Point of Personal Privilege #2

I stated on my last entry that we now have six grandchildren. In that I posted a photo of my son Richard and his wife Priscilla along with their three children. So, after today you can see all my children and their children.

This is my oldest child Alyssa and her husband John along with their two children Téah and Micah. This picture was taken this summer on their vacation at the Outer Banks with John's parents.
Here is my youngest daughter Lori Beth and her son Gavin. This picture is a bit old. It was taken a few years ago at her brother's wedding, but it is a really good picture of her. I think both of my daughters are very lovely, but then, I am a bit biased.

Finally, here are some more recent pictures of Gavin, taken this morning as he boarded the bus for his first day of kindergarten. Yep, that is a Go Diego Go! backpack.

Point of Personal Privilege

One of the items at denominational meetings that usually ticks me off, is when someone rises to say, "Point of Personal Privilege," during the business meeting. It is just a nice way of getting to say what you want about someone you like while circumventing the Roberts Rules process . . .

So-o-o, here I go "Point of Personal Privilege."

We just got back from Tennessee visiting our son and his family. They just welcomed our sixth grandchild (MAN!! Am I old or what?!) It was great to see them and their three (so far!) kids.

Here is a picture of the family. Richard, Priscilla, Gideon (center) Elliotte (left) and Eden the newest in Richard's arms. Yep. I am proud.

I will probably take another "Personal Privilege Day" tomorrow to post some pictures of my other Grandkids and their parents as well. I will get back to commentary soon. Either enjoy it or get over it.

Saddleback and the Presidency

Last evening (late on rerun since I was at my granddaughter's third BD party) I watched the question / answer by each presidential candidate by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California. I was intrigued.

I truly wanted to hear what each candidate has to say. One of the reasons is that I am truly on the fence for this presidential election. (Some Christians are promoting not voting as a way out. To which I say, if you do not vote, shut up. I do not care what you think.) I am not overly excited by either candidate. To be totally honest, I have not been excited by a candidate since 1984, but that is another story for another time. Another reason I was intrigued was to hear what questions Warren would ask and how he would handle himself. I share a lot of his passions (such as passion for Jesus, for the poor and for the HIV/AIDS pandemic.) It was as I expected and not as I expected.

There were some very good questions asked. There were also some softballs tossed in there. By and large, I thought Rick Warren handled himself and presented the Christian side with intelligence, humor, taste, toughness, kindness and grace. Considering who he was interviewing it was handled very well. At times he could not contain he pleasure or displeasure with an answer, but how is that different than any other interviewer at any other time? For the most part I was pleased with Warren. I was actually very impressed that HE was the first one, out of all the news making heavy hitters to get both candidates on the same stage at the same time. My favorite question: "Which supreme court justice would you not have nominated?" Brilliant.

There were some very good and thoughtful answers given by both candidates. There was also so posturing, some dodging and some twisting by both. These are politicians I had to remind myself. At times I felt both candidates were dodging and trying to avoid answering directly.Obama on the Faith Based items and McCain on the "rich" question as two examples. I felt both at times played to the audience, McCain a little more so, but both did. McCain at times wanted it to be a rally it appeared. Obama also seemed to do so with his, "God is in the mix," comment.

Both candidates took the same side on some issues for the most part. I liked Obama's answer on a constitutional amendment for gay marriage. I agree with a man and a woman making up a marriage. Also, as he stated, marriage has always been a state issue, and I am a big states rights person. I liked McCain's pushing it further by saying if the courts try to make one state abide by another state's law on the matter, he would favor an amendment. That is sort of where I have been myself. I am not in favor of national law if it can be averted. I was pleased (mostly) with both men talking about protecting the civil rights of homosexual persons. What many miss is that if you remove the rights of one person, it is a short step to removing yours.

Many questions were thoughtful as were many answers. They ranged from stem cell research, to faith based organizations receiving federal dollars to abortion. I will probably share some more over the upcoming days, but for now I would encourage you to read the transcript here.

As both men said, this is an important election. We need to do our homework. Thank goodness there is some time left.

Get Rhythm

What do these songs have in common?

