ATYPICAL :opposite of typical: October 2005

Monday, October 31, 2005

The Disciplined Life

I just received my copy of Richard S. Taylor's book "The Disciplined Life" thanks to the confronting culture blog for tipping me off to it.

I found the following quote by TR in the first chapter

The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at
any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and
the get rich theory of life. - Theodore Roosevelt

His words were incredibly prophetic. What are some of the biggest threats to America today?

How about prosperity at any price (san you say free trade with China - a Marxist God and America hating nation that we are determined to call a friend because it makes the prices at Walmart oh so much cheaper)

How about Peace at any price ...Can you say Patriot Act or Son of Patriot? We are so determined to have peace that we will give up all our freedoms to obtain it. Yet some where way back in the history of this country there is a man crying out "Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. " How long till we learn.?

As for the Love of soft living and the get rich theory of life ... porn is THE largest/fastest growing industry in a country where most people identify themselves as "Christian".

What is the connection?

Discipline, or lack there of.

I am determined to kill the beast of undisciplined living in my family once and for all. It is discipline that separates the giants from the masses of mediocrity.

To that end I would welcome any other suggestions of books on discipline that you have found useful and techniques you use to cultivate discipline in your own lives and in your family life.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Christian Tatoos?

Does God's Law allow the freedom to Christian's to get tatoos?

I know what I beleive and can defend it from Scripture....can you?

another home run from Scott Brown

a good post on weekly communion!

SAIFF

guess where I was when this picture was taken. .....

see the red curtain?

right behind that :)

Thursday, October 27, 2005

not so long ago....

Men fought for women.

Great post from Matt Chauncey!

shipping tip

Shipping is what I do for the big VF. Its what I've done to provide for my family for the last 12 years. I didn't wake up one day and say "Hey I'd like to be in shipping" but as opportunities have developed over the years of my work career, they have been in the shipping business.

I started at a company called Organic Technologies when I was 20 on the very day Deanna was born. I worked my way up to manager and then after 5 years in that job I had the chance to come to San Antonio, Tx and work with the men at Vision Forum.

I have learned a lot about almost every aspect of shipping and trucking. I've loaded and shipped haz-waste and coffee decaffinator called Ethyl Acetate (a solvent that was five nines pure 99.999%). I've received and unloaded everything from tankers of acetone and vinegar (100 times stronger than what you buy in the store) to truckloads of books and toys.

Well I digress.

From time to time I will post under the title "shipping tips" a bit of the mundania regarding shipping that I have picked up over the years that will hopfully save you all a bit of money.

So here it is Shipping Tip #1

1.) For small packages under 3 pounds always consider Priority Mail. With the all the surcharges that the big guys are inposing after the freight, Priority Mail (for now) is always cheaper for a residential package of 1 or 2 pounds and sometimes less expensive for 3 pounds packages.

Surcharges are fees that the Big shippers impose on certain packages - especially rural and residential - because it takes more work to deliver them.

Residential surcharges run about $1.75 over the cost of freight and rural - Delivery Area Surcharge is running about $2.00.

Priority Mail has a (according to the USPS) 95% delivered by the third day rate.

Always do a cost comparision. The post office has been approved for rate increases that begin to take effect on April 2006.

For instance

1 pound to Chicago zip 60617 residential with fuel surcharges shipped from 78212

UPS Ground Residential
$7.61
Priority Mail
$3.85

2 pounds
UPS Ground Residential
$8.33

Priority Mail
$5.05

3 pounds
UPS Ground Residential
$8.75

Priority Mail
$7.15

Happy Shipping!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

random windows tip(s)

2 of my favorite keyboard short cuts are

hold down the windows key + d = show desktop (minimizes EVERYTHING)
fast spell check (outlook and word) hit the f7 key and it will automatically start the spell check
ok one more F5 refreshes all windows (even browsers)

a more recent shot for contrast

remembered at dinner

(the culprits about the age the incedent described below took place)

funny how things jog your memory. I was sitting at dinner, the night before last, and something triggered a memory of Deanna and Kaitlyn's first bit of entrepreneurial spark.

