Being American - United States American, that is... Having "no accented speech" I always thought that the Brits and Ausies sounded so smart... Here is one time that accent was really smart... (...I found this stuff in my LEAN Energy Sobe... ...which I needed because I was "bugged" awake at 3:22 am. I never did find the little beast...)
From Wikipedia:
"Sucralose was discovered in 1976 by scientists from Tate & Lyle, working with researchers Leslie Hough and Shashikant Phadnis at Queen Elizabeth College (now part of King's College London).[4] On a late-summer day, Phadnis was told to test the powder. Phadnis thought that Hough asked him to taste it, so he did.[4] He found the compound to be exceptionally sweet, as sucralose is 600 times as sweet as sucrose."
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Light Boxes for the birds...
It's not what you think.
At least I don't think it's what you think. I think.
I had a problem. The chickens' water kept freezing - pretty much in minutes. I looked at the local farm stores for water-warming devices of all kinds, some of which were a perfect match for the water can that I have, but the average dog dish starts between $25 and $30, while the ones for the poultry can be up to $70. I had exactly $7.00 cash.
I had read about a possible solution. I may have created a much larger problem. But some rigorous testing should "prove" it out... ...at least the fire hazard part. A standard incandescent light bulb gives off a bit of heat - due to inefficincies - so the hope is that a small enclosure (with ventilation) will contain enough of the heat to keep a water can ice free.
It features vent holes on the sides - top and bottom to allow convection to do the venting work. The top cover is vented to hopefully allow access of warm air to the watering can. The holes in the top are strategically located to prevent water spillage on the fixture (which is in turn mounted to the juction box).
I plan to install a 100W incandescent and plug it in for about a week - if we are lucky, then we will get some nifty pictures of a bunch of charcoal, a puddles of metal and a porcelain bulb fixture... ...this will be a long way away from anything important like chicken or people houses.
If it goes a little better, then I will put in a 40W bulb for use on those single digit nights in the chicken house.
At least I don't think it's what you think. I think.
I had a problem. The chickens' water kept freezing - pretty much in minutes. I looked at the local farm stores for water-warming devices of all kinds, some of which were a perfect match for the water can that I have, but the average dog dish starts between $25 and $30, while the ones for the poultry can be up to $70. I had exactly $7.00 cash.
I had read about a possible solution. I may have created a much larger problem. But some rigorous testing should "prove" it out... ...at least the fire hazard part. A standard incandescent light bulb gives off a bit of heat - due to inefficincies - so the hope is that a small enclosure (with ventilation) will contain enough of the heat to keep a water can ice free.
Porcelain base: less than $3
Junction Box (is that what you call that?): 54 cents
Wire Nuts - assorted: $1.74
Old, short (repaired), extension cord; and leftover 3/4" sheathing: Priceless
(I save way too much stuff - but every now and then it pays off.)
I plan to install a 100W incandescent and plug it in for about a week - if we are lucky, then we will get some nifty pictures of a bunch of charcoal, a puddles of metal and a porcelain bulb fixture... ...this will be a long way away from anything important like chicken or people houses.
If it goes a little better, then I will put in a 40W bulb for use on those single digit nights in the chicken house.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
My Charm and Wit and Other Useless Information - 7 on Wednesday?
1) I awoke this morning with an unusually vibrant bit of energy, so I stoked the fire and went back to bed. When I next awoke, I went out to warm the car and thought how nice 10 degrees felt - after days of single digits.
2) During the ride in to work I admired the ice-covered river, trying to compare the advance of the white ice against my memories of it yesterday, last winter... ...somewhere in there I stumbled across memory lane. While I kept the car on the road, my mind took a route that I usually reserve for "another time". Any other time, but the present - you know those times when you wish you could travel back in time and slap yourself silly before you did or said something really dumb?
So, I realized that I am a Repeat Idiot, a "victim" of "recurring stupidity" and vowed to share this to warn everyone that I know... ...to warn them of my frequent social ineptitude and periodic mindlessness. But then, mostly they alreay know that.
3) Who invented the word, Wednesday? How did they know how to spell it?
4) My brother stopped in yesterday and I got to take a break for a vist while he ate his lunch! It's rare to get to do those kinds of things, so I hope maybe more often sometime...
5) My other brother, Daryll, called this afternoon and gave out a "DEBT FREE!!!" yell!!! How awesome is that? Do you know what that feels like? It really is great, and after this last round of medical bills, it I am charged up to feel the yell again... Congratulations, man!- (His real name isn't usually Daryll though...)
6) Progress rolling into view is a wonderful thing, whether it's progress on debt or the accomplishment of a goal in a long project... I like to recommend completing a small something to get D-O-N-E, then work on something a little bigger - It works as well in diets as budgets as it does in other long-term things. Something about it gives a little encouragement... ...maybe this can actually be done. I think it's why God made DAYS a 24 hr. period - we get a new morning all fresh like dew with His lovingkindness and grace.
7) It turns out that the density altitude at 2,500 ft. Above Sea Level and 15 degrees Farenheit is about the same density as Sea Level at 59 degrees... (...this is sort of useful for aircraft testing when you don't want to go all the way to the coast yet.)
7.5) I am really getting excited about Christmas. No other time of year holds as much meaning for me. I love the anticipation of family gatherings, warm houses and smiles, wafting smells of dinner rolls and pies and tossing little nieces and nephews and daughers around the living room like little giggling rag dolls. My wife is probably rolling her eyes about now - I have lost more than one pair of slacks to holey knees... "How do you DO this to all your nice pants?!!"
2) During the ride in to work I admired the ice-covered river, trying to compare the advance of the white ice against my memories of it yesterday, last winter... ...somewhere in there I stumbled across memory lane. While I kept the car on the road, my mind took a route that I usually reserve for "another time". Any other time, but the present - you know those times when you wish you could travel back in time and slap yourself silly before you did or said something really dumb?
So, I realized that I am a Repeat Idiot, a "victim" of "recurring stupidity" and vowed to share this to warn everyone that I know... ...to warn them of my frequent social ineptitude and periodic mindlessness. But then, mostly they alreay know that.
3) Who invented the word, Wednesday? How did they know how to spell it?
4) My brother stopped in yesterday and I got to take a break for a vist while he ate his lunch! It's rare to get to do those kinds of things, so I hope maybe more often sometime...
5) My other brother, Daryll, called this afternoon and gave out a "DEBT FREE!!!" yell!!! How awesome is that? Do you know what that feels like? It really is great, and after this last round of medical bills, it I am charged up to feel the yell again... Congratulations, man!- (His real name isn't usually Daryll though...)
6) Progress rolling into view is a wonderful thing, whether it's progress on debt or the accomplishment of a goal in a long project... I like to recommend completing a small something to get D-O-N-E, then work on something a little bigger - It works as well in diets as budgets as it does in other long-term things. Something about it gives a little encouragement... ...maybe this can actually be done. I think it's why God made DAYS a 24 hr. period - we get a new morning all fresh like dew with His lovingkindness and grace.
7) It turns out that the density altitude at 2,500 ft. Above Sea Level and 15 degrees Farenheit is about the same density as Sea Level at 59 degrees... (...this is sort of useful for aircraft testing when you don't want to go all the way to the coast yet.)
7.5) I am really getting excited about Christmas. No other time of year holds as much meaning for me. I love the anticipation of family gatherings, warm houses and smiles, wafting smells of dinner rolls and pies and tossing little nieces and nephews and daughers around the living room like little giggling rag dolls. My wife is probably rolling her eyes about now - I have lost more than one pair of slacks to holey knees... "How do you DO this to all your nice pants?!!"
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thinking Out Loud...
One of the reasons that I love my job is the thinking environment that we honor and foster - to a point. I mean, we do discuss a range of topics that are not all work-related. You could put it in the Proverbs category of "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
The results of this open discussion are that sometimes my mind gets changed by another's perspective. It results in better products and often, better individuals...
So, I have some open ended questions... ...I still have my persuasions, inclinations, intuitions too. But I wonder about a couple of things...
1) Carbon Emmisions, Carbon Footprints and "Global Warming"... I don't pretend to give any credibility to much of the crowd's hype on this. However...
I recently purchased a "dinosaur" book. This book, along with all but a tiny few exceptions, explains the existence and habits of these amazing lizards through the lens of evolution, which makes it hard to know where to stop and start believing. I take the liberty of calling them lizards only because the very difinition of Dinosaur is "great lizard". It turns out that there are a lot of fossils that were not great lizards - and were not included in this huge book. Just a leafy perusal of this coffee table tome will leave you wondering at the massive quantities and sizes of "successful" species that once roamed the earth. Add to that the vast amount of other, non-dino flora and fauna and the mass of life is staggering.
In the Great Flood all that life-tissue was buried, crushed, heated, decomposed, mineralized, fossilized or petrified and that carbon was rather suddenly removed from the "carbon cycle". We have been digging and pumping and refining it from coal or crude or other into useful sources of energy and thus, we now suffer a daily assault on our sanity regarding our "carbon footprint".
Neverminding the frauds and the greedy shamen that profit from the fear-mongering about it, is there any truth to it? You can see where I am going with this - I think it is a fair question. There is no doubt, some element of truth in the most believable lies, is there not?
I wondered about this, so I consulted Google... ...and it turns out that my suspicions (based on the chemistry classes we took in highschool) were correct. The mass of carbon on Earth is the same today as it was yesterday - unless it is shot into space. That is, the carbon that makes up the tissues of life, that takes on its many forms is not in a state of greater quantity than before - instead, it is just in a different form. So, what was once in the ground as fertilizer, or CO2 that was exhaled from some animal becomes the source of existence for a tree. That is the "natural" part anyway...
The "unnatural" part of the "carbon cycle" is the removal of crude and coal, etc. from the ground to burn, which adds more CO and CO2 to the air. But is it really that unnatural? After all, it was all on the Earth at some point in time... ...If it indeed causes "Global Warming", is it really catastrophic on all accounts?
It also opens up a world of questions about Ice Ages after the Flood. There are conflicting ideas about how the atmosphere works too - Most today say that CO2 in the atmosphere causes higher tempuratures due to an insulating effect. I suppose that may be right.
I remember that they use to monger fear in us from "Nuclear Winter" too. So, on the one hand they say heat is retained, at other times, heat is reflected back to space and we are kept cooler. (There are many examples of the latter with volcanic erruptions... ...some of which resulted in years of continental drought.) Could particulate polution then serve a purpose as well?
What about Polar Bears? What about penguins? Well, if you are an evolutionary advocate, then you would fear the extinction of these species - and logically, you should be looking for new mutations to emerge as well - but we don't hear that last one much.
I just wonder... ...it would seem that with more CO2 the flora would be more prolific and help the balance. I don't know how the oceans work here - just that massive amount of carbon are stored there as well... ...as a "steward" I believe I should ask these questions - even if I am dubious of the scandal it has become.
I just have this nagging feeling that there is an answer in the balances of the Earth's systems. No computer can model it - yet. No scientist has been able to wrap his mind around it all - solar cycles, water cycles, current cycles, wind cycles, carbon cycles, vegetation cycles, and the Earth's orit (proximity to the sun) and unicycles. sorry.
I seriously want to understand this. I think that the complexity and the resiliance is awesome.
and I wonder if anyone is working on a synthetic photosynthesis yet? It seems to me that if we could be half as efficient at making energy as any common lilly, then we would have a lot of energy answers... ...I can see someone sending me a link to some You Tube video now... ...it will probably turn out that I can make one of those to run my car or some such thing... I always think of these things AFTER someone else figured it out. Ugh.
Post Edit: +5 minutes... LOL - I should search stuff before I post... ..but this is surprisingly recent... ..huge in my book, but still not big enough to power anything we could use.
Photosynthesis in a lab...
The results of this open discussion are that sometimes my mind gets changed by another's perspective. It results in better products and often, better individuals...
So, I have some open ended questions... ...I still have my persuasions, inclinations, intuitions too. But I wonder about a couple of things...
1) Carbon Emmisions, Carbon Footprints and "Global Warming"... I don't pretend to give any credibility to much of the crowd's hype on this. However...
I recently purchased a "dinosaur" book. This book, along with all but a tiny few exceptions, explains the existence and habits of these amazing lizards through the lens of evolution, which makes it hard to know where to stop and start believing. I take the liberty of calling them lizards only because the very difinition of Dinosaur is "great lizard". It turns out that there are a lot of fossils that were not great lizards - and were not included in this huge book. Just a leafy perusal of this coffee table tome will leave you wondering at the massive quantities and sizes of "successful" species that once roamed the earth. Add to that the vast amount of other, non-dino flora and fauna and the mass of life is staggering.
In the Great Flood all that life-tissue was buried, crushed, heated, decomposed, mineralized, fossilized or petrified and that carbon was rather suddenly removed from the "carbon cycle". We have been digging and pumping and refining it from coal or crude or other into useful sources of energy and thus, we now suffer a daily assault on our sanity regarding our "carbon footprint".
Neverminding the frauds and the greedy shamen that profit from the fear-mongering about it, is there any truth to it? You can see where I am going with this - I think it is a fair question. There is no doubt, some element of truth in the most believable lies, is there not?
