Life in the Wheel House: Getting Back to the Basics

By Walt Gaines

Heres hoping that you are enjoying a peaceful day with your family or maybe with your friends. Thank you for taking the time to pick up Life In The Wheel House for a preview.

Walt Gaines wrote Life In The Wheel House for you to enjoy during the quiet hours of the day or to get away from the hustle and bustle of hard work and anxiety.

Life In The Wheel House was designed for the purpose of enjoyment and relaxation. We need that from time to time. As you read through the first few pages, you will see that this is about the American family.

Life In The Wheel House contains 28 short stories. You will laugh at some of them and think serious thoughts at others. The underlying theme of the book deals with the stability of the family and the welfare of our blessed United States.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781477292655

Book preview

© 2012 by Walt Gaines. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  12/03/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9266-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9265-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012921960

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Preface

The promise

Antonio’s Quest

Grandpa and Grandson

The Golden Horse

Hard Life

Test of Friendship

Be Yourself

Imagination of an Artist

Project CC

The Kelly Family

Breaking Down Barriers

Barbara and Billy’s Buddies

The Thrill of Flying

Garbage Can Communicationt

Spiritual Perception

The Master Plan

Aunt Liz and Me

Archie Visits Children with Cancer

Truck for sale

Poko and Pooky

Broken Dreams

Integrity’s Reward

The Blatherskite Syndicate

Three Years

The Old Man who Wouldn’t Quit

A Dream Fulfilled

There Was A Little Boy

FROM THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW

Two of the greatest enemies that we have are worry and fear. They can negatively affect our attitude, relationship with others and even our health. Tough circumstances that we all go through can be one of the major sources of worry or anxiety. It would be nice to be able to snap our fingers and make bad circumstances disappear.

Since that won’t work, let’s try a different approach. A prominent poster of by-gone years read, It is better to build bridges than to mend fences. To me, that meant that it is better to develop a new and more productive way to conduct a lifestyle or to do business than to continually patch up old habits over and over and hope that conditions get better. It did not mean to disregard all previous achievements, but rather to look for and develop new objectives and methods for better results.

We need to raise our sights and expectations higher. Let’s start by putting God first. He has a huge reservoir of blessings and benefits that cannot be depleted. To make His ways to become our new way depends on our faith in Him. He knows what are needs are better than we do.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the stories contained in this book is to help us realize the need to slow down our pace and reduce our anxiety by exercising faith in God so that we can clearly see the blessings we have and we can better evaluate the need to return to values that are truly important.

One of the stories of this book is entitled, There Was A Little Boy. The story is about my salvation experience in Jesus Christ. As an adult, my entire career consisted of technical writing on subjects pertaining to electronics and mechanical systems. I wrote various manuals on United States defense programs and later on commercial airplane maintenance publications. Those publications gave instructions for making retrofit changes to commercial airplanes. After retiring, I decided to write short stories.

The great concern is for our blessed United States. There are many distressing downturns in our ethical and moral standards in business, government, schools and in society. The American family has much to cope with. It was because of these concerns that I decided to write this book of short stories. It is my hope that they will be a great help and encouragement to you and your family.

PREFACE

The wheel-house is a location where the captain has the best vantage point for steering the ship. He or she can see farther into the distance from the wheel-house than from any other point. He has the privilege of being master of the ship. Along with that privilege is the acceptance of total responsibility. There is no guarantee that calm waters will always prevail.

This is similar to the privilege and responsibility that we have as parents. During our lives, we do not always have days without problems.

Just as the raging sea can produce conditions difficult to deal with, there are often difficulties in life that we do not have under our control. Still, the captain has the responsibility to deliver the cargo or, in the case of our responsibilities as parents, to maintain the household and to raise our children.

In a much broader scale, let’s consider the important roles in which the family participates. American families are involved in every facet of our social framework and in American business. Have you ever given thought to the dependency that the world places on us as parents and as United States citizens? We are people who buy products and services and sell products and services. We invest our time in job markets and collect salaries in return. Companies and corporations, controlled by people, in like manner move products within our borders and beyond.

Communities, cities, counties, states and the federal government depend on this very simple system of passing money and properties to others and receiving money and properties from others. Through the many trillions of exchanges of money for business and domestic essentials, taxes are collected.

Tax monies in turn pay the salaries of governmental employees and their respective agencies and services.

Well, how does receiving and distributing salaries and taxes impact the American family? All or the majority of our country’s expenses are paid for by the system involving the American consumer. You and I are part of that system. When we see these 300,000,000 plus citizens of the United States, we see the basic foundational strength of America. We see the family.

The greatest natural strength that we have in America is our family structure. This is the foundation upon which all other structures depend. Yet, this foundation is crumbling. Are we sure that the family structure is less stable today than in former years?

To answer that question, consider conditions brought about by school shootings, the drug culture, relaxed discipline, teen and preteen pregnancies, divorce statistics, alcohol related automobile accidents, urban gangs, parents with two or three jobs, runaways, and single parenting. Unfortunately, we too often accept the full measure of stress by our unwillingness to turn matters of concern over to our heavenly resource.

What can be done better by those of the highest level of government down to the youngest member of every family? It was God who created the seas of this world and our blessed America. Our highest commitment and priority, in my opinion, should be to our Creator and Redeemer and to the instructions He gave for us to follow.

Captains of ships follow navigational courses through both calm and troubled waters. Similarly, parents all over these United States try to maintain family stability by teaching their children true values to live by.

Just as the captain is responsible to chart a course for the welfare of the ship and its cargo, parents and/or guardians are responsible for the welfare of the family. This calls for loyalty to God, our country and our families.

Again, the question is raised: What can our families do better? First and foremost, we need to get back to the basics. From the youngest child to the teenager to the adult, we need to learn again the meanings of such words as hope, trust, truth, grace, mercy, respect for parents and responsibility. That’s what this book, LIFE IN THE WHEEL-HOUSE, is all about.

This book contains several stories that are dedicated to the wellbeing of the family and thereby of the community.

Hopefully, topics of these stories will help us as individuals and families to not simply cope with some of the conditions that we see all around us but to live victoriously above them. Our younger citizens and adults alike can be mentally and emotionally equipped to identify threats and to avoid them.

If we are able to free ourselves and our children from negative and conflicting inputs, perhaps this will free us to pursue our personal, family and business ambitions.

You as parents probably already know what you want to achieve for the sake of your family. Hopefully, your objectives will be honorable and for the benefit of many. What is most important to you? That is your dream. How much passion or drive do you have to reach that goal? That’s your desire. If it is within you to see it and to work for it, you will most likely have it. That will be your personal achievement or destiny.

Present day movie entertainment often comes in the form of sensationalism by excessive violence and sensuous behavior. How could anyone give high marks of social improvement with that type of entertainment?

In the short stories of this book, there are no sea monsters to defeat or outer space adventures into distant galaxies. But, there are stories on how to cope with obstacles of everyday life. There are examples that are foundational for making good decisions that help build healthy families now and for future generations.

As previously mentioned, the book consists of a list of words such as hope, peace, grace, truth, friendship, responsibility, respect for parents, mercy, ingenuity, justice and others. Definitions of the words are given. Following the definitions are the short stories that illustrate meanings of the words and why we consider these words so important.

A well trained captain and crew will never have the power to calm the waves on the high seas, but a trained and alert captain and crew can use their knowledge and skills to overcome the perils of the sea voyage.

In similar manner, loving and disciplined parents and kids of a family will not prevent the onslaught of everyday problems. However, a family that understands and practices the meanings of certain words will be better equipped to handle unexpected obstacles.

WELCOME TO THE READING OF THESE SHORT STORIES—HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM!!

RESPONSIBILITY

To be responsible is to be accountable or answerable for

something within one’s own power to control.

The promise—A story of responsibility

Chief Kerry Duskin looked down at his son and said, Someday you may be chief. If you are, I want you to be the best leader you can be. Seven years from now, you will be old enough to go to college. You will go away from this small city to get your education. By that time, enough money will be saved for you.

Little Warshal looked up at his father and said, I do not want to leave you. This is my home.

His father replied, This will always be your home, but for a short time you will be away from us. If you become chief, be a good leader.

Warshal thought what his father had just said and then replied, I promise!

The years passed quickly. On Warshal’s 18th birthday, he began packing for his distant trip. Two days later, Warshal was on an airplane for the first time.