Suffering for Christ's sake...

God Knows What He’s About
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world might be amazed,
Watch His methods; watch His ways.
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
That only God understands,
While his tortured heart is crying,
And he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes.
How He uses whom He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out—
God knows what He's about!

Death is Not Dying

www.deathisnotdying.com/eventvideo
This video takes about 55 minutes to watch but is worth every minute. Rachel's grace, wisdom, and dignity speak volumes. She is facing death in 6-18 weeks due to cancer. Her central message is four-fold: Know God, Know Yourself, Know the Gospel, and Know Your Purpose. I found myself touched, challenged, humbled and mesmerized. Oh that I may face death with such a heart as hers.

Has it really been nine months since my last post? How is it the older you get the faster time flies? Remember when it used to take forever for Christmas to get here? And summer vacation seemed to be so illusive? Now I blink and its been nine months since I've posted anything.

I do have to admit however, I've been unfaithful...to this blog. I found Facebook. Reconnected with friends from eras past and deepened relationships with friends present. I know I should be ashamed to have so shamelessly allowed my blog to languish, but how can posting my thoughts to a blog that no one reads compare to posting my latest status and having friends comment? I know I should know better, how can a facebook status update compare to the soul-baring space in a blog? Answer: it can't, thus I am returning to my first love, my unlimited text allowance, and my anonymity, my blog.

Books of 2008
The Greek Treasure~Irving Stone***
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made~Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey****
Leota's Garden~Francine Rivers****
Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money~Rabbi Daniel Lapin****
Bones to Ashes~Kathy Reichs**
The Innocent Man~John Grisham**
Ancient Rome: How it Affects You Today~Richard Maybury*
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy~Richard Maybury*
The Story of the Iliad~Alfred P. Church**
The Shack~William P. Young***
All Rivers to the Sea~Bodie Thoene*
The Musician's Quest~George MacDonald***
The Tutor's First Love~George MacDonald***
Freakonomics~Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Night~Elie Wiesel****
Reading Lolita in Tehran~Azar Nafisi**
Uncle Fred Omnibus~P.G. Wodehouse****
Stormy Weather~Paulette Jiles**
Through Gates of Splendor~Elizabeth Elliott~****
Three Cups of Tea~Greg Mortenson and someone whose name I forget**
Thunder from Jerusalem~Bodie Thoene**
Eat Pray Love~Elizabeth Gilbert*
Her Little Majesty~Carolly Erickson****
A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini ~ ****
The Adventures of Sally ~ P.G. Wodehouse ~ ***
The Inimitable Jeeves~ P.G. Wodehouse~ **
How Right You Are, Jeeves ~P.G. Wodehouse ~ ****

San Juan Mission...shall I tell the story behind the picture? Let's see. Oh yeah, I'm telling. Picture the scene, San Antonio, 4:00pm, walking back to the car after eating a rather dismal Mexican food dinner, already toured the Alamo, the kids are ready to go back to the motel and swim. We happen to walk by the Visitor Information Center, I love those places, I love the brochures, the glossy pictures, the maps of the cities. I love the thought of visiting all those interesting places, well, I get lured into the visitor center, because one of my goals was to visit one of the old Spanish missions while we were in San Antonio, they are literally 3, 8 and 11 miles from the Alamo. Well, I wasn't quite sure where I was going, so in my mind I forgot about it. But, lo and behold, the nice man at the visitor center gave me detailed directions and I determine we are heading that way. Bob is onboard and so is Tory, but not Abby. If you have ever argued with Abby you would remember it. Once she gets an idea in her head, she will not let it go. Well, she got the idea that if she complained, whined, begged, cried, yelled, or insulted she could get out of visiting this mission. The whole eight miles she did all of the above mentioned, plus shoving Tory, when Tory tells her, "Abby, just be quiet and let's see it." She even stooped to the level of making me sound like a raving lunatic.

Abby accuses, "Mom, why can't you just be normal? Why do we have to visit a bunch of stones?"

Tory defends, "Abby, this is normal, it's what parents do."

This, of course, leads to a shouting match and a shoving match in the middle seat of the van, because we have no backseat because we brought the bikes to ride around the campground. So, I can't even banish her to the backseat to whine, she has to do it from the middle seat of the van, right in my ear. But, Bob and I are indefatigable, we are going to see the mission. The closer we get, the more we realize that we aren't any longer in downtown San Antonio, but rather moving out to the barrios. We're talking barrios where nobody speaks English and they will strip your car in three minutes flat if left alone.

