The struggle between good and evil comes down to one thing, Freedom. The good want freedom, especially freedom to follow the dictates of our own conscience. The evil want to oppress and force people into doing the will of the leader. Amazingly, they tell the oppressed it is for their own good.

being July 4th, I am thankful for my freedom. All people are free to think as they wish. However to act and speak as I want and not fear for my life. That is the freedom I am thankful for. That is the freedom that really makes America great.

Most of the things that happened this week are great and one bad thing. First, but not the best, I finally got together with a couple of friends of mine and we traveled to Oklahoma City to check out the hail damage and see if we are going to give roofing a try in OKC. It was a good trip and we have decided to give it a try.

The best thing that happened this week was that I was able to hang out with Warren Coulam and His wife Deborah. It was fun to see warren again. I’ve only seen him three times since high school and two of those have been in the last couple of months. His wife is great, and has polished him up quite a bit. I think he’s more fun to hang with than in high school, I’m going to blame that on Deborah. I wish Amanda could have been there to hang out with us. If I can get some pictures I will post them here later.

I was also able to meet with a couple of people about business this week and one gave me, what hopefully will be, a great contact. Funny thing is that guy is in Oklahoma City. I’ll be going back up there on July 5th. Funny how things work out that way.

The bad for the week is that I hurt my back again. This is the second time in the last year. This has been happening occasionally for the last ten years. These last too times have been the worst. I am going to have to really figure out a way to prevent this from happening. This time it’s preventing me from going to scout camp. It’s hard for me because I know the boys won’t be as productive without me there. But I can’t do much about it.

So there it. The week was great, with just an annoying backache. Hopefully I’ll heal quickly.

Roman has wanted to drive since he was about 5. Golf Carts, lawn mowers anything. Here in Texas he can get his permit at 15. We thought we would just be able to go over to the DMV and get his learners permit. We had done some looking on the DMV website and called. Nothing was really that clear. We didn’t do it right and it’s going to take some more doing. Roman was pretty good about it. But I know he was disappointed.

Last week was stake conference and I had been meaning to write down a couple of stories I heard.

First was from the temple President now serving in San Antonio. I guess he’s had kidney problems most of his life and 30 years ago he had a transplant from his father. However, I guess it cuts the life of the kidney by about 25% if it is transplanted. So his transplanted kidney failed. His father is 81, but his kidney was worn out and it needed to be replaced. They had been looking for a donor among the family, but none were a match. President lee was thinking maybe this was his time. But he said the tender mercies of the Lord were shining upon him. There was a Lady in the stake that wanted to donate a kidney to her husband but she wasn’t a match. However she was a match for president Lee and President Lee’s son was a match for her husband. And so the transplants were made and were successful.

Coincidence, the president thinks not.

I love to hear stories where everything works out for the best. Someday I hope to be able to tell that stories like that for me. I already have a couple. But not one like that yet.

Life is full of ups and downs. I know my own roller coaster ride, and because of my ride I can see the ups and downs in the lives of those around me. Sometimes people post on blogs, Other times I just see it written in their eyes. I wish I knew how to ride mine better, I wish I could help other people with theirs. It’s amazing to me how many don’t want help, and many more don’t seem to know they need help.