Married with Children

Slow down Gretchen. Do not be fooled by the title of this blog, this is not an announcement of any sort!

I was thinking the other day about the show Married with Children. Well Actually i got there by thinking of my family. And I thought that we aren't quire the Cleavers, but we are close. But that got me thinking about what might be the opposite of the Cleavers. My first thought was The Bundy's from Married with Children. And i remember that as a child i was not supposed to watch that show. As i began to think back on that show i realized that it seems to be as far fetched as Leave it to Beaver. The odds of finding a family like the Cleavers these days is rare. But then i realized that finding a family like the Bundy's would be impossible.

The thing I realized is that I am impressed with Al Bundy. Al Bundy does not like his kids, because they are disappointments. His daughter is a slut. He son can't ever do anything right. Neither of them have done much to make their father proud (yet some of this fault may lie with Al himself). Al doesn't seem to like his wife, at least not all the time. And he does not seem to be attracted to her anymore. She constantly is hitting him up for affection and he seems to get nauseous when he thinks of their love life. He hates his job. He sells women's shoes, and finds his work completely unsatisfying. He is constantly in debt because his job does not pay well.

Ward cleaver is some sort of Business Manager. He is successful and enjoyed his work, though it was hard. His wife stays at home where she cares for the house, she cooks and cleans everyday, she keeps an eye on the boys daily so they do not veer to far off the "narrow path" and so Ward only comes in once a show to point the Beaver back on course, and The Beaver always listens. When ward comes home he finds his attractive wife just finishing a nice home-cooked dinner, adorning a nice dress and her pearls. His boys tell them what great tings they are doing, sports teams and good grades mostly. He cares for them and they care for him.

Ward and Al seem to be opposites. but to see them as similar we need to imagine taking men from today and placing them as these fathers. If Joe Sixpack found himself as Ward Cleaver place he probably would think that he had lucked out. How many men have a salary that can pay for all their families needs? How many men come home every night to big home-cooked meals? How many have children that only make mistakes that can be resolved in 30 minutes? How many men are satisfied and contented with their life in the way that Ward Cleaver is? How many men would like to be?

Now think if a man wound up as Al Bundy? What happens to men that lose interest in their wife, have troubled kids, and hate their job. Do you think many men would stay married with children, or would they divorce their wife by some Rogaine and try to start over. Al's life peaked in High School when he was the star running back. But he remains married to peg working a crappy job to support kids that think he is joke. Al is not perfect. he many faults, but he does love his family enough to be faithful to them. His head is always filled with thoughts of running away and become someone else, but he remains committed to his family.

I suppose if you look you could find men with great families. Finding happily married men is not hard. But to find unhappily married men would be harder. In a society that tells you to always reach for your individual potential, it is rare to find people who do not cut and run. Today it is much more likely to find split families who seem to be "ok" than troubled families who stick together.

It made me think if Al and Ward switched places. What would happen? Something to think about.

Also, if your read Matthew 1, you realize that Jesus' family was more like the Bundy's than the Cleavers.

Hope your advent is filled with love and hope and peace and joy.

Mr. Freeze

So....Winter arrived this week. It snowed on Monday evening, and this was the scene Tuesday morning:

I am not the kind of person that enjoys pet-clothing. I don't think animals are supposed to wear sweaters or boots or pants or stuff, but man our dog is prissy. She does not enjoy the cold or the rain. So out of pure function we purchased a rain coat for Daisy, I was against it, butthen i remembered that we got her groomed just about 3 weeks ago and so her fur is shorter than usual, and the weather is also colder. So we decided to go ahead and get her a coat. I am not sure which Daisy dislikes more, the cold/wet weather or the coat. The first few times we put it on her should would not move. She wouldn't even come get a treat! She is adjusting now. Anyways this is her in the snow:



How is the weather elsewhere? Is it going to be a White Christmas? I am enjoying the cold (for now).

