A Day to Teach

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
One - U2

Today is a day to teach. To teach my children about the need to have everyone treated equally. A day to teach history's lessons as they pertain to civil rights. The first thing we did was have the children watch a short movie about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Later we will discuss Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Part of that speech is:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

My family is made up of a cornucopia of races. I have a daughter who is part Hispanic, one who is full Black (African American), and one who is mainly Polynesian, part Asian, part Black, and part Hispanic. Both boys are full Caucasian so we seem to have hit most races. My children are growing up knowing that the color of skin makes no difference about a person. They are learning to love all people because they love each other.

We are taking this day to help them understand the struggles of different peoples to be treated fairly and equally. Our hope is that this teaching instills in them a love of all men, regardless of the color of their skin.

As for myself, I cannot hear or read the words of Dr. King's speech without emotion welling up inside of me. I cannot imagine the kind of courage it took for him to do the things he did. It is because of that courage that our country was changed. That courage I can use to inspire me to instill in my children a love for everyone. Also to teach them that everyone must be treated equally.

In the words of Brad Paisley's song:

I had a friend in school,
Running-back on a football team,
They burned a cross in his front yard
For asking out the home-coming queen.

I thought about him today,
Everybody who's seen what he's seen,
From a woman on a bus
To a man with a dream.

Hey...
Wake up Martin Luther.
Welcome to the future.
Hey...
Glory glory hallelujah.
Welcome to the future.
Welcome to the Future

My dream is that my children will be part of the fulfilling of Dr. King's dream. As the Declaration of Independence says "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal". May all men be created and treated equal is what this day is all about.

Breaking the Habit

So today is day one of the "No More Cola" plan. You see I made the New Year's resolution to quit caffeinated soda. There are several reasons behind the decision. Of course it's not easy to do. I didn't go "Cold Turkey" on Jan 1. Instead of my regular 4 or 6 cans I drank only 2 and kept myself to that number through yesterday. Last night Cheryl and I were talking before bed and both of us decided it was time to get off the wagon.

My biggest problem is craving the flavor of Cola. It seems to be the thing that gets me coming back. So today I made a pitcher of Crystal Light and have not had one Cola. I also took one Excedrin Migraine pill. It's a preventative measure against the headache that would have come if I had just not drank a Cola all day.

So far so good. No headache, cravings replaced by Crystal Light. I'm sure this can be done and it will probably help me as I also start up my exercise routine in earnest again. It will also get me back to the fluids I grew up on: water and milk. That has to be healthy right?

It's going to take a couple more weeks to be completely free (hopefully less but I'm being realistic here). So Crystal Light, water and milk will become some of my new best friends. It's going to happen and I'm going to be better off because of it.

Building Bookshelves

Some of you might remember that I built a window seat earlier this year. Yesterday it was time to build some bookshelves in the same room. Here's how the finished product turned out.

The right side:

And the left side:


So here is the step by step process for completing the bookshelves:

1. Go to Home Depot and get the side panels cut and the brace boards
2. Put up the panels that go against the wall and tack them in
3. Measure the width of the shelves
4. Go to Home Depot and get the shelves cut
5. Put in bottom shelf and first shelf braces
6. Tack other side panel to bottom shelf and first shelf braces
7. Go to Home Depot and get Liquid Nails for the outside panel braces
8. Put the top shelf braces on and tack the outside panel to it
9. Put the top shelf on
10. Put the rest of the braces on and tack the outside panel to them
11. Put the shelves in
12. Go to Home Depot and get finish nails for the nail gun to tack the shelves to the braces
13. Make comments about having your own personal parking space at Home Depot as their most frequent shopper.
14. Blog about it so all your friends can make fun of all the trips to Home Depot

So there you have bookshelves in 14 easy steps. I estimate that our study is now 70% complete. Next up? Another shelf, more lights and endless trips to Home Depot (I think I get a free round trip ticket to the Home Depot Center in California if I make 50 more round trips).

The True Meaning of Christmas

Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? - Charlie Brown

One of the greatest questions of all time was asked by Charlie Brown in the animated special "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown". Over the years it seems that we have lost our ability to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Linus answers Charlie Brown's question:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown. - Linus

Today is the Christmas Eve. The celebration of that night when the angel proclaimed tidings of great joy. The Earth had been waiting for the time of the Messiah and at last it was to happen. The Savior of the world would be born and he would live a perfect life. At the end he would sacrifice Himself so that all mankind might live with Him and His Father again. An unparalleled 33 years would follow where the world changed.

