I have not been a very consistent blogger this summer. Surprisingly, it’s actually been a lot more busier than the school year was and there seems to be way less time to sit in front of the computer and think long enough to write out anything worth reading.
But there is a lot I want to tell you about, so here goes . . . .
VBS!
This past week was Vacation Bible School again at Long Hollow and Alex and I got to help with the dramas! We had so much fun! During the school year, my involvement with Long Hollow had been reduced to attending a service there once a month or so since I was usually in Cookeville for the weekends, and it just felt so good to be back.
It was encouraging to see even ‘behind the curtain,’ amid the stress and hustle and bustle of putting together this huge event, that everyone that had their hands in this endeavor was doing it with the expectation that God was going to do something big that week, and become, for the first time, real in the lives of some of these children that attended. Everyone that I worked with was great. It was my third year to help with the drama- and everyone else that helped was returning again from previous years as well- but every year it’s so much fun and I’m wide-eyed and amazed to watch all that goes into making VBS happen, and I’m pleased to realize things like, yes- the people on the praise team really are as nice and friendly as you would hope they’d be when you see them up there singing on the stage. It was so exciting to be a part of that week in some very small way!
CANADA!!!!!!
In one month and twelve days I will be back in CANADA! — Not that I’m counting or anything. It will be my fifth year to go, and I suspect that as long as the church does the trip and God allows me to go, I’ll be there. I really believe that when I’m old and gray, I’ll still remember those trips up there.
For me it was a big leap of faith this year. Few of my friends that attended past trips are returning and the price of the trip nearly doubled from the last time, and well, us college kids don’t have a reputation for constantly being broke for nothin’. Seriously I have sold books to used book stores, sold clothes to used clothing stores, rolled coins, and worked my tail off at Chick-fil-A to help pay for this trip. But now, thankfully, the bulk of it is already paid for- I just need to make sure I retain enough of my clothes so that I’ll have a week’s worth to wear up there.
Fathers Day
Fathers Day is in less than three weeks. And my sisters and I want to do something special for Dad. We’re working with a budget of , oh, about zilch, so we’ll see what happens. Any suggestions? For Mothers Day we made mom breakfast and got her some hydrangeas. They’re already dead. She made a valiant effort though, and they lasted a good two weeks. We were pleasantly surprised.
Listen To One Of My New Favorite Songs
Look at this new Amy Grant song. It hasn’t even been released on a c.d. or to radio or anything yet but it is beautiful.
Well I guess that’s about it. I’m headed to St. Augustine Beach at the end of June with my friends! I can’t wait- I’m telling you that now because I sorta doubt I’ll update before then. Apparently it’s one of the oldest cities in the country, so we’re going to do a lot of sightseeing and I’ll take pictures and post them on here afterwards!!
I realize I’ve been a delinquent blogger lately- my apologies. It’s been really hectic! This past week I moved back home from Tech for the summer and here is what I have found to be true: Moving is NO FUN! It was such a pain that I decided that when I grow up I’m just going to find a house I like and stay there until I die. But now I’m all unpacked (it took me two days) and finally have a moment to breathe.
I cannot believe my freshman year is over! It flew by. And I was a little sad when it was all over. But I’m also glad to be home. Let me break it down for you this way:
Things That Are Better About Being Home
No More Cafeteria Food
No more flip flops in the shower
No more having to hide my toaster every month for “Safety Checks”
No more fire alarms being pulled at 2 in the morning (and I had a test the next day in an early class- I swear if I ever find the kid that pulled it . . . )
No more cigarette smoke seeping into my room from the room down the hall. If you only knew how many cans of Febreze I went through there
The toilets are usually a little cleaner at home . . . usually
Things That I’ll Miss About Tech This Summer
My church back in Cookeville. Mainly because they had a free lunch every week. And also because they have a great choir. But mainly the lunch.
Poet’s Coffee Shop- that place is amazing. If you’re ever in Cookeville, go there! . . . Actually you probably will by default anyway. There’s not much to see in Cookeville people.