I wondered about this, so I consulted Google... ...and it turns out that my suspicions (based on the chemistry classes we took in highschool) were correct. The mass of carbon on Earth is the same today as it was yesterday - unless it is shot into space. That is, the carbon that makes up the tissues of life, that takes on its many forms is not in a state of greater quantity than before - instead, it is just in a different form. So, what was once in the ground as fertilizer, or CO2 that was exhaled from some animal becomes the source of existence for a tree. That is the "natural" part anyway...
The "unnatural" part of the "carbon cycle" is the removal of crude and coal, etc. from the ground to burn, which adds more CO and CO2 to the air. But is it really that unnatural? After all, it was all on the Earth at some point in time... ...If it indeed causes "Global Warming", is it really catastrophic on all accounts?
It also opens up a world of questions about Ice Ages after the Flood. There are conflicting ideas about how the atmosphere works too - Most today say that CO2 in the atmosphere causes higher tempuratures due to an insulating effect. I suppose that may be right.
I remember that they use to monger fear in us from "Nuclear Winter" too. So, on the one hand they say heat is retained, at other times, heat is reflected back to space and we are kept cooler. (There are many examples of the latter with volcanic erruptions... ...some of which resulted in years of continental drought.) Could particulate polution then serve a purpose as well?
What about Polar Bears? What about penguins? Well, if you are an evolutionary advocate, then you would fear the extinction of these species - and logically, you should be looking for new mutations to emerge as well - but we don't hear that last one much.
I just wonder... ...it would seem that with more CO2 the flora would be more prolific and help the balance. I don't know how the oceans work here - just that massive amount of carbon are stored there as well... ...as a "steward" I believe I should ask these questions - even if I am dubious of the scandal it has become.
I just have this nagging feeling that there is an answer in the balances of the Earth's systems. No computer can model it - yet. No scientist has been able to wrap his mind around it all - solar cycles, water cycles, current cycles, wind cycles, carbon cycles, vegetation cycles, and the Earth's orit (proximity to the sun) and unicycles. sorry.
I seriously want to understand this. I think that the complexity and the resiliance is awesome.
and I wonder if anyone is working on a synthetic photosynthesis yet? It seems to me that if we could be half as efficient at making energy as any common lilly, then we would have a lot of energy answers... ...I can see someone sending me a link to some You Tube video now... ...it will probably turn out that I can make one of those to run my car or some such thing... I always think of these things AFTER someone else figured it out. Ugh.
Post Edit: +5 minutes... LOL - I should search stuff before I post... ..but this is surprisingly recent... ..huge in my book, but still not big enough to power anything we could use.
Photosynthesis in a lab...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Churchill on Socialism/Capitalism
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Winston Churchill
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
Winston Churchill
"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see."
Winston Churchill
...and perhaps most poignant in today's debate...
"The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read."
Winston Churchill
To think we have the audacity of believing that we are plowing a new field, building new roads… …It is conceivable that we are falling prey to a patient predator, watching as we drink from the watering hole. We are the prey, caught by surprise in our distraction with our thirst. Oh that we would find living water instead…
Friday, November 27, 2009
Foundations revisited
I didn't want to polish off that last peanut butter cookie, but I couldn't help tossin this back at ya to make up for it...
Notice anything interesting at the bottom left of this "Foundation Document"?
I am glad that they realized how much they needed Divine Providence. They had drawn a line in the sand against the largest military adversary in the world and any mercenaries that it could afford. At the time of this signing, were I one of them, I would have reckoned my life "signed away."
Thank God for His Divine Providence, His Provision in the face of impossible odds...
Notice anything interesting at the bottom left of this "Foundation Document"?
Hint: ..."Just put your 'John Hancock' here real quick... ...and here... ...and here." Then click this link to go to the National Archives and risk your virtual assets, family and future to be a virtual Patriot...
The virtual signing helps in that one might be able to personalize the original history. When we look at such things through the eyes of a teacher or the window of an author, we may gloss over the gravity of the situation the men on the original document faced. To say that they risked life and limb mean more to me when I imagine myself in that same situation facing those circumstances and realizing the risk to myself and my family - my cares in this world.
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
I am glad that they realized how much they needed Divine Providence. They had drawn a line in the sand against the largest military adversary in the world and any mercenaries that it could afford. At the time of this signing, were I one of them, I would have reckoned my life "signed away."
Thank God for His Divine Providence, His Provision in the face of impossible odds...
Thursday, November 26, 2009
"The Duty of all Nations..." A Thanksgiving - Presidential Style
Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Preamble
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."
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Excerpt
To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
1777 - Continental Congress Proclamation
Preamble
Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with most signal success...
Oh to think in the lofty and reverent term with which these great men of our nation commonly conveyed their ambitions...!
I hate to comment after having read so many examples of such Thanksgiving Proclamations - Solemn each and every bit as reverent as would befit a prayerful church service... ...I am thrilled to read them one after the other...
I think it might be fitting to finish with an excerpt from the 1777 Continental Congress Proclamation of Thanksgiving (see above):
"And it is further recommended, that servile labor, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion."
There was too much to add - I had to stop... ...our heritage is rich, repleat with seemingly endless and astounding accounts of the faith of our fathers. I have been blessed to puruse these things and I hope that you will take a few minutes to consider the depth of our history.
Oh God! Thank You for this our heritage! How blessed and privileged we have been. Forgive us in our ignorance and thanklessness. If You will, bestow upon us the courage of our forefathers to combat evil, to enforce and protect good. Provide to us the means to prosper Your kingdom... ...may we not forget You in our ease, nor shame You in our want. I pray that this day forward that we will often recall the dedication of those before us to Your will and Your kingdom. May we take full advantage of the freedoms we enjoy - not merely to our own benefit, instead to our neighbor for the benfit of Your kingdom.
Preamble
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."
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Excerpt
To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
1777 - Continental Congress Proclamation
Preamble
Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with most signal success...
Oh to think in the lofty and reverent term with which these great men of our nation commonly conveyed their ambitions...!
I hate to comment after having read so many examples of such Thanksgiving Proclamations - Solemn each and every bit as reverent as would befit a prayerful church service... ...I am thrilled to read them one after the other...
I think it might be fitting to finish with an excerpt from the 1777 Continental Congress Proclamation of Thanksgiving (see above):
"And it is further recommended, that servile labor, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion."
There was too much to add - I had to stop... ...our heritage is rich, repleat with seemingly endless and astounding accounts of the faith of our fathers. I have been blessed to puruse these things and I hope that you will take a few minutes to consider the depth of our history.
Oh God! Thank You for this our heritage! How blessed and privileged we have been. Forgive us in our ignorance and thanklessness. If You will, bestow upon us the courage of our forefathers to combat evil, to enforce and protect good. Provide to us the means to prosper Your kingdom... ...may we not forget You in our ease, nor shame You in our want. I pray that this day forward that we will often recall the dedication of those before us to Your will and Your kingdom. May we take full advantage of the freedoms we enjoy - not merely to our own benefit, instead to our neighbor for the benfit of Your kingdom.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness...
In case you don’t know, Chuck Colson is what I would call a “big thinker”. He and some other church leaders who understand firsthand the power of the Scriptures to truly transform a life and the authority that the Scriptures hold are standing in unison to protect life – the most fundamental freedom in our Constitution. They have drawn a line in the sand – perhaps to their own detriment in this world. I expect that they fully understand the risk they are taking… …and I want to stand behind them.
We didn’t invent life and we don’t have the authority to dismiss it from those who cannot defend themselves, and have not earned death from the hands of men.
I choose daily to give my life for others that I love– my family, my church – it is apparent to me now that I must make more effort to give my life to helping people that I do not know, but that I am called as a Christian to love. It will become personal to me someday if I do nothing – someday I will have a “choice of life” question decided for me or a loved one, but I would not fight for myself… …my calling is sure. My thinking needs to grow...
There are links to follow below – If there is a place for me to sign something that fits this ideal, then I am 90% sure that you will find my name on it soon… …I don’t know how yet, but I can’t sit idly while we weigh the costs to the many for the benefit of a few. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not supposed to be measured – it is supposed to be protected completely.
The Manhattan Declaration (pdf) : Two-minute Colson Video
Chuck Colson - Wikipedia
Prison Fellowship Ministries
We didn’t invent life and we don’t have the authority to dismiss it from those who cannot defend themselves, and have not earned death from the hands of men.
I choose daily to give my life for others that I love– my family, my church – it is apparent to me now that I must make more effort to give my life to helping people that I do not know, but that I am called as a Christian to love. It will become personal to me someday if I do nothing – someday I will have a “choice of life” question decided for me or a loved one, but I would not fight for myself… …my calling is sure. My thinking needs to grow...
There are links to follow below – If there is a place for me to sign something that fits this ideal, then I am 90% sure that you will find my name on it soon… …I don’t know how yet, but I can’t sit idly while we weigh the costs to the many for the benefit of a few. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not supposed to be measured – it is supposed to be protected completely.
The Manhattan Declaration (pdf) : Two-minute Colson Video
Chuck Colson - Wikipedia
Prison Fellowship Ministries
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Science [Fiction] Literature...
On the way in this morning I was regretfully reminded that today is the umpteenth anniversery of Darwin's invention... Well, it wasn't really his invention, but he made it popular...
I don't have time to add much more, but I bought a copy years ago and I noticed something interesting - The full title! How odd, yet, how logical... ...favored races. Hmmm... I like the human race, thank you very much.
I don't have time to add much more, but I bought a copy years ago and I noticed something interesting - The full title! How odd, yet, how logical... ...favored races. Hmmm... I like the human race, thank you very much.
Monday, November 23, 2009
John the Baptist...
I love to get together with my siblings in Christ. Like the verse in Hebrews says, our gathering together results in spurring one another on to love and good works... ...and so much more as we see the day approaching. Not often enough do we engage one another with questions for discussion sometimes. I can imagine there are a few reasons that we hold back - we don't want to appear foolish or we might be afraid to ignite an arguent, perhaps? (Nothing like personalizing everything, huh?)
Today, there was a question floating around about John the Baptist, specifically, "Was he really Elijah, the prophet as Jesus says in Matthew 17: 1-13?" (emphasis on vs. 12) The NAS version says "but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished."
Frankly, this was one of those instances where the obvious question had never really arrived in my brain whether by reading or hearing this passage. The only thing that I could answer (prayerfully, but a little shakily) was that I had never taken this to actually mean that John was literally Elijah returned.
If that verse is a little eyebrow-raising in this context, then check out Matthew 11: 13-15, part of which says (vs. 14), "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come." OOOO-Kaaayyy then, that looks even more like that, doesn't it?
Today, there was a question floating around about John the Baptist, specifically, "Was he really Elijah, the prophet as Jesus says in Matthew 17: 1-13?" (emphasis on vs. 12) The NAS version says "but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished."
Frankly, this was one of those instances where the obvious question had never really arrived in my brain whether by reading or hearing this passage. The only thing that I could answer (prayerfully, but a little shakily) was that I had never taken this to actually mean that John was literally Elijah returned.
If that verse is a little eyebrow-raising in this context, then check out Matthew 11: 13-15, part of which says (vs. 14), "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come." OOOO-Kaaayyy then, that looks even more like that, doesn't it?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Health Care
I believe this video is an older one, but I think he is pretty succinct about WHY NOT...
I understand, firsthand how difficult healthcare risk and management has become; but I still maintain that the cost of it will not exceed the cost of our liberties... ...let alone thecost taxes it will be to 97% of American business (that is, small businesses that make $200,000 annually, which is reported as personal income of the owner, but from which he may only keep what he does not re-invest into R & D, growth, wage increases and other benefits to employees.) Keep in mind that somewhere between 75% and 85% of all Americans are employed by small business. Think it won't cast you and I dearly?
I am begging that our leaders will realize the peril they are imposing... Fear is not a good decision basis. THINK, AMERICA!!! We are stepping into government mandates in every corner of life!
I understand, firsthand how difficult healthcare risk and management has become; but I still maintain that the cost of it will not exceed the cost of our liberties... ...let alone the
I am begging that our leaders will realize the peril they are imposing... Fear is not a good decision basis. THINK, AMERICA!!! We are stepping into government mandates in every corner of life!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Mayan - Flood Evidence?
So, no, the Mayans did not say there was a flood. In fact, I am not an expert in Mayan mythology and culture; but the video I am putting here is a huge piece of evidence in my book to verifying the Biblical account of the Flood.
Many Creationists, who believe in a world-wide, catastrophic Flood also propose that there followed a long ice age. I have heard varying theories of this, but just accouting for the non-fossilized evidence (much like that shown in the video) would mean that the Ice Age would have been instantaneous. In fact, I wonder whether the "Flood" was all liquid water, or whether during the calamity, or shortly following it anyway, the "water" bacame solid - ice.
Frozen mammoths, un-decayed and perfectly mummified (not fossilized), are a huge reason that I hold to an instant and VVEEERRRRYYY cold freezing event. I think I need to brush up on this stuff a little more, but enjoy the video for now...
