Tis the Season to Be Jolly and Overcrowded

Tis the season to be Jolly, Fa-la-la-la-laa, La-la-la-la!
Go to Wal-Mart it's overcrowded, Fa-la-la-la-laa, Hey, I need some service over here!

This time of the year creates so many mixed feelings for me. I love the weather. I love the tradition of putting up the Christmas Tree (ours goes up tomorrow). I love the focus on the birth of Jesus. I like watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas on the television. I love the extra long break from school and the anticipation of opening gifts chosen just for you. I also love to watch those I chose gifts for open their presents as well.

Despite all the things I love, there are also several things I don't like. I really don't like the overcrowded stores, Especially Wal-Mart. The customer service there is bad enough already, but it is especially bad this time of year. Even though I like some Christmas songs, I don't like listening to the same Christmas songs, over-and-over again. I guess I'm just a Scrooge, or a Grinch, when it comes to the songs. To bad for me, the Christmas songs are one of my wife's favorite parts of the holiday season.

Just 30 more days to go!!

Help the United Nations Feed the World

This is not a joke...you can actually help feed the world's hungry people just by playing a game.

Go to a web-site called Free Rice. The game is a vocabulary game. For each word you guess the correct meaning to, the sponsors of the site will donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations World Program. You would think these rich sponsors could do a little more than 10 grains of rice for each word, but we do what we can right? So go and play a little while and know that in your own small way you are helping to feed those who need it the most.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What I'm Thankful For

It may be a little early, but here is a quick list of some things I am Thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

1. My Family -- My wife and 2 Children!
2. My Home -- Even if it does need a new kitchen ceiling and a new roof.
3. My Health -- I have lost weight recently, My cholesterol is down, and I have no other major health issues.
4. My Job -- I love my "new" job. I love my co-workers and my students.
5. My Dog -- Even though I am a cat person at heart, I love the little fella'.
6. My Friend Brent -- He is a brother I never had.
7. Most importantly: The Love and Grace of God -- Despite the fact I am a pitiful sinner, He still loves me like His own Son.

Thank you, God for all your blessings on me and my family. Help us to be good stewards of your blessings! -- ME

Alone With the Kids

My beloved wife is out of town for the next couple of days. Actually it's Friday night and she will return Saturday evening. This means I get to spend some time alone with the kids. What to do? What to do? I don't want to just let them play video games the whole time, because I want to spend at least some quality time with them. A few options include: 1) Watching a movie we have from Netflix called, Gus, which is an old Disney movie starring Don Knotts, about a mule who can kick 100 yard field goals, 2) Playing a board game with the kids, 3) Building a craft surprise for Mommy! or 4) Going to a park or something. We may hit the discount movies on Saturday. I will miss my beloved bride, but I am determined to spend some quality time with the kids while she is away. Hey, maybe I can make them clean their rooms while I am at it! Naaahhh!

Time to Change the Way I Think

As you may have read before, my family has decided to implement a few new rules around our house. (See Previous Blog) One of the new rules will probably be that our children may not watch movies, television shows, view web-sites or listen to music that is not appropriate due to age or morally. This got me to thinking. I watch a lot of movies. My family and I have been active members of Netflix for at least two years. We, mostly me, have watched all sorts of movies. Our kids definitely do not watch anything rated R or above. My wife and I don't watch anything rated above R. There are; however, a few movies rated PG or PG-13 that do push the limits of what is appropriate or not, that we have watched or are currently on our cue list. Movies like Transformers. My kids (ages 10 + 12) and I loved this movie, but is this movie really age appropriate? There is bad language, some sexual humor, and plenty of violence (just not gory!). Under our new rules, would I allow my children to watch this type of movie? It's a tough call, but one that has to be made.

It reminds me of a story...There were these two teenage children who lived in a Christian home. They were raised by good parents, although not perfect, who tried to raise their kids with good values and good decision making skills. One day the children came home with a group of friends with a movie they wanted to watch. The movie was rated PG-13, or R depending on the story. The father asked the girls what the movie was about and after hearing the movie's details, the father quickly decided this was not a good movie for the girls to watch. "But it only has a little bit of bad language. It only has a little bit of sexual themes in it.", the children insisted. The father, being a wise man, made a deal with the children, he would make a batch of brownies and if the children would eat the brownies then they could watch the movie. The children agreed. So the father went to the kitchen and gathered all his ingredients. He got flour, sugar, eggs, brownie mix and then he got a little bit of dog poop from the yard and mixed it in with the brownie mix. After cooking the brownies, he set them out for his children to eat. Before they started to dig in; however, he told them about the "surprise ingredient" he had added. "Gross!", his children asked. "But it only has a little poop in the brownies!", the father said. It was then his children realized what the father was trying to teach them. It doesn't take a whole lot of "crap" to be in a movie, T.V. show, or the music you listen to, in order to taint it.

It may look and even taste like a great brownie, but inside of it there is something that makes you sick. The movie may be a "great" movie, but hidden inside is the agenda of someone who wants to make you sick. Satan will do anything to turn us away from God. How many of us, myself included, have been feeding our kids "tainted brownies" and letting them watch programs they have "just a little-bit" of bad stuff in it. For that matter, who much "poop" have we been feeding ourselves.

Maybe it's time I change the way I think.

Thoughts About God and the Universe and Some Good News

God is an awesome God! Every time I watch a show about nature, I am awe struck by the creativity and majesty of my God. From the smallest of amoebas to the massive blue whale, God's workmanship is shown. From the tall Redwood trees to the smallest flower, God can be found. Every human on the planet, despite what we think of them, is beautiful to our God. We are made in His image. To me, this is incredible. The pictures from the Hubble Telescope, prove that God is not just a God of this earth, but of the entire universe.

Science can attempt to explain how the universe was formed and how it works, but they cannot prove their theory of a "Big Bang!" Science can attempt to explain why all the animals and plants are different with the theory of "Evolution", but in the end evolution is still a theory. It's a shame that the "Big Bang" theory and the theory of "Evolution" are being taught as fact in our public schools. To teach these theories as fact, goes against the very principles of "scientific experimentation!" Scientist have tested these two theories over and over again without coming up with undeniable proof that their initial theories are indeed facts. Granted you cannot absolutely prove that God created anything either, but it makes much better sense to me than evolution does.

Ok, Now that I am through ranting about the Almighty! -- Good news! I have lost 8 pounds in the past month. Even though my tummy is smaller, my wife claims most of the weight has disappeared from my already small tush! I guess I need to exercise a little more and try to gain muscle weight to replace the fat weight.