Tag: Memoir

Devotional: Two Special Birthdays

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Benita, Jimmie, and Kristopher Kepler 1977
Benita, Jimmie, and Kristopher Kepler 1977

July is the birthday of America. July is also my spiritual birthday. What’s that? You don’t know about spiritual birthdays? My physical birthday is the day I was born. It was November 25, 1953 at Brooke Army General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. My spiritual birthday is when I was born again. It is when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It is when I was “saved”.

Did you know being good doesn’t get you to heaven. Being “saved” does. Here’s my story of “being saved”.

On July 11, 1977, my life changed. If you look up that date in history, you will find nothing historically significant happened on that Sunday. It was a noteworthy day to me. That day was the watershed event in my life.

July 1977 found me on active duty as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. I was serving as Battalion Maintenance Officer, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Life was good. I had a beautiful, intelligent wife. I had a new son born in January that same year. I had just gotten a commendable rating during an annual general inspection in maintenance. It was the first commendable rating since the division had returned from Vietnam. Named an Outstanding Junior Officer of the Ninth Infantry Division because of the commendable rating, I received an offer of a regular army commission. My career was going great.

I always tried being the best I could be, and doing what was right. I was a detail-oriented perfectionist, high-achieving, and a workaholic. I excelled at most things I did. However, after all of this, I still had an empty, unsatisfied, void, and alone feeling. Beginning in my college years I tried drinking, women, materialism, partying, and hanging-out with the right crowd to fill this unexplained need I had. I knew something was missing from my life.

I was attending church. I noticed a group of men that seemed to have what I was missing. I attended a Bible study with them. Here I found that God has given us an important manual for life — the Bible. He has the answers to the problems and emptiness we may face. I found out I was here for a purpose, and not by accident. I learned Jesus loves me, and desires to have a personal relationship with me. However, sin separated me from Him.

I realized I had a sin problem. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23 But no one is perfect! We have all sinned and therefore cannot save ourselves by simply living a good life. Why?

I learned there was a penalty to be paid for my sin. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

I learned God gives us a promise. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

I learned that God made provision for me. The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. – Romans 10:9-10

I prayed to accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus. I prayed, “Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that You died for my sins and rose from the grave so that I might have eternal life in Heaven with You. I willingly repent of my sins and ask you to come into my heart and life. Take control of my words, thoughts, and actions. I place all of my trust in You for my salvation. I accept You as my Lord and Savior, and this free gift of eternal life. Amen.”

Since then my life has not been perfect. It’s been far from it. I have messed up from time to time, sometimes failing miserably in my decisions and choices. However, I have had direction and purpose in my life. I know where I am headed. I have the Bible to give me the principles for daily living. I am never alone. I have had real peace for the last 36 years.

How about you? Have you ever been “saved”? You can do like I did. Romans 10:9-10, 13 tells us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. … For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Jeff Shaara, The University of Texas at Arlington, and Writing

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Author Jeff Shaara
Author Jeff Shaara

Today is Sunday June 23, 2013. it is 8:15 PM. I am at home at my desk listening to Author Jeff Shaara being interviewed by Ed Tracy on February 4, 2010 at the Pritzker Military in Chicago. He is discussing his book “No Less Than Victory”.

Speaking of Jeff Shaara … I posted fourteen pictures of Jeff Shaara at PICTURES. The photographs were taken on November 11, 2009 during a private dinner with a meet and greet I attended with author Jeff Shaara. He spoke later that evening to the public at The University of Texas at Arlington promoting his book of “No Less Than Victory”. It concluded the World War Two trilogy of historical fiction that Jeff Shaara began with The Rising Tide and continued in The Steel Wave. The evening ended with him being interviewed on stage with a question-and-answer session with the audience. Jeff Shaara has written twelve New York times bestsellers.

Speaking of The University of Texas at Arlington … I attend this fine university from August 1971 to December 1975 graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in history with minors in English and military science. On December 19, 1975 I not only graduated but was commissioned a second lieutenant, Infantry, United States Army Reserves. I was selected for indefinite active duty (career status). It was at The University of Texas at Arlington I developed a deep love for history, reading, and writing.

