My Thoughts, My Life, My Wonderful Wife

My Alma Mater Invited A Racist to Give a Speech: How Sad

2009-09-01T19:43:00.001-04:00

http://kennesawedusiegelinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/08/tim-wise.html

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1874

http://www.kennesaw.edu/siegelinstitute/

John & Kate + 8 Divorce

2009-06-22T22:21:00.003-04:00

The show has been sad from the start, with the wife showing a clear lack of respect for the husband. He clearly needs to grow a spine, or figure out how to get his opinion heard.

Two of the Bible's teachings for a stable, Christ-like marriage are respect and love. Women are told to Respect their husbands. Men are told to Love their wives.

These aren't passive acts or emotions. Men have to work hard to realize that they're not showing love, because it's not in their nature to do so. Women have to work hard to cut out the sarcastic/caustic comments which demonstrate a lack of respect for their husbands, and show respect for their mates.

Here's a good synopsis. http://www.cbmw.org/Resources/Articles/Love-and-Respect-in-Marriage

It's very clear that these guys needed some serious Christian-based marriage counseling several years ago.

The Wonderful Wife and I have been married for 126 months, and still have to work on this. I suspect we'll be doing so for the rest of our, hopefully married, lives.

British Perception of Obama's Election & the US Media Coverage

2008-11-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1084111/PETER-HITCHENS-The-night-waved-goodbye-America--best-hope-Earth.html

Wow. Read it an enjoy.

Post Election Blues

2008-11-06T19:55:00.002-05:00

I love my country, but am concerned about the direction we'll be going in an Obama presidency. Fortunately we're in a recession (as demented as that sounds), so Barak will be limited in which of his programs he can implement.

Even though I don't like the results of the election, I'm very glad to see that our country is still capable of a peaceful transfer of power. I'm not one for leading people, but I definitely feel like I need to get involved in local and state politics. I may not be the face of the party, but I can definitely help them get organized and get the word out.

Y'all pray and pray hard. Remember, God has his hands on our leaders, whether the leaders like it or not.

Early Voting

2008-10-26T22:06:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty excited by the 2008 elections. I'm also a little concerned by the possibility of such an untested, untried, and inexperienced candidate taking on the job of President of the United States.

I voted for McCain/Palin. I don't fully support all of McCain's positions, but I support Obama's positions even less. For a break down of the candidate's stands on issues which are important to me, please see the iVoteValues Party Platform document below.

http://ivotevalues.com/party_platforms/

I'm going to keep praying for this country, and the election. I know each side claims to want God's will. I also know that God has everything in His hands. Even when we don't agree with our leaders, God has a plan, and has His hand on the leaders.

I am a little annoyed at Jim Marshall, though. His advertisements claiming a 23% sales tax are obvious lies and distortions. Any supporter of the FairTax should be able to read right through these attacks.

The FairTax does implement a 23% sales tax. But it first eliminates all income, corporate, capital gains, and a myriad of other taxes. It also disbands the IRS, and repeals the 16th amendment , and implements a 'pre-bate' which goes to every household to cover the sales tax they'd be expected to pay on necessities. Also, the sales tax is embedded, so a $100 item shows up as a $100 item, with $23 in taxes. Finally, every penny of taxes collected are printed on out on the sales receipts, so the consumer would be able to see the exact amount of tax money they're giving to the government.

Time to pray and seek God's guidance. It's also a good time to eliminate debt from our lives and live on cash only.

Jury Duty & Thoughts

2008-10-26T21:48:00.003-04:00

I worked mucho overtime during the month of September to prepare for a lab move at work. When moving $1million+ worth of computer equipment, you can't be too prepared.

The lab move went off without a hitch. I receive kudos from several executives, the move company coordinator, and my managers. They even selected me as "Employee of the Month".

Due to the overtime, management recommended that I take the week of 10/20 - 10/24 off as comp time. Lo and behold, shortly thereafter, I received a letter from Henry County State Court kindly requesting my presence in the jury pool...for the week of 10/20 - 10/24.

Of course, I did my civic duty. I showed up and did what I could. I met several good people, and was able to help several people with computer problems. I even managed to read a semi-decent Stephen King novel Duma Key.

