10/23: Worth Sharing
This article was written in a neighboring city of mine in NC. I thought it was worth sharing.
Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
by Orson Scott Card
October 20, 2008
An open letter to the local daily paper -- almost every local daily paper in America:
I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.
This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.
It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.
What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.
The goal of this rule change was to help the poor -- which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house -- along with their credit rating.
They end up worse off than before.
This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.
Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of congressmen who support increasing their budget.)
Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?
I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."
Instead, it was Sen. Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.
As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" (http://snipurl.com/457to): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."
These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.
Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!
What? It's not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame?
Now let's follow the money ... right to the presidential candidate who is the number two recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.
And after Fred Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who made $90 million while running it into the ground, was fired for his incompetence, one presidential candidate's campaign actually consulted him for advice on housing.
If that presidential candidate had been John McCain, you would have called it a major scandal and we would be getting stories in your paper every day about how incompetent and corrupt he was.
But instead, that candidate was Barack Obama, and so you have buried this story, and when the McCain campaign dared to call Raines an "adviser" to the Obama campaign -- because that campaign had sought his advice -- you actually let Obama's people get away with accusing McCain of lying, merely because Raines wasn't listed as an official adviser to the Obama campaign.
You would never tolerate such weasely nit-picking from a Republican.
If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama.
If you who produce our local daily paper had any personal honor, you would find it unbearable to let the American people believe that somehow Republicans were to blame for this crisis.
There are precedents. Even though President Bush and his administration never said that Iraq sponsored or was linked to 9/11, you could not stand the fact that Americans had that misapprehension -- so you pounded us with the fact that there was no such link. (Along the way, you created the false impression that Bush had lied to them and said that there was a connection.)
If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.
Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.
But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie -- that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad -- even bad weather -- on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.
If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth -- even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.
Because that's what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means. That's how trust is earned.
Barack Obama is just another politician, and not a very wise one. He has revealed his ignorance and naivete time after time -- and you have swept it under the rug, treated it as nothing.
Meanwhile, you have participated in the borking of Sarah Palin, reporting savage attacks on her for the pregnancy of her unmarried daughter -- while you ignored the story of John Edwards' own adultery for many months.
So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?
Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?
You might want to remember the way the National Organization of Women (NOW) threw away their integrity by supporting Bill Clinton despite his well-known pattern of sexual exploitation of powerless women. Who listens to NOW anymore? We know they stand for nothing; they have no principles.
That's where you are right now.
It's not too late. You know that if the situation were reversed, and the truth would damage McCain and help Obama, you would be moving heaven and earth to get the true story out there.
If you want to redeem your honor, you will swallow hard and make a list of all the stories you would print if it were McCain who had been getting money from Fannie Mae, McCain whose campaign had consulted with its discredited former CEO, McCain who had voted against tightening its lending practices.
Then you will print them, even though every one of those true stories will point the finger of blame at the reckless Democratic Party, which put our nation's prosperity at risk so they could feel good about helping the poor, and lay a fair share of the blame at Obama's door.
You will also tell the truth about John McCain: that he tried, as a senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. You will tell the truth about President Bush: that his administration tried more than once to get Congress to regulate lending in a responsible way.
This was a Congress-caused crisis, beginning during the Clinton administration, with Democrats leading the way into the crisis and blocking every effort to get out of it in a timely fashion.
If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe -- and vote as if -- President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie.
If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats -- including Barack Obama -- and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans -- then you are not journalists by any standard.
You're just the public relations machine of the Democratic Party, and it's time you were all fired and real journalists brought in, so that we can actually have a daily newspaper in our city.
Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
by Orson Scott Card
October 20, 2008
An open letter to the local daily paper -- almost every local daily paper in America:
I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.
This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.
It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.
What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.
The goal of this rule change was to help the poor -- which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house -- along with their credit rating.
They end up worse off than before.
This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.
Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of congressmen who support increasing their budget.)
Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?
I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."
Instead, it was Sen. Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.
As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" (http://snipurl.com/457to): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."
These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.
Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!
What? It's not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame?
Now let's follow the money ... right to the presidential candidate who is the number two recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.
And after Fred Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who made $90 million while running it into the ground, was fired for his incompetence, one presidential candidate's campaign actually consulted him for advice on housing.
If that presidential candidate had been John McCain, you would have called it a major scandal and we would be getting stories in your paper every day about how incompetent and corrupt he was.
