Tag Archives: Life Lessons

McDonald’s Boycott Lifted

October 9, 2008 8:24 pm / Leave a Comment /

I received a message from the American Family Association today informing me that their boycott against Micky D’s has been lifted. *Join me as I heave a sigh of relief.* Although I personally took some heat for our boycott stance, it was well worth it. I am thankful that McDonald’s has realized that supporting the homosexual agenda is not a wise business decision. I am also thankful to God for this opportunity to show our kids that God does indeed answer prayer.

When we first informed our kids that we would not longer be eating at McDonald’s, they were bummed, but understood. Since they are so young, we didn’t want to get into all of the details about homosexuality, but we did tell them that they had made some decisions which were against families. That is all they needed to hear. From that time on, whenever we passed a McDonald’s in the car, the kids would yell, “EEEWWWWWW!” Becky nor I instigated this reaction. They came up with it all by themselves. Now I am looking forward to seeing their reaction when I give them this good news.

Here is the letter from the AFA in its entirety.

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.

AFA ends boycott: McDonald’s agrees to changes
October 9, 2008


Dear Keith,
Great news! Because of AFA supporters like you, McDonald’s has told AFA they will remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage. AFA is ending the boycott of McDonald’s. As you know, AFA called for the boycott in May after McDonald’s joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

McDonald’s said McDonald’s Vice President Richard Ellis has resigned his position on the board of NGLCC and that his seat on the board will not be replaced. McDonald’s also said that the company has no plans to renew their membership in NGLCC when it expires in December.

In an e-mail to McDonald’s franchised owners the company said, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.”

We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations. You might want to thank your local McDonald’s manager.

Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?

Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

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The Heroes Amongst Us

July 25, 2008 2:25 pm / 2 Comments /

First there was Iron man. Then there was The Hulk, Hancock, Hell boy and now Batman. All of these Summer blockbusters have one thing in common- they are all about super-heroes. Although I want to see all of these movies, I’ve only seen one of them to date. I’m going to see Iron man with a friend soon so I’ll let you guess which superhero movie I’ve already seen.

There are the heroes in the movies and then the every day heroes amongst us that we often look past. I’ve got a superhero on my mind right now, but she isn’t any of those listed above. My hero is my wife, Becky. Let me tell you about her.

First off, I have to say that she is tough. I cannot tell you how many times I heard men talking about her while we were on our mission trip to the Mormons in Manti, Utah. She was severely pregnant, yet still out there on the streets witnessing and serving God. She was in pain, yet shrugged it off by telling me, “They’re worth it” referring to the Mormons to whom we were witnessing. Not only did she impress me, she impressed everyone who saw her.

Now, after given birth to our third child, she continues to impress me. She had to endure her third c-section, yet wanted to make sure that her pain medication was not going to negatively affect our baby boy. Guys, I don’t know if you realize this or not, but having a c-section is major surgery. They cut her open with a laser, dig around until they find the kidlett, pull him out by his little head, nicely set some of her organs on a table and clean a few things up. It is pretty weird seeing her uterus lying on an operating table while she is completely conscious. Of course she could not feel anything then, but even the thought of it could make a lesser woman freak out.

Once we got her and the little one home, she impresses me even more. For the first couple of nights, I have helped her with feeding our son during the night. Once she got the hang of it, she encouraged me to stay in bed because she really didn’t need my help any more. Wow, what a woman! I still get up with her from time to time, but for the most part, I have taken her up on her offer.

There have been a couple of nights where things did not go as smoothly as hoped. Our son wasn’t cooperating with our sleep/feed/sleep schedule and he decided to experiment with a no-sleep/feed/scream/sleep while feeding schedule. That’ll wear on you real quick. I’m a bit ashamed to reveal at what time I crawled out of bed, but Becky was already up. The baby was fed and sound asleep, the two older kids were in their room and I can hear Becky going over some of their phonics rules with them as they are reading through one of their books. That is when it hit me. The patience to do phonics in the morning after a hard, sleepless night? Holy contribution to the education of minors, Batman! I married my hero!

Today marks the 16th anniversary of our marriage. I knew I married the right one 16 years ago, but it is so cool to see God confirm that. Hard times allow us to see what is deep inside and after seeing how she responded to the difficulties of having our third child; I know that I married a true hero.

I love you, Becky.

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Our Daughter’s First Ballet Recital

June 3, 2008 8:58 pm / 5 Comments /

A post from Becky-

Thursday night was the first dress rehearsal for our daughter’s first real ballet recital. It was a situation where moms were not allowed backstage, the staff of the SA Parks and Recreation along with the dance teachers stayed with the kids. I told our daughter before we left that she would be backstage for a long time just waiting with the girls from her class, so she could pack a little backpack of things to do, maybe crayons and coloring books to share. Totally on her own, she chose a Bible out of our kids Bible basket and said she wanted to take a Bible with to tell stories about Jesus. Of course, I did not object!

