A New Years Note to My Family.

Dad's been bemused lately by a semi truck we saw when we were going to Ogallala. Well, not really the truck; he sees those every day. It was the message on the side.

Jesus is coming back on May 21, 2011.

Now I'm not into dates. I mean, not that kind. I think Jesus meant it when he said that no one knew the day or the hour when God would decide to send Him back for the "kids."
But each day we stay on this planet is one day closer to the day we leave it. And those of us who don't go out feet first, will rise. We aren't guaranteed a definite stay. It's not like a motel where you know checkout time is 11:00.

Chad wasn't planning on leaving on Sept. 23, 1995. He probably had an agenda for that Saturday. But he left.
And that's my point. We span the gamut between preborn and 94. Some of us are in to cars and some into tatoos. Some of us like sushi. Some of us won't even eat a steak rare. But this we all have in common. We all will leave at one point or another. And this is my point. It COULD be May 21st, 2011. Or tomorrow morning. Or in 10 seconds.
But on this New Years Eve, I would like to ask you all to think about your lives. Have you asked Jesus to be the savior of your eternal life? The preserver of your soul?

The most wonderful gift God has given me, outside of His Son, is you. I don't want to leave you behind in 2010. Or in 2011. I don't want to leave you behind at all. I want to know that when the rapture takes place, those of us who are still walking this earth will join those of us who have gone on ahead. I want to know that the great times we have on Christmas day when all of us gather won't be over.

So if you haven't made that decision ( and you know who you are) PLEASE make it now. Tomorrow comes sooner than you think.
I LOVE YOU ALL

ETHICS? WHERE?

Here's a riddle for the new year. How many electricians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
NONE.
They won't come to your house to screw in a light bulb, or to install a light fixture, or to fix faulty wiring. They won't come unless your entire house needs to be rewired and they can see a thousand dollar tab in the making.
In September of 2010, we contacted a local electrical company to help with some problems in our rental house. I'm not using their name, but it was LOCAL. To their credit, they made an appearance and did a bit of work (basically a honey-do.) They said it would be a little bit before they could get back.
I understood. I'm no more important that the clients who called before me. THAT WAS SEPTEMBER.

In October, I called them and was told they would get to us as soon as they could.
In November I called them and --guess what? They were just about to call me ( or so they said.) They would be there VERY SOON. Probably that week.
In early December, a friend of ours whose cousin works for another electrical contractor said to call his company. I did, and explained our problem. They said no one should be treated like that, and they would put us on their schedule and someone would call us. Guess what?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSINESS ETHICS?
I understand that the priority is bucks. That's hard to swallow, especially in a small town where we supposedly care for one another, but....
The thing is, why lie? If you don't intend to come, why not say so?
I have no idea how good the companies in question are. All I know about them is that they are LIARS.
So here's the plan. We get together and bring in a homeless electrician's family from Denver. We give him free rent for 6 months and get the city and gas company to do the same. And we scare up some jobs for him until he gets on his ( or her) feet.
We welcome him into the community with open arms and let him do all those jobs the other guys are putting on hold for the day when they have nothing else to do. And pretty soon, maybe "nothing else" will be ALL the other guys have to do.

Twas the day after Christmas...

