Raising Abbott & Costello

After viewing the preceding video and a number of similar videos, my suspicions have been confirmed: this summer, we are raising Abbott and Costello....

This occurred to me after this past weekend. As we drove to the home of some friends, Ab and AA bantered about in the backseat. And it was the same kind of back and forth that is typical to most Abbott and Costello routines. AA is definitely Lou Costello, in stature and demeanor (though not as plump); Ab - tall, lean and usually strictly business -plays the straight man, Bud Abbott.

It's so funny from the front seat, because they don't realize that they are teaming up to create comedy. Now AA for one, has as his motivation, either creating laughter or just aggravating his big sister; so he "plays dumb" or acts as if he doesn't hear correctly what his sister is saying. Ab, who on the other hand, just likes for everything to be correct - grows increasing angry with his every quip. As the volume and intensity of her voice reaches new levels, his creative ad libs seem to increase. Just yesterday Ab cast a barb his way stating that he was just trying to be silly! to this he calmly replied that he was trying to be funny; he liked being funny because it made people laugh and they would become his friends.

I am usually annoyed by these antics and just tell them to stop bickering, but as I said, on a couple of times this past weekend, I just listened and grinned.

Annoying antics from the back seat are notorious in my family - for my older brother and sister, on long trips from Griffin, Georgia to Sarasota, Florida (Griffin, being where my maternal grandparents lived; Sarasota being our home) they sang the almost eternal ballad, "Found a Pea-Nut". As my Dad tells it, they sang it without end.

So I understand and appreciate that the need to annoy is prevalent when two or more children are gathered together in tight quarters.

Perhaps it is a rite of passage.

I love my kids, but so often I stray from just enjoying them, to worrying about what others think of them. Humor -especially classic humor -is definitely a characteristic that I want to see cultivated in my children. It may not take them far, but it will certainly smooth out many of the bumps in the road. We need some classic humor around here!

From this day forward, I am going to try to view this backseat banter no longer as a point of contention, but rather as entertainment.

The Lesson of the Liriope

Liriope - better know around here as "Monkey Grass" is one of my favorite plants because it is extremely low maintenance and will practically grow on concrete. As a kid, one of my friends had variegated liriope bordering their driveway and I remember that when we accidentally veered off the pavement and into the monkey grass we didn't get into trouble.

My mother-in-law has endowed me with numerous contributions of liriope from her excess over the years. In our former home, we bordered, sidewalks, flower beds, woodland walkways, and play areas with the stuff. When we moved a few years back, I had hoped to bring some with me, but we literally had no yard when we moved into our current home.

Her son - my brother-in-law - lives near us and spends a lot of time in his yard. He also donates liriope (and day lilies) to me each time he clears our an area of landscaping. So they both feed my habit - and it is something of an addiction - I just can't seem to resist an offer of Monkey Grass.

Anyway, all this is sort of beside the point. Yesterday I was pulling weeds from one of my liriope borders, this particular row has been "high maintenance" over the past couple years. But I noticed that the liriope has grown much more dense and as it has, my weeds are fewer.

Now I have heard this about lawns: a healthy lawn is the best deterrent to weeds because the "good" grass does not allow weeds to grow.

As a Christian, I deal with "weeds" in my own life. These are habits or attitudes or out-and-out sins that hamper my spiritual health as well as my relationship with God and others; and so it is necessary for me to spend time in "weeding" or sin-maintenance.

The lush green liriope seemed to be telling me that an offensive approach might be better than defense; if I will focus more of my time and attention on building my spiritual health - deepening my roots, basking in the light and drinking in all the nourishment I can find - then the "weeds" may not be such a problem.

Oh that I will allow God to so fill me that there would be no voids left for the weeds of sin to take root.

"Just Words"

Our recent trip to Williamsburg was very enlightening, many things spoke to my heart like the struggle of those early settlers and the devotion of our founders; I noticed the sometimes harsh, but common sense of their justice in the courts and also among people dealing with people.

One thing I had not expected to learn about was origins. Much of the common phraseology we use today, found its birth among those early Americans. Here are a few:

"approaching the bench" - this is a term we use in courtroom settings referring to an attorney drawing near to the judge to discuss some procedural issue or the like. You remember on those old Perry Mason reruns ...

In colonial days, and even prior to that, there was not a single judge but rather a number of justices that would hear a case and they sat - not behind a desk but at on a bench.

"passing the bar" - the second legal term I learned about from the courthouse in Williamsburg. A fence or "bar" separated the counselors from the common folks only those individuals studied in law could step pass the bar.

