Leon Panetta, President Obama’s choice for CIA chief earned $700,000 for lobbying and “speaking” engagements to some of the same companies our government is bailing out. Obama is now setting salary for executives of companies we are bailing out. Oh yeah, he’s changing things alright.

If the government is going to interfere with compensation (which is insane for many companies but stockholders have been going along with it so it’s back to the reap-what-you-sow doctrine), I say bump the guys out who have put the company in a position to need a bailout. They are still rewarding the same people who have made the decisions letting them keep their jobs even if they only make $500,000 now.
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I don’t always put the word “President” before Obama when I’m writing. I mean no disrespect to the man or the office, I’m just trying to save some keystrokes. I think Obama has the toughest job in the world and I hope the very best for him. I don’t care if a Democrat or Republican can end wars, restore peace and lead us to financial calm. I’m all for anyone from any party accomplishing that. I strongly agree with some of his social positions and strongly disagree with others. I just leave out “President” so I can type less. I’m pretty sure I did the same thing when referring to Bush and Obama already has me typing one more letter.
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Kobe went off for 61 points a few nights ago. LeBron went off for 52 last night. I’ve watched highlights and it is AMAZING what those guys do with the bodies while shooting and fending off the defensive players. AMAZING.
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Texas had another strong recruiting class sign yesterday. Hook ’em Horns! I hope Texas gets to play USC soon. I’m not sure who will win but if they played each other 10 times during the year I think I would enjoy it. Better yet, I’d like to see a pool of USC, Ohio State, Florida, LSU, Alabama, Texas and 1 or 2 others play each other all year. It would be like a playoff system.
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Have a great day. God loves you.

I’m not trying to jump on the bandwagon but does anyone else think it sadly humorous that 3 of Obama’s nominees have had tax problems? Can anyone say “politics as usual”? Daschle only had a $128,000 tax deficiency. WHAT? Most people in this country would like to make that much in a year so how much income did he have to owe that much?

To Obama’s credit, he owned up to messing up but if it’s change we can believe in, he’s certainly off to a shaky start in changing anything and getting us to believe it.
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I still wonder how much money Michael Phelps lost for taking his bong hit?
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As you can see, I don’t have much to blog about. I’ve actually written two blogs recently and ended up deleting them because they were got to be very long. I’m not keeping up with the Mavs but am aware that spring training is just around the corner. One of these days I hope I can go to Arizona for spring practice.
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Friday night is Pack the House night for the Decatur vs. Bridgeport basketball games at DHS. The girls cross country team is getting their state championship rings and there’s a hamburger supper benefit for the Lunt family. Come on out, eat and cheer on the Eagles.

A great game. That sums up the Super Bowl for me even though the team I was pulling for didn’t win. I didn’t see any of the 1st half, much of the halftime show or many commercials but I did see Larry Fitzgerald do his thing and Santonio Holmes make some great catches – especially the last one in the corner of the end zone.
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February is here meaning two things. March Madness and Spring Training are coming soon. Wahooooo!
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Obama was cheering for the Steelers. I’ve heard both criticism and praise for a President who acts like a fan. I don’t think I have any concern about the President cheering for one team over another but it would have been interesting to see the Cardinals at the White House and hear what was said.
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Michael Phelps got caught smoking pot. The TV stories suggest that will cost him a lot of money from endorsements that get pulled. He made a mistake (join the crowd Michael) and I hope he will use it to make a positive statement about avoiding the pitfalls of evil. I saw Andy Pettite (pitcher for the Yankees) on TV last night speaking at a Baptist church in Dallas and using his experiences, good and bad, to encourage others in their walk with God.

We all face failures, some of us more than others, but we continue to get the opportunity to bounce back from them, learn from them and share what we have learned to help prevent someone from following the same path.

Did you hear about the bonuses the Wall Street/banking guys paid themselves with bailout money? Anyone still thinking the government is going to be able to pull us out of this collapse?
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Super Bowl Sunday. Arizona and Pittsburgh. Go team.

I wonder what Jerry sits around and thinks about during games like this?
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Skunks move in under our building during the winter. Mornings are rough on the nose.
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I wonder if God sees the potential collapse of our economy/country as an opportunity that will lead people back to Him? I have a lot of thoughts on that idea and actually started a blog discussing it but it was going on forever so I erased it. The idea is that when people have no more possessions to hang on to, they will seek something they can grasp and God is always there, always available, always waiting on us.

I really don’t have much on my mind today or maybe I have a lot on my mind and just can’t get it out in coherent sentences.

I really enjoy a Chick-fil-a sandwich. I used to eat them 2-3 times a week in high school and then went for several years rarely eating them. I keep hoping they will put a store in Decatur but it might spoil the enjoyment I get out of eating them because I would be there so often.

We will get to start judging President Obama soon. For everyone who thinks he is a gift from above to those who think he is straight out of you-know-where below but with no real history of proof – the time is coming soon where we can look at his actions and begin to assess what he will be as President. I do have hope for good things but I don’t have high expectations. His signing of an executive order to allow funding for international abortions was a bad decision in my eyes but I think it handled it more delicately than his predecessors.

Where is Osama bin-Laden? Someone knows and someone would tell. With all of our high-tech toys and gizmos, I can’t understand how he can hide so well.
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Make it a good day!