Due to a comedy of errors, my group managed to be held through Thursday. We were supposed to be called on Friday, too, but were released late Thursday afternoon.

Next Week: Time to get back to work.

Wedding Congratulations!

2008-10-25T17:47:00.003-04:00

Michael and Amy tied the knot today. The wedding was pretty nice. The Wonderful Wife loved the decorations, and noticed the color green everywhere. I believe green is one of Mike's favorite colors, and it looked good as an accent today.

It was nice to see friends from high school, and Mike and Amy's families. Amy's clan was a trip, encouraging everyone to get out and dance.

Good job Mike and Amy! Congratulations on a great wedding, and may God bless your marriage. With God's grace, and lots of hard work, you can keep the commitment to stay together until the celestial dirt nap.

Wow! What a Day!

2008-10-04T05:32:00.002-04:00

God provided me with a great job, with a great company. The hours are generally family-friendly, but occasionally, something comes up which some personal sacrifice. This was one such weekend. We move our lab from one data center to another. Fortunately, we had a great move team working for us, and the move was a resounding success.

I arrived to work on Friday, October 3rd at 8:30 AM, and am just now leaving for the house. Wow! At least there were no major problems (another blessing) and I get to home before the sun comes up!

If I drive the speed limit, I'll get home just in time to surprise the Wonderful Wife with breakfast in bed. Yeah, that's worth a little sacrifice once a year.

Wall Street Bailout: A Common Sense Approach

2008-09-30T21:43:00.001-04:00

The recently failed Wall Street bailout bill (Thanks to all the representatives who grew spines!) is just too much. The people in power in Washington DC are too closely tied to those in power on Wall Street. These guys are so comfortable, and know each other so well, that they thought that a short and simple 'hey! we want/need $700Billion to fix this mess.' would be enough to get their friends in government to create a ridiculously large debt.

Dave Ramsey is supporting a common sense plan to let the markets take care of themselves. http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/index.html

This whole problem is a result of poor policies put in place by Carter, and supported by Clinton, and many of Obama's top advisers. While the creator of the video at the following link may not have the whole picture, they have a good story to tell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4&feature=iv&annotation_id=event_597487

I think it's time to get as many of those spineless politicians who voted for this bill out of fear, and against the will of their constituents (READ: BOSSES who they REPRESENT in DC), out of office.

I also think another great idea is the Fair Tax. http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer I think that would John McCain take on the Fair Tax, and the above common-sense approach to the mortgage crisis, he'd walk into office.

Either way, please pray for your Congressmen and Senators, and the White House.

Finished with Sin City

2008-08-11T01:24:00.002-04:00

I've done my time here in Vegas. The conference is over. I managed to make it through the whole week without drinking, smoking or gambling. That's a good thing.

Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't get a high from all the second-hand smoke in the casinos. Wow! It's amazing to see how many people are gambling, drinking and smoking until all hours.

The number of people offering various adult entertainment and services is truly disturbing, too. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but sin and STDs follow you all the way home!

I really miss my Wonderful Wife and children. I think she may enjoy coming out here once, but not much more than that. We'll have to fly out here in a few months so she can have the 'Vegas' experience.

See you tomorrow, baby boo.

BlackHat 2008

2008-08-06T02:14:00.002-04:00

I arrived in Vegas tonight for BlackHat & Defcon. These conferences are always a blast. How long before my computer is compromised?

The flight over was beautiful. The midwest and the Grand Canyon took my breath away. As did the big turbulence on the descent.

Looking at the beauty of the land beneath the plane, I got desperately sick for my wife and kids. I think next summer I will take the clan on a trip out west.

Obama. McCain. One Communist. One Democrat. What a a choice we have. The U.S. is going to change significantly in the next 8-12 years. It should be interesting.

Sleep well, my Wonderful Wife. I love you more every day.

Graduation Bummer

2007-12-11T20:01:00.001-05:00

I've worked through all kinds of stuff this semester, and have managed to make As in my final two classes. I'm going to be allowed to graduate with my Masters of Science Information Systems...but now I've caught a cold, and don't feel up to walking tomorrow. Oh the irony! The craziness of life; conquered. A stupid little cold/flu bug: knocked me down.

