Lasting Gifts

Quick, tell me everything you got for Christmas last year. Can you remember? How about two years ago? Three . . . ? Kind of takes the steam out of the rush to spend a lot of money on gifts, doesn't it?

I have a few recommendations for your consideration. First, if you haven't done so already, please make a budget for how much you can spend for Christmas and stick to it. You don't want to still be paying off your credit cards on the 4th of July. Don't buy gifts to impress people or out of a sense of obligation. I would rather not receive a gift from someone if that was their motivation.

Secondly, if you are giving to little kids who already have a zillion toys that they don't play with, consider starting a 529 College Savings plan. These vary by state to state so it might take a little bit of research to find the best option for you. There are a number of good web sites with more information such as http://www.collegesavings.org/. I started a college fund for my nephews and niece and have been able to sock away over $1,800 so far. This is all with money I would have spent on birthday and Christmas presents that would have long since been used up, broken or forgotten by now. You might seem like a bit of a dorky aunt or uncle now, but if you are still paying off your student loans you know how much they will appreciate this later. This is especially true when they are still at an age when they are more fascinated with unwrapping the paper than they are with whatever gift may be inside.

Third, if you don't know what to get for the person who has everything try making a charitable donation in their honor. I did this last year with my parents by making a donation in their honor to Unicef, and they thought it was the greatest thing. Not only does it help us to celebrate the holiday with simplicity and charity, but it helps those who are in desperate need. And yes, it may be tax deductible too.

I hope this helps! Have a safe and wonderful Christmas.

Service Engine Soon

Uh-oh. For the first time in its life, my venerable Saturn had the "Service Engine Soon" light come on as I was leaving work tonight. It seemed to be running well so I am not sure what is ailing it. I hope it's something small. It made it essentially problem free for the first 81,000 miles so I can't complain. Go little Saturn.

Just Another Liberal Yankee

So, over the course of the past week, I have had some conversations with friends in which I was referred to with the labels of "liberal" and "Yankee" respectively. How on earth does a Newt-supporting Republican from Ohio become mistaken for a liberal, Yankee? I find this amusing.

$30 from Uncle Sam

In case you missed it, the US Government has decided to stop charging a special excise tax on long distance phone calls that has existed since the Spanish American War. (Apparently, that war has now been paid for.) Anyway, what this means is that pretty much everyone who has had a phone can get a $30 refund on their taxes (up to $60 if multiple exemptions). So, make sure you look for this special line on your tax return when you complete it this year.

Follow, Fear, Keep, Listen, Serve, Cling

I have been going through Deuteronomy for a little while now in my devotions, and I re-discovered one of my favorite verses tonight. "You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him (Deut. 13:4)". What a powerful grouping of verbs to sit and reflect on. I want to commit this one to memory and keep chewing it over.

I have been struggling in working out the application of what I am learning right now in small group. Last week we poured over Lewis's teaching, "That is why the real problem of the Christian life come where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind."

Likewise, Brother Lawrence is teaching us how "At other times I beheld him in my heart as my Father and as my God. I worshipped him as often as I could, keeping my mind in his holy presence and recalling it back to God as often as I had found it had wandered from him . . . when we are faithful in keeping ourselves in his holy presence, keeping him always before us, this not only prevents our offending him or doing something displeasing in his sight (at least willfully), but it also brings to us a holy freedom, and if I may say so, a familiarity with God wherein we may ask and receive the graces we are so desperately in need of."

I've been struggling at that first breath of the morning to get myself into the presence of God. I think meditating on this verse will help anchor me there.

And The Candidate Is . . .

Newt Gingrich!! I kid you not. No doubt many of you are now shaking your heads. I really think he is worth considering as a candidate. For more information, click on link above which will direct you to http://www.newt.org/

Reforming Social Security For the Sake of Women and Minorities

I am very excited that my new favorite presidential candidate has listed as platform issue #2 to "Transform the Social Security system into personal savings accounts that will enable every worker to have higher retirement incomes from their own work and avoid the need for financial support from their children. " There is probably not a single issue that disgusted me more over the past two years than the despicable way Congress handled the prospect of reforming the Social Security system. When the Democrats gathered around the statue of President Franklin Roosevelt to fight reform and collectively stuck their heads in the sand, they compromised the future of millions of Americans, particularly women and minorities. It was a disgraceful act of stewardship towards the rights and freedoms of those they supposedly champion.

The bipartisan presidential commission that sought out ways to improve the current system, that without change is inevitably headed towards economic insolvency, clearly espoused how a change to private accounts would most benefit these groups that are often economically disadvantaged. The democrats, however, were more intent on a political victory afforded by stopping a Bush initiative to implement these plans than on realizing the benefits that would accrue to these groups.

