Do you believe in the power of prayer? Do you really even know how to pray? Jesus taught His disciples to pray by implementing what we now refer to as the Lord's Prayer which is the following: Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. That is from the ultimate teacher. A modern day teacher is a man by the name of Bob Sorgee. Bob wrote a book called The Secret of the Secret Place. In that book he tells the reader that each one of us needs to find that special place and time to pray daily. He lays out his ideas of the proper way to pray.
When I get a tug at my heart that tells me that I need to take time to draw closer to my God, that I need to take some time to pray to Him, I like take the thoughts of both of these teachers and pray. There are times that I feel the need to pray, but I just don't know how to or what it is I should say. How do I start? What should I say? Those are the times that I simply start out by reciting the Lord's Prayer. After all it lays out the things we have the most need for any way. It acknowledges that we have a great and holy God, God the Father that is all around us in heaven. It says that we want God's kingdom to be magnified and that we want God's will to be the same here on earth as it is in heaven. It acknowledges God for our very sustenance by thanking Him for our food and water and the air we breathe. It acknowledges that we need to forgive the people who have sinned against us and we ask for forgiveness from God for when we have sinned against Him and our fellow man. Then it acknowledges the fact that our whole Christian walk should hinge on staying away from the temptations of life as we focus on God. After all of this some how the Holy Spirit seems to flood me with the other areas that I need to really pray about. The needs of others, the salvation of souls and the praising of the God that provides all of those things.
There are times that I implement the thoughts of the modern day teacher, Bob Sorgee, as well. Sorgee's teachings included the following principles. First find a quiet place that you can retreat to that is away from the distractions of your daily life. Find a place where you can pray that you will not be interrupted by the phone, your kids, the t.v. or the radio. This can be a closet, your study or office, your car wherever you can go to be alone with just God. The next thing you need to do that seems to be helpful to inspire prayer is to get into the Word. Daily devotions keep us in tune with God is saying to us. It is life's road map and is as alive and applicable today as it was when it was written. As for how you should pray, according to Sorgee, is to pray scripture back to God. Start by saying "It says in your word..." God wants to commune with you and it pleases Him to know that His word is hidden in your heart. That way you will be less inclined to sin against Him and you can use His Word as a sword of the Spirit, that any time the devil rears his ugly head in your life you can use that Word to slay him under your feet.
The verses I tend to pray back to Him are as follows. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. The steps of the righteous man are ordered of the Lord. and I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. After I pray those verses back to him I like to thank Him for the blessings He gives me. At the end of that I return every blessing He gives me back to Him in praise. So I give Him prayers of adulation and tell Him how great He is and how thankful I am that he is in my life.
I have always had a tendency in my life to take a negative attitude towards things. So one of the first things I pray actually against each day is that He would take away any negative thoughts that may enter my mind, any negative feelings that may try to enter my heart and take a way any words that might try to escape my mouth. Each person has their own downfall. This would be a good time to confess them to God and ask for His help to keep you from whatever weakness you may have. I go through that part of the process with a thankful heart and again praise Him for taking that away from my life.
The Bible also talks about the need for us to pray for our leaders. So I take some time at the end of my time of prayer to lift up all of our soldiers all around the world. I pray for their safety and ask God to bless them because they are the keepers of our freedoms in this nation. I will also list the governmental agency that I feel are most responsible for the decisions made in our government. I pray for salvation for these governmental officials and for wisdom and discernment so they make good decisions. I also pray that the actions that they take are of strong character, high moral value and true integrity. Again until I'm assured those prayers are answered I will pray without ceasing. I end my prayers by asking for his forgiveness of my sins and that I would be more like Him.
We serve a great and loving God, but He is also a very jealous God. We need to continue to shower him with praise and adulation. He loves to hear His own words prayed back to Him. He wants us to have a thankful heart and He wants us to be specific in the petitions we have for Him to intervene in the situations and times of need for ourselves and our loved ones. I have had so many loved ones who have needed things especially here recently. People are always sick or hurting and need God's healing touch. Loved ones are lost and people need the comfort of the Holy Spirit and there are so many other needs that need to be turned over to a loving, caring God. We need to come to Him each day and lay our cares at His feet. We have big problems, but thankfully we have a bigger God that can take care of those problems. We also need to listen to what He says so we need to be in His word to hear from heaven so he can heal the hurts and lead us down the right path. The ultimate goal is to be with Him in heaven, but for now we need to be able to bring a little bit of heaven here to those that need Him here on earth. That would be every one.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thank You, Vets
One of the greatest things you can be in this world is be soldier in the the United States Marine Corp, U.S. Army, an Airman in the U.S. Air Force or sailor in the The U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Navy. These are truly the 1%. Today on 11-11-11, we honor and give THANKS to everyone who has served or is currently serving in any of these branches.
Each of us knows some one who has served in some capacity in each of these branches. The ones that I personally know are as follows:
Duane Hoffman (my dad) served in the Army during the Korean War
Harold Teichmann (uncle) served as Gen. Douglas McCarthur's adjunct during World War II
Ed Teichmann (uncle) was a Major in the United States Marine Corps during World War II
Ray Happ (uncle) served during World War II
Ray Hoffman (uncle) served during World War II
Booa Harkesen (wife's uncle) served during World War II
Ed Schwarz (wife's uncle) served during World War II
Mike Ketelsen (wife's uncle) served in the Vietnam Era
Roy Abbott (wife's brother) served in the USMC
Ron Abbott (wife's brother) served in the Coast Guard
Mike Clark (wife's cousin) served in the USMC
Kenny Clark (wife's cousin) served in USMC
Today I honor and thank each of these vets and all of those people who have served or are currently serving and protecting the greatest nation on this earth, the United States of America. We also need to thank all of their families for the sacrifices they gave so our country's freedoms could be protected.
All gave some, Some gave all. If you can read this now thank a teacher, since it is in English, Thank a Vet.
There are thousands of soldiers in Afghanastan and Iraq who are currently serving or have recently served that we need to continually thank. Sometimes these wars are so far away and out of sight, out of mind that we forget that these people are serving us every day. I only wish we had more than 1 day per year to honor them. I feel each of us should do our part by doing a few things that are very simple. They are: Take some time to approach any one you see in a military uniform any day of the week and thank them for their service. Thank those on your personal list like the list I made above. Let them know you appreciate their service so that blogs like this are still freely written, that we can freely worship God, that we can occupy any city for no particular reason. Contribute to veteran's associations of your time, treasure and talents so the vets that return now know that we appreciate their efforts more than how we showed those who served in the days and years after they returned from Vietnam. Share what you can with projects like wounded warriors or funds that provide for the families of those who are currently serving.
Again, I thank and honor all who have served. As you see above, I had a lot of family members who belong in that group. My only regret is that I cannot be included on that list for any one. Sometimes I truly wish I could have served in some capacity, but due to physical limitations, that was impossible. My only hope is that my own children have the desire to protect and serve our nation. I know that no family wants to give the ultimate sacrifice, but I do hope we continue to have those who are willing to serve to preserve the greatness our forefathers wanted for our nation. God Bless our troops and God Bless America!!
Each of us knows some one who has served in some capacity in each of these branches. The ones that I personally know are as follows:
Duane Hoffman (my dad) served in the Army during the Korean War
Harold Teichmann (uncle) served as Gen. Douglas McCarthur's adjunct during World War II
Ed Teichmann (uncle) was a Major in the United States Marine Corps during World War II
Ray Happ (uncle) served during World War II
Ray Hoffman (uncle) served during World War II
Booa Harkesen (wife's uncle) served during World War II
Ed Schwarz (wife's uncle) served during World War II
Mike Ketelsen (wife's uncle) served in the Vietnam Era
Roy Abbott (wife's brother) served in the USMC
Ron Abbott (wife's brother) served in the Coast Guard
Mike Clark (wife's cousin) served in the USMC
Kenny Clark (wife's cousin) served in USMC
Today I honor and thank each of these vets and all of those people who have served or are currently serving and protecting the greatest nation on this earth, the United States of America. We also need to thank all of their families for the sacrifices they gave so our country's freedoms could be protected.
All gave some, Some gave all. If you can read this now thank a teacher, since it is in English, Thank a Vet.
There are thousands of soldiers in Afghanastan and Iraq who are currently serving or have recently served that we need to continually thank. Sometimes these wars are so far away and out of sight, out of mind that we forget that these people are serving us every day. I only wish we had more than 1 day per year to honor them. I feel each of us should do our part by doing a few things that are very simple. They are: Take some time to approach any one you see in a military uniform any day of the week and thank them for their service. Thank those on your personal list like the list I made above. Let them know you appreciate their service so that blogs like this are still freely written, that we can freely worship God, that we can occupy any city for no particular reason. Contribute to veteran's associations of your time, treasure and talents so the vets that return now know that we appreciate their efforts more than how we showed those who served in the days and years after they returned from Vietnam. Share what you can with projects like wounded warriors or funds that provide for the families of those who are currently serving.
Again, I thank and honor all who have served. As you see above, I had a lot of family members who belong in that group. My only regret is that I cannot be included on that list for any one. Sometimes I truly wish I could have served in some capacity, but due to physical limitations, that was impossible. My only hope is that my own children have the desire to protect and serve our nation. I know that no family wants to give the ultimate sacrifice, but I do hope we continue to have those who are willing to serve to preserve the greatness our forefathers wanted for our nation. God Bless our troops and God Bless America!!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
Things aren't always as they seem. I have been pondering this notion a lot in recent days. If you really think about it and look around you, you can see this every where you turn. Bare with me as I elaborate on this notion in the next several lines.
As long as there has been any form of advertisement in this world, I believe this notion has held true. Whether it was the caveman's etchings on the cave walls "talking" about the bear that he just clubbed or it is the t.v. commercial showing men how many women will want to be with them if they choose the right shaving cream. In whatever the venue the art of advertising has always had some sort of deceitful picture portrayed in its message.
Every four years our great land goes through a presidential campaign. You may be a fan of this blood sport, but most people, however, are not so much. Regardless of your particular stance on it you do have to admit that at least we are a free nation who gets to participate in this blood sport whether you agree with the tactics and mudslinging or not. One thing most of us can probably agree on is that some where along the line at least one of the candidates in each presidential race could be classified as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
I just read on facebook (one of my favorite dependable sources of hard hitting fact finding) a line that I feel is very fitting for this very subject. It goes something like this: "All 16 year old girls need to be taught the difference between the boys that flatter her and the boys who compliment her." Heck there are probably some 40 year olds that need to be taught that lesson for that matter. But what the message is saying is you need to be on the look out for people, male or female who would do or say anything to schmooz you until you see things their way. It's more important for you to surround yourself with the people who truly bring out the best in you.
The art of deception or the master of being a wolf in sheep's clothing goes clear back to the beginning of time itself in the Garden of Eden. The serpent came to the woman, Eve, and tempted her to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He was trying to make her believe through his deceit that she could truly be god-like if she would simply do the one thing that God had commanded her not to do. He was a smooth talker and introduced to Eve the first commercial message that made her do something just to get a desired result. Of course where was Adam in all of this? Passively standing by letting it all happen. Then as he was confronted by God after the incident of the first sin in the world, he just blamed it all on the woman that God brought to him. Everything was great in their little garden until she came along. Unfortunately, all was just great in that little garden of theirs until the serpent came to tempt them. Now the key is just to resist the urges of the great deceiver, the first wolf in sheep's clothing that still exists today.