All my friends that go to Tech but don’t live here! But they don’t live too far away- like 99% of the students live in Tennessee. Except I met a group of people from Japan. I guess Tennessee Tech is wildly popular there- or maybe they were just offered a scholarship.
Being able to do things more spontaneously- it’s easier when everybody lives within walking distance of each other.
I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things here at home. You know when you go to church camp, or on a spring break trip with your friends, and then you come back home and it takes a day of readjusting to your surroundings because you’re so used to being in the constant company of your friends and there’s a little bit of disappointment that the fun is over? . . . Or maybe that was just me. But in any event, that’s how coming home from college is, but more so. I am so glad to see my family (and my dog) again, and it really is great to be home- but it’s quite a transition from college-life.
This summer will be a busy and exciting one though! I’m back on full-time at Chick-fil-A this summer and saving up my every penny for a mission trip to Canada in July. I’ve been taking clothes to consignment shops, taking bags of coins to the “CoinStar” machine at Kroger, and working as many hours as I can so that I’ll be able to afford the trip. But I know it will be worth it. This will be my fifth year to go and it has always been such an amazing time!
Wednesday will mark Barack Obama’s 100th day in office as President of the United States. The ‘honeymoon’ for our 44th President shows no signs of letting up anytime soon, as much of the media is still willing to give him a free pass on the hard questions, he continues to enjoy widespread public support, and he still has his trusty ole’ teleprompter feeding him his every line. Except when it messes up, like it did this morning. Or that time on the campaign trail.Classic.
But a closer look at Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office reveals a young presidency rife with errors, doublespeak, and overspending. Oh, and a blossoming friendship between our commander-in-chief and Hugo Chavez. Aren’t those two just adorable?
So we’ll jump in with his changes on the social issues, which have surprisingly gone widely unnoticed. Now here’s the deal, even I get worn out with the culture-issue wars, but when Barack Obama proposes reversing the “conscience clause” that protects doctors who refuse to provide abortions and other services that conflict with their personal beliefs- we have a problem. Add that to his decision to overturn the Bush administration’s ban on embryonic stem cell research and his plans to reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons and we can already see a sharp turn to the left on social policy.
Moving on to bigger and even scarier things- let’s talk spending. And my friends there is a LOT of it going on, with this years budget deficit sitting at $1.5 trillion-with a t. His spending bill containing a whopping 9,000 earmarks sure didn’t do much to help this, but on the bright side he asked his cabinet to cut costs in their departments by $100 million, an astounding .0027% . . . , let’s not get carried away Barack.
On April 15th concerned citizens across the country took to the streets to protest the gross misuse of their hard-earned dollars, and ABC news reported on the same day that the White House said the President was “unaware of the tea-parties.” Umm, seriously? You know it seems like there is someone in his staff that is supposed to brief him on the news events of the day . . . oh well, it was probably the same person that advised him on protocol when meeting with foreign leaders. Such as the Queen of England, who Michelle Obama touched (big no-no) and Barack Obama gave an iPod filled with audio of his speeches to, or the Saudi Prince that Barack Obama bowed to. . . . Cause you know, we typically try and avoid having our President bow to leaders of a country where women are less-valued that livestock.
We’ll shift gears to the war on terrorism– Oops, I mean “overseas contingency operation”- since that’s what we have to call it now. To me this is the issue where we have seen Obama’s naivete at play the most. First there was the plan to close Guantanamo Bay. I was with him on this until I learned that we’re considering releasing these people into the United States! Then there was the declassification of top-secret CIA interrogation memos and his considering dropping a key demand to Iran and allowing it to keep nuclear facilities open during negotiations. For the cherry on top- the Department of Homeland Security’s recent warning against “right-wing extremism,” which was especially ironic considering the fact that the FBI’s newest “Most Wanted” terrorist, is a left-wing extremist.