{in the picture to the right, you can see both the "bar" and the "bench"}

earmark - Okay, I overheard a colorful guide tell his group about these stocks ... he said that the point of the punishment was humiliation and so the perpetrator would be forced to face the

crowd, they would nail his ear to the side of the stocks. When he was released- sometimes days later- he had the choice of removing himself by working his earlobe over the nail head or someone could clip his ear - at which point he would be "earmarked".

"knock on wood" - Finally, in Yorktown as we toured a Continental Army Encampment, we learned about food. They made these sort of dehydrated biscuits that were hard as a rock. The good thing about them is that they could be stored in a barrel for two years (not unlike our refrigerator at times). When they were removed from the barrel, the hungry recipient would tap them against the side of the barrel in order to knock the weevils off (I guess it was considered unlucky to eat weevils).

Now this information won't likely get you into one of our institutes of higher learning, but it might just come in handy when their is a lull in the conversation at the next gathering you attend.

We Choose to go to the Moon

What a challenge! And Americans were up for it.
Below is the beginning of a recurring series on Great America!
I hope you find it worth your time.

Great America Series! "American Know-How"

I thought John McCain had hit upon a pretty good idea the other day: Offering a prize of $300 Million for someone to create a better battery. . . then I remembered that this was the guy offering to pay $50 per hour for lettuce pickers a couple years ago. I don't think he ever came across with the cash on that deal so I didn't even bother to go out to my garage and attempt anything.

The premise seemed good - it made me think that at least one contender for the presidency recognized that Americans are problem SOLVERS. But we don't need taxpayer funded prizes to incentivize solution-producers... that's what our glorious free market system does. It's called "profit" and it is the built-in, God-given reward for risk, hard work, blood, sweat and tears!

And that's the point of this post - to celebrate and remember "American know-how" - that national tendency toward fixing things.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I hope to produce a recurring series I'll call Great America. In it, I will examine single words or phrases that have characterized this nation through the centuries. Characteristics that are sadly languishing in neglect these days. This is my first installment.

Good ole American know-how is one of those neglected characteristics.

In one of his books on the heroic "citizen-soldiers" of WWII, Stephen Ambrose pointed out that one thing that kept U.S. troops moving was their ingenuity. A soldier who back home had often spent Saturday afternoons under the hood of his car - would think nothing of ducking under the hood of a troubled tank (if tanks have "hoods") and get it running again. Their Axis army counterparts might bog down as they waited for experts to be called in or just abandon the tank altogether.

There exists an innate desire in Americans to do-it themselves. Something wells up inside and we say "I can do this!" or at least we have to try. It stems from our sense of self-reliance which is a Great America Series topic for another day.

In the past when faced with challenges, Americans didn't wait for someone else to bail them out. In fact in the very early days, there wasn't anyone to bail them out; so they pulled together and did what needed to be done to get the problem solved.

So American know-how is born of adversity.

Thomas Edison, an icon of American know-how, said "I haven't failed once. I've just found 10,000 ways that didn't work". In G. Glenwood Clark's, 1950 biography of Edison ("Thomas Alva Edison", Berkley Publishing Corp. New York, NY), he describes one of the inventor's numerous demonstrations of American know-how: Edison took a job with the Western Union office in Boston. Shortly after arriving he learned that the office was overrun with roaches. Edison pulled out his "roach exterminator", a couple of strips of tin foil pasted to the wall and attached to a battery, and soon the first victim was zapped!

There was a problem and he believed he could come up with a solution so he just did it. Over a century later others applied their own "know-how", improved his device and marketed his bug-zapper.

In doing a little internet research for this topic, I came across a comment posted on soldierant.net (I know nothing about this site - it just popped up on Google). It was about modern day soldiers trying to find a way to deal with IED's in the War on Terror. Someone had a toy radio-controlled car sent over. When troops saw a suspicious object, they'd just send the car to bump it. If it moved easily that indicated it was light and therefore not explosive - if it was heavy, they called in help.

Ben Franklin may be the father of American Know-How. The man was always wondering, figuring, thinking and apparently enjoying himself all the while. He came up with ideas for streetscapes and city designs, lightning rods to prevent house fires; designed a better street lamp and with his 14 Points he even tried to improve himself - he was a true Renaissance man!

So how come it's "American" know-how - why not "planet" know-how or "multicultural" know-how?

Though I truly believe in what Rush Limbaugh refers to as American Exceptionalism, I do not believe American "know-how" stemmed from some greater intelligence that we possessed. We weren't American "know-it-alls"; no, it emerged because of our system. In America there was LIBERTY to seek answers, the FREEDOM to fail and the OPPORTUNITY to try again. This was possible because our system of government and our economic structure were all bent toward staying out of the way. Sometimes that meant that Americans didn't have as many safeguards, they weren't as protected. There was no one standing over your shoulder to be sure you didn't harm yourself or some endangered species.