If you haven't guessed by now, or if you are not familiar with this concept of a wolf in sheep's clothing, I will tell you. It is any one or anything that comes to flatter you and deceit you to have you believe a lie in order to get you to do something that you truly should not do or in order to win you over. A sheep is a very, passive compliant animal that can be lead astray very easily. A wolf is the enemy of the sheep and the sheep herder. His only goal is to look out for number one and to devour his next meal. Some times people will do what they can to fit in, to blend into their surroundings in a deceitful way in order to get their target comfortable with them so they can more easily devour the target at the most vulnerable moment.
It says in Psalms 23 that the Lord is my shepherd... It also says in the Bible that the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. That means he will never change. It also says in His word never will I leave you nor forsake you. We are surrounded by people every day who are wolves in sheep' clothing. The key is don't be drawn in to their evil and deceitful ways. Whether it is a stupid ad on the t.v., a politician trying to convince you to vote for him or some stupid guy trying to get you to do anything, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Every one of us is human therefore we are susceptible to the evil of the wolf in sheep's clothing. Don't fall for it. Do the right thing and ask God for his direction.
As long as there has been any form of advertisement in this world, I believe this notion has held true. Whether it was the caveman's etchings on the cave walls "talking" about the bear that he just clubbed or it is the t.v. commercial showing men how many women will want to be with them if they choose the right shaving cream. In whatever the venue the art of advertising has always had some sort of deceitful picture portrayed in its message.
Every four years our great land goes through a presidential campaign. You may be a fan of this blood sport, but most people, however, are not so much. Regardless of your particular stance on it you do have to admit that at least we are a free nation who gets to participate in this blood sport whether you agree with the tactics and mudslinging or not. One thing most of us can probably agree on is that some where along the line at least one of the candidates in each presidential race could be classified as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
I just read on facebook (one of my favorite dependable sources of hard hitting fact finding) a line that I feel is very fitting for this very subject. It goes something like this: "All 16 year old girls need to be taught the difference between the boys that flatter her and the boys who compliment her." Heck there are probably some 40 year olds that need to be taught that lesson for that matter. But what the message is saying is you need to be on the look out for people, male or female who would do or say anything to schmooz you until you see things their way. It's more important for you to surround yourself with the people who truly bring out the best in you.
The art of deception or the master of being a wolf in sheep's clothing goes clear back to the beginning of time itself in the Garden of Eden. The serpent came to the woman, Eve, and tempted her to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He was trying to make her believe through his deceit that she could truly be god-like if she would simply do the one thing that God had commanded her not to do. He was a smooth talker and introduced to Eve the first commercial message that made her do something just to get a desired result. Of course where was Adam in all of this? Passively standing by letting it all happen. Then as he was confronted by God after the incident of the first sin in the world, he just blamed it all on the woman that God brought to him. Everything was great in their little garden until she came along. Unfortunately, all was just great in that little garden of theirs until the serpent came to tempt them. Now the key is just to resist the urges of the great deceiver, the first wolf in sheep's clothing that still exists today.
If you haven't guessed by now, or if you are not familiar with this concept of a wolf in sheep's clothing, I will tell you. It is any one or anything that comes to flatter you and deceit you to have you believe a lie in order to get you to do something that you truly should not do or in order to win you over. A sheep is a very, passive compliant animal that can be lead astray very easily. A wolf is the enemy of the sheep and the sheep herder. His only goal is to look out for number one and to devour his next meal. Some times people will do what they can to fit in, to blend into their surroundings in a deceitful way in order to get their target comfortable with them so they can more easily devour the target at the most vulnerable moment.
It says in Psalms 23 that the Lord is my shepherd... It also says in the Bible that the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. That means he will never change. It also says in His word never will I leave you nor forsake you. We are surrounded by people every day who are wolves in sheep' clothing. The key is don't be drawn in to their evil and deceitful ways. Whether it is a stupid ad on the t.v., a politician trying to convince you to vote for him or some stupid guy trying to get you to do anything, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Every one of us is human therefore we are susceptible to the evil of the wolf in sheep's clothing. Don't fall for it. Do the right thing and ask God for his direction.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
Where were you when the world stop turning on that September Day? It has been said that September 11, 2001 was a "High Holy Day" because so many turned to prayer for solace and comfort when they didn't have any where else to turn. Why is it we tend to turn to prayer as a last resort? Well, I guess all we can do now is pray. To me it should be the first, middle and last thing we should do and then thank God Almighty when we do come out of what ever we're going through.
Some people have wondered what we did to deserve those attacks on September 11th. One thing I feel we did started back in 1962 when the Supreme court ruled in a 6-3 decision to not allow prayer in the public school system. In fact, I feel many of social problems and turmoil stem back to that decision. The protective hand of God was lifted off of our nation at least temporarily.
We serve a loving God; a just God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. There are times, however that I feel that God wants to capture our attention. He is a jealous God. Ye shall worship no other gods before me. There are points in time that God allows certain things to happen to recapture that attention so we will return to Him in prayer so he can receive all the glory.
I remember very distinctly what I was doing that September morning back in 2001. I was on my sales route going through my regular routine. One of my stops had the T.V. on and of course all stations and all focus was on the twin towers repeatedly showing those planes flying into the World Trade Center towers. Every one knew that their lives would never be the same from that point on. Life in America as we knew was changed. Even though I live in fly over country where no terrorist would begin to plot an attack due to the low concentration that would lead to minimal impact, I was still affected. For some loved ones around me the fact that this occurred on 911 a signal of emergency made a strong impression. As of this day all would change. Some of our freedoms would be infringed upon, travel would be incumbered by invasive inspections and many things would no longer be taken for granted. Eventually millions of families would be affected knowing that their loved ones would be thrust into wars on several fronts trying to find the offenders and avenge the acts conducted on our soil that fateful day.
In the days and weeks that followed things were very different. In one sense many things occurred while in another sense nothing happened. There was a flurry of activity out of panic and a flurry of inactivity due to uncertainty. In New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. the flurry of activity centered around search and rescue, recovery and the insuing consolation that needed to occur. While the rest of the nation came to almost a complete stand still. I lived at the time on a quiet side street in Clinton, IA that was situated behind a gas station. The gas line started at the station wrapped around the block and stretched down a full block that ran in front of my house. Talk about coming to a stand still. Those cars weren't going any where. Even when they did creep towards the gas pump they came to the realization that gas price would sky rocket, the housing market would come to a skreetching halt and corporate America including the airlines came to a halt. But on the activity side we saw several things occur. Families reconnecting. Friends reconnecting. Prayer vigils were every where. Churches were packed. The eyes of America had turned to the solace of the one true healing God for comfort and peace.
As with any tragedy, time heals all wounds. Once people realized we weren't going to have armored tanks crawling over our hillsides and bombs weren't going to be detinated in our garbage cans and the panic mode had subsided, things went back to normal. As the years have gone by we have let our guard down and we have gone back to living the life that we want. About the only thing that is gripping us now is a down turn in the economy and tremedously high gas prices.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of that fateful day, it is my wish, my hope and yes even my prayer that we will never forget the people who were directly affected by the events of that terrible day. America lost nearly 3,000 people in that one day. We lost regular citizens and many first responders. We have since lost many soldiers that gave up the ultimate sacrifice that gives me the freedom to even spew this stuff now. We lost a sense of innocense and security. We have also now lost that touch with God. It says in his word that if those who are called by name would simply bow down to me, humbly seek my face and turn away from their evil and wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land. Who will stand with me in this charge? Who will share His word, love our neighbor and touch lives around us in a positive way? If this sort of action and attitude would spread world wide, we would really never have to worry about an attack like that any where ever again. Of course that would have to mean that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord but wouldn't that be a wonderful world to live in. Some say it would be heavenly.
Some people have wondered what we did to deserve those attacks on September 11th. One thing I feel we did started back in 1962 when the Supreme court ruled in a 6-3 decision to not allow prayer in the public school system. In fact, I feel many of social problems and turmoil stem back to that decision. The protective hand of God was lifted off of our nation at least temporarily.
We serve a loving God; a just God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. There are times, however that I feel that God wants to capture our attention. He is a jealous God. Ye shall worship no other gods before me. There are points in time that God allows certain things to happen to recapture that attention so we will return to Him in prayer so he can receive all the glory.
I remember very distinctly what I was doing that September morning back in 2001. I was on my sales route going through my regular routine. One of my stops had the T.V. on and of course all stations and all focus was on the twin towers repeatedly showing those planes flying into the World Trade Center towers. Every one knew that their lives would never be the same from that point on. Life in America as we knew was changed. Even though I live in fly over country where no terrorist would begin to plot an attack due to the low concentration that would lead to minimal impact, I was still affected. For some loved ones around me the fact that this occurred on 911 a signal of emergency made a strong impression. As of this day all would change. Some of our freedoms would be infringed upon, travel would be incumbered by invasive inspections and many things would no longer be taken for granted. Eventually millions of families would be affected knowing that their loved ones would be thrust into wars on several fronts trying to find the offenders and avenge the acts conducted on our soil that fateful day.
In the days and weeks that followed things were very different. In one sense many things occurred while in another sense nothing happened. There was a flurry of activity out of panic and a flurry of inactivity due to uncertainty. In New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. the flurry of activity centered around search and rescue, recovery and the insuing consolation that needed to occur. While the rest of the nation came to almost a complete stand still. I lived at the time on a quiet side street in Clinton, IA that was situated behind a gas station. The gas line started at the station wrapped around the block and stretched down a full block that ran in front of my house. Talk about coming to a stand still. Those cars weren't going any where. Even when they did creep towards the gas pump they came to the realization that gas price would sky rocket, the housing market would come to a skreetching halt and corporate America including the airlines came to a halt. But on the activity side we saw several things occur. Families reconnecting. Friends reconnecting. Prayer vigils were every where. Churches were packed. The eyes of America had turned to the solace of the one true healing God for comfort and peace.
As with any tragedy, time heals all wounds. Once people realized we weren't going to have armored tanks crawling over our hillsides and bombs weren't going to be detinated in our garbage cans and the panic mode had subsided, things went back to normal. As the years have gone by we have let our guard down and we have gone back to living the life that we want. About the only thing that is gripping us now is a down turn in the economy and tremedously high gas prices.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of that fateful day, it is my wish, my hope and yes even my prayer that we will never forget the people who were directly affected by the events of that terrible day. America lost nearly 3,000 people in that one day. We lost regular citizens and many first responders. We have since lost many soldiers that gave up the ultimate sacrifice that gives me the freedom to even spew this stuff now. We lost a sense of innocense and security. We have also now lost that touch with God. It says in his word that if those who are called by name would simply bow down to me, humbly seek my face and turn away from their evil and wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land. Who will stand with me in this charge? Who will share His word, love our neighbor and touch lives around us in a positive way? If this sort of action and attitude would spread world wide, we would really never have to worry about an attack like that any where ever again. Of course that would have to mean that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord but wouldn't that be a wonderful world to live in. Some say it would be heavenly.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Who is in Control of This Any Way?
Our economy is in the pits! Over the past 21/2 years a lot has been said about the origin of the poor economy. Again last night, former Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs was asked to comment on the state of the economy. He went back to the old refrain that it was Bush's fault. I would like to examine this whole idea of the poor economy being Bush's fault.
What did Bush do to ruin the economy? I will examine several possible answers to this very question to see where the answers lead us.