WE KNEW where the Paperjam Drums were, but where was the back to the battery case? For that matter, where was the package of twenty double A's I bought? Never mind. Paperjams take triple A's, like the camera and the remote control vehicles. Which makes the fact that I bought double A's irrelevant...unless you actually wanted to USE any of those things.
Irrelevant like the stack of Christmas cards I found around 2:00pm. Too bad I didn't find them earlier...say, two weeks ago for instance. I could have mailed them.
They weren't with the dish of cranberry relish I found on the dryer, or I would have discovered them when I found THAT delectable bit of slime.
SO, off to church. The family was singing Oh Holy Night. We prayed about it, and I knew it would go well in spite of the fact that I had misplaced the accompaniment track we were supposed to use and we had to sing accapella.
But THAT went well, as I said. God was not surprised that I lost the music.
The dog's food bowl was empty. I felt terrible; I wasn't sure I had remembered to feed her on Christmas Day, and she spent much of that day alone. So, the fact that she stared at me with baleful eyes didn't shock me. But my remorse over forgetting her needs led me to do something which I would regret later. I gave her the leftover turkey drippings. I poured all that rich, golden broth over her Kibbles and Bits and she lapped up every drop.
She was one happy pup.
For a while.
That evening, as we watched one of the beautiful Christmas programs we had recorded, Charlie went to the kitchen to refill his coffee. We heard his hard-soled boots as he left the carpet of the dining room and stepped onto the kitchen tile.We heard the whoosh as he left the tile and hit the air. We heard his landing as he came down on the puddle of dog throw-up he had slipped in.
We rushed into the kitchen, where we saw Charlie sitting on the floor, wiping his goopy hands on his already gooped slacks. He was fine.
That's when one of the kids made the statement which I can only compare to Tiny Tim's sage, "Gawd bless us, every one."
"Dang," said Marques. " I can't even do the splits!"

HEY KID! YOU CAN'T WEAR PJ'S TO SCHOOL UNTIL YOU CAN SPELL PAJAMAS AND USE IT IN A SENTENCE.

So the kid comes down ready for school in the pajamas he wore last night. I tell him he can't wear them to school and he tells me he's going to.
My thirteen year old ( not the kid in pajamas) says, "Lots of kids wear their pajamas to school."
REALLY? I thought there was a dress code.
You mean kids are sitting in class in lounge pants, without enough respect for their teachers or for their classmates to dress?
AND THE TEACHERS AND PARENTS WONDER WHY KIDS HAVE SUCH BAD ATTITUDES IN SCHOOL?
I can just envision English class. Several kids are draped over their desks, some barely awake. Many haven't combed their hair or ( from the smell of their breath) brushed their teeth.
TEACHER: Can anyone give me an example of a compound sentence?
KID: (Yawns and scratches head) Jim and me went to the store and bought us some sodas? Is that what you mean Danky?
( Notice here that the student is calling the teacher by a nickname.)
TEACHER: Well, the grammar wasn't correct, but you have the idea. Anyone else?
ANOTHER "STUDENT": ( Takes long draught from "waterbottle" full of Mountain Dew) I broke my Playstation 3 controller so I had to use my one from my number 2, which didn't work?
TEACHER: You guys are getting the hang of this. (Ducks as a half-eaten candy bar soars overhead...laughter errupts. Another young man says, "D###**" I meant that for Manny. I missed."
Suddenly, a young man in the back pulls a knife and threatens another student. A kid at a desk against the wall fondles a giggling girl and another student is backed against the wall shaking in terror. The teacher stands, his glasses broken and his prized collection of jazz records smashed to pieces, and...
OH, wait.
That's a movie I saw. Blackboard Jungle. I wondered why all this sounded so familiar. Nothing like this could happen in real life. COULD IT?
Then again, even in Blackboard Jungle kids weren't allowed to wear their pajamas to school....

Poem For A Moment of Self-Pity

Underfoot, the crunch of brittle leaves.
Overhead, newly-naked branches, stiff-
Embarrassed, being caught off-guard,
Bare, open to the gaze of strangers.
Fall shrinks back from such and shrivels down
Curled-edged, with seedpods rattling and brown.
Steps taken on the road less-traveled
Lead to unbroken paths, alien wilderness.
Snow pitted with tracks of rabbits, deer,
Bright ringed pheasant …but no human trail.
Fall, bellwether to stark winter:
The old fraud lures us with warm, soft-edged days
Scented with wood smoke and apple cider,
Then delivers us to icy halls of frail and aching bones.
Trails traveled with mincing, timid steps,
Stooped back, weak and watery gaze.
Dreams tinged with bittersweet,
The memories of summers long-since passed.