Speaking of Writing … I am 99% finished doing my third rewrite/edit of the historical fiction novel “Honor and Jealousy in Texas”. This weekend I worked on rewrite/edit of last chapter in book and wrote the first draft of a nonfiction article. The target audience of this article is unusual as it directed at suicide prevention of adult men. This is for a national suicide prevention organization that has a website getting over 50,000 people visit a month from people who are considering suicide. They do a web search on suicide and through the magic of Goggle search people thinking of suicide are directed to a Christian site focusing on stopping suicides. I was given the assignment when at the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference. I pray that God will direct my thoughts as I write this article and He will use it to save lives.

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Photo credit: Author Jeff Shaara by Photographer Jimmie A. Kepler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder

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As you may know, the Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of talent in 34 categories called “themes.” These themes were determined by Gallup as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.Focusing on naturally powerful talents helps people use them as the foundation of strengths and enjoy personal, academic, and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

About eighteen months ago I read Strengths Finder 2.0 and took the test. I was a required day job activity. Below are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

How well do you think these themes describe me?

1. Context

People who are especially talented in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history.

2. Learner

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

3. Strategic

People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

4. Achiever

People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

5. Responsibility

People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

I think they are correct.

To learn more about the Clifton StrengthsFinder and how you can discover your top five themes, visit http://strengths.gallup.com

Poem: Dead on the Floor

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Dead on the Floor

“Tricky Dick” was the U.S. President
In America, a first-class stamp cost just six cents
Richard Nixon froze both the prices and our pay
We still loved going to concerts to see our favorite bands play
The Vietnam War was on the evening news for all to see
Marcus Welby, M.D. was the number one show on United States TV
Over in London, Jimi Hendrix over dosed
On Monika Dannemann’s sleeping pills two weeks before.
And in Los Angeles, John Cook found Janis Joplin dead on the floor.

Jimmie A. Kepler
© 2011

Originally published in “Writing After Fifty”

Originally published in “Writing After Fifty”

Devotional: Trust God and Write

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Title: Trust God and Write!
Text: 2 Samuel 9:13

“Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.” — Crossway Bibles (2011-02-09). The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (p. 261). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

“Why can’t I be a writer or author?” Those were words I spoke as I mustered all the manhood I had as an eleventh grader to keep from crying as my high school guidance counselor told me that becoming a writer or author wasn’t an acceptable vocational option for a man.

The school counselor answers, “Jimmie, you’re a guy. You’ll need a trade or college degree in engineering, accounting, or teaching to support your future wife and children. You need to forget that silly notion that a man could ever support a family writing. It’s okay to have writing as a hobby, but you’ll never earn a living doing it. You’ll need a real job.”

The words broke my heart. My parents had raised me to believe I could do anything. My Sunday school teacher and youth pastor had taught me God had an amazing plan for my life. Up to this point, I believed it. After the counselor’s words, I wasn’t so sure.

Several years later, I was a seminary student. One day in chapel, I heard a sermon about a man with an unusual name, Mephibosheth. He was lame in both feet. He had a disability, an affliction. I learned he faced many challenges, sorrows, and problems. In spite of this, he didn’t know the king of Israel was about to bless his life. The most powerful man in all of Israel, King David went out of his way to bless someone others viewed as unworthy. Our King of kings, our great Lord Almighty desires to do the same for us.

Have you been told your dream of writing is just that a dream? Maybe you’ve been told you haven’t experienced life enough to write, that you’re too young to write, or that the competition is too great? You may be dealing with feelings of doubt, think if only you had a MFA or if your family or spouse supported you more, or maybe you think it’s too late – you’re just too old. If only … Let’s face it, at times we all face challenges and difficulties in our lives that make us feel unworthy to serve the Lord. As Christian writers, we serve the Lord with our writing.

We may feel there is no way God could use us. We dwell on negative thoughts. We focus on why we can’t. We feel it’s too hard or the chances of getting published are stacked against us. I want you to stop those I cannot do it thoughts. Think about the things you and God can do.

Remember, God doesn’t look at our exteriors, our limitations, or our failures. He looks at His flawless creation – that’s you! God says, “I can use you; I want to use you.”
We should live in this truth. Don’t let anyone or anything including self-doubt stand in your way of serving our great King of Kings and Lord of Lords! If he has called you to write, He will provide the platform, publisher and audience/readers. He’s also a big enough God to take care of your financial and emotional needs.

My name is not a household name as a writer. I do not support myself writing. Thirty years ago last month my first magazine article was published. I was paid 2½ cents a word. Since I sold the first article in 1981, I have had 47 articles and poems published. I have had hundreds rejected. I have had a nonfiction book initially accepted and then killed when an editor changed. I have a historical fiction book that’s been rejected a couple of times and yet I am rewriting to changed the point of view at an editor’s request without any promise they’ll buy the work. I am a regular contributing book reviewer for a national magazine.

