Rushing to Christmas

It's the holiday season! And it feels to me like we are all in the following state of mind:

Sally: I've been looking for you big brother. Will you please write a letter to Santa Claus for me?

Charlie Brown: Well I don't have much time. I'm supposed to get down to the school auditorium and direct the Christmas Play.

Sally: You write it and I'll tell you what I want to say.

Charlie Brown: Ok, shoot.

Sally: Dear Santa Claus, How have you been? Did you have a nice summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year. So I have a long list of presents I want.

Charlie Brown: Oh Brother!

Sally: Please note the size and color of each item and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated make it easy on yourself. Just send money. How about Tens and Twenties?

Charlie Brown: Tens and Twenties?! OHHHH!!! Even my baby sister!

Sally: All I want is what I have coming to me, all I want is my fair share.

Here is the link: Sally's Christmas Letter

Does it seem like we are rushing to get presents? Are we trying to get our "Fair Share"?

Christmas is a time for giving it is true. But we should remember the true meaning of Christmas and maybe we would be wise to follow the example of shepherds over 2000 years ago (Luke 2:8-7, emphasis added):

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 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.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

The shepherds made haste to view the savior that was promised. They didn't rush to the local market to get gifts for everyone and their dog. They did rush to the site of the most wonderful event to occur up to that time. The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I think we would do well to follow the example of the shepherds. That this Christmas we should rush to Him instead of rushing to the store. That we might follow the signs given to us today as the shepherds followed the signs the angel gave to them. That we might find him. Because as we sing:

Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Peace on Earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.

It was through Him that reconcilement has been made, and it is through Him that we might receive mercy mild.

Time Flies and Can Be Too Short

Today is Levi's eleventh birthday. Seems like only yesterday that we were bringing him home. I can't really say where the time has gone. I do know this; recent events have made me realize that life's too short to miss time spent. Let me explain.

Not too long ago a friend of ours passed away from Brain Cancer. A few weeks ago we found out about another friend who went in for pancreatic cancer surgery and came out with a short life prognosis. A cousin of ours was also recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer stage 4. BAM! 3 instances of cancer. All 3 at different stages in their lives. All three too young.

It got me thinking about what I would miss if something like this happened to me. No parent should ever miss the graduations, weddings, grandchildren, and other torch passes that happen in life. As a parent, it made me realize that I need to enjoy the moments. Find joy in life now as nothing is guaranteed. Try to connect more and disconnect less. Take the time to show love, not just say it.

So I'm trying to be more aware of the moments. To love a little more. To laugh a lot more. To keep the frustration down (not easy that one). To be positive. In essence to be a better Husband, Father, Son, Uncle, Cousin, Friend.

And so I reflect on the last eleven years of my life. When our family grew from two to three. Reflect on all the good times. To know that as we are now seven, there are more chances to enjoy life. Maybe, just maybe I can make the memories that will last for more than my lifetime.

To Relegate Or Not To Relegate

A story has come out where the owners of certain English Premier League football (soccer) teams want to banish the relegation system. Of course these owners are from foreign lands and so relegation would negatively affect their pocketbooks. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Each season the English Premier League plays it's matches and there is one table for standings. The top teams get to play in the European cup leagues. The bottom three are relegated. What is relegation? Let's use Major League Baseball as an example.

Today let's say the three teams with the worst record in Baseball were relegated. What would happen is that next year they would play in AAA baseball. The top three AAA teams would be promoted to Major League Baseball and play at those levels. Players would migrate from the relegated teams to other Major League teams.

This is what happens in the English Premier League. The bottom three teams get relegated to the First Division. The top First Division teams get promoted and play with the big boys the next season.

I love this system. Why? Because it makes those end of season games meaningful to the teams facing relegation. Could you imagine how hard a 4 - 11 team would play in its last game in the NFL if it knew that next year it might not be in the NFL? What about the end of the baseball season and all those games that don't have an affect on the playoffs? Could you imagine if the Royals and the Pirates were playing for their MLB lives in games 155 - 162? And what about the fans? Would the fans not come out to support the team to ensure that next year they had a Major League team?

This is what English football is all about. Passion and drive. Relegation makes it so that teams play hard throughout the season. They literally play for their Premiership lives. You get two races in effect. The race for league champion and the race to not be relegated. Imagine the lead in Sports Center if there was relegation in the major sports of America.

The foreign owners of the EPL teams need to understand that this is part of football and if they don't like relegation then they need to take the steps to put a quality product on the field. This in turn will bring fans as the team fights to move to the top and distance itself from the relegation zone.

Personally I would love to see relegation in the American Sports system, however that is unlikely. But think about the owners of teams who don't spend money on their product and what relegation would force them to do. I can see the squirming and I like it.

We Be Loyal Scouts

If you saw any of my status updates earlier in the week you saw that our oldest son, Levi, earned his Cub Scout Webelos badge. This is an amazing achievement given the fact that only a few short months ago Levi did not like Cub Scouts.

