Happy birthday to our Cee Cee.  Hard to believe that she is no longer a baby.  She is a character, full of energy and curiosity with a sharp mind.  Fun to watch her.

Not a lot happening in our neck of the woods, have some fall projects that I hope to get done before winter comes.  While Carla was rearranging the pantry she found some cherries I had canned over ten years ago.  They are still good.

I remember when I did those.  Our cherry tree was full of ripened cherries.  They were ready and Carla was out of town, I didn’t want to lose them so I called Carla’s mom up and asked how to can them.  She told me and I ended up canning at least two dozen or more quarts.  We gave some to her and she shared them with others in her house (when she was in a foster home) – saying ‘these were made especially for me by my son-in-love.’

I can remember hoping they tasted okay, but they did and still do.  One of the nice things about canning, done correctly the product will last awhile.  

As I was reading this morning a new thought came to mind on these oft quoted verses:

Ephesians 6:10-18   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

These ‘weapons and protective gear’ are the tools of our ministry in Christ.  It doesn’t matter who we are or what our position in life is, as a Christian we need these to live our life for God and proclaim the salvation in Jesus Christ.

The other day I came across a program called ‘Feed Me Bubbe’ a cooking show, it looked interesting so I watched it.  Bubbe is Yiddish for Grandma.  She was making latke.  A traditional Jewish dish made from potatoes.

This Bubbe is an older lady (who has since past away) who refused to have her name in the credits of the program.  Frankly the show was ‘amateurish’ in nature, like a home video.  But her enthusiasm was great and watching her make the latke and how beautiful they came out inspired me to try for myself – I had thought about it for years.

While hers was nice and brown, crisp and firm, mine were not.  I did everything she did, so why didn’t they come out like hers?  She said it didn’t matter if we might be off on the ingredients a bit – they would be good!  (I like her, she has an encouraging manner and spirit.)

Mine tasted ‘okay’ but the texture was off and the finished product was nowhere near like it should have been.  I realized as I analyzed my process that the raw product was just too moist, I should have thickened it more.  AND I should have had my pan hotter.  I will do better with practice.

She had been doing these since she was a little girl and she was in her 80’s when the show was made, so she had a lot of practice.  Her latkes were perfect, because she knew how to make them, made them correctly and had years of practice. 

Practice.  If we are going to be good at something we require practice.  Not just doing a repetitious over and over practice, but analyzing what we are doing, correcting any mistakes and trying again until the job is well done.

One of the things every police officer knows how to do is fire his side arm.  Some are naturally better than others, some need lots of practice under the watchful eye of a range commander and teacher so they can improve. 

I used to compete in police combat matches.  My averages were in the low 290’s out of 300 points.  But they didn’t start that way.  I had to practice.  The less expensive way of accumulating ammunition was to make your own and a few of us in the department would get together to make ‘wad cutters’ for the practice range.  These were not as powerful as a full loaded cartridge, but they did the job on the range.

We practiced, a lot.  I went from having my average in the 270 range to the 290’s I believe I had only one perfect score in my life.  I had decent groupings (where all the bullets were located on the target in a small area) but I could not match some of the better shooters in the competition. 

One officer almost always shot a perfect score.  When you looked at his target the grouping was so tight that you could not count the holes, he would have a hole about the size of a silver dollar where all 50 rounds went, in the center or X ring. 

I used to give him a bad time, saying he could throw over half his shots and no one would know.  They would of course, because you could see where the rounds were hitting the backstop – and if you weren’t on the line competing you watched him, he was an artist with his weapon.

Every officer had to qualify with the firearms he would be using, side arm and shotgun for most of us.  Those was on the insertion team had to qualify with the semi-automatic and other weapons used there, those trained for sniping also had to quality on that weapon.  You did not have to have a perfect score to qualify; just an acceptable one – and of course an acceptable one was a high score.

We learned how to care for our weapons.  We learned how to use them correctly – proper sight picture, grip, breathing, etc.  We learned how to take advantage of cover and were made aware of looking for cover that was protective versus just hiding.  For example, we learned that using the patrol car as a shield could be more effective if we placed the motor between us and the suspect, if we placed ourselves behind the front tires rather so our legs were protected.  We learned that a car door with the window down was more effective than one with the window up. 