Christmas Thoughts

In church, last Sunday, we prayed for people whose Christmas is colored by sadness. People like the family of the Evans, Co. officer killed in the line of duty. Like the mother whose child was the victim of a hit-and-run driver in November. Like the dads whose sons are serving overseas. Like the beautiful teenager who looks into the mirror and sees failure and ugliness.
No one has a corner on sadness. Not me and not you.
People, especially we Christians, tend to pontificate at this season about how we need to get our eyes off our troubles and onto the Savior. He came to give us joy, we tell all the sad-faced, teary-eyed people we meet. And it's absolutely true.
But I remember so well my first Christmas without my son...how my heart reacted to those messages when they were aimed at me. It shriveled. It hardened. And it whispered to my spirit, "They have no idea how dark our world is at Christmas."
You see, faith without works is dead. And dead things can not warm cold hearts nor encourage failing hopes. Oh, the words are true enough, but the life is in the Spirit. Dead words delivered to a drowning soul will not save them from the "sorrow that rolls like sea billows."
But a smile will, even without words. A hug might, if it is given at the right time. And empathetic silence covers a multitude of well-intentioned but ill-delivered platitudes. A bag of groceries delivered anonymously. A gift certificate to eat out. A giving of whatever it is you have to give.
And the prayer. Because ultimately at Christmas, as at all times, God asks us to partner up with Him in loving his world.

Death By Hot Tub

A few years ago, we went to Branson and stayed in a condo complex. One of the features of the units was a jet tub. A huge jet tub in a glass enclosed cubicle. That jet-tub ( or the cubicle) was our undoing. Who knew you couldn't use bubble bath in a jet tub?
It started out innocently enough. We stepped into the tub and hit the jet button.It stuck a little, and we had to coax it to life, but when it whirred into action, well...
Anyway, the bubble bath smelled like lavender--soothing lavender---and the bubbles sprouted rainbows as they rose. The water poured in like a warm waterfall and we giggled in wonder. We had never been in a spa-tub before. The bubbles rose, and rose...and...rose.
We shut off the tap. The bubbles kept rising.
We felt for the on/off button, now completely covered in suds. It had disappeared.
Aliens had zapped it away, and now--like an old Star Trek episode I remembered--they were watching our reactions to this life/death struggle, studying our survival instincts.
And it was a life/death struggle. As the bubbles rose to my chin. I got to my knees. We finally found the switch but it was stuck on. I thought, momentarily, about opening the cubicle door, but the bubbles were above the tub level and they would have cascaded out onto the floor and all that expensive carpet, and the complex would charge us...so I stretched my neck as far as I could and tried to keep the soap out of my nostrils.
My life passed before me and I knew I was going to die ( either that, or I was hallucinating from all the chemicals in their bubble bath.)
I thought about screaming for help, but the chances of someone hearing me were slim...which was more than I was... sitting in my all together in a tub of murderous bubbles. Did I really want the firemen to find me this way? The answer to that was a resounding NO! ( not alive, anyway. Dead, I didn't care.)
That's when the motor shut off of its own accord. Maybe it came unstuck, or maybe the aliens got bored. But we were saved. We found the drain and let the water out of the tub.
The reason this episode came to mind is the morning news. The President is hot under the collar because "they" wont let him pass "his" agenda. His policies would, he says, fix everything. Without them, we are sure to go under.
"They" ( the other side) are sure of the answer. It lies in their agenda, which he won't let them pass. Meanwhile, the debt grows higher, our kid's scores in math and science and English slip lower and lower,the hungry get hungrier, insurance rates get higher, banks get greedier...all in spite of throwing trillions of dollars at the problems.
Who knew you couldn't use bubble bath in a hot tub?

Merry Christmas, Deadbeat.