We can only wonder what the next 100 days will hold. I’m predicting sleepovers at the White House with Chavez, buying “magic beans” from Ahmadinejad, and the United States’ new policy on the proper treatment of detainees reading something along the lines of “You must fan them and feed them grapes,” because heaven forbid we use tough interrogation tactics that actually get results.
Well this has been a great weekend so far up here at TTU. My roommate, Joey’s friend from where he lives in Rhea County, TN came up to visit, AND the church I go to up here was hosting a Scavenger Hunt for the college students. I love scavenger hunts! was all over it! — Especially when I found out there was a prize of $200 for the winning team!
So I rounded up my team, consisting of my friends Sara, Jon, Dallas, and Lauren. And we set out to dominate. We got to the church at six PM where we were given instructions and then all dashed to our cars to go out across Cookeville to find the various things and accomplish the many tasks on the list.
I picked a pretty good team, we’re all very competitive, and Sara and Lauren were on my team for The Black History Month Quiz Bowl (we each won $100 in that!) back in February. Here’s a few shots of us in action, trying to do some of the things on the list . . . .
We had to get a picture of us being serenaded by a complete stranger. On a side note- this guy was a really good violinist!
We had to get a picture of us walking someone’s dog– as you can see, I had problems with this. The dog didn’t take too kindly to me walking it.
We had to get a picture of us on a riding lawnmower . . . none of us had one at Tech so we headed to Wally World!
We had to get a picture of us all wearing foil hats. Everyone else managed to make theirs look kind of cool– don’t quite know what happened with mine.
We had to take a picture of our entire team standing in a shower
Our attempt at doing handstands . . . look closely and you'll notice the pained expression on my face. Also, during this time Jon accidentally kicked Sara in the mouth.
Our "picture taken in mid-air"-- does anyone else just want to start singing songs from High School Musical when they see this?
. . . Okay so all that to say that we didn’t win the scavenger hunt. But I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed that hard- we had so much fun doing it! And also, after it was over the church fed us so that’s always good too- especially because by this point the cafeteria was closed. The church said they should be putting pictures online in the next few days, so be sure to check it out!
It is April 14th, 2009. The McCain/Palin ticket lost their bid for the White House over five months ago. . . . but apparently no one told the media. And alas, the gratuitous smears and attempts to demonize Sarah Palin and her family continue.
The media’s latest weapon? Levi Johnston. You know- that guy who impregnated Bristol Palin and now in a sad, sad, effort to garner himself publicity while taking cheap-shots at the Palin family, gave his tell all story to Tyra Banks. What, were the Maury Povich and Jerry Springer shows booked? Stay classy Levi.
. . . As a student of journalism I can tell you he’s not what we would classify as a highly-credible or respected source, to say the least. But the media is taking his word as the gospel, and running with it. And they couldn’t be happier to report on his every dig at the Palin family.
The media, in a cruel plot planned out by James Carville, did the same thing to Rush Limbaugh. And it was completely unacceptable then but even more so now. God bless this woman- she’s a working mother of five children, one of whom is special needs, while another is fighting in Iraq, and another still recently gave birth to a child of her own. She’s been hit with half a million dollars in legal fees to defend herself against bogus claims (i.e.- the politically motivated “Troopergate” scandal), her own church was set fire to, and she remains among the most frequent punch lines in David Letterman’s nightly monologue, while poor ole’ Keith Olbermann over at MS-LSD can’t seem to get over her either.
Hillary Clinton was a victim to these same kind of lame, personal attacks and Greta Van Susteren, one of my favorite journalists, wrote an excellent blog about the attacks launched at both of these women that is definitely worth reading. Here is, in part, what she said:
The level of vitriol towards Governor Sarah Palin by some is over the top. I am not talking about disagreeing with her policies — I am talking about obnoxious hate. She has even been asked to prove she is the mother of her child!!Who else gets it? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The criticism of her over the years has been over the top. And what has she done ? Worked hard for the American people! She has been accused of everything..even murdering Vince Foster!
