The Promised Land

Not Bad

2009-07-17T01:28:00.003-05:00

music for a Campaign for Liberty type. (See below) I read a story today about a Ron Paul singles website and one couple that actually got married a few hours after first meeting at the Las Vegas CFL event. Anyway, the guy that got married sounded familiar in that story, so I googled him. His website had this song...

The Good Life: Live Free from Chris Kopack on Vimeo.

Watch Out for the Econ Prof with a Gun

2009-06-11T06:46:00.003-05:00

This has become routine for the government. Thankfully, this man defended our freedoms.

Unbiased Journalism from Newsweek Reporter

2009-06-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

SHOCK! Fed Inspector General Does Not Inspect Fed

2009-06-06T14:38:00.003-05:00

This is just embarrassing. Listen carefully to the numbers being tossed around.

Silver!

2009-05-30T17:04:00.003-05:00

Wow, apparently silver had the biggest up month in 23 years... not a bad investment! Still seems undervalued... as long as the dollar is getting slammed. How long until the dollar collapse??

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/jenkins2.html

Autotune the News!

2009-05-28T14:14:00.001-05:00

The End is Near!

2009-05-18T09:23:00.002-05:00

...for California. Here's an addition by Gary North to our continuing series on California. From the link:

"The economy is in recession. The tax base is falling. Revenues are falling. State expenditures are rising because of unemployment insurance expenses. When the voters get through with five of the six propositions, California's yes-vote legislators will find that their yes votes not only did them no good, they exposed the state's government to a crisis. They will have to pay for "vital services" with revenues generated in a recession.

The state's deficit will move up like a rocket. There will be no way to raise added money through taxes. The state will have to borrow. It will find that it must pay much higher interest to secure the loans.

All eyes will turn to Washington and Mrs. Pelosi. Like Mecca to Muslims is Washington to state politicians. Politicians do not bow in prayer facing Washington five times a day, but they surely make phone calls to Congressmen and Senators."

Read the article to find out what's going to happen on the 20th and the following weeks after that.

Obama Budget Visualized

2009-05-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

Obama Watched the Verizon Video

2009-05-07T11:21:00.002-05:00

So he knew people would think that his budget was a great deal! (Here's the Government School Fail link)

Okay Obama, I can find $17 dollars in spending cuts when you give me my $3,550 a year raise. It will be very difficult to find a way to cut out those 17 bucks this year. After switching to gourmet food, I'll suffer having to cut out a couple days of fast food. It will be difficult though. And who knows, I might only find about $10 to cut after all... that's okay isn't it?

Taking over the public school system has really paid off for the federal government. They now know and control exactly how ignorant the American public really is! Still, this move by Obama is really brash. I'm a little shocked by the abuse of rhetoric.

Will he get away with it? I probably shouldn't ask.

-Joel

I Called My Congressman and the California Collapse

2009-04-23T14:53:00.003-05:00

Well that was easy. I just contacted my Congressman's office to get him to support HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. I hope you do the same. The bill is continuing to gain support. We're up to 79 co-sponsors. The last time a bill like this was debated was in the 1990's when the Democrats pushed for it. The Republicans balked at the idea. In fact, when Ron Paul had the seniority to lead the Monetary Policy committee, the Republicans actually just got rid of the committee instead of letting him lead it. However, the times have changed and apparently the Republicans have decided to agree with Ron Paul on monetary policy. The majority of the co-sponsors on HR 1207 are Republicans. However, this should be a bill that everyone can agree on. Who would say that we should keep where we send newly printed money a big secret? All our politicians would probably like to keep it a secret, but they can't hardly tell their constituents that. So I hope you call or write!

Also, to continue the saga on what's going on in the broke state of California, you should be interested in reading this article. Remember, since California is out ahead of the rest of us, this is the type of things you might watch out for in a couple of years.

-Joel

Pirates and Emperors

2009-04-15T18:15:00.002-05:00

Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you who does it with a great fleet are styled emperor.

Visiting History

2009-04-04T22:37:00.006-05:00

(No, my husband is not the sole proprietor of this blog.)

I recently inherited a very interesting little book from a lady in our congregation. Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt-book, was published in 1852 and dedicated to the Ordinary American Housewife. It has been such an interesting/highly amusing/occasionally helpful book I’d like to share some of my favorite excerpts with you. There are so many that I can only begin tonight. So stay tuned, there is plenty more to come.

Miss Beecher explains in the Preface her reasons for compiling this book…

“…Third, to express every receipt in language which is short, simple, and perspicuous, and yet to give all directions so minutely as that the book can be kept in the kitchen, and be used by any domestic who can read, as a guide in every one of her employments in the kitchen….

…Sixth. in the work on Domestic Economy, together with this to which it is a Supplement, the writer has attempted to secure in a cheap and popular form, for American housekeepers, a work similar to an English work which she has examined, entitled the Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy, by Thomas Webster and Mrs. Parkes, containing over twelve hundred-octavo pages of closely-printed matter treating on every department of Domestic Economy; a work which will be found much more useful to English women, who have plenty of money and well-trained servants, than to American housekeepers. It is believed that most, in that work which would be found of any practical use to American housekeepers, will be found in this work and the Domestic Economy.

Lastly, the writer has aimed to avoid the defects complained of by most housekeepers in regard to works of this description, issued in this country, or sent from England, such as that, in some cases, the receipts are so rich as to be both expensive and unhealthful; in others, that they are so vaguely expressed as to be very imperfect guides; in others, that the processes are so elaborate and fussing as to make double the work that is needful; and in others, that the topics are so limited that some departments are entirely omitted, and all are incomplete.

In accomplishing these objects the writer has received contributions of the pen, and verbal communications, from some of the most judicious and practical housekeepers, in almost every section of this country.”

Being written before the War of Northern Aggression (or the Civil War as some like to call it) the challenges housekeepers had to face were quite different than those we face today. …Granted this book assumes the Lady of the House has a domestic help; being at the least a Cook and a Chambermaid, and likely Waiters as well. They too would have presented problems themselves so you will find chapters entailing the day by day duties of Domestics; Suggestions on how to treat them, and a chapter entitled Friendly Counsels for Domestics.

Krugman on 9/11

2009-04-01T18:33:00.002-05:00

These aftershocks need not be major. Ghastly as it may seem to say this, the terror attack -- like the original day of infamy, which brought an end to the Great Depression -- could even do some economic good. -Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman

So, you have to wonder if Krugman would think that a nuke on New York City would lift our entire economy...

Please Help!

2009-03-24T19:41:00.002-05:00

Even if you don't care about or understand what the Federal Reserve does, please take the time to follow this link and fill out the petition: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/campaigns/auditthefed.php

The bill is actually picking up support and has 42 co-sponsors and also there is similar bill in the Senate. It's a no-brainer that the Fed should have to report on what it is doing to Congress. The Congress needs to regulate government agencies as much as possible. If people could see clearly what the Fed is doing, they would have to act in a more responsible manner. Thanks for your time!

-Joel

Where Do You See Jesus?

2009-03-21T13:49:00.002-05:00

Caution: This video may or may not contain images of God incarnate.

HT: http://www.dailyscroll.net/

Required Viewing!

2009-03-17T15:37:00.002-05:00

If you can't handle watching this whole video, at least watch the last twenty minutes. This is absolutely necessary viewing. Peter Schiff is here explaining his views in a very easy to understand way. He was the keynote speaker at this conference for Austrian economists. I hope you'll be able to understand the free market view on the economy right now as opposed to the idiot view you hear all the time on tv. You know the one. That's the view where they believe that big government is better, saving is bad, spending is good, borrowing is good, printing is good, taking responsibility is bad, and biting the Chinese hand that feeds us is a great idea. Sometimes I feel like I'm in some sort of bizarro world.

Oppose Obama & Co., Get Audited

2009-03-10T14:09:00.000-05:00

The Final Straw?

2009-03-09T17:57:00.002-05:00

I've had a hotmail email address since junior high. I made up a silly address and didn't figure I'd use it. Ten years later, I've still got it. Actually, it has become a bit of a spam email. If a company requires that I use an email address, but I don't think I'll use their email, I give them that address. For email of more a more serious or personal nature, I use gmail. Gmail has been a relief compared to hotmail. For instance, Hotmail once deleted every email I had sorted through into folders. That's right, they deleted only messages I thought important enough to sort into folders. I never again have used folders, which makes for an unpleasant sight. Gmail has a wonderfully useful search feature that actually works, and an amazing amount of storage. Hotmail can't keep up.

Well, they've done it again. This time, the folks at Microsoft in all their wisdom decided that their users shouldn't be able to sort their email by whether it is "unread" or "read." This is probably the most basic type of sorting you can normally do, yet... you can't do it in hotmail. Not only this, but you can't search for "unread." Out of 1914 messages going back to 2003 (must have been when Hotmail last purged all my email?) I have left 23 messages unread. I decided today that while I am waiting for an email to arrive and am checking hotmail more regularly than I usually do, that I would appreciate seeing "no new emails" instead of 23... or was that 24 new emails. Thanks again, Microsoft. It is absolutely astonished that I still use hotmail. I'm sure it only has to do with the fact that I'm worried I'll lose emails if I completely stop using them.

What to do? I'm probably too much of a stick-in-the-mud to finally get rid of it.

Hobbs' Wish List

2009-03-05T12:43:00.002-06:00

FDIC Possibly Headed for Broke

2009-03-05T08:53:00.004-06:00

The head of the FDIC says that if they don't get more money from the banks that they could go insolvent this year. I take this as fair warning. Sure, they would take from Peter to pay Paul, but the headline "FDIC Needs Bailout" could cause bank runs across the country. The response is that there would be a nationwide bank holiday. And it's not like the interest rates at banks anymore are worth running the risk of not being able to access your funds anymore.