But instead, that candidate was Barack Obama, and so you have buried this story, and when the McCain campaign dared to call Raines an "adviser" to the Obama campaign -- because that campaign had sought his advice -- you actually let Obama's people get away with accusing McCain of lying, merely because Raines wasn't listed as an official adviser to the Obama campaign.
You would never tolerate such weasely nit-picking from a Republican.
If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama.
If you who produce our local daily paper had any personal honor, you would find it unbearable to let the American people believe that somehow Republicans were to blame for this crisis.
There are precedents. Even though President Bush and his administration never said that Iraq sponsored or was linked to 9/11, you could not stand the fact that Americans had that misapprehension -- so you pounded us with the fact that there was no such link. (Along the way, you created the false impression that Bush had lied to them and said that there was a connection.)
If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.
Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.
But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie -- that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad -- even bad weather -- on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.
If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth -- even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.
Because that's what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means. That's how trust is earned.
Barack Obama is just another politician, and not a very wise one. He has revealed his ignorance and naivete time after time -- and you have swept it under the rug, treated it as nothing.
Meanwhile, you have participated in the borking of Sarah Palin, reporting savage attacks on her for the pregnancy of her unmarried daughter -- while you ignored the story of John Edwards' own adultery for many months.
So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?
Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?
You might want to remember the way the National Organization of Women (NOW) threw away their integrity by supporting Bill Clinton despite his well-known pattern of sexual exploitation of powerless women. Who listens to NOW anymore? We know they stand for nothing; they have no principles.
That's where you are right now.
It's not too late. You know that if the situation were reversed, and the truth would damage McCain and help Obama, you would be moving heaven and earth to get the true story out there.
If you want to redeem your honor, you will swallow hard and make a list of all the stories you would print if it were McCain who had been getting money from Fannie Mae, McCain whose campaign had consulted with its discredited former CEO, McCain who had voted against tightening its lending practices.
Then you will print them, even though every one of those true stories will point the finger of blame at the reckless Democratic Party, which put our nation's prosperity at risk so they could feel good about helping the poor, and lay a fair share of the blame at Obama's door.
You will also tell the truth about John McCain: that he tried, as a senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. You will tell the truth about President Bush: that his administration tried more than once to get Congress to regulate lending in a responsible way.
This was a Congress-caused crisis, beginning during the Clinton administration, with Democrats leading the way into the crisis and blocking every effort to get out of it in a timely fashion.
If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe -- and vote as if -- President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie.
If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats -- including Barack Obama -- and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans -- then you are not journalists by any standard.
You're just the public relations machine of the Democratic Party, and it's time you were all fired and real journalists brought in, so that we can actually have a daily newspaper in our city.
A friend sent this to me. Something to ponder.
Benefits of WATER
#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger, that's why so many people tend to over eat.
#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
#4.One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
#5.Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math , and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?
Benefits of COCA-COLA
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days..
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China .
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8.To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
#1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric Acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place Cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
#3. The distributors of Coca-Cola have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!
Benefits of WATER
#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger, that's why so many people tend to over eat.
#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
#4.One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
#5.Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math , and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?
Benefits of COCA-COLA
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days..
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China .
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8.To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
#1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric Acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place Cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
#3. The distributors of Coca-Cola have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!
08/06: Missing In Action
Sorry I have been out of touch for a couple of days. Life has been happenin'.
I am dying to share!
A few days ago we walked across the dam to visit Dot (the neighbor you have helped me pray for with cancer) and her husband Bob. Actually, we were just going to sneak into their back yard as we do throughout tomato season and leave a few on their patio table. They call us their 'tomato fairies'.
They were sitting outside enjoying the evening so we pulled up a seat and had a lovely chat. When we decided to leave it was dark. Bob insisted we take a flashlight to cross the dam because he had seen snakes curled up there in the past. We tried to say no thanks but he wouldn't hear of it and placed the light in my husband's hand.
As we walked back it was so nice to be able to clearly see the pathway.
Is there someone in your life walking in darkness that needs you to share the light? Anyone you know missing in action?
God is calling us to shine.
2Co 4:6 -
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Eph 5:14 -
for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Php 2:15 -
so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
I am dying to share!
A few days ago we walked across the dam to visit Dot (the neighbor you have helped me pray for with cancer) and her husband Bob. Actually, we were just going to sneak into their back yard as we do throughout tomato season and leave a few on their patio table. They call us their 'tomato fairies'.
They were sitting outside enjoying the evening so we pulled up a seat and had a lovely chat. When we decided to leave it was dark. Bob insisted we take a flashlight to cross the dam because he had seen snakes curled up there in the past. We tried to say no thanks but he wouldn't hear of it and placed the light in my husband's hand.
As we walked back it was so nice to be able to clearly see the pathway.
Is there someone in your life walking in darkness that needs you to share the light? Anyone you know missing in action?
God is calling us to shine.
2Co 4:6 -
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Eph 5:14 -
for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Php 2:15 -
so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
Satan must have a target on us right now. He isn't winning but it is amazing to watch! You know about our shattered shelf, but did you know that when I got out my Sears Kenmore vacuum to clean up the shard pieces of glass, smoke billowed the moment I turned it on? (it is just a couple of years old)
I took it in to the Sears repair shop that day and I cleaned up the glass as best I could with the little Swiffer vacuum that was never meant for that big of job. I could still see the teeny glistening chips scattered about in the area rug but thought I would get it up as soon as I got mine back.
Fast forward to this morning. We noticed the water pressure in the sink was extremely low. We checked around the house and the hose and didn't see anything left on. Maybe the storm caused a water line problem with the city.
We took our 6 a.m. stroll around the property with coffee in hand. As we climbed the hill to the garden my husband cried, "We've got a water problem!" Our garden area had a river running through it, with a little fountain bubbling up in the middle. It seems when the fiber optic telephone guys had been out they punctured our water line.
I came running in the house to call the appropriate people. I saw I had missed two calls from my grown children while we were wading in mud. On the voice mail one was sharing her new adventures at work, the other was distraught over some personal issues.
Before I could pick up the phone to call them, it rang. It was the vacuum guys. It will cost $152.00 to fix it because our motor is shot. Now ask anyone, my vacuum doesn't get heavy duty use! Two years old and the motor is shot?
So I am laughing at the unexpected things today and I stand firmly on the promise that God gave me:
Psalms 121:1-8
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
And that is TRUTH I can expect forvermore.
I took it in to the Sears repair shop that day and I cleaned up the glass as best I could with the little Swiffer vacuum that was never meant for that big of job. I could still see the teeny glistening chips scattered about in the area rug but thought I would get it up as soon as I got mine back.
Fast forward to this morning. We noticed the water pressure in the sink was extremely low. We checked around the house and the hose and didn't see anything left on. Maybe the storm caused a water line problem with the city.
We took our 6 a.m. stroll around the property with coffee in hand. As we climbed the hill to the garden my husband cried, "We've got a water problem!" Our garden area had a river running through it, with a little fountain bubbling up in the middle. It seems when the fiber optic telephone guys had been out they punctured our water line.
I came running in the house to call the appropriate people. I saw I had missed two calls from my grown children while we were wading in mud. On the voice mail one was sharing her new adventures at work, the other was distraught over some personal issues.
Before I could pick up the phone to call them, it rang. It was the vacuum guys. It will cost $152.00 to fix it because our motor is shot. Now ask anyone, my vacuum doesn't get heavy duty use! Two years old and the motor is shot?
So I am laughing at the unexpected things today and I stand firmly on the promise that God gave me:
Psalms 121:1-8
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
And that is TRUTH I can expect forvermore.
07/19: Expectations
Expectations, we all have them. When I am doing my morning devotions I often notice a certain passage just pop off the page as if it were highlighted in my brain. In the past two weeks I have heard that word expect so many times, in such varied situations, from a mix of different people, I figured God was trying to emboss it on my brain.
We expect our fries to be hot, our teams to win, our bills to get paid, and our loved ones to, well love AND appreciate us!
I went to the Word to find out if there was a scripture that addressed expectations and discovered this little gem in Luke 6:34, "And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full."
I pondered this in my heart. How did this apply to what I had heard lately? Did that mean that I should just DO for others, GIVE to others, LOVE on others, without EXPECTING anything in return? RADICAL! But so incredibly GREAT!
So my question is this, "What are you expecting and why?"
Please give me your comments because my web guru is trying to see if something in my comment counter is working. :0) (there I go...expecting you to do it!)
Love you tons!
Luann
We expect our fries to be hot, our teams to win, our bills to get paid, and our loved ones to, well love AND appreciate us!
I went to the Word to find out if there was a scripture that addressed expectations and discovered this little gem in Luke 6:34, "And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full."
