begin going to school. What kind of bad habits are they going to pick up and bring home. As a parent that loves my children more than anything, I hate to spank my 3 yr old. However...sometimes he needs it. It tends to leave an impression that time-out just won't do. Ok that's all for now.