Basically, the FDIC only has 1.5% of all the US banking systems deposits in cash and assets. The FDIC is just a confidence game to begin with, but the issues at hand need a little more than a smiling face and promises. More banks are going under every Friday night. There's already approaching as many failed banks this year as last year, and last year was more than the five years before that combined. The Congress has now made things harder on the FDIC by requiring them to "insure" bank deposits up to 250,000 now. The list of troubled banks is growing, and just a small minority of the banks would completely wipe out the FDIC's funds. So, what happens when 5% of deposits are wiped out?

In other news, the Federal Reserve says they are printing money. Here's some charts.

As we can see, the Federal Reserve has been comparing notes with Zimbabwe recently. The first time I looked at this chart below, I missed the final uptick due to how vertical it is and how it matches the background column. Almost shocking. They are nearly quintupling the fastest the printing presses ever went in the US before. The chart might make you look back on past printing with nostalgia, but you have to remember that the amount of printing between the 50's and the 70's was enough to wipe out the handicapped gold standard (Bretton-Woods) of the day. They've continued debasing the dollar at an amazing speed, and now are trying to finish it off.

Free Movie Rentals!

2009-03-02T21:24:00.002-06:00

I just received an email from Redbox that says you can get a free rental every Wednesday this month, just by getting the code words from their blog on each Wednesday. Sounds good to me.

http://blog.redbox.com/

I've sometimes used their blog for checking out the quality of movies before I rent them, and I've been fairly satisfied with their reviews. However, rottentomatoes.com is much more preferable.

Also, I believe you can still get a free movie rental for giving them your email address. I gave them mine, and they haven't abused it... yet. Even if they do, I still got a movie rental out of the deal. That's $1, boys and girls, yeehaw!

If you haven't tried out Redbox, it's about time that you do.

Heros of the Kingdom of the Left!

2009-03-01T21:04:00.005-06:00

Hilarious.

Also, here's a really nice lecture by Prof. Shawn Ritenour of Grove City College. It is entitled, "J. G. Machen: Calvinist, Revolutionary, Hero." This lecture handles a lot more of Machen's beliefs and achievements regarding things belonging to the Kingdom of the Left, so I was unaware of many of the things said. Usually discussion of Machen circles around his being booted from Princeton, the beginning of the OPC and Westminster Seminary, and Kingdom of the Right issues. I hope you take the time to listen to about this modern church father.

I've been thinking about the possibility of starting a book study on Machen's Christianity and Liberalism. We'll see if that gets anywhere.

UPDATE: I had to add this video of a speech Congressman Paul gave in Congress recently. The audio gets a little loud towards the end, but overall I found the video helpful in following all his questions.

-Joel

Congratulations are in Order

2009-02-26T14:55:00.002-06:00

My dear husband has been elected Chairman for the next Congregational Meeting!

Tax-Eaters!

2009-02-24T16:29:00.004-06:00

Skill Acquired

2009-02-20T16:48:00.004-06:00

You know, like nunchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. - Napoleon Dynamite

So true.

With the enormous help of YouTube and my beautiful wife, I learned how to tie a Windsor knot. Finally. For years, I've used the Pratt knot. Or so I think, I may have been using a messed up form of it. It has been a source of some frustration.

I had tried to learn both the Windsor and Half-Windsor knots using those little diagrams, but to no avail. I hadn't yet tried the YouTube method of learning until this week. I was able to fairly quickly learn the Windsor knot itself just from YouTube. However, I couldn't get the knot tight or the tie the correct length. That's where my ingenious wife comes in. Her advice was, "Go by faith, not by sight!" She didn't say it quite so biblically, but she had found out my problem. I was trying to look down at the tie while I was knotting it, so I wasn't able to get it tight or the right length. So, I closed my eyes, and finally got it just right. Since then, I've even ventured out in public with my new skill. I think wifey digs it.

-Joel

What If My Pastor Prefers Programs Over Preaching?

2009-02-15T16:53:00.003-06:00

Click on the title to see the full post plus comments.

Sabbath Vespers

2009-02-15T16:24:00.002-06:00

Here's some thoughts about Sabbath-keeping.

Three Hours Away From Total Economic Collapse

2009-02-12T02:36:00.002-06:00

Rep. Kanjorski in this video says that the US was within three hours of total economic collapse and that the world economy was 24 hours away from collapse. Apparently there was a 550 billion dollar bank run. This is why fractional reserve banking can't work. A single unit of money cannot be in two places at exactly the same time. In our banking system, money that is supposed to be warehoused in our banks that is available at anytime to us is already in someone else's hands. There is no money in our banks. If money was in CDs, that would work fine, but checking and savings accounts don't work. The money wasn't there to be removed from banks, so the banks would have collapsed. The Fed then just borrowed and "printed" the difference to save the banking system. The only solution is to abolish the Fed and fractional reserve banking. Ron Paul could have been another Andrew Jackson or Thomas Jefferson and stopped this nonsense. The rest of the crazies like the fraudulent banking system. It's obviously working so well!

High Fructose Corn Syrup Update

2009-02-12T00:45:00.002-06:00

So here's a report on how our new year's resolution is going. We basically have been clearing out those items that have HFCS out of our house (by consuming them, of course). We've done pretty good about really dropping our intake of the stuff. Together we've only drunk 2 glasses of pop with HFCS since the year began. Jones soda doesn't have any, but I haven't drunk much of that. I've pretty much gone back to coffee when I want caffeine. No more cranberry sauce, no more store-bought oatmeal cookies, no more of several types of juices, no more of many types of ice cream, no more mayonaisse, no more barbecue sauce, no more salad dressing, no more of the juice in fruit cocktails or canned fruit, and et cetera ad nauseum.

Stacey can't give up ketchup at restaurants, but I've been eating plain fries a lot more. It is probably better cause I don't end up eating all the fries when there is no ketchup on them. The ketchup thing is what inspired me to write the post. We decided that we would either make ketchup or buy it if we found HFCS-free ketchup. At Wal-Mart, there was a single type that didn't have any. Heinz makes an organic ketchup that has sugar instead of HFCS. It has a green and white label if you're interested. The thing about it was that you can very easily taste the difference between sugar and HFCS, I think. It may be other things that are done to it, but you really can notice a strong difference. It tastes a bit sweeter, and my remark was that I think it was the first time that I really could tell that ketchup was made from tomatoes just in the taste. I've thought it ironic that I don't like tomatoes very well (though I eat them plenty), yet I love ketchup. I suppose that this is because ketchup doesn't taste like tomatoes. I do really like the organic type. Perhaps if you are wanting to taste the difference, you should pick it up.

We aren't buying organic because it says organic. Government-decided labelling of what is organic food has made a mockery of the concept. You can buy "organic" tv dinners, but you can't call homegrown food "organic" without the USDA involved. They've completely industrialized organic food production to look exactly similar to industrial foods with certain minor modifications and then proceded to give a government monopoly on the use of the word. There's a lot about the whole debacle in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

Good News! California is Broke!

2009-02-05T17:20:00.003-06:00

Okay, so you probably knew that already. Actually, this could be good news. Here's an article talking about a county-level grassroots revolt against the state of California. Those counties are suing the state to get money to pay for their public services. The state says they should borrow. Hopefully, everyone in California realizes that the money is no longer there for their profligate spending and cuts services dramatically. Sure, it's a lofty wish... but you never know. If California is forced to become fiscally conservative, then everyone else would have a blueprint. Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending. However, before that happens, look for them to try to get a government bailout. I'm sure that some of the counties have the good sense to just cut spending.

Government School Fail

2009-02-05T16:18:00.002-06:00

HT: Fearsome Comrade

The Perfect

2009-02-04T11:41:00.002-06:00

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Translation: "Don't stand on your principles. Take the easy way out. Here, I'll show you how."

I've been hearing this a quote a lot lately. I rarely find what the person is saying to be in any sense good.

-Joel

With Some Panache

2009-01-23T22:22:00.002-06:00

Okay, maybe it's a little over the top with sound effects and such, but I like it.

And of course, Obama has already begun bombing places. 15 people were killed in Pakistan including 3 children.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5575883.ece

Imagine, instead of the trillion (probably twice that) spent on the wars, if Bush would have granted a letter of marque and reprisal against Bin Laden. 100 billion dollars to whomever caught Bin Laden probably could have sped things up. 1 billion probably would have done it.

