Camouflage and Christmas Lights

Please take a moment to watch the following video.  Even more important than the pictures, are the words to the song.  The song “Camouflage and Christmas Lights” is sung by Rodney Carrington.  Typically, I do not recommend his stuff, as it is usually vulgar and crude, however, this song is well-worth passing along.

I want to thank my brother (unnamed) for what he does for all of us.  He’s deployed now, for the third time, and will be away from home for Christmas.  Come home soon, bro.

A great friend of mine is also deployed, and will be missing Christmas with his wife and daughters.  Justin, be safe.

To all our service men and women, a sincere thank you.

Man up!

GUEST POST – from Dean Soto – “So What Do You Do?”

When I returned from a deployment to the war in Iraq that lasted from March of 2008 to March of 2009, several aspects of my life had changed. Even though my year stint was rather benign and uneventful, something unknowingly grew inside of me that affects the majority of men today.

For a year I had a fire growing inside of me in which I wanted to further my current career, start a new business, and help other Catholics to do the same. The problem was – it was all I could think about and talk about when I returned home. For months my wife endured emotional loneliness, my 1 and a half year-old daughter wanted nothing to do with me, and I was completely oblivious to it all. My work and aspirations consumed me to the point where my family felt closer to me while I was 5,000 miles away, than they did when I was with them.

Throughout history, but especially today, men have defined themselves – and their worth – by what they do. Think about when you meet someone new. Typically, the conversation starts off with the formality of finding out the person’s name and how they know so-and-so, but within minutes the conversation turns to, “So what do you do?” This is perfectly natural and expected, but our culture takes it to the extreme and ensnares us with 2 traps that Catholic men of earlier ages rarely faced: the lack of trust in divine providence and the loss of self-worth.

I was trapped in a pit of despair that only Christ and my family could save me from. My wife made it clear that something needed to change, and change fast, before our marriage started to break apart. What happened over time was that I began to see that what I did, did not define who I was. In other words, just because I didn’t reach the goals that I wanted to as a businessman and entrepreneur (which were unreasonable to begin with), didn’t mean that I wasn’t worth something. My wife wanted to share my life, and could care less about how much I earned. My daughter had no clue what I did professionally, she only wanted her daddy to make her laugh. Through the grace of God – and ironically through a secular entrepreneur that I admire – I was able to let go. I allowed God to change my priorities to reflect what He would desire, and not what I thought was best.

I still have the fire in me to be successful, but how I view success is much different. As a Catholic man, God and my family come first – no exceptions. All of my ventures are done after my family has gone to bed. Success is not what I do, but who I am in Christ. Christ sacrificed himself for the Church, and the least I could do is sacrifice my desires for my family.

St. Thomas More, when faced with the prospect of losing everything, told his family that he would be just as happy begging in the streets with them as he would being comfortable in his house. What we do for a living does not define who we are. I am a Catholic man. My love for Christ, love for my family, and trust in a God that will never forsake me defines who I am.

Dean Soto is the author of productivecatholic.com, a blog designed to help Catholics find holiness in their work. He is also the owner of Pro Sulum, LLC, an IT consulting company, and Shiistr.com an online social network that aims to save people money on food. His primary mission is to help Catholics to use their professional talents and abilities to further the cause of the Church and their local parishes, and advocates a view that all Catholics should help the Church by doing what they are passionate about.

Off To War

Just a quick note today to thank my brother for his service to our country.  He’s headed off to fight the global war on terrorism for us.  He leaves a wife and daughter at home for many months; Pray for him, her, their daughter and all service men and women in combat.

My brother is a 9+ year veteran of the Air Force, on his way to his third deployment.  He flies one of the coolest aircraft ever made, the B-1 Bomber.  Nicknamed “The Bone”, this plane has incredible flying capabilities, speed, agility and weapon-load capacity.  It flies hard, high and fast.

Be thankful, today and everyday, that you live in the best country in the world.  Be thankful, today and everyday, that we have men and women who are willing to step into harm’s way to protect our freedom and liberties.  These are our heroes.

The Home of the Free, Because of the Brave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man up!