What can I say? I love to write and read. I writing is your thing, ignore the negative thinkers, and trust God and write!

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I Am a Writer

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I belong to the Dallas Writing Practice Group. A recent assignment was to write why “I am a writer”. Here’s what I wrote …

I’m a writer because I enjoy writing.

I get my ideas from the world around me as well as the fantasies within me.

I try to write for a regular period each day.

I believe in using adjectives and adverbs frugally.

I structure my work-in-progress by writing according to how the story seems to be telling itself instead of writing to a prepared plot outline though I know my major plot points.

I realize writing self-discipline by making myself work whether I’m in the mood or not.

I handle the difficult, ‘writer’s block’ or ‘dry’ times by working on something else to keep good writing habits.

I attempt to make my work as good as it can be by editing, rewriting and polishing.

In seeking an agent or publisher I research the market thoroughly and learn how to make a professional submission. I also read books by writer’s the potential agent represent or by the publisher where I believe I’m a good fit.

I receive rejection slips with a twinge, and then move to the next submission. It’s not personal.

I see myself in the future finding satisfaction in writing novels and narrative nonfiction my readers enjoy.

I want to write because I have characters and stories bursting to come to life. I have voices in my head that need to escape to paper or keyboard.

If you a writer how would you explain why you are a writer?

I Love Rain

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I love rain. Most people hate it. I love it. Why should I love rain? It’s not easy for people to understand, but I will try to explain.

Rain is a precious gift from God. It falls from the sky. Sometimes it falls in large amounts. Sometimes it comes from the sky in small amounts. Sometimes it doesn’t visit us for weeks or months at a time. When it does visit it always brings its friend the clouds. Rain can also bring its noisy friend thunder and an its illuminating friend lightning.

Rain is like a guest in your home. At first you’re glad to see the rain, but if it stays around too long, it can out stay its welcome.

Rain can be refreshing. It gives the air and the countryside a shower. It washes the pollen from the air. It washes the pollen off the cars, sidewalks, and driveways. Rain removes the dust from the leaves of the flowers, bushes and trees.

The temperature drops when the rains come. Rain transforms the hot world into a cool, air conditioned environment in the summer and a chilly one in the winter. It helps you appreciate a warm, dry house. It is a muse for Ray Bradbury as he writes short stories about it in “The Illustrated Man” in his short story “The Long Rain”.

Rain also helps a person forget their troubles. You worry less about how you look. After all, the water from the mud puddle may have splashed on you. You enjoy freedom from irritations. Only those people who truly want to see you will come see you in the rain. Most gripers and complainers stay away when it’s wet outside. They wait for a less rainy day.

It is fun walking outside when it rains, especially with an umbrella. “Just singing in the rain” … You can hold an umbrella in one hand, letting it prop on your shoulder. When the rain falls the propped up umbrella can be popped open keeping you from getting soaking wet. It’s fun to take a wet umbrella, hold it at a forty-five degree angle to the ground and spin it around and around. When you spin it around and around something magical happens. The drops of rain the umbrella has collected go flying off in a direction away from the umbrella holder. You can aim the umbrella where the drops spray someone or you can splatter the drops on the ground as you spin the umbrella ‘round and ‘round.

Even if you don’t own an umbrella you can still have fun in the rain. Shopping malls miraculously have parking spaces available closer to the door when it’s raining. The crowds are noticeably smaller. The joy of the mall is intensified as you experience less hustle and bustle. At church, better seats are available.

A sad note about rain is it sometimes cancels baseball games. While this is sad, though not to all wives, it does hold the potential of prolonging our great national pastime’s season and giving the baseball fan the rare double-header (two games on the same day – twice the fun!). Also, during warm weather after the rain departs the heat and humidity can smoother you making your world feel as humid as a rain forest.

Without rain, there wouldn’t be real green grass on the baseball fields, rain checks from baseball games, manageable crowds at the mall, or great seats easily available at church. Rain makes the world a nice place. Why not enjoy the rain? Without rain the flowers would not grow. Without rain there would be no Fillet of Fish at McDonald’s Restaurants. Without rain there would be no people living.

I love rain!