. . . . The New York Times think it is fine to laugh at Governor Palin and conservative magazines and papers have done the same to Senator Clinton. It is vicious. I wonder, do they even realize what they are doing?
I am not talking about disagreement with their politics, or ideology, or job performance — I am talking about the just plain nasty gratuitous remarks that make the writer / or speaker look really lame. We should aggressively disagree with politics or politicians when we think it wrong — but you know what I mean — “getting personal” or attempting to destroy is different.
I think the last sentence there makes a great point. Didn’t think Sarah Palin was quite ready to be VP? Totally fine. Don’t agree with her policies? That’s cool too. . . . But please, let’s not allow ourselves to stoop so low as to demonize, make personal attacks at, and make deeply hurtful remarks towards any of our elected leaders, especially when it is so completely unwarranted. I think that so often we forget that these are real people with feelings, and families, and it would do wonders for our political discourse in this nation if we could remember that.
Watch below for an interesting clip from a recent press conference of hers where she talks about how she’s been dealing with some of the nasty rumors and attacks.
Some folks went to the beach, Disney world, etc.- I worked. And no that’s actually not my Chick-fil-A there in the picture but you get the idea. It was nice to get some hours in and make some money though, and one day we had a nice old couple that comes for BINGO on Wednesdays bring us muffins! . . . But I’m still recouping from hearing hours and hours of ‘Kidz Bop’. . . . Our store is right across from the carousel and that is what they play ALL DAY. Something about a chorus of eight year olds singing Maroon 5 and Fallout Boy is just weird to me.
I Did Watch Some Good Movies Though! We watched “Madea Goes to Jail”- it was hilarious! Tyler Perry is comedic genius. We also watched the prequel- ”Meet the Browns.” And we also saw “Secret Life of Bees,” and this really good Angela Bassett movie we got from the Redbox called “Gospel Hill.”
My American Idol Predictions I called in last week to vote for Danny, Kris, and Megan. Megan is actually their pick on votefortheworst.combut I like her a lot! I think her style is really unique. I like Kris because I hear he’s a worship leader, he’s a really good guitarist, and our children’s ministry intern at Long Hollow this summer, Britney Ables, knows him. And I think the competition is Danny’s to win- he’s mad talented. Tonight’s theme is “Motown,” which should be interesting. And I’m sorry to say it but Scott McEntire is overrated. I think he has a really cool story, and I love the fact that according to his profile on AI’s website he’s a Mark Schultz fan, but I just don’t think he’s that good. What do you think?
. . . Oo, and my favorite American Idol alum, Mandisa’s, new c.d., “Freedom,” is out NOW! It’s so good.
I Caved . . . I made fun of people that had a Twitter account for the longest time . . . and now I have one. There’s a little bit of a back story on this though. . . . Okay so I gave up my Facebook account until Easter- yeah, it SUCKS. I didn’t realize how much I relied on that thing. Not just for fun either- turns out I’ve missed like 2 College Republicans meetings since I gave it up. But I had been spending so much time on it. So I am gave it up for 40 days. But I was having withdrawals, and this blog had taken a big hit since my Facebook account gave it most of it’s traffic SO I kind of cheated and got a Twitter account. But, I don’t even spend a 1/10 of as much time on it as I do on Facebook. So, I guess it’ okay, right? Follow me at twitter.com/jfrank08.
FUNNIEST COMMERCIAL EVAH! My roommates don’t think it’s as funny but I laugh so hard every time this comes on . . .
If you’ve been watching the news at all recently, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about Meghan McCain. McCain, John McCain’s daughter, made quite a name for herself during the election with her blog “The McCain Blogette” as well as her children’s book, “My Dad, John McCain.”
But recently she’s been making headlines in a different way, saying of Sarah Palin after the election, “Sarah Palin is the only part of the campaign that I won’t comment on publicly” and of Ann Coulter, “I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.”