The Things You Learn About in Church

2009-01-21T14:02:00.002-06:00

Perhaps wingsuit base jumping doesn't come to mind as something you learned about in church (or at least a church based worship event thingy), but it certainly comes to my mind. Stacey and I went to an event hosted by a local seeker-friendly church (the church I used to attend) a while back where the video at the bottom was played. The "message" was from "The Message" using this text:

7-8 Oh, how sweet the light of day,
And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!
Even if you live a long time, don't take a single day for granted.
Take delight in each light-filled hour,
Remembering that there will also be many dark days
And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

9 You who are young, make the most of your youth.
Relish your youthful vigor.
Follow the impulses of your heart.
If something looks good to you, pursue it.
But know also that not just anything goes;
You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

10 Live footloose and fancy-free—
You won't be young forever.
Youth lasts about as long as smoke.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

There's a Silver Lining to Obama

2009-01-19T15:41:00.002-06:00

Here's a list of Bush's abuses (from our friends at campaignforliberty.com):

• Two undeclared, unwinnable imperial wars, with hundreds of thousands of dead, including thousands of Americans, and many tens of thousands of Americans wounded, with the violence and occupations continuing to this day;

• Detention without trial or habeas corpus;

• A torture scandal and the institutionalization, from the top down, of "enhanced interrogation techniques" that offend basic standards of human decency;

• New precedents on "extraordinary renditioning," whereby U.S. intelligence and military agencies hand off detainees to foreign countries where they are interrogated in ways that even the U.S. at Guantanamo will not use;

• Warrantless wiretapping of the citizenry conducted by the military wing of the government;

• Spying on peaceful political activists and putting many names on no-fly lists;

• The modification of Posse Comitatus and insurrection law to empower the president to order the military and national guard to impose order on the domestic population;

• More signing statements than any president before;

• Credit expansion that helped bring on the greatest financial crisis in many years;

• The largest expansion of welfare spending since the Great Society, specifically in the area of prescription drugs;

• The biggest bailout ever, so far, with frightening moves toward economic fascism in the financial sector;

• A doubling of the deficit and debt;

• The nationalization of airline security and the introduction of the color-coded terror system;

• The Department of Homeland Security;

• Sarbanes-Oxley and other posturing corporate regulation that hurts small firms while doing nothing to improve the economy;

• Signing McCain-Feingold into law, despite knowing it violating the First Amendment;

• The further nationalization of education;

• The 21st century version of the "unitary executive," which concentrates ever more power into the presidency;

• Massive protectionism, secrecy, duplicity, socialism, corporatism, and growing reliance on police-state tactics;

• Terrible diplomatic blunders with North Korea, the Middle East and elsewhere;

• The failure to catch Osama bin Laden.

In Honor of Obama's Inauguration

2009-01-19T15:15:00.002-06:00

A musical blast from the past:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ5SVDYBNrY

(Embedding is disabled...)

Cult of Personality by Living Colour

“And during the few moments that we have left, we want to talk, right down to
earth, in a language that everybody here can easily understand.” (Malcolm X)

Look in my eyes, what do you see?
the Cult of Personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you wanna be ohhh…
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality
the Cult of Personality
the Cult of Personality

Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face of your T.V. ohh…
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you; still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three ohh…
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi ohh…
I'm the Cult of Personality
the Cult of Personality
the Cult of Personality

Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

(Guitar solo)

You gave me fortune, you gave me fame
You gave me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be ohh…
I'm, the, Cult, of, Per, Son, Al, Ity

I am the Cult of (x8)
Personality

“Ask not what your country can do for you…” (John F. Kennedy)
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

-Joel

2008 in Review

2009-01-12T14:07:00.010-06:00

January
-Joel’s Birthday.
-Sanded, stained and varnished all the floors in the house.
-Got a new dog, Speed, whose name we changed to Hobbs.

February
-Settled into the house more, since the floors were finally done.
-Furniture browsing.
-Bought four new book shelves for the library.

March
-Bought a china cabinet/hutch.
-Josh came to visit for the first time.
-My birthday.
-Visit from Michael and Rachael L., Mr. Koons and Dr. Blackwood on their way through Iowa.
-My family’s first visit since moving into our house and BOTH my grandmas came too.

April
-Our new niece, Ellasyn Rose, was born.
-Took a day trip to Chicago.
-Did a lot of hiking at the local state park.
-Attended our first Republican District Convention as delegates.
-Spent the day at the spa… my birthday gift from Joel.

May
-Shannon and Jeff’s wedding, went to Indy by myself.
-Finally bought the dresser in the picture from January, how nice to have somewhere permanent to put our clothes!
-Started our first real garden.
-Worked on getting our other house ready to rent out.
-Watched the annual World class bike race on Snake Alley.
-Attended Ella’s baby shower

June
-Went to Molly Pilling’s graduation party.
-Worst flood in modern history hit Iowa.
-Garden was less than stellar as a result, but still productive.
-The beginning of my first summer without central air, wasn’t all that bad.

July
-Learned how to pressure can food.
-Bridge across the Mississippi re-opened.
-Went blueberry picking.
-Big health issues for Kirby-dog.
-Refinished some old furniture.
-Family came for another visit.
-More blueberry picking.

August
-Visited Nauvoo and watched the City of Joseph Pageant.
-Sweet Corn festival in West Point, IA… good eatin’.
-Nicole came to visit for a week.
-Did a lot of sight seeing and driving.

September
-Our first anniversary!
-Bought a coffee table as our gift to each other.
-Another flood, this time in my in-laws’ basement.
-Trip to Indianapolis.
October
-Annual autumn trip to Weir Fruit Farm for REAL apple cider.
-Got our wedding picture framed, finally.
-Found the missing kitchen drawer!

November
-Josh came and helped us with our other house.
-Voted for Ron Paul for president… so don’t blame us!
-One day trip to Indy for Thanksgiving Saturday.

December
-Processed our first venison.
-Crazy hours at the store… I was ready for Christmas to over since Thanksgiving.
-Sold over $13,000 worth of jewelry in two weeks of part time work.
-Joel’s parents gave us a gas grill… can’t wait to try it out.
-Bought a pair of new lamps for the living room.
-Took another one day trip to Indianapolis… we never saw so many cars in the in ditch in one day, about 20. SUV drivers are complete idiots!

Economic Stimulus

2009-01-10T13:50:00.003-06:00

Here's a quote that should help argue against Bush and Obama's economic stimulus projects.

"I will finish with a quotation from Roosevelt's secretary of treasury, Henry Morganthau. He admits, the whole thing failed. Again, the quote, you will never see in a textbook, but I have it right here. I went to the Roosevelt Library and dug this one out. Henry Morganthau, Secretary of Treasury, in May, 1939, years after the New Deal, said, "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and now if I am wrong somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosper. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started. And enormous debt to boot." That is the secretary of treasury in charge of the money disbursement and statistics collection during the 1930s, making that statement."

What Bush, Obama, and the Congress don't understand is the so-called broken window fallacy. You've heard it every time a hurricane happens or war breaks out. Statements are made like, "...this hurricane is a blessing in disguise because we will see the economy boom in the areas affected."

"Let us begin with the simplest illustration possible: let us, emulating Bastiat, choose a broken pane of glass.

A young hoodlum, say, heaves a brick through the window of a baker’s shop. The shopkeeper runs out furious, but the boy is gone. A crowd gathers, and begins to stare with quiet satisfaction at the gaping hole in the window and the shattered glass over the bread and pies. After a while the crowd feels the need for philosophic reflection. And several of its members are almost certain to remind each other or the baker that, after all, the misfortune has its bright side. It will make business for some glazier. As they begin to think of this they elaborate upon it. How much does a new plate glass window cost? Two hundred and fifty dollars? That will be quite a sum. After all, if windows were never broken, what would happen to the glass business? Then, of course, the thing is endless. The glazier will have $250 more to spend with other merchants, and these in turn will have $250 more to spend with still other merchants, and so ad infinitum. The smashed window will go on providing money and employment in ever-widening circles. The logical conclusion from all this would be, if the crowd drew it, that the little hoodlum who threw the brick, far from being a public menace, was a public benefactor.

Now let us take another look. The crowd is at least right in its first conclusion. This little act of vandalism will in the first instance mean more business for some glazier. The glazier will be no more unhappy to learn of the incident than an undertaker to learn of a death. But the shopkeeper will be out $250 that he was planning to spend for a new suit. Because he has had to replace a window, he will have to go without the suit (or some equivalent need or luxury). Instead of having a window and $250 he now has merely a window. Or, as he was planning to buy the suit that very afternoon, instead of having both a window and a suit he must be content with the window and no suit. If we think of him as a part of the community, the community has lost a new suit that might otherwise have come into being, and is just that much poorer.

The glazier’s gain of business, in short, is merely the tailor’s loss of business. No new “employment” has been added. The people in the crowd were thinking only of two parties to the transaction, the baker and the glazier. They had forgotten the potential third party involved, the tailor. They forgot him precisely because he will not now enter the scene. They will see the new window in the next day or two. They will never see the extra suit, precisely because it will never be made. They see only what is immediately visible to the eye."

This explains why, while we have two wars simultaneously, the economy isn't booming. This also explains the economic stimulus's failures. All the money is borrowed, taxed, or printed. The broken window then is either more taxes, more taxes with added interest, or inflation. With borrowing or inflation, you don't see the effects of the broken window until after the economy is "stimulated." However, the economy will then be hurt when inflation finally lifts its head, or taxes are due. The kid throwing the rock (government) should go to jail or get a real job instead of causing and prolonging the pain on the economy.

-Joel

Mmm... Kool-Aid

2009-01-08T17:30:00.005-06:00

My sister said that she had seen some ads touting HFCS when I told her our New Year's Resolution. So, for your viewing pleasure...

I think it's pretty hilarious that she's drinking Kool-Aid. Yes, drink our Kool-Aid says the Corn Refiners Association. (Hint: references to drinking Kool-Aid often refer to absorbing false propaganda)

Kinda reminds me of this:

Lew Rockwell Posts about Sugar in Pop

2009-01-08T07:14:00.003-06:00

I had missed this post about sugar in pops. I thought it would be good to post it as a follow-up to yesterday's post.

As a side note, I have drunk Mexican pop before. I drank La Joya and Fanta before Fanta was offered in the US. I was excited to see Fanta offered in the US a few years back, but it was very disappointing compared to the Mexican version.