The main reason it hurts African-Americans so much is because of the significantly lower life expectancy for the group. Let's say for instance that you have someone earning $25,000 a year from age 21 but then passes away at age 61. (For the sake of ease, I will assume no increases in salary). If that person is allowed to contribute even 2% of his salary (of the 6% FICA tax) into a personal account and earn 10% (the stock market has averaged between 10% and 11% since 1929), he or she will have accumulated over $220,000. Under the current system, the family would receive nothing. Under the reformed system, the family could use that $220,000 to help the family purchase a home or send grandchildren to college. Which system do you think is better?

Fun with red and blue blocks

This is an incredibly addictive little game that my co-worker just shared with me. My personal best: 16.891. Enjoy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite holiday. Marketers have largely gone straight from Halloween to Christmas now which offers the day a greater measure of sanctity. That alone is something to be thankful for.

I was struck by how powerful and beautiful President George Washington's words were with the Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. It's fascinating to me that he committed the nation to God, not only in thanksgiving but also in confession.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Presidential Platform

Without knowing his or her name, would you vote for the candidate running on this platform?

We are committed to a safe, healthy, prosperous, and free America. We believe our children and grandchildren deserve the opportunities our parents and grandparents gave us.

In a rapidly changing world with new threats and new competitors, we must implement policies that will ensure America’s leadership, safety, and prosperity. And we must reinvigorate the core values that have made an exceptional civilization.

We do not believe the traditional instruments of government will reform themselves fast enough and thoroughly enough for the twenty-first century.

The entrenched lobbyists and entrenched bureaucracies will do all they can to minimize the changes no matter how vital those changes are to America’s future. Self interest will dominate national interest if the normal political system operates with business as usual. The pressure of daily events will keep both the news media and most politicians focused on the immediate and the trivial rather than the long-term and the profoundly important.

Only a grassroots citizens’ movement can insist on the level of change that is needed for our children and grandchildren to have a successful future.

Such a citizens’ movement would have to be focused on goals rather than on interest groups. The goals define the America we want our children and grandchildren to have.

To achieve this future we will:

I.

Defend America and our allies from those who would destroy us. To achieve security, we will develop the intelligence, diplomatic, information, defense, and homeland security systems and resources for success.

II.

Transform the Social Security system into personal savings accounts that will enable every worker to have higher retirement incomes from their own work and avoid the need for financial support from their children.

III.

Recenter on the Creator from Whom all our liberties come. We will insist on a judiciary that understands the centrality of God in American history and reasserts the legitimacy of recognizing the Creator in public life.

IV.

Establish patriotic education for our children and patriotic immigration for new Americans. To achieve this, we will renew our commitment to education about American citizenship based on American history and an understanding of the Founding Fathers and the core values of American civilization. We will insist that both our children and immigrants learn the key values and key facts of American history as the foundation of their growth as citizens.

V.

Meet the triple economic challenges of an explosion in scientific and technological knowledge, an increasingly competitive world market, and the rise of China and India by implementing:

1. A new system of civil justice to reduce the burden of lawsuits and to incentivize young people to go into professions other than the law.

2. A dramatically simplified tax code that favors savings, entrepreneurship, investment, and constant modernization of equipment and technology.

3. Math and science learning equal to any in the world and educating enough young Americans to both discover the science of the future and to compete successfully in national security and the economy with other well-educated societies.

4. Investing in the scientific revolutions that are going to transform our world—particularly in energy, space, and the environment.

5. Transforming health care into a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that improves our health while lowering costs dramatically. In the process, American health care will become our highest value export and foreign exchange earning sector.

VI.

Work to include every American in a system of patriotic stewardship so every person has a real opportunity to pursue happiness as their Creator endowed. Prepare for the aging of the baby boomers and their children so we can have active healthy aging with the best quality of life, the longest period of independent living, and the greatest prosperity. We will:

1. Develop a system in which those who wish to stay economically active are encouraged and incentivized to do so because active people live longer and healthier, have a greater opportunity to pursue happiness, and are less of a burden on their fellow citizens;

2. Develop a system of independent living and assisted living that increases the years in which people can be on their own and in most cases enables people to live their entire lives with freedom and dignity;

3. Develop a new model of quality long-term care in which both the care and the quality of life are compatible with a twenty-first century American expectation of progress and innovation;

4. Use the new technologies and new scientific knowledge to turn disabilities into capabilities and change government regulations and programs to help every American achieve the fullest possible ability to pursue happiness.

VII.

Change the mindset of big government in Washington by replacing bureaucratic public administration with Entrepreneurial Public Management so government can operate with the speed, effectiveness, and efficiency of the information age.