And in the past couple of days she’s been taking to the airwaves, making appearances on the likes of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and “The View,” (where she told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham to kiss her a**. Real classy) posturing herself as the face of young, moderate Republicans. All the while taking shots at just about everyone within the party she claims to support.
Now some of what Meghan McCain says, I fully agree with- such as her article on the Daily Beast, a news and opinion site she writes for, entitled, “Why Republicans Don’t Get The Internet,” in which she stressed the need for Republicans to adapt to new technologies and embrace tools such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. to convey their message to young people- a demographic being overwhelmingly won over by Democrats- that she was spot-on about (Side Note: Why couldn’t she get that through to her Dad during the course of the election?).
But there’s a lot I don’t understand about this gal. Such as why she must take issue with everyone in the party (except her father), or how, frankly, she feels ready to enter this battle of ideas when even she says
“I didn’t even take econ. in college. I don’t completely understand it [the economy] so I’d hate to make a comment on way or the other. That’s – truly of all the things – I keep reading and I just don’t understand it.”
Ya know Meghan, that’s kind of a biggie these days.
My intent isn’t to beat up on Meghan McCain. She’s been taking a lot of heat lately. This is a smart young lady that shows the potential to be an important voice for Republicans in the future. I don’t subscribe to this idea, as some conservatives do, that there is no place in the party for moderates such as her. And I certainly don’t want to alienate her from the party. We need folks like her.
But this person is in over her head. She lacks any background in or comprehensive understanding of politics aside from what she’s learned through her father’s experiences, and is obviously still in the early stages of forming her world view. She’s ready to take all kinds of shots at her party, calling it “as hip as Donny Osmond” (who I think is actually pretty cool, but she meant it in a negative context) but seems to be unprepared to offer any solutions.
And with utmost respect to Miss McCain and while fully acknowledging that she has every right to say what she does, I just don’t think that’s the time to be sitting down with every talk show host that’ll have you.
It’s funny how sometimes we remember just completely random things. One of those things for me was the second day of Vacation Bible School at Long Hollow in 2007. The theme was “The Sports Galaxy,” and I was helping with the drama.
I LOVE doing the VBS dramas, but the past two years I have done it, it has also been one of the most stressful weeks of the year because often times we ended up memorizing our lines the day of the event. I remember on the second day in particular, we were all really stressed and felt that we just weren’t ready to go out there. Finally it was almost time for us to go on and the ladies of the Praise Team asked us if we wanted to join them in prayer. They did that thing where somebody opens, somebody closes and whoever can just go in the middle as they feel led. And I remember Sarah, who was also doing the drama, said Thank you for the privilege it is to serve.
Well the praise team was comprised entirely of women, as was the drama team- minus me- and of course they all just started boo-hooing. But I don’t know that I entirely understood what that meant until this weekend.
This weekend I had the opportunity to come home and lead a group of 8th graders at “Quest” at church (also called ‘Disciple Now, ‘D-Now’, etc.- whatever . . .). It was awesome!
After the church service Sunday a lunch was provided for the leaders and co-leaders and Travis, our high school pastor, was telling us how appreciative the church was for our coming and ’serving’ this weekend. And I was thinking to myself that this gratitude seemed undeserved because I was so thankful for the opportunity to come and do it. I mean I loved everything about the weekend, I too, was challenged by the message given, and it was such a blessing to me that I just felt bad about being praised for having done it.
I mean yes, it was somewhat of a commitment of time, and yeah we completed a service project- in our case helping a very sweet family move, and there were a number of responsibilities I had, but I benefitted from having come to Quest. And I was actually a little saddened when it was over.
And then I remembered those words, and today I pray them too- THANK YOU, God, for the privilege it is to serve! I don’t deserve the reward that it brings, but I am grateful for it.