Oh well. That's all the schooling for me for a while. Now it's time to send the Wonderful Wife to college.

Kids Schools

2007-10-25T20:21:00.000-04:00

All three of the rugrats are in school now, with the oldest in 3rd grade, and the other two in a private PreK program. Both schools seem to be doing some good and are helping my children learn. Unfortunately, the oldest is having issues with the reading program. The computer program which tests the school kids reading comprehension apparently won't let anyone read over 'their level'. What that means is my oldest cannot read book 5 of Lemony Snickets for school credit, even though they've already finished the entire series at home. How frustrating.

Hopefully the wife and I will be able to free up some income and then afford to send all the kids to private school.

Master's Degree Work

2007-10-25T20:17:00.000-04:00

I'm halfway through my last semester of my Master of Science of Information Systems, and doing well. I'm maintaining an A average in both classes right now. All that's left is the downhill side of the semester, and graduation if I succeed.

Business Trip

2007-10-25T18:38:00.000-04:00

I just returned from a business trip to a nice coastal city. The area is very impressive, with plenty of nice attractions for my wife and kids. I can see that I'll need to make another trip in the spring, this time with my family. While I didn't do much physical work, the meetings and lunch engagements created a good sense of community, and helped me get a greater understanding of my remote customer's needs. It also helped me to convey my plans in person, and that changed the perceptions and plans of my customers. The drive was long, though. 400 miles one way is a long drive.

New Job Going Well

2007-10-25T18:36:00.001-04:00

After three months on the new job, I feel like I'm making great strides. I've vastly improved the work environment, making it far safer and more manageable. I have new equipment on order, and due for delivery this week. I'll be configuring everything next week, and hope to be in 'production' before Thanksgiving. Not bad since my boss originally gave me 'only' six months to accomplish all these tasks, and I'm going to have them done, and done exceedingly well, inside of 4 months from my first day.

Leaving Really Soon!

2007-08-16T13:43:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day for my current employer. I'll be leaving the office in about 30-45 minutes. I feel an interesting mix of excitement and happiness.

New Job

2007-08-12T21:29:00.000-04:00

I've accepted a new job, and this is my last week working for my current employer. My new employer has better benefits, less responsibility and a higher salary. The work environment seems more conducive to a father, with all layers of management telling me that they expect me to work while I'm at the office, and to totally focus on my family and forget about work while I'm off the clock. No more on call duties! I've been on call for ~9 years. How do I live without having to check email every four hours, and without having a cell phone on my person 24/7?

Things at the current job have started deteriorating over the past few weeks. The junior sysadmin left, the infrastructure (power) keeps failing, and the net result is long hours. Certain members of management seem to have issues with me at times, and seem to like me at other times. I've dealt with this strange environment for a while and am hoping for something more sane.

On the education front, I'm two classes away from finishing my MS Information Systems, with an Information Security focus. I have to earn an "A" in each class in order to graduate in December. I think I can make it if I focus...and the new employer seemed very interested in helping me make this personal goal.

On the religious/personal discipline side, we've decided to start walking a better Christian walk now. It's time for us to start turning over our daily decisions and actions to Christ.

Wow! Long Work Weeks!

2007-06-16T09:12:00.001-04:00

I've been extraordinarily busy at work since my last blog posting. The Wonderful Wife and I are about to take the children to her aunt's house for a day of swimming. This should be fun.

When we get back and get the munchkins asleep, I'm going to post my thoughts on the last two week's Sunday school lessons. They have some good insights that I think are worth sharing.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I'll be praying for continued success in parenting, and self-control for myself in dealing with my children. God bless.

Daily Readings

2007-06-04T07:11:00.000-04:00

I've recently found a few good sites for daily reading. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries publishes a daily "A Slice of Infinity", and is available as an RSS (Live Bookmark?) feed. These articles really hit home and are especially relevant in today's times. To quote the maintainer:
Words of challenge, words of truth, and words of hope.
A blog maintained by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)

"Is Everything Illusion" was especially good reading, as was "A Radical Grace". These make me wonder at my own weak Christian walk and poor outreach.