Slightly Belated New Year's Resolution

2009-01-07T15:56:00.003-06:00

I think Stacey and I are going to try the very difficult goal of attempting to eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup from our diets. I've been very suspicious about HFCS since reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It was invented sometime around 1966 and has gained popularity based on tariffs against sugar. If you've tasted pop in countries other than ours, you might have preferred it over ours because they still use sugar everywhere else.

Anyway, I saw today some articles concerning the health effects of HFCS here. I don't know that I buy into everything said there, but I generally assume that government/corporate (fascist) decisions about food will be bad for my health. Forty-four years ago, no one in the world would have recognized HFCS as food. Today, many still call HFCS something more like a chemical than a food. This is similar to margarine and the whole trans-fat thing. The diabetes epidemic could probably be blamed on the stuff.

Sugar isn't exactly wonderful, but imitation/chemical sugar is far worse. Another imitation sugar is aspartame. Defined by wikipedia aspartame is, "an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener, aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester; that is, a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine" that "breaks down into residual chemicals, including aspartic acid, phenylalanine, methanol, and further breakdown products including formaldehyde, formic acid, and a diketopiperazine." I used to not be concerned about all that even after I heard that it breaks down into those things in your system. However, I realized that whenever I'd drink the stuff, I would get headaches afterwards. I've since tried to cut down on diet pops.

I have more goals for our food consumption in the future, but avoiding HFCS is now going to be on the top of the list.

We know this will be very difficult as HFCS is nearly ubiquitious in food. Hopefully, we'll manage to do alright!

-Joel

Is Your Bank Troubled?

2009-01-03T06:39:00.003-06:00

Here's a searchable map to find out. Just zoom in to see more closely the exact banks.

Now, all banks in our economy are troubled based on the fact that they embezzle funds in what's called fractional reserve banking. If they were farmers and stored grain for other farmers yet kept less than 10% of the grain, they would be arrested for fraud among other things. However, some banks embezzle less than others. The ones that have embezzled less are often more stable. Not surprisingly, this is more likely your small, local bank.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T01:07:00.004-06:00

Hobbs celebrated New Years with us as he snagged a sugar cookie that was in a tin on the couch and finished it off when 2009 arrived.

A few days ago, he got a new John Deere hat. He thought it was pretty scary. He didn't move around much when he had it on. After a while, he started to get a hang of it. We are cruel.

I got a holiday treat in the form of a new draught at St. Anne's Pub. Both Lew Rockwell and Peter Schiff were interviewed. http://www.stannespub.com/ (As always, I don't in any way endorse the Federal Vision theology over there in Idaho! I just happen to like some of their politics and a lot of their style.)

Stacey is still selling thousands and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry at Becker's Jewelry. I think she is pretty happy that December is over.
With my tip money, I bought her the lamps that she's been wanting for several months, and I did the gentlemanly thing of blackmailing her into a promise that she would post on the blog some pictures of them and a post as well. We have so many pictures to put up here...

-Joel

Yikes!

2008-12-24T02:34:00.002-06:00

Oh No! Tivo... Pieces!

2008-12-22T17:37:00.003-06:00

If you remember the comedian that, while sleepwalking, jumped through a second story window of a LaQuinta Inn, you'll probably also want to hear how he ruined a charity benefit with his worst performance.

Act Two. Tragedy Minus Comedy Equals Time.

Comedian Mike Birbiglia talks about the time he ruined a cancer charity event, by giving the worst performance of his life. (Here's a hint: He improvised. About cancer.) (10 minutes)

15 Seconds of Fame

2008-12-17T17:48:00.004-06:00

So last night I was thinking about the Fed rate cut yesterday, and I was wondering about a new expression used by the Fed. So, I asked my question on the NPR's Planet Money facebook group. This morning, I received a message from the hostess/editor of the radio program, Laura Conaway. She said that my question was "great" and that she'd like to have me call in and ask it to an economist. Anyway, here's the podcast:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2008/12/hear_a_time_to_be_reckless.html
You have to go to 16:52 in to hear it.

The question I wrote out was this, "My question is about how yesterday, when the Fed announced the interest rate cut, they said that they were setting a target rate range between zero and a quarter point instead of a specific point like they usually do. I was wondering why that was different and why they didn't just set the rate to zero."

They had me repeat the question to try to sound more like I was in a conversation (little do they know) and they used the very last few words.

The answers he gave sounded satisfying (I do question the first somewhat), though his second answer seemed a little more polite than I would give. He said that there's "dramatic connotations about zero." There sure are. Interest free government loans, anyone? That was kind of my hunch behind the question. Why would they let us call it like it is when they can hide behind a "interest rate target range between a quarter point and zero." If only we could get back to the good old days when people could buy five homes with no money down and no employment to speak of! Everything would be wonderful again!

But don't despair, Bernanke and the Fed will stop hyper-inflation in just the nick of time. Speaking of which, there's a report out that says that more money has been "printed" in the last 90 days than in the preceding 83 years. Weimar Republic, Argentina, Zimbabwe, United Sta... let's hope not.

Here's an idea what to do with all the extra cash (or US Treasuries and bank statements) you have . Hint: that's a fireplace.

If you're interested, here's the link discussing the increase in the money supply: http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/024458.html

-Joel

Coke and Pepsi as Pesticide

2008-12-16T17:25:00.002-06:00

Too hard?

2008-11-25T17:40:00.003-06:00

Well, our traffic has doubled in the last few days, but there were still no guesses. I hope no one died for want of the answer.

So the answer is.... fleas or lice!

Here's a little more full form of the story behind the riddle:

http://books.google.com/books?id=GtczSNxYgs0C&pg=RA2-PA74&dq=homer+riddle+art&ei=W44sSf3KGpSmM9mfpbQF&client=firefox-a#PRA2-PA71,M1 Starting at page 71 at this link.

Give a Guess

2008-11-22T21:20:00.004-06:00

Nicole asked me to put up this riddle on the blog and see if anyone can figure out the answer. Don't look up the answer! If you know the answer already, please refrain from posting it. Everyone else, give your best guess in the comments!

Homer was asked this riddle, and due to his inability to answer it, he died. This was posed to him by children or possibly fishermen, but because Homer was of a higher class he couldn't figure it out.

So, see if you are able to figure out the riddle that doomed Homer. What does this refer to?

"What we caught, we threw away. What we didn't catch, we kept."

Evangelicalism

2008-11-20T16:57:00.003-06:00

Here's a video from many important "Evangelicals" about Evangelicalism today.

Adam's Rib

2008-11-19T07:45:00.003-06:00

On Issues, Etc. the other day they were discussing the purposes of marriage, whether it was a institution primarily established on law or gospel, and various biblical texts that dealt with the subject. I was struck by the Christocentric interpretations offered apparently by Augustine and Jerome. I don't remember a real reason offered growing up and since becoming Reformed I've only heard the somewhat sentimental interpretation offered by Matthew Henry. For those who haven't heard it before, Henry wrote, "the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." I think this speaks more to Henry's cleverness rather than the point of the text. Certainly he has a fine point, but it ultimately misses the wonderful and central insight offered by the ancients. (I'll note that I don't have Matthew Henry's commentaries to see whether at another point he covers this and that quote used may or may not be accurate.)

Here's Augustine:

"For at the beginning of the human race the woman was made of a rib taken from the side of the man while he slept; for it seemed fit that even then Christ and His Church should be foreshadowed in this event. For that sleep of the man was the death of Christ, whose side, as He hung lifeless upon the cross, was pierced with a spear, and there flowed from it blood and water, and these we know to be the sacraments by which the Church is built up. For Scripture used this very word, not saying He formed or framed, but built her up into a woman; whence also the apostle speaks of the edification of the body of Christ, which is the Church. The woman, therefore, is a creature of God even as the man; but by her creation from man unity is commended; and the manner of her creation prefigured, as has been said, Christ and the Church." City of God 22:17

Jerome has perhaps an even better commentary, but I wasn't able to find it online to quote from except here which doesn't look like it should be copied from. Jerome's commentary is excellent.

-Joel

(Note to self: consider other quotes)

Just 'cause

2008-11-15T18:01:00.001-06:00

Sorry if you're sick of this song. We wanted to post it earlier, but they had blocked the embed feature for a while. Anyway, we still enjoy it!

Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours"

And if there's any song that's "ours" it would have to be Aqualung's Brighter than Sunshine. It could be because she was formerly a Bright who lived on Sunshine Ave.

And why not another? Strange and Beautiful also by Aqualung

For Your Viewing and Listening Pleasure

2008-11-14T16:29:00.003-06:00

Here's Ron Paul on the international meeting discussing central banking and the possible change away from the dollar as the world's reserve currency. It's more interesting than that sounds. :-)

And I wanted to try Issues' embed feature, so here's Mike Horton's recent discussion with Todd Wilken.

Work has been picking up for Stacey with Christmas coming and all. She hopes to post several things soon.

-Joel

Which is the Better Explanation?

2008-11-12T14:44:00.004-06:00

You should be worried that Peter Schiff is now predicting high inflation in a year. This was in August of 2006. If you paid attention to him, your portfolio would be worth a lot more.

This isn't a fluke. Austrian economists almost uniformly predicted the same thing. The guys that are in control think a lot like the other guy, Art Laffer.

The inflation prediction isn't too hard to guess as the government has just used 3.5 trillion now for bailouts. The dollar monetary base is expanding at a rate that is probably surpassing 25% of US GDP. I even saw a headline that said that the S&P is considering downgrading America's AAA rating today.

I'll probably post more videos like this soon if I see any more.