Congress battles over many things: building a bridge where there is no reason for one, studying the mating habits of slugs and, oh yes, extending unemployment benefits another year. I understand the bridge thing...maybe it's esthetically pleasing. And the slugs? Well, if studing the mating habits of slugs keeps some of our politicians from soliciting call girls...hoorah!
But unemployment?
Okay, I know it's hard to find a job in today's economy. At least, the right kind of job. In some areas of our country, there is employment available, but it doesn't pay what unemployment pays. Or even welfare.
I get that people are struggling. I get that an unemployed CEO wants employment as a CEO, or at least he wants a job which allows him to use his business savvy and to sit behind a desk. But you know what? THOSE jobs are the ones that disappeared...the jobs that are out there right now are for restaurant servers and street workers and tire shop employees.
The idea that some people have ( I'll just stay on unemployment until something in MY field opens up) doesn't work. SOME people have found a new career: they're Professionally Unemployed. I know of some people who are making more than $30,000 a year on benefits. Hey! THEY WORK FOR YOU. YOU ARE PAYING THEM TO SIT ON THEIR BUTTS.
I AM NOT against unemployment benefits, but I think there should be some way to get at them case-by-case. And if people can't make enough to get by on salaries, the State could supplement their wages...SUPPLEMENT, not SUPPLY.
There are great people out there who aren't milking the system...who are trying to find ANY employment, and it's those people who deserve our assistance. But the minority...the ones who are home watching daytime TV and taking middle-of-the-day naps on your dime...the ones who say they can't afford to work because they make more on the dole...HEY, YOU! THE COUNTRY CAN'T AFFORD FOR YOU NOT TO WORK.
There are too many honest people out busting their butts doing hard work at minimum wage, supporting you.
If the benefits expire, I'll bet a lot of people will just "suddenly" find work. But that won't help the honest people who really HAVE been looking for anything. Whose self-esteem will not allow them to sit on the public dole. It's a difficult problem. We need to figure it out.

Ruffled Feathers on the Holiday Goose or how I learned to quit struggling and embrace the ignorance of the ACLU

They're at it again, according to the news. the ACLU wants the nativity set in Denver moved to a church. The government should not support ANY religion, they say. I would refer them to the scripture found in Matthew 7, which has nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with fairness.
The ACLU challenged the rights of a charter school, which was largely Muslim, to allow school closure on Muslim holidays and to offer Muslim food in the cafeteria, among other things.
One of the observances during the legal proceedings?

"The danger here is that since essentially all mores have some religious origin, when the ACLU sues about mores it objects to, it is in effect using the courts to establish religion by selectively labeling "religious" those mores originating with religious beliefs it dislikes but not mores based on religions it approves of."

Santa Claus, for instance, has his roots in Christianity. His given name is ST. Nicolas. SOOOOOOOOO no Santa for you, ACLU.
That's right. Forget the presents, too. Oh, that isn't a Christian tradition, especially. It comes from the celebration of the Winter Solstice, which had a lot of religious participation...Celts and the Japanese...
So do the lights.
So no tree, for you. And the state should certainly NOT be lighting up the city and county building!
And on December 25th, feel free to report to work. After all, that's one of the traditional celebration days of Winter Solstice. Christianity just adopted it. You wouldn't want to observe it as a holiday from work, would you?
Another thing which originated with the Winter Solstice celebration was the feast
(So you can't, in good conscience, have a big family meal on December 25th-- or any of the other traditional Solstice observance days, for that matter)

You see, there are a lot of religions besides the mainstream ones against which you rail. Paganism is a recognized religion, for Pete's sake! A lot of customs and behaviors have their roots in observances of these religions: think Halloween, funerals and even wedding rings.
So, strip that cherished wedding band off your hands. The nerve of some people allowing that thing in government recognized marriage ceremonies! Close your drapes at Halloween and never, ever allow your children to dress up ( and if the post office hands out Tootsie Rolls to the kids that day, take them to court!)
And if the flag is lowered to observe a state funeral, well...you just march right up there and raise it again. Feel free.
Unless, of course, it's for one of your kids killed during combat...fighting to protect the real rights of EVERYONE and not just the silly nit-picked rights that keep your lawyers employed and your names in the local media.
In the words of the great WC Fields: "Go home, kids. you bother me."