Ah well, off to work!

Sunday School Lesson (5/28/07 & 5/29/07)

2007-05-29T21:18:00.000-04:00

My Sunday School lesson for the last two days discuss signs of authentic Christianity. The lesson is drawing from 2nd Corinthians where Paul is talking about genuine Christian living, and the trials he's gone through, and the abiding joy he found through Christ.

The first lessons sign mentioned in Monday's lesson is "unquenchable optimism". Because we as Christians have faith in Jesus Christ, and have the support of the 'Great Comforter', the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus and God are in control, we can revel in His Grace, and His undying, unquenchable love. This should lead us to a spirit of unquenchable optimism.

This compares with the world's generally pessimistic outlook. To quote the book, too many people in the world believe in Murphy's Law, and see each roadblock as an obstacle instead of an opportunity for spiritual growth. Too many people see their glasses as half-full. We as Christians should see our glasses as half-full.

The second lesson talks about unvarying success. Every obstacle we face, every failure we endure, every success we enjoy in this life will lead to situations which ultimately feed into God's plan. We may not realize that the loss of a job, the crashing of a car, the unexpected pregnancy, or the public embarrassment will turn into something better. God may have a better job, a different car, the infant will be a blessing once the shame has passed, or the public embarrassment could lead to a better testimony, or may lead to someone else seeing your vulnerabilities and realizing it is acceptable to be vulnerable.

God loves us all. God loves us unconditionally, with a burning unquenchable love. He always stands right behind us or right beside us. He's alway waiting for you to turn back to him and ask for forgiveness, and start your walk with him again.

Rich Mullins released a song titled "The Love of God" which speaks to this far better than I could ever hope to. Just trying to think of words to express my wonderment at God's love brings me to tears and fills me with a hopeless for my loss of words.

There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldiers' songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love

Oh the love of God
And oh, the love of God
The love of God

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Memorial Day

2007-05-28T18:56:00.000-04:00

My father, both of my grandfathers, and my grandmother's brothers and father all served our country in the military. My generation is the first to not join the military in a while.

My grandfathers both passed in the last 18 months, and their funerals were hard affairs. But, with the help of God and the help of my Wonderful Wife, we made it through, though painfully so.

For Memorial Day this year, our church decided to hold a small, informal ceremony at the church as we raised the flag. At 8:00 AM, the church veterans attended the raising, and returning of the flag to half-staff. At noon, about 20 of us all gathered around the flag as it was returned to full-staff. We held a simple ceremony; a time of prayer and reflection, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Ms. Roz sang the National Anthem.

Thinking of all those that have passed, and given their blood for the freedoms we all enjoy in the United States brings on a somber and thoughtful mood. It was an odd dichotomy to have a small group standing around the flag, while the people enjoying their freedom drove by, oblivious to it all. The American people need to return to a time of reverence for the underpaid, but well trained volunteers who make up our military today.

Also, the American people need to turn away from their self-serving ways, to turn towards God and ask for forgiveness for our sins. He said He'd heal our land if we did that. (2nd Chronicles 7:13-16). As Betsy Childs wrote in "A Slice of Infinity: Swollen Bellies, Starving Souls", it is amazing that America has continued to prosper financially over the last 50+ years, yet the American populace is feeling more depressed. Our incomes are at record levels, yet so is the number of prescriptions for anti-depressants.

I've often heard that the greatest hurdle to a successful, close, personal walk with Jesus is material success. I think the facts speak for themselves.

On this Memorial Day, let's pray for those who gave it all for our material freedom. Let's also pray for a closer daily walk with He who gave it all for our spiritual freedom from the shackles of sin, and the cold grip of death.

Radical(?) Christianity?

2007-05-27T22:32:00.003-04:00

Check out www.godmen.org and www.clashdradio.com. These men are living the Christian life with machismo. What is is about modern American life and upbringing that turns boys into little girls? Neal Boortz even points this out in his book, talking about how government schools force parents to give their boys drugs to turn them into passive little girls. The schools enforce rules against any outbursts, or physical confrontations.

I get so frustrated not knowing how a real man should live, and what I should be doing. How am I supposed to raise my boys to be real men when I don't know myself?

Friends Expecting

2007-05-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

A friend at work and his wife are expecting their first child. Congratz!
http://lusars.net/~mhunter/baby.1.0
The Wife and I have a brood of 3 kids, and I can remember the joy at the confirmation of each of their lives being started. Also, the joy (and pain) from their deliveries. God is great, and He does wondrous things. How anybody could look at an ultrasound like the ones above and say abortion is right is beyond me.

Wife's Illness

2007-05-24T08:09:00.001-04:00

My Wonderful Wife's medical condition is really taking it out of her here lately. The doctor prescribed some medicine, but it'll take a few weeks before she's feeling back to normal. I miss my perky cheerful wife when she's feeling this way.

The Weekend

2007-05-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

We let the kids spend the weekend with the grandparents. My brother and sister-in-law kidnapped two of them and took them to their house for a grand ol' time of movies and fireworks. The Wonderful Wife played some softball on Friday night while I was in class.

We made it to church Sunday morning, and the Wife watched the babies in the nursery. She gets such a kick out of that.

We drove to the grandparent's house and picked up the kids in the afternoon. It was a pleasant drive out there without the kids to make too much noise. We were able to roll down the windows, and turn up the radio for the drive down. The kids fell slept through the drive home.

The daughter is participating in a school-wide spelling bee in the morning. They gave her a list of 150 words, and she only had to study 22 of them. She's a smart one. It ought to be interesting to see how she does tomorrow.

The Wonderful Wife is looking sleepy, and the cat is purring and snoring in my ear. I guess it's time for bed. G'night.

Travel and Training

2007-05-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

I just put forward a budget request for training totaling $8,000.00. It'll be interesting to see if management approves it. My last training class was 2 years ago, so I haven't been a drain on the training budget...but the training budget has traditionally been only $10,000.00 for all the members of our team. This will definitely be interesting.

If it is approved as written, I'll be traveling to Tampa July 11-13, Los Angeles July 16-20, and Washington DC July 25-31.

I'm also reading through some training materials for the SANS GIAC Certified Forensics Analyst (GCFA) certification ($800.00), and for the ISC's CISSP certification ($499.00-$599.00). The CISSP will be offered on August 3rd in Augusta, GA, and August 11th in Huntsville, Alabama, so now I have a deadline to get take that test. The SANS cert is web-based and can be taken anytime.

So, in the next 6-9 months, I'll be adding (if all goes well) the following certifications to my resume:
SANS GCFA, SANS GCIA, SourceFire Certified Expert (SFCE), ISC2's CISSP, and a Master's of Science in Information Systems (Security). I should be a little more valuable, don't ya think? At least on paper.

CISSP

2007-05-18T23:31:00.001-04:00

I'm studying for the CISSP exam. Tonight we had a guided study session, but the 'leaders' have me a little concerned. They're showing DVDs to a classroom full of people via a projector, and I don't think they have the proper license for that type of presentation. One of the 'leaders' said they have a private viewing license for this material.

Question: If a mentor is violating copyright law while teaching a class on respecting various codes of ethics and obeying and enforcing the various laws in the US, should I as a student say anything, or just get the heck out of dodge, and study on my own?

Softball

2007-05-18T08:38:00.000-04:00

The Wonderful Wife played softball last night, and played well. The coach kept her off the field for about half the game, but all her at-bats were good. This team they played pummeled them last time. This time, the wonderful wife's team kept it close until the last inning, at which point the other team racked up 7 runs, and put the wife's team in too deep a hole to recover from. Oh well. We'll try again tonight.

Update 5/18/2007 @ 23:30
The Wife's team excelled tonight, winning 8 to 5. Go ladies!

Sunday School Studies

2007-05-16T20:54:00.000-04:00

We're studying from the Spring 2007 MasterWork book from Lifeway. This week's lessons come from "Life Essentials" written by Tony Evans.