Walk of Life
New Years Day
Here I Go Again
Crazy Train
Glory Days
Eye of the Tiger
Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
Go Your Own Way
Back on the Chain Gang

I am in Washington, D.C. for a four day conference relating to our grant. While here I have availed myself of the gym facilities at the hotel. Each of the four days I have gotten on the elliptical machine (I much prefer it to running since it places less stress on the joints) for cardio and did some weight training. I did not realize how much I missed a workout in the gym, and the consistency of an exercise routine. I used to do it religiously, no pun intended. Events have caused me to let it slack. I made a promise to myself that I would indeed correct this, along with my biking on a more regular fashion.

Now, what do those songs have in common, besides the fact that each is considered Classic Rock? Each of them gives you a great beat, a great rhythm to use on an elliptical machine while exercising. The beats are distinct from one another giving you a varied pace and the varied push on your heart that is conducive to a productive and healthy workout.

Our lives are meant for rhythm. God designed us that way. God designed the universe that way. 24 hours in a day. Seven days in every week. 30 or so days in each month. 365 days in a year (with minor corrective exceptions). Day then night then day then night. Rest, wake, work, play, talk, sleep.

Rhythm

What gives rhythm to your life? The business of our life can crowd out healthy rhythms sometimes. It can cause us to lose one or more of the important elements of rhythm in our lives.

So the question is, not only, where do we get the rhythm for our life, but where do we need to correct, or balance the rhythm in our life? I just mentioned one of mine. There are more. Where are yours?

Oh, BTW - the musically astute reader will recognize that Get Rhythm was one of Johnny Cash’s early hits. Hm-m-m, it would do pretty well on the elliptical too.

Stopping at the Bottom of the Hill

My grandson Gavin loves the movie “Cars.” He is troubled that the cars have no eyebrows, but nonetheless, he loves that animated feature. Truth be told, so do I. The musical sound track is actually pretty cool too. You get Cheryl Crow, James Taylor, John Mayer, Hank Williams and Chuck Berry in the same place.

You also get a very cool song by Rascal Flatts entitled “Life is a Highway.” One phrase in the song reads:

Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

“Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.” Is that not a very descriptive phrase?

I am a cyclist. I love riding my bicycle. I do not do it as much as I should now, but boy do I love it. However, I digress.

I have ridden my bike in all kinds of terrain. I have ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway (the entire 480 miles), Skyline Drive (all 105 miles three separate times.) I have also ridden hundreds of miles while on vacation at the beach. While at the beach I love the feeling that comes when your back is to the wind. It is like a huge hand is on your back giving you an assist that cannot be fully described. So when I hear those lines in the Rascal Flatts song that is the image that comes to my mind.

As I said, I have ridden a variety of terrain. If you read the locations, you noticed the mountainous territories on the list. There is a daunting feeling that comes over you when you approach the bottom of a hill and realize that you will be going uphill for miles. (One hill on the Blue Ridge is seven miles long!) The thrill of feeling your back to the wind is incredible. However, the thrill that comes from cresting a hill after a long hard climb is even more exhilarating. Words could hardly do this feeling of accomplishment justice. If I were to stop when approaching the hill and dismount I would miss that thrill. I have done just that.

Last week, while attending a two day conference, I had no less than tem individuals chastise me for not writing here. It was not intended as chastisement, or maybe it was. If so, it was received exactly as it was intended in the best sense. One person said something to this effect, “Terry, you have something worth saying. You have something worth writing. Stop depriving the rest of us of your gift that God has clearly given you.”

Ouch. And thank you.

Oh yeah, as much as I like the “back to the wind feeling,” or “the cresting the hill feeling,” my FAVORITE feeling on my bike is screaming downhill. I have gone 59 miles per hour downhill on those tiny tires! I absolutely love it. Guess what? If I do not climb; I do not cresting and I get no downhill. So, it is time for me to start climbing.

I accept the words from others as God speaking to me. I will not go into all that has happened, my fault or not, to cause me to stop. It really does not matter. I will just accept the words of admonishment and act accordingly. I will get back on the bike and climb the hill.