Americans had "know-how" because they were free to TRY. They were free to fail and try again and again. In America today it seems that all the powers that be are always trying to protect us from something. Whether it be radon, nuclear holocaust, greenhouse gases, CO2 emission, bicycle crashes, second hand smoke, chlorofluorocarbons, too much free speech in politics, mono sodium-glutamate, or peanuts they are always trying to save us - and built into every protection is a reduction in freedom. With every diminished liberty - we see a decrease in that precious commodity, know-how.

Everyone can probably remember someone in your childhood that exemplified this anomaly. Remember, that pathetic, over-protected child who - like Henry Fussy in "Charlotte's Web" - was forced to stay indoors and couldn't risk a head cold or a skinned knee?

Is that our plight? To become a nation of Henry Fussy's? Perhaps not. Perhaps liberty will come back into vogue.

Once we trumpeted American know-how, in John F. Kennedy's Rice University Speech (the lead- in You Tube video) in 1962 - he talked about how our scientific knowledge was growing at a remarkable pace, he talked about the advances of the 20th century and then he laid out a challenge: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and to do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard!"

He promoted the advances - bragged about them and then established a new challenge. He called upon a nation of problem-solvers to jump in there and meet that challenge.

National pride has its place. And that brings me to the last point.

In back of all our advances throughout the centuries; underneath every example of good ole' American know-how, there was a belief that our place, our benefits, even our abilities came - not from within - but from above.

There was a national recognition that God was our source.

He provided the means for us to accomplish great things. And because our founders recognized God's gift of liberty - they established a system of government that would provide opportunities for men and women to discover, to create, to improve, to innovate... to fix things.

Good ole American know how is God's endowment to us. Let's not fling it away too easily, but rather, let's cherish it.

scene from Apollo 13 illustrating American Know-How

Historic Triangle Vacation

Brand New Day!

I ran across an Associated Press story on The Drudge Report that set me thinking. It was entitled: "Everything Seemingly Spinning Out of Control" by Alan Fram and Eileen Putnam (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_us/out_of_control). I ignored the headline the first couple times I saw it, and finally decided to check it out. I really don't look for stories of "doom and gloom" and "the world is coming to an end". Aside from a couple of refreshing references to Horatio Alger,Jr. the story pretty much reaches the typical conclusions - we are in a malaise and our future is, at best, uncertain.

With that story as a launching pad, my mind sprang to a Biblical story as I drove in to work this morning. In 2 Kings 6 the Syrians had built a siege against a portion of Israel and the king of Israel was blaming Elisha - God's man.

The purpose of a siege is to cut of supplies from entering the city. Eventually the folks inside give up or die of starvation. So things got pretty desperate. You think $4 per gallon gas prices are bad... that's nothing! These folks were spending all their money for anything that even resembled food - "donkey-heads", bird droppings and the like. At one point, many resorted to cannibalism. I'll stop there - you can read the details for yourself - the Bible doesn't pull any punches.

Now, for a moment put yourself in that situation. We are pretty upset when our grocery bill escalates a little; this was true destitution.

Our concerns today about "everything spinning out of control" are nothing compared to the plight of these people.

What if, in the midst of all that filth and starvation, someone with authority and good sense stood up and said... "this will all be over tomorrow - food in abundance and prices will return to normal".

Yeah, right.

Well that's just what happened. Elisha, the man of God mentioned earlier, stood up and said something just like that. (see 2 Kings 7).

An official of the king mouthed off (that's Southern for "replied")- "If the windows of heaven opened up it wouldn't be enough to get us out of this mess!"

Now that sounds not unlike the arguments spouted today by those against exploring for more oil here in the U.S. and near our shores. You know they mockingly say (read with mocking voice) "well even if we found oil - and we don't know that we will - it would be years before it would affect our fuel prices!!"

One thing is for sure... if we don't search for it, we will not find it.

Okay back to my story.

It happened just like the man of God said it would. You should read the story for yourself but it involved four completely hopeless outcasts who decided to get up and do something - even if they failed, they would go down trying.

These four diseased derelicts - despondent and destitute - stood up on trembling knees and determined to give themselves up to the enemy; prisoners of war get bread and water don't they? And even if they didn't get fed, perhaps they could infect a few of them on their way to the gallows.

It was those four disenfranchised ones that discovered that God had scared off the enemy and those Syrians had left all their stuff behind.

Now if we are not careful, we may get the idea that the only message of this little comparative story is that we should get up and do something.

Hardly.

The point is that Someone had it all under control. He chose when to end the desperation and those four outsiders took action in His time.

Maybe someone should be asking, what God is thinking about all this "spinning out of control".
Is it really out of control or does He still hold it all in His hands?