Meet The Newest Member of The Frank Family, our yellow lab Chandler. But wait, there’s a twist- he’s not really ours. We’re raising him for a year for Southeastern Guide Dogs, so that one day he can be a companion dog for a disabled person. I protested heavily when my parents were contemplating doing this- namely because I knew that my sisters would be crying for a week when it came time to give him up, but also because of annoying little things- like the fact that we wouldn’t be able to name the dog ourselves, the fact that the dog had to sleep in its crate at night, and that we couldn’t teach the dog tricks– this after we taught our previous dog “Lucy”, God rest her soul, to act like she was praying, and to play dead when asked, “Would you rather be dead or Democrat?” She was a deeply religious, conservative, dog- although we speculate that despite this, she might be in doggy hell now as she did urinate ALL over the house in the months before her passing. But I digress . . .
Anyway, my protesting was in vain, and we eventually got our dog. But once Chandler got here, I had to concede that I loved this dog! I haven’t seen a whole lot of him since I’ve been at school, but I came home twice in the past week and got to see him and I think he may just make a dog lover out of me yet. And it’s been a really neat experience for my family. The other night we sat in the living room for hours with the t.v. off just playing with Chandler. Plus Mom and Dad think that this will teach the girls a good lesson about serving a good cause.
But here’s the thing that I’m not so sure about- Chandler arrived with a vest that says “Puppy In Training” and we’re supposed to take him out with us- as in to the store, restaurants, etc.- since he will eventually be going to all those places when he is a guide dog, and it’s important he be accustomed to this and well socialized. My family actually took him to the movie theater the other night.
It’s perfectly legit- public access law permits service dogs in training to go to all the same places that real guide dogs go, but the looks people give you are priceless! I took him to Kroger the other night- and I got the most peculiar stares from everyone, and a senior citizen lady walking behind me whispered to her husband, “Does that young man know dogs aren’t allowed in here?” I wanted to be like, “Hey– I actually have good hearing and I can hear you!!”, but I didn’t. So that is going to take some getting used to. And I’m hoping and praying that my family will exercise a little tact with this and not take him anywhere that would be really awkward- like church. Yeah, that could be bad.
It took me forever and a day to finish it, in part because my reading was interrupted by the need to read three enormous and terribly boring books for British Literature, but I finally finished The Shack.
I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s a book that has elicited quite a bit of controversy since its release. So I read the book with caution, carefully weighing what I read against what I knew to be true from The Bible. I’m somewhat of a skeptic. I never jumped aboard the prosperity-gospel train, or trusted a book just because they sold it at LifeWay, but while there might have been a couple smaller things I took issue with, it is truly one of the best books I have ever read.
Throughout the book I found myself underlining paragraphs and writing things down, and one such paragraph was this conversation between Jesus and the story’s central character, Mack, about priorities:
“But,” Mack wasn’t convinced. “But don’t you want us to set priorities? You know: God first, then whatever, followed by whatever?”
“The trouble with living by priorities, Sarayu [the Holy Spirit] spoke, “is that it sees everything as a hierarchy, a pyramid, and you and I have already had that discussion. If you put God at the top what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?”
Papa [God] interrupted, “You see, Mackenzie, I don’t just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day.”
Jesus now spoke again, “Mack I don’t want to be first among a list of values; I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everythign that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life- your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities, is connected to me . . . “
That’s a unique way to think about our relationship with Jesus. Like Mack, I- without meaning to or really knowing it- took that ‘pyramid’ approach, where I had adopted a food-chain of priorities but I don’t think God wants to be a name on a list- even if he’s the first one but rather I want him to be a part of every decision I make, pervading every area of my life. I want everything else to come back to him. Rather than a name on a list, I want him to be a center of a web from which everything else I do branches off.
Luke 21 tells of ‘The Widow’s Offering,’ saying, “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.’I tell you the truth,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’
We often hear that passage shared in the context of a sermon on the importance of tithing and giving monetarily to the church, but when I read that I see something more. While God doesn’t just want our money, I think that story offers a beautiful analogy to what it means to truly bring God everything we have. In entrusting everything she had to God, the widow was living out that attitude of not making God a ‘priority’ but the center of all she did; truly giving it all to Jesus, and I want the same for my life.