I pondered this in my heart. How did this apply to what I had heard lately? Did that mean that I should just DO for others, GIVE to others, LOVE on others, without EXPECTING anything in return? RADICAL! But so incredibly GREAT!
So my question is this, "What are you expecting and why?"
Please give me your comments because my web guru is trying to see if something in my comment counter is working. :0) (there I go...expecting you to do it!)
Love you tons!
Luann
07/13: Do A Little Dance
Yesterday was home day. It seems we are either on the run or entertaining company, but this Saturday it was just the two of us.
We have a fire pit down by the lake that we use whenever the kids (either our own, or our church kids) rally around. It came into being when we were preparing to build our house; clearing the trees, burning up scrap lumber, discarding broken limbs. However it has been over two years now and there were still major stacks of 'scrap' that we thought we just might use one day.
We both decided that it was time to let it go and dedicated the day to burning. It was really quite fun. Together we tossed on old boards that had been wrapped in tarps and sat watching the flames shoot toward the heavens. I grabbed some dogs and our roasting sticks and we sat like teenagers wolfing them down. Eight hours later we doused the coals and called it a night.
Today, anxious to see the view without the piles of lumber, we began our usual morning walk. With coffee in hand, we love to see which flowers popped up overnight. As we rounded the bend in the sidewalk we noticed the little angel chime was wrapped around the shepherd's hook that suspends her. Always ready to fix things I plunged my hand into the mass of flowers to untangle my little lady.
Immediately I began to dance and sing. It wasn't really a dance you would see on Dancing with the Stars or a song that would win the hearts of judges on American Idol. A piercing pain shot into my ring finger and I could feel it all the way to my bone. My feet did a high-steppin' jig and my song went something like this, "Oh good grief that hurts! Oh, oh, oh! Oh mamma! Oh, oh, oh! Oh ouch, ouch, ouch!" It seems I had disturbed the slumber of a wasp nest hidden inside the angel.
I didn't even see her, but one came to give me a do not disturb notice, driving her stinger into my now swollen finger. I jerked my ring off so it wouldn't get stuck later. I ran into the house and held it under cold water while my sweetheart fixed a paste of salt and water to apply to it.
He patted on the goo and wrapped it up in a band-aid and the stinging stopped. It was still throbbing but in a matter of minutes the throbbing subsided and so did quarter-sized welt.
Do you think God was trying to give me a word picture for the devo I just wrote? I'm not sure when it will run, but the title is Salty, Shiny, Sheep. Or maybe He wanted to give me an illustration of how I often run ahead without taking time to scout out the situation. Both are appropriate. I do run ahead too much. And Jesus called us to be salt to a hurting world.
Does this lesson apply to you too? Share your comments.
Have a blessed Sabath.
We have a fire pit down by the lake that we use whenever the kids (either our own, or our church kids) rally around. It came into being when we were preparing to build our house; clearing the trees, burning up scrap lumber, discarding broken limbs. However it has been over two years now and there were still major stacks of 'scrap' that we thought we just might use one day.
We both decided that it was time to let it go and dedicated the day to burning. It was really quite fun. Together we tossed on old boards that had been wrapped in tarps and sat watching the flames shoot toward the heavens. I grabbed some dogs and our roasting sticks and we sat like teenagers wolfing them down. Eight hours later we doused the coals and called it a night.
Today, anxious to see the view without the piles of lumber, we began our usual morning walk. With coffee in hand, we love to see which flowers popped up overnight. As we rounded the bend in the sidewalk we noticed the little angel chime was wrapped around the shepherd's hook that suspends her. Always ready to fix things I plunged my hand into the mass of flowers to untangle my little lady.
Immediately I began to dance and sing. It wasn't really a dance you would see on Dancing with the Stars or a song that would win the hearts of judges on American Idol. A piercing pain shot into my ring finger and I could feel it all the way to my bone. My feet did a high-steppin' jig and my song went something like this, "Oh good grief that hurts! Oh, oh, oh! Oh mamma! Oh, oh, oh! Oh ouch, ouch, ouch!" It seems I had disturbed the slumber of a wasp nest hidden inside the angel.
I didn't even see her, but one came to give me a do not disturb notice, driving her stinger into my now swollen finger. I jerked my ring off so it wouldn't get stuck later. I ran into the house and held it under cold water while my sweetheart fixed a paste of salt and water to apply to it.
He patted on the goo and wrapped it up in a band-aid and the stinging stopped. It was still throbbing but in a matter of minutes the throbbing subsided and so did quarter-sized welt.