VIII.

Balance the federal budget and insist on a lean government, low tax, low interest rate economy to maximize growth in a competitive world.

IX.

Insist on congressional reform to make the legislative branch responsive to the needs of the 21st century.

X.

Ensure an election process that is honest, accountable, accurate, and free from the threat of illegal votes or subsequent litigation.

If we insist on these goals and insist on electing leaders at all levels dedicated to these goals, we will be able to leave our children and grandchildren an America of safety, health, prosperity, and freedom that would make our parents and grandparents proud. We too will have done our duty to our country and our achievements as citizens will be worthy of the America we inherited.

Jeff's Response

I appreciated Jeff's response to my posting on Bush's comments in Vietnam. I think his points are definitely valid. I do get frustrated with our squeamish, short term focus.

Herding Cats

I always remember Angela referring to leadership and coaching as similar to hearding cats. Now I know exactly what she means.

Caveman

Okay Joe, here you go. My discipline has been better the last few days. I can now reward myself with some entertainment.

It's so easy a caveman could do it. (quality is a little rough)

Apology dinner (my favorite)

Advertisement at the airport

News debate (new!)

History Lesson

So President Bush shared in his trip to Vietnam that one of the lessons learned from that war was, "We'll succeed unless we quit." What? That's the lesson we learned in Vietnam? I am not an expert in the Vietnam war, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the primary lesson that we learned. Then again, maybe President Bush didn't know that since he was never there.

Out Of Focus

The last couple posts illustrate an important point. My life has fallen out of focus. I feel like a pinball being slung from one frenzied activity to the next. In response to the tide of stresses, my self discipline has fallen off dramatically, and I am numbing myself with pointless amusement.

There are roughly six weeks left in the year. I jotted down 12 goals for this six week sprint, something like a holistic, glorified to-do list.

I am looking forward to the last week of the year. Lord willing, I will be home in Ohio. It will be nice to get away. I need to re-evaluate my life and think about the year ahead.

Even More Great Commercials

Okay, had to post two more that came to mind:

Budweiser Lizards

Tobasco Mosquito

More Great Commercials

I love the Geico commercials. And thanks to YouTube, I've unearthed a few more of my all time favorites. This company has probably gone under after the tech bubble, but I love the Outpost.com's ads: Ravenous wolves and gerbils. The film quality is a little poor. And don't worry, no aminals were harmed in the making of these films.

FedEx's caveman ad is also stellar.

And who can forget Terry Tate office linebacker? (Pardon the language)



Okay, I need to go to small group.

Squirrels

One of my co-worker's sons was in an automobile accident this morning caused by an attempt to dodge a squirrel. It turns out there was quite a bit of truth to that Geico commercial. It's been a little while now since the breaking and entering incident when one snuck in to my apartment, snagged a Little Debbie brownie and relaxed on my fouton, but I still find them to be strangely amusing but destructive little creatures.

Winter

It feels like winter has finally decided to arrive, much to my dismay. When I walk outside on a cold night I am often reminded of Percy Shelly's "The Cold Earth Slept Below."

The cold earth slept below;
Above the cold sky shone;
And all around,
With a chilling sound,
From caves of ice and fields of snow
The breath of night like death did flow
Beneath the sinking moon.

The wintry hedge was black;
The green grass was not seen;
The birds did rest
On the bare thorn's breast,
Whose roots, beside the pathway track,
Had bound their folds o'er many a crack
Which the frost had made between.

Thine eyes glow'd in the glare
Of the moon's dying light;
As a fen-fire's beam
On a sluggish stream
Gleams dimly—so the moon shone there,
And it yellow'd the strings of thy tangled hair,
That shook in the wind of night.

The moon made thy lips pale, beloved;
The wind made thy bosom chill;
The night did shed
On thy dear head
Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie
Where the bitter breath of the naked sky
Might visit thee at will.

Motivation

Pastor Bo's sermon hit me right between the eyes today. I was wrestling with the matter of my motivation in worship and obedience just this morning. I went into the worship service feeling completely spent. It was one of those rare moments when I just didn't want to be there with all the people and all the singing. If I could have slipped away unnoticed and just been quiet for awhile I think I would have done it. The whole time I was singing I didn't even lift my eyes to the screen and felt my spirit reprimanding me, "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. (Isaiah 29:13)." Yes, I looked like I had just swallowed a toad that had been sweating profuselt. In short, the only reason I found myself was because I had to be. It felt like taking vitamins; it tastes bad but I know it's good for me so I'll do it.

I need to reconnect with God in my heart. Move away from the broken cistern and drink freely from the fountain.