We had a custom in Ohio of paying the kids a penny for each piece of trash they picked up in the front yard. (the backyard was their domain so they got to do that one for free)

Well anyway I was sitting at the computer and D and K kept bringing in handfuls of trash to be verified and paid for(we made them count out the trash to verify the quantity).

I guess it took me about 3 or 4 rounds of payola to realize they were bringing in handfuls of trash the looked remarkably similar to the trash they had brought in just before.

I didn't argue, I didn't fuss, I paid them for the handful of trash we were in the midst of verifying and waited for them to go back out to the front porch.

I then snuck up the the storm door and peaked around the corner......sure enough there they were with a copy of the local bargain ads on their laps and were taking turns tearing up the paper into neat little piles of "trash" to bring in for collections.

When questioned extensively about the matter it seems that their mother and I had failed to explicitly forbid the practice, and so it had seemed perfectly valid to lasses of seven and five.

easter y2k

in the dresses that momma made

(*sigh* how fast they grow)

lost phone

ok I admit it

my phone is lost

if you have tried to call me lately I'm not ignoring you. *I promise*

I am in the middle of filing a claim right now so I should be back on the grid by tomorrow (DV)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Help your family learn the Psalms

I just found this through the Serven Family blog.

A link to a new website/line of products they have put together to help families learn the sing psalms in 4 parts. The website is HERE. Psalm singing in four parts is a great way to give your children a love of beauty and another tool the Lord has given us all to help little ones hide his word in our hearts!

Check them out at the Genevan Foundation

Live coverage of the Vision Forum film school

The Rebelution

Live on going coverage of the Film Festival Film Academy

Thanks to Doug's blog for the update

Monday, October 24, 2005

the monday after the busy season saturday

Let's see what I got done on Saturday...
1.) 3 lights to wire (yea porch lights) - DONE
2.) one outlet to wire (yea we can finish the drywall in the dining room) DONE
3.) 3 light switches to connect - DONE!
4.) a dining room to finish the first coat of drywall mud finishing - nope
5.) a chapter on Boniface's mission to the Saxons to teach to seven little dear hearts- DONE
6.) 3 or four chapters of Numbers to read to same said dear hearts. - DONE
7.) The Westminster confession to read (Kim and I are going through theconfession as a prerequisite to joining Christ Convenat Church of San Antonio). Come and visit us if you ever get a chance! -- well not the whole thing but 4 more chapers are DONE!
8.) about three posts I'd like to write for my blog today but don't know if I'll have time for :)
9.) a week late post for the family creative writing blog I need to polish and upload. -DONE
10.) MAYBE a bathroom sink to connect IF I can find a grinder/dremmel - not even close to being started!

Lots of rest and I still wasn't ready for the mess that waited me this morning at work. God was gracious though. I was started to see the light at the end of the tunnel by the end of the day ...well i was starting to think I saw the light !

Saturday, October 22, 2005

it's a busy season saturday

where is it busy? as I sit at the computer I can look out over the south texas valley we live on the edge of. The air is a bit cool and the sun is bright but not the least bit hot and the sky is bright blue with not a bit of clouds in the sky.

So where is it busy? Everywhere I go.

See we are in the middle of receiving fourth quarter stock (that means at least half of all the stock that is going to be sold in that glorious catalog everyone received last week is coming into the warehouse right now) - over 60 pallets in the last week. Most of them 6 feet tall. Many of them containing 4-5 products that need to be sorted, counted, and stocked. All without getting them mixed up with the product that is still streaming the doors. See we will ship over 30 thousand boxes between now and January. That's a lot of stuff coming in.

What does this have to do with anything?

1.) I'm tired. Down right shell shocked in fact.
2.) I have lots of stuff to catch up on today.

