The Long Trail Home Leads To Valhalla Ranch

Matt Littrell of The Long Trail Home has been on my mind.  He is now working to construct Valhalla Ranch, a small sanctuary for veterans that are affected by PTSD.  You know how I feel about that term but Matt doesn't care because he knows that post traumatic stress is a problem and he wants to help other veterans grow beyond it.

The other day I told somebody that they needed to get MADD to correct a problem they were having and that's exactly what Matt did.  He got MADD when one of his friends took their own life.  I didn't advise Matt to get MADD but that's what he did, he made a damn decision and started to work on Valhalla Ranch.  Good for you, Mr. Littrell!

I'm assuming that this was quite a shock to Matt's soon to be wife, Kristen.  Sure, Kristen was fine with supporting Matt in his dream of building a ranch where veterans could visit to clear the cobwebs from their mind, but the shock and pain pushed him beyond his having a dream and he started to work to turn his dream in to a reality.  Not an easy job for a young couple, but they have a mission.

Matt and Kristen could use your help.  Kristen has set up a gofundme page for Valhalla Ranch and it would be great if you would donate.  Seriously, they're needing 30K for this mission.  You're supporting the construction of bunk houses and fencing for the horses that Matt and Kristen have trained.

Thirty-thousand dollars and yet we sit around and say, "What's wrong with the younger generation?" Maybe the answer is that we have isolated ourselves so much that we won't believe in anybody from the younger generation.

C'mon, Matt set out to cross the United States on horseback and he did. Need more proof? Okay, it's on Kristen's shoulders.  She believed in his mission, stuck with him on The Long Trail Home and is training the horses that will be used on the ranch.  I guess she does some of that domestic dolly junk like cooking and cleaning too because it appears to me from the pictures she posts that there isn't a pizza shop very close to the ranch.  You can follow them on Twitter at MK Horsemanship or keep up with Matt and Kristen on facebook to watch their progress.

Most importantly, please donate to Valhalla Ranch through the gofundme page.  It's about freedom from miserable memories.
 

ENOUGH OF THE SOFT WORDS

This afternoon it was announced that Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot

Moath al-Kasasbeh was murdered by ISIS. My heart wrenched knowing that just three days ago ISIS had beheaded journalist Kenji Goto of Japan. I feel for the reporters that are telling me of this news and I am frustrated to see the response from the President of The United States.

Moath al-Kasasbeh was one of eight children. He was Muslim, 27 years old and was reported as being a devout Muslim who memorized the Quran. I do not see that anything on this list is reason for murder.

After the announcement of Moath al-Kasasbeh's death the president made a brief comment and once again used the word “ideology”.  We do not use that word in my home. Ideology is not a reason for uncivilized behavior.

So I got to thinking about ideology. Ideology is a principle, a view, an idea, a philosophy. To me it is a soft word that should be used to describe literature and films. My next thought was Marxism. That's not a big deal, it's just a theory but I instantly think of communism. Communism is the implementation of Marxism. To me that's a really big deal!

When my children were toddlers I had rules. No hitting, no pinching, no biting, no kicking, no pulling hair. That was my ideology. NEVER! Not even once did I say to them, “I will not support that ideology.” No. I played judge and jury and removed the violator from the scene. As a parent I took control of the situation at hand. I told them that they needed to be nice and follow the rules. Bad behavior meant there was punishment and I didn't cover up their poor behavior with soft words.

From what I see on television most ISIS members are fairly young. I've noticed they don't like it when somebody says something not nice about them but somebody is the ring leader. They are not supporting a duty to Islam and even though it is not permitted in Jihad, ISIS is harming innocent civilians. It's no shock that they would break the rules but with all of the bureaucratic nonsense and soft words the world is literally letting these young people get away with murder.