Devotional: Relearning the Same Lessons

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No, I don’t want to learn that again! I’ve been through that before – once is enough!  Why me Lord?

Have you ever felt that way? I have. In fact, I made the incorrect assumption that once I had been through a problem, a temptation or other occurrence in my life and said, “God, I understand” or “Message received” or “Okay, I finally got it” that I could move on to something new and not have to redress these lessons.

Wrong!

Over the last ten or twelve years I have faced several traumatic problems. I’ve asked God, “Why do I have to deal with this?” Or “What do I need to learn?”

I have a simple faith and know He is in charge. I usually accept my fate without too much complaining.

Ready for a laundry list of some of the things I have experienced? Here it is.

  1. Being a man and having a mammogram before having a benign lump removed in 2000 was scary.
  2. I found having a TIA (mini-stroke) in 2000 and again in 2002 was life altering.
  3. Fighting cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides for fifteen years has worn me down.
  4. Being in coronary care in December 2004 got my attention.
  5. In 2005 my mother in law had a major stroke. It took her life in early 2006. I preached her funeral.
  6. Later that same year I found out I had an irregular heartbeat, a heart rate twice normal, and three valves with issues.
  7. About the same time I find out my mother required a kidney transplant.
  8. I made some bad life and work choices in 2008 – 2010. I went to working nights which caused me to rarely see my wife. I juggled between days and nights where I found myself totally worn out. I spent most weekends checking on my aging parents worried about mother’s kidney issues. She had the kidney transplant in March 2011.
  9. My wife has had abdominal issues for the last 18 months that the doctors cannot resolve.

You are starting to get the picture …

Last year I quit my day job of twelve plus years. In honesty, I was just burned out. My goal was to semi-retire and write. Write I did. I placed 18 pieces in 9 months. My former day job asked me to come back and I rejoined them the end of October.

The week before rejoining them my wife is carried from work to the hospital via ambulance. They never conclusively determined the cause though the doctor did say probable TIA (mini-stroke) to me.

On November 5 I was in a major car wreck. It was the type of wreck where the ambulance carries you to the emergency room. Just when I am getting over it I have a bad fall on ice the day after Christmas. I still am recovering from it. I still have back pain.

Now I am having ongoing numbness and tingling in my left foot. It is terrible.

Add to that I have a large tax burden this year because of a stock sale.

I have been in bed and cried out why God?

Okay God, why hasn’t everything been perfect?

The word surrender comes to mind. I realized I slowly had taken back over control of my life.

Sometimes, when our troubles go on and ON, it is alluring to runaway from whatever storm we’re in, harden our heart, throw up barriers and say I don’t care anymore. I’m going to just runaway and live for me.

Other times that little devil on our shoulder or our well-meaning friends whisper in our ears or mind “You deserve to be happy.” “It’s pointless.” “Things will never change.” “This is impossible.” “You are worthy of better.”

Think about why bars are so full. Why drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers are so crowded. Why one-night stands are so common. Why credit cards are charged to the maximum credit limit and closets are full of clothes that don’t fit anymore. We substitute for Jesus and overdo and indulge either physically, mentally or emotionally to distract. To quench. To numb. To forget. To avoid. To hurt others not realizing we are hurting ourselves.

By the way, the voices are not Godly.

Should you give up and quit? NO.

There is only so much I can do. The most important thing I can do is believe in and trust God. Through the last dozen plus years that is the hard lesson I have had to learn over and over.

I need to let go of the life I have given to Christ and totally surrender to His control. That is the life lesson I have been learning most recently … God, I can’t, but you can. God, I’ll make the wrong choice, even when I know better. I even make the wrong choice when I can hear God saying don’t, but he other voices say do.

My prayer is to surrender to God’s Lordship for my life. It is to trust Him more that I trust myself. Here I am God, I surrender all. … and yes, please help me relearn this lesson if I try to take control again.

Your Online Presence: You as a Brand

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Social MediaRecently I reread an article by Tom Peter that appeared in Fast Company magazine in 2007. The article’s title is “The Brand Called You”. You remember Tom Peters don’t you? He wrote the big business books of the 1980s and early 1990s. Books like “In Search of Excellence” (co-written with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.), “A Passion for Excellence”, “Thriving on Chaos”, and “Liberation Management”.