Maybe I should be asking what role He wants me to take?

A crazy man on the inside saying crazy things, standing up against the majority; or a crazy man on the outside doing crazy things and having little to lose -risking it all to take action.

Back to Work Blues

Despite my best laid plans, I will not be able to post vacation pictures at this time - was that a collective sigh of relief I just heard?

For some reason, my camera and my computer are presently not speaking to one another. Perhaps they will patch things up or I will be able to perform an end around and get my pictures downloaded soon.

As I thought about posting those pictures, I thought - there is just not much difference between having a blog these days and having guests into your living room a couple decades ago. Do you remember the folks that would invite you over for dinner and then would drag out the slide projector. And you had to look at pictures of very pasty people in very wildly colored bathing suits - donning scuba gear and horsey-floats, all drenched and grinning from ear to ear. It was always somehow rewarding to see those same people in later slides just as drenched but this time they were fully clothed to avoid further exposure to the sun, and just past their beet red cheeks you could see a painfully forced smile.

Well the beauty of seeing vacation slides on a blog is that you can leave the site at any point without offending anyone. Perhaps you will have the opportunity to avoid my vacation pictures soon.

Today is the last day of my vacation and I have begun to look mournfully toward the week ahead. On our recent trip, I noticed people from time to time, talking on their cell phones or texting while sitting beside the pool. Or perhaps they would be standing along some sidewalk to obtain a better cell reception - talking away. Now some were talking to friends or family but at least a few of them were talking to someone at work. 'Just had to check on this or that or to get up to speed on some upcoming project... that's not me.

I fairly like my job. Sometimes I am really excited about it. I gain a certain amount of satisfaction from the feeling that my work is meaningful.

But when I go on vacation - I am outta' there - in other words, I pretty much forget everything that's going on. Now this normally means that I am in for a rude awakening upon my return and I usually have some difficult days of readjusting.

On some occasions when I have taken time off but stayed in close communication with work, my transition back to work has been much smoother; but I don't think my vacation has served it's proper purpose.

These past few days, I have been completely removed from work and any thoughts in that area, so Monday morning hangs ominously over my head.

But you know what? It's worth it.

I have spent a number of days doing worthwhile stuff with the three people in the entire world that I would most rather do worthwhile stuff with - my family.

In fact they are also the three people I would choose first on my list of people to do absolutely nothing with.

Jesus told His disciples to "come apart" for awhile. That's what vacations are - just coming apart for a time and we need that. I think it was Charles Swindoll who called this "coming apart so you don't fall apart".

So vacations are good. And I, for one, am in favor of more of them....

...perhaps starting tomorrow.

I'm Back!

If you missed me - I checked out for a week.

We have been on a much needed vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia. I didn't talk about it prior to our leaving, just in case there are miscreants that happen upon this blog. And while I welcome any readers- even miscreants -I would prefer that they not know when I am away from my home.

I have been truly refreshed and - I think - inspired by this trip.

This is the first educational trip R. and I have taken in our nearly twenty years of marriage (well, I did visit the U.S.S. Alabama during a trip to Orange Beach, Alabama). It has been something of a dream for us to be able to take our children to explore the rich history that makes up this great nation. We tried to wait until they both could endure such activity and at ages 9 and 6 - they're close. I was very impressed with them - AA at six, was obviously bored at times but he stuck with it.

We took in the Historic Triangle of the Williamsburg area: Jamestown - the oldest English settlement, Colonial Williamsburg - a living history museum portraying life in the 18th century, and Yorktown - the site of the last major conflict of the Revolutionary War.

The last stop this morning on our way out was a return to the Jamestown Settlement gift shop for the kids to tap out their souvenir savings. This was a planned purchase: AA would buy an authentic-looking sword and Ab would buy an authentic-looking bow and arrow.

When we finally got home (after 10 PM) they came alive with anticipation. They planned the creation of an Indian Village similar to the one we saw at Jamestown and a Continental Army Encampment like the one we saw at Yorktown. In a short time they had their newly purchased weapons on hand. Ab had pulled out a t-shirt with fringes that she had decorated for Thanksgiving some time back, she donned an inverted skirt (to give a rough, fringed appearance). AA wore his tri-cornered Patriot hat and found some appropriate shoes and tucked the bottom of his pants into his white socks. He spoke of being George Washington - the Commander in Chief, Ab asked about feasible admission prices to her "village".

Now at this point, I don't harbor a lot of hope that this enthusiasm for the history of our nation will linger at it's current level, but perhaps a seed has been planted.

For me, I have found a fresh admiration for the founders; for America and her unique origins - for the remarkable grace of God that has covered us through the centuries!

