Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well I'm writing this for all who follow my blog, because at 80 years of age my mom does not have internet. All of us, have or at least did have a mom. so this is a tribute to my mom but please take it as a tribute to all the moms out there.

February 25, 1932 my mom was born in Lincoln, IL. All of my growing up years my brother and I teased her about how old she was. That she was really born in Postville, because Lincoln wasn't around yet. That she really helped Betsy Ross sow the first flag. The truth is she isn't, even at 80, she is not old...in fact she is timeless.

Like many women of her era and maybe even some today, my mom was a jack of all trades as she stayed at home to raise 3 kids. She was a cook, nurse, care taker, chauffeur, seamstress, maid, waitress, teacher and arbitrator. Sometimes she was judge and jury. She took care of us kids when we were sick and took care of our animals when we were too sick or maybe even too lazy to take care of them. I was raised on a small farm so not only did we have the traditional pets of cats and dogs, but we also had pigs and calves that had to be tended to as well.

People would ask if she worked and she would modestly say no she just stayed at home. But staying at home meant that she probably worked harder than most did outside of the home. Not only did she do all the above things, but there was always laundry to be done, meals to be cooked, cleaning up after meals and she also mowed the grass and worked in the garden as well. I guess you could also throw in accountant or at least bookkeeper since she was also the one who paid all the bills, too.

I wonder what the value of a mom like that would be? If you tallied up the pay for each of those careers mentioned above, I'm sure the pay would be well over $2 million dollars a year. What ever that amount would be still would not be enough. The value of a mom who would do all of that and more is absolutely priceless.

Even after doing all of these tasks, chores and acts of love, after being a stay at home mom, she still had the time to go with us on school field trips. Whenever there was a need at school for a chaperon, there she was first to volunteer. After all, she is just a stay at home mom.

I can remember many times as a kid when I had to stay home from school because I was sick. that could have been with an ear ache, sore throat, stomach flu or any other ailments that hit kids or at least this kid. My mom would always be there for me to nurse me back to health. She would make dry toast and tea or chicken noodle soup or keep a constant supply of tissues or Pepto Bismol available for whatever was ailing me. Many of you know that when I was a senior in high school, I was in a very severe accident that nearly made me lose my right leg. My dad stayed with me in the hospital the first 10 days I was there; never leaving my bedside. But it was my mom who would drive to the hospital every morning. That was a 45 minute trip on a clear day, but this was in the fall and winter so who knows how bad the roads were. Every evening she would have to leave the hospital early enough to be able to get home to do chores. That would be to feed and water the pigs and the calves plus the ones my mom called the wild animals, the cats and dogs. It pained her to a.)have to see me in the hospital, b.) have to leave me behind in the hospital and c.) go home to take care of all of those family chores. But she never complained.

She never complained about anything. It was as if she was a gift from God to us. It was as if the gift from God to her was the privilege it was to have the opportunity to do all of that. She spent all of her time taking care. Taking care of 3 kids as were growing up. Taking care of my ailing dad the last 2 years of his life. Now it's her turn to take care of herself. she spent all of my growing up years as Wonder Woman. As she has aged she has now become the Bionic Woman due to her new hips and knees and now with stainless steel rods in her back.

Well I said all of this as a tribute to her. I guess it's really about time that she had some recognition given to her for all the wonderful things she has been and done for us kids. Now it's time to say a BIG THANK YOU to her. I guess the best way, the only way that she would want me to really do that is by saying. I LOVE YOU. MOM. Happy 80th Birthday to you.

Teens, The Bible and The Rite of Passage

     The teenage years.  A time of fun, change and challenges.  It seems like a life time ago for me and now I will soon have a teenager of my own who will  be 16 years old.  Did you know that there were at least 29 prominent teenagers discussed in the Bible?  Many of them I never really thought of as being teenagers because of the feats of bravery they performed were that of an adult nature.  These feats seemed to automatically give them a rite of passage into adulthood.  The Jewish faith celebrates a rite of passage at or around the age of 13 known as a bat mitzvah for a girl and a bah mitzvah for a boy that declares officially that the child has become an adult.  If you are not of the Jewish faith, how do you know when you become a man?  Is it when you are able to drive?  When you have your first drink of alcohol, when you get married?  How do you know that you are a man if no one has ever declared you as one?