I don’t want God to be first. I want him to be everything.
Have You Been Watching Season 8 Of American Idol? I haven’t missed an episode since it started. What do you think of the new judge, Kara DiGuardi? I like her! I think she gives good critiques, although I had never heard of her in my life before now. Apparently she was a famous singer before. BUT here’s the thing I’m not so sure about: This season there’s a professional that tried out and made it to the Hollywood rounds, Joanna Pacitti. She was formerly signed to A & M records and even recorded songs for the ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Nancy Drew’ soundtracks. So is it fair for her to be able to try out in a show that is supposed to find undiscovered talent?
Joanna Pacitti
More Blagojevich Craziness This is priceless . . .
Does This Mean She’s Running?? Head to Sarahpac.com- Sarah Palin has now formed her own ‘PAC’ (political action committee), typically an early sign of a person’s intentions to run again for public office. I’ve had a lot of discussions with people about this and since Bobby Jindal has said point blank that he will absolutely not run in 2012, I really think she is our best bet- although I go back and forth between her and Mike Huckabee.
LOVE this movie! You need to see this movie! I HIGHLY recommend it:
On Tuesday, January 20th the world watched as our country inaugurated its 44th commander in chief, Barack Obama. If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that I was an adamant supporter of his rival, John McCain, during the election, and a strong critic of Barack Obama from the onset of his Presidential bid, until even after his victory on November 4th.
But today- Barack Obama is my President. And while it wasn’t what I would have wanted, I will- much unlike supporters of the losing candidate in the 2000 and 2004 election- support, respect, and hope for the success of our new leader. And I am thankful- thankful that we have the opportunity, unlike many countries even today, to have a voice in who it is that will govern our Nation. And I am thankful that we can have this transition of power peacefully without violence and unrest.
And while I had, and continue to have, legitimate concerns about Barack Obama, there are many positive things to say as well. The optimism that we can already see him bringing to Americans is encouraging and in this turbulent time he shows the promise of being able to lift the spirits of our nation in the same way President Franklin D Roosevelt did in his 1933 inaugural address when he told our country, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Many people have asked me how I will approach the Obama Presidency. The answer is simple. I will applaud him when he does the right thing and makes choices that are in the best interest of America, but when he displays poor judgement or fails to deliver, I won’t hesitate to speak up. Particularly since he ascended to the Presidency due to, in part, a laundry list of lofty campaign promises he made, even after the sharp decline of the economy.
President Obama- while you didn’t get my vote, you have my best wishes and prayers.
For the past eight years President Bush has served as Commander In Chief of our nation, but his reign will soon be coming to an end when Barack Obama will be inaugurated as our nation’s 44th President on Tuesday, January 20th.
During Bush’s tenure in office, America saw some of it’s most turbulent times since it’s beginning, with the attacks that occurred on September 11th and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that ensued shortly thereafter, as well as the events of Hurricane Katrina, and most recently the ongoing economic crisis that is troubling our nation today.
Some of these events brought our President much support and high approval ratings in their aftermath, while others brought him heavy criticism. As he leaves office, his final approval ratings rest at 22%. He holds the record for having both the highest and the lowest approval rating of any President in US History. What do I think of our outgoing Commander In Chief? Glad you asked.
As has been the case with nearly every US President (with the possible exception of William Henry Harrison who was in office for all of about a month, and thus didn’t have enough time to do anything wrong) there have been many missteps along the way for the Bush presidency. Giving a speech announcing the end of major combat in Iraq behind a “Mission Accomplished” banner was not a good idea. While we didn’t know that the road ahead would be quite so long and, until the surge, very violent- President Bush knew that there was more work to be done. Moreover, President Bush presided over the largest expansion of government this country has ever seen. A portion of this was very necessary, such as implementing the Department of Homeland Security, but much of it was not. Additionally, President Bush’s proposals for easy immigration created a divide among Republicans that the party is still working to heal.