See we are still in the middle of building (no, finishing is a better term) our house. So I have :

1.) 3 lights to wire (yea porch lights)
2.) one outlet to wire (yea we can finish the drywall in the dining room)
3.) 3 light switches to connect
4.) a dining room to finish the first coat of drywall mud finishing
5.) a chapter on Boniface's mission to the Saxons to teach to seven little dear hearts
6.) 3 or four chapters of Numbers to read to same said dear hearts.
7.) The Westminster confession to read (Kim and I are going through theconfession as a prerequisite to joining Christ Convenat Church of San Antonio). Come and visit us if you ever get a chance!
8.) about three posts I'd like to write for my blog today but don't know if I'll have time for :)
9.) a week late post for the family creative writing blog I need to polish and upload.
10.) MAYBE a bathroom sink to connect IF I can find a grinder/dremmel

Since I know how much you all look forward to me writing on Saturdays (that was narcissic sarcasm btw) I'll leave you with links for a few blog posts/discussions I've been following this week.

1.) the family creative writing assignment (notice that I had a VERY manly post about pink limo's and unicorns ;)
2.) Brother Barry has a great post and wants to generate discussion about race HERE
3.) Biblical Womanhood blog has 2 great posts
a.) relationships
b.) the basis of civil law
4.) The wife has a good post on over-population HERE
5.) Supyo has posted some great pics of VF's faith and freedom tour over HERE
6.) Last but not least CSHayden has a good post on Macro economics and personal finance HERE

So enjoy! I hope to write later this weekend on -

Rejoicing Tithe (that's THE rejoicing tithe - not rejoicing in tithing -although we do that too)
How men must model the Sacrifice of the World when they lead their families
and
bringing kids along on life's journey.

One last thing if you haven't received a copy of THE BEST CATALOG IN THE WORLD click HERE and I will personally ensure you get it..no thanks necessary it's what I do.

Well it's 9:41 I'd better get busy :)

Ciao

PS. Shannon - Still praying for your dear mother , my friend. Look forward to seeing you Monday.

PPS. I AM SO EXCITED that the Missus is Pregnant again! It is humbling to me to think that the Lord is telling me I am ready to Shepherd another of His lambs.

Friday, October 21, 2005

It is now official!

El Numero Ocho is on the way.

God is good to his children.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Proverb of the day

I'm always amazed at what I like to call the "dirt-under-your-fingernails" wisdom found in Proverbs.

17:18 says

A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, And becomes surety for his friend.

Ever cosign?

Racists?

I found this discussion over at the "Cellar Door" blog so interesting I HAD to comment ;)

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Date Night: He says, She says

I told the wife that we should write of our own "date night" practice. She gave her perspective on it here.

Where did the idea start? Probably from the necessity of having a bunch of kids and no family to watch them on a date night. We've been pleased with the practice and the result of it.

I realize that it is not ideal for the family with larger, more mature children in the house but when we get there we will probably modify our practice by sending the kids out to eat :)

What we do is go to the store and buy:

1.) all the greasy junky kind of pre-prep food that kids love and moms hate.
2.) all the expensive stuff that adults love and don't usually buy for a week night meal.

this includes but is not limited to:

for adults:

1.)fresh salmon
2.) shark steaks
3.) fresh shrimp
4.) expensive cheeses
5.) fresh bread (that someone else made:)
6.) more expensive fresh fruits
7.) portobello mushrooms
8.) cheese cake (always)

for the kids:

1.) chicken fingers
2.) pizza rolls
3.) those little plastic bottles of kool-aid (the ones with the foil lids ) that are near the dairy cooler at most grocers
4.) pre-packed cupcakes (can you say twinkie - boys and girls I think you can)
5.) NOTE THIS ONE IS THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF THE EVENING ....at least 2 preferably 3 rented videos. 4-6 hours worth of brainless entertainment

Like I said, the dearth of baby sitters drove us to it but over time the charm of the practice grew for me because of several factors.

1.) On a fixed budget with lots of little mouths to feed I prefer to take the WHOLE family out to a good restaurant to enjoy meals. Call it a father's pride but I love walking into a quiet restaurant with my ladies before me, all quiet and behaved and dressed to the nines. It's great ...me bringing up the rear meeting all the looks and stares with confidence as the people look on with amazment. Besides we practice a modified form of the rejoicing tithe (more on that in a later post) and as such our trips out need to be a familial celebration.

2.) I DON'T LIKE LEAVING MY KIDS..see, I'm crazy about them

3.) but my wife still needs to be pampered.

so

4.) where better to serve HER than in HER kitchen? Where day in and day out she serves us...see this is the ultimate foot washing within marriage exercise.