It all came to bear on Wednesday night. The kids and I had ridden bicycles down to the General Store leaving Mom with a few minutes of sanity. When we returned, Hannity and Colmes was on and they were talking about Obama and Obama's wife and McCain his position on something... and I realized that for almost a week I had been removed from today's politics.

In recent years, I have tried to even avoid Hannity and Limbaugh during vacation in an effort to really leave it all behind for a time. My last exposure the political scene had been a tortured attempt at hearing Rush Limbaugh on the trip up to Virginia on the preceding Friday.

But the contrast between the deep, sacrificial -almost sacred - politics of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and their contemporaries and that of the shallow, self-serving political "dainties" of today was palpable.

We have drifted so far.

If the inspiration in me holds out - and I hope it does - you will read more about this in later posts, but I want to close this post with an experience that brought tears to my eyes.

We toured the Capitol building where the Royal Governor of the Virginia colony had once sat. Opposite his side of the building was the "people's" side where the House of Burgess met during the time that England still ruled the colonies.

The attractive elderly lady dressed in 18th century elegance spoke to the group in passion as she talked of Patrick Henry and how he had on that very location - thrown down the gauntlet as he declared to the other representatives that "taxation without representation is tyranny!". She said a young William and Mary student had visited the chambers that day to hear the proceedings and was struck with those words. His name was Thomas Jefferson and some time later he would pen the very words that smoldered - unexpressed - in the hearts of all that loved liberty as he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

How pale our current "crises" grow in the light of the great challenges to which these few gave themselves!

Did they know? Did they have any idea of how the nation they helped set in motion would flourish?

Someone knew.

I think those founders knew that if anything would come of their efforts it would be because He willed it.

What a privilege to live in America. What a blessing!

The Sixth Season

"Dad, I wish we could watch season number six of "The Waltons"

Ab is our oldest, and she has an amazing sense of diligence! A summer or so back, she determined to read 100 books over the summer - and did! Right now she is saving money for a laptop (I think this feat has been going on in earnest for about 8 months) and has turned into an entrepreneurial machine! She has manufactured book marks to sell and is in the process of developing a business plan (of sorts) to make Lia's out of yarn. As you can tell, I am in awe of this child's persistence; but persistence is a two-edged sword and it cuts both ways. That same drive prompts her to hang on to things like a snapping turtle: past injustices, unfulfilled requests, misdeeds of little brothers.

It was the negative side of her nature that produced the mournful lament you saw at the opening of this post. This statement or one like it, have been made repeatedly over the past few months - ever since we banned the kids from watching season six of The Waltons.

AA, peering over my shoulder a few moments ago suggested that I include him - he reminded me that he is prone to ask often about his watching Star Wars: Episode III. His requests are more compliant as fitting with his nature and tend to come in the form of comments about what might be on that mysterious conclusion that he is not allowed to watch.

Mom is not much for reminiscing over childhood days; I, on the other hand, relish my childhood - many would argue that I am still in it! One of the rare notations that R. has made about her childhood was the fact that her family always watched "The Waltons". So, some time back I ran across the shows first season on DVD and bought it for her. Subsequent seasons followed and for nearly a year we had a virtual "Walton's Marathon" in our home. R and Ab are the big fans, AA and I will sit through an episode now and then just for the company.

At some point in the waning years of the show (probably late 70's), the program sort of lost it's zing. I presume it was in an effort to shake things up, but in season number six people began swearing on The Waltons (for my fellow travelers of the South, that's cussing). It seemed that in every show, there came the obligatory "h-" or "d-" word.

We have taken a tact in parenting that will seem prudish or Victorian to some, but it is the route we think best. That is to construct close boundaries for our kids. In other words, we feel that if a child is consistently required to go to bed at 8:30 and he is -on some special occasion- allowed to stay up until 9:00... well the kid's will feel sure that it must be Christmas or something!
In keeping with that strategy, we have closely monitored what our children watch on television (this is easier to do if we - not the cable company or "Dish" network - make the decisions about what is available).

Because of this, our children are aware that there are certain words that they should not say... they refer to them as "the 's'-word" (that's stupid), "the 'd'-word (that's dumb)", and the dreaded 'f'-word (fat). That's another example of close boundaries. I had much rather one of my children slip and say that 'd' word than the other one. Although, a short time back Ab shocked us all by clearly pronouncing the other "s-word" and asking what it meant. Apparently some of her classmates had spelled it and she -avid speller that she is- enunciated the word perfectly (to the laughter of her mates). Hiding our shock (and smiling at her innocence) Mom and I explained that that word was not appropriate - ever.

So when John Walton went from just laying out of church on Sunday, to cussing like a sailor - we decided to ban the DVD's until the kids are older and can better discern.

But something else R. and I have noticed is the new-found sensitivity she and I have after being away from network television for a time (in an earlier post I talk about our decision to pull the plug on cable television). On vacation, we will watch television and are often shocked by what we see and hear. Most of what we see is course, brazen and void of creativity. We sometimes will watch movies that she and I watched as young adults only to remark -"I can't believe all that stuff was in that movie!". We notice it when other people will comment about shows or movies by saying -"It was a good story it just had a lot of language and a few bad parts" - we notice this because we used to say the same things.

There was a term that was once more common in the vernacular, called "self-restraint". It was similar to the "close boundaries" concept - it was the opposite of instant gratification. It was the idea of withholding things until the proper time and place. It involved inconveniencing one's self in order to prefer someone else. It lead to a civility that is not so evident today.

Do you reckon we could get that back?

I'm no expert - but I think it involves saying "no"; "no" to ourselves first ... and then "no" to our children and grandchildren. Oh they will smart over it - possibly whine a little- but so do we when we are told "no". But maybe - just maybe - over time, if a lot of people join in... we might just see some things change.

....good night John-boy....

Trouble in Egypt

Listening to my pastor's sermon this week - he brought out an important point which linked up with some thoughts inspired by another blog (http://www.chrisjwood.net/)I had recently read; this in turn, triggered the following post:

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies . . . .” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. . . Exodus 1: 8-11 NKJV


In case you are unfamiliar with the story that chronicles the origins of the nation of Israel and the nation of Egypt, you may want to read it beginning in Genesis 37. In short, God had arranged things such that Joseph (one of the sons of Jacob) would end up as a prisoner in Egypt. In God's timing and through Joseph's gift of interpreting dreams, he found himself standing before Pharaoh and advising him on how to deal with an upcoming famine he had dreamed about. Pharaoh took his advise and promoted Joseph to second-in-command. Almost single handed, Joseph organized a campaign to first store up food supplies during seven years of plenty and then he managed the distribution of those supplies during the next seven years of famine.

At the end of the story, the nation of Israel - which was at that time just a very large family - moved into Egypt to ride out the remainder of the famine.

Years passed - even centuries - Israel grew into a great number of people. Joseph and his brothers died, people forgot about the history of those two nations. Finally a new king came into power who did not remember Joseph and had no real regard for his descendants.

At this point, the nation of Israel had outgrown Egypt and yet they had become enslaved by the Egyptians. My pastor said that he knew of no specific record of the point in time at which Israel stopped being guests of the Egyptians and became slaves. Apparently they gave up their freedom in incremental fashion.

The people of the United States of America have long had a reputation for having a healthy distrust of government. This is evidenced in the following quotes from some of the Founders:

"That government is best which governs least" -Thomas Paine

"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority" -Benjamin Franklin

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. -Benjamin Franklin

For the past fifty years we have been trusting our government more - willing to trade off liberties here and there in order to attain security.

In his inaugural address, President Kennedy said "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country!". Do any recent presidential candidates say things like that? No, they are talking about how they are going to work to establish this program or stop these people from getting rich, or fund this or that or to give "hope" or "change" or whatever the catch-word of week is.

They are speaking as if we are asking: "What is my country going to do for me?"

This seems to be the political trend of the day... from"the Great Society" to "Warner-Lieberman Act" it seems that every piece of legislation is about "saving" some people group or - I presume with "Warner-Lieberman" - the idea is to save the world. All at the expense of taxpayers and without regard to the success of such programs.

Little by little, people have been convinced to opt for security rather than liberty. And slowly, we are succumbing to bondage just like the Israelites.

It is disconcerting that Egypt's new king cared nothing for the contribution the Israelites had made; but even more disturbing is the fact that the Israelites themselves forgot who they were.
By the time Moses came along to lead them out, they were so ensconced in that slave mentality that it would take an entire generation for them to really shake off the Egyptian-servitude- mindset.

It appears very likely that from this year's election in America, a new leader will emerge who knows nothing of the "Joseph's" that moved this nation to her place of prominence. A leader who has no appreciation for the sacrifice, the wisdom and the piety of our Founders; no regard for this culture of freedom, self-reliance, capitalism and reason.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Pivotal Moments - Strange Visitors

It was a pivotal point in his life.


He had not lived a life one could be proud of. He got what he had by hook or by crook... he scrapped, he cheated, he tricked, he lied.

And though after twenty years of dogged persistence and unyielding determination, his perseverance had earned him success; he was still lost.


He was separated from his family. He had betrayed his brother and taken advantage of his father's frailty.


He had lost his mother. When she had helped him pack his bags and whisked him out the back door to escape his brother's fury ...

... he didn't know that it was the last time he would ever see her.

Now this man of great wealth, this father of numerous children, was heading home - and he was frightened. Life had hemmed him in and to return seemed his only alternative.

So certain was he that his brother was still angry after all these years, that he divided up all his goods and his family so that if the brother lashed out against one group, the other could flee to safety.

What a miserable spot.

That night a strange Being showed up and wrestled with him.

The man in this story is Jacob, who would later be called Israel. And this "strange Being" that wrestled with him was a heavenly visitor. Some call Jacob's opponent a "man" ... but I believe it was none other than Jesus Christ.

You see that Midnight Wrestler changed Jacob's name to Israel, which means God-wrestler.

Jacob wrestled with God!

Now that is somewhat my opinion and if you doubt it - I don't believe it is essential that you believe it. However, I will tell you that thinking that way reminds me that the Unchangeable, Eternal Christ still shows up in our miserable spots and He turns them into pivotal moments.

If you read the story in Genesis 32, you will find that Jacob was often called God-wrestler after that and his walk was different - he was different!

There are other instances when - I believe - true to His nature, Jesus faded into the scene and then faded out again at important junctures in the lives of people.

In Genesis 14, He arrived on a field of victory. But the victor was not feeling so good.

Abraham had just mustered his trained servants and they had gone into battle on behalf of some wicked kings. He wouldn't have had to be involved had his nephew, Lot, not gotten mixed up with this bunch. Anyway, Abraham and his militia had saved the unworthy necks of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their ilk and had rescued Lot and his family. What's more, his integrity wouldn't allow him to accept any gifts from these sinful men. So his efforts had seemingly allowed evil to continue to flourish in those cities of the plain and he was none the richer for it.

So this victory was bittersweet, he had saved his nephew - only to have him return to the wicked cities and learn nothing from the incident; he did what he had to do but the experience had to be disappointing.

Then, I believe it was Jesus that showed up in the form of a priest named, Melchizedek. Like Jesus, Melchizedek had no beginning or end, he was a priest but from a different order, and he was both Prince and Priest. And like Jesus, Melchizedek showed up at a pivotal moment.

For Abraham, when there was just nothing good to show for his Herculean efforts... Jesus -er- Melchizedek arrived with joyful wine and bread that would strengthen him and Melchizedek blessed him.

Desperate times, disappointing times, times of confusion - even today these are times in which Jesus will often arrive on the scene.

Sometimes His presence is foreboding and we struggle with Him in solitude. In those moments He might just wrestle us down to the point of realizing who we truly are on the inside.

Sometimes His presence may be strange and gregarious like that mysterious Priest who appeared in Abraham's moment of disillusion and brought joy and strength and blessings.

He's the "friend that sticks closer than a brother" and He, Himself said He "would never leave" us so we can trust in the fact that He is always near. But beyond that, in those times of inner conflict, He will sometimes reveal Himself in strange, unexpected ways.

And it is His presence that transforms those times into pivotal moments.

The Normandy invasion June 6th 1944 ; WW 2 footage

Please take just a moment to view this video on this somber day ... remember.

What a price those young men paid!

God has blessed our nation with the awesome gift of freedom...but it isn't free. It must be defended - sometimes on our own soil - in congress, in schools, where ever the issue arises.
Sometimes it must be defended on gray, sandy beaches a world away.
Some defend it with the words. Some with other resources.

On D-day, a host of young troops defended it with their very lives.

God Bless You.

We owe such a debt to these brave men and to all the courageous that have followed (and are following today) in their tradition!

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS [VIDEO TRAILER]

For the Birds

We have lived in our home a little over four years now. Shortly after we moved in we were joined by another family; they didn't ask for sanctuary but they found it in our uncovered chimney.



Our house is nestled in a small patch of woods and those first few days we were overrun with wildlife on whose habitat we were trespassing: snakes, tree frogs, lizards, deer, turkey, an owl or two and some coyote. Through the years, most of these animals have yielded the ground to us with the exception of the family or families that visit our chimney each year.



They are chimney sweeps. When we first discovered what they were we considered trying to get rid of them or at least to cover the chimney in such a way as to discourage their nesting; but as I read a little more about them, we decided to let them stay.



These fellows migrate in from South America each year (if memory serves) and they consume thousands of mosquitoes. Sure enough, we have relatively few mosquitoes and yet our nearby neighbors seem to have an abundance.



So here's the deal: each year from April til about September, we give them use of our chimney. We put up with their chirping (actually have grown to like it to some extent) and in exchange we have fewer mosquito bites.



They come back every year - this year and last year (the only two that I have recorded) they came back during the same week.



Imagine, these amazing animals -designed specifically by their Creator to cling to walls - travel thousands of miles to stay at our house and consume our mosquitoes.