If Iwo Jima Happened Today

A tribute to the Marines and a slap on the modern media.

Political Landscape

As a Republican I have to admit that there is some strategic value to losing the House and possibly Senate to the Democrats. Unlike the Republican Revolution in '94, the incoming class of Democrats do not have an overarching strategic or tactical plan akin to the Contract With America. Many candidates seem to have run on a platform of "at least I'm not George Bush", and it worked to disenchanted voters who had become contemptful of the power grubbing establishment. The thing is, I don't hear how any of them have any meaningful, credible plans to actually fix any problems. I suspect that the sunset provisions on Bush's tax cuts might now be allowed to expire without renewal. Few things give Democrats more ecstasy than raising taxes. So, in a couple years voters will be faced with no greater international leadership, a social security and medicare system that's just as broke, a continued healthcare crisis, conflict and debate over illegal immigration and even more deadlock between the two parties with the only change being higher taxes on the horizon. Again, this is the perfect storm setting the stage for an independent candidate to emerge who actually has a freakin' plan to freakin' fix something. But maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Nightmare

I had a dream last night that I left Chatham to work for JP Morgan. It was one of those incredibly realistic dreams too. One can only imagine my relief when I woke up and realized it was just a dream. A very, very bad dream.

Waiting for '08

So, I was looking up the details on how to write myself in and apparently I missed the deadline. According to Delaware's website, "The deadline for candidates to file for office is 12 Noon on the last Friday in July of the year of the General Election."

I guess that means Castle is going to have two years left in D.C. Dang it.

Moses

So I've been reading through Deuteronomy the last few days for my personal devotions. I know this isn't a new discovery in the history of the study of Scripture, but I'm struggling a lot more with it this time: if Moses were alive today he would be prosecuted for war crimes on the level with Saddam Hussein. I'm only in chapter four, but he has already committed genocide at least once or twice depending on how you look at it. Speaking of Sihon it is written, "So we captured all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor" (2:34). And speaking of Og it is written, "And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city" (3:6). In both cases they tool all the animals and spoils of the cities (2:35, 3:7). Both Sihon and Og were Amorites which is why you might consider it one act of genocide and not two.

How do you explain that one of the "heroes of the faith" committed war crimes? If your answer is simply, "because God told him too" then how do you argue with the Muslim terrorists who crashed into the Twin Towers "because God told them too"? Both Moses and the terrorists were seeking a reward; at least the terrorists were looking for one in the afterlife and not just land on earth.

The traditional explanation (other than the one listed above) is that God was judging the peoples who lived in that land. And Scripture supports that as back in Genesis 15 God speaks of his promise to Abraham, "Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." As a sidebar, that's pretty amazing that God seemed to be patiently waiting for roughly 500 years to deal with the Amorites and how he orchestrates the events of history. Back to my point though, again it just makes me wonder about the contemporary parallel that many of the Muslim terrorists also think they are God's way of judging the infidels. Should we as Christians living in America believe we are under judgement by these attacks? Or is that an "old dispensation"? And did Moses really have to kill every child? Is it possible God did deliver the Amorites over to Moses to be defeated as an act of judgement, but Moses and the Israelites took it one step further on their own volition and completed the massacre? Perhaps I haven't come across it yet, but I have not seen where God instructed them to kill every man, woman and child and to leave no survivor.

Filing this under "things that keep me up at 4 am."

Troops Respond To Kerry

In case you haven't made it over to Jeff's blog lately, I thought I'd go ahead and post this on mine as well. Pretty funny.

Live From Greenville

Well, as perhaps you could tell, I am now back in action with my DSL. Verizon even got the job done a couple days ahead of time. Sweet.

The hectic pace of the last month has taken a toll. I currently have 892 messages in my e-mail inbox. I'm not joking. And none of those are spam messages. Of the 892 outstanding messages, 250 have come in the last month. That's just crazy talk. So, if you have e-mailed me recently and are wondering why you haven't heard back from me, please know I am a little behind on my correspondence.

I am very, very happy with the way my apartment is looking. The Lamp Shack is now open. I would have never guessed I would have enjoyed setting it up as much as I have. Thanks yet again to everyone who helped me move and to those who have helped me bounce around some decorating ideas. Manly decorating ideas, I might add. Tanya, I'll try to get some pictures up at some point. I have not yet joined the modern era and purchased a digital camera so it could take awhile. I'll also try to find an open date on the calendar for an open house party.
Good times.

Hell's Take on Phase 3

My thanks to Jake who shared this with me awhile back. In the tradition of the Screwtape Letters here is a modern little soundbyte to think about as Celebration Sunday approaches.