Since my last post, my son Rick crashed into a mountainous area with 4 to 6 foot snow and after surviving for several days, was captured by enemy forces and with several other U.S. Air Force personnel is undergoing torture and interrogation. He'll be home Sunday.

Yes, it was only training, but when we last talked, he said it was very real-- it had to be! As an AirForce pilot the conditions he underwent in his survival training can happen, and he must be prepared if it does, to cope and survive. He says that this was the hardest course he has taken in the Air Force, but I know that when he graduates the course and comes home for a couple of days, he will be a more confident person than the one who left us a few weeks ago.

Learning to cope is not a textbook course. It must be learned "hands on" to be effective. In my lifetime, according to an article put out by the Federal Reserve, there have been 10 recessions, including the one we are enjoying right now. That's nine learning experiences -- the old "hands on" training. Am I or any of my friends who have gone through the same training really prepared for this recession? Only in that we know we have to cut back on our spending and find better investments with what money we have left from the other investments.

I think those of us who went through growing a business from nothing to something have a better idea about how to do without things. We don't like it, but we get used to it and we will ride it out.

And those of us with faith in the Lord know that we will survive -- if not in this world, in the next.