What makes you the bigger hero?

Taking her somewhere and flipping out the check book OR (I forgot to mention that I do the shopping for all of this) getting the stuff for an amazing feast of delicacies and serving your wife for several hours with your hands in a quiet warm comfortable environment where you can kick off your shoes and snuggle on the couch when you are done with your feasting?

I know what works for me. Besides, we fellowship and talk about real meaty things more surrounded by the little reminders of our daily life that our house holds. For us there is real romance and affection that comes out of talking about and working through the little issues of life while we cook.

SEVERAL BIG NOTES TO THE MEN READING THIS :

The whole plan falls apart when you get YOUR FAVORITE stuff - in my house she likes salmon I HATE salmon. When we do this I ALWAYS make sure we have fresh salmon to bake or grill.

Think outside the box: don't just do one thing. Take the opportunity to try several things. Buy dishes that you both like: even though we have salmon it doesn't mean I have to choke the hated fish down - other small portion entrees that we routinely indulge in are:

a.) jumbo shrinp
b.) bacon wrapped fillets
c.) boneless grilled chicken
d.) smoked turkey

Her contribution to the whole thing should be to make sure the kids are fed and that they are ready for banishment when you get home (at least on weeknights) so that you can get started early.

Finally, we try and keep it limited to good but very low prep food: salads, grilled meats and fish, sliced fresh vegetables and fruits, breads, "boughten" desserts...

We usually are able to eat for about 50 bucks what would cost us around 150-200 at a restaurant AND we don't have a drive home or a sitter to mess with.

File it in your FWIW file.

random rant against evolution - aimed at Christians

IF you claim to be a Christian and IF you think you can marry your faith with evolution on any level you should repent. There are many people who are better equipped that I to argue the technical proof in favor of a young earth.

I just want to rant about one fact that I never considered until I heard Doug Phillips address it. When I heard it I felt like a little dim light bulb was trying to light up over my head...it was so obvious to me in terms of its implications for the faith.

It's the topic of death before Adam.

For the household of God we must say with Paul let God be true and every man a liar!

Gen chapters 1-3 teach that until the fall there was no sin in creation and Romans 5:12 says that AFTER the first sin death entered the world - and that BECAUSE death entered the world through sin that is was necessary for a redeemer to come and save us from that death. (verse 16 chapter 5)

What's the point of all this?

The point is that young earth (read uncompromising) creationism and evolution are mutually exclusive propositions, if for no other reason than their view of death in creation.

Evolution wants us to accept that there was a large portion of time BEFORE any man ever evolved, in which whole types of animals lived, evolved and DIED.

God says that

1.) Adam was the first man - created from dirt and given life ex nihilo by God
2.) No animal died before Adam sinned ---- PERIOD

Also if death is a NORMATIVE part of creation, what's all this Redeemer/Saviour business anyway?

You see you can't believe that there were hundreds or thousands or millions of years of death before Adam AND believe the biblical/literal reading of genesis.

Remember "through one man sin entered the world and death THROUGH sin."

For more info check out the book Refuting Compromise by Jonathan Sarfati (Vision Forum has it on sale for seven bucks :)

click here for a much more exhaustive treatment of the topic by James Stambaugh, M.DIV over at ICR.

This goes out to my sister in law Ashley!

She's been giving me a hard time for years about saying "pop" instead of calling all soda "coke" like a good Texan should

Now there's demographic info to back her up click here for the map
:)

Thanks to Texas Confederate for the link

I told her you can't spend 15 years (THANKS DAD) wandering in the Yankee wilderness (eastern Ohio - where some know God but few know the Cowboys) and come back unscathed.

I have taken to calling it "sodie water" after I heard a few old timers in Yancy, TX use the term.

It helps to hide the Yankee taint I carry

I'm glad I'm back in the land of cotton ......

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

she almost killed me ....again

the post immediately preceding this one was a tongue in cheek answer to my wife's post on almost running over my head (Click here for the post)

this was the second time in 13 years she almost off'ed me! I was almost over about what I refer to as "the salad dressing incident" , when she nearly runs me over with the new van!

how's that for gratitude?

it's all right toots ....I'm still crazy about ya ;)

Oh WAIT

WAIT MEANS WAIT!

right?

go to google.com and type "define: wait" press enter and what results do you get?