"Check out this great MSN Video": A Climate Event to End Time
Many Creationists, who believe in a world-wide, catastrophic Flood also propose that there followed a long ice age. I have heard varying theories of this, but just accouting for the non-fossilized evidence (much like that shown in the video) would mean that the Ice Age would have been instantaneous. In fact, I wonder whether the "Flood" was all liquid water, or whether during the calamity, or shortly following it anyway, the "water" bacame solid - ice.
Frozen mammoths, un-decayed and perfectly mummified (not fossilized), are a huge reason that I hold to an instant and VVEEERRRRYYY cold freezing event. I think I need to brush up on this stuff a little more, but enjoy the video for now...
"Check out this great MSN Video": A Climate Event to End Time
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Eggs
Tonight, we had a Beck family traditional breakfast dinner. It was wonderful...
I remember having this meal when I was a kid - I really don't know how it started though. I know that Dad loved it. He would get his plate with a whole patty of hamburger and a couple of fried eggs, then he would grab a bottle of Mrs. Butter Worth's syrup and pour that on all of it. After topping off his glass with milk (Sorry Matt), we all stopped our own preparations to pray.
I think my favorite part is the eggs - cooked in the same pan in which you just finished frying the burger. Maybe it's just a Beck thing (sort of like, "You really had to be there.") I don't know.
Mom cooks everything, well almost everything, the way I like it. I still don't care to eat beets all that much. Grandma Ruthi had the same effect on my appetite as well. Great Grandma Ruby too... ...Leave it to me to remember the food. 200 lbs. and holding... (mostly)
But that's what this post is about. Back to tonight. Wait, you need to know this first: My wife and I have "Kitchen Issues."
I don't know how much to divulge before I sleep with the chickens, but you have to know that kitchen issues go back to day... ...let's say day 3. I think that puts us home after the wedding. Immediately, after her arrival my new wife began setting up house. Pots, pans, utensils of all sorts were sorted, cleaned, organized and mostly MOVED! I, the former bachelor, was amused until I found myself lost in the kitchen in which I had become very comfortable!
Being the overly patient and loving sort, I believe I held my tongue for a looonnng time... ...at least 23 1/2 minutes. And that's when the [newlywed] fight started. Just kidding... We didn't have a fight until eight months later, when she cornered me in the kitchen and proceeded to use interrogation methods that they would later use in the manual on "rendering" of "enemy combatants." (Her's were less refined but highly effective…)
Anyway, in the seven years or so that we have been married my wife has re-organized the kitchen 19 times. That does not include the times that we moved, which would make it 20 times even. We have learned to respect and honor each other through the lessons learned in the kitchen - especially eggs.
We have an arrangement that goes something like this: "You get to cook it however you wish to cook it, and I will leave the kitchen and let you do that with as few rude comments as a normal human being with a valid-if-opposite-of-your-opinion can manage." In the interest of full disclosure, I am the primary offender on this one, which explains the way the law reads.
But I have a good reason for it... ...as a long-term bachelor, I had years of cooking under my belt. Of course, that cooking was left to Top Ramen, Steak, Broccolli, Asparagus and Eggs - oh yeah, and toast. So, when my wife decides to treat us to eggs, my big mouth and I are dutifully invited to leave the kitchen.
My egg frying, scrambling perfection has been refined to an art. Eggs are one of the more flexible of foods. Fried, they make breakfast on a plate or between two pieces of toast as a breakfast on the run. Scrambled up, they make a variety of omelet-like delicacies. Serve 'em with bacon in the morning and burger at dinner, or was it supper? Love 'em.
One thing though... ...DON'T BURN 'EM.
I'm serious. The whole house stinks for days and, I have to mention this for your own good, your clothes, your breath, your very pores stink too! I hate that! Er... ...I "strongly dislike" that. Sorry.
Anyway, I have tried to teach my wife the "right way" to cook eggs. She apparently has better things to do than stand over the stove top monitoring the pan temperatures as I do. So, muttering to myself, I have to excuse myself from the kitchen before another chapter gets added to the CIA Rendition Manual.
It takes time to cook eggs the "right way". You have to bring the pan to the correct temperature - just to the point where the butter, I mean the non-stick cooking spray, just starts to bubble lightly. Then, and only then can you gently introduce the eggs to the pan. At this temperature they will not skin up all brown-ly and the yolks will not burst from the sudden spike of heat.
BUT NOOOOO... ...my wife will cook the eggs somewhere between, "you might want the exhaust fan 'ON'" and "Open the windows before the smoke alarms all go off..." OK - it isn't THAT bad.
But I don't understand how she does them so perfectly. If I did them like that it would, well, stink. She does fried eggs in 3 seconds flat - for over easy. Gretta was giving her fits tonight so she missed flipping mine by about 1/2 of a second, so mine were in-between over-easy and over-medium. mmmmmm so good.
So, I guess it's time for me to admit that there is indeed, perhaps, maybe more than one "right way". Well, for eggs anyway.
Health Insurance...
Here's a hot topic that I can hardly believe has taken so long for me to bore you to death about... ...I guess I am still working on it in my head.
I have my ideas about what should happen, but that would be hard (read: impossible) to stomach - that is, the complete, unmerciful abolition of all health insurance, private and public. Rid the world of this legal extortion ("You take care of da family an' da family takes care-a yoos!") along with tort reform (including caps on punitive awards and recompense to successful defendants for all court costs...) and I think you have the makings of a more sustainable system.
Like I said, a nasty little problem in the short term while everyone has to make hard choices and some lose all to medical debt... ...abolition of insurance is just not a political possibility.
However, if you need any evidence that litigation is driving up health care costs, then look up John Edwards', the former Senator's bio sometime; and then add up some of the medical litigation that he alone is responsible for... ...then consider how many other sharks are in the water, mimicking his lawsuits, repeatedly scalping doctors for HUGE awards. Then you start to see why practicing medicine is expensive. I for one would do not want to swim in medical water for that reason alone. Just the mal-practice insurance premiums are enough to scare me into a cave.
Am I CRAZY?!! Maybe so, but we here in America still have the legal "out" of (gasp) bankruptcy if worse comes to worse. Now, I don't advocate running to the nearest bankruptcy layer the first time you can't pay off your credit card, but there is a time and place to shed the collections agancies and get life back on track. I would personally make it a purpose in life to pay those bills back over time as well - that's a Biblical theme.
However, the original purpose of health insurance was not to mitigate risk. It was to provide hospitals with income (see the links below). Then, with a few more little circumstances along the way, it became a fringe benefit, then it became the norm for risk management, then the norm for cheap health care, and now it is the norm for assuring your own financial poverty forever. Premiums in many cases (ours at one time) approaches or exceeds the mortgage payment (I hear another rant coming?).
So, how did we get health insurance (legal extortion)? I heard a story recently aired on Public Radio and thought to look it up today...
You may want to hear it yourself: http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2&prgDate=10-22-2009
Or, since they had no "embed" option, here is the transcript...
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=114045132
It is the facinating story of how we have gotten the best health care in the world, if at the highest cost in the world?
As I see it, health insurance somehow went from steady income to hospitals, to fringe benefit, to personal risk management, then to cheap medical care, and finally to almost none of the above. Now it is more of assured poor house residency. At least before health insurance the poor house wasn't guaranteed!
Now it may become EVEN MORE costly as we sacrifice every ounce of our freedom of choice to health related regulation... ...and you thought it was all just about economics? I wish.
With health care regulation, comes the inevitable, logical regulation in which you are rewarded with penalties for your bad habits like smoking, drinking, avoiding your annual doctor's exam, neglecting your 3 or more annual flu shots, driving an SUV... ...Oh wait, the SUV part goes in the Cap and Trade bill... Silly me.
But I do wonder how stiff the penalty will be for smoking and eating a greasy breakfast sandwhich while driving a dirty, gas-guzzling, smoke-spewing SUV to your job at the carbon producing smog factory... ...at least you were wearing your seat belt, eh?
There is no end to the possibilities... ...think of all the fun those lwyers are gonna have writin' bills about this-and-that bad-for-you-or-the-environment thing... What do you call that? Checks and Balances? Noooooo.... A BLANK CHECK!
Bottom line - lawyers are getting all 'da loot.
So, I guess I did end up boring you with my opinion of all of this so far... ...Silly me.
Now, go check out that story about health insurance - it might help you wake up again. Or not.
I have my ideas about what should happen, but that would be hard (read: impossible) to stomach - that is, the complete, unmerciful abolition of all health insurance, private and public. Rid the world of this legal extortion ("You take care of da family an' da family takes care-a yoos!") along with tort reform (including caps on punitive awards and recompense to successful defendants for all court costs...) and I think you have the makings of a more sustainable system.
Like I said, a nasty little problem in the short term while everyone has to make hard choices and some lose all to medical debt... ...abolition of insurance is just not a political possibility.
However, if you need any evidence that litigation is driving up health care costs, then look up John Edwards', the former Senator's bio sometime; and then add up some of the medical litigation that he alone is responsible for... ...then consider how many other sharks are in the water, mimicking his lawsuits, repeatedly scalping doctors for HUGE awards. Then you start to see why practicing medicine is expensive. I for one would do not want to swim in medical water for that reason alone. Just the mal-practice insurance premiums are enough to scare me into a cave.
Am I CRAZY?!! Maybe so, but we here in America still have the legal "out" of (gasp) bankruptcy if worse comes to worse. Now, I don't advocate running to the nearest bankruptcy layer the first time you can't pay off your credit card, but there is a time and place to shed the collections agancies and get life back on track. I would personally make it a purpose in life to pay those bills back over time as well - that's a Biblical theme.
However, the original purpose of health insurance was not to mitigate risk. It was to provide hospitals with income (see the links below). Then, with a few more little circumstances along the way, it became a fringe benefit, then it became the norm for risk management, then the norm for cheap health care, and now it is the norm for assuring your own financial poverty forever. Premiums in many cases (ours at one time) approaches or exceeds the mortgage payment (I hear another rant coming?).
So, how did we get health insurance (legal extortion)? I heard a story recently aired on Public Radio and thought to look it up today...
You may want to hear it yourself: http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2&prgDate=10-22-2009
Or, since they had no "embed" option, here is the transcript...
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=114045132
It is the facinating story of how we have gotten the best health care in the world, if at the highest cost in the world?
As I see it, health insurance somehow went from steady income to hospitals, to fringe benefit, to personal risk management, then to cheap medical care, and finally to almost none of the above. Now it is more of assured poor house residency. At least before health insurance the poor house wasn't guaranteed!
Now it may become EVEN MORE costly as we sacrifice every ounce of our freedom of choice to health related regulation... ...and you thought it was all just about economics? I wish.
With health care regulation, comes the inevitable, logical regulation in which you are rewarded with penalties for your bad habits like smoking, drinking, avoiding your annual doctor's exam, neglecting your 3 or more annual flu shots, driving an SUV... ...Oh wait, the SUV part goes in the Cap and Trade bill... Silly me.
But I do wonder how stiff the penalty will be for smoking and eating a greasy breakfast sandwhich while driving a dirty, gas-guzzling, smoke-spewing SUV to your job at the carbon producing smog factory... ...at least you were wearing your seat belt, eh?
There is no end to the possibilities... ...think of all the fun those lwyers are gonna have writin' bills about this-and-that bad-for-you-or-the-environment thing... What do you call that? Checks and Balances? Noooooo.... A BLANK CHECK!
Bottom line - lawyers are getting all 'da loot.
So, I guess I did end up boring you with my opinion of all of this so far... ...Silly me.
Now, go check out that story about health insurance - it might help you wake up again. Or not.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In Service...
Twelve years ago I began work for Aerocet, Inc. a tiny company in Priest River, Idaho that makes aircraft floats (pontoons). I have tried to get used to explaining who we are and what we do because there aren't many locals who know that Aerocet even exists... Well, outside of Priest River, anyway. Long story short, I wouldn't have known either, except that somebody who knew me made the introductions.
It's hard to be brief about this, because there have been so many lessons, trials and victories that I have both lived and witnessed - and many more that I know very little about...
Three days into my new job, I was told of a new aircraft design that my boss had rattling around in his head. While I was intrigued, I was skeptical. I grew up living airplanes, dreaming of flying in the military or for missions, and I knew that many designs made little more than paper in a drawer in some empty building somewhere. I knew the mentality of the aviation types - a full head of steam comprised of crazy new concoctions pressurized with more enthusiasm than money.
One fellow stated it best by asking me one day, "Do you know how to make a little money in aviation?"
I thought hard, because I hate being ignorant, but I had no idea. "No."
"Well, you start with a LOT of money..." he laughed...
Now you start to get the picture, but we haven't even scratched the surface of all the challenges involved with producing a new aircraft.
Tom, my boss, owner of Aerocet was at the heart of all of this. Dave Voetman, MAF career missions pilot and Tom met many years ago and though I don't know the specifics, I perceive that this was a pivotal moment, perhaps the actual beginning of what would eventually become the Kodiak. That was around 17 years ago...
Some men dream of doing great things, others of great money, others of great power. Some of us don't even dare dream. Tom is in the first group - but his dreams came in the forms such as, "Wouldn't it be neat to pack everything up in one of these airplanes, and fly into some jungle strip, and hand some missionary the keys? 'It's all yours now...'"