After rehearsal when I picked her up, I immediately started talking to her and encouraging her regarding how well she danced for their number. She was excited and said thank you, but then she started telling me how she had been reading Bible stories to some of her friends. She told me she had asked them if they loved Jesus. She also told me she talked to them about heaven and going there and also about about hell and how it was called the lake of fire and how her brother thinks there must be fire ants there who bite a lot and how you had to trust Jesus to forgive your sins. She told me that while she was talking, it was just a few girls from her class, but then more girls from other classes started coming over too and sitting in the group and listening. Her eyes looked the most excited when she said, “Mommy, it felt like the whole world was listening!” This made me more proud than any turn or tutu ever could!

“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman (or girl) who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Here is the whole ballet number.

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Doing The Right Thing

July 9, 2007 5:35 pm / Leave a Comment /

Sunday is a day when most Christians learn lessons from sermons that will help them to live lives that will glorify God. Yesterday was such a day for me. It wasn’t necessarily the sermon that did it for me though, it was a lesson I learned while on the way to church.

We managed to get out of the door and on our way to church with a little time to spare. We were cruising down 1604 doing 70 mph when I spotted a car on the shoulder of the road. Before you ask, yes, I was doing the speed limit. Highways in Texas are fun. I saw their hazard lights on and as we passed, I saw an older lady getting out of the car and a young lady (teens maybe) fiddling with a car jack. It looked like the left rear tire had blown out.
Immediately the thought went through my mind, “Maybe they need help?” Then the next thought came to mind. “You’ll be late for church and will get dirty.” I kept going back and forth in my mind as to what I should do. The next exit was coming up fast. Should I exit and turn around or should I continue on my way?
I passed the exit and started to feel guilty right away. We were almost to church, had some extra time, but for some reason, I hesitated. I know! I’ll pray for them. That’ll do the trick. Praying for people is the spiritual thing to do, isn’t it? As I prayed for them, the thought came to mind, “What if they don’t get that tire on right and the whole thing comes off while they are driving down the road?”
That did it. All I needed to see on the news last night is a story about the death of two ladies whose spare tire flew off, lost control of their car and were creamed by a bus full of kids on their way home from summer camp… all because I didn’t want to get dirty and be late for church. I announced to Becky, (who had no idea about the inner conflict I was having) that I needed to turn around. I explained the situation and the conflict within myself. The kids asked why we were turning around. I explained that I saw someone on the side of the road who may need our help, so we were going to turn around and help them.
Our daughter exclaimed, “Yea, we are going to do the right thing!” Uggh, dagger in the heart. At this point, I sure didn’t feel like I was doing the right thing. As we pulled up to the car, we noticed that someone else in a truck had already pulled over to help. The flat was replaced with the spare tire and both the car and truck were looking to merge into the traffic lanes. They were probably wondering what the idiot in the car behind them was doing on the shoulder of the road with his hazards flashing.
As they drove off, I was extremely honest with our kids and tried to explain to them that I didn’t want to do the right thing. It was only because of my guilt that I turned around at all. I’m not sure they understood what I was talking about.
Once we got into church, Robert, our pastor started talking about how he and his wife had to get use to their newly emptied nest at home. Their youngest left for college last week and is now on his own. Robert taught through various Proverbs about raising children. He also mentioned that he started writing a book about parenting. His proposed title is, “Parenting- From Conception To Empty Nest.” He promises that the part about conception will be really fun.
At the end of his lesson, Robert had the media folks play a song that he thought capsulized the responsibility and importance of being a good parent and role model. It is a country song by Rodney Atkins titled, Watching You. I had to suffer through the country “music” but the lyrics are awesome.

Driving through town just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn’t have the toy
Till his nuggets were gone
Green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my breaks and mumbled under my breath
As fries went a flying and his orange drink covered his lap
Well then my four year old said a four letter word
That started with “s” and I was concerned
So I said, “Son, now where did you learn to talk like that?”

[Chorus one]
He said I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we’re just alike, hey ain’t we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I’ve been watching you

We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said lord please help me help my stupid self
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son’s scooby doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said son where’d you learn to pray like that

[Chorus two]
He said I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama’s hand
Yeah we’re just alike, hey ain’t we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I’ve been watching you

[Bridge]
With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug
Said my little bear is growing up
He said but when I’m big I’ll still know what to do

[Chorus three]
Cause I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
Then I’ll be as strong as you and superman
We’ll be just alike, hey won’t we dad
When I can do everything you do
Cause I’ve been watching you

Uggh, uggh. Double-dagger. I couldn’t help but think about this song in light of my actions, rather, non-actions from earlier in the morning. I decided that on the way home from church I wanted to try again to explain to our kids why I didn’t do the right thing. I tried to explain to them that delayed obedience is immediate disobedience. If God is leading us to pray, then pray. If the Holy Spirit guides us to help someone, help them now. Sure, prayer is fine, but it should not be used as a substitute for complete obedience.
The thing I hope they (and I) remember most is that we should not hesitate to do good. I’m sure the ladies got home safe that morning. I am glad that there was someone else who did not hestitate to do the right thing.
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