But moving past those errors, there was so much that President Bush got right and deserves credit for. The first being, his efforts to keep our country safe since 9/11. Over seven years later without a terrorist attack on US soil, we can see that those efforts paid off. And as Bush leaves office, we owe him a deep debt of gratitude for that.
Another often glossed over success of the Bush Presidency is his administration’s work to combat AIDS in Africa, calling on congress in his 2003 State of the Union address to commit $15 billion over the next five years to help stop this deadly disease in regions of Africa and other parts of the world. Total US government development aid to Africa quadrupled from 2001 to 2008. In doing this, Bush saved millions of lives. It is a triumph of his administration that, sadly, few will probably ever pay any notice to.
Also, let us not forget Bush’s admirable positions on the judiciary and social issues, this was made most clear in one of President Bush’s final actions as President, declaring January 18th to be “National Sanctity of Human Life Day.” Also, in the two outstanding supreme court justices he appointed, Samuel Alito and John Roberts. I will always respect and appreciation President Bush’s commitment to honoring and protecting all human life, including the unborn.
And lastly, let us thank President Bush for giving us one of the most influential, classy, and respected First Ladies in American History- Laura Bush. Even while President Bush’s approval ratings wane, over 80% of Americans continue to express their support for First Lady Laura Bush- and with very good reason.
So many Americans are quick to call President Bush’s time in office a “failure.” This is simply not the case. But someone did fail during the Bush president. Someone failed big time. It was us.
Never before have we seen such disrespect, even hatred for our commander in chief. He holds a degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard but apparently we’re supposed to believe he is literally a complete and total idiot- because that is the caricature of him we’ve been fed these past eight years from the media. Meanwhile, dissenters have called him everything but a child of God, Hollywood types have tried to outdo each other with their ultra-intelligent criticisms of his Presidency, and so many Americans have simply turned their backs on him. But thankfully he never turned his back on this country.
So while it was not a perfect Presidency, I still say ‘Thank You President Bush.’
So I was driving along in my car last night, listening to that WAY-FM radio show “Total Axxess” (it’s a little cheesy, but I still like it) when the host said, “Okay I’m going to play a clip here of a guy saying some pretty profound stuff that I found very interesting, especially when you consider who it is. See if you know who this guy is.” And I was like- Oo, okay I love this game! So I listened intently, wanting to figure out who the person speaking was before they announced it. The quotation, in part, was-
If you believe that there is a heaven and a hell and people could be going to hell and not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, and Atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize- ‘just leave me alone keep your religion to yourself’- how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean if I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it . . . there’s a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”
Once I started really listening to what this guy was saying, I forgot about trying to figure out who it was because I was so struck by those words. A bunch of people called in to say their guesses as to who this person was, and then the host finally said. The name didn’t ring a bell for me, I had to Wikipedia him when I got home, but you may have heard of him- Penn Fraser Jillette, apparently a very famous comedian, illusionist, juggler, and writer. When I saw his picture I knew I’d seen him somewhere before, but anyway- the interesting thing about him is. This man is an outspoken atheist.
But when you watch the video below, you’ll see the context from the quote above- it was brought on by a man simply giving this guy a bible. And in this video, Penn talks about what an impression it made on him. While he maintains his belief that there is no God, it is clear that he really appreciated this guy taking the time to share this with him.
Perhaps without even meaning to, Penn delivers a charge to you and I and those that know the truth to share it. If you’re like me there are people that we genuinely love and care about who are walking in darkness even today. And the analogy Penn drew between sharing the gospel and rescuing someone standing in the path of a truck fixing to strike them is a sobering one, but is dead on. And for me, thinking of that comparison helps me grasp, in a new way, the significance of sharing the gospel. It’s that serious and that real. So why don’t I do it?
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5
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