"I can't drive 55!"

I'm normally a very patient driver. I don't yell. I don't get angry when someone drives slow in front of me or swerves over into my lane without a turn signal. I don't let that bother me. But, somehow, I lost control of the accelerator, and I found myself looking into the rearview mirror at flashing lights. I pulled over, hoping and honestly thinking that it was going to drive right by me. No luck, and I had no idea how fast I was driving at the time he registered my speed. Turns out the speed limit was 60 m.p.h., and I was going just a few miles over. According to the officer, I was 16 over, to be exact. 76 in a 60. Gave him my license and registration; he gave me a ticket. As I pulled back onto the road, I heard my grandfather's voice say, "Why speed? You get pulled over, and then you're late anyways!"

"Give me liberty or give me death!" Or, just give me a few interested students..

Ah, the thinker, Patrick Henry

Why do kids not read these works anymore? Perhaps comic books should make Revolutionary Man! You're right, it probably wouldn't sell..but I did find a great web-site with famous speeches and writings over the years with Bible verses added into the mix. Showed this to my kids today. You'll have to excuse this post if you're not a history buff. For me, this is very "cool."

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not [Jer. 5:21], the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss [Matt. 26:48]. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us [2 Chron. 32:8]. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone [Eccl. 9:11]; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace [Jer. 6:14]. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle [Matt. 20:6]? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Right now, your face probably looks the same way my students' faces did today, but I'm not going to be the teacher that lets kids escape this year without reading, understanding, and being able to at least point out some major documents in our nation's history. So, I say now, give me learning, or give me..well, just give me something.. God bless..

First time for everything

In the 15, almost 16 years that we've been married, Kate and I have never had a couples massage. I have to admit that I am not a fan of someone else being that close to my body anyways, but this should be interesting. Never done it, don't know if I still want it, but I'll try it because Kate set one up for us tonight. I heard there are hot rocks involved, and that they will be placed on different parts of my body for lengths of time. Not so sure about this..

The "whole" body

I like to think of my commute to work in the morning as my "sermon hour." Usually, the radio station I listen to has a preacher speaking instead of music that early in the morning. Today's lesson, if you will, was about the concept of the "whole" resurrected body that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians. It was about the idea that Jesus will make all things new again when He calls us Home. Next week, it will be two years since Gracie made her home in Heaven, and the concept of this "whole" body caught my attention this morning. It's true. She is whole. The cancer can't win anymore. She's not suffering from the pain of chemo or the fright of losing her hair. She's not tired from the battle that she had to fight for two years down here. She's whole. It's easy to cry these days, but it was actually easy to smile this morning too while I was listening to that pastor speak. I'm so thankful that she's whole now. I miss holding her and cuddling with her, but I know that she's complete and healthy again. No more cancer, no more sickness, my girl's 100%. I heard the latest song by the singer Steven Curtis Chapman on the radio this afternoon as well, and there's a line in that song that struck me. It sort of tied together the day for me. "The cancer is gone." Hallelujah! As much as it stings sometimes, that truth sets my pain free. God bless..

Aaron: "Dad, what was the Holocaust?"
Me: "Well, Aaron, it was a sad event in this world's history. Some people didn't like, and they even hurt, other people just because of who they were."
Aaron: "Were the people that hurt others bad?"
Me: "What they did was bad, yes."
Aaron: "Didn't the bad people know that Jesus said to love everyone?"
Me: speechless

I love the little peeks into my son's innocence.

"Be Patient" by Warren Wiersbe

I don't recommend books often, unless you ask, but I would recommend this one. I've been reading through Warren Wiersbe's book on the character of Job; titled "Be Patient." It's a very good book if you love to ask God why; why this happens, why that happens. Job suffered so much, yet when it came to his faith in God, that strong foundation never crumbled. Here's a little bit of truth from the book.

"There is nothing wrong with asking why, as long as we don't get the idea that God owes us an answer. But if the Lord did tell us why things happen as they do, would that ease our pain or heal our broken hearts? Does reading the X-ray take away the pain of a broken leg? We live on promises, not explanations; so we shouldn't spend too much time asking God why."

As September 7th comes around again, and the reality of two years without Gracie down here hits me in the next few days, it's relieving to know that there is a Heaven. It's relieving to know that there is a God who comforts and cares. It's relieving to know I don't have to panic, hurt, or question His decisions; because I know He sees tomorrow; and tomorrow's tomorrow. Anyways, just a "review" of what I'm currently reading through; in case you're interested. God bless..

Strange Observance today

I was walking down the hallway after school when I noticed something outside the window of my former room. Had I, or hopefully anyone else, been in that room; I'd like to think this wouldn't have stayed this way the entire day. The main entrance and flag pole sets outside that set of windows. I looked out, and I noticed the American flag was hanging upside down. The last time I checked, no one in our school were front runners on any protest/picket line, and I know this was an accident on the part of those who raise the flag in the morning. However, what I couldn't understand is, no one noticed it before 3:00? That includes me; you'd think someone would have noticed it. It turns out it was an accident (thankful that no one at our school would purposely do such a thing), and no one entering the building, in the building, or exiting the building throughout the day said anything. I don't know if others noticed and just let it be or not, but I couldn't believe it was like that for seven hours without no one noticing the mistake.

Interesting day today. In a history class, chances are, something of historical importance is going to take place, of which you toss out the original lesson plan and throw in a new one. Today, I did that. I make it a point to tell the kids to watch some morning news before they come to school every day. Most do that, and so most knew of Sen. Edward Kennedy's death last night upon arriving at school this morning. A lot of kids wanted to talk about that today, so we did. I am aware that my students share different ideologies when it comes to politics, so we didn't bring that to the discussion. One of my kids started leaning that direction, but I drew her back. I pulled up a list of the legislation he's worked on since he took his seat in the Senate, and I'm even amazed at how much he's been a contributing factor to several areas of everyday life. Some of my kids even surprised me with their well-thought out comments. I think we had some good discussions today.

By all accounts, I missed the Kennedy brothers of the 1960's. Not to show my age here, but I wasn't around to witness JFK's assassination. I was in utero when Bobby was killed in the summer of 1968. I missed that whole "era" of U.S. History. As a history teacher now, I can only wish I was born a few years earlier. However, as a boy interested in the U.S. Senate, I was able to watch Ted Kennedy. Many of my views differ from Sen. Kennedy's, but there is one area that I applaud him for his committment; education. I also applaud him for stepping into the role of "father" when so many of his nieces and nephews went fatherless. I pray He is at peace with God today.

"Happy last couple days of 39!"

Yesterday, we celebrated Kate's 40th birthday a couple days early. Or, as my niece said, "happy last couple days of 39, Aunt Kat!" All in all, 21 of Kate's former students came. One of the girls from Kate's first year will be graduating in the Spring with the hopes of becoming a Kindergarten teacher herself. It was nice to hear their stories and see their accomplishments. A few of them yesterday were also my former students. Aaron wrote Kate a poem titled "That's Why My Mom is the Best." Original pieces are my favorite things to read from any kid, mine or one of my students.

We still have our friendly mutt we found the other night. I told Aaron we'd start searching next week for its owners. Aaron had that look in his eye, and I set the record straight on us keeping the dog rather quickly after I saw it.

Aaron also played guitar with me in church this morning during offering time. He's becoming quite the little guitar picker. He wants me to teach him something new every night. He's picked up on the chords very quickly.