His article had me reflecting back more than a decade to online marketing guru Seth Godin and his associates at Fast Company magazine. They are the first persons who floated the notion of “the brand of you.” The real premise of “the brand of you” was a theory that to get ahead in the Internet era we should look at ourselves as “a brand.” And as “a brand” we need to market ourselves in a way that shows the image we want others to see. In today’s connected age with Internet social networking like Facebook, WordPress, Blogspot, Multiply, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr and others you should pay attention to what Godin was sharing.

Hopefully you realize your online identity is the first thing prospective employers see. Failure on your part to build your brand, massage the image you are crafting, and keep up your brand focus can do harm to our “brands” and lose us potential jobs or contracts.

For “the brand of you” you should behave consistently. What I mean here is everything from your voice mail message to your blog to your tweets must have a consistent tone. You can’t be wild and crazy in one place and dead serious in another. If you are doing a blog on political commentary from a liberal point of view you should stay on task. If you are doing a weblog on writing and publishing it should be limited to those themes. If you are doing a blog on military history books reviews you should not have commentary on your life or a review of your favorite restaurant show up in the blog. You get the idea.

Another problem is not keeping your blog or website current. It you commit to a blog, you need to have regular input and updates. The opposite is also true. Do not over do it. While regular entries are critical, too frequent entries cries out that you are spending too much time blogging.

Remember before you promote yourself as a brand online you need to answer three questions. In the immortal words of the rock band The Who has yourself, “who are you?” Next think about and answer the question “what is it you want?” The third question to answer is “what it is you have to sell?” Is it goods (a product) or services? Go through that exercise first.

Almost all major companies include an online search for your name as part of their hiring and screening process. Many companies also do online searches for your name when you are being considered for a promotion. Be careful who you allow to be your online friend. Some businesses have employees send friend requests where they can get access to you personal things like blogs and pictures. You think you are safe because you have limited access to contacts, but then you let a potential employer have access without even realizing what you have allowed. The “Seattle Post Intelligencer” ran an article warning about companies peeking into Facebook to screen potential employees way back in 2006. You can read it by clicking HERE.

Finally, I suggest you do a simple Google search of yourself and see what you find. Why not spend a few hours to clean up and enhance your online presence?

The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

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Albert Einstein said, “The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts, but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.”

My undergraduate education is a liberal arts education. My major was history and my minors were English and military science. My Master of Arts degree is in Christian education. My broad-based liberal arts education did more than prepare me for a job. It provided the foundation that allows me to compete in the marketplace of ideas. I also completed the core curriculum for a computer science degree.

It has been 38 years since I heard then University of Texas at Arlington President Dr. Wendell Nedderman say I had met the requirements for my bachelor’s degree. Within minutes of his pronouncement I raised my right hand and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army through Army ROTC.

I did not make the military a career. Three years later I headed to graduate school. I was amazed at how ready I was. I knew how to read, write, study, do research, write research papers, and think and make decisions.

My UT Arlington liberal arts education taught me how to think independently and make sound judgments. I learned how to expand my horizons, discover new perspectives, and acquire the tools to defend my point of view. My education helped me learn to reflect on life, have a moral and historic compass where I can distinguish good from evil, justice from injustice, and what is noble and beautiful from what is useful.

I have been employed over the years as an officer in the US Army, a minister, educator, corporate trainer, Internet Coordinator, IT Support Analyst, and IT Systems Administrator. These have been my day jobs that has supported my 30 plus years of freelance writing. Working in Information Technology it is interesting to see how many persons have undergraduate degrees in the liberal art disciplines. Most of our tech writers were English majors. Many of our business analysts and business intelligence types also have liberal arts undergrad degrees. These are the people who know how to think outside the box. These are the people with excellent critical thinking skills. These are the persons that embrace change and know how to successfully deal with it. These are people who know how to communicate ideas.

What have I done with my history degree? All the above plus I have published nearly fifty magazine and trade journal articles in over a dozen publications though the years. I have published poetry through the years. I have written hundreds of book reviews. I have a website “Kepler’s Military History Book Reviews”. The site was named a 100 best websites for history buffs. I read and review military history books published under more than a dozen different imprints. I am finishing the manuscript for my historical fiction novel I’m working one as well.

I get asked often by younger coworkers how I know so much about so much. They say I am a modern renaissance man. My answer: I have a liberal arts education from the University of Texas at Arlington.

How committed am I to liberal arts education? I have three grown children – all have liberal arts degrees. One is employed in a senior business management position, one is a teacher, and the third has worked in customer service and information technology fields before starting her own business.