Throughout the Kodiak project, he has kept a picture of Dave Voetman in Africa holding a tiny child with a distended belly - this picture is one of the windows into the heart of these guys and the team who has since built the Kodiak.
The need isn't just the food, supplies and the meds. The need was for replacements for aging aircraft that even when useable, were increasingly maintenence intensive. There are fewer mission pilots now too. Ever-increasing cost in training leaves many would-be-pilots stateside to pay off the debt - among other things, perhaps. Many missions aircraft are dependant on AvGas, which is becoming less available in some places. Where it can be gotten, it can come at a dear price.
From the start the Kodiak was intended to meet needs raised by the mission pilots and mechanics. Design parameters included wingspan, fuel type, maintenance in the field and a host of other considerations - all met in this airplane.
I got some pictures today that help to remind me why I am here. This is a good day. Some days, well, you'd like to hope there were more good days.
There is a struggle hidden in every day. Someone, somewhere finds a "problem" and decides to make it yours; or perhaps you find your own problem and you have to find a way to fix it. Some days, I have a hard time seeing past the count-down to home. The constant barrage of reality wears you down from the inside out.
So, today, I am allowing myself to remember the story of this 17 year effort and I am taking comfort in the notion that God's purposes are bigger than my own. He has some kids out there that need help - my trouble is worth that, isn't it?
I had little to do with the Kodiak, except some rib drawings once upon a time. Those are long gone, I am sure, but I am privileged to have watched and learned first hand how God's ends are met - whatever the challenges or heart-wrending along the way.
The Quest Aircraft Team has all my best wishes and thanks...
Lord, help me to be faithful to you. Lead me not into trials, but victory. I ask You to help me get something useful done for Your kingdom today. Bless the efforts of those who've dedicated their lives for your service...
The above pictures are taken in New Guinea. This Kodiak is in service with JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service - http://www.jaars.org/.
It's hard to be brief about this, because there have been so many lessons, trials and victories that I have both lived and witnessed - and many more that I know very little about...
Three days into my new job, I was told of a new aircraft design that my boss had rattling around in his head. While I was intrigued, I was skeptical. I grew up living airplanes, dreaming of flying in the military or for missions, and I knew that many designs made little more than paper in a drawer in some empty building somewhere. I knew the mentality of the aviation types - a full head of steam comprised of crazy new concoctions pressurized with more enthusiasm than money.
One fellow stated it best by asking me one day, "Do you know how to make a little money in aviation?"
I thought hard, because I hate being ignorant, but I had no idea. "No."
"Well, you start with a LOT of money..." he laughed...
Now you start to get the picture, but we haven't even scratched the surface of all the challenges involved with producing a new aircraft.
Tom, my boss, owner of Aerocet was at the heart of all of this. Dave Voetman, MAF career missions pilot and Tom met many years ago and though I don't know the specifics, I perceive that this was a pivotal moment, perhaps the actual beginning of what would eventually become the Kodiak. That was around 17 years ago...
Some men dream of doing great things, others of great money, others of great power. Some of us don't even dare dream. Tom is in the first group - but his dreams came in the forms such as, "Wouldn't it be neat to pack everything up in one of these airplanes, and fly into some jungle strip, and hand some missionary the keys? 'It's all yours now...'"
Throughout the Kodiak project, he has kept a picture of Dave Voetman in Africa holding a tiny child with a distended belly - this picture is one of the windows into the heart of these guys and the team who has since built the Kodiak.
The need isn't just the food, supplies and the meds. The need was for replacements for aging aircraft that even when useable, were increasingly maintenence intensive. There are fewer mission pilots now too. Ever-increasing cost in training leaves many would-be-pilots stateside to pay off the debt - among other things, perhaps. Many missions aircraft are dependant on AvGas, which is becoming less available in some places. Where it can be gotten, it can come at a dear price.
From the start the Kodiak was intended to meet needs raised by the mission pilots and mechanics. Design parameters included wingspan, fuel type, maintenance in the field and a host of other considerations - all met in this airplane.
I got some pictures today that help to remind me why I am here. This is a good day. Some days, well, you'd like to hope there were more good days.
There is a struggle hidden in every day. Someone, somewhere finds a "problem" and decides to make it yours; or perhaps you find your own problem and you have to find a way to fix it. Some days, I have a hard time seeing past the count-down to home. The constant barrage of reality wears you down from the inside out.
So, today, I am allowing myself to remember the story of this 17 year effort and I am taking comfort in the notion that God's purposes are bigger than my own. He has some kids out there that need help - my trouble is worth that, isn't it?
I had little to do with the Kodiak, except some rib drawings once upon a time. Those are long gone, I am sure, but I am privileged to have watched and learned first hand how God's ends are met - whatever the challenges or heart-wrending along the way.
The Quest Aircraft Team has all my best wishes and thanks...
Lord, help me to be faithful to you. Lead me not into trials, but victory. I ask You to help me get something useful done for Your kingdom today. Bless the efforts of those who've dedicated their lives for your service...
The above pictures are taken in New Guinea. This Kodiak is in service with JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service - http://www.jaars.org/. The Kodiak is designed and built at Quest Aircraft in Sandpoint. http://questaircraft.com/
In [His] service, I hope that this is a "good day" for you as well...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Abba! Father...
"For you have not received a spririt of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:15-17)
I hope that this is a familiar passage to most of you... I know that it was taught thoroughly to me and to those in my church family where I was raised. It had a significance due to the deep teachings we were given back then, but I have lived the example and felt its significance in a personal way that perhaps cannot be relayed to anyone else. I can't help but make the attempt...
This thought struck me with full force yesterday during communion and once again, I tried my best to ignore the tears and try not to be a distraction. As one of the elders spoke of the the Last Supper and the words of Christ I heard the echoes of something familiar to my heart... Christ knew what he was doing. He knew the cost and He knew the prize... ...He knew that at the end of the struggle that He then faced, He would take a bride, the Church, and extend an inheritance, a heritage to a new family. I am unable to speak of these things without tears right now, so writing will have to do.
Having been taught this adoption to the family of God from such an early age, it was almost a natural conclusion for me to extend this into my own life. In the same manner, it was a foregone conclusion for Christ - He knew the cost all too clearly and chose to follow through.
He knew what He was getting into. He knew that I would be imperfect, rebellious, sinful and all the rest, yet His love was fastened to me, to us, to his prize. His affection is as deep as it is firm and is not lessened though hurt by our transgressions.
We once had a slave owner for a father in Satan. He held us captive to our desires, our lusts, leading us to believe that his life is a good life. He leads us astray by telling lies and feigning care for us. When we have fallen, he laughs and he points, he abuses his children with accusations and he confines them in their guilt. He is a terrible father, indeed he is only a father in the most minimal of ways.
But the work of Christ to pay the penalty of our sins has allowed a us to enter the family of God. His adoption is binding. It is legal and it is complete. The Evil One has only the influence that we give him. He can cojole, harass and accuse all that he wants to, but he can do nothing unless we give him the time of day to work.
Satan will have his day in court, and he will try to point out our faults before God the judge, but our Advocate is Christ and His work is final. Our inheritance is sure in the courts of Heaven. Again I am writing in tears - and glad to be...
MY child... MINE and not his... the evil one has no right any longer, so do not live as though he does... Do we get it yet? "Oh how He loves you and me" !!!
I hope that this is a familiar passage to most of you... I know that it was taught thoroughly to me and to those in my church family where I was raised. It had a significance due to the deep teachings we were given back then, but I have lived the example and felt its significance in a personal way that perhaps cannot be relayed to anyone else. I can't help but make the attempt...
This thought struck me with full force yesterday during communion and once again, I tried my best to ignore the tears and try not to be a distraction. As one of the elders spoke of the the Last Supper and the words of Christ I heard the echoes of something familiar to my heart... Christ knew what he was doing. He knew the cost and He knew the prize... ...He knew that at the end of the struggle that He then faced, He would take a bride, the Church, and extend an inheritance, a heritage to a new family. I am unable to speak of these things without tears right now, so writing will have to do.
Having been taught this adoption to the family of God from such an early age, it was almost a natural conclusion for me to extend this into my own life. In the same manner, it was a foregone conclusion for Christ - He knew the cost all too clearly and chose to follow through.
He knew what He was getting into. He knew that I would be imperfect, rebellious, sinful and all the rest, yet His love was fastened to me, to us, to his prize. His affection is as deep as it is firm and is not lessened though hurt by our transgressions.
We once had a slave owner for a father in Satan. He held us captive to our desires, our lusts, leading us to believe that his life is a good life. He leads us astray by telling lies and feigning care for us. When we have fallen, he laughs and he points, he abuses his children with accusations and he confines them in their guilt. He is a terrible father, indeed he is only a father in the most minimal of ways.
But the work of Christ to pay the penalty of our sins has allowed a us to enter the family of God. His adoption is binding. It is legal and it is complete. The Evil One has only the influence that we give him. He can cojole, harass and accuse all that he wants to, but he can do nothing unless we give him the time of day to work.
Satan will have his day in court, and he will try to point out our faults before God the judge, but our Advocate is Christ and His work is final. Our inheritance is sure in the courts of Heaven. Again I am writing in tears - and glad to be...
MY child... MINE and not his... the evil one has no right any longer, so do not live as though he does... Do we get it yet? "Oh how He loves you and me" !!!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Chicken...
I haven't had any time this year to do much blogging. I posted here and there about some of it, but in review I recall trips and visits, work (gratefully, of course), new floors in the house (thanks guys for advice and for the musckles), and then the coop...
I started looking for plans - or at least advice - on the Internet. I honestly underestimated the chicken crowd... I searched the Internet, read through catalogs, talked to people, etc. and "Wow!" I am surprised about the number of people who are cuckoo for chickens.
My experience with chickens was always getting eggs (sometimes with great caution around a grumpy hen), and getting another piece off of the platter on the dinner table...
When our chicks arrived, I was mildly amused that the girls thought they were pretty neat; but even my wife got in on it for a week or so. I got scared when the chicks got names, and got even more scared when the chicks got a photo session. You can imagine the dread I began to feel as I envisioned the fateful night we would be eating "Fluffy." (No, there is no Fluffy in our flock... I don't know their names, and if I did, I would change the names to protect the innocent...)
But all good things must end (mercifully), and my wife has recently issued an eviction notice - the chickens have to go outside, now. Funny, but now I find myself sort of attached, feeling a little scared for them and worried that they might get cold out there. Sure, they are two or three times larger now, and starting to get a stink to them, but still...
So, back to the Internet for a little insomniatic perusing to make sure that they will indeed be OK to move yet - oh, and to find out if it is normal for them to be tearing up bits of the newspaper and chasing each other around to get it. (Think tag, cute little chicken style... ...then think of it in fast-forward. Yes, that fast! Throw a bug in there and its like watching a scale version of Jurassic Park with little veloci-raptors...)
So, it turns out that chickens are indeed animals with God-given instincts and abilities - and apparently boredom too. I guess they need something to do... whoduthunk. Chickens need stuff to "do?"
I grew up in a rural area - but I guess I missed some of the finer points...
For the rest of us who know nothing about chickens, I found this site. http://www.backyardchickens.com/
I started looking for plans - or at least advice - on the Internet. I honestly underestimated the chicken crowd... I searched the Internet, read through catalogs, talked to people, etc. and "Wow!" I am surprised about the number of people who are cuckoo for chickens.
My experience with chickens was always getting eggs (sometimes with great caution around a grumpy hen), and getting another piece off of the platter on the dinner table...
When our chicks arrived, I was mildly amused that the girls thought they were pretty neat; but even my wife got in on it for a week or so. I got scared when the chicks got names, and got even more scared when the chicks got a photo session. You can imagine the dread I began to feel as I envisioned the fateful night we would be eating "Fluffy." (No, there is no Fluffy in our flock... I don't know their names, and if I did, I would change the names to protect the innocent...)
But all good things must end (mercifully), and my wife has recently issued an eviction notice - the chickens have to go outside, now. Funny, but now I find myself sort of attached, feeling a little scared for them and worried that they might get cold out there. Sure, they are two or three times larger now, and starting to get a stink to them, but still...
So, back to the Internet for a little insomniatic perusing to make sure that they will indeed be OK to move yet - oh, and to find out if it is normal for them to be tearing up bits of the newspaper and chasing each other around to get it. (Think tag, cute little chicken style... ...then think of it in fast-forward. Yes, that fast! Throw a bug in there and its like watching a scale version of Jurassic Park with little veloci-raptors...)
So, it turns out that chickens are indeed animals with God-given instincts and abilities - and apparently boredom too. I guess they need something to do... whoduthunk. Chickens need stuff to "do?"
I grew up in a rural area - but I guess I missed some of the finer points...
For the rest of us who know nothing about chickens, I found this site. http://www.backyardchickens.com/
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Creepy
Hmmm... This would be a fun project to work on, but... ...aside from the ethical issues, it is amazing how oftentimes our best ideas for new technology are derived from Creation?
Long Journies
If I could have described in a single word what a vacation meant to me it might have been "over-rated". My brain doesn't disengage from the responsibilities of home well; and, often, the idea of all the hassle of preparing things at work for my absence, changing the oil in the van, packing for the trip and then navigating to some place in a suburb 600 miles from home seems like more trouble than just staying home.