Monday, May 14th's lesson talks about Trials and Temptations, and our response to them. The short version from this day's lesson:

trials and temptations are necessary for spiritual growth
if we persevere in each trial, we'll grow spiritually a little more
if we fail to persevere, we're basically standing still spiritually, or taking a step back.
God makes each trial to enable us to grow in a certain way. There are no generic trials.
We're to apply James 1:2 to our thinking about trials, and consider it pure joy to face trials.

Tuesday, May 15th's lesson talks about enduring trials victoriously.

The first requirement for this is realizing that we're to face the trials with all joy. The joy is not an automatic emotional response. It only comes from your walk with Jesus, and knowing that God has created the trial and is leading you through it.

The second requirement is to decide if we lack the wisdom to handle the trial, and if so, to seek God's direction through prayer, listening sincerely with a humble heart willing to listen to God's answer and apply the lesson in your our life.

Whether we're rich or poor, we have to realize that God is the source of our well-being and that we must trust in Him if we're to walk and grow spiritually as he'd have us to.

Wednesday, May 16th's lesson is titled Temptation: The Battle of Spiritual Growth.

First point: Temptation does not come from God, but from our own weakness, thoughts and environment we've placed ourself in. Acting on temptation leads to sin. (James 1:13-14)

I love this quote: "The Devil's power is in influence and deception." He can't force you to sin. You have to decide to give in to the temptation and act on it.

Titus 2:11-12 teaches us to say 'no' to temptation, ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a life of self-discipline, self-control, upright and godly while we wait on the return.

Migraines Are Ugly

2007-05-16T20:37:00.000-04:00

The Wonderful Wife is suffering from a migraine today. I wish I could find a way to solve that particular problem. I hate to see her in pain. Those who pray, pray for her, please.

I left the office today to watch the kids while she slept off the worst of the pain. We also skipped church and choir practice in an attempt to minimize external irritants (loud music in the choir loft, loud kids in the nursery, etc). I'll work from home tomorrow and hope she gets to feeling better.

Some lyrics for today, this time from Casting Crowns - Praise You In This Storm.

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Religion

2007-05-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

Are Mormons cultists or Christians? It appears from reading the Apologetics Index page on the Mormon Church that their beliefs are at a minimum orthogonal to, and at the maximum completely antithetical to the beliefs of the Baptist church which I grew up in and attend.

The idea that Jesus was the brother of Lucifer and a created being seems to go against what I learned from the Bible, that Jesus is totally God and was born of a virgin Mary to redeem a lost world. That He died, and rose again seems to be consistent in both beliefs.

The lyrics below represent the beliefs my wife and I share, and are passing on to our children every day. They come from Creed by Rich Mullins.

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and on the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning
To judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church
The communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
I did not make it, no it is making me
I said I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it

Softball

2007-05-15T20:47:00.000-04:00

The wonderful wife just finished church softball practice. I think she does a great job on First, and has greatly improved her hitting since the start of the season. I think her team is at .500, and have another 2-3 games to go. Go Ladies of Mt Zion!

FairTax!!

2007-05-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

There's a FairTax rally in Columbia, SC tomorrow (5/15/2007). I hope thousands show up and pack out the venue. I hate that I have to miss it for work!!

--Update 5/16/2007 - Neal Boortz said on the radio today that the rally was a big hit. Interestingly, there was very little, if any, main stream media coverage of the event. Hopefully we'll be able to make some forward progress with this legislation in the next couple of years. If not, I may have to get into some local races and see if I can make a difference in Georgia.

First Post

2007-05-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

I plan on using this blog space to talk about the various and sundry things which cross my mind and life daily.

To start, I'll mention that my daughter has been placed into the gifted program at her our local elementary school. My wife and I had previously decided to remove her from public school starting this Fall, as we don't think the government schools do an adequate job educating extremely bright children. But, since they're willing to place her into this special program, we'll give them one more year.

My son's birthday is just past the government-mandated deadline for entry into Kindergarten. This means he'll have to enter public school being one year older than all his classmates. We've asked the principal, the school board, and our elected representatives for help with this, but they all say the same thing: That's the law. Thus, our middle child will be home-schooled, starting Kindergarten this Fall.

My wonderful wife is a bit concerned about giving him an adequate education, but I think those fears are unfounded. She's much brighter than she gives herself credit for.