Election Day

So this is my 1st video blog:

Pro Life

I have decided that the term pro life is about as helpful as being pro-goodness. I am pro goodness. I think evil is wrong. Hooray for me, taking such a courageous stand. It seems to me that the term prolife means pro the life of the unborn. This seems a little short sided to me. Could I be pro second amendment if i said that every person has the right to own a musket. We are all gauranteed by the constitution one musket. Have all the other gun laws you want. but as long as a person is allowed a musket, just like the colonial militias had, then i am happy and believe that our right to bear arms has been protected. I feel like the NRA would not accept that. In fact they might shoot me.
This is my problem with prolife. They only seem to care about life until it breathes. Then once the baby breathes its on its own. Now i think abortion is bad. Its a tragic medical procedure and should be treated as such. I don't know that i can say that it should always be illeagal no matter what the circumstance is. I do know that it is a cruel form of birth control. But i also know that life extends beyond birth. I am 27 years of proof that life continues after conception and birth. I think most of americans want the number of abortions reduced. But i think we could do more by loving young mothers who face difficult times than by passing some law. Jesus cursed the pharisees for putting harsh laws on people then not raising a finger to help with the burden. Too often pro life arguments are only about laws which force women to brth their babies, but what percentage of pro life voters adopt, or foster children. What percentage of parents accept their daughters who get pregnant and don't cast them out as "sluts". I figure those percentages are low and thus abortions are high. Abortion is not a political issue, its an ethical issue. It is not the mothers choice, it is the community's choice to accept all children and commit to raising each one of them. You seem am not sure that voting for a "Prolife Canidate" could stop abortion. Bush had six years with a friendly congress and could not make any headway. But even beyond that point; life is more than just the issue of abortion. The problem of abrtion needs to fought on the demand side, not the supply side.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY:
Being PRO LIFE should mean caring about things like war, poverty, health care, the death penalty, etc. So yes, life begins at "conception" I guess but I KNOW that it extends beyond 9 months. Why do i feel like there are many pro lifers who support the death penalty. If that's not crazy I am not sure what is Pro-life and supports DEATH penalty? To be pro-life and not Pro ALL life is problematic. To ignore the AIDS Pandemic is what Pro-Choice. I choose to let them die. To not give everyone access to health care is tho be Pro-Choice, I choose my lower taxes over your heart condition. I call them pro choice because that is the opposite of Pro Life right?

Well anyways, I am trying to figure out how to be pro life. That means of children fetuses mothers prisoners immigrants, Muslims, Asians, Africans, Europeans, North and South Americans, Africans. In the mean time refuse to let the "Pro Life' movement tell me what that means. I will turn to God, breathed life into all of us. For i believe that means God defines pro-life.

Haunted House

So there have been people asking about our house. Here are some pics of our house decorated for halloween.

Living room:

Kitchen:

Hallway (duh):




Office:

Guest Bathroom:


Guest room:






Our room:



Stairway



Game Room:

October 6th

Well the cold weather has arrived. Last week we had at least 2 days where it did not reach 60 degrees. It is great. The morning are typically around 50 degrees and the high this week is about 80 degrees. For those of you in Texas. This is called autumn. Its magical!! Seriously, the weather is good.

Well Each year the Holston Conference has a large youth gathering called "Resurrection." It is just a large youth conference, with worship and stuff. But each district in the conference (there are about 12) can submit a group to perform during one of the worship times. So in the Fall, each district has a "Festival of gifts and talents" where people can present their gifts, and the district selects the group/individual that will represent them at Resurrection. Our FOGT was last night. It was at Wesley. The group chosen was from Wesley. We had a group of 6 girls perform a liturgical dance to Nicole C Mullen's "On My Knees." They were good. I was very happy for them. I saw them do their routine last week during our church service. UNtil then we didn't even have a group in the FOGT. So on Sunday, I saw them do it, and during the offering, i passed them a note saying, "Can yall do that next sunday night?" Luckily they could. I knew that we had a Youth Girls woprship team, but until last sunday did not even know they had anything they could do. So we lucked out and then stole the show.

A good day

Yesterday was good day.

I walked into my office to find an email telling me how a girl in our youth group had come home and told her mom that she enjoyed it. Her mom said that was the first time she had ever said that about church. She also told me that the daughter is excited about the Middle School Retreat I am planning. I suppose i could stop there and the day would be good. But it wasn't even lunch yet.
Speaking of lunch, i went to Sonic for a late lunch, which you might think is bad (that i had missed lunch earlier) but it was after 2pm so i got my drink half price!
Then i went right across the street from Sonic to the Salvation Army store, and found 3 board games for a total of 6 bucks. We are decorating our den with movie posters and things from Board games, so i had been looking at Thrift stores for games, but had come up empty handed until yesterday.
Our Wednesday meal was good. And so was our lesson. And then when we went to play in the gym, the kids requested Dodgeball Bowling, the game i made up on Sunday!

It was a good day.