I have to say that doesn't describe the last few trips very well, however, and the last little foray we took after the wedding was an especially needed mini-vacation - which I could not have envisioned or planned. Perhaps it could be likened to that pair of old heavy, if comfortable, boots. Once you put on a set of light running shoes, you wonder how you put up with the old, clunky, stinky things…
Not sure how that fits, but the long journey idea reminds me of the Cessna 180 Skywagon that we saw at Tillamook on Sunday. Apparently, a pair of these (including the one pictured) were the first "Light Aircraft" on the North Pole.
I would not choose to make that journey myself. After all, it's just cold up there; but some hearty souls in search of adventure found themselves a little piece of history.
This 180 is no hangar queen... ...but it is a beautiful little plane nonetheless. The picture is heavily massaged, and my wife sort of cringed to see what I was doing to it. I figure, much like matching socks, what I don't know won't embarrass me – until I know better. Here's to Navy Blue on the left foot and Black on the right!
I have to say that doesn't describe the last few trips very well, however, and the last little foray we took after the wedding was an especially needed mini-vacation - which I could not have envisioned or planned. Perhaps it could be likened to that pair of old heavy, if comfortable, boots. Once you put on a set of light running shoes, you wonder how you put up with the old, clunky, stinky things…
Not sure how that fits, but the long journey idea reminds me of the Cessna 180 Skywagon that we saw at Tillamook on Sunday. Apparently, a pair of these (including the one pictured) were the first "Light Aircraft" on the North Pole.
I would not choose to make that journey myself. After all, it's just cold up there; but some hearty souls in search of adventure found themselves a little piece of history.
This 180 is no hangar queen... ...but it is a beautiful little plane nonetheless. The picture is heavily massaged, and my wife sort of cringed to see what I was doing to it. I figure, much like matching socks, what I don't know won't embarrass me – until I know better. Here's to Navy Blue on the left foot and Black on the right!
Somewhere along the way I heard someone say something about their dream car - maybe it was one of the questions that my wife recommended for the bridal shower... ...you know, to give the bride a little twenty questions about the groom? I think it was something about his ultimate vehicle... ...I immediately thought out loud "My ultimate vehicle would be a Skywagon..."
This Skywagon is a 180. Skywagons also come as 185's and may be equipped with skiis (such as seen here), floats or wheels of course. Many owners are upgrading theirs with larger engines, wing tip extensions, tips tanks and large, 3-bladed props for improved performance and, well, more adventure... …Sadly, due to litigation and economy Cessna stopped making these airplanes in 1981. Still, they are one of the most popular bush airplanes flying.
The banner on my blog is actually a 185 on a set of our floats... ...one of my favorite tag lines that we put into some of our mailers at one point was "Take Yourself Off The Map..." (We meant it in the nicest possible way!) I imagined that were it possible, one would find some impossibly private corner of the world and disappear for a while...
Hmmm... One of these on a long journey would go a lot farther than our aging van, huh?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Another of my Favorites...
These were interesting to shoot. I love the old look of these and it was exactly what I had in mind when I took them. Crystal helped me with the editing - something I haven't the patience or time to learn on my own.
There are a lot of difficulties in photographing aircraft in public settings. People who are more interested in looking at the exhibits are not paying attention to you, so you have to wait until just the right moment to snap - or do a lot of magic in post-editing. I didn't take anything out but I did crop these ones.
I learned a tiny amount about masking in the top picture. That allowed me (us) to control the saturation levels of the flag - pretty nifty I think. I know, I know, Kindergarten for the rest of you... ...I couldn't figure out how to fix the flag - I think it is a standard 50 state arrangement and anyone who knows to look would set me straight about Alaska and Hawaii. I still like the shot - beggars can't be choosers.
The upper aircraft is a different view of the FM-2 Wildcat that I posted yesterday. This was a staple aircraft in the War in the Pacific, and like most of the great aircraft of the war, has its fans...
The FM-2 was one of the last versions of this "Type" being constructed by GM through 1944 I understand? (Factories were focused singularly on the war effort to get military hardware into battle and you will find that most of the auto manufacturers ceased production of cars in order to do that.)
The FM-2 was no match for a 1 v. 1 dogfight with a good Zero pilot, but with teamwork and some guts, the US pilots still managed to have a decisive win ratio. Still, its predecessors ("Wildcats" - just different versions...) were already outdated at the start of the war due to some misguided thinking in my opinion - When you curb military spending, you have a long "spin-up" to hurdle before you can be competitive again. Anyway, this FM-2 version was unique in that its lighter design allowed it to be stationed on smaller carriers for close support and sub hunting through the end of the Pacific war - they basically didn't put it toe to toe with the enemy Zeroes after the F6F Hellcat arrived.
The lower picture features a 1938 Bellanca Air Cruiser. It has a distinctive "W" shape in the lower wing. This is the only example that I have ever seen, and I checked the website - they think it is unique in the world as well. I don't know a lot about this design, but it is an interesting and beautiful aircraft in its own way.
There was a set of floats nearby (maybe I will work on some pics for that another time...) and a set of skiis for this aircraft as well - big equipment.
Also in the same shot, a Mig 15 that is definitely out of its era, but I think the picture is still nifty enough to hang in my office.
Monday, August 10, 2009
A shot from the past...
…in more ways than one.
This picture was taken yesterday in the Tillamook Air Museum, which was once the Tillamook Naval Air Station between 1942 and 1944, if memory serves correctly. (Yes, that Tillamook, the place where they make the cheese… and my jokes got cheesier as we got closer – until we saw this HUGE building that said, “AIR MUSEUM” from about ten miles away… …Skip the cheese factory and go see this – my wife and I and our 9 year old got in for under $20 – kids under 5 are free. Ooops – locked the keys in the van too - $65 for a locksmith… still, pretty cheap for a Sunday…)
All of the airplanes on display are not only airworthy, but they take them out and fly them periodically. There they sit, oil pans underneath the big radials, some with low tires and greasy finger prints on the props. Grit and grime and all, it looked and felt like a real hangar – as opposed to the pristine Evergreen Museum in McMinnville, but that’s another story. Here, they had two rules: 1) No running. 2) Please don’t turn the props – it makes the engines leak oil – (No Kidding…). What a treat to walk around and under these beautiful fire-snorting behemoths…! …with “my girls” no less!
The Airplane shown (again by memory) is/was a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat (not to be confused with the larger F6F Hellcat or some other similar variants).
The “Hangar” is one of the largest clear-span wood structures in the world and contains more unique vintage aircraft than I want to type out here.
I believe that the distracting nose cone in the left is a DC-3, but such notables as a P-38, Me 109 (Spanish variant), a Cessna 180 that was first to the North Pole and an old Bellanca with available floats and skiis (pictures another day?).
I was embarrassed to learn later that my wife was mildly amused by my tearing up (OK - a little) when they fired up the B-17 and taxied off with some lucky passengers for a scenic flight around the patch. (What can I say, it was all that smoke in my eyes…?) They planned to fly their Japanese “Oscar” today along with the P-38. I ran out of money though, so I came back to work instead. Noble, huh?
I told them how much I appreciated being able to afford to bring the whole family to this, and I wished I could have gotten a shot in the cockpit of some of those monsters for $20; but I did take lots of pictures, maybe I’ll share if they turn out… (My wife did the “retro” editing on this for me… …did I say that I loved her already?)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Projects - Return of the Volunteer Zombies
Yes, it was scary. There were sharp tools, open wounds and dull wits (not in that order and not naming names lest I incriminate myself). It sounds like the intro to an old horror film, but this was much, much worse...
We sawed and measured, then clicked and snapped the pieces of flooring in place in a race against the moonrise. The heat of the day, the sore knees and aching backs all contributed their worst in a brutal counter offensive, but we made impressive gains in spite of the onslaught against us.
Ok, enough with the metaphores... We worked hard. I could not have been happier with the the results, which is to say, to the happy satisfaction of my wife... She walks in the door and constantly repeats, "I can't believe how much this changes the house!!"
We got a lot done and I want to thank everyone for their part. I know the cost of commiting time to such things and I really can't tell you how appreciative we are.
Thank you to all! And Happy Birthday, Crystal...
We sawed and measured, then clicked and snapped the pieces of flooring in place in a race against the moonrise. The heat of the day, the sore knees and aching backs all contributed their worst in a brutal counter offensive, but we made impressive gains in spite of the onslaught against us.
Ok, enough with the metaphores... We worked hard. I could not have been happier with the the results, which is to say, to the happy satisfaction of my wife... She walks in the door and constantly repeats, "I can't believe how much this changes the house!!"
We got a lot done and I want to thank everyone for their part. I know the cost of commiting time to such things and I really can't tell you how appreciative we are.
Thank you to all! And Happy Birthday, Crystal...
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Salty Remedies (and Fertilizer?!!)
I have heard a lot of "folk remedies" too, so take this with a, ummm, grain of salt.
Growing up I was told that Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulfate) were good for sprains and aches, etc. But I was shocked to learn from the back of our package this morning that it was also recommended as a fertilizer.
Well, that aroused my curiosity and I Bing-ed Epsom Salts (it wasn't Google, but if I Bing in the past tense, then it looks like binged - as in I ate or drank excessively). Anyway, I found someone's blog or some such thing, that mentioned the Epsom Salt Coucil (WHAT?!! There's a whole council?!!).
Alright, it could be that there are three or four people, one of whom knows HTML, yeah, I know, but according to this relatively nice site, there are at least some interesting statistics.
Here are some of them from there:
1) Magnesium is a necessary component in order to process calcium in your body.
2) American men typically have 80% of the necessary amount of magnesium; while women have 70%.
3) Epsom Salts provide temporary relief for itching and swelling from mosquito bites, bee stings and mild sunburns.
4) Epsom Salts may be used as a fertilzer for garden or lawns. (As written on our package as well.)
There are some links to other sources of information and some that left me scratching my head. But, maybe it’s worth a try on the tomatoes?
For now, I am not opposed to the occasional soak - the warm water on my feet is relaxing in and of itself, what's the harm of adding some Epsom Salts...?
I know, I know, ever the skeptic... Of course I could do more reading, but the water is getting cold now.
Growing up I was told that Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulfate) were good for sprains and aches, etc. But I was shocked to learn from the back of our package this morning that it was also recommended as a fertilizer.
Well, that aroused my curiosity and I Bing-ed Epsom Salts (it wasn't Google, but if I Bing in the past tense, then it looks like binged - as in I ate or drank excessively). Anyway, I found someone's blog or some such thing, that mentioned the Epsom Salt Coucil (WHAT?!! There's a whole council?!!).
Alright, it could be that there are three or four people, one of whom knows HTML, yeah, I know, but according to this relatively nice site, there are at least some interesting statistics.
Here are some of them from there:
1) Magnesium is a necessary component in order to process calcium in your body.
2) American men typically have 80% of the necessary amount of magnesium; while women have 70%.
3) Epsom Salts provide temporary relief for itching and swelling from mosquito bites, bee stings and mild sunburns.
4) Epsom Salts may be used as a fertilzer for garden or lawns. (As written on our package as well.)
There are some links to other sources of information and some that left me scratching my head. But, maybe it’s worth a try on the tomatoes?
For now, I am not opposed to the occasional soak - the warm water on my feet is relaxing in and of itself, what's the harm of adding some Epsom Salts...?
I know, I know, ever the skeptic... Of course I could do more reading, but the water is getting cold now.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Projects
A couple of months ago Crystal and I were going over our schedule (May thru June) and discovered that, along with all the normal things, we were looking at three out of town trips and at least two more visits from out of town family. This looks like nearly every weekend on the calendar - maybe one or two in there in which we were actually home. Since then, we have had a lot of fun traveling and visiting and you can see some of the excitement on my wife's blog...
Well, as the schedule sort of slapped us up-side the head, we started to look around our beloved house, and we realized that we have been "living" in it now for 6 years and it has started to look that way.
Our next trip to Econo-Mart(where you get the big volume supplies) we started to drool over the various laminate floorings. I did some preliminary numbers in my head, sighed, and sort of shrugged it off; but when we walked back into the house that night the carpet never looked worse.
Those of you who have visited recently know what I mean. We have two holes from one of the dogs who insisted on chasing down earwigs - even the ones that burrowed into the shag; little "waves" where we walk the most; and grunge that doesn't come up with the cleaner any more.
I talked to my good friends (who are thankfully frugal) and each had advice and offered to help us get things by for a while. I went along with that for the time being, but we haven't had time to deal with a commercial type cleaning yet.
So last week, my mother and brother in law were visiting for a few days. It got very humid. And a familiar scent arose that has put the nail in the coffin for our carpet. Purtrid, but fond memories of some of our family's best canine friends...
I am glad that we didn't make an impulse buy the first time around, because Econo-Mart had the flooring on sale last night. We have since had time to think about it, pray a bit and to realize that it is just necessary. With the sale, and after running a few numbers, I think we should be able to afford to floor the entire downstairs!