1.) He had us fighting in 2 wars. Wars cost. Wars cost a lot. They cost the tax payers money. They cost soldiers their lives. These wars almost cost GWB a second term in office. It may be said that these wars were factors that lead us into a bad economy.
2.) Bush spent too much. Spending money on wars. Spending money on prescription drugs for seniors. Spending money in general increased our deficit. The deficit could be said to have lead us into a bad economy.
3.) Tax cuts twice during the Bush presidency may have lead us into the bad economy.
Depending on which economists you talk to any of these three or the combination of any of these three policy items could very well have lead us into a bad economy. When Bush left office unemployment was at 7.1%. The housing bubble was starting to burst. Deficits were mounting. TARP spending had occurred.
In 2008 we elected a new president who ran on a campaign slogan of Hope & Change. The American people wanted a change in political parties. They wanted a change in philosophy. They wanted a change from the old guard in Washington D.C. from a family dynasty to a new face who had been a U.S. Senator for less than 2 years when he started running for the office of the President of the United States of America. They put their Hope in Barack Husein Obama. Let's look at the conditions that are in place now and what they have done to change the status of the economy.
1.) Obama has put us into 4 wars now. The continuation of Iraq and Afganastan have gone against the promises to the "Left" that we would end them and be out has not come true. The spending has mounted and continued. The loss of life and other casualties have also continued.
2.) The deficit has doubled in the last 2 years compared to the 8 years under the Bush presidency. We've had 2 stimulous bills that did more to stimulate the government than they did to stimulate the American economy. The stimulous spending was suppose to guarantee unemployment not to rise over 8%, but has now found its way up to 9.1%. The shovel ready jobs that were suppose to have been created are laughed at by this administration as "not being quite as shovel ready as they thought they would be". We now have written into law a government mandated national insurance program that is taxed over a 10 year period with 6 years of "benefits" that when instigated was suppose to cut the deficit and the premiums of the insured, but now inflated the deficit even more and those same premiums are going up because of the uncertainty of the future.
3.) Last Decemember in a vaction session of Congress, President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts. These are the same tax cuts that were said to have added to the deficit and helped the rich croneys of GWB.
Ok, I will grant the "Left" that some of the Bush policies especially towards the end of his presidency may have contributed to the lagging economy. But 2 things and they are 2 big giant buts. But the Housing Bubble that burst and splattered all over the financial markets was started by the democratically controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The policies written by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank to cure the social injustices of the poor to guarantee them the purchases of houses that everyone knew they could not afford lead to the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehmann Bros. Those institution collapses started a dominoe effect of the continual crash of the housing market. The housing bubble burst due to wreckless mismangement of government run agencies supprted by the policies put in place by Dodd and Frank. The other But that is giant and cannot be ignored is the but if Bush's policies were so horrible and lead us into the worst economy since the Great Depression, why were they not only continued, but even doubled down after BHO took office? We are spending even more money on even more wars. We are adding to the deficit by spending money on stimulous packages that don't stimulate, but line the pockets of bureaucrats and union leader thugs. The evil tax cuts that drove the economy down in the eyes of the left were extended by the current administration because they knew that letting them expire would lead to a greater drag on the economy.
To me there is plenty of blame to go around every where. We need some leadership in this country. We need some one to lead us out of this mess by tightenting the government's belt. We need a leader who will adhere to the confines of the Constitution by not mandating that the We the people not buy anything. Who is that leader? Who is the man or woman who will step up to the plate, take the bull by the horns, do the right thing and lead us out of this mess? We need to be steered by some one who will let us have more of our own money. Someone who will stimulate the economy not the government. Someone who will stand by their convictions. I feel as a nation we should do as the Bible says. It says in His word, "if we bow down to Him, humbly seek His face, turn away from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and heal our land. Are you with me?
What did Bush do to ruin the economy? I will examine several possible answers to this very question to see where the answers lead us.
1.) He had us fighting in 2 wars. Wars cost. Wars cost a lot. They cost the tax payers money. They cost soldiers their lives. These wars almost cost GWB a second term in office. It may be said that these wars were factors that lead us into a bad economy.
2.) Bush spent too much. Spending money on wars. Spending money on prescription drugs for seniors. Spending money in general increased our deficit. The deficit could be said to have lead us into a bad economy.
3.) Tax cuts twice during the Bush presidency may have lead us into the bad economy.
Depending on which economists you talk to any of these three or the combination of any of these three policy items could very well have lead us into a bad economy. When Bush left office unemployment was at 7.1%. The housing bubble was starting to burst. Deficits were mounting. TARP spending had occurred.
In 2008 we elected a new president who ran on a campaign slogan of Hope & Change. The American people wanted a change in political parties. They wanted a change in philosophy. They wanted a change from the old guard in Washington D.C. from a family dynasty to a new face who had been a U.S. Senator for less than 2 years when he started running for the office of the President of the United States of America. They put their Hope in Barack Husein Obama. Let's look at the conditions that are in place now and what they have done to change the status of the economy.
1.) Obama has put us into 4 wars now. The continuation of Iraq and Afganastan have gone against the promises to the "Left" that we would end them and be out has not come true. The spending has mounted and continued. The loss of life and other casualties have also continued.
2.) The deficit has doubled in the last 2 years compared to the 8 years under the Bush presidency. We've had 2 stimulous bills that did more to stimulate the government than they did to stimulate the American economy. The stimulous spending was suppose to guarantee unemployment not to rise over 8%, but has now found its way up to 9.1%. The shovel ready jobs that were suppose to have been created are laughed at by this administration as "not being quite as shovel ready as they thought they would be". We now have written into law a government mandated national insurance program that is taxed over a 10 year period with 6 years of "benefits" that when instigated was suppose to cut the deficit and the premiums of the insured, but now inflated the deficit even more and those same premiums are going up because of the uncertainty of the future.
3.) Last Decemember in a vaction session of Congress, President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts. These are the same tax cuts that were said to have added to the deficit and helped the rich croneys of GWB.
Ok, I will grant the "Left" that some of the Bush policies especially towards the end of his presidency may have contributed to the lagging economy. But 2 things and they are 2 big giant buts. But the Housing Bubble that burst and splattered all over the financial markets was started by the democratically controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The policies written by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank to cure the social injustices of the poor to guarantee them the purchases of houses that everyone knew they could not afford lead to the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehmann Bros. Those institution collapses started a dominoe effect of the continual crash of the housing market. The housing bubble burst due to wreckless mismangement of government run agencies supprted by the policies put in place by Dodd and Frank. The other But that is giant and cannot be ignored is the but if Bush's policies were so horrible and lead us into the worst economy since the Great Depression, why were they not only continued, but even doubled down after BHO took office? We are spending even more money on even more wars. We are adding to the deficit by spending money on stimulous packages that don't stimulate, but line the pockets of bureaucrats and union leader thugs. The evil tax cuts that drove the economy down in the eyes of the left were extended by the current administration because they knew that letting them expire would lead to a greater drag on the economy.
To me there is plenty of blame to go around every where. We need some leadership in this country. We need some one to lead us out of this mess by tightenting the government's belt. We need a leader who will adhere to the confines of the Constitution by not mandating that the We the people not buy anything. Who is that leader? Who is the man or woman who will step up to the plate, take the bull by the horns, do the right thing and lead us out of this mess? We need to be steered by some one who will let us have more of our own money. Someone who will stimulate the economy not the government. Someone who will stand by their convictions. I feel as a nation we should do as the Bible says. It says in His word, "if we bow down to Him, humbly seek His face, turn away from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and heal our land. Are you with me?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thanks, but yet...no thanks
Every one knows the abysmal state the budget in Illinois is in right now. The state is $12billion in debt. The legislature is doing everything it can to come up with new income streams. Even if it means cutting into the pension fund of teachers and public servants.
Every time you turn on a radio these days, at every commercial break you hear a message sponsored by the teacher's unions and the public servants such as policemen and fire fighters. Every one should agree that we figuratively and literally owe a lot to all of these workers. They all serve and work at thankless jobs. The ads even say that Illinois has some of the best teachers in the country. I love the bumper sticker that reads "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in English, thank a vet." The ads go on to talk about how the Illinois legislature is at it again. They are raiding the pension fund of these workers and using the fund as a credit card.
Teachers do not qualify for social security and they have always contributed to their own pension fund. Some teachers contribute up to 8-10% of their own annual income into the pension fund. Teachers are not the highest paid workers in any state, but especially in the state of Illinois. Teaching is not just a job. It is a way of life. These teachers spend so much more time in the classroom and at home preparing for what they are going to teach our young minds full of mush and grading papers than what the 7:45-3:15 schedule that says they have to be in the classroom. For all of this and everything they do, I give all teachers my undying thanks and gratitude for teaching our kids. They accept the lower pay throughout their careers in exchange for what should be a nice pension during their retirement. They have made their contributions consistently all along, just for our state legislators to use their pension fund as a credit card. Now that some of them are ready to retire and dip into that pension fund the funds may not be there.
The radio ads go on to talk about how hard the teachers work, how they contribute to their own retirement and how the funds may not be there due to what the state government is doing to their pension fund. The ads also talk about wanting people to contact their legislators to get them to stop this practice. They also have a website that you can refer to to learn more about this situation and I'm sure they would appreciate contributions so they can fight this practice in the courts or legislature. Who are these people that are "raiding" the pension fund?
Just a little bit a of a civics lesson here. The Illinois legislature is made up of two houses, the State Senate and the General Assembly. And then there is the Executive branch that has the governor. The 97th General Assembly has 177 members of which 99 are Democrats and 78 are Republicans and the governor is a Democrat. There are 35 Democrats in the Senate compared to 24 Republicans. There are 64 Democrats in the House compared to 54 Republicans. Statistics show that the teacher's unions, the IEA, and the NEA tend to contribute the majority of their campaign contributions to the Democratic Party. Why would they continue to do this if these are the same people, according to their own ads, these legislators are raiding their pension fund?
Again, I cannot stress my gratitude toward teachers for their dedication and service. I don't, however, appreciate our legislators raiding their pension funds to put to use in other budgetary needs. I also don't appreciate the unions continuing to contribute funds to the campaigns of the same people who have raided those pension funds. Stop it! Stop using the teacher's pensions for other budget short falls. And unions stop supporting those same people who are doing it!
The only other prominent comparison that I can make to this is when the vast majority of the Jewish Community continues to support and contribute to the same Democrat Party whose leader just threw them under the bus by not supporting the Jewish State of Israel, and in fact has totally supported the Palestinians who want to annihilate them. It makes no sense to me.
Every time you turn on a radio these days, at every commercial break you hear a message sponsored by the teacher's unions and the public servants such as policemen and fire fighters. Every one should agree that we figuratively and literally owe a lot to all of these workers. They all serve and work at thankless jobs. The ads even say that Illinois has some of the best teachers in the country. I love the bumper sticker that reads "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in English, thank a vet." The ads go on to talk about how the Illinois legislature is at it again. They are raiding the pension fund of these workers and using the fund as a credit card.
Teachers do not qualify for social security and they have always contributed to their own pension fund. Some teachers contribute up to 8-10% of their own annual income into the pension fund. Teachers are not the highest paid workers in any state, but especially in the state of Illinois. Teaching is not just a job. It is a way of life. These teachers spend so much more time in the classroom and at home preparing for what they are going to teach our young minds full of mush and grading papers than what the 7:45-3:15 schedule that says they have to be in the classroom. For all of this and everything they do, I give all teachers my undying thanks and gratitude for teaching our kids. They accept the lower pay throughout their careers in exchange for what should be a nice pension during their retirement. They have made their contributions consistently all along, just for our state legislators to use their pension fund as a credit card. Now that some of them are ready to retire and dip into that pension fund the funds may not be there.
