Interesting verse . . .

This was the Bible verse on 20 Jan 09, inauguration day for the 44th President of the United States. I'm putting it in this blog for posterity, and so we never forget what should be expected of leaders who lead under the banner of our God.

Psalm 2:10-11

"Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling."

What I love about the United States of America

I posted this on an AJC blog, but I doubt many of you read it. But it embodies the many things I love about my country.

Lee Greenwood
Boys in the Hood
City Halls
Strip malls
Martin guitars
Rovers on Mars
Outsourcing
No forcing
FAA
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Colonial Antiquity
"As seen on T.V."
Drummer and fife
Sanctity of life
Needles highway
New York gray
Prom dates
Fifty states
Many sides
25-cent rides
Snopes, the facts
No internet tax
Pine, oak, birch, spruce
Cardinal, eagle, blue bird, goose
Times Square tower
Hawaii flower
Diversified people
Star, crescent, cross, steeple
Stone Mountain
Centennial Park fountain
Miami beach
Dr. King Speech
"No papers, state to state"
Drive-thru food, no wait
Gettysburg fog
This timely blog

God Bless America Again!

C.S. "Jack" Lewis

I'm listening to Mere Christianity for my Apologetics class that starts in just a few days. It's pretty incredible and I'm completely ashamed that I made it to 30 before being exposed to Lewis' simplicity in explaining Christianity. It's interesting to be reading this while the world waits for the release of Prince Caspian, the second feature film in the "Narnia" series. Not only are people talking about the movie, but Christian radio is also spending time revisiting Lewis and his works. Just this morning I heard Douglas Gresham on "Focus on the Family". He is Lewis' stepson, the son of Lewis' wife who was portrayed in the movie Shadowlands. Well, it was really neat to hear the story of how he was connected to Lewis on the radio. What's probably neater is that he is a co-producer on Prince Caspian and he has this awesome opportunity to re-invigorate the world's love for the Narnia series and more importantly the message of hope it contains.

Anyway, he quoted "Jack" (Lewis' go-by) as saying, “We do not need more people writing Christian books, what we need is more Christians writing good books.” It reminded me of Andrew Peterson, another artist that follows this mantra. It's a refreshing thing to know that Christ did not call everyone to end their careers to follow Him. Rather, He wanted us to follow Him with the talents we've already been blessed with. If we're waiting for Him to take us out of our jobs to be "used" in the "mission field" or to become a "pastor" or "minister" than we'll be waiting a long time! But if we begin day by day to be a pastor and a minister to our co-workers and be used in our jobs as our primary mission field, we'll see that we don't have to go far to answer His call. That's not to say we need to be Bible-thumping evangelists to the folks in the neighboring cubes, but it does mean we should learn how to love them like we love ourselves. We show love to ourselves by being disappointed and being self-nurturing in the tough times. We also loves ourselves by rejoicing in the high times of life. We can do the same for our co-workers. Sharing in someone's sorrow and offering encouragement during their time of need is so much more valuable than telling them that they'll be fine if they go to church with us. Rejoicing with them during their triumphs let's them know that we're not so self-centered that we can't honor them from time to time.

So, don't wait for the phone to ring - God's call came a long time ago and some of us didn't recognize it. We can be Christians in the secular workplace doing good; we don't have to wait to be put in a "Christian" job.

God Bless!
David

Facebook & Hyundai

OK. I gave up a while ago and opened a "Facebook" account. I'm not real proud about it and I encourage everyone visiting my page to look for more updates and random banter here at the capital of family updates and my random banter, Mediocre, Alaska. Still, even though I minimize my activity there, I still feel like I've sold out a little bit. At least I haven't bought an iPod yet.

In other news, I'm really discouraged by a recent Hyundai commercial:

"don't like your nose, get another one. Don't like your job, get another one. Don't like your wife, get another one." Then they go on to say that at least with a Hyundai there is commitment (something about a great warranty). Anyway, it's sad that they lump the marriage covenant among much more trivial choices like a job or cosmetic surgery. Kind of disgusting, actually.

In reality, the marriage covenant is actually the first opportunity we have to experience just a fraction of what the relationship between God and man was supposed to be. Nothing to take lightly, in my opinion.

God bless ya'll and thanks for the awesome words of encouragement regarding our newest addition.

So much to say, so little attention

I know that most folks don't have enough time to read full blog entries, so I'll try to provide the BLUF (bottom line up front - a phrase I recently learned from a fighter pilot friend)

So, here's the BLUF:

1. #3 is less than a month away!  We are excited with every kick and shove that protrudes from Rachel's belly, and the kids are just as excited as us!

2. Tomorrow I graduate my fourth class of students this year!  They are definitely a class act!

3. Still no Christmas tree up - that's how busy it's been

4. Christmas concert this sunday will finish off a very busy guitar-playing and choral season.

5. Paul Johnson was named GT's head coach - we'll see how it turns out; he comes with good credentials, though so did Chan Gailey.

6. Finished grad work for this semester, now I just wait for my grades (please pray)

7. A recent AJC opinion article stated that "abstinence only campaigns can't be trusted" - what in the world are we coming to?

Oh well.  That's it for now - not a typical blog entry, but I thought it was fair to bring you up to date.  Soon I'll be setting up a page to track my monthly utility expenses in my search for the lowest bill during a time of too much consumption!  God bless.

Graduation Day

Today I had the honor of graduating 10 more students and hopefully launching them into successful careers.  I'll need to write more later, as our dinner guests have arrived.  Just know that I'm very proud!

Hypocrisy!

I had a dillema this week. I advised a student that it was important for them to learn how to keep themselves accountable for their own actions. It made a lot of sense, until the student asked for an example. At that time, I had a complete mental block. It became a humbling moment of understanding where and how I lack self-discipline. It was not fun to tell the student that I didn't have an example. It wasn't fun being a hypocrite for that moment in time. Well, I spent the week suffering over a good response and on Friday, it came to me. Just after I had counseled this student for not following my directions, Irealized that I had given up the opportunity to go home a little earlier and spend time with my family, in order to explain my disappointment in this students performance. I failed to convey what I wanted such that the student delivered accordingly. In response to my own failure at meeting my own standard, I forced myself to stay later at work and counsel this student. That was a momentary glimpse of what personal accountability is about. It is not about resolutions and keeping them or getting the best grades in school. It is about removing personal privilege in order to right the wrong. It is about serving the standard and others before serving my own wants and desires. I felt bad about not having an example, but I was able to convey this to the student, and I believe it sunk in - in a much more frank, modest manner.

A new career in full motion

Today I had the "Newcomer's Welcome" for my organization. It's OK that I've only been working there since October. There were some folks there who had been on the job since last June. I'm used to getting training after the fact, though. At our first assignment in South Dakota, I went to my job technical training in October, I had been working in that job since July. A year and a half later, I got the actual in-depth training on the specific tasks I had been accomplishing that entire time. Most of my training as a parent has been on the job. Same goes for my faith. Just now, this semester, I'm starting to understand how to really interpret the scriptures which have been the foundation of my salvation as a Christian since I was six. I don't really think it matters when you get trained, though. I think it is more important to stay open-minded to the training and not bitter that you didn't get it in the beginning. Rachel is sewing some curtains for the kids' room and the house is quiet after another long day.