A Great Thrill

We had a baptism ceremony this morning at church.

Of all the things we do, baptisms may very well be my favorite. There are a lot of neat things we do in church, but baptisms stand alone to me as something special and unique.

Membership ceremonies are nice--what pastor doesn't want to add members to the church (s)he pastors?

Baby dedications are fun, too.

Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparents' Day... Check, check, and check.

But baptisms are like bringing new babies home from the hospital. New birth. New babies. New members of the family.

Each person that stands in that tank is a life that Jesus has touched and changed for eternity.

One of the great privileges of my life is to be a part of that ceremony.

Today was even more special than usual, though... My youngest daughter was one of the 7.

And it was my great thrill to baptize her!

But As a Group They're Rather Stupid

The girls & I were watching "Mary Poppins" tonight for Daddy-Daughter Movie Night.

It's a great movie with tons of great lines, but I heard one tonight that I don't remember hearing before.

Toward the beginning of the movie, we meet Mrs. Banks, coming in from a rally for women's voting-rights.

She sings a song about her life-long cause, the chorus declaring, "Well done! Sister Suffragette!"

Now hears where the funny line comes in...

As she begins her song, she is reflecting upon her own husband and sings...

Though we adore men individually
We agree that as a group they're rather stupid

Oh, my! My first response to bust out in laughter... I've seen this movie dozens of times, but I don't remember THAT! My second response was to wonder if I should be offended or not. (That lasted for about a tenth of a nano-second.) My third response was a little more delayed, because it didn't occur to me until she finishes her song--because her husband that she "adores individually" is home & she's afraid of getting caught--and she "sings a different tune."

Her persona is totally different around Mr. Banks.

Hmmm. That's when the 3rd (& final) thought hit me...

She's a POLITICIAN!

Yup! She loves voters "individually" (think kissing babies, shaking hands, & telling you things you want to hear), but as a group, we're "rather stupid". I've heard them say these very words on a number of occasions lately (but not just lately, either!).

The final straw for me was that 15 minutes after the movie was over, I looked at my e-mail & had a "Health Care Reform Update" from one of our Senators, Mary Landrieu.

And she bears a striking physical resemblance to Mrs. Banks.

You can do the math.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Leili & I went on our Daddy-Daughter Date tonight.

We went on a picnic--even though it rained all day--at Lafrienniere Park. We picked up a pizza from Papa Johns & took it to one of the shelters at the park in order to stay dry. The game plan was to eat our pizza, feed the ducks & then head over to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream.

One of my favorite parts of Daddy-Daughter Date is just listening to the girls talk. It's eye-opening and more than a little entertaining! Not to mention that it's a great way to hear about what's going on in their hearts & lives.

Leili comes up with some real "hum-dingers", I'll tell you... It may because she talks so much, but she is a stitch!

Tonight was no different!

On the way home, we passed a police car that was on the side of the road with its lights flashing.

Leili was right in the middle of saying something--which never stops her from saying something else--when she suddenly shifted gears...

"Oooooooh... Somebody's BUSTED!"

I somehow managed to stop laughing before we got home.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don't

I'm sitting here watching some of the news coverage of the ACORN scandal from the week... WOW!

The talking heads are really having at it... It's like "WWE Smackdown" in suits & business wear. To be honest, I'm really pretty entertained. I've found myself smirking--and even chuckling--on a number of occasions.

But then I remember what I'm watching.

And it's not funny anymore.

When I say "It's not funny..." I don't just mean the corruption, the gutter-politics, and the mismanagement of taxpayer money. Those things are certainly NOT funny, but there's something deeper that's really disturbing.

In the midst of the democrat-versus-republican chaos swarming around this bunch of foolishness is an underlying--and sometimes overt--belief by members of both parties that their guy or gal is the savior of the American system & way of life.

That's what I find so disturbing!

Can anyone show me even one politician who has ever been the savior of anything?

How many times have we put our hope in a candidate or a politician only to have the proverbial rug jerked out from under our feet?

When will we learn?

I know the "super-spiritual" answer is to say something like, "Well, that just goes to show you that the only leader you can trust is Jesus!"

Yeah, yeah... I know. But can I just be honest and tell you how sick and tired I am of people having ZERO integrity and the rest of us being OK with it, even if "being OK" means disgustedly rolling our eyes or just giving them that "trust-Jesus" pass?

Corruption is nothing new, of course, and no one is really all that surprised.

But I--for one--am just sick of it... No more nuts for me!

I'm Baaaaack...

I have been on vacation for a while & got to thinking that I really need to get back to blogging. It's one of those hard-to-in-the-habit-but-easy-to-get-out-of-the-habit things. You probably don't have anything in your life like that (especially not devotions, prayer time, working out, right?), but I do... This.

So, while I was away from everything & doing nothing, my 75-year-old dad asks me, "Are you still blogging? I haven't seen any new posts for quite some time." Ouch. Point taken.

I love my dad (I hope to be like him someday), so I certainly don't mean any disrespect or anything to him... It just kind of took me by surprise. I didn't even realize he was reading my posts.

So, in honor of you, Dad, I'm getting back into the habit... Thanks!