The radio ads go on to talk about how hard the teachers work, how they contribute to their own retirement and how the funds may not be there due to what the state government is doing to their pension fund. The ads also talk about wanting people to contact their legislators to get them to stop this practice. They also have a website that you can refer to to learn more about this situation and I'm sure they would appreciate contributions so they can fight this practice in the courts or legislature. Who are these people that are "raiding" the pension fund?
Just a little bit a of a civics lesson here. The Illinois legislature is made up of two houses, the State Senate and the General Assembly. And then there is the Executive branch that has the governor. The 97th General Assembly has 177 members of which 99 are Democrats and 78 are Republicans and the governor is a Democrat. There are 35 Democrats in the Senate compared to 24 Republicans. There are 64 Democrats in the House compared to 54 Republicans. Statistics show that the teacher's unions, the IEA, and the NEA tend to contribute the majority of their campaign contributions to the Democratic Party. Why would they continue to do this if these are the same people, according to their own ads, these legislators are raiding their pension fund?
Again, I cannot stress my gratitude toward teachers for their dedication and service. I don't, however, appreciate our legislators raiding their pension funds to put to use in other budgetary needs. I also don't appreciate the unions continuing to contribute funds to the campaigns of the same people who have raided those pension funds. Stop it! Stop using the teacher's pensions for other budget short falls. And unions stop supporting those same people who are doing it!
The only other prominent comparison that I can make to this is when the vast majority of the Jewish Community continues to support and contribute to the same Democrat Party whose leader just threw them under the bus by not supporting the Jewish State of Israel, and in fact has totally supported the Palestinians who want to annihilate them. It makes no sense to me.
Friday, April 22, 2011
By His Wounds We Are Healed
There was a 33 year old Jewish man who died today. Emmanuel Crist was beaten to death. His wounds were sustained by a taunting crowd of on-lookers. They spit at him as handlers and officials passed him by on the streets today.
This is the same crowd that welcomed him in to the city just one week ago. People waved at him in adulation. This is a man who had humble beginnings, born in obscurity, impressed others with his wisdom and knowledge as a young boy, became a carpenter as he prepared for the healing fields and was admired by throngs by the speeches he made by the shores of local waters. It is said that he fed thousands of people with hardly anything and his healing touch has been unmatched by any other.
Young Optimists and of all people the local fishing community along with 10 other civic organizations became followers of this man in the short time that he spent sharing his wealth of knowledge in this area. Many people had become close to Crist and know him in a very personal way. Others have scorned him and felt that he was forcing himself into there eletist group.
The words that he spoke seem to attract and sooth those that would believe him. But those same words drove others to the point of not only persecution but eventual execution. In three days there will be services for this new found leader. They say he has saved them from their own past. One of the messages that Crist has sent to these followers is that he was going to build many mansions for them in his father's land. This statement along with all the other accolades given to him in such a short period of time must have been what incited the rest of the people to want to beat him spit at him and eventually take him to his death.
Something tells me that nothing, not even a grave, could stop this man. I believe he will be in the hearts and minds of his followers for a long time to come. It appears that Crist is the one thing that this world really could use right now. I hope it's not too late for those that didn't follow him and put him to death. I myself look forward to having one of those mansions he spoke of. I would hate to see what happened to those that didn't believe that he would do what he said he would do.
Spread the word about this man. If more people were like him, there would probably be more peace and healing and joy in the world. I'm sure many books will be written about the works and accomplishments of this man. I would encourage others to read those books and find out what it takes to be able to live in one of those mansions..
This is the same crowd that welcomed him in to the city just one week ago. People waved at him in adulation. This is a man who had humble beginnings, born in obscurity, impressed others with his wisdom and knowledge as a young boy, became a carpenter as he prepared for the healing fields and was admired by throngs by the speeches he made by the shores of local waters. It is said that he fed thousands of people with hardly anything and his healing touch has been unmatched by any other.
Young Optimists and of all people the local fishing community along with 10 other civic organizations became followers of this man in the short time that he spent sharing his wealth of knowledge in this area. Many people had become close to Crist and know him in a very personal way. Others have scorned him and felt that he was forcing himself into there eletist group.
The words that he spoke seem to attract and sooth those that would believe him. But those same words drove others to the point of not only persecution but eventual execution. In three days there will be services for this new found leader. They say he has saved them from their own past. One of the messages that Crist has sent to these followers is that he was going to build many mansions for them in his father's land. This statement along with all the other accolades given to him in such a short period of time must have been what incited the rest of the people to want to beat him spit at him and eventually take him to his death.
Something tells me that nothing, not even a grave, could stop this man. I believe he will be in the hearts and minds of his followers for a long time to come. It appears that Crist is the one thing that this world really could use right now. I hope it's not too late for those that didn't follow him and put him to death. I myself look forward to having one of those mansions he spoke of. I would hate to see what happened to those that didn't believe that he would do what he said he would do.
Spread the word about this man. If more people were like him, there would probably be more peace and healing and joy in the world. I'm sure many books will be written about the works and accomplishments of this man. I would encourage others to read those books and find out what it takes to be able to live in one of those mansions..
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
It has been a long hard winter! Time to put away snow shovels, winter coats and mittens, and bring out the bats, baseball cap and mit. I feel the national anthem should be Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
I love this time of year! Baseball has always been my favorite sport; the only one I ever came close to excelling at in school. There is something about walking into a stadium like Wrigley Field and absorbing the whole atmosphere, the smell of hot dogs and the natural grass. The feel of the electricity of the excitement and anticipation of a possible Cub win.
There is just something about sitting up in the cheap seats or the bleachers and looking down on the field trying to spot your favorite player. You can also look around the outside of the stadium and take in the breath taking view and beauty of Lake Michigan and the skyline surrounding Wrigleyville. It's always great to see the flags in center field flapping outward toward Sheffield Ave. When you see that you know there are going to be some homers hit that day. That always gets the crowd roaring.
Finally, the actual National Anthem is sung and the symbolic first pitch is thrown. The umpire shouts "Play Ball". And the real fun begins. It's a great sight to see the crowd get into the game. It's exciting to see what strategies will be taken by each manager in each situation on the field. What makes it more exciting for me and what keeps my interest the most is keeping score and marking down every advance of every runner that ever gets on during the whole game. Then as predicted, due to the flags flapping in the wind, the first homerun is hit onto Sheffield and the crowd goes wild as if the Cubs have won their first World Series since before World WarII.
One more important part of going to a major league game for me is having a hot dog and a beer. There is something special about that stadium dog. And you have to have a beer to wash it down. It must be special, like lined with gold, for as expensive they are. Oh well this is like a vacation day and money can't be an object while your on vacation. Then they play what I feel should be the National Anthem, but this time in the Seventh Inning Stretch, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". This is the world's largest group Kareoke. Everyone joins in. It's ok if you're off key because the conductor is too.
Finally the game is over. The maintenance crew can climb out of the scoreboard now and hoist up the "W" flag after a Cub win. Another end to another great day. Now you have a few options. You can either rush out of the stands and sit in a traffic jam for what feels like an eternity, or you can wander around the stadium to see if you can pick up any last minute souveniers. Then you can either make your way down to the Addison St. Station to catch the train or if you did drive go out and get into a hopefully shorter version of the same traffic jam you would have sat in if you left earlier.
To me, baseball is baseball. So it really doesn't matter to me whether I'm lying on the couch watching Sunday Night baseball being described to me by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on ESPN, or if I go to a Major League game in Chicago, a Lumber Kings game in Clinton, IA or if I go to Kiwanis Park in Fulton, IL to watch Sam play in the "Majors" there. I just love to watch the game. I miss my playing days. I think I may have the distiction for being San Jose Grade School's most consistant bunter. I miss skipping out of Miss Price's English class to go to a very impromptu baseball practice before a big game in the middle of the afternoon in high school. I miss being able to take batting practice and running the bases. I miss shagging flys in the outfield as we would watch a stray ball bounce out onto Route 136 as it just missed a semi or maybe even get caught richocheting in its wheel base as it rolled down the highway. What ever the case may be, I am glad that the long winter is over and we can all take in a game or two at any of the afore mentioned parks. As the great Cub Ernie Banks once said, it's always "a great day to play two."
Take MeOut to the Ball Game and Play Ball!!
I love this time of year! Baseball has always been my favorite sport; the only one I ever came close to excelling at in school. There is something about walking into a stadium like Wrigley Field and absorbing the whole atmosphere, the smell of hot dogs and the natural grass. The feel of the electricity of the excitement and anticipation of a possible Cub win.
There is just something about sitting up in the cheap seats or the bleachers and looking down on the field trying to spot your favorite player. You can also look around the outside of the stadium and take in the breath taking view and beauty of Lake Michigan and the skyline surrounding Wrigleyville. It's always great to see the flags in center field flapping outward toward Sheffield Ave. When you see that you know there are going to be some homers hit that day. That always gets the crowd roaring.
Finally, the actual National Anthem is sung and the symbolic first pitch is thrown. The umpire shouts "Play Ball". And the real fun begins. It's a great sight to see the crowd get into the game. It's exciting to see what strategies will be taken by each manager in each situation on the field. What makes it more exciting for me and what keeps my interest the most is keeping score and marking down every advance of every runner that ever gets on during the whole game. Then as predicted, due to the flags flapping in the wind, the first homerun is hit onto Sheffield and the crowd goes wild as if the Cubs have won their first World Series since before World WarII.
One more important part of going to a major league game for me is having a hot dog and a beer. There is something special about that stadium dog. And you have to have a beer to wash it down. It must be special, like lined with gold, for as expensive they are. Oh well this is like a vacation day and money can't be an object while your on vacation. Then they play what I feel should be the National Anthem, but this time in the Seventh Inning Stretch, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". This is the world's largest group Kareoke. Everyone joins in. It's ok if you're off key because the conductor is too.
Finally the game is over. The maintenance crew can climb out of the scoreboard now and hoist up the "W" flag after a Cub win. Another end to another great day. Now you have a few options. You can either rush out of the stands and sit in a traffic jam for what feels like an eternity, or you can wander around the stadium to see if you can pick up any last minute souveniers. Then you can either make your way down to the Addison St. Station to catch the train or if you did drive go out and get into a hopefully shorter version of the same traffic jam you would have sat in if you left earlier.
To me, baseball is baseball. So it really doesn't matter to me whether I'm lying on the couch watching Sunday Night baseball being described to me by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on ESPN, or if I go to a Major League game in Chicago, a Lumber Kings game in Clinton, IA or if I go to Kiwanis Park in Fulton, IL to watch Sam play in the "Majors" there. I just love to watch the game. I miss my playing days. I think I may have the distiction for being San Jose Grade School's most consistant bunter. I miss skipping out of Miss Price's English class to go to a very impromptu baseball practice before a big game in the middle of the afternoon in high school. I miss being able to take batting practice and running the bases. I miss shagging flys in the outfield as we would watch a stray ball bounce out onto Route 136 as it just missed a semi or maybe even get caught richocheting in its wheel base as it rolled down the highway. What ever the case may be, I am glad that the long winter is over and we can all take in a game or two at any of the afore mentioned parks. As the great Cub Ernie Banks once said, it's always "a great day to play two."