With the ice comes replay after replay of the same accident that got caught on film. Yesterday it was a red truck and I saw it a couple of times on the evening news. My wife said it had been on all day. Nothing like a video of a red truck spinning around in circles to give the news folks something to talk about.

What confounds me is when there is ice, they show it all day. We know there is ice and we know the dangers and we know it’s everywhere. When tornadoes are coming our way and we don’t know exactly where they are, they pop on and tell us to duck and then go back to regular programming. I don’t get it. I suppose it’s easier to report on something that is tangible and easy to spot as opposed to a tornado that may or may not form but the thing that might pick my house up and set it down in a different town worries me more.

I bet I won’t get hired to run a TV station anytime soon.
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On the bright side, Rangers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just over 2 weeks. Play ball! The Rangers are working on signing Ben Sheets who was a hard throwing pitcher for Milwaukee until some elbow problems slowed him down. If he’s healed and the Rangers can get a deal done it will make some games more entertaining. I think if they can run Sheets, Millwood and Padilla to the bump they will be more competitive this year. Millwood isn’t a #1 and moving him back a spot could help his confidence. Padilla needs another year like last year and he’ll get a fat contract somewhere next year.
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Stay warm and safe today.

The TV stations will be filled up with ice-talk today. My short drive to work was easy. The ground is wet but not icy along my path although the drizzle was turning to ice on my windshield. One employee who comes from the north hit an icy patch and spun around but no serious damage. It sounds like it will just get worse today – be careful out there.
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Today’s scripture that popped up on my blog is one I am finally beginning to understand. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (See Ephesians 6:12-13) In the past, when the battle came to me, I fought back against flesh and blood which is exactly what the evil forces wanted me to do – move my focus from the real enemy to someone or something that would pull me further in the direction I didn’t need to go. I have talked about fighting demons but then tried to assign the fight to something/someone tangible. It’s hard to fight the battle against an unseen force when I try to fight the battle myself.

The beauty of what I have finally learned and experienced is allowing the Holy Spirit to fight the battle through me. The glory of God shines when I allow Him to work through me instead of working for what I think would be best and serve His purpose. It has been a difficult transition for me, having to let go of what I thought was best and waiting to hear God’s call for me, but it has been a wonderful transition because it has allowed me to see a power that is beyond imagination.

I thank God for allowing me to be His servant and pray that I will continue to open my heart to be molded by Him and I hope this for you too.

I don’t know if the information in this email is correct or not but it’s a good story and a good reminder of who God is.

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’

This verse puzzled a group in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of them offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’

He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

There’s an email going around about Kurt Warner’s story. He’s the QB for the Arizona Cardinals and I remember hearing about his struggle to make it to the NFL when he was with the Rams but I had forgotten some of the details. If you want a good read, go to http://www.snopes.com and type Kurt Warner in the search function. I’ll be rooting for Warner and the Cardinals to do the unlikely and bring home a Super Bowl trophy.
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It was a tragic day in Decatur yesterday. A sophomore girl on her way to school had a wreck that killed her. I cannot begin to imagine what her parents are dealing with and pray that I won’t have to but my heart goes out to them. Please offer up a prayer for the Lunt family today.
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I never have really figured out the “ask, seek, knock” scripture. I feel like I have asked and sought and knocked only to hear or see nothing. I wonder what’s going on that I follow the steps and…nothing. Am I asking for the wrong thing? If that’s the case, why ask if I’m not sure I’m asking for the right thing. Am I seeking the wrong thing? If that’s the case, why look? Am I knocking at the wrong time? If that’s the case, when is a better time?

I am OK with the idea that God will allow us to wait but there comes a time when waiting turns to frustration and frustration turns to apathy but I realize that those are my emotions, my feelings. We used to sing a song that said “Lord teach me to wait…”

I hope I will perfect my waiting skills and will spend my time preparing myself for what God wants me to have.

Will today be a great day or just a historic day? It will be historic simply for the fact that a black man is taking over the top government job in our country. It’s a day that will hopefully allow this country to move on past the obstacle of race. Surely no one will be surprised today that the word “black” will likely be spoken more than any other day and that there will be a large number of black people on TV, in the newspaper, on the radio, etc. And why not? It’s a historic day for a lot of people based on how a group was treated in the past.

Will it be a great day? That remains to be seen. It’s greatness will be built over time if Obama accomplishes what he has made people believe he can accomplish. Otherwise, it will just be another day a new President was elected that did some good things and failed at others – very similar to the last few Presidents.

I read where someone referred to Obama as the “anointed one” and, if you watch and listen, you can’t help but see people who give that appearance – that Obama has come from a special place to do special things. I don’t have high hopes for the Obama years so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. My hope for his time in office is that he doesn’t make things any worse and hopefully gets us thinking not so much about our status in the world but in our compassion and care for people – wherever they are. I hope he doesn’t get so focused on the monetary issue of compassion that he is blinded to simply taking from the rich to give to the poor. Instead, I hope he pushes the message of hope and sacrifice and work. A hope that people will work together to try and improve everyone’s place in life, the idea of sacrificing our time for others and working daily to grow in our compassion and labor for those who are hurting and those who are in need.

I didn’t vote for Obama but on this day, he has my prayers that he will be a good leader and that the decisions he makes will help this country be a better country-not wealthier or superior to anyone else but better in our compassion and assistance to those who need it.