It makes us feel special.



Now on the front side of our house is a porch with pillars and in this area we have another relentless avian visitor. Each year, she - or one of her descendants - returns to nest on our front porch.



Now initially, we thought she was a purple Martin but have since abandoned that conclusion - we don't know what she is - except for "stubborn"!



R. has more of a problem with her than I do. On her first visit, I wanted to encourage her - I thought it would be neat for the children to have the opportunity to watch the baby birds grow.



Well, as I recall - she had problems that first year - I don't think she ever hatched any eggs. It is possible that she left eggs in the nest at the end of the season. But she did build a nest - at least one, and its construction was heavy with mud. I remember because the red clay drained down our white columns as we tried to clean up after her.



Since that time she has come back. Sometimes we have taken her nest down only to have her return and build again.



Steadfast in her determination.



Take this year for instance. Early in the Spring, we began to notice her lurking about. Soon there was a very neat nest constructed on top of one of the columns. If it is the same bird, she has honed her craft quite nicely.



Not long after, we began to notice her staying in the nest and soon there were three tiny upended beaks... they grew quickly into three "Baby-Huey's" barely contained by the quaint little nest.

And they left their mark! This is the reason R. does not welcome the front porch dwellers. All over the porch near the nest there were bird droppings.



This year we got some new furniture for the front porch, we like to sit out there occasionally in the early mornings and late evenings. As we were setting the pieces in place, we kept glancing warily at the three whoppers in that nest - they were equally wary of us. Finally, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail (names which I just came up with) all decided it was time to leave the nest - the last one flying -dive-bomber style- directly toward R. successfully forcing her off the side of the porch where she nearly landed in the rose bushes below. I watched and laughed - from a good distance away- having nonchalantly fled the scene when Flopsy first tried his wings!



We checked often that night and the family never returned. So the next afternoon, I removed the nest and cleaned up the droppings. We, then began to enjoy our new furnishings.



And for awhile, all was well on the porch. But she came back. That little mom just couldn't refrain from her orders to replenish the earth!



Undaunted by the discovery of her missing nest, she set in to rebuilding.

Not being as industrious or nearly as energetic as this flying-flower-of-fertility, I did not get the new nest removed before she was once again sitting for long periods of time.



Now I am forced to formulate a plan as to how to keep "Family Number Two" from soiling our new furniture.



Man against nature.



But I have to admit that I am pretty impressed with this little lady.

She never gives up.

She never plays the victim.

She never chooses another porch.

You have to admire that loyalty.



And to top it off, I have never seen a man around- apparently "daddy" is a Dead-beat-bird. But never does she complain - she's too busy fulfilling her life's mission.



I could learn something here. I just know there is a lesson in this!



Psalm 102:7-8 NLT I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof. My enemies taunt me day after day. They mock and curse me.



Matthew 10:29 NLT What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.





Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Cardboard Testimonies

This is a moving video.
Read on for more on being real.

Real

Having been born on the bitter edge of the Baby Boom generation, but having siblings that were older and more firmly ensconced in that enigmatic era - I can identify with that time period. Now let me quickly insert that I do not necessarily want to be linked with that generation; but I identify with many of the trappings of those times. I remember something of the Beatles and Elvis. I remember dances like the Jerk and the Twist. I also remember catch-phrases that seemed to be big in those days. One of those was "get REAL!" - remember that? Perhaps you still hear it occasionally. It was employed to make the recipient feel that their thoughts were out of touch with reality.

I think the real promoted by baby Boomers was more about selfish desires and hedonism. But I want to share something about being real that has stayed with me for quite a number of years.

I first ran across this excerpt in a book by Charles Swindoll, called "Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living" (WORD, Waco,TX. 1981). Swindoll pulled this from a children's story called "The Velveteen Rabbit" . . .

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

I don't remember ever hearing that story as a child but it was one of the first long stories I read to our children. And most every time I read it, that scene in the dark nursery between the Skin Horse and the Velveteen Rabbit struck home.

Life's abrasive bumps and knocks tend to break us down and to make us become real.

On at least one occasion, the Bible addresses this concept:

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Hebrews 4:13 NLT

We tend to wear "masks" - smiling through our troubles or trying to keep stiff upper lips. But God has a sort of "spiritual X-ray vision" that penetrates through any facades that we may build.

To Him, everything is real.

And that can be comforting. Because in spite of all the ugly stuff I want to hide from everyone else - He knows about it and loves me anyway. His is not a love that excuses my faults; but one that forgives them and invites me to let Him change me.

For real.


The Velveteen Rabbit OR HOW TOYS BECOME REAL by Margery Williams / Illustrations by William Nicholson DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. Garden City, New York

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.