Election 2012

Today is the election. It looks like President Obama will be holding his office. I'm glad that the Lord already knew the outcome of this election and isn't surprised. Also glad that the Lord has given us a hope that's bigger than the next president.

Today's episode of the Gilmore girls ended at the mall (again). Mom needed to take a walk, but the un-air conditioned out-of-doors wasn't too welcoming. During the 30 minutes of laps around the second level Emma snoozed for perhaps 10 minutes and then thoroughly enjoyed watching Alice play at the kids' "Playtown." It would've been excellent to videotape Alice playing with the other kids, if the video camera was in attendance. Alas, it was not. One little girl in particular really wanted to hold Alice's hand and drag her around the place. Alice complied for a little while and then got fed up with someone telling her what to do. Eventually she just ran away any time the girl came near. Oh yeah, it was a proud Mom moment for sure.

Today marks the fourth day of the maintenance guy (who doesn't work weekends) not fixing our screens from the break-in on Halloween night. Don't worry, as far as we can tell, only a few small things were taken--most noteworthy being our checkbook (the account has since been changed and put on alert) and Andrew's iPod. Bummer, but thankful nothing too sentimental was taken. I randomly walked by one of the managers today who told me that he fixed one of the screens but not the other. Yeah, that was incorrect. They both still have slits in them. She did assure me he'd be by first thing in the morning to fix the front one, which I kind of don't believe. Ah, apartment life!

Today is also November 6, which means in one week Alice will be exactly two and a half. Holy moly. She's been talking in sentences lately, but it takes a highly trained ear to decipher them. Even mommy's ear is sometimes insufficient. I'm told that one day language just "clicks" and they start speaking real words that normal people understand. Not to say mommy is abnormal. Well, I guess that's debatable.

And on that note, I must sleep!

Russell Moore on Glenn Beck

Here's a quick link to an article that I found very helpful. I'm pretty sure lots of evangelicals give Glenn Beck's Mormonism a pass simply because he doesn't like President Obama. Russell Moore's insights are always penetrating and valuable in an age of manipulative soundbites.

Here's a taste:

It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn’t need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

What's Going On?

Once again, it's been a while. Here's some food for thought and some updates.

Congratulations to our President-Elect, Barack Obama. Clearly, the country believes in you and backed you in a decisive victory over John McCain. We support you when we can, oppose you when necessary and always pray for you. We respect you and your family, but we cannot respect some of your views, such as your stand for the murder of unborn babies and your support of human embryonic stem cell research. God himself has placed you in this position and so we plead with God that you would change your mind on the issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life. God help you Mr. Obama.

I've settled into my new position as Youth Director at Village Bible Church and have hit the ground running. I am learning my way around the office and figuring our procedures. One thing that I have much to learn about is how to handle the paper work and financial processes. I am also trying to learn how to balance my 20-hour-a-week job, my full-time schooling and having time to spend with Amy. It's been challenging to find a happy medium, because Amy is busy working hard to support us and is also trying to keep up with her Financial Accounting class. Pray for us.

My book reading this year has been abysmal, and I'll end 2008 with by far the lowest count since I started keeping track in 2005. As it stands right now, I've read 27 books on the year. Now, with the semester ending in December, I will add some of the books that I've been assigned for classes. However, I doubt there's any chance that I'll rise above 35 books. I know, I'm a failure. But there's always next year!

Speaking of being off the pace, you'll notice on the sidebar that this is only the thirty-second post of the year on this blog. To match last year's pace, we'd have to post 71 more times before January! All I can say is that we'll just have to try harder to post more regularly.

Also, click on the Web Album 2 link on the sidebar to see some new pictures from some of the things we've been doing.

In two days, we'll be heading up to Santa Clarita for Thanksgiving with my family and we'll have Amy's brother Tom with us! It will be a fairly small group, so we're glad to add to that number with Tom. Other than my mom and dad and my two brothers, my grandpa will also be joining us. It looks like there's some rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, but our annual football game on Thanksgiving Day should be rain-free. Amy and I are looking forward to some long walks (to work off all the calories!) in the colder Santa Clarita air. It should be good! There is so much to be thankful for!

Super Tuesday

Don't forget to vote today! I thought it would be fun to have all the many, many readers of this blog leave a comment stating who they voted for and one or two sentences on why. Let's see if we can get some good discussion and maybe ten or so comments by Wednesday or Thursday.

Is Huckabee a fiscal liberal?

Don't believe everything you read, especially if it's the only thing you've read. Since this is the first presidential election that I've been fully plugged in for, I've been trying to pay attention to the media frenzy.

However, just when I think I wrapped my mind around the basics of understanding the candidates, I read some scathing articles that attack the guy I was pretty sure was "my guy."

So, if you've heard the news about Huckabee having a fiscally liberal bent ("Huckabee's Republicanism is even less orthodox than McCain's and seems unviable beyond Iowa,") then read this post to be even more confused!

Huckabee and Rasmussen

Apparently, I've jumped on the Mike Huckabee bandwagon. Go here for a recent evangelical endorsement of Huckabee.

Also, I discovered this site. Rasmussen Reports has all kinds of accurate surveys and polls from politics, business and lifestyle. Read some of the quotes endorsing the sites on top of the page.

Thanks Terminator

California Senate Bill 777 was recently signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is a law that our "Republican" governor signed into law even though NO Republicans in the entire state legislature voted for. In fact, a few Democrats abstained from even voting. It passed the State Senate 23-13 and passed the State Assembly 42-19.

Monday's edition of The Albert Mohler Program discussed this bill. If you would like to listen to it, go here. Skip the first nine minutes and then listen to the rest.

Here's a scary scenario made possible by this law: Andrew doesn't feel like a boy today. In fact, although he has a boy's anatomy, he thinks that today he is actually a girl deep down in his soul. Therefore, he tells his teacher and asks to be called Andrea today. He is now a "she" and a "her" and must be referred to as such. However, the teacher cannot tell the parents this or refer to Andrew as "she" or "her." Also, because Andrew is actually Andrea, he/she can now use the girls' restroom!

I would like to state here that this is most definitely NOT an attempt to bash gays, lesbians, bisexual people and transgender people. However, I believe in the inspiration and infallibility of every word of the Bible and I believe that homosexuality and other forms that I don't know how to name (along with all kinds of heterosexual sins) are deviating from God's good and perfect order. To corrupt and defile God's created order is sin. I do not deny genuine feelings of attraction in same-sex relationships. Just because I do not experience that same attraction doesn't make me somehow a more righteous person than they. I am attracted to many, many other kinds of sin and I pray daily - no, hourly - that God would save me from those.

Therefore, I would like to point you to this website: Save Our Kids. This organization is trying to get enough signatures to force a referendum on the next ballot for the citizens of California to vote on this horrendous piece of legislation.