Update

2008-11-11T19:15:00.002-06:00

Here's an update to the DNC protest story.

Looks Like Interesting Reading...

2008-11-09T17:34:00.006-06:00

I'm excited to hear about a couple of books that have recently been published. I'm holding off on buying them for a while on account of our budget, but maybe we'll be able to purchase them used at some point. Those books are Michael Horton's Christless Christianity and R. Scott Clark's Recovering the Reformed Confession.

Michael Horton's new book has its own website at www.christlesschristianity.org. At the bottom of the page it has an excerpt as well. Also, Dr. Horton was involved in a Viewpoint discussion at the Washington Post. Apparently, Horton had more questions submitted to him than any other person involved in one of these discussions. This discussion can be found by clicking... here.

Also, R. Scott Clark's book, Recovering the Reformed Confession, is out. Dr. Clark has been plugging it on his blog, but I'll point you to reviews here and here.

-Joel

For My Memory

2008-11-08T15:36:00.003-06:00

I wanted to link to two stories for my memory. One link is Fort Madison's newspaper, one is Keokuk's paper, and the last is Burlington's paper.

Joel is in:
http://www.dailydem.com/articles/2007/12/26/news/news2.txt
http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2007/12/26/news/06.txt

Stacey is in:
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/vote_Mock_Caucus_112907

-Joel

Returning Customers

2008-11-08T15:06:00.005-06:00

Stacey and I want to give our thanks to the good people at Merschman's Furniture of tiny St. Paul, Iowa.

A few months ago, Stacey and I bought from them a dresser as shown above. It's been wonderful to have as we were able to move our clothes out of plastic shelving and into it. However, a couple of months ago, one of the drawers was damaged. It could have been my shutting the drawer too hard, but I don't think it should have problems that quickly. The bottom lip of the drawer began to break, but it had not caused damage to the face nor had it broken completely. I was pretty irritated about it all as it was so new. I removed all the clothes from the drawer and stopped using it. I thought I might have to try to repair it myself... a scary thought.

Stacey found the receipt to see if we had any sort of warranty. No such luck. She decided to call Merschman's anyway, and to our surprise they agreed to fix the drawer and/or order a new drawer for us. Astonishingly, less than 15 hours later after our 5 PM call, two men from Merschman's showed up at our door to take the drawer. Less than a week later, we had the drawer fixed and returned with no problems and no cost to us!

Needless to say, they've quickly charmed us and we will be return customers.

-Joel

DNC Protests

2008-11-08T02:27:00.004-06:00

This story is upsetting. Those officers could have easily caused bodily harm to those people protesting. Provocateurs seem to be very commonly used in protests anymore. I hear stories about them regularly. It makes me wonder if those that were protesting up at the RNC were arrested for the actions of provocateurs against them as well. Those officers that cause damage or attack other officers ought to be tried in court and treated just as harshly as protesters would be. Somehow I doubt that will happen. I don't know why the police think that turning protests to violence is a good thing.

I guess I'm a little premature in taking the ACLU at its word, but these actions seem right in line with many other protests recently. I'll try to post any follow-up on the story.

Also, Stacey has many pictures ready and several stories to tell on the blog, so I'll try to get her to post again soon. :-)

-Joel

Was He Lucky?

2008-10-21T20:34:00.003-05:00

Written in 1999:

Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich today joined many others who are concerned about the strength of the economy when he warned that the low U.S. savings rate was a cause for concern. Coupled with the likely decline in foreign investment in the United States, he said that the economy will require some potentially `painful' adjustments--some combination of higher exports, higher interest rates, lower investment, and/or lower dollar values.

Such a scenario would put added pressure on the financial bubble. The growth in money and credit has outpaced both savings and economic growth. These inflationary pressures have been concentrated in asset prices, not consumer price inflation--keeping monetary policy too easy. This increase in asset prices has fueled domestic borrowing and spending.

Government policy and the increase in securitization are largely responsible for this bubble. In addition to loose monetary policies by the Federal Reserve, government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have contributed to the problem. The fourfold increases in their balance sheets from 1997 to 1998 boosted new home borrowings to more than $1.5 trillion in 1998, two-thirds of which were refinances which put an extra $15,000 in the pockets of consumers on average--and reduce risk for individual institutions while increasing risk for the system as a whole.

The rapidity and severity of changes in economic conditions can affect prospects for individual institutions more greatly than that of the overall economy. The Long Term Capital Management hedge fund is a prime example. New companies start and others fail every day. What is troubling with the hedge fund bailout was the governmental response and the increase in moral hazard.

This increased indication of the government's eagerness to bail out highly-leveraged, risky and largely unregulated financial institutions bodes ill for the post S. 900 future as far as limiting taxpayer liability is concerned. LTCM isn't even registered in the United States but the Cayman Islands!

Of course, this was pre-9/11 and the subsequent massive drops in interest rates. Ron Paul's predictions got even more honed in later on. But just ignore the crazy man in the corner-- the one that predicted in 1998 the Iraqi war with the Iraq resolution also of that year, and the one that predicted this current financial mess in 1999. Oh yeah, and ignore his current predictions of coming inflation, too.

-Joel

"Irony is Andrew Jackson on a Central Bank Note" ($20 Bill)

2008-10-09T16:04:00.003-05:00

Relevant words from the man that was the second president to take down an American Central Bank.

"Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out."

-Andrew Jackson

Indianapolis Knows the Importance of Voting

2008-10-09T13:51:00.002-05:00

So much so that 105% of them are registered!

Question about McCain

2008-10-06T23:08:00.003-05:00

Didn't the slogan used to be "God, Family, and Country"? I'm just wondering about McCain's slogan to put your "Country First." The fact that it seems like the former replaces the latter is a scary enough thought. And what's meant by "Country First" seems just as bad. Not to say that he's agreeing with Hitler necessarily, but why use his rhetoric?

-Joel

Banks and Revolutions!

2008-09-26T21:56:00.004-05:00

Interesting to see that the day after I post that last post, Washington Mutual goes belly up. Good timing, I guess. (WaMu was the largest bank to go under in the history of the US... which probably means in all of history as well?)

Stacey and I have been enjoying a song that talks about a fallen king by Coldplay lately. I thought I'd put it up along with the lyrics. It happens to be the bump music for Issues, Etc.

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you know there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
(Ohhh)

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
(Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh)

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringings
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh

Panic! Crash!

2008-09-25T00:33:00.005-05:00

First, they were called panics, then depressions, then recessions, now downturns and slowdowns. Anyway, this "slowdown" has caused some bank runs and the failures of Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (those last two alone apparently have 6 t-trillion in obligations), AIG, IndyMac Bank (now IndyMac Federal Bank), the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, and other banks possibly soon to follow in failing(Washington Mutual?). I've heard a statistic recently that inflation went up as much as 1.2% in a month recently. I don't think I'm going to get a 10-15% raise this year to keep up with that. Oh, and congress wants another 700 billion to try to force the collapse of the dollar into hyperinflation.

Ron Paul is fighting back with a bill to audit the Fed. Everyone is clamoring for accountability, more oversight, and regulation, so how about all that for the central bank? Expose the Fed for what it is, and maybe Congress would be forced to stop the printing presses. No more pumping liquidity and low interest rates for Wall Street and maybe savings accounts would actually be a good place to store money. (long term inflation is at 3.1% per year, our savings account has 1.02% annual percentage yield earned) Too bad Ron Paul is a modern Cassandra.

All of that was an intro for a few audio recommendations. Here's Ron Paul discussing the Panic of '08 with Lew Rockwell on the Lew Rockwell Show podcast.

Here's This American Life explaining how mortgages ended up affecting all of Wall Street. Summary: A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

That particular program above was so popular that they started a whole new spin-off radio program that rides on its coattails.

While you're at it, check out the archives for the Lew Rockwell show: http://www.lewrockwell.com/podcast/?p=archive

Most of those programs are rather short, only 10-15 minutes or so, so have a listen.

-Joel

Calvin on Examination

2008-09-24T00:54:00.003-05:00

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom39.xviii.iii.html

1 Cor. 11:28. But let a man examine himself An exhortation drawn from the foregoing threatening. “If those that eat unworthily are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, then let no man approach who is not properly and duly prepared. Let every one, therefore, take heed to himself, that he may not fall into this sacrilege through idleness or carelessness.” But now it is asked, what sort of examination, that ought to be to which Paul exhorts us. Papists make it consist in auricular confession. They order all that are to receive the Supper, to examine their life carefully and anxiously, that they may unburden all their sins in the ear of the priest. Such is their preparation! I maintain, however, that this holy examination of which Paul speaks, is widely different from torture. Those persons, after having tortured themselves with reflection for a few hours, and making the priest — such as he is — privy to their vileness, imagine that they have done their duty. It is an examination of another sort that Paul here requires — one of such a kind as may accord with the legitimate use of the sacred Supper.

You see here a method that is most easily apprehended. If you would wish to use aright the benefit afforded by Christ, bring faith and repentance. As to these two things, therefore, the trial must be made, if you would come duly prepared. Under repentance I include love; for the man who has learned to renounce himself, that he may give himself up wholly to Christ and his service, will also, without doubt, carefully maintain that unity which Christ has enjoined. At the same time, it is not a perfect faith or repentance that is required, as some, by urging beyond due bounds, a perfection that can nowhere be found, would shut out for ever from the Supper every individual of mankind. If, however, thou aspirest after the righteousness of God with the earnest desire of thy mind, and, trembled under a view of thy misery, dost wholly lean upon Christ’s grace, and rest upon it, know that thou art a worthy guest to approach the table — worthy I mean in this respect, that the Lord does not exclude thee, though in another point of view there is something in thee that is not as it ought to be. For faith, when it is but begun, makes those worthy who were unworthy.