Take MeOut to the Ball Game and Play Ball!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
I Will
Deut. 30:19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
There are people in this world who say they are "pro-choice". I happen to be as well, but I choose life.
The following is a scenario not unlike a similar scenario that could, but has not necessarily happened in a neighborhood near you.
227, 228 Oh here it is 229, The Pregnancy Center. I sure hope they can help me.
Hi, Welcome to The Pregnancy Center. How are you today?
Oh, Well, Okay, I...I guess.
Oh, My name is Mary. Have you been here before?
No I just...I mean I don't...
Just relax honey, come on in and sit down. Would you like something to drink? Water, juice?
No, No thanks. I would like to talk to some one though.
Oh, of course. That's what we're here for, but I still didn't catch your name.
Oh, my name is Tonya.
Well, it's very nice to meet you, Tonya. Have a seat. I have a very special person I would like for you to meet. I'll be right back.
Wow, she was nice. I have a good feeling about tis place. I sure hope they can help me beacuse I don't know what to do.
Tonya, This is one of our councelors, Shemequa. She would like for you to come back into her office where you can have a little privacy and chat with you. You know get to know you a little.
Glad to meet you, Tonya. Come on back.
Have a seat and tell me a little about yourself.
Well, I'm 16. I'm a junior in high school and I'm scared to death. What else do you need to know?
Oh, honey I can imagine how you feel. I was 16 once myself.
Yeah, but I think I'm pregnant. Bet you don't know how that feels at 16.
Well, Tonya, that's where you're wrong. I do know how it feels. I was in your same shoes. I was pregnant at 16 but I didn't always make the right choices. I hope you do.
Right choices? What do you mean?
Well, I have my regrets, but we can talk about that later.
I heard about this place in my church. I hope you can help me.
Well, I'm sure we can. What exactly have you heard?
That girls like me can come in here and talk to people and you can run some sorta test and help me with my baby.
Yeah That's pretty much what we do here. Do you know what kind of tests we do?
Pregnancy tests, I guess.
Well yeah that's part of it. But we also can do Ultra-sounds as well.
What's that?
Well, that's where we take sort of a video form the outside of your tummy and see the baby move inside of you. But first we need to varify whether you really are pregnant.
Oh, I'm pretty sure of that. I missed...you know.
Oh, yeah, I do know. Like I said I've been there.
Yeah, you said that before. Tell me more.
Well, let's start the first test then we'll talk while we're waiting.
Like I said I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant. I was lost just like you, but I didn't make very good choices. At least your here now I can can help you. We'll pray for you and your young child. We will give you as much councelling and love as we can give you. We will provide some basics for your baby like clothing, diapers, lotion, powder etc. Can we get the father and your parents involved? It might help you get through this whole thing.
Not the father. As soon as he heard I might be pregnant he skipped town. My parents will kill me.
You might be surprised about that. Would you mind if we talk to them?
If you think they would help, sure.
Shemequa, these are Tonya's parents. They wanted to be involved with Tonya and the baby so they came to see you.
It's very nice to meet you. Won't you come in and have a seat.?
Tonya just felt so uncomfortable about all this. We hope you don't mind us coming to talk to you without her. She said you have been through this yourself.
Yes...Yes I have. I wish there was a place like this in my neighborhood when I was that age. I unfortunately took an alternative route. I later met a friend named Jesus and he put me on the right path and now I'm here trying to help young girls make better decisions.
Tonya said you can do an Ultra-sound. How does that work?
Tonya we went to The Pregnancy Center today. Shemequa seems nice.
Oh, they're all realy nice there. I'm just scared. What am I going to do?
Honey, your mom and I have decided we want to be with you through this whole process.
Oh, daddy. Thank you I thought you would be ashamed of me.
Well, honey, we all make mistakes. We really should go down there and do that Ultra-sound.
Shemequa, Tonya and her parents are here. They say that they want to do an Ultra-sound.
That sounds great. Come on back. We'll get started.
Oh, would you look at that. He's moving around.
It's a he?
Yeah, you can tell right there.
Is that really his heart beat?
Yeah, we can detect that and determine his sex very early on. he can also feel pain very early on. This is the thing I wished I would have been able to see and do when I was in Tonya's position. The place I went just wanted to herd me through and collect the money.
Now we have some decisions to make.
Now that I've seen the life inside of me I know one thing I'm not going to do.
That's the choice I wanted you to make. The next thing is though will you raise this little boy?
I'm only 16 what do I know about raising a baby?
Honey, you know we're here to help, too.
Well, you know there still is one alternative.
No I already said I wasn't gonna do that.
No I mean that there are families out there who would love to adopt this young life.
How does that work?
Tonya, Now that you have gone through all of this there is one thing I need to ask you?
What is it?
Do you know Jesus? Does He live in your heart?
I told you I go to church.
That's not what I asked. Does He live in your heart?
How do I get Him to do that?
Let me tell you something first. I have said a couple of times I would tell you about myself when I was 16 years old and pregnant.
Yeah what of it?
Well when I was pregnant I did not have the help of the father or my parents.
I was very lucky.
You were blessed. That's what I found out later that I am. I found 2 things. Shenequa means "God's Blessings". And that there is a God that we can come to and lay all of our cares at his feet. Even though I aborted my baby, I now know that God forgives. He forgave me and He can forgive you of all of your sins if your merely ask Him into your heart. So the question I have for you Will you allow God to forgive you of your sins and ask His son Jesus into your heart?
I will!
There are people in this world who say they are "pro-choice". I happen to be as well, but I choose life.
The following is a scenario not unlike a similar scenario that could, but has not necessarily happened in a neighborhood near you.
227, 228 Oh here it is 229, The Pregnancy Center. I sure hope they can help me.
Hi, Welcome to The Pregnancy Center. How are you today?
Oh, Well, Okay, I...I guess.
Oh, My name is Mary. Have you been here before?
No I just...I mean I don't...
Just relax honey, come on in and sit down. Would you like something to drink? Water, juice?
No, No thanks. I would like to talk to some one though.
Oh, of course. That's what we're here for, but I still didn't catch your name.
Oh, my name is Tonya.
Well, it's very nice to meet you, Tonya. Have a seat. I have a very special person I would like for you to meet. I'll be right back.
Wow, she was nice. I have a good feeling about tis place. I sure hope they can help me beacuse I don't know what to do.
Tonya, This is one of our councelors, Shemequa. She would like for you to come back into her office where you can have a little privacy and chat with you. You know get to know you a little.
Glad to meet you, Tonya. Come on back.
Have a seat and tell me a little about yourself.
Well, I'm 16. I'm a junior in high school and I'm scared to death. What else do you need to know?
Oh, honey I can imagine how you feel. I was 16 once myself.
Yeah, but I think I'm pregnant. Bet you don't know how that feels at 16.
Well, Tonya, that's where you're wrong. I do know how it feels. I was in your same shoes. I was pregnant at 16 but I didn't always make the right choices. I hope you do.
Right choices? What do you mean?
Well, I have my regrets, but we can talk about that later.
I heard about this place in my church. I hope you can help me.
Well, I'm sure we can. What exactly have you heard?
That girls like me can come in here and talk to people and you can run some sorta test and help me with my baby.
Yeah That's pretty much what we do here. Do you know what kind of tests we do?
Pregnancy tests, I guess.
Well yeah that's part of it. But we also can do Ultra-sounds as well.
What's that?
Well, that's where we take sort of a video form the outside of your tummy and see the baby move inside of you. But first we need to varify whether you really are pregnant.
Oh, I'm pretty sure of that. I missed...you know.
Oh, yeah, I do know. Like I said I've been there.
Yeah, you said that before. Tell me more.
Well, let's start the first test then we'll talk while we're waiting.
Like I said I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant. I was lost just like you, but I didn't make very good choices. At least your here now I can can help you. We'll pray for you and your young child. We will give you as much councelling and love as we can give you. We will provide some basics for your baby like clothing, diapers, lotion, powder etc. Can we get the father and your parents involved? It might help you get through this whole thing.
Not the father. As soon as he heard I might be pregnant he skipped town. My parents will kill me.
You might be surprised about that. Would you mind if we talk to them?
If you think they would help, sure.
Shemequa, these are Tonya's parents. They wanted to be involved with Tonya and the baby so they came to see you.
It's very nice to meet you. Won't you come in and have a seat.?
Tonya just felt so uncomfortable about all this. We hope you don't mind us coming to talk to you without her. She said you have been through this yourself.
Yes...Yes I have. I wish there was a place like this in my neighborhood when I was that age. I unfortunately took an alternative route. I later met a friend named Jesus and he put me on the right path and now I'm here trying to help young girls make better decisions.
Tonya said you can do an Ultra-sound. How does that work?
Tonya we went to The Pregnancy Center today. Shemequa seems nice.
Oh, they're all realy nice there. I'm just scared. What am I going to do?
Honey, your mom and I have decided we want to be with you through this whole process.
Oh, daddy. Thank you I thought you would be ashamed of me.
Well, honey, we all make mistakes. We really should go down there and do that Ultra-sound.
Shemequa, Tonya and her parents are here. They say that they want to do an Ultra-sound.
That sounds great. Come on back. We'll get started.
Oh, would you look at that. He's moving around.
It's a he?
Yeah, you can tell right there.
Is that really his heart beat?
Yeah, we can detect that and determine his sex very early on. he can also feel pain very early on. This is the thing I wished I would have been able to see and do when I was in Tonya's position. The place I went just wanted to herd me through and collect the money.
Now we have some decisions to make.
Now that I've seen the life inside of me I know one thing I'm not going to do.
That's the choice I wanted you to make. The next thing is though will you raise this little boy?
I'm only 16 what do I know about raising a baby?
Honey, you know we're here to help, too.
Well, you know there still is one alternative.
No I already said I wasn't gonna do that.
No I mean that there are families out there who would love to adopt this young life.
How does that work?
Tonya, Now that you have gone through all of this there is one thing I need to ask you?
What is it?
Do you know Jesus? Does He live in your heart?
I told you I go to church.
That's not what I asked. Does He live in your heart?
How do I get Him to do that?
Let me tell you something first. I have said a couple of times I would tell you about myself when I was 16 years old and pregnant.
Yeah what of it?
Well when I was pregnant I did not have the help of the father or my parents.
I was very lucky.
You were blessed. That's what I found out later that I am. I found 2 things. Shenequa means "God's Blessings". And that there is a God that we can come to and lay all of our cares at his feet. Even though I aborted my baby, I now know that God forgives. He forgave me and He can forgive you of all of your sins if your merely ask Him into your heart. So the question I have for you Will you allow God to forgive you of your sins and ask His son Jesus into your heart?
I will!
Friday, February 25, 2011
WIll I
Shamequa Johnson, Shamequa Johnson.
Here I am.
Girl, do you know how long I've been calling your name?
I'm sorry ma'am. I just got lost again. That's been happening a lot since...
Oh, I know. Don't worry about it child and follow me.
What will you be doing?
Says here you think you're pregnant.
Yes ma'am.
Well, we're gonna find out for sure.
What are you gonna do?
You're gonna pee in this cup, then I'll have to take a little blood so go on in there.
Here ya go. Will gettin' my blood hurt?
No, just sit here and relax.
See now that wasn't so bad was it?
No. What's next?
We'll run a quick test for ya.
I've just been so scared since Jamal and me....
I know honey. You want to talk about it?
I just seen a big billboard as I was walkin' here just now.
The one talking about girls like you?