We learned how to shoot at a stationary target on the range, but we were also put in stressful situations so if we were under fire in the field we would not panic.  They now have realistic interactive video programs for the officers to go through for shoot don’t shoot scenarios.

We practiced.  We knew that our life and others’ lives may depend on our ability to fire the weapon accurately when a life was threatened.  Serious stuff.

We learned, we tried, we practiced, we evaluated and we improved.

Not unlike every one of us when we first begin a task, whether in our jobs or life in general.  Very seldom are we able to start off with a new task and be perfect the first, second, third or several times after that.  It takes time, concentration and practice doing it correctly. 

When we begin something new and different most of us are a bit apprehensive and nervous.  We are unsure of ourselves and it shows in the final product.  But after a while we become more confident our ‘scores’ improve and our product is of a higher quality.  While perfection would be nice, most of us do not need perfection to do a high quality job.  Doctors not included....

If we discontinue the practice our skills will suffer, we may still be able to do the job, but not as well as we did when we did the job frequently.  I don’t shoot much anymore; my scores, when I do shoot, are nowhere near as high as they were when I was on the street.

A new officer coming on the force is provided with a uniform, badge, protective gear, a weapon, ammunition, handcuffs, portable radio; additional may include a baton, mace and stun gun.  His gun (tool) belt is full of useful items to protect him and others if the situation warrants it.  So too, does God have a quiver full of weapons and protective gear for us to use in His Service.

A Police Officer goes through a lot of training and practice before he is placed in a car and told to go forth and protect.

In addition to the equipment he is provided, he also must undergo classroom training in when to use it.  He also must have many other classes on arrests, seizures, dealing with suspects and victims, the laws – criminal, traffic, some civil that may have the appearance of criminal and the degrees of seriousness.  He learns how to protect himself without using any of the items on his gun belt, how to properly control a suspect, etc.  It requires a lot of in classroom time and nights studying to pass the classes and become an officer.

Then when he hits the streets he does so with a training officer that watches him, tests him, gives him advice and encouragement and evaluates his knowledge and application of the law.  He has the knowledge and training, now he has to put it into practice.  He must continually practice and learn, but now experience makes all of it come together is a package of a good officer who knows what his job is and how to perform it under, at times, trying circumstances.

I know of no uniformed police officer, in this day and age, that will get into a patrol vehicle without all his gear.  He would be foolish and of no use in a deadly situation and, could actually become a safety hazard for others.  While I still enjoy watching the Andy of Mayberry shows produced back in the early 60’s, very few officers will wear a uniform without having a firearm.

When a Police Officer is on duty, he never knows what to expect.  One minute he may be driving down a quiet neighborhood and the next either see, or receive a call to respond to a life and death situation.  He must always be ready to do his job, whatever that may be.  Most of the time it is not life threatening, he can do a service without a threat to himself of someone else, but things can turn deadly in a blink of an eye and he must be every mindful of that.

Which brings us to the whole armour of God:

God has provided the weapons necessary to overcome satan’s wiles and darts. 

As Christians we have weapons and protective gear that God has given us to use.  God is there for us to show and tell us how to use the weapons and protective gear.  He has provided His Holy Spirit, ministers and elders and other dedicated Christians who are there for us.  We can learn how to use these weapons to be a proper servant for God.

We can study His Word so our sword is sharp, we can practice with others to improve our witnessing techniques, we can learn how to use the shield so the darts of satan are cast aside.  In addition to those tools we have a mind and a heart for God and his Holy Spirit to guide us.

As Christians we never know when we are going to be attacked by satan.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

We should never begin our day without putting on the armour He has provided and being ready to do battle for Him at a moment’s notice.

As a police officer that doesn’t wear his protective gear and his weapons is foolish if he goes out to serve his public, so is a Christian that goes unarmed into the world.  We never know when satan will attack, it could be at work, in the grocery store or driving down the street, but we can always have God’s tools ready for us to use – and the more we practice the better we are at defending ourselves and others.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again