But, we shoulder on, stiff upper lip and all that. By this time of day it's 200 degrees in the sun and there are two lone Mesquite trees inside the mission walls. The mission is one of the most complete missions in that area, the outer walls are intact and in fact the church is still used today for services. It was so amazing to stand there and think that 400 years ago Spanish friars came and converted Indians who later helped to build the walls and the church we were looking at. The only jarring note...the Coke machine in one of the old Indian rooms, oh, and the JBL speakers in the corners of this 400 year old church.

Definitely worth all the heartache.

With both parents graduating college with a major in history did you really think our kids were going to go to San Antonio without visiting the Alamo? The day we visited it was about 150 degrees outside, August in Texas, go figure. There were a million people of all nationalities. I guess growing up in Texas I didn't realize what a big deal the history of the Alamo is to foreigners. The only other place I've heard such a dense collection of languages was in New York visiting the Statue of Liberty. What surprises everyone the first time they see the Alamo is its location. It is smack dab in the middle of San Antonio. Almost as if the city was built around this tourist attraction. We also toured the Riverwalk, not as amazing as I had imagined, it's basically a tourist trap with restaurants and shops. The Mexican food? Not so good actually, in fact, it was rather bland if you can believe that. The hot sauce was some of the hottest I've ever tasted, but the food actually had no spices whatsoever. Whowouldathunkit? Downtown San Antonio Mexican food restaurant, total dud. I even asked clerks working in stores, "Which is your favorite Mexican food restaurant?" Turns out they don't know good Mexican food when they taste it.

The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia has moved to second place behind New Braunfels in Texas. I now wish to retire to this "vacation" community. Of course, considering the fact that retirement is officially about 25 years away for us I guess I should keep my options open. Recently my family and I traveled to New Braunfels and "toobed" down the Comal River. Yes, everywhere you look they spelled tube "toob". The Comal is the shortest river in the world, look it up in the Guinness Book of World Records. It took us about two hours to tube down the river, going through three "chutes" where it was small rapids. At times it was so still that we had to push ourselves along with our arms, but the river was absolutely gorgeous. At times we could see the bottom of the river the water was so clear. At times the river was about a foot deep at other times I couldn't touch. The homes and condominiums along the banks made me wish for a real job so that we could visit this Edenic paradise more often. This was definitely our favorite activity.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touts Waco Democrat Chet Edwards for VP

07:38 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A Texan on the presidential ticket this year? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has one in mind.

In an interview with Newsweek, she suggested U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco – whose district includes President Bush's Crawford ranch – for vice president.

Mr. Edwards, a moderate Democrat who specializes in military and veteran affairs, said it was a privilege to be considered but that he hasn't met with the Obama search team.

~Dallas Morning News

If Nancy Pelosi is proposing Chet Edwards as OBama's ticket-mate, Texas' Congressional District 17 better think long and hard about re-electing him. Is it that Edwards is such a great candidate or is it to poke a finger in the eye of President Bush because Crawford is in CD-17, somehow I think it's the latter.

This speech is a must for those who would seek the conservative viewpoint on energy policy. It balances protection for the environment against the interest of the American family.

One quote stands out from this speech:
"We do not settle for the proposition that a healthy environment has to come at the expense of a healthy economy." Amen and amen!
Continue to speak truth Mr. Williams, Texans are behind you all the way.

Hands down, Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams delivered the best speech of the Republican Party of Texas State Convention. I remember being struck at the time by his ease of manner as well as his ability to connect with an audience. As I was listening to his speech again via his website www.williamsfortexas.com I was struck by the substance of his speech. In his speech he outlined a comprehensive, logical answer to the energy problem.

"Well, I don't believe that climate change is just an issue that's convenient to bring up during a campaign. I believe it's one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation. That's why I've fought successfully in the Senate to increase our investment in renewable fuels. That's why I reached across the aisle to come up with a plan to raise our fuel standards… And I didn't just give a speech about it in front of some environmental audience in California. I went to Detroit, I stood in front of a group of automakers, and I told them that when I am president, there will be no more excuses — we will help them retool their factories, but they will have to make cars that use less oil.”

— Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, October 14, 2007

"With the price of crude oil above $130 a barrel, and the price of gasoline nearing $4 a gallon, we need leadership that stands up for the economic interests of American families by demanding greater exploration of America’s energy sources.

I have fought for energy exploration, the development of clean energy technologies, common sense water protection and pipeline safety measures and self-imposed spending caps at the Railroad Commission.

I have advocated for fiscal conservatism even when it cost me money… such as when I turned down a pay raise from the Texas Legislature, not once, but twice.