Do you think God was trying to give me a word picture for the devo I just wrote? I'm not sure when it will run, but the title is Salty, Shiny, Sheep. Or maybe He wanted to give me an illustration of how I often run ahead without taking time to scout out the situation. Both are appropriate. I do run ahead too much. And Jesus called us to be salt to a hurting world.
Does this lesson apply to you too? Share your comments.
Have a blessed Sabath.
07/08: The Bucket List
We've heard so much about it, so we rented it Sunday night to wind down from the weekend flurry. The Bucket List has two well known actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, who deliver their lines with excellence. However, we felt the lines were not as well written as we had hoped.
The underlying theme was the take-away we loved; When it is all said and done, relationships matter most.
There was one fabulous line that made me think of our Compassion International trip. The line was, "Did you find joy and did you bring joy to others?" In Ecuador, Jonathon, a college student who had lived in complete poverty, but had been given hope through the Compassion project throughout his youth said it this way, "One day I will stand before God and he will ask, 'What did you do with what I gave you?' And I want to be able to say, 'I helped to change the reality in my own world.'"
So, how will you answer:
Did you find joy?
Did you bring joy to others?
What did you do with what I gave you?
The underlying theme was the take-away we loved; When it is all said and done, relationships matter most.
There was one fabulous line that made me think of our Compassion International trip. The line was, "Did you find joy and did you bring joy to others?" In Ecuador, Jonathon, a college student who had lived in complete poverty, but had been given hope through the Compassion project throughout his youth said it this way, "One day I will stand before God and he will ask, 'What did you do with what I gave you?' And I want to be able to say, 'I helped to change the reality in my own world.'"
So, how will you answer:
Did you find joy?
Did you bring joy to others?
What did you do with what I gave you?
07/03: Dr. Dale's Input Is Coming!
Ladies,
My friend the PhD called today and said that he has written some things to share with you as a follow up to I Have A Headache. It may be floating in cyberspace as I type this. As soon as I get it I will pass on his words of wisdom.
Love ya all,
Luann
My friend the PhD called today and said that he has written some things to share with you as a follow up to I Have A Headache. It may be floating in cyberspace as I type this. As soon as I get it I will pass on his words of wisdom.
Love ya all,
Luann
06/27: The Headache Part #2
Ladies, my email has been burning up with comments not wanting to be shared on the blog. I asked my friends from Proverbs 31 to jump over and give their input and you will see Lysa and Renee have done just that in the comment section of Part 1.
I have asked my friend who is a PhD in Counseling Ministry to share some thoughts from a man's point of view. When he gets that to me, I will post it.
I have done some research, done surveys and read what I can find on this topic. Here are some bullets (which by the way, guys LOVE - remember Dragnet? just the facts ma'am) of my discoveries:
Men Fear
They fear:
Sharing their fears! (fact: they don’t want to ‘talk things to death’ like girls!)
Losing control (fact: Not control of you, of themselves! They don’t want to turn their life over to you, and why would you want them to?)
Being useless or unproductive (fact: They all ask themselves, “Is this it? Is this all there is to my life?” And over 50 they no longer think about ‘if I die’ but ‘when’. They wonder what they should be doing with the time they have left.)
Losing their masculinity or sexual ability (fact: Viagra is on the market because the drug companies are capitalizing on this fear. Why do we expect men’s bodies to behave the same as they did at 18 -for their entire life? What pressure! Women go through menopause and men go through ‘pausing to say, Oh Man!’ It often has NOTHING to do with you ladies, it has to do with the hormonal changes that naturally occur inside our guys. Remember it is NOT all about us.)
So what have you discovered?
I have asked my friend who is a PhD in Counseling Ministry to share some thoughts from a man's point of view. When he gets that to me, I will post it.
I have done some research, done surveys and read what I can find on this topic. Here are some bullets (which by the way, guys LOVE - remember Dragnet? just the facts ma'am) of my discoveries:
Men Fear
They fear:
Sharing their fears! (fact: they don’t want to ‘talk things to death’ like girls!)
Losing control (fact: Not control of you, of themselves! They don’t want to turn their life over to you, and why would you want them to?)
Being useless or unproductive (fact: They all ask themselves, “Is this it? Is this all there is to my life?” And over 50 they no longer think about ‘if I die’ but ‘when’. They wonder what they should be doing with the time they have left.)
Losing their masculinity or sexual ability (fact: Viagra is on the market because the drug companies are capitalizing on this fear. Why do we expect men’s bodies to behave the same as they did at 18 -for their entire life? What pressure! Women go through menopause and men go through ‘pausing to say, Oh Man!’ It often has NOTHING to do with you ladies, it has to do with the hormonal changes that naturally occur inside our guys. Remember it is NOT all about us.)
So what have you discovered?
05/21: Tools Rule...or do they?
Thieves Steal Tools, Hold For Ransom the headline read.
Could that be right? Who could possibly want or need another tool? Every time I get acclimated to a new tool on my computer, banking, or system at work, THEY CHANGE IT! Now, I know you may be thinking, 'Get with the program old woman!' but this isn't a new phenomenon for me. Before I was 30 I had my own business and I can remember sitting down with my accountant and learning exactly what he needed on a piece of grid paper each month. I was fine with that. Then a 'new system' came out that made me rethink the way I did things. I now had to remember to slide a disbursement sheet under my checks when writing them...let me tell you, THAT didn't happen every time. Before long my numbers were messed up.
Just when I got the hang of that system a Commodore 64 found its way into my shop! MS Dos was as foreign to me as aliens. There were no Microsoft Windows, only a blank screen that wanted me to learn this new 'tool'. I enrolled in a class at the local technical college to learn about this contraption. I didn't know for sure what I should sign up for, so I took Programming 101. Wrong choice! We spent a semester learning how to program the command, How to eat a slice of pizza...I kid you not! What I learned was I hated syntax errors!
My poor husband is plagued with the same issues at work. It has become our daily joke, "Honey, what new 'tool' do you have to make your job more efficient?" We are convinced that techies invade the corporate world and create tons of new 'tools' telling the leaders it will make everyone more productive, when in fact it often slows the pace to a grinding halt.
In real estate we have tools to help you learn how to use the tools! You find you are spending so much time learning how to use the newest tool, that by the way will be outdated next month, you forget about your client who needs to see your face!
I must run for now, my Powerpoint, needs a jpg for the web seminar we are conference calling to the virtual branches by satellite tomorrow. And I have to create the flier in Quark or maybe Illustrator even though many prefer simple pdfs. Spreadsheets are due by the end of the day calculating numbers showing sales trends, projected sales, missed sales, sales history, and sales to date. The database needs updated to include the online, mail-in, phone inquiries, ad vehicles and payment history.
Matthew 6:28 See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
I better get growing!
Could that be right? Who could possibly want or need another tool? Every time I get acclimated to a new tool on my computer, banking, or system at work, THEY CHANGE IT! Now, I know you may be thinking, 'Get with the program old woman!' but this isn't a new phenomenon for me. Before I was 30 I had my own business and I can remember sitting down with my accountant and learning exactly what he needed on a piece of grid paper each month. I was fine with that. Then a 'new system' came out that made me rethink the way I did things. I now had to remember to slide a disbursement sheet under my checks when writing them...let me tell you, THAT didn't happen every time. Before long my numbers were messed up.
Just when I got the hang of that system a Commodore 64 found its way into my shop! MS Dos was as foreign to me as aliens. There were no Microsoft Windows, only a blank screen that wanted me to learn this new 'tool'. I enrolled in a class at the local technical college to learn about this contraption. I didn't know for sure what I should sign up for, so I took Programming 101. Wrong choice! We spent a semester learning how to program the command, How to eat a slice of pizza...I kid you not! What I learned was I hated syntax errors!
My poor husband is plagued with the same issues at work. It has become our daily joke, "Honey, what new 'tool' do you have to make your job more efficient?" We are convinced that techies invade the corporate world and create tons of new 'tools' telling the leaders it will make everyone more productive, when in fact it often slows the pace to a grinding halt.
In real estate we have tools to help you learn how to use the tools! You find you are spending so much time learning how to use the newest tool, that by the way will be outdated next month, you forget about your client who needs to see your face!
I must run for now, my Powerpoint, needs a jpg for the web seminar we are conference calling to the virtual branches by satellite tomorrow. And I have to create the flier in Quark or maybe Illustrator even though many prefer simple pdfs. Spreadsheets are due by the end of the day calculating numbers showing sales trends, projected sales, missed sales, sales history, and sales to date. The database needs updated to include the online, mail-in, phone inquiries, ad vehicles and payment history.
Matthew 6:28 See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
I better get growing!
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