What Did You Learn in School Today?

2008-09-18T01:59:00.004-05:00

Homeschooling is starting to sound great!

The Offensive Gospel: Christ Alone

2008-09-17T17:21:00.004-05:00

I'm really excited about a new series of programs by Issues, Etc. with Dr. Rod Rosenbladt. They are going to be discussing the Solas of the Reformation. Yesterday, they discussed Solus Christus... here.

Sure, they pretend a bit as if a lot of these doctrines are just Lutheran doctrines and not really a shared Protestant Reformation heritage, but don't let that stop you from listening.

Later in the program Rosenbladt says quite a few provacative things. For instance, he gives a recommendation on why you should quit going to church. Another portion of the program that is one of my favorite parts is where there's a suggestion for church advertisement. Essentially he says, "Become a Christian and your problems will multiply!" Truth in advertising? A third provacative thing said, really shouldn't be. That is, preaching should be about Christ. The gospel is for you before you become a Christian, and it is still for you as a Christian. This isn't a gospel that's tacked on the end of a sermon for non-Christians. Instead, the gospel is for Christians too, and we *must* hear about the gospel for us too, each and every single Sunday.

Here's some past programs where Rosenbladt discusses whether your church is pietistic, and I couldn't more highly recommend them.
http://mediaie.kfuoam.org/mp3/Issues5/Jan_23a.mp3
http://mediaie.kfuoam.org/mp3/Issues5/Jan_23b.mp3

Knee Deep in Sewage

2008-09-13T21:54:00.007-05:00

...well not quite knee deep, but close enough! After 36 hours of steady to pouring rain, the Middletown sewer waters came spewing out of my in-laws' basement toilet. By the time is was discovered there were nearly 18 inches of water throughout their entire, mostly finished basement. A panicked trip to Menard's was made to get a pump and a sump pump, and hole was put in the garage wall to run the pump. Followed by hours of this:

After the water was down to a couple inches the real work began. Carpet was pulled up, drained, and handed out the basement window to the waiting pickup. Water was swept to the sump pit. Furniture was moved, and tossed out; closets were emptied and general mayhem ensued. Joel had a lot of childhood things that had been stored down there since they moved in 2ish years ago. And would you believe it, yesterday afternoon Joel's dad decided to load it all on the trailer to move over to our house! Little did anyone know it would flood less than 12 hours later. Sadly though his dad's collector model train set had recently been setup on the floor and is now ruined. Tonight most of the water is gone and the largest of the trashed things are waiting for the dump. The next step will be cutting off the drywall and insulation and powerwashing everything.

At the bottom of the basement stairs.

Looking across the basement.

In the workshop.

Taking stock. Look at how high the water comes on the wheels of the hobby cars.

Our First Anniversary

2008-09-12T21:42:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pictures of anniversary celebration. After dinner out, we pulled our year old wedding cake out of the freezer, bought a bottle of champagne, and lit the candles left from the wedding. Joel bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses too!

We were worried about how the cake would survive after spending a year in the freezer and a five hour car trip from Indiana to Iowa. As you can see the icing didn't fare so well, but it tasted just fine. You would never guess the cake was a year old.

Our gift to each other was a coffee table we had been eyeing for months. Its clearance price finally hit rock bottom! The living room has now been successfully rearranged and the new piece feels quite at home.

Political Speech of the Year

2008-09-03T15:30:00.002-05:00

Google Chrome

2008-09-02T18:56:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to tell everyone that Google Chrome is now out. I'll be testing it out to see if I'll make a switch between Firefox and Chrome. If you use Internet Explorer, it really is time to make the switch. Here's why Google says you should use Chrome.

Go-Kart and the Granny

2008-09-02T07:16:00.003-05:00

This video is from our Labor Day get together with my folks. I had a blast driving the kids around on that go-kart, as did my dad. It was pretty rough riding as there's no shocks of any kind.

I also wanted to post about one of my favorite blogs, the Granny Miller blog. She's a lady (not actually a grandmother) who farms along with her husband in Pennsylvania. She's got many how-to's and posts regularly about the ins and outs of farm life. Here's a post that Stacey particularly enjoyed from a while back. Here's a post that I enjoyed. Of course, it's just an excerpt from a Wendell Berry book, so that explains it. It's not my favorite quote in that it's more pragmatic and quick for the ends of urbanites instead of a more philosophical nature or geared toward country folk, but it's helpful nevertheless. Anyway, dig around in her blog for a while, and you'll find some very interesting anecdotes.

Weekend Listening

2008-08-12T17:10:00.003-05:00

Stacey recommended I put up the newest This American Life audio up for your listening. This one is focused on the topic of sleep. Well, more like lack of sleep. It starts out with a comedian's bit on his sleeping problems. He doesn't produce enough dopamine while he sleeps, and as a result he acts out his dreams in life. So he has to handle laser-guided missiles directed at him, olympic medals, and turning into the Hulk. Destruction and trips to the hospital ensue.

Another program we listen to every weekend is my personal favorite, The White Horse Inn. I started listening towards the end of my high school career. The program itself and the books it turned me on to were very helpful in leaving behind evangelicalism and becoming a Reformed Presbyterian. Take a shot at listening.
Program summaries: http://whitehorseinn.org/previous_programs.htm
Program archives: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/The_White_Horse_Inn/archives.asp

The final weekend listening program is Rick Steve's Travels. I always enjoyed seeing him on PBS as a kid. I'd often dream of becoming a missionary to the various places he'd discuss. The podcast isn't quite the TV show, but it's good for a change in pace.
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/podcast_menu.htm

-Joel

Iowa Happenings

2008-08-09T01:03:00.012-05:00

The sweet corn festival was this weekend, with all the free sweet corn you can eat! The festival is what puts West Point, IA on the map. I read that they had 13 tons of corn. You should have seen the giant grills for the meal they serve, row after row after row. And then there are the steaming vats for boiling the corn. ...I sure came home stuffed!

Last weekend we went down to Nauvoo, IL for the annual LDS pageant. It is a very professional broadway type production, telling of the rise and fall of the first Mormon city. Had they not been forced out, this tiny town would today be the size of Salt Lake City. Here you can see the temple they have recently rebuilt.

This is the stage built rendition. Joel and I found it interesting that a lot of the songs they used in the production had the same tunes as many of the Psalms we sing every day. The tunes to 46C and 16B were especially popular.

Hmm, the boys do have a way of finding the most comfortable place to sleep. It does get a little crowded some nights, but could you tell those little faces, no? Of course this isn't an every night occurrence, and puppies with wet paws get sent away.

Here is part of one afternoon's work 22 pints of green beans. Joel was a big help and snapped all of them for me. A friend of Joel's mom gave us a bunch of beans and then came over and showed us how to can them! The next day I added two and a half pints of strawberry jam to the stash and some applesauce. Zucchini bread joined them later along with a bunch more applesauce, and now I have another big bag of beans. I'm starting to feel like a real country girl now!

Here we are driving to IL to pick blueberries. This is the remaining effect of the great flood months ago... highway still underwater, homes unlivable, and many many farms lying barren for the year. You would never guess it, but every were you see water should be corn fields. If you look closely at the silos (aka grain bins) on the right side of the road you can see the dark ring, a tell tale sign of how high the water came. As we passed the farmhouse just up ahead you could see that all the windows are broken and hanging out of most of them were tattered, muddy curtains and mini blinds that looked like they had been through a blender. I think we are about four miles away from the river at this point and the water just keep going and going.

Don't I have a sweet husband? I came home exhausted one day after work, lay down to take a nap and woke to find dinner and these beautiful roses!

Shh! Don't tell Grandma that I was on the couch!

Hobbs loves to go on rides and has a way knowing when ever we are getting ready to leave! He bounces on his back legs and woofs, chasing us around all over the house. He seems to think rides are the most exciting thing that could ever happen. So we feel sorry for him when we have to tell him no and leave him behind. Then yesterday we saw his sad little face watching us as was backed out of the driveway. So pitiful!

The American War on Freedom

2008-08-06T19:21:00.003-05:00

Today, I found another article on the battlefront against freedom, this time from Maryland. Whose freedom? Those anarchic Amish, our favorite libertarians.

‘‘It was an initiative by our office based on the fact that we’ve had inspectors go into the farmers markets based on inquiries from the state and whether or not all the products offered for sale were legally offered for sale,” said Daryl Calvano, director of environmental health at the St. Mary’s County Health Department, at the town hall-style meeting, where representatives from the Maryland Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene and Agriculture, and local economic development departments, tried to clarify rules for the farmers."

"Products that require licensing through the state include relishes and pickled products, butter, milk, cheese and yogurt, and canned products. Canned products require additional training from the state. Eggs must be clean, with no cracks, fresh, labeled and in cartons, and refrigerated. This posed a concern for the Amish, who do not refrigerate eggs but said they never sell those more than seven days old. Poultry can be sold directly on the farm, but meat must go through a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified facility. Eggs must be labeled on each carton, but only once on a case from a wholesale seller."

A few months ago, an Amish farmer was arrested for smuggling... raw milk (the horror!) across the border into New York. "'The government doesn't have the right to dictate what I eat, and never will,' said an unrepentant Nolt."

Don't the borders need more people patrolling? I think I know where I can find some people with time on their hands.

