Filing System

It's an H&R block commercial gone wrong.

Penmac sent me a postcard saying I could go online and print off my W-2.

(yes, I have worked for Penmac.  

It was repetitve, exhaustive, dirty, assembly line work, 

and I will forever be proud that I "stooped" to such work 
when nothing else was to be had.  

Thank God for temp agencies. :D )

Knowing that I would be tackling my taxes within the next 48 hrs, I decided I would stick it in a safe, easy-to-remember place -- under the TV.

 But last night, whilst filing taxes, I discovered that this vital little bright-yellow postcard was missing.

MISSING!

I searched everywhere, even the trash can.

"Honey, have you seen the yellow post card I stuck under the TV?"

"Oh! This postcard?  Sorry, I'm using it to play whompdoodle on."
(The right side keeps winning, I can't figure out why the right side keeps winning.....)

 

My wife still wants to know why I would choose to keep an important card under her TV.  

Sigh.  Guess the filing systems of my bachelor days are over

 BTW, I'm using TaxAct for the second year in a row.  Go to their website and its only 17.95 for both State and Federal. No, I don't get paid to tell you this. 

Moving things around

Man I'm exhausted.  I probably shouldn't even log onto here when I am so tired, but, eh, that's bloggin' right? The good, the bad and the random.

My lady rearranged the lights while I was at work.  So now we now have  3 floor lamps in the living room.  I know she did it just for me -- she personally likes everything darker.  At night, she prefers no lights whatsoever in the bedroom -- even the glow from the alarm clock is a little much.  And I think she'd run the living room on candles if I'd let her.   (Which does have a very cool effect, I must say)

Me?  I've slept --among some of the more esoteric places -- on asphalt (st louis parking lot), tile (Cape Verde patio), and a table (Biology study session before a final), all in daylight.  Guess it shows that opposites complement each other.

Or that this poor lady has a very weird husband.
//

"A statesman is a politician that's been dead 10 or 15 years" - Harry S. Truman

My wife and I had a in-depth conversation the other night about American's "debt" to others.  Basically, God has given us so much, what --and in what ways -- should we give back?

Basically, how much are we responsible for changing the world?

I've been mulling over that question for several days now.  And I'm beginning to think each of us carries a bigger responsibility than we typically take on.

In Afica, the roads are littered with garbage.  Everybody just drops their wrappers and wastes whereever they are. It's a very third-world thing.

Or so I thought. 

This afternoon, I watched the big SUV roll their window down and flick a cigarette out of the window.  It rolled along, carried by the wind, and ended up in the gutter.

Two minutes later a car behind me did the same thing.

Suddenly, I realized that the only thing seperating us from a third-world country, is that we have the money for street-sweepers, they don't.

Most of us would agree with Harry Truman's definition of a statesman.

Maybe we forget what a real statesman is. 

Where is that statesman that does put his God first, his family next, and truly seeks to make a difference in the lives of his fellow Americans?

Maybe I can get to be that guy.  It's worth a try.

Good at Grudges

I've been learning something.
I'm good at grudges.

You know the old quip?

"Everytime we fight, my wife gets historical."

"You mean hysterical, right?"

"No, she gets historical, she remembers every wrong I've committed since we first met."

And as I began molding my personality into this new relationship with Joanna, I began discovering that I had a amazing "historical" capability  to my grudge holding.


And what one of us doesn't?  

I mean, which one of us doesn't bear the scars of left by a teacher, a principal, a law enforcement officer, a pastor, a dad, a classmate, an employee....

that didn't somehow blatantly mess up our lives up in some way?

Christ said it this way,
"It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!" (Lu 17:1)

And check out the disciples' response: "Lord, Increase our faith." (Lu17:5)

You've gotta remember, these are the same disciples that have seen the dead raised and demons go running.  These powerful acts never elicit this response from them.

But Christ's five-verse sermon on forgiveness does.

I've been needing more faith for this area.


Recently, I've come across a book called The Bait of Satan, by John Bevere.
And God's been using this book in a powerful way to build my faith, and free me from bitterness.

I wish I could buy a copy for every Christian.  I know so many that have been through divorces, and church splits, and abusive relationships.  We can all agree.  They were the victim. The other party royally wronged or even tried to destroy them.

Satan takes those offenses, those wrongs, and finishes destroying that person.

I was fast becoming that person.
For once I've found a peace and a release through this work.  I thank God for it.

(The local library doesn't have it, but CPO seemed to have the lowest price in town. Amazon is a few dollars cheaper)  


Definitely make this one a priority read for 2010.


//
So, my wife watched George Clooney's Hope For Haiti Now broadcast last night.  And then we sat up Youtubing the best performances.  (You've gotta' look up Justin Timberlake.  Probably the best [or dare I say - "the only decent"] performance of his entire career.)


Here's my favorite.  Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.  Check it: