"Your guidance is my heritage forever; it is the joy of my heart."

Daisy is pretty small as dogs go. She is often mistaken as a puppy even though she is twelve years old as of today. We have a family of large hawks and another family of owls living in the Georgia pine trees across the way. Beautiful to look at from our patio. Dangerous -- very dangerous for a little lady like Daisy.

So when I take her outside to do her business, I stay within easy reach of her. My presence alone discourages any winged or four-footed (coyote) predator. I know how to watch over her and protect her. Of course, she is oblivious to any possible threat. She is quite confident that she can handle anything that comes along.

Few of us make it through life without stepping on a land mine or two. And often, when we do, we lose part of ourselves.

In Sinatra's rendition of, I did it my way, appears this lyric, "Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention." The message of the song is that one must persevere, no matter the consequences. One must keep on and never give up. One must never let the foibles in life get in the way of achieving one's objectives. The pain of one's mistakes, one's sins, must never put one down.

It is a good song. Some would think that it was Sinatra's signature song, for Frank Sinatra did things his way, indeed. Of course, one might observe, Sinatra generated millions of dollars for himself simply because he was a talented singer. If one has that kind of money, he can fraternize with Kings and Presidents. Sinatra, himself, became the "Chairman of the Board." He pretty much could have things his way.

Not necessarily true for the rest of us.

Faith in God does not promise a perfect life on earth. There doesn't seem to be any such thing as a perfect life on earth, unless, of course, one remembers Jesus Christ. But didn't even he "learn obedience" by the things he suffered?

So, is it possible the land mines serve a purpose? We may see things disintegrate in the lives that we love and cherish, but are we the worse for it, or the better?

We know the land mines are there. The trick is to get through life with stepping on as few of them as possible.

For that we need "Chubby!" Chubby is a military grade heavy machine that clears landmines so that personnel can cross safely. However, a machine doesn't work too well with the landmines of life.

For that, we need something else.

For that we need Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, He knows where all the mines are and is fully capable of guiding us through them. Then again, if we choose to dance through the minefields of life blindfolded . . . well, that is our choice. But even then, he never leaves our side and is always there tp pick up the pieces and put us back together.