There's a youtube video of Ron Paul on some 80's tv show debating the War on Drugs. He gets pretty worked up trying to fight laws against marijuana and such. The irony in the video is amazing. The host is smoking cigarrettes all through the show trying to proclaim how dangerous drugs are and that they should all be banned. Of course, little did he know that it would be soon time for cigarettes to be banned in public places. Recently, here in Iowa they were banned. Also a guy that really fumes at Dr. Paul gets reminded that he's fat and they'll try to ban that too. Didn't he know that some foods would end up getting banned, such as transfats and unpasteurized apple cider? And they won't stop there, as in Mississippi, they've considered a law banning obese people from restaurants.

At least we still have religious liberty and free speech. Criminal crackdown targeting Christians

King Corn and Being Born

2008-08-03T00:06:00.003-05:00

There's two different documentaries that I've seen previews and interviews recently that look pretty interesting. I think we'll wait until they are a bit cheaper used on Amazon. Here are the sites:
http://www.kingcorn.net/
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

If you want the 2 minute, less interesting preview of king corn, watch below.

Here's the preview on the main page about the Being Born documentary.

Everything I Want to Do is Illegal

2008-07-28T21:52:00.003-05:00

Okay, maybe not everything. Actually, this post's title is pulled from an essay and a book by the "beyond organic" farmer, Joel Salatin. I thought I would take an excerpt from his essay for this post and point you in his direction. As you'll see, he's a very pithy and humorous writer. The section below I think is very poignant as I live in a federal government-built home that is about 750 square feet.

"BUILD A HOUSE THE WAY I WANT

You would think that if I cut the trees, mill the logs into lumber, and build the house on my own farm, I could make it however I wanted to. Think again. It’s illegal to build a house less than 900 square feet. Period. Doesn’t matter if I’m a hermit or the father of 20. The government agents have decreed, in their egocentric wisdom, that no human can live in anything less than 900 square feet.

Our son got married last year and wanted to build a small cottage on the farm, which he now oversees for the most part. Our new saying is, "He runs the farm, and I just run around." The plan was to do what Mom and Dad did for Teresa and I — trade houses when children come. That way our empty nest downsizes, and the young people can upsize in the main family farmhouse. Sounds reasonable and environmentally sensitive to me. But no, his little honeymoon cottage — or our retirement shack — had to be a 900-square-foot Taj Mahal. A state-of-the-art accredited composting toilet to avoid the need for a septic system and sewer leach field was denied."

An excerpt from a book Stacey and I read about Salatin's farm can be found here. Salatin has proved himself to be a very thoughtful and innovative farmer.

In other news, I found a listing of all the names of those buried at the "Covenanter Cemetary" in the "Yellow Springs Township" yesterday while searching a name of someone buried there. I wanted to post it here for future reference. I'm referring to Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church's cemetary in Morning Sun, but I've seen it identified in a few different ways online. http://iagenweb.org/desmoines/Toomstone/YellowSpring/sharon.htm

Turrists, JibJab

2008-07-18T23:02:00.005-05:00

Republicans don't prey on fear do they?

Here's the newest jibjab featuring Obama, Clinton, Clinton, and McCain. You may remember the Kerry/Bush jibjab for the 2004 election.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/ This link probably won't last too long.

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/this_land In case you missed it in 2004, here's the Kerry and Bush one.

The Joys of Summer in Iowa

2008-07-18T21:54:00.001-05:00

It seems that my husband has commandeered my blog! Thought that is not a bad thing, as now you actually have something to read! But I thought I'd add a little of what I have been enjoying this summer.

Lettuce from our garden.

A midnight visitor.

An early morning double rainbow.

And a beautiful place to worship our Lord!

Grant Wood

2008-07-16T22:12:00.008-05:00

For my birthday, Stacey bought me a couple very cool paintings by Grant Wood. First, is this one called, "Young Corn."

This one is called, "Fall Plowing."

Even if you don't recognize these paintings, you would probably recognize American Gothic. While driving across Iowa last year, we visited the American Gothic House. It's here in southern Iowa.

I wasn't personally too aware of Grant Wood until reading this excerpt from, Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists by Bill Kauffman. I remember drawing Grant Wood's painting in art class, but I don't even remember if I knew he was an Iowan. I've since begun to adopt a more regionalist ideology, although impure, and I've grown to appreciate Wood much more.

This post reminds me of a story and a little rant that I developed a few years back. Our high school would occasionally have a "Career Day" to give students a look at various employments that we could pursue. At the end of the day, all the students were gathered together to listen to some local government staff talk about why we should stay in the area. Part of the talk was devoted to Iowa's brain drain; that is, how most of Iowa's best and brightest, when given the opportunity, move away forever. This continued on about how we should always project a positive image of the area. An anecdote was told about how some people were overheard by a foreign businessman while talking about how much they'd like to leave the area. The businessman decided to not invest here. "You must stay in order for Burlington and the surrounding towns to grow!" "Always keep a positive image about Burlington because you never know who might be listening!"

During this pleading, the students sunk down in their chairs. Eyes could be seen rolling, sighs and yawns dominating. It was as though many of them were collectively retorting, "Why should we care? We're ready to leave!" This government guy apparently didn't realize that we students had been taught all through our years about how the small town is constricting, about how everywhere else was better than here and to choose to stay is to choose mediocrity and worse yet, a life of boredom.

In fact, on that day, they continued to educate us further in the art of discontentment and made calls for us to leave. Although the words from the mouths of the local politicians and government staff were "stay! stay!" the message that they were delivering was "go away, this place isn't good enough for you!" The goals of these politicians were to fundamentally change our towns into something that they aren't. If we stay, our town might be able to bring in new industry, new businesses, and more people. Eventually, Danville might be more like Burlington or Iowa City. After that, maybe your great-grandchildren might see our towns become more like St. Louis or even Chicago!

There was the crux. Why wait? We could move to Chicago now, where there's already lots of industry, businesses, and people. After all, we might stay and never see the benefit.

We were never taught to love and care for our place, and the speakers obviously didn't see that as a problem. No amount of pleading could injure the logic that was shining through. "Chicago is a better place than here, so go!" To this, Grant Wood (as distilled by Kauffman) sounds back,

“'I am a loyal Iowan and love my state,' he explained. To modern ears, Wood may sound cornpone. I hear him as wholesomely seditious. For he believed in a truth that has become, in an age of American Empire and global culture, a heresy: Iowa matters."

-Joel

Unicorns, Monkeys, and misle

2008-07-14T17:36:00.005-05:00

Stacey and I enjoy listening to This American Life each week. This week wasn't the best except for one segment that was hilarious. The website describes it this way:

"Act One. Small Thoughts in Big Brains.

This American Life producer Alex Blumberg investigates a little-studied phenomenon: children who get a mistaken idea in their heads about how something works or what something means, and then don't figure out until well into adulthood that they were wrong. Includes the tale of a girl who received a tissue box for Christmas, allegedly painted by trained monkeys. (13 minutes)

http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/293.mp3

In case you decide to listen, I won't give too much away, but I'll give a couple examples. There's the story a gal that thought that unicorns were real into adulthood. She just assumed that they were something like zebras, essentially something that were out there, but nothing she'd see. So inevitably, she asks during a discussion about animals, "Is the unicorn endangered or extinct?" Everyone thinks it's a joke until they realize she isn't laughing.

Another quick example is some folks who think that the word misled is actually the past tense of a word, misle.

I know I've done this in the past, but I couldn't think of anything I said. Maybe I'll think of one and post it in the comments at a later time.

Happy Ramadan, Abdul!

2008-07-11T00:42:00.006-05:00

(Post by Joel)
I think if one has a blog, one ought to post every couple of days. Stacey hasn't quite been doing that. So I thought I'd post on it, too. Between the two of us, we might start posting once a week if I don't give up on it.

Anyway, since I listen to several hours worth of audio (e.g. Issues, Etc., NPR, sermons) I thought I might post some about what I've heard. A couple days ago, the host of Issues, Etc. had a suggested sermon review. I'm not sure that it's the best, but I think that it's a good start.

1. How often is Jesus mentioned? (Make a running tally)
2. Is Jesus the subject of the verbs? Does he drive the verbs? Is he doing the action in a sentence?
3. What are those verbs?
4. What's my problem? (sin? self-esteem? mistakes? negative feelings?)
5. What's the solution? (myself? working harder? Christ?)

I've heard another suggestion of asking, "Could a Rabbi or Sheik have preached this sermon?" If so, did you preach a Christian sermon?

These are a good start if you assume that the primary goal of a sermon is first to preach Christ and him crucified. Since the whole Bible is about Jesus (as he says in Acts) the whole Bible ought to be preached.

I've regularly thought about whether Christ is talked about in a sermon (and I've heard plenty that didn't discuss him), but I haven't done this diagnostic. I haven't thought as much about whether Jesus is the subject of the verbs, and what those verbs are. At a church I used to attend, I do remember that when Jesus was mentioned, it was almost as though Jesus was the one in need of something, not you. Anyway, I'll try to remember to try this out.

Here's the audio: http://www.issuesetc.org/podcast/Show06070708H1%201.mp3
It's a sermon review by Todd Wilken of one of Joel Osteen's sermons. I love the intro to his program. He takes very telling clips from various modern evangelicals and strings them together. Joyce Meyers, Ted Haggard, and President G. W. Bush are in this particular one, hence the title of this post.

Before and After

2008-06-29T19:42:00.004-05:00

A month or so of picture highlights

2008-06-01T17:30:00.005-05:00

Neighborhood clean-up day, so we piled all the junk the previous
owners left on the curb and it disappeared!!

