Earl
Usually optomistic
Directory of ezines
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Someone special
The someone special is me! I have had a life full of so many great adventures and been showered with blessings, more than I even know about. I have also had loads of difficulties with the loss of family members, financial stress, physical and emotional abuse, plus many physical accidents. Everything together is what makes me a special person.
God knew my heart and he knew I was going to need a lot of protection through my lifetime. At an early age, I gave my heart to God and accepted Jesus as my savior. It was at this time two special saints from the church took me under their wings and committed to pray for me and asked God to place angles around me for the rest of my life. That's why I am a special person, through all my 77 years those angles are still watching out for me.
I think of the time in the paratroopers I was blown into the front windshield of a parked jeep, or when I was accused of murder and thrown into a german jail, or split my head open on a stovepipe, too many accidents to mention. I have also been counting the many blessings like receiving an unexpected check when my account was empty or receiving a free remodel in our basement so we could receive some extra rent money to avoid foreclosure or going down a highway at 80mph. and barely missing a semi who turned in front of me. It's not just the major events but the small things that most times I don't even think about. When I am walking and the sun breaks through the clouds to warm me up it's another blessing.
God is faithful and he honors the prayers of his prayer warriors. I remember so many people who have been put in my life to guide me in the right direction and help with difficult situations. Many of them have passed away or moved away and I am so thankful that they were a part of my journey and God's plan.
I am someone special because I am a child of God and he loves me.
Earl Baldwin
God knew my heart and he knew I was going to need a lot of protection through my lifetime. At an early age, I gave my heart to God and accepted Jesus as my savior. It was at this time two special saints from the church took me under their wings and committed to pray for me and asked God to place angles around me for the rest of my life. That's why I am a special person, through all my 77 years those angles are still watching out for me.
I think of the time in the paratroopers I was blown into the front windshield of a parked jeep, or when I was accused of murder and thrown into a german jail, or split my head open on a stovepipe, too many accidents to mention. I have also been counting the many blessings like receiving an unexpected check when my account was empty or receiving a free remodel in our basement so we could receive some extra rent money to avoid foreclosure or going down a highway at 80mph. and barely missing a semi who turned in front of me. It's not just the major events but the small things that most times I don't even think about. When I am walking and the sun breaks through the clouds to warm me up it's another blessing.
God is faithful and he honors the prayers of his prayer warriors. I remember so many people who have been put in my life to guide me in the right direction and help with difficult situations. Many of them have passed away or moved away and I am so thankful that they were a part of my journey and God's plan.
I am someone special because I am a child of God and he loves me.
Earl Baldwin
Monday, October 14, 2019
A summer drive in Europe
I had been working in a German-run warehouse in Mainz and was feeling very depressed about my marriage. It was payday and something inside me said I should just take the day off and go for a drive to relieve some stress.
I hopped in my Volkswagen beetle and took off, I had nowhere in particular in my mind to go, just driving.to get away for a while. I would drive through any small towns I came to and stop at some of the cafes for coffee or a danish roll. Late in the afternoon, I realized I had no idea where I was and didn't have a map to find my way back to the apartment. My thought was then to just keep driving and see if I could find a youth hostel where I could spend the night. I came upon a group of youth making camp along the side of the road and stopped to ask if they knew where the youth hostel was they said no, but I could camp with them for the night, so I did. They were 6 college students traveling Europe on foot. We talked for several hours and became comfortable with each other. They did show me they carried a gun for protection so I wouldn't get any ideas. Early in the morning I got up and left.
I thought about trying to find my way back to Mainz and my wife and job I left behind but I was still angry and so stressed out that I decided to just keep going and try to make my way back to America. Driving down the road I didn't realize how close to France I was until I saw the border patrol up ahead. I could not speak any french and very little german but I showed them my passport and said I was just site seeing. They stamped it and passed me on through. I drove for a while and stopped at a seaport hoping to get a ride to the US on a ship as a crew member, but I needed sea papers which I didn't have. I tried to sell my VW so I could buy a ticket but I needed other additional papers. It seemed all my efforts to get back home to the US was being blocked. As I drove around aimlessly I was thinking this was my third day traveling and I hadn't told anyone where I was going, I am sure they are searching for me and I really don't want to be found.
Just then I came to another border crossing going into Switzerland I showed my passport and then passed on through. I thought I should get off the main highway and travel on some of the backroads through some small towns. As I was driving down this paved road it turned into a dirt road so I kept going to see where it went and then it was like a trail with grass in the middle and then an open field with cows around. Somehow I was in a grazing pasture and it was starting to rain. As I was turning around on a steep hillside I could feel my VW slipping sideways and I straightened the steering wheel to gradually make it back up to the trail and drive out.