     I never had the luxury or the honor of going through any kind of an official ceremony that declared me to be a man.  I would suspect that would be the case for many of us.  That holds nothing bad against my dad or any of the parents of previous generations.  I think it was just assumed that you knew.  My father's generation didn't have the tools needed to truly raise kids.  They did the best they could with what they had to work with, but I really think they had to leave a lot to chance or pure luck.  I think they tried to teach the principles in life that were taught to them like hard work, loyalty and even generosity, but they didn't really pass on everything that it took so that in the end a boy truly knew when he became a man.  This to me is the biggest explanation for why society sees boys doing the things that they do so they can prove to others and more importantly to themselves that they are a man.  Boys end up getting into trouble or at a very minimum try things that they shouldn't just because they are trying to prove that they have become a man.  Boys drink, smoke, have sex, shoot guns, drive fast, etc. all to prove to others and themselves that they can, that they have become a man.

     There are at least 29 teens of prominence in the Bible.  Some of them did great and wonderful things in their teen age years that projected them into even more prominence in adulthood.  Some of these examples include Joseph, David, Mary, Samuel and even Moses.  Their stories are discussed especially in the book of Genesis in the Bible others even have entire books in the Bible describing their great feats.  Some of those teens were exemplified in the stories just because they were so young like Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.  Their stories can be read about in the book of Daniel in the Bible.  And there were others that were mentioned and never really discussed again because of their life changing or even ending such as in the story of Cain and Abel.  Most of these stories talk about how these and the others not listed here that were equally great performed acts of heroism or bravery. I think it's important for kids today to examine the feats the teens of the Bible performed.  to give them the inspiration needed to go out and do the same sorts of things in today's society.  My goal is to write a book detailing these feats to let today's kids know what they could be doing with their lives to project themselves into a bright future.  A future destined to please God and to develop the characteristics that God looks for so they can be declared to be an adult. 

     T.D, Jakes is one of the more prominent African-American pastors, speaker and author in the U.S. today.  He tells a story of how a father's duty in raising a son is very similar to archery.  The bow and the quiver are the tools he uses to train up his son in the way he should go.  The boy is the arrow that the archer projects toward the target of life.  Once he hits the target he is a man. Robert Lewis is an author and pastor who wrote a book called Raising a Modern Day Knight.  This book was my reference and guide to developing steps towards a rite of passage for my sons into adulthood.  Lewis' book lays out steps for a father to take in teaching his son Biblical principles so that he grows up to be a true man of God.  The book culminates in going through an actual ceremony in three or four phases of life so the father can ultimately declare his son to be a true man of God, an official adult.  Another Pastor, Dr. Charles (Chuck) Stecker is the founder of A Chosen Generation and has his own version of a rite of passage.  This is a group passage for teens of a church to be welcomed into adulthood of the local church.  This passage allows them to be included into even the decision-making process of a church.  This assures them of a continued participation in church life.  Many kids are "forced" to go to church but when they get older are given a choice as to whether or not they do go.  Many of them do not choose to go in their teen years and that's when they get into trouble.  By having a church body welcome the teens into the church family of adults they tend to feel part of the church more.   

     I am in the planning stages of putting the next step in the rite of passage for Jake together because he will turn 16 in October.  There is nothing legalistic about any of this as to exactly when you  need to do this with your sons.  These are merely guidelines.  As he gets older I will put even more responsibility on him, but along with that comes more freedom.  It's up to me to lay the groundwork and set the boundaries.  I will be more forceful in the challenges I set before him to put him on a path to be a true man of God.  The final phases will be geared more towards setting goals and talking to him about real life issues to prepare him for the real life ahead of him.  When it is all over and I can truly declare him a man, Lewis describes in his book a ceremony of presenting the new man with the full armor of God.  I intend on presenting my sons with actual armor and explain to them what each piece means as to what the Bible says about putting on the full armor of God.  This will prepare him to ward off the arrows and attacks in life.  As a knight I will officially declare to him he is a man.

     If any one would like any more of the details involved with my specific process.,please feel free to ask and I would be thrilled to discuss it with you.  If you want o read more about this information Lewis and Stecker's books are available on line in in Christian book stores.  I just feel it is so important to let our kids know what is expected from them and to declare that they are men.  If they know who they are in God's eyes maybe they won't have to do the things others think they have to do to try to prove that they are a man.

The Power of Prayer

     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.

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!!

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.    

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.

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?