Raising a special needs child (Levi is High-functioning Autistic) is a challenge. It's not only a challenge for us as parents, but it is a challenge for Levi himself. At some things he has to work harder than others and Scouts is definitely something he has worked hard at. A couple of pictures of Levi at Pack Meeting this week (he's the taller one).

This is a time to be proud as a parent. It's also a time to thank the leaders and others in Cub Scouts who have helped Levi along the way. I know they worked as hard as Levi did in order for him to qualify for this award. Hopefully getting this award will propel Levi to continue in Scouting where he will learn a lot of life skills and continue his achievements.

Ghost Story - My Review

ALERT: SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

To Air, for introducing me to Mab by onion-colored light

I should have known. The signs were all there. Even the dedication was a clue as to what was to happen. But I get ahead of myself. . .

Ghost Story is the latest book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. In this novel Harry Dresden is dead and is sent back to find his killer. Of course for Harry this means getting mixed up in a whole bunch of ancillary adventures that eventually lead him to his purpose.

The soul of Harry is given a choice to either move on or find his killer. This is done by non-other than the father of his love interest Karrin Murphy. Really though Harry doesn't have a choice (a recurring theme throughout the novel). Jack Murphy tells Harry that if he doesn't figure it out three of his friends are going to get hurt, maybe killed. That's enough for Harry and he signs the paper that effectively puts his soul in eternal jeopardy (of course Harry doesn't know that when he signs).

Harry is sent back to Chicago and we see that his version of Mystery Inc. has an unsteady alliance. Murphy is bitter and on a razors edge. Molly has appeared to go completely insane. Butters now "owns" the spiritual entity known as Bob and Thomas is nowhere to be found. Sounds like a typical day in Chicago.

The story pits Harry up against the Corpsetaker once again. The crazy lady, even as a ghost, has a plan to get back into mortality and then wreak havoc on everything. Harry decides he has to stop her and moves with the plan.

During this time there is a lot of back story that gets filled in. Harry's memories are perfect because there is nothing in his brain that can prevent the memory because, well he doesn't have a brain at the moment. We go back in time to when Harry first met "He Who Walks Behind". A demon that has it in for Harry, or so we are led to think. This gives us the impression that this may be it for the novels. Butcher does a great job of tying up loose ends (most of them anyways) and I thought for sure as I read that this would be it (but the dedication still left me wondering).

Eventually we get to the climactic battle between the forces of good and evil (or in this case the Hall of Justice and the Legion of Doom as Harry might have put it). This pits the Corpsetaker against Molly in a battle of mind and will. Harry goes along for the ride and enters into Molly's Star Trek Bridge (the original Enterprise Bridge). It's here that we find out who had Harry killed.

In order to understand this part one has to go back to "Changes" and understand that Harry made a deal with the Devil; OK, with the Queen of Air and Darkness, Mab. Harry agreed to be the Winter Knight and serve Mab. There is usually only one way out of that arrangement and that is death. Harry sets it up so that Molly alters his brain so he has no memory of setting up his own death. But while on Molly's "Bridge" he is inadvertently told that Molly killed him. Molly blames herself. Harry then brings up the memory of those fateful events and realizes that he plotted with Molly to make sure he would not know that death was coming. He placed a phone call to Kincaid (protector of the girl Ivy and the Archive) to take him out after he finished the work of saving his daughter in "Changes".

At this point cue in Uriel. The Archangel is actually the one that has seen to it that Harry is sent back. It seems that there is a rule that no supernatural being can influence the choice of a mortal by lying. In Harry's case it happened just before he made the decision to become the Winter Knight and set up his murder. Uriel shows him this and explains the situation to him. Of course choices have influenced the events of the novel and even now the choices made by Harry have led to Molly being rescued and the Corpsetaker being taken out by a lot of Wraiths.

Uriel wasn't finished though. He shows Harry how all the people he cares about are going to be OK. He gives Harry a choice. He can work for Uriel or he can move on. Uriel makes it very tempting to work for him. However, he tells Harry something that should have clicked in Harry's head before he makes his choice:

You are a soul. You have a body.

Harry chooses to move on and wakes up in pain. Real mortal pain. You see when he was shot he fell into the cold, dark waters of Lake Michigan. Cold and Dark are the realm of Mab and of course she couldn't let her newly volunteered knight die. She has been keeping his body alive with the help of Demonreach. Demonreach is the spirit of an island that Harry bonded with in a previous novel. Harry is Demonreach's guardian so Demonreach also has a stake in the game. Once back Harry is informed that Mab is not happy with the deception and that Harry will pay for it. However, there is a very important point made here that Harry learned while in the spirit world. His soul is his own! No one can take it from him without his permission. No one can change it but him. Yes he will serve as Mab's knight but he will do it his way and we all know that Harry will do it that way.