Yeah, it said the most dangerous place for an African-American baby is in its momma's womb. What does that mean?
Oh sugar, don't worry about that sign. Them people just tryin' to scare you. You're in the right place. You're not the only one this has ever happened to and it's for sure you ain't gonna be the last.
What do you mean?
Honey, 60% of the girls like you in this city come here. We'll take care of everything. It's your body. You deserve your freedom.
I don't want no baby.
I know honey. We'll take good care of that. Just go in here and sit while we check your tests.
Shamequa, we have your results. Come on back, child.
What what does it say?
Honey we'll talk back here. Sit down.
What does it say. I'm pregnant. I just know it.
Honey you knew that before you walked in here today.
Yeah, I guess. I was just hopin'.... What am I gonna do?
Honey I told you. We'll take care of everything. Girl your age needs to be free. You don't need to have the burden of carryin' no baby with you every where you go. You need to enjoy life, have fun.
What about that sign? What if I don't have no money?
Honey I done told you. Those people are just tryin' to scare you. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you. You can thank Roe and the Supremes for that. Besides it's ok if you don't have money.
What are you talking about Roe & the Supremes?
You know honey, when we won the the right. It's our body. The court said we can do with it whatever we see fit. You're too young to be burdened by a baby. We'll take care of everything.
I don't have no money. How much this gonna cost?
Honey, we got that taken care of too. This is legal. The Supremes say so, so we got plenty of money for girls like you.
Alright Shamequa, we're ready for you now. Come on back and you'll be out living your own life again very soon and you won't have to worry about a thing.
Are you sure everything's gonna be alright?
Honey, The Supremes gave you this right way back in 1973. You deserve to do with your body what you want to. You're too young to worry about havin' a baby. Let's get you ready.
All right I'm ready.
See, Shamequa that didn't take so long. Now you go on out there and have some fun like a girl should
Ok. I guess I don't have anything to worry about no more. Will I?
Here I am.
Girl, do you know how long I've been calling your name?
I'm sorry ma'am. I just got lost again. That's been happening a lot since...
Oh, I know. Don't worry about it child and follow me.
What will you be doing?
Says here you think you're pregnant.
Yes ma'am.
Well, we're gonna find out for sure.
What are you gonna do?
You're gonna pee in this cup, then I'll have to take a little blood so go on in there.
Here ya go. Will gettin' my blood hurt?
No, just sit here and relax.
See now that wasn't so bad was it?
No. What's next?
We'll run a quick test for ya.
I've just been so scared since Jamal and me....
I know honey. You want to talk about it?
I just seen a big billboard as I was walkin' here just now.
The one talking about girls like you?
Yeah, it said the most dangerous place for an African-American baby is in its momma's womb. What does that mean?
Oh sugar, don't worry about that sign. Them people just tryin' to scare you. You're in the right place. You're not the only one this has ever happened to and it's for sure you ain't gonna be the last.
What do you mean?
Honey, 60% of the girls like you in this city come here. We'll take care of everything. It's your body. You deserve your freedom.
I don't want no baby.
I know honey. We'll take good care of that. Just go in here and sit while we check your tests.
Shamequa, we have your results. Come on back, child.
What what does it say?
Honey we'll talk back here. Sit down.
What does it say. I'm pregnant. I just know it.
Honey you knew that before you walked in here today.
Yeah, I guess. I was just hopin'.... What am I gonna do?
Honey I told you. We'll take care of everything. Girl your age needs to be free. You don't need to have the burden of carryin' no baby with you every where you go. You need to enjoy life, have fun.
What about that sign? What if I don't have no money?
Honey I done told you. Those people are just tryin' to scare you. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you. You can thank Roe and the Supremes for that. Besides it's ok if you don't have money.
What are you talking about Roe & the Supremes?
You know honey, when we won the the right. It's our body. The court said we can do with it whatever we see fit. You're too young to be burdened by a baby. We'll take care of everything.
I don't have no money. How much this gonna cost?
Honey, we got that taken care of too. This is legal. The Supremes say so, so we got plenty of money for girls like you.
Alright Shamequa, we're ready for you now. Come on back and you'll be out living your own life again very soon and you won't have to worry about a thing.
Are you sure everything's gonna be alright?
Honey, The Supremes gave you this right way back in 1973. You deserve to do with your body what you want to. You're too young to worry about havin' a baby. Let's get you ready.
All right I'm ready.
See, Shamequa that didn't take so long. Now you go on out there and have some fun like a girl should
Ok. I guess I don't have anything to worry about no more. Will I?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
I Can Breath in a Small Town
I have lived all over the state of Illinois. I have spent my whole life in Illinois. Illinois to most outsiders is Chicago. There is more to Illinois than Chicago.
I was raised on a farm just outside of one of Illinois' smallest communities, San Jose. The town is now mostly known because of it's facebook page of "I know how to pronounce San Jose". Because nowadays, there really is not much left to the town except of course for the one thing that is now mandated in order for a town to exist, and that's a Casey's.
I've seen it all in a small town. Had myself a ball in a small town. Taught to fear Jesus in a small town. Had myself a ball in a small town where there's little opportunity. My parents lived in that same small town. I used to day dream in a small town. That's probably where they'll bury me.
John Cougar Melancamp wrote that song about his childhood small town of Bloomington, IN. But that small town has nothing on the small town I grew up in. His small town was probably 30,000 people. My small town was lucky to be 600 people. I could walk up and down the hall ways of my high school and name all 115 people who occupied that entire high school. Heck there probably was a time when I could walk up and down most every street in town and name the people who lived in most every house.
There really wasn't a whole lot of anything in this small town at the time that I grew up there. There were 2 gas stations. And I mean gas stations not today's convenience stores. This is where Lloyd or John, depending on which station you went to (one across from the other on the only highway going through town U.S. Rte 136) would come out and greet you by name and ask how much gas you wanted them to put into your tank for you, as they popped the hood to check your oil. The driver and Loyd or John would get each other caught up on the latest bit of gossip in town and you would be on your way.
There was also one little cafe in town that probably served the best pizza burger that I've had even to this day. Another place to go to hear the latest gossip and to watch the famers nurse a cup or 5 cups of coffee as they solved the world's problems. They could slide down to the cafe while their grain truck was being unloaded of its corn by Keith at the grain elevator at the top of the hill. The Mrs. might take a huge gamble and call the cafe using the 4 digit phone number that was assigned to it to see if John Smith (really his name) could walk over to the only grocery store in town so he could get a carton of milk and a loaf of bread from Claude. Graham's store was good with the charge accounts because he knew his loyal customers were good for it. Almost forgot, I still remember our phone number was 3606 and could be reached by any one from Delavan to Mason City. Then if you went down that street slightly you could stop into the post office to see if you knew any one there. Of course you did. Then if you needed a little lumber, Bill always was ready to load you up at the next business along the busiest street in town (next to 136).
For the people who still had livestock they could go clear over to the east side of town, about 6 blocks away and see either Bill or Dick for their feed needs at the feed store. That would be another place to get the latest gossip as well. I used to love listening to Dick and my dad tell stories to each other and lies about each other and then laugh their stupid heads off while they were doing it. If you haven't caught on by now, this small town was pretty much a farming community. So like any other small farm town you also had to have an tractor dealer and repair shop. So when the combine or tractor broke down you would have to make a trip over to Woll's tractor shop. Ya know it never really dawned on me then but now I think back at it and remeber most of the tractors around the area were John Deere. Woll's shop was suppose to be a White dealership. It's no wonder they went out of business.
Speaking of Woll's, they used to keep that town a buzzing with dress shops, stores etc. Along with W. G. Kelley, they owned most of the rest of the town. Good people and good shrood business people. Nuf said. They also had an interest, a strong interest in the Tri-County state Bank. Again the only bank in town as well. It was called Tri-County because our fair town had the distinction of bordering 3 counties. That's pretty weird seeing how small the town really was.
Even though the town didn't really have a lot to offer in the way of commerce or enrtainment for that matter, there were many advantages to living in a small town. A thought just occurred to me though. For nothing really substantial going on in this town, there sure were a lot of places to gather to get caught up on the latest gossip. I guess that was the entertainment. Any way getting back to the advantages of a small town. It was great knowing every one. You could trust every one and didn't have to worry about being obducted or robbed. Heck I bet to this day many of the doors go unlocked 90% of the time. By knowing every one, that meant you knew your teachers, too and they knew you. They even knew your siblings and your cousins and could compare your good qualities and your not so good qualities to them. But that also meant that you could get by with things sometimes too. I don't know how many times I got out of class just to take care of important things like playing baseball or even car shopping with Miss Price.
Because there weren't many kids to choose from you always made the sport's team without the worry of try outs. Although I do remember the girls having to try out for the cheerleading squad. But that was okay because we would have an assembly that got us out of class to vote on who we wanted to be the cheerleaders for that year for the one sport, basketball, that we had cheerleaders for. Again, in a small school you don't have enough to field a football team. Thankfully there were plenty of other extra-curricular activities. You could be in Donnie-Bill's FFA. Again, farming community so that was a biggie. There was also Mr. Schoeburn's plays. Play practice consumed about 90% of the school year and about that many of the student body. Then there was Zim's band and swing choir. To be honest I feel we always had the very best band around and we can all thank Zim for that one. And there was my favorite, baseball. That was coached by either Donnie-Bill (that's sir to you), Coach Coriell, or Turtle Johnson depending on which era you played in. Another activity that was very popular were the school dances that were held in the high school gym. Decorating for that was always a chore and a big secret because they didn't want the theme of the dance to be released along with the appearance of the decorations until the night of the dance.
Now many years have gone by since I have even lived in that small town. The only reason I have left to go back there any more is to see my mom who still lives on that same farm that I grew up on. Well that and every 5 years I do go back to the all school alumni banquet. How many towns can brag about that one now. The Alumni Committe plans a big suare every year to honor grads from SJHS every 5 yrs. This major event is held in my old Methodist church where I spent many a Wednesday nights practicing for choir and many Sunday nights joining with friends for MYF. I loved and still love the events in that old church. Actually, thinking back, there were a lot of things I loved about that little town. At the time I really couldn't wait to get out of there. A great philosopher once said "Everybody knows this is nowhere." It may be. It may only be a wide spot in the road. Every one of those businesses that I mentioned may be gone now, but damn it, that's still my home town. No one can take that away from me.
I was raised on a farm just outside of one of Illinois' smallest communities, San Jose. The town is now mostly known because of it's facebook page of "I know how to pronounce San Jose". Because nowadays, there really is not much left to the town except of course for the one thing that is now mandated in order for a town to exist, and that's a Casey's.
I've seen it all in a small town. Had myself a ball in a small town. Taught to fear Jesus in a small town. Had myself a ball in a small town where there's little opportunity. My parents lived in that same small town. I used to day dream in a small town. That's probably where they'll bury me.
John Cougar Melancamp wrote that song about his childhood small town of Bloomington, IN. But that small town has nothing on the small town I grew up in. His small town was probably 30,000 people. My small town was lucky to be 600 people. I could walk up and down the hall ways of my high school and name all 115 people who occupied that entire high school. Heck there probably was a time when I could walk up and down most every street in town and name the people who lived in most every house.
There really wasn't a whole lot of anything in this small town at the time that I grew up there. There were 2 gas stations. And I mean gas stations not today's convenience stores. This is where Lloyd or John, depending on which station you went to (one across from the other on the only highway going through town U.S. Rte 136) would come out and greet you by name and ask how much gas you wanted them to put into your tank for you, as they popped the hood to check your oil. The driver and Loyd or John would get each other caught up on the latest bit of gossip in town and you would be on your way.
