Freedom?

Today is July 3rd. Tomorrow we--supposedly--celebrate the freedom[s] we have in the good ol' USA.
When I was a kid, the Redford side of the family held a huge reunion every weekend around the
4th. However, we don't do that anymore because the family is too big and it's too hot for my elderly relatives to be comfortable.

I've been thinking about "freedom" for a day or so now. It's true that our freedoms are slowly eroding. Big Bubba Government under both Republican and Democrat leaders has become bigger and bigger. It seems that no one can do anything for themselves anymore and they all want Washington or their state capitols to do it for them. Government used to be respected and used to be respectable. Now, they're really neither.

Government "bailed out" a few companies, and now acts as if they are the owners of those companies. A Communist dictator is being supported in Honduras by our current president. We are slowly losing our freedoms, and I think it may get worse.

When Bill Clinton was leaving office someone at my work said "He should be in office for a 3rd term." I told her it was illegal. She said "WHY? Just because some man wrote it on a piece of paper." Yep, and that paper is called the Constitution. See? Society wants to continue to get dumber and dumber and wants more Big Bubba Government to take care of them.

That said and without getting into all of the freedoms that we've lost, I am happy to live here.
As I said above, I used to do a family reunion on the 4th. This year, the 4th is on a Saturday. My church will hold its regular Saturday service and after, we'll have a 4th celebration at the church.

We still have the freedom to love Jesus. Sure, it's getting harder and harder for us to express that publicly without being called names. And at some point in the future we may need to celebrate His love in secret, but we can still love Him.

And it's not just political freedom we have. Since Jesus died for our sins, we are free in His love. Free from the laws of sin and death. Not because the law ceases to apply to us, or we've been give a get out of jail free card. But, because He has paid the price.

So let's love our country while we can, and let's celebrate His love and our freedom forever.

Lollipops and Legacies

My church buys countless lollipops to hand out to kids [and the occasional adult] after services. My friend David was the church's "Lollipop Man."

I've known David for over 20 years. First at another church. At that church Dave was one of the only male children's workers. He worked with them since he was a teenager. After I left that church, I "church hopped" for awhile. I finally found Seacoast

Within a week or two of starting there God spoke to my heart and told me to go back to the church I grew up in and get Dave. I discovered he wasn't happy there anymore so he started coming to Seacoast with me. He joined and within a few months he started in the children's ministry. He had to drop out for a short time but then he started again. This time he didn't' stop. . He worked at our church in the maintenance dept. He was so committed to the children's ministry that he even took his annual vacation time to do Vacation Bible School.

Dave loved kids and kids loved him. He found his place giving of his time and of himself. Over the 20 plus years that I knew him, he'd often say that he understood that we have awards awaiting us on the other side of Paradise. He would tell me that he'd be happy with just a one room shack. I agree that a one room shack in Heaven will be better than anything here.

David did go to Heaven about a week ago. I've been thinking about that lately. I think he has more than a "one room shack" he had hoped for. I began to imagine what if every child he was with was a room in that mansion. What if every parent was a room because they were able to come to a church where their child was in good hands. What if every lollipop was a room?

I won't go into the math here but a rough estimate is that his mansion would probably have over a million rooms.

What about you? David's legacy can be symbolized by handing out lollipops to kids. Because he took joy in taking the time to remember that kids matter too, he'll have a special place.

Are you handing out a legacy? I don't care if you work with children like he did or if you work with senior citizens, adults, teens, animals...whatever you are lead to work with.

Just remember, whatever your "lollipop" is...it is a legacy so please treat it as such.

A year already

It's been one year today that I was laid off.
I had a job, but it only lasted for 3 weeks. I didn't not make it past the training period. I was angry at first, but I'm getting over it.

More importantly, is the fact that my mom had heart sugery today. She came through it successfully. Praise God.

Another Comma

Ok it's been awhile since I've updated. So shoot me--figuratively speaking.

I got a job. I worked at my new job for 3 weeks. Then I lost it. I was told that I'm not getting up to speed fast enough.

I'm not going to dwell on the loss beyond that because it'll depress me.

I will say this though...this is just a comma. It's a place to pause, not stop.

God will take care of me and I'll be OK.

God is good.

Communications

I'm reading a book right now called Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin. He's a Christian. It's about his struggles w/ sexual addiction.

He grew up the son of a pastor. He shares a story about a time he farted in church. He goes so far as to say that right after he did it, he had to get on his knees, turn around and pray. Said that it gave whole new meaning to the word "pew".