Our new dresser.

A fairly good shot of Hobbsy-dog. He always hides from the camera!

Snake alley bike races. Pro-bikers race up the crookedest
street in the world (yes this is Iowa!) 20 times.

Ella's baby shower at church.

Spring

2008-05-07T20:39:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pictures to capture a bit of our spring in Iowa...

Finished the floors and Hobbs our new miniature schnauzer came to live with us.

Family picture time.

Ellasyn Rose joined her sister Addy and brother Reed.

Strange, giant stocked, multi-headed dandelions are popping up in the park.

Snow!

2007-12-07T07:53:00.002-06:00

More Pictures

2007-11-28T08:30:00.001-06:00

The first snow. This is what our backyard looked like Thanksgiving morning!

And this is inside our house before we moved in. It looks a lot more like a home these days!

Home Sweet Home

2007-11-18T15:18:00.002-06:00

This is the little place we call home.

That's right I'm married now!

2007-10-03T08:51:00.001-05:00

The Silence is Broken

2007-02-13T07:46:00.001-06:00

Yes, I'm still alive. Very alive, actually!

Life keeps growing and changing, so my time has been directed toward things much more important to me than blogging. :-)

I'm thilled that I get a snow day today! So I get to work on all my projects at HOME!! and with the snow falling!! It would be fun to drive in, but I just want to be home today.

Bring on the blizzard of '07!

What is Fall?

2006-10-29T14:11:00.001-06:00

Fiery foliage
Frozen fingers
Frothy hot chocolate
Falling leaves
Frosty nights
and
Flannel sheets

Thank God for small exhilarating moments like driving through a golden torrent of dancing leaves! It often seems that just as the air becomes nippy, God sends some little reminder that He is near. I vividly remember the morning two years ago I saw my breath for the first time that season. Though it seems like a small thing, God reminded me through it that I needed to rest in Him “…the seasons of earth are always moving on, always changing, yet always the same beautiful order! [Through that] You reminded me that You are the same yesterday, today and forever. You do not change; who You are, Your mind, Your plan, nothing! No matter how many times I do, You are the same with a perfect plan for the whole world! I need to rest in that knowledge. Be at peace, His plan is perfect. Rejoice in that and live each day to His glory…” (my journal, October 2, 2004)

His promise of late… “I am with you always, I will always be holding your hand; I will guide you with my counsel, and take you into My glory… I am the strength of your heart and your portion forever.” paraphrase of Psalm 73:23-24,26. It’s not as if the Faris’ leaving is any less saddening. In fact, I need them now more than ever. But, that doesn’t mean God has forsaken me. Not in the least! Now is the time to draw nearer to Him than ever before. And through His grace, guidance, and strength I will not only make it through the fog but reflect a little bit of Him in the midst of it. This may be one of hardest times in my life thus far, but I am reminded that it’s when I am the weakest that His strength is most evident. Will I be an accurate reflection of the amazing God I serve or will I allow my struggles to overwhelm me? Will I glorify Him in the rough times or only when life is smooth?

The Answer.

2006-10-01T19:21:00.001-05:00

Today the answer I dreaded was given and the world I know comes to a close. Pray for me. Pray for love in my heart. Ahead, I know, lie sunny days but at present my path is clouded with fog, very thick and very black. I must keep my focus on the Rock on which I stand.

God bless the Faris Family!

Beauty is...

2006-09-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

Beauty is a gift from God. A blessing to others when it reflects a beautiful character, but beauty without substance is worthless. Beauty is discrete; it is full of wisdom and understanding which are given by God. Beauty comes by fearing HIM. Beauty is love and faithfulness; it is not easily angered and is slow to take offence. Beauty thinks before she acts.

Beauty is clean, loyal, builds others up. Beauty seeks wisdom, thinks ahead, she is content, quiet, enjoys understanding, is a blessing to others and encourages others in the same.

Beauty is not proud, does not forsake understanding, does not waste wisdom and advice. Beauty knows the value of saving. Beauty does not overlook its' source – a meek and quiet spirit. Beauty is not a disguise for foolishness. Beauty learns from her mistakes.

Beauty realizes it comes from God alone. Beauty is a gentle and quiet spirit and delights in good works, which are pleasing to God. Beauty treats others with sympathy, brotherly love and has a tender heart and humble mind. It never repays with evil. Beauty is respectful and pure to the men in her life. She serves her authority as she would serve God. Beauty can make an affective appeal.

From Esther we learn that beauty is kind, obedient, honoring, caring, reliable, trusting, faithful, loyal, full of love, concern and respect. It is truthful, tactful, and self controlled. In Sarah we see contentment and patience. Abigail teaches us to be discrete think about where our actions lead, to listen carefully, to give wise answers and counsel, and to make respectful appeals. Ruth’s life teaches us to follow God with our whole heart, to work diligently, to put other’s needs first and to be thrifty, generous, humble, honest, obedient and wise.

Tonight, I weep…

2006-08-27T23:32:00.001-05:00

...Pray that I will push away my own faulty ideas and accept God’s perfect plan for exactly what it is – perfect and more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I need God to change my heart and accept His wonderful plan for His children. I know this will not happen overnight. There is a time weeping and someday there will be a time for dancing but I must keep my focus on HIM and hold on to the promise that all things WILL work together for the good of those who are called by Him. (And yes, Stacey, that means the trials too.)

“For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.” – Lam 3:31-33

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father… that according to the riches of his glory he may grant me to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith—that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or think, according to the power at work within me, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” – Eph. 3:14ff

Resurrection Lilly

2006-08-02T23:32:00.001-05:00

Well, I didn't get eaten by a bear or mountain lion...

2006-07-20T21:33:00.001-05:00

...just in case you were wondering. God gave us a wonderful time out west. But I have to admit, my own bed never felt so good!

Glow

2006-06-27T16:45:00.001-05:00

My life is ever changing... which is good!

I may not like it at first but God is good and I can depend on that. That said, I hadn't planned on looking for a new job this summer. But nothing can change God's plan, so He sent me to look for something else... and provided something just me! I've been at my new job almost a month now, I have learned a ton in that time, and there is still plenty more to soak in. It has been a big adjustment from working at church with Mr. Filson and the pastors doing a job I knew like the back of my hand to my new lighting consulting job at ILC doing something completely new, with a bunch of people I had never met (and who's language is not very wholesome). But in God's grace I am learning to enjoy the work He has given me!

On a side note, check out this new fabric... I think my office needs to get some!

Luminex
light-emitting textile
Turn a chair, sofa, or curtain into a source of illumination with this light-emitting textile. Woven into materials such as denim and polyester, optical fibers connect to an LED in green, white, red, orange, and blue, then run through a seam at the fabric's selvage to connect with a battery or electrical source. The fabric is easily cut and sewed on regular machinery and is sold by the yard. Zuzka, 37 East 18th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10003; 212-260-1876;

Quote of the week…

2006-05-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

While playing hide and seek at the Longs, Alex said, “Sam, I can’t believe you can’t find Stacey! She’s humongous!”

Meal of the week… Steve’s legendary secret recipe hamburger with all the trimmings. I would recommend never passing up the opportunity to savor one of his heavenly hamburgers!

Book of the week… I finished Lydia Brownback's “Fine China is for Single Women Too,” this week. Lydia’s writing has helped reminded me how important it is to embrace my singleness not merely put up with it. God’s plan is perfect, He has me where I am for a reason, and that will only change when HE wants it to. Whatever God has planned WILL happen. I can change my attitude but I can’t change God’s plan.

“The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks this question: ‘What is the chief end of man?’ The answer given is this: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’ That means that everything that happens to us, every circumstance of our lives, is orchestrated by God to achieve those two ends. Therefore, if you are single it is because, for the time being at least, God has determined that you will most glorify him and come to enjoy him most fully as a single woman. If the time comes when those two ends will be achieved through marriage, God will change your life so that you will be married.”

“…we will begin to embrace life fully only when we realize that life doesn’t begin when we meet our man – this IS our life!”

(Referring to the parable of the talents) “In the same way we have been entrusted with talents, and we have a responsibility to posses them and make something beautiful from them. We need to view our singleness as one of the talents God has given us. We invest it by maximizing the advantages to be found in it, or like the unprofitable servant, we can bury it in the ground because we are afraid and because we believe God to be a “hard man” for giving us “only” singleness.”

“If you are single, do not be single for the lack of something better to do. Be single for the glory of God, undivided in your devotion to him. You have the freedom and the time, often the money, to take bold adventures on the name of Jesus Christ. You can do things that would be unwise or impossible for married Christians to do. And if the days are evil, then godly singles should be the strength of the church. Singleness is not a curse; it is a blessing both to the single individual and to the church. A Christian is not single by default as if he or she is waiting for something better to come along. A Christian is called to be single to the glory of God as long as he or she is single – either until marriage or death, whichever comes first. Singleness is not an accident. It is not a misfortune. It is a divine calling.”

What would YOU say?

2006-04-19T23:10:00.001-05:00

I seem to have forgotten about the weekly "What would YOU say?" posts these last few months...

1) What happens when you get angry?
2) If you were told you only have one week to live how would you spend it?
3) What does worship mean to you?

The home stretch is in sight... my term paper is finished, last speech given, textile projects are complete, and all that is left is two tests, one CAD project, and a morning working on a Habitat for Humanity home. (How's that in lieu of a final exam!?) Class got out early tonight so I had time to get my bike down and take a spin... What a wonderful day to be alive!