We bought a box of some that we liked, but Crystal is firm, it doesn't work; so, Oak it is. We don't like oak much, but I like the price. Maybe, as with the Neon that I hated until we paid it off, I will learn to appreciate it. At least it will match other things better...
Sometime soon, it's off to Econo-mart for 40 boxes of Oak-alike laminate flooring.
...Soooo, that brings me to one last little thing... ...When and how. I hope that the recent builds done lately mean that some of ya'll have tools stashed away somewhere? We will hope to have this done before the cold sets in and I need the heaters again, but until then I am happy to have a shop...
How do you spell "fun"?
Well, as the schedule sort of slapped us up-side the head, we started to look around our beloved house, and we realized that we have been "living" in it now for 6 years and it has started to look that way.
Our next trip to Econo-Mart(where you get the big volume supplies) we started to drool over the various laminate floorings. I did some preliminary numbers in my head, sighed, and sort of shrugged it off; but when we walked back into the house that night the carpet never looked worse.
Those of you who have visited recently know what I mean. We have two holes from one of the dogs who insisted on chasing down earwigs - even the ones that burrowed into the shag; little "waves" where we walk the most; and grunge that doesn't come up with the cleaner any more.
I talked to my good friends (who are thankfully frugal) and each had advice and offered to help us get things by for a while. I went along with that for the time being, but we haven't had time to deal with a commercial type cleaning yet.
So last week, my mother and brother in law were visiting for a few days. It got very humid. And a familiar scent arose that has put the nail in the coffin for our carpet. Purtrid, but fond memories of some of our family's best canine friends...
I am glad that we didn't make an impulse buy the first time around, because Econo-Mart had the flooring on sale last night. We have since had time to think about it, pray a bit and to realize that it is just necessary. With the sale, and after running a few numbers, I think we should be able to afford to floor the entire downstairs!
We bought a box of some that we liked, but Crystal is firm, it doesn't work; so, Oak it is. We don't like oak much, but I like the price. Maybe, as with the Neon that I hated until we paid it off, I will learn to appreciate it. At least it will match other things better...
Sometime soon, it's off to Econo-mart for 40 boxes of Oak-alike laminate flooring.
...Soooo, that brings me to one last little thing... ...When and how. I hope that the recent builds done lately mean that some of ya'll have tools stashed away somewhere? We will hope to have this done before the cold sets in and I need the heaters again, but until then I am happy to have a shop...
How do you spell "fun"?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hmmm...?
Proverbs 28:2 (New International Version)
2 When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,
but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.
2 When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,
but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Health Care
It has been said by more than one individual (I don't know myself) that National Health Care, however it gets painted, is the tipping point for the survival of our liberty in the U.S. Over-stated? Exxagerated? I don't want to find out by trial...
Here are some facts that need some public attention:
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/25/10-surprising-facts-about-american-health-care/
Here are some facts that need some public attention:
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/25/10-surprising-facts-about-american-health-care/
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A Little Under the Weather?
Spring is coming:
I got these quotes out of a newsletter from Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love
”If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~Anne Bradstreet
”I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth?” ~Edward Giobbi
..and this from a conversation with a coworker this morning...
Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I got these quotes out of a newsletter from Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love
”If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~Anne Bradstreet
”I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth?” ~Edward Giobbi
..and this from a conversation with a coworker this morning...
Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"Dave Says..." on Job Lost
Of Course! Dave always has SOMETHING to say! I can't add anything more, but I thought it was worth passing along...
What To Do If You've Lost Your Job
We ourselves are trying to hedge a bit, though our debt is gone but the house. We do have an baby HSA (Health Savings Account - Thank you President Bush!!) started, but that was a net change, really, due to our huge premium being reduced. Our hope is that we will be able to build both the HSA and the emergency fund, but making the dollars stretch to both is a challenge.
So, one option might be to hold the money (except for immediate medical expenses) until we get through the tough going at least and build the emergency fund. We could make only one or two deposits per year on the HSA - unlike the old $9,960 annual premium that we had before. I don't however want to underfund the HSA...
For those of us who are learning the whole HSA thing, the idea is to build that thing up to something obscene saved in the HSA account (Maybe $20-$30K over the next two-three years), and have a high-deductible, low premium catastrophic plan. The money that you put in the HSA is not taxed and you get to use it on everything from Dr.'s visits to Prescriptions to Aspirin.
(You just about have to put the whole family on it to keep things straight, so I had to file some stuff to exempt me out of my work policy.)
So, we have some options I think... Before we had very few options and that became very apparent when the Health Insurance premium alone exceeded the mortgage payment! I kept thinking, "We could go buy another house with this money!"
Those of you who get health insurance as a work benefit had better enjoy it while it lasts. I have heard some things coming to an employer near you via the Stimulus Plan that are really drastic to maybe all businesses. I haven't been able to confirm this, so I am refraining to detail about it yet; but isn't it deplorable to anyone else that we "just don't know" what our legislators even voted on?!!
Those of you who want to mess with our HSA and impose some Federal Health Care Plan are risking my wrath! :) The Gov't cannot produce it - they can only take it away from my neighbors (not me yet - I don't make enough $) and hand it to someone else - after some legal mumbo-jumbo and a red tape marathon. As my wife says, "...they did such a good job with Medicare and Medicaid, why would we think we should give them the whole system?"
I love my wife... Now she's even beating me to the good lines...
I didn't mean to get into this here, but it was something that I intended to mention sometime anyway... My trust is not in legal extortion (insurance), nor is it in miracles of science (Health Care), nor is it in scared politicians; it is instead fully and completely invested in the Creator who loves and provides for me.
I don't have to think for a second that He will forget us. I don't have to be upset if the Gov't forgets the Constitution and "In God we Trust" because God is my hope and my salvation for this life and the one yet to come. NO MATTER WHAT!
What To Do If You've Lost Your Job
We ourselves are trying to hedge a bit, though our debt is gone but the house. We do have an baby HSA (Health Savings Account - Thank you President Bush!!) started, but that was a net change, really, due to our huge premium being reduced. Our hope is that we will be able to build both the HSA and the emergency fund, but making the dollars stretch to both is a challenge.
So, one option might be to hold the money (except for immediate medical expenses) until we get through the tough going at least and build the emergency fund. We could make only one or two deposits per year on the HSA - unlike the old $9,960 annual premium that we had before. I don't however want to underfund the HSA...
For those of us who are learning the whole HSA thing, the idea is to build that thing up to something obscene saved in the HSA account (Maybe $20-$30K over the next two-three years), and have a high-deductible, low premium catastrophic plan. The money that you put in the HSA is not taxed and you get to use it on everything from Dr.'s visits to Prescriptions to Aspirin.
(You just about have to put the whole family on it to keep things straight, so I had to file some stuff to exempt me out of my work policy.)
So, we have some options I think... Before we had very few options and that became very apparent when the Health Insurance premium alone exceeded the mortgage payment! I kept thinking, "We could go buy another house with this money!"
Those of you who get health insurance as a work benefit had better enjoy it while it lasts. I have heard some things coming to an employer near you via the Stimulus Plan that are really drastic to maybe all businesses. I haven't been able to confirm this, so I am refraining to detail about it yet; but isn't it deplorable to anyone else that we "just don't know" what our legislators even voted on?!!
Those of you who want to mess with our HSA and impose some Federal Health Care Plan are risking my wrath! :) The Gov't cannot produce it - they can only take it away from my neighbors (not me yet - I don't make enough $) and hand it to someone else - after some legal mumbo-jumbo and a red tape marathon. As my wife says, "...they did such a good job with Medicare and Medicaid, why would we think we should give them the whole system?"
I love my wife... Now she's even beating me to the good lines...
I didn't mean to get into this here, but it was something that I intended to mention sometime anyway... My trust is not in legal extortion (insurance), nor is it in miracles of science (Health Care), nor is it in scared politicians; it is instead fully and completely invested in the Creator who loves and provides for me.
I don't have to think for a second that He will forget us. I don't have to be upset if the Gov't forgets the Constitution and "In God we Trust" because God is my hope and my salvation for this life and the one yet to come. NO MATTER WHAT!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thy Word...
Psalm 119:9-16 (New International Version)
b Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
We did the first lesson (tour) of The Truth Project the other night. Professor, Dr. Del Tackett has a captivating and thrilling way with words. I encourage you to take the opportunity if you get the chance to participate in a group that is taking this tour.
3 weeks ago Pastor McLoed was finalizing a study of Jesus Christ. In the series of sermons, he presented that Jesus Christ is the single most important person to have set foot on this planet. Lest you subconsciously roll your eyes, consider that our calendar is presently centered (more or less) on His life here on earth. Consider that no other man claimed to be God incarnate not once but many times. Consider the many miracles - ultimately even raising some from the dead as a sign that He had power over death itself. He calmed the storms, He had power over the weather. He had power over demons, casting them out. Most of all, He had the power to have thwarted men's efforts to crucify Him; not only thwarted, but also to crush them.
The reason that I mention these powerful sermons, is that I wanted to point out two concepts in this post that are so important. One, is that the Word of God (the Bible) is not some text book that has some nice ideas, but a truth book that helps us to see the God who made us, loves us and wants us to know Him. Concept Two is that Christ's coming brought a revelation of truth. If you think that either of these concepts is nice, but a little too much for you, then consider the way my pastor put it: If your version of God does not perform the miraculous then He does not have the power to save, and you are destined to suffer for sins that have no payment.
If Christ is who He claimed to be (read the Gospel of John), then He is the only hope we have to be saved from eternal damnation. If Christ is not who He claimed to be, then we believers are following a lunatic, not a teacher or a prophet.
My final point is that Scripture reveals to us the heart of God to restore a relationship with men to what He intended it to be. We read in Genesis that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God personally - the way that you and I might visit on Sunday afternoons over dinner. Adam and Eve sinned, and the relationship was damaged, Creation was damaged. In the Bible we read of God's continuing plan to restore that relationship. Front to back, beginning to end, it is the unfolding of that plan of how to begin that restoration.
I pray that the Spirit of Truth will help you to see the layers of lies that many people try to impose about Christ, about the Scriptures. I hope that in reading the Bible you will start in John and see what and why Jesus had to come and do what He did. I hope that if you already believe, you will consider what it means to you.
Thy Word, Lord, is a light to my path. I would not understand Truth without it. I pray that You will continue to reveal Yourself to us as we read...
b Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
We did the first lesson (tour) of The Truth Project the other night. Professor, Dr. Del Tackett has a captivating and thrilling way with words. I encourage you to take the opportunity if you get the chance to participate in a group that is taking this tour.
3 weeks ago Pastor McLoed was finalizing a study of Jesus Christ. In the series of sermons, he presented that Jesus Christ is the single most important person to have set foot on this planet. Lest you subconsciously roll your eyes, consider that our calendar is presently centered (more or less) on His life here on earth. Consider that no other man claimed to be God incarnate not once but many times. Consider the many miracles - ultimately even raising some from the dead as a sign that He had power over death itself. He calmed the storms, He had power over the weather. He had power over demons, casting them out. Most of all, He had the power to have thwarted men's efforts to crucify Him; not only thwarted, but also to crush them.
The reason that I mention these powerful sermons, is that I wanted to point out two concepts in this post that are so important. One, is that the Word of God (the Bible) is not some text book that has some nice ideas, but a truth book that helps us to see the God who made us, loves us and wants us to know Him. Concept Two is that Christ's coming brought a revelation of truth. If you think that either of these concepts is nice, but a little too much for you, then consider the way my pastor put it: If your version of God does not perform the miraculous then He does not have the power to save, and you are destined to suffer for sins that have no payment.
If Christ is who He claimed to be (read the Gospel of John), then He is the only hope we have to be saved from eternal damnation. If Christ is not who He claimed to be, then we believers are following a lunatic, not a teacher or a prophet.
My final point is that Scripture reveals to us the heart of God to restore a relationship with men to what He intended it to be. We read in Genesis that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God personally - the way that you and I might visit on Sunday afternoons over dinner. Adam and Eve sinned, and the relationship was damaged, Creation was damaged. In the Bible we read of God's continuing plan to restore that relationship. Front to back, beginning to end, it is the unfolding of that plan of how to begin that restoration.
I pray that the Spirit of Truth will help you to see the layers of lies that many people try to impose about Christ, about the Scriptures. I hope that in reading the Bible you will start in John and see what and why Jesus had to come and do what He did. I hope that if you already believe, you will consider what it means to you.
Thy Word, Lord, is a light to my path. I would not understand Truth without it. I pray that You will continue to reveal Yourself to us as we read...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thou Shalt Nots of Scripture...
Check out this link - I nearly skipped it, having experienced the hardships of situations and not looking for any more difficult water to wade through... However, this is a great truth: God does not prohibit us from any good thing.
We do need to understand what a good thing is. We need to understand that in the manner that we tell our children not to eat too much sugar and to eat more fruit and vegies, God also tells us to mind a few things - for our own benefit.
I am torn in a few different things right now, but I am certain that God has His reasons and that I must honor Him regardless of how I feel. I was so grateful to have the article in the link in my email this morning, reminding me of His faithfulness and care for us!
http://www.icr.org/article/4264/
We do need to understand what a good thing is. We need to understand that in the manner that we tell our children not to eat too much sugar and to eat more fruit and vegies, God also tells us to mind a few things - for our own benefit.