But Americans will not fall for identity politics over good ideas or slogans in the absence of substance or for promises and platitudes that are the wrong policy prescriptions.

Change is just a slogan when the ideas are the Democrat leftovers of the last 50 years.

When it is the same menu as McGovern, Carter and Mondale: higher taxes, bigger government and a steady diet of class warfare and expanded welfare.

We must remember what their message of hope and change is all about: their hope is in government, and the change they seek is in your pocket."

We do not settle for the proposition that a healthy environment has to come at the expense of a healthy economy.

Our hope resides in unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit to address both challenges."
Hon. Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner speaking at the Republican Party of Texas State Convention 2008

Compare the two speeches: Michael Williams offers substantive ideas as opposed to Barack Obama's vacuous promises for 2030 or 2050. Who is more qualified to speak on this issue, a U.S. Senator or a Texas Railroad Commissioner who has been dealing with these issues on a day to day basis for the last 8 years? My vote is Michael Williams, but not just for Railroad Commissioner but for Governor. When are you running Michael? We need this kind of leadership in the Governor's mansion.

I don't know about you but gas prices are about to break our bank. I have just returned from the State Republican Convention where Newt Gingrich spoke. He has started a campaign to encourage members of Congress to allow drilling here in America.

Did you know that Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Alaska have enough oil underground to replace what we import from Saudia Arabia? We also have enough oil underneath the Gulf of Mexico to replace what we import from Venezuela. Why are we not tapping into these resources? The American Congress. They have placed a moratorium on all oil drilling in America or the Gulf of Mexico. The new drilling techniques are environmentally safe. In fact, the new oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico survived Hurricane Katrina without one drop being released into the ocean. They have a new cutoff system that detects instability from the rig. So there is no chance that oil could be released into the Gulf.

Recently, Congress in a 214-215 vote defeated a bill that would have lifted the moratorium on drilling. I find it absolutely irresponsible to continue this "law" at the expense of the American people.

www.AmericanSolutions.com/DrillNow go to this website to sign a petition urging Congress to lift the moratorium. They are trying to reach 1,000,000 signatures by July 4 and declare it energy independence day. This petition also urges the President to release oil from our energy reserves, I believe we have a 20 year supply (don't quote me on that one), which would immediately drive down the price of oil and bankrupt the oil speculators who are getting rich off the backs of working Americans. I urge you to sign the petition and forward this to as many people as possible. If you are so inclined, send an email to all your elected officials urging them to call for a lift of the moratorium. The only way this situation will get better is if we put enough pressure on our public officials to act on our behalf.

Forgive me if I sound a bit like a politician. I did just return from the Convention where every other word was America, God Bless America, God Bless Texas, the people of America, etc. You can't help getting caught up in the terminology.

Seriously, I am outraged at the situation and would appreciate your consideration of the matter.

COUNTDOWN to Republican State Convention

I am very excited about my chance to be a delegate to the Texas State Republican Convention. I will get to hear Mike Huckabee speak...BTW if John McCain doesn't pick Huckabee as his running mate I will be very disappointed. He still has to shore up the south. My worst nightmare come to life??? A McCain/Romney ticket,

Anyhow, 12 days til we head to Houston for the convention. We are going to be wearing loud red, white and blue outfits...My mother even bought a Johnson County Republican Party hat for each of us. I'm not sure I'll go that far. Turns out this thing is going to cost me a pretty penny. There's a $35 facilities fee...what?...the Republican Party of Texas doesn't have the money to rent out the convention center? Give me a break! Also, every time you turn around there's an invitation to a dinner, Republican Party of Texas "official" dinner...ticket to get in? $75 Eagle Forum dinner...$65...to hear Phyllis Schlafly and David Barton. Actually I'm probably going to swing for that one. At least I'll be among my own kind.

Oh and there's evidently an election to select a "national committeewoman and committeeman"...don't even know what that is, but I have received around 10 advertisements for various candidates.

Should be an interesting weekend!

Goals for Summer 2008:

Put in a flowerbed in the front yard
Re-tile dining room and kitchen
Repaint living room/dining room
Get through chapter 20 of Wheelock's Latin
Read Book of the Ancient Greeks
Read Book of the Ancient Romans


Goals for Tory for Summer 2008:
Finish Complete Book of Marvels
Read The Captives
Get to chapter 10 of Genesis Bible Study


Goals for Abby for Summer 2008:
Read Mary, Bloody Mary
Get to chapter 10 of Genesis Bible Study