It reminded of the time we came home from church when I was around 16 or 17. Just as soon as we walked into the door, dad pulled me aside and sat down. He asked me if I "had gas." Now you have to understand...dad pulled me into the living room just off the hallway. We NEVER used this room. He also sat down like he had to ask me a serious question. He did not wait for later on, he did not come to my room. He did not ask me in the car. He walked into the living room and sat down. You also have to understand that we went to a very uptight church, and dad has always been very embarassed by anything even remotely related to having gas etc.

So he's asked me: "Do you have gas?" I became very uncomfortable and told him that it may have been something I ate for breakfast. I just knew that he caught a whiff of something or heard something come out of me that---to paraphraise an old hymn--was NOT a sweet, sweet sound in God's ear.

After I explained myself and mentally prepared for a lecture on how inappropriate that bodily function was, dad just looked at me and said "No son, I meant do you have gas in your car."

Hey Dad,

I'm 40 now. Please stop treating me like I'm 10.

I'd love to say that to my dad. I can't. He won't listen. I used to take it quite offensively, but now not so much. Oh, I still do at times, but then I look at his sisters. They treat their kids as if they're 10 as well.

They've told me the story that when they were kids, my grandmother [who I never knew] would make sure that the kids sat around the living room and not make a sound if there was a storm. They say that it was out of "respect for the Lord." I say it was out of some OCD control issue. Grandma probably thought if they were all together and quiet, then the storm couldn't sneak in through the window or an open door.

You see, I used to think that dad thought I was too stupid to do anything. He also, treated my sister, my mom, my aunts, my cousins, friends, neighbors, fellow church members, complete strangers, people on the news, etc like that.

Here's what he does: Let's say that you are making a sandwich. He'll say, "Let me show you a different way to make that." or maybe "Don't make that kind...make this kind." In other words, everyone needs his 2 cents worth.

Now I know that this is dad's problem. He has control issues. He may even have OCD [Obsessive CONTROL Disorder]. In fact, there's a lady in my church w/ the same thing. I try to avoid being around her. In fact, in Sept of this year, I'm going on a retreat w/ the church. I hope she doesn't go. If she does, I may not make it back w/ my sanity.

I have a job interview on Monday March 23 at 130. I hope to get the job. I am 99.9% sure that dad will try to talk me out of it. Not really, talk, more like browbeat me out of it. Why? Because it's not an IT job and supposedly that's what I want. Right now, I'm studying IT and I'm not sure it's for me. That doesn't matter to him...IT is "practical". Therefore, I am to want to do it.

My thinking is this...if I get the job; it pays $13/hour to start and $14/hr after 90 days. That's more than the $11/hr I was making. I can move into IT later, or maybe even into the IT dept at this place.


Another thing, dad thinks I should live at home pretty much forever. Not just live here, but have a deep desire to do so. He has it all planned out, when he dies, I'll keep living here and rent out a room to someone. He's even "suggested" to whom.,

You see, dad has a deep need to fix things even if they're not broken. Funny, but true story: A few weeks ago, he changed the locks on our doors. After he gave me a key, he went out and had some spares made. He came out, told me to come into the kitchen and to give him the key he'd given me a day or so before. The reason? When he went to have the spares made, he saw that they had bright orange and purple Clemson keys.

Now, I do NOT like football. I do not watch it, I do not keep up w/ it. So why did he have a bright orange and purple Clemson key made? He saw a bright orange and purple key and suddenly he saw a solution that needed a problem. The fact that it was Clemson was not a factor. He invented a problem. That problem being that I apparently spend hours on the porch trying to figure out which key opens the front door. The solution: A bright orange and purple key.

For the record: I ONLY HAVE TWO KEYS ON MY KEY RING!!!!! My car key and my house key. I have never stood on the front porch trying to solve the dilemma of which key opens the door. In fact, I can close my eyes and still find it.


It's not that dad thinks that I'm dumb. It's that he has this dysfunctional need to fix things. Therefore, if I get this job, he'll immediately see a broken situation that needs his "Mr. Fixit" prowess.

I'd love to tell him to stop, but he won't. He won't because he is just convinced that he needs to do this anyway.

All I can do is laugh, love and live.

Interesting Lunch and following

Ok I am currently unemployed. I am studying IT at a place called Discovery Training Center. That said, I was at lunch with a fellow student today. He has a job. We were talking about IT stuff. As we stood to leave, the lady at the next table stopped us, applogized for "evesdropping" and told us that she worked for a staffing agency and she was aware of an IT job.

My friend doesn't need a job, but boy I sure do. I've already sent in my reseume.

Ok that was cool enough. A couple of months ago, I sent my resume into a local business for a
non-IT job. I never heard back so I just forgot about it. About an hour after lunch, that busines called me. They want me in for a job test next week. Pray for me on Tuesday at around 0900 AM

So that's two job connections in one day...God is awesome.