I am torn in a few different things right now, but I am certain that God has His reasons and that I must honor Him regardless of how I feel. I was so grateful to have the article in the link in my email this morning, reminding me of His faithfulness and care for us!
http://www.icr.org/article/4264/
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Finances for the Kiddos
For those of us who have kids, and who have had a hard time with our own finances, there is likely a need for better teaching to our kiddos as well. If we lack financial sense ourselves, then we are not going to be able to teach good financial sense to our kiddos. That said, if you are like my wife and me, then you have figured out that you messed it all up at some point and now you are digging your way out, so the kiddos actually have a pretty good example to follow.
But you know by now that finances don't get learned through osmosis and you have a suspicion that there might need to be some purposeful teaching? And you would be right.
In our house, we do a mini-version of the envelope system. When our oldest turned 6, we had her color three envelopes. I outlined the words, "Giving, Saving, Spending" on each one and she colored them in with her vast array of markers and crayons. The basics of the idea worked really, really well, except that she kept losing them and was playing with them all the time.
So, Crystal sacrificed some of her jelly jars, and stamped the labels neatly. This was great too. Whenever the money came in for her, she would parse it out into the jars and use it where it goes. (She sees Mommy doing this all the time, so she really took to it.)
There were some problems, however. The little guys are pretty generous it turns out, and will gladly give all of their money to their friends or to Sunday School; and don't get me wrong, we love that, but it wasn't really helping us to get the idea across for a while. So, we moved the money to the kitchen so that she didn't just dig it out to show her friends, or leave it out where the babies could swallow the coins.
Now, she is getting older and the jars don't really go to the store very well, so having retired one of our Dave Ramsey Envelope Systems, we gave her one of those to carry around. So far, so good.
Besides the giving and spending that she seems to be learning well, we hit the saving/earning thing hard at the beginning. She wanted a bigger bicycle, having grown out of the one she had been given when she was four. Mommy and Daddy were still mired in Baby Step 2 (Pay off all your debt, except the house) and though we were willing to do the garage sale thing to get her a bigger bike, we sort of leveraged this back to her to earn money to buy her own bike. She could do a few chores to earn some money from us, but quite honestly, we couldn't afford more than a dollar here and there at the time, and she wasn't quite big enough to chop firewood.
She thought and thought. Somehow Grandpa got into the picture and hired her to pick pine cones out of his lawn. One Saturday I dropped her off and went back home to do my own chores, and then went back after getting a disappointing call from Grandma. I guess she worked pretty hard for about twenty minutes, then got pretty bored. I think Grandpa tactfully let her know that he wasn't really happy about this and restrained from paying her fully, for which I was grateful. I gently scolded her on the way home, knowing the story, but reasoning it out verbally with her so that she understood why 2 1/2 hours of that poor of work didn't make her much money.
Clearly, she was disappointed, and the next week she offered to try again; and of course Grandpa helped out again. She did much, much better. When I went to pick her up, I could see the difference in her face and though Grandpa probably over paid her, I was very glad to see that she got the lesson.
Picking pine cones is not exactly a fun job, she decided, and this prompted her and Mommy to come up with other ways to earn money. So, they baked cookies. I don't know, but I suspect that they probably called around and asked at church if anyone would like to buy any. Once people knew what she was doing, they jumped in from all over! In about two Sundays she had more than enough money to go right in to Walmart and get that bike she had picked out! (I think we even charged her for the materials, so she got a good dose of profit/loss! I might be mixing that up with the lemonade stand that came another time though...)
I was so proud of her! She was so excited! I advise you parents to push your kids a little bit here. If you can afford to pay them for extra chores, then fine, but maybe let them think of creative ways to do their own earning. It is a valuable time, and this is one important thing that you can teach them early.
Don't give in at the store when they are two dollars short at the store, either. You don't do them any favors by covering the sales tax. Teach them what it means to truly buy something. Maybe even let them waste their money on something too. Then, when they find something that they REALLY want, but can't afford, use the moment to teach them that they decided to spend that money already. (OK, don't surprise them. I don't have the heart to lead them blindly into that one either. But give them a warning and if they still buy the piddly thing, then watch for that moment...)
Teach them by example, and teach them by instruction what it means to afford something and how to get a deal. Teach them to give - don't just hand them a couple quarters on the way in to church, let them give their own coins. Teach them to save for something "big" like a bike.
There are a lot of cool little books and teaching things on the Dave Ramsey site for this, ranging from pre-schoolers to teens. I haven't seen much of them, being a little too cheap to buy them, but the principles are the there.
God Bless!
But you know by now that finances don't get learned through osmosis and you have a suspicion that there might need to be some purposeful teaching? And you would be right.
In our house, we do a mini-version of the envelope system. When our oldest turned 6, we had her color three envelopes. I outlined the words, "Giving, Saving, Spending" on each one and she colored them in with her vast array of markers and crayons. The basics of the idea worked really, really well, except that she kept losing them and was playing with them all the time.
So, Crystal sacrificed some of her jelly jars, and stamped the labels neatly. This was great too. Whenever the money came in for her, she would parse it out into the jars and use it where it goes. (She sees Mommy doing this all the time, so she really took to it.)
There were some problems, however. The little guys are pretty generous it turns out, and will gladly give all of their money to their friends or to Sunday School; and don't get me wrong, we love that, but it wasn't really helping us to get the idea across for a while. So, we moved the money to the kitchen so that she didn't just dig it out to show her friends, or leave it out where the babies could swallow the coins.
Now, she is getting older and the jars don't really go to the store very well, so having retired one of our Dave Ramsey Envelope Systems, we gave her one of those to carry around. So far, so good.
Besides the giving and spending that she seems to be learning well, we hit the saving/earning thing hard at the beginning. She wanted a bigger bicycle, having grown out of the one she had been given when she was four. Mommy and Daddy were still mired in Baby Step 2 (Pay off all your debt, except the house) and though we were willing to do the garage sale thing to get her a bigger bike, we sort of leveraged this back to her to earn money to buy her own bike. She could do a few chores to earn some money from us, but quite honestly, we couldn't afford more than a dollar here and there at the time, and she wasn't quite big enough to chop firewood.
She thought and thought. Somehow Grandpa got into the picture and hired her to pick pine cones out of his lawn. One Saturday I dropped her off and went back home to do my own chores, and then went back after getting a disappointing call from Grandma. I guess she worked pretty hard for about twenty minutes, then got pretty bored. I think Grandpa tactfully let her know that he wasn't really happy about this and restrained from paying her fully, for which I was grateful. I gently scolded her on the way home, knowing the story, but reasoning it out verbally with her so that she understood why 2 1/2 hours of that poor of work didn't make her much money.
Clearly, she was disappointed, and the next week she offered to try again; and of course Grandpa helped out again. She did much, much better. When I went to pick her up, I could see the difference in her face and though Grandpa probably over paid her, I was very glad to see that she got the lesson.
Picking pine cones is not exactly a fun job, she decided, and this prompted her and Mommy to come up with other ways to earn money. So, they baked cookies. I don't know, but I suspect that they probably called around and asked at church if anyone would like to buy any. Once people knew what she was doing, they jumped in from all over! In about two Sundays she had more than enough money to go right in to Walmart and get that bike she had picked out! (I think we even charged her for the materials, so she got a good dose of profit/loss! I might be mixing that up with the lemonade stand that came another time though...)
I was so proud of her! She was so excited! I advise you parents to push your kids a little bit here. If you can afford to pay them for extra chores, then fine, but maybe let them think of creative ways to do their own earning. It is a valuable time, and this is one important thing that you can teach them early.
Don't give in at the store when they are two dollars short at the store, either. You don't do them any favors by covering the sales tax. Teach them what it means to truly buy something. Maybe even let them waste their money on something too. Then, when they find something that they REALLY want, but can't afford, use the moment to teach them that they decided to spend that money already. (OK, don't surprise them. I don't have the heart to lead them blindly into that one either. But give them a warning and if they still buy the piddly thing, then watch for that moment...)
Teach them by example, and teach them by instruction what it means to afford something and how to get a deal. Teach them to give - don't just hand them a couple quarters on the way in to church, let them give their own coins. Teach them to save for something "big" like a bike.
There are a lot of cool little books and teaching things on the Dave Ramsey site for this, ranging from pre-schoolers to teens. I haven't seen much of them, being a little too cheap to buy them, but the principles are the there.
God Bless!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Needing some motivation?
This is what I listen to more often than not on Fridays...
Listen to the voices... Listen to the exuberance. Can you hear the emotion?!! I get teared up every time I listen to this stuff... ...because debt suffocates the joy from living, from loving, from giving and freedom to be generous - like our Father - is something that no one but the free understand.
Sin does the same thing, only the debt is eternal until it's paid in full. God has a get-out-of-debt-plan that is unbeatable. His Son paid for our sins. It was so costly that there is only one way to pay that debt - only One person in the entire universe had the "funds" for that bailout! If you think that financial debt is looming large in your life, then consider the weight of your sin debt... Pray to God, repent from "your way"? His kind of change is even deeper than the kinds of changes you hear in this clip...
If you do have financial debt, or you are in trouble, then first take that to God. The numbers may not add up right now, but He has a way of providing when we honor Him with our lives. His favorite pastime is redeeming the hopeless... I hope that you will seek the help of your pastor, or attend a Financial Peace University class, tune in to the daily Dave Ramsey shows and commit to align your life spiritually and financially with the Word of God...
Listen to the voices... Listen to the exuberance. Can you hear the emotion?!! I get teared up every time I listen to this stuff... ...because debt suffocates the joy from living, from loving, from giving and freedom to be generous - like our Father - is something that no one but the free understand.
Sin does the same thing, only the debt is eternal until it's paid in full. God has a get-out-of-debt-plan that is unbeatable. His Son paid for our sins. It was so costly that there is only one way to pay that debt - only One person in the entire universe had the "funds" for that bailout! If you think that financial debt is looming large in your life, then consider the weight of your sin debt... Pray to God, repent from "your way"? His kind of change is even deeper than the kinds of changes you hear in this clip...
If you do have financial debt, or you are in trouble, then first take that to God. The numbers may not add up right now, but He has a way of providing when we honor Him with our lives. His favorite pastime is redeeming the hopeless... I hope that you will seek the help of your pastor, or attend a Financial Peace University class, tune in to the daily Dave Ramsey shows and commit to align your life spiritually and financially with the Word of God...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Stewardship
I debated posting this as "Talent" due to the text in which I base this one.
We use the word "talent" today as abilities which have been granted to us, likely because of the interpretations taken from this passage in fact. This is a subject for study in itself (another post?). For the purposes of this post, a talent was a measure of money. Christ was using this story to illustrate a concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, that as the master returns at some point and judges his servants, so will He return to judge men. The primary focus here is salvation - what have we done with what we were shown?
That is, you have been told about the work of Christ, the Gospel, so what have you done with that? Have you taken it to heart and invested in the Kingdom by spreading it to your neighbors? Or have you at least taken it to heart and led your own family in the ways of Christ?
Or, possibly, have you ignored it and hidden it to yourself - which amounts to not having salvation in the first place... There has been no change. There is no activity. The wicked servant hid his portion because he said that he feared the master. The master shrewdly points out that had he known the master and truly feared him, then the wicked servant would have at least put the money in the bank to draw interest! The wicked servant clearly had no interest in the master.
While the spiritual side of this parable is paramount, the reason that Jesus uses it here is that He is trying to convey Kingdom thinking through common financial sense. Everyone in earshot or who reads it today can grasp the concept.
We are given a certain amount of blessings, according to our ability, to make a profit for the Master. This extends to every part of your life.
Let's consider the basic, common sense, financial side...
1) We are the servants.
2) God is the Master.
3) The money is not ours, but the master's.
4) The more they were given the more they made.
These are directly applicable to our personal finances. We do not "own" anything, but we receive things to take care of until we meet the Master.
We will not all receive equal amounts. Some of us will have more than others. Jesus said that the poor would always be with us, and by that and some other passages, we can presume that the rich will too. Since this passages implies that the servants were each given according to his ability, and since we see that the master in the parable represents God, then we also know that God made the abilities too. So, since God made us with our abilities and He gave us the blessings that we enjoy, then we accept that He has the plans and that we are simply left to maximize the investments.
So, whatever your place in life, whatever your status, you are responsible to do your best with it. "...but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." If you have nothing to show for even the small amount you have been given, then you are at risk of losing even that.
This is a hard one to swallow, but think of it this way... First, it isn't your money. Second, if you lose it, the Master has plenty more where that came from. There is no excuse for doing nothing with it, however.
So, in faith, I am able to invest in the Kingdom (offerings), invest in the future (prudently and reasonably, with an IRA, etc.), prepare an inheritance for my kids (nobility), and take care of the present needs as well, all Lord willing.
It's His money, so don't get extreme in either burying it too safely, or investing it too riskily, but acknowledge Him and take some steps in the direction of investing. Learn about how to invest, how to handle money and how to build a legacy for your children.
God Bless!