There was also one little cafe in town that probably served the best pizza burger that I've had even to this day. Another place to go to hear the latest gossip and to watch the famers nurse a cup or 5 cups of coffee as they solved the world's problems. They could slide down to the cafe while their grain truck was being unloaded of its corn by Keith at the grain elevator at the top of the hill. The Mrs. might take a huge gamble and call the cafe using the 4 digit phone number that was assigned to it to see if John Smith (really his name) could walk over to the only grocery store in town so he could get a carton of milk and a loaf of bread from Claude. Graham's store was good with the charge accounts because he knew his loyal customers were good for it. Almost forgot, I still remember our phone number was 3606 and could be reached by any one from Delavan to Mason City. Then if you went down that street slightly you could stop into the post office to see if you knew any one there. Of course you did. Then if you needed a little lumber, Bill always was ready to load you up at the next business along the busiest street in town (next to 136).
For the people who still had livestock they could go clear over to the east side of town, about 6 blocks away and see either Bill or Dick for their feed needs at the feed store. That would be another place to get the latest gossip as well. I used to love listening to Dick and my dad tell stories to each other and lies about each other and then laugh their stupid heads off while they were doing it. If you haven't caught on by now, this small town was pretty much a farming community. So like any other small farm town you also had to have an tractor dealer and repair shop. So when the combine or tractor broke down you would have to make a trip over to Woll's tractor shop. Ya know it never really dawned on me then but now I think back at it and remeber most of the tractors around the area were John Deere. Woll's shop was suppose to be a White dealership. It's no wonder they went out of business.
Speaking of Woll's, they used to keep that town a buzzing with dress shops, stores etc. Along with W. G. Kelley, they owned most of the rest of the town. Good people and good shrood business people. Nuf said. They also had an interest, a strong interest in the Tri-County state Bank. Again the only bank in town as well. It was called Tri-County because our fair town had the distinction of bordering 3 counties. That's pretty weird seeing how small the town really was.
Even though the town didn't really have a lot to offer in the way of commerce or enrtainment for that matter, there were many advantages to living in a small town. A thought just occurred to me though. For nothing really substantial going on in this town, there sure were a lot of places to gather to get caught up on the latest gossip. I guess that was the entertainment. Any way getting back to the advantages of a small town. It was great knowing every one. You could trust every one and didn't have to worry about being obducted or robbed. Heck I bet to this day many of the doors go unlocked 90% of the time. By knowing every one, that meant you knew your teachers, too and they knew you. They even knew your siblings and your cousins and could compare your good qualities and your not so good qualities to them. But that also meant that you could get by with things sometimes too. I don't know how many times I got out of class just to take care of important things like playing baseball or even car shopping with Miss Price.
Because there weren't many kids to choose from you always made the sport's team without the worry of try outs. Although I do remember the girls having to try out for the cheerleading squad. But that was okay because we would have an assembly that got us out of class to vote on who we wanted to be the cheerleaders for that year for the one sport, basketball, that we had cheerleaders for. Again, in a small school you don't have enough to field a football team. Thankfully there were plenty of other extra-curricular activities. You could be in Donnie-Bill's FFA. Again, farming community so that was a biggie. There was also Mr. Schoeburn's plays. Play practice consumed about 90% of the school year and about that many of the student body. Then there was Zim's band and swing choir. To be honest I feel we always had the very best band around and we can all thank Zim for that one. And there was my favorite, baseball. That was coached by either Donnie-Bill (that's sir to you), Coach Coriell, or Turtle Johnson depending on which era you played in. Another activity that was very popular were the school dances that were held in the high school gym. Decorating for that was always a chore and a big secret because they didn't want the theme of the dance to be released along with the appearance of the decorations until the night of the dance.
Now many years have gone by since I have even lived in that small town. The only reason I have left to go back there any more is to see my mom who still lives on that same farm that I grew up on. Well that and every 5 years I do go back to the all school alumni banquet. How many towns can brag about that one now. The Alumni Committe plans a big suare every year to honor grads from SJHS every 5 yrs. This major event is held in my old Methodist church where I spent many a Wednesday nights practicing for choir and many Sunday nights joining with friends for MYF. I loved and still love the events in that old church. Actually, thinking back, there were a lot of things I loved about that little town. At the time I really couldn't wait to get out of there. A great philosopher once said "Everybody knows this is nowhere." It may be. It may only be a wide spot in the road. Every one of those businesses that I mentioned may be gone now, but damn it, that's still my home town. No one can take that away from me.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Purpose Driven Life
Have you ever pondered the questions of What is the meaning of life or What is my purpose in life? If you have I'm here to say that you are not the only one who has. I believe each one of us has a purpose in life. We were all put here on earth for a reason. The hardest part is figuring out what your purpose truly is.
There was a time that I truly thought my sole purpose in life was to make others look good. The whole time I was growing up I fumbled and bumbled through everything. I was very accident prone which is evident from the scars all over my body from stitches, broken bones and skin grafts. As much as I fumbled and screwed up I always tended to make others look like they were so much better at what ever it was we were doing. As much as that occurred, I just figured that's what I was put on this earth to do. Make others lookk good.
To everything, there is a reason. And a time for every purpose under heaven. To find what each of our purposes are we need to turn to heaven to see what the man up stairs has to say about that. God has put forth hundreds of laws, ten commandments and yet only one thing that he requires of us. That is to do justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. God put us all on this earth for His glory. We are to spread His word to every tribe, every tongue and every nation. We are to love one another through the good works that we do for one another and we are to love the Lord our God with all our mind, all our soul and all of our strength. If we would do these things then I believe we would have found the purpose for us to have been put on this Earth.... For go's enjoyment.
We also need to find a job a vocation in life. They say if you find the one thing that you enjoy the most in life and get paid for doing it then you never have to actually work a day in your life. In order to do all the things that God wants us to do for Him and even the things that we want to do that give us pleasure, we still need to have money. The key is to find the job that you can get into that you can get the most enjoyment out of an fulfillment from. The business of making money is your job. But that is not your purpose. That is merely a means of financing your purpose. Our purpose in life is our life's work. Our life's work is loving each other, evagelizing for God, descipling others for God and in the process, worshiping God. There is a difference in doing your job and doing your work. Your job brings you money and your work brings you true joy and true fulfillment of your purpose. We need to do the work that God put us on this earth for because that is our true purpose in life. We were wonderfully and fearfully made, so we should return the blessing of the life that God gave to us back to Him in praise by doing what it is that He purposed for us to do. I thank God every day for all the blessings He gives me and I return every one of those blessings back to Him in praise.
There was a time that I truly thought my sole purpose in life was to make others look good. The whole time I was growing up I fumbled and bumbled through everything. I was very accident prone which is evident from the scars all over my body from stitches, broken bones and skin grafts. As much as I fumbled and screwed up I always tended to make others look like they were so much better at what ever it was we were doing. As much as that occurred, I just figured that's what I was put on this earth to do. Make others lookk good.
To everything, there is a reason. And a time for every purpose under heaven. To find what each of our purposes are we need to turn to heaven to see what the man up stairs has to say about that. God has put forth hundreds of laws, ten commandments and yet only one thing that he requires of us. That is to do justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. God put us all on this earth for His glory. We are to spread His word to every tribe, every tongue and every nation. We are to love one another through the good works that we do for one another and we are to love the Lord our God with all our mind, all our soul and all of our strength. If we would do these things then I believe we would have found the purpose for us to have been put on this Earth.... For go's enjoyment.
We also need to find a job a vocation in life. They say if you find the one thing that you enjoy the most in life and get paid for doing it then you never have to actually work a day in your life. In order to do all the things that God wants us to do for Him and even the things that we want to do that give us pleasure, we still need to have money. The key is to find the job that you can get into that you can get the most enjoyment out of an fulfillment from. The business of making money is your job. But that is not your purpose. That is merely a means of financing your purpose. Our purpose in life is our life's work. Our life's work is loving each other, evagelizing for God, descipling others for God and in the process, worshiping God. There is a difference in doing your job and doing your work. Your job brings you money and your work brings you true joy and true fulfillment of your purpose. We need to do the work that God put us on this earth for because that is our true purpose in life. We were wonderfully and fearfully made, so we should return the blessing of the life that God gave to us back to Him in praise by doing what it is that He purposed for us to do. I thank God every day for all the blessings He gives me and I return every one of those blessings back to Him in praise.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Toughy Huffy
Well folks, this one will be a tough one. I guess it's time a make a tribute to the man I lost three years ago today. my dad. I spoke at his funeral, but the tears got in the way and choked me up through the whole speech. So I'll try it again, knowing the tears will come but at least you can read through my tears better than the people at the chuch could listen through them at the service. So here it goes.
My dad was a man who wore many hats, literally and figuratively. In fact he pretty much had a different hat for every occassion. He wore the hat of a father of 3, a hat of a husband of 1 for more than 50 years and several hats of the various occupations he held over the 78 years of his life.
He was known for his hats. He was never seen without one. He wore the hat of a baseball coach as he worked with Jeff and me in the front yard. He wore the hat of a farmer, any one of about 50 seed corn hats when he worked around his own farm or for the various other farmers in the San Jose area. He even had a special starched engineer's hat he wore to work at Caterpillar for 34 years. In fact we went to tour his building KK at East Peoria one Sunday for the open house that they had that day. When he came into the plant with an ordinary baseball cap on no one could recognize him without his infamous engineer's hat on.
Yes over the years he wore many hats. The one I enjoyed seeing him wear the most was that of a father. When I lost a father I also lost a friend. Some one I could always lean on. Some one I could always talk to. Now I don't have him or his hats. There are so many things in my life and my kids' life that he did not get to see. My best consolation is knowing he now wears a crown of of salvation as he sits next to Jesus on his throne. It's nice to know that some day I'll be able to see him again. Maybe we'll go get a new hat so we can sit on a shore and fish together so I can catch him up on all those things he missed here on earth. Although I'm sure it can't compare to things he could tell me about that I missed while he's been in heavan.
My dad was a man who wore many hats, literally and figuratively. In fact he pretty much had a different hat for every occassion. He wore the hat of a father of 3, a hat of a husband of 1 for more than 50 years and several hats of the various occupations he held over the 78 years of his life.
He was known for his hats. He was never seen without one. He wore the hat of a baseball coach as he worked with Jeff and me in the front yard. He wore the hat of a farmer, any one of about 50 seed corn hats when he worked around his own farm or for the various other farmers in the San Jose area. He even had a special starched engineer's hat he wore to work at Caterpillar for 34 years. In fact we went to tour his building KK at East Peoria one Sunday for the open house that they had that day. When he came into the plant with an ordinary baseball cap on no one could recognize him without his infamous engineer's hat on.
Yes over the years he wore many hats. The one I enjoyed seeing him wear the most was that of a father. When I lost a father I also lost a friend. Some one I could always lean on. Some one I could always talk to. Now I don't have him or his hats. There are so many things in my life and my kids' life that he did not get to see. My best consolation is knowing he now wears a crown of of salvation as he sits next to Jesus on his throne. It's nice to know that some day I'll be able to see him again. Maybe we'll go get a new hat so we can sit on a shore and fish together so I can catch him up on all those things he missed here on earth. Although I'm sure it can't compare to things he could tell me about that I missed while he's been in heavan.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Blizzard
As most of you know, I grew up on a small farm in central IL. In 1979 we had one of the worst blizzards on record. My brother and I raised pigs. That year we had terrible snows, high winds, and HUGE drifts. I remember a drift that started at the sow pen and built dramaticlly from there. It reached the height of our two-story farm house.