Butcher is a fantastic writer. He uses pop culture for relief during tense moments. Quotes from comic books, to movies such as Star Wars and The Princess Bride make Harry realistic and believable. It also makes for an entertaining novel that deals with dark topics.

I also have to say that this novel was somewhat different than the other Dresden novels. It provides the reader with valuable information about Harry's past. It describes a world we have yet to really understand (that of ghosts and spirits). It has humor, yet tension. All in all I would give this novel 5 stars. And of course I'm really looking forward to the next adventure of Chicago's only Professional Wizard (if he still works like that).

USA 1 - Mexico 1

I have to admit, I'm liking Jurgen Klinsman. Why? Because we seem to be on the same page. Let me explain. I watched last night's match. It was Jurgen's debut as the manager and I wanted to see what his thoughts would be on formation and general style of play.

A 4-5-1 formation was new to this team and I thought it had possibilities to control the midfield and get some good scoring chances. However, the team didn't seem to take to it right away. Instead of moving the ball forward when the opportunity presented itself, the US played the ball backwards. I pretty much was screaming at the TV (yes my wife knows and yes I understand they can't hear me) to move forward or play to the open man going forward. The result of the first half had the US down 1-0 with no shots. Now in soccer any shot that comes close to goal is counted. There are actually two stats, shots and shots on goal. The US had ZERO shots at all in the first half.

This is where I started to like Klinsman. He was interviewed at half-time and asked what they needed to do. The biggest thing he mentioned was to move the ball forward! Just like I had been screaming at the screen for them to do. He must have gotten his point across because the US did much better in the 2nd half with moving the ball forward.

The other part I like is that Klinsman is not using the same old players. Now granted this was a friendly and a time to look at new players. However, Klinsman brought in some players that under Bob Bradley probably wouldn't have even gotten a look. The players that Klinsman brought on definitely had a positive impact, especially Breck Shea. It paid off also as the US got the equalizer to the game through the efforts of the substitutes.

Klinsman has also stated that he wants to look more at the "latin" players in the US. This will be a positive as these players bring a style that will fit well with what American fans want to see. It also puts on notice that the same old same old types and routes to the national team may not cut it anymore.

One thing that Klinsman mentioned that I hope he will expand was the growth of the game in the lower economic regions of the country. In every other Soccer nation talent is found wherever it is located. The US must do the same. However, the US has a large rural population and there is talent there as well. I hope that Jurgen and US soccer will not only look to the inner city as it were, but also to the farmlands and rural communities. Why do I say that? Because I grew up in one and we had some talented players who with the right coaching and effort could have brought that talent to at least the collegiate level.

The game last night and Klinsman's comments give me hope that the National team can improve. World Cup qualifying starts next year. It's not about qualifying (that should be a given at this point) but rather about building a team that consistently goes deep into the tournament. The US may have found the right man to build that legacy.

Independence Day

On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day. The day that the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain. As I think about Independence I think about freedom and what that means for the individual.

Dictionary.com defines independent as:

–adjective

1. not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
2. not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
3. not influenced by the thought or action of others: independent research.

The Declaration of Independence was more than just a declaration that the fledgling country would be independent from Great Britain's rule. It was also a declaration that the individuals in this country would also be independent. Really all the citizens wanted was to live their lives the way they saw best and have the opportunity to make the best of it. I don't think any of that has changed today.

So what's the best way to be independent? To me, the best way is to live my life in a way that allows me to achieve my goals without infringing on others. When I say infringing on others I mean infringing on their ability to achieve their goals.

The Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal”. It does not say:

1. All men are treated equal
2. All men have equal talents and abilities
3. All men are to have things equally

The Declaration also says that we have inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Being independent means that we also have these rights. It also means we DON'T have the right to impede others of these rights.

Now there are situations where people are not able to pursue happiness. We have poverty, hunger, abuse, criminal activity, etc. These things hinder people from pursuing happiness. So how do we handle it? We do it through legislation. Unfortunately there are times when well meaning legislation actually impedes on our independence and inalienable rights. To me, all legislation should pass a basic test. This test being:

• Does the legislation allow people the opportunity to lift themselves up and make themselves better?
• Or does it allow people to become dependent on another entity and thereby remove ones independence

A simple test right? Now I know I will hear about how if the government doesn't do it for some people then it won't happen. That reminds me of the saying:

Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.

The saying can be taken one step further. Suppose the man that learns to fish decides that there are better ways to do it. Because he has learned to fish he is free to exercise his independence and innovate new ways to fish that could benefit him even more. Also, the man could remember that being taught to fish set him free and find ways to help others become independent.

So on Independence Day I'm going to celebrate the independence I have. I have the opportunity to make my life better. I have the ability to reach goals. I have the motivation to do so. I will celebrate that I have been taught to fish and look forward to the opportunity to innovate how I fish to make things even better.