(emphasis mine)

stay in one place and anticipate or expect something; "I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets"
wait before acting; "the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment"
expect: look forward to the probable occurrence of; "We were expecting a visit from our relatives"; "She is looking to a promotion"; "he is waiting to be drafted"
delay: time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action"
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something); "the wait was an ordeal for him"
serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant; "I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's"

'nuff said

Monday, October 10, 2005

first kiss

just mere seconds before this shot was taken I was the delighted recipient of the very first voluntary kiss that that this adorable lass EVER bestowed upon a man!

am I a lucky guy or what?

Saturday, October 08, 2005

my green notepad entry

He wished the night was humid. He really hated the cold.

He pushed back the battered fedora, scratched his head with a pencil and flipped open the green notepad he always kept in his back pocket.

With a glance at the tattered page in his left hand, his mind trailed back to the beginning of the whole mess - back to the moment he first lay eyes on her.

He had been sitting at his desk thinking he should unprop his feet and turn on the heat - the room had grown cold in the hour after dusk- when she breezed through the door. "They told me you'd still be here" she said as the door clicked shut.

He thought back to that moment - him sitting there in that cold room - her words hanging in the air between them...if he'd only told her to take a hike, but he hadn't. He'd always had a weakness for a dame in distress so he had listened politely to her offer. It had seemed so innocent at the time.

A siren began wailing off in the distance. It jerked him back from the past and he ducked into the alley across the street. There wasn't any use kicking himself over yesterday it wouldn't keep him alive tonight.

Putting the notepad away, he patted the left side of his coat to make sure the .38 was still in place. He began to realize he needed a plan to get though the rest of the night, at least if he wanted stay alive long enough to get paid.

(shameless props to "the Maltese Falcon" and "Throw Mama from the Train")

Thursday, October 06, 2005

so you think she's cute?

She taught me the value of pronouns in communication last night

The wife and I had a disagreement last night (the how, and the why of it are beside the point) - however suffice it to say things were a bit strained when I went and lay on the bed to read. Ole Becca here - my buddy - followed me in to chat.

After a few minutes I instructed her to "go tell mom 'I love you' for me" so cheerfully she skipped off to deliver the message.

I dozed off thinking I had gotten a good start on patching things up with the misses ....Until mom came to bed ....while we lay there talking she asked me what message I had give the little sprite to deliver and when I told her she started laughing.

I was a bit chagrined when I found out what message she had received.

Becca beaming with enthusiasm and pride had walked up to her mom and motioned for her ear.
When the wife leaned down she told her in a loud stage whisper

"Mom , dad said he loves ME"

ahh those pesky pronouns

;)

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

R.E. Lee - an awe inspiring example of Christian Manhood

(Here are a collection of quotes by Robert E. Lee I am always amazed by Lee's clear eyed view of God's creation Man's nature, and the unflinchingly high standards he held himself to. )

----------------------------------------------
You cannot be a true man until you learn to obey

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.

Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one.

Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.

You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish - if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.

We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.

The education of a man is never completed until he dies.

The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He can not only forgive; he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which imparts sufficient strength to let the past be put the past.

----------------------------------------------

Thanks to Paul over at http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation for permission to use the material above.

you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

Do you have a wife who will follow you into the teeth of a storm without flinching?
I do.

Do you have a wife who will teach your daughters to do the same?
I do.

How about one who will go out of her way to make sure you look forward to coming home at night?
I do.

Is your wife like minded with you on the education of your children?
Mine is.

Does your wife carry the same burden for raising your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord as you?
Mine does.

What about child training issues? I don't even have to think about it.
Do you?

Would your wife consent to living in a 30 foot travel trailer for a year and a half (with 7 kids) while you build a house in "your spare time"
Yep you guessed it.

All this and get out of bed in the morning in time to cook your breakfast?

She never told me she was "super-mega-ultra-lightning babe"

PR 31:29 "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."