Matthew 25:14-29 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. (More)We use the word "talent" today as abilities which have been granted to us, likely because of the interpretations taken from this passage in fact. This is a subject for study in itself (another post?). For the purposes of this post, a talent was a measure of money. Christ was using this story to illustrate a concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, that as the master returns at some point and judges his servants, so will He return to judge men. The primary focus here is salvation - what have we done with what we were shown?
That is, you have been told about the work of Christ, the Gospel, so what have you done with that? Have you taken it to heart and invested in the Kingdom by spreading it to your neighbors? Or have you at least taken it to heart and led your own family in the ways of Christ?
Or, possibly, have you ignored it and hidden it to yourself - which amounts to not having salvation in the first place... There has been no change. There is no activity. The wicked servant hid his portion because he said that he feared the master. The master shrewdly points out that had he known the master and truly feared him, then the wicked servant would have at least put the money in the bank to draw interest! The wicked servant clearly had no interest in the master.
While the spiritual side of this parable is paramount, the reason that Jesus uses it here is that He is trying to convey Kingdom thinking through common financial sense. Everyone in earshot or who reads it today can grasp the concept.
We are given a certain amount of blessings, according to our ability, to make a profit for the Master. This extends to every part of your life.
Let's consider the basic, common sense, financial side...
1) We are the servants.
2) God is the Master.
3) The money is not ours, but the master's.
4) The more they were given the more they made.
These are directly applicable to our personal finances. We do not "own" anything, but we receive things to take care of until we meet the Master.
We will not all receive equal amounts. Some of us will have more than others. Jesus said that the poor would always be with us, and by that and some other passages, we can presume that the rich will too. Since this passages implies that the servants were each given according to his ability, and since we see that the master in the parable represents God, then we also know that God made the abilities too. So, since God made us with our abilities and He gave us the blessings that we enjoy, then we accept that He has the plans and that we are simply left to maximize the investments.
So, whatever your place in life, whatever your status, you are responsible to do your best with it. "...but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." If you have nothing to show for even the small amount you have been given, then you are at risk of losing even that.
This is a hard one to swallow, but think of it this way... First, it isn't your money. Second, if you lose it, the Master has plenty more where that came from. There is no excuse for doing nothing with it, however.
So, in faith, I am able to invest in the Kingdom (offerings), invest in the future (prudently and reasonably, with an IRA, etc.), prepare an inheritance for my kids (nobility), and take care of the present needs as well, all Lord willing.
It's His money, so don't get extreme in either burying it too safely, or investing it too riskily, but acknowledge Him and take some steps in the direction of investing. Learn about how to invest, how to handle money and how to build a legacy for your children.
God Bless!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Plastectomy... (plagerism?)
I think Dave Ramsey invented the term... He uses it as a one-word description of cutting up one's credit cards forever. Dave uses scissors. His audiences get a little more creative... ...chainsaws, guns, shredders... ...you get the idea that people are a little fed up with the little plastic cards that we have been indoctrinated into believing are a way of life in our culture. It is a passionate, emotional, even merciless occasion.
So, why the extreme behavior? In short, many thousands of people have had an eye opening experience by going through Dave's classes or listening to his show. They have begun to understand that the bank (creditor) is selling a product, and are making a profit on the customer (the lender).
We watched as Dave on stage animated the average customer walking into the bank on his knees begging, "Please, please, please, Mr. banker let me have some...." (If only we had a product like that, huh?)
And all that time we thought we were being smart. We thought that it was intelligent to use "Other Peoples' Money (OPM)" but later we find that we had become addicted and enslaved to it. What we once thought was OK had become the the Master of our money, instead of us mastering our own money.
And I had good reason. In fact, Larry Burkett said that if you had or used a credit card, fine, but the first month that you fail to pay it in full, then you should cut it up. Given that somewhere between %80 and %90 of us who use a credit card do not actually pay it in full, I have changed my mind.
The banks know that most of us will not do it - and they make a LOT of money on credit. I am told that Sears, Penny's, GM, Ford and Chrysler have all become creditors more than retailers - they make more oney on credit than in sales of all of their other products.
It doesn't matter to me any more that you can pay it off every month. There are two reasons. The first is that the Bible says that debt is a bad idea - even for a day.
So, why the extreme behavior? In short, many thousands of people have had an eye opening experience by going through Dave's classes or listening to his show. They have begun to understand that the bank (creditor) is selling a product, and are making a profit on the customer (the lender).
We watched as Dave on stage animated the average customer walking into the bank on his knees begging, "Please, please, please, Mr. banker let me have some...." (If only we had a product like that, huh?)
And all that time we thought we were being smart. We thought that it was intelligent to use "Other Peoples' Money (OPM)" but later we find that we had become addicted and enslaved to it. What we once thought was OK had become the the Master of our money, instead of us mastering our own money.
Proverbs 22:7 (New International Version)
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
And I had good reason. In fact, Larry Burkett said that if you had or used a credit card, fine, but the first month that you fail to pay it in full, then you should cut it up. Given that somewhere between %80 and %90 of us who use a credit card do not actually pay it in full, I have changed my mind.
The banks know that most of us will not do it - and they make a LOT of money on credit. I am told that Sears, Penny's, GM, Ford and Chrysler have all become creditors more than retailers - they make more oney on credit than in sales of all of their other products.
It doesn't matter to me any more that you can pay it off every month. There are two reasons. The first is that the Bible says that debt is a bad idea - even for a day.
Proverbs 6:4-5 (New International Version)
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
The second reason is that there is a risk that you take when you use the credit card. The biggest part of that risk is that you are gambling that your next paycheck will be full and on time. The rest is that you are dealing with a company that employs a lot of lawyers to write a lot of fine print that I doubt you or anybody else can readily explain.
They can and do "lose" payments in the system, which means that it arrives late and then they proceed to raise your rates to %24 or more and dock you for a $29 late fee! They guess rightly that most people won't go to the mat over a $29 fee.
(Guess who's had this happen to him before - I was mad. It was the first time that lost my temper with a stranger on the phone. I did get the charge removed and got the interest down again after I threatened to "surf" the balance to another card... This was before I knew anything about Dave Ramsey, though and I didn't learn my lesson then.)
There is congressional testimony regarding this fraud, yet we hear little about it, and we continue to "do business" with companies that are dishonest. This is not intelligent. It is not even convenient when you consider the possible problems. Fire them. Cut the cards. End the risk and be a steward of your money.
Debit cards are somewhat different. They draw directly from your checking account, but that brings risks of its own. At least you aren't in debt to anyone though.
We take the additional precaution of keeping seperate checking accounts. We only use the debit card for one of the accounts, so that in the event of a problem (in which the bank will often "freeze" the money) we still have money to draw for gas and groceries. We also use it for Internet purchases, transferring the budgeted money for such transactions.
Many debit cards (such as those that have the little "Visa" symbol in the corner) have the same protection as credit cards and they are useful for car and room reservations too.
BUT, whatever the version of plastic you take to the register, there are recognized studies showing that we spend %12-%18 more with plastic than with cash. That means that when we go to Home Cheapo for a $50 widget, we also add a $6.00-$9.00 widget accessory.
On the other hand, if you walk in to the appliance store with $450.00 cash, you have a tool with which to get a bargain! You might get a $500.00 Wash-O-Matic for the cash you have to wave at the sales person and get a deal. This is the complete opposite of what you get when you have a plastic budget. GO GREEN!
(Be willing to walk away - you might have to go to 3 different appliance stores or get to a manager to get a deal, but then isn't that worth $50?!!)
I will start working on describing the cash envelope system that Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett and Larry's grandmother recommend on the next post or two. I hope that you are starting to see the "personal" part of personal finance in the meantime. It is emmotional, spritual and even physical. It is important.
God Bless!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Envelope System
So, you know by now that I am not a credit card fan, but how do you actually use cash?
OK - so, written out from my side of the issue, this is a funny question, but I wouldn't have been laughing a few years ago and I hear some people who really do wonder...
We have been propagandized to death with the penguin march of the plastics and it has become a huge method of transaction today. So much so that many of you might be balking at the idea of walking around "with all that cash!" I mean, what about muggers!
Believe me, we've been through this discussion a few times. In fact, I didn't bounce right back to cash myself without a little cajoling from Dave. Some of the arguments can be found in another post about Plastectomies (which should post 2/8/09).
Basically, you will spend more with plastic, whether credit or debit - to the tune of 12%-18%. Averages being what they are, I suspect that you might do well one time and much more poorly the next; or, like me, go ahead and buy that ginormous wall tent at Econo-Mart because its good to go camping with the family. (Even Gary Smalley says so.)
Just the same, Doritto breath, plastic is a budget buster. And a mugger can get a lot more than cash from the average credit card information these days.
So let's assume that you see the value of cash over cards, but what about the details?
These days, as long as you have the little Visa (or other) sign down in the corner of your debit card, it should carry a lot of the same benefits as your credit card, but without the debt. You should ask your bank if you aren't sure - just don't let them talk you into a credit card anyway. Most car rentals and hotels will take a debit card. And most of them also take cash.
So, assuming that you have now set up your budget, the envelope system is simply the real part of your paper plan. So, as if you had drawn up the plans for the house on paper, then built it, so now you have drawn up the plans of the budget on paper and built it in your envelopes.
And we do mean envelopes. You can go buy them on the Dave Ramsey site too - and I do recommend the Deluxe Envelope system in particular. But you can just use any envelopes to label and insert cash. If you are going to the grocery store, then take the FOOD envelope. If you forget the FOOD envelope, then you should go back home and get the FOOD envelope.
I recommend that you get the system because of this, because then you have it all with you and it is well organized too. Crystal actually started carrying around Dave Ramsey cards to give to people because so many people asked about it and thought it was so neat.
If the money runs out in that envelope, for that category, then you stop buying. If it is something that you NEED, then go home to your Honey and re-arrange the budget and then the cash in the envelopes. You both have to be in agreement. There at least needs to be a phone call to get the approval on a revision.
We do not include utilities, phone, mortgage or other mailed bill items in the envelopes. For those we still write checks, which cost money, GGRRRR. Online is a good way to get around this, and Dave recommends the Auto Billpay stuff. But I am not quite there yet. I like to be able to watch all that and send them when we know we are ready.
We have a seperate account for gas and Internet purchases. Crystal, with three kids in the van does have a certain point there...
Also, as you work the budgeting out, expect it to take about 90 days before you actually get it to work. We had ours pretty well going in 60 days, but we already had over a year's expenses recorded, so we knew the trends already.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to call or email any questions...
OK - so, written out from my side of the issue, this is a funny question, but I wouldn't have been laughing a few years ago and I hear some people who really do wonder...
We have been propagandized to death with the penguin march of the plastics and it has become a huge method of transaction today. So much so that many of you might be balking at the idea of walking around "with all that cash!" I mean, what about muggers!
Believe me, we've been through this discussion a few times. In fact, I didn't bounce right back to cash myself without a little cajoling from Dave. Some of the arguments can be found in another post about Plastectomies (which should post 2/8/09).
Basically, you will spend more with plastic, whether credit or debit - to the tune of 12%-18%. Averages being what they are, I suspect that you might do well one time and much more poorly the next; or, like me, go ahead and buy that ginormous wall tent at Econo-Mart because its good to go camping with the family. (Even Gary Smalley says so.)
Just the same, Doritto breath, plastic is a budget buster. And a mugger can get a lot more than cash from the average credit card information these days.
So let's assume that you see the value of cash over cards, but what about the details?
These days, as long as you have the little Visa (or other) sign down in the corner of your debit card, it should carry a lot of the same benefits as your credit card, but without the debt. You should ask your bank if you aren't sure - just don't let them talk you into a credit card anyway. Most car rentals and hotels will take a debit card. And most of them also take cash.
So, assuming that you have now set up your budget, the envelope system is simply the real part of your paper plan. So, as if you had drawn up the plans for the house on paper, then built it, so now you have drawn up the plans of the budget on paper and built it in your envelopes.
And we do mean envelopes. You can go buy them on the Dave Ramsey site too - and I do recommend the Deluxe Envelope system in particular. But you can just use any envelopes to label and insert cash. If you are going to the grocery store, then take the FOOD envelope. If you forget the FOOD envelope, then you should go back home and get the FOOD envelope.
I recommend that you get the system because of this, because then you have it all with you and it is well organized too. Crystal actually started carrying around Dave Ramsey cards to give to people because so many people asked about it and thought it was so neat.
If the money runs out in that envelope, for that category, then you stop buying. If it is something that you NEED, then go home to your Honey and re-arrange the budget and then the cash in the envelopes. You both have to be in agreement. There at least needs to be a phone call to get the approval on a revision.
We do not include utilities, phone, mortgage or other mailed bill items in the envelopes. For those we still write checks, which cost money, GGRRRR. Online is a good way to get around this, and Dave recommends the Auto Billpay stuff. But I am not quite there yet. I like to be able to watch all that and send them when we know we are ready.
We have a seperate account for gas and Internet purchases. Crystal, with three kids in the van does have a certain point there...
Also, as you work the budgeting out, expect it to take about 90 days before you actually get it to work. We had ours pretty well going in 60 days, but we already had over a year's expenses recorded, so we knew the trends already.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to call or email any questions...
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