Live Fire with Chuck Holton

As a father, one of my biggest duties is to model “what men do” for my boys.  This means I have to spend a large amount of time and effort to learn what that is.  I was lucky – my father and many other men stepped up to teach me.  Many kids today have little more than electronic mayhem from which to form their images of manhood.  So I’m always looking for ways to drill that lesson home.  Here’s one, in a story told on my other website by a widow who just lost her husband: (reprinted with permission)

My husband often gave the response, “That’s what a man does”. When I’d talk about him going to work when he didn’t feel good, or when he worked a simply rotten job because we needed the money for bills, or when he was the calm in the eye of the storm, that was always his reply.

The 19th of this month we buried my husband. At the funeral home, I saw one fellow standing beside the casket, holding on to it…looked like he was going to faint. My daughter went over to him and started talking, so I continued talking to one of my husband’s friends.

A few minutes later my daughter brought the man over to me and said, “Mom, this man has a story you need to hear”.

The part of the story that I knew…more than a decade before this man who worked with my husband, and his young wife, had twin sons born. The boys were premature, had MANY medical issues, and were just barely holding on. The boys needed an alarm system (of some type) that would alert the parents when their breathing or heart stopped. Insurance would only pay for ONE alarm, and the young family could not come up with the needed money to get an alarm for the second twin. The parents were staying up night and day, trying to keep both boys alive. My husband said he was able to help them some, that’s all I ever knew.

The rest of the story…somehow, my husband was able to contact enough people, organizations, and convince enough people…that he was able to walk up to the father of the twins one day not long after learning of the parents’ need, lay down a check for $32,000 and say, “I hope this helps”. The check managed to not only pay for the needed machine, but for nursing help in the parents’ home.

The man told me his twin sons are 11 years old now…intelligent, healthy, active, growing like weeds and sure to be a good six foot tall.

I never did know the extent my husband had helped this family. Dave wasn’t one to brag about the good things he did, and I doubt he ever mentioned it to anyone either. He just did what a man does, and moved on.

When was the last time I did any act of charity and made sure nobody knew about it?  Matthew 6 makes the point:

1“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

That said, there’s one group of people who need to see our charity – big and often.  Our kids.

The Bell Messenger

I’m fascinated by three things: The passage of time, global interconnectedness, and foreign cultures. My friend Bob Cornuke’s first novel has all three in spades, all mixed into a high-action historical thriller. It’s obvious that Bob’s extensive travel across the globe exerts a heavy influence on the story – the far-flung settings are vividly described with a level of accuracy and attention to detail fitting of a former L.A. crime scene detective.

The story’s main character isn’t a person, it’s a Bible. The book traces its course through history from the civil war to the present day, changing every life it touches along the way. The spiritual element is anything but preachy, but still manages to grab your heart and squeeze. I’ve rarely seen such a well-written narrative. The wordsmithing is first-rate, and paints vivid pictures of bygone eras and the kind of travel adventures that are hard to find anymore.

Buy this book. You won’t regret it.

Also, Bob Cornuke is available for a limited number of speaking engagements – I’m trying to get him to come speak at our church.  You should too!  He has a number of amazing adventures to share – from searching for the lost ark of the covenant to an amazing discovery of the lost anchors of Paul on the isle of Malta.

Originally uploaded by ChuckHolton

White…the color of the snow. The color of your face after you’ve been out to start your car only to find it’s engine block is frozen solid. The color of almost every item of food at a Norwegian Christmas dinner. Lefse. Lutefisk. Flour Balls with White gravy.

Ten below zero this morning. Don’t stick your tongue out at anyone – you might never get it back in…

My latest news story on CBN is about the Panjshir valley in Afghanistan.  I spent a few days there in August, and was amazed at how beautiful – and secure – the province is.

Actually, I was thinking it would make a great adventure tourism destination.  The ultimate trip would be to ride ATV’s from the mouth of the valley a couple days’ journey up into the Hindu Kush, then switch to horses and go up over 10,000 feet to some of the very remote villages there.  Then hike out and take kayaks down the river back to the mouth of the valley, stopping along the way to visit some of the amazing people who occupy the villages.

Anyone game? 

Originally uploaded by ChuckHolton

Writing about adventures leaves me chomping at the bit to get out there and have some more of them!

Then again, I’ve never been able to sit still for very long. I’m an experientialist. I like to go, see, do, know. But writing is the way I pay for these experiences. So if people ask me if I love to write, my answer is, “NO! I like to do things worth the writing!”

The next adventure beckons…so I’d better get to it!

http://twitpic.com/q5uv – I’m slaving away in my office, putting the finishing touches on Meltdown.

Originally uploaded by ChuckHolton

If I’m not writing much here lately, it’s because I’m up to my armpits cranking out the final draft of Meltdown, my third and final novel in the Task Force Valor series.

It was two years ago already when I traveled to Ukraine to research this book, and I find myself referring back to the hundreds of photos I took there as I strive to make this book as accurate as possible.

What a cool job – to get to go places like this and be the first westerner ever to meet people like Mama Millya (pronounced “mama mia”) in the Ukrainian countryside.

If you’re in a praying mood, please remember me as I knuckle down and finish this book. Final drafts are the hardest part.