The teachings of the Savior and the gospel set forth inspire millions of people today. As we look around this Christmas my hope is that we can find our Christianity and display it. It can be something simple such as smiling at someone. It can be donating time and/or money to a worthy cause. It can be refraining from yelling at the guy who just cut you off in traffic.

My family will take time tonight to read the story of the birth of Jesus. We will reflect on His life. We will comment on what we can do to lead our lives better. We will talk about what it means to be Christian and how we can be examples of the life Jesus led.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that as you celebrate this time that His life will touch you and that you may find some measure of peace on Earth.

Lest We Forget

On that day when you need your brothers and sisters to care,
I'll be right here.
Citizen soldiers holding the light for the ones that we guide from the dark of despair.
Standing on guard for the ones that we sheltered,
We'll always be ready because we will always be there.

Citizen Soldiers - 3 Doors Down

I was in the airport yesterday returning home from a business trip. Ahead of me was a young man dressed in fatigues, on his way to California. I don't know if he was on his way to a base or home for the holidays. Frankly that doesn't matter. What hit me though was the man in front of him walking with his daughter. As we got off the moving walkway the man turned extended his hand and thanked the young man for serving. This caused a bunch of thoughts to go through my head during this holiday season.

As you've probably guessed I'm a Christian. Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who Christians believe is the Savior of the world. His birth started a life of sacrifice where He ultimately gave His life for all of us so we could live.

At this time of year however I feel it is important to recognize those who also serve by giving their lives for us so that we can live our lives. We are extremely blessed in this country and it's in great part due to those men and women who served and are serving their country. My family has a history of service in the military. Currently one of Cheryl's cousins is serving. We also have a neighbor whose son is serving.

One of the things we have taught our children is that it is important to recognize these individuals and do what we can for them. Every prayer offered by our children remembers Steve and Brady. The prayers ask that they be watched over as they serve in dangerous areas. Hopefully, my children will always remember the men and women who serve. I love the cartoons that appear around Veterans and Memorial day that state "Lest we Forget". Forgetting would be a way of diminishing the greatness of our nation.

The sacrifice offered on our behalf by our soldiers is something to celebrate along with everything else this holiday season. I ask each of you to take some time this season to remember those who have sacrificed for us and who are giving their time now to ensure that we may live our lives in freedom.

Song for a Winter's Night

Back on the wagon again. Today's song is one by a favorite of mine Sarah McLachlan. Here are the lyrics:

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly fallin'
The air is still within the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly callin'

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter's night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon each page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter's night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are liftin'
The mornin' light steals across my windowpane
Where webs of snow are driftin'

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter's night with you
And to be once again with with you
To be once again with with you

Sarah usually writes sad songs and this one is no exception. The song tugs at me as I think of family that are far away. There are times "I would be happy just to hold the hands I love" that live distant from me.

Make no mistake though how happy I am to be with my family and hold them in my arms. I know that one day the kids will be grown and move away. Then this song will have more meaning to me. Right now though I will enjoy the time I have with them and be happy that I get to hold the hands I love on every winter night.

Chickens

I missed yesterday, but today I'm back. I'm not a big fan of the BCS in case you didn't know. And the announcement on Sunday of the Fiesta Bowl matchup between TCU and Boise State didn't help matters.

This will be the first time where a BCS bowl game will not include a team that is in a BCS conference. It sounds like the ultimate buster until you realize that no BCS conference champion will take on a non-BCS conference champion in a BCS or any other bowl game. For this I'm calling out the BCS as a bunch of chickens.

You see if TCU or Boise State were matched up against Cincinnati, or Ohio State, or Oregon you could get a real test to see if the non-BCS schools belong. But why would any of those schools want to play and risk losing to a highly ranked non-BCS school? Why would they take a chance that people would start to talk about including these other conferences (like the Mountain West or WAC) in the BCS picture? I mean it's only money that they would be losing. Oh yeah I forgot, the BCS is ALL about money. Silly me.

I hope that the TCU - Boise State game gets better ratings than the National Championship game. I doubt it, but I can revise my Christmas wish right? Could you imagine if the numbers come back and a game between two non-BCS schools got better ratings than the BCS National Championship? How cool would that be?

Alright enough dreaming. But still the BCS is a bunch of chickens for taking the easy way out of this. Let TCU play Cincinnati, and after the Big East champs get routed, let's talk about including all FBS Division I schools into the national championship picture.