I crossed back into France and took a different route driving around all day and into the evening by this time it was getting very dark and I was running low on money so I decided to find a place to park and sleep in my car. I found an open area with bushes so I would be partially hidden from the road and fell asleep. I woke up with someone pounding on the window, it was two French policemen motioning me to get out. My first thought was that they had found me and I was going to jail, but they were just investigating to see if I was alive or in bad health.needing assistance. I said I was ok I just got tired and pulled off to sleep so they left and I drove on down the road.
Somehow I came to the Belgium border and crossed into the country with no problems. At a cafe, I met a girl from Dover England she was going home for the summer and said her father owned a business and that I could work for him until I made enough money for a trip home. I bought a ticket and boarded the fairy to sail across the channel to Dover. When we docked they checked my passport and asked how much money I had and how long I would be staying. I said I was staying with my girlfriend's parents but they wouldn't let me in because they said I was a vagrant. I was put back on the fairy and returned to Belgium. At least I got to see the white cliffs of Dover.
I was down to my last few dollars which I used for gas and drove back into France with no destination in mind but heading toward Spain. I always wanted to see the bullfights. Driving down a country highway I ran out of gas and no money left in my pockets. I just sat there for a while wondering what I was going to do. I got out and pushed the car off to the side checked to see if all the papers for the car were there I left the keys in the ignition closed the door and walked away hoping that someone who needed a car would find it.
Earl Baldwin
i
I hopped in my Volkswagen beetle and took off, I had nowhere in particular in my mind to go, just driving.to get away for a while. I would drive through any small towns I came to and stop at some of the cafes for coffee or a danish roll. Late in the afternoon, I realized I had no idea where I was and didn't have a map to find my way back to the apartment. My thought was then to just keep driving and see if I could find a youth hostel where I could spend the night. I came upon a group of youth making camp along the side of the road and stopped to ask if they knew where the youth hostel was they said no, but I could camp with them for the night, so I did. They were 6 college students traveling Europe on foot. We talked for several hours and became comfortable with each other. They did show me they carried a gun for protection so I wouldn't get any ideas. Early in the morning I got up and left.
I thought about trying to find my way back to Mainz and my wife and job I left behind but I was still angry and so stressed out that I decided to just keep going and try to make my way back to America. Driving down the road I didn't realize how close to France I was until I saw the border patrol up ahead. I could not speak any french and very little german but I showed them my passport and said I was just site seeing. They stamped it and passed me on through. I drove for a while and stopped at a seaport hoping to get a ride to the US on a ship as a crew member, but I needed sea papers which I didn't have. I tried to sell my VW so I could buy a ticket but I needed other additional papers. It seemed all my efforts to get back home to the US was being blocked. As I drove around aimlessly I was thinking this was my third day traveling and I hadn't told anyone where I was going, I am sure they are searching for me and I really don't want to be found.
Just then I came to another border crossing going into Switzerland I showed my passport and then passed on through. I thought I should get off the main highway and travel on some of the backroads through some small towns. As I was driving down this paved road it turned into a dirt road so I kept going to see where it went and then it was like a trail with grass in the middle and then an open field with cows around. Somehow I was in a grazing pasture and it was starting to rain. As I was turning around on a steep hillside I could feel my VW slipping sideways and I straightened the steering wheel to gradually make it back up to the trail and drive out.
I crossed back into France and took a different route driving around all day and into the evening by this time it was getting very dark and I was running low on money so I decided to find a place to park and sleep in my car. I found an open area with bushes so I would be partially hidden from the road and fell asleep. I woke up with someone pounding on the window, it was two French policemen motioning me to get out. My first thought was that they had found me and I was going to jail, but they were just investigating to see if I was alive or in bad health.needing assistance. I said I was ok I just got tired and pulled off to sleep so they left and I drove on down the road.
Somehow I came to the Belgium border and crossed into the country with no problems. At a cafe, I met a girl from Dover England she was going home for the summer and said her father owned a business and that I could work for him until I made enough money for a trip home. I bought a ticket and boarded the fairy to sail across the channel to Dover. When we docked they checked my passport and asked how much money I had and how long I would be staying. I said I was staying with my girlfriend's parents but they wouldn't let me in because they said I was a vagrant. I was put back on the fairy and returned to Belgium. At least I got to see the white cliffs of Dover.
I was down to my last few dollars which I used for gas and drove back into France with no destination in mind but heading toward Spain. I always wanted to see the bullfights. Driving down a country highway I ran out of gas and no money left in my pockets. I just sat there for a while wondering what I was going to do. I got out and pushed the car off to the side checked to see if all the papers for the car were there I left the keys in the ignition closed the door and walked away hoping that someone who needed a car would find it.
Earl Baldwin
i
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