I remeber having to dig the sows that climbed the snow drift that had gone over the fence. They would get just so far up the side of the drift until it would collapse, trapping the 400 pound sows in the drift. We would dig around them to release them from their frozen shackles, get them back into their pens and dig a trench along the fence so they couldn't get out again. Some how Mother Nature had a way of repairing that gap and those sows would get out once again. This was a real pain in the neck. A pain in the back as well.
One of those cold snowy winters of the late 1970's was so bad that the snowplows could not push the snow back off the roads well enough to make two lanes any more. The road just adjacent to ours (the one that now leads to my sister's house) was on a hill and only had one lane. My mom had to drive up that hill and was hit head on by an on coming pick up. Just last year she fianlly got the kne fixed that had been banged up more than 30 years ealier. Talk about long term affects of a snow storm.
This week we experienced one of those memorable blizzards that will unfortunately stay in our memories for the next 30 years. For some of us this is the first big blizzard of our life time. For those of us who lived through those in the late '70's we now have one to compare them to. I really don't want to remember this one, but at my ripe old age of 46, I do like to think back to those tough winters from years gone by. Maybe 30 years from now my kids will reminess about this one like I have about those from the '70's.
I remember having a lot of extra chores to do around the farm just trying to keep the animals alive. Jake and Sam will probably remember digging tunnels in the snow. I remember digging out huge snow drifts behind the car so we could escape for a while. Jake and Sam will have the memory of their mom running the snowblower for the first and only time to make a path from the house to the part of the lane that actually got plowed out. I remember falling through the ice on the mighty Prairie Creek when my dad told me not to go out on the ice on one of our many days off from school. Jake and Sam will probably remember their dog, Titus, falling into the creek that streams off of the Mighty Mississippi. I remember digging a path along the fence line so the sows couldn't get out of the fence. Sam will remember shoveling 2 feet of snow out of our shoreline man shed. Connie will probably always remember the fun of being able to stay at home with our boys and playing with them in the snow during the great blizzard of 2011.
Well this one is pretty much over. We can pretty much get out of our property. They do get to stay home from school one more day. I pretty much have to go back to work. God has a way of building memories into this thing we call life. Life is not the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. The blizzard of 2011 took my breath away. We have an awesome God. That's all I have to say about that...pretty much.
I remeber having to dig the sows that climbed the snow drift that had gone over the fence. They would get just so far up the side of the drift until it would collapse, trapping the 400 pound sows in the drift. We would dig around them to release them from their frozen shackles, get them back into their pens and dig a trench along the fence so they couldn't get out again. Some how Mother Nature had a way of repairing that gap and those sows would get out once again. This was a real pain in the neck. A pain in the back as well.
One of those cold snowy winters of the late 1970's was so bad that the snowplows could not push the snow back off the roads well enough to make two lanes any more. The road just adjacent to ours (the one that now leads to my sister's house) was on a hill and only had one lane. My mom had to drive up that hill and was hit head on by an on coming pick up. Just last year she fianlly got the kne fixed that had been banged up more than 30 years ealier. Talk about long term affects of a snow storm.
This week we experienced one of those memorable blizzards that will unfortunately stay in our memories for the next 30 years. For some of us this is the first big blizzard of our life time. For those of us who lived through those in the late '70's we now have one to compare them to. I really don't want to remember this one, but at my ripe old age of 46, I do like to think back to those tough winters from years gone by. Maybe 30 years from now my kids will reminess about this one like I have about those from the '70's.
I remember having a lot of extra chores to do around the farm just trying to keep the animals alive. Jake and Sam will probably remember digging tunnels in the snow. I remember digging out huge snow drifts behind the car so we could escape for a while. Jake and Sam will have the memory of their mom running the snowblower for the first and only time to make a path from the house to the part of the lane that actually got plowed out. I remember falling through the ice on the mighty Prairie Creek when my dad told me not to go out on the ice on one of our many days off from school. Jake and Sam will probably remember their dog, Titus, falling into the creek that streams off of the Mighty Mississippi. I remember digging a path along the fence line so the sows couldn't get out of the fence. Sam will remember shoveling 2 feet of snow out of our shoreline man shed. Connie will probably always remember the fun of being able to stay at home with our boys and playing with them in the snow during the great blizzard of 2011.
Well this one is pretty much over. We can pretty much get out of our property. They do get to stay home from school one more day. I pretty much have to go back to work. God has a way of building memories into this thing we call life. Life is not the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. The blizzard of 2011 took my breath away. We have an awesome God. That's all I have to say about that...pretty much.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The 12th Man
More than 60 years ago a mighty friendship was forged between two brothers. These two brothers were Dick and Bruce Abbott. They did many things together over the years as most friends do. Even as they got older that friendship grew.
Dick purchased a piece of property on the Mississippi River that had been in the family for many years. There had been numerous changes made to that property over those many years, but the friendship between these two brothers never seemed to change. One aspect of that river front property that never really changed was a small shed built right along the shoreline of that Mighty Mississippi River. Because of the close proximity to the river this shed had to be built tough, forged in steel, to withstand the floods and the tests of time, just like the friendship between Dick and Bruce.
Over the years as these two men got older the activity they enjoyed the most together was sitting in that reinforced shed on a winter Sunday afternoon drinking beer and watching football. Bruce was as much of a Green Bay Packer fan as Dick was a Chicago Bear fan. As Bruce drank his beer of choice, Old Style Light, Dick would consume his beer of choice, Old Style, in front of the wood burning stove. They needed some sort of cold beverage because that wood burner filled that little shed with enough heat to melt the Arctic Ice Cap.
Time passed and unfortunately eventually one of those friends did, too. Dick died suddenly in November of 2007. This passing was the only thing that could have ever ended the friendship of these two men. Because of Dick's dedication as the world's greatest Bear's fan, Bruce had to come up with some way to honor his friend. Bruce had been a long time employee of the city of Clinton and A.) had connections and B.) knew where the best junk was on Big Grabage Pick-up Day. Through his brain-storming and craftiness, he came up with a fitting way to honor his best friend and the 12th Man for the Chicago Bears. He located a discarded wooden statue or lawn ornimant of a two foot tall bear. He put on this bear a remnant of one of Dick's old Bear's sweatshirts with a sign on the edge that said "12th Man". Also because of Dick's life-long occupation as being the best baker around, Bruce gave the wooden statue a miniature doll of the Pillsbury Doughboy to hold. Another loss that occured shortly after Dick's passing was his dedicated companion Boomer, the Yellow Lab that never left his side. I think Boomer died of a broken heart or from lost hope after wandering around for weeks looking to see where Dick went off to. So to add to the memorial statue of the 12th Man, Bruce added a colloar with Boomer's dog tag on it wrapped around the bear's neck.
Time marched on again as is it always does. Many things changed while one thing stayed the same. That shed to this day still stands. After enduring several floods and a change of possesion of property, that old wooden shed along the shores of the Mississippi River still hosts Uncle Bruce drinking his now beer of choice, Busch Light and his new companion, Uncle Dick. They sit around that same wood burning stove where they watch football every Sunday afternoon. The shed and the rest of the property belong to Dick's daughter and me now. The role of the Yellow Lab is now played by our dog, Titus. The memorial bear statue still sits on the table absorbing the 100 degree heat of the burner and watching the game as the 12th Man.
A fan is a mere supprter of a team. The 12th Man in football is a fan in overdrive. He's the one who is so engrossed into every move the team makes that he would jump off of sidelines and play for them if he could. That was the dedication of Dick Abbott. He was the ultimate Bear's fan. He would have loved being called in off of the sidelines today in the 182nd meeting of his brother's favorite team to see if he could have taken them to the Super Bowl. That 12th Man was not there today so Uncle Bruce got his wish this time as the Packers advanced to the big game.
Who is your 12th Man? Who would jump into save the game for you? Do you realize we have a God in heaven loves you so much, who come to save the day in your darkest hour? Call upon your 12th Man. he just might save your life and send you to the big game.
Dick purchased a piece of property on the Mississippi River that had been in the family for many years. There had been numerous changes made to that property over those many years, but the friendship between these two brothers never seemed to change. One aspect of that river front property that never really changed was a small shed built right along the shoreline of that Mighty Mississippi River. Because of the close proximity to the river this shed had to be built tough, forged in steel, to withstand the floods and the tests of time, just like the friendship between Dick and Bruce.
Over the years as these two men got older the activity they enjoyed the most together was sitting in that reinforced shed on a winter Sunday afternoon drinking beer and watching football. Bruce was as much of a Green Bay Packer fan as Dick was a Chicago Bear fan. As Bruce drank his beer of choice, Old Style Light, Dick would consume his beer of choice, Old Style, in front of the wood burning stove. They needed some sort of cold beverage because that wood burner filled that little shed with enough heat to melt the Arctic Ice Cap.
Time passed and unfortunately eventually one of those friends did, too. Dick died suddenly in November of 2007. This passing was the only thing that could have ever ended the friendship of these two men. Because of Dick's dedication as the world's greatest Bear's fan, Bruce had to come up with some way to honor his friend. Bruce had been a long time employee of the city of Clinton and A.) had connections and B.) knew where the best junk was on Big Grabage Pick-up Day. Through his brain-storming and craftiness, he came up with a fitting way to honor his best friend and the 12th Man for the Chicago Bears. He located a discarded wooden statue or lawn ornimant of a two foot tall bear. He put on this bear a remnant of one of Dick's old Bear's sweatshirts with a sign on the edge that said "12th Man". Also because of Dick's life-long occupation as being the best baker around, Bruce gave the wooden statue a miniature doll of the Pillsbury Doughboy to hold. Another loss that occured shortly after Dick's passing was his dedicated companion Boomer, the Yellow Lab that never left his side. I think Boomer died of a broken heart or from lost hope after wandering around for weeks looking to see where Dick went off to. So to add to the memorial statue of the 12th Man, Bruce added a colloar with Boomer's dog tag on it wrapped around the bear's neck.
Time marched on again as is it always does. Many things changed while one thing stayed the same. That shed to this day still stands. After enduring several floods and a change of possesion of property, that old wooden shed along the shores of the Mississippi River still hosts Uncle Bruce drinking his now beer of choice, Busch Light and his new companion, Uncle Dick. They sit around that same wood burning stove where they watch football every Sunday afternoon. The shed and the rest of the property belong to Dick's daughter and me now. The role of the Yellow Lab is now played by our dog, Titus. The memorial bear statue still sits on the table absorbing the 100 degree heat of the burner and watching the game as the 12th Man.
A fan is a mere supprter of a team. The 12th Man in football is a fan in overdrive. He's the one who is so engrossed into every move the team makes that he would jump off of sidelines and play for them if he could. That was the dedication of Dick Abbott. He was the ultimate Bear's fan. He would have loved being called in off of the sidelines today in the 182nd meeting of his brother's favorite team to see if he could have taken them to the Super Bowl. That 12th Man was not there today so Uncle Bruce got his wish this time as the Packers advanced to the big game.
Who is your 12th Man? Who would jump into save the game for you? Do you realize we have a God in heaven loves you so much, who come to save the day in your darkest hour? Call upon your 12th Man. he just might save your life and send you to the big game.
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