I once read where someone said "you can have it all, but not at one time." I believe this is true. In light of my last entry on the sacrifices I've made to accomodate what's most important in my life, I realize that the issue of having too much to do and too little time to do it is a universal theme.

The world is such a big place, and full of endless possibilities. The problem is that we are always limited by responsibilities or obligations that bind us and force us to choose which we would rather have - this or that. We only have so much time, or money, or energy, and we must set priorities because of these limitations. No human being is free of this. There's always going to be at least one thing that binds us and keeps us from total and complete freedom - and more likely, it will be several things, or a combination of factors.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. After all, what happens when there's no sense of accountability? Chaos, that's what. It turns into a state of anarchy and all civility goes the way of the wind. I'm thinking about the Israeliltes during the time of Moses as an example of this, and how the 10 commandments were sent down not once but TWICE. Why? Because the people went wild and out of control when their leader was gone for 40 days to get the law that was set to guide them to a better life, and they descended into a state of anarchy where they made up their own rules of what was god and what was right.

Yes, freedom would be nice, but is it really what we need? I think not. Perhaps God gives us responsibility and obligations not to bind us, but to give us a framework for seeing what's really important and helping us see what's a distraction so we can enjoy what we have to the fullest. After all, Christians are supposed to be accountable not only to God, but to one another. We are to deal fairly and honestly, as Jesus would. And really, accountability is a good thing. It promotes responsibility, cooperation, harmony, balance, and the most important thing in life: relationships.

If you consider it, we really do get our freedom a piece at a time. The changing nature of life allows us the freedom to experience a full spectrum of life through each passing season. Nothing stays the same forever, adn the changing nature of life gives us the freedom to experience a broad range of experiences when the timing is right for us.

It's a paradox to be sure, but I'm learning that life is full of paradoxes. I think the bottom line is that we should enjoy each and every relationship we have when we have it, and to enjoy life in the right ways - no matter where it may have us at the moment.

I almost wrote this entry months ago when the sex scandal at Penn State broke but for some reason, I held back. In light of today's news that Joe Paterno passed from lung cancer, I'm breaking loose. And here's why:

The media are a bunch of hypocrites. Plan and simple, and this is the truth. The same people that lambasted the man for "not doing enough" months ago are now posting heartwarming articles like the one at http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-wetzel_joe_paterno_obituary_012212 saying aww - he was a great man with that one bad thing. But now that he died, let's put it aside and remember the great man he was.

Bullcrap. You didn't care to remember his legacy in October. NOW you want to  honor him? Take a look in the mirror, you vultures. The man was dying of cancer and you turned on him like a pack of wolves. Have any of you seen someone struggling with lung cancer? I have. A friend of mine at church lost a year long battle with lung cancer on my birthday in August. It was hell to watch. Absolutely awful. I beg my co-worker that smokes to please stop because I've seen how lung cancer literally eats you alive. It's ugly, painful and brutal. And while Paterno was going through that, the media ripped his reputation and legacy to shreds because "he could have done more."

So is that where we're going now? We're going to charge people for not being their brother's keeper? For not acting when we BELIEVE they should have acted? Ok then, when I was 12 my grandmother died. I was devistated. I turned to many adults to find out how to cope. You know what they said? "It's just a grandparent. This is worse for your mother. Get over it. Others are suffering more."

Ok then, at age 36 I still believe that was a rude and completely inappropriate response to a 12 year old reaching out for help. Say "I don't know" if you're stumped, but don't get your attitude on, especially with a kid. Can I haul those people in and charge them with psychological damage?

Or how about this - when my job was transferred a couple of years ago, it came to light that many things that should have been done weren't. In fact, in some aspects of my job I was improperly trained. Corners were cute and some mistakes of huge proportions were made because the programs were not being given the support they were supposed to have. Can I haul my former colleagues in and charge them with sabatoging these programs and my professional integrity for not handling them properly and for making me look like an igit to my new colleagues? Can I bring them and hold them responsible for me and my current colleagues having to go into a second year of cleaning up things that were messed up, lost or forgotten because of their negligence?

In both of these examples, I believe you'd hear more squawking than an avery with a snake in it.

And on the flip side, I'm not sure I'd even want to go there. I can think of times when I could have done better and didn't. Like Paterno, I can think of times when I just didn't know what to do, so I tried to turn it over to those that I believed had more knowledge and power, only to find that they didn't. I've failed to take responsibility. I've let people down. If everybody I failed hauled me in and held me responsible, I believe every person I ever knew would have a case against me.
 
The point is that we're all human and we make mistakes. We make errors in judgement that have adverse impacts on others. We hurt others with bad decisions. We let other people down by not doing enough or by letting things go when we should act but fear to because we don't know what to do. We fail people by passing off responsibility for things we should act on because we believe others are more competent to handle it. We all fall short. We all fail. If we're going to get into charging people for not doing "good enough," then we're all guilty. So what then? What do you do when every human being on earth is guilty of hurting others? What's the penalty? What's fair? What's right?

I believe that the powers that be in the Paterno case were looking for a big name scapgoat and they found it in Paterno. That was a pretty lame charge to fire him on. He admitted his fault. To tarnish him when he was humble enough to admit what he did wrong makes the accusers more guilty than he was. They played God, and they showed the whole world why they were woefully incompetent in playing the role of the Almighty.

Well, Paterno is with God now. The truth is known and the "big picture" impact of his role in this situation is determined. We on earth can no longer judge him or hold him accountable because he's already answered to the ultimate authority. So now it leaves the rest of us in the awkward situation (of our own making) to determine Paterno's legacy. Will we have the grace to remember him as the great man he was, or will we continue to be hypocrites and judge him guilty for this one error? Whatever happens, it will reflect on those of us left behind throughout the ages.

And as for the rest of it, well, I suppose this forces the media to focus on Sandusky, the real villian in this story, and not a side character.

5 times. That's how many times people have almost hit me in traffic over the past 2 days. Traffic wasn't bad. They had no passengers. They weren't on cell phones or texting. They just weren't paying attention.

You want to know the worst part? I only work 10 minutes from home, and I ran 2 errands in that time. And I almost had 5 people ram into me. One lady came barreling into my lane this afternoon. She looked sheepish when she discovered we aren't in jolly old England.

On second thought, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that this happens this time every year. People get stressed, people get in a hurry, and people aren't paying attention. And that's dangerous when operating a motor vehicle. It can lead to problems and consequences that can stain your holiday and cause problems (and a rising insurance premium) long after the most wonderful time of the year is over.

Ladies and gentlemen, I completely understand having too much to do with too little time and a HUGE date in red approaching - but please, take a deep breath, calm down, and take Yoda's advice: Pay attention to where you are and what you're doing NOW. Not on what all needs to be done, or your frustration, or the ticking clock that runs too fast, or the endless to do list, or traffic, or parties, or the fight you had with the drama queens in your life that always crawl out of the woodwork this time of year (OUCH! How rude and awkward of me to bring up that inconvenient truth in a public forum!).

I know it sounds terribly adolecent, but the advice we give teens learning to drive applies to each and every one of us with a license: Driving is a huge responsibility that is not to be taken lightly, and you must be 100% attentive to it. I don't care how long you've been driving - distractions lead to errors in perception and judgement no matter how experienced you are. So please, if you don't want to become the grinch that ruins Christmas for yourself and some innocent person, put your entire attention and focus on driving when behind the wheel of a car. Turn off the radio, if you must. Plan your route and use a GPS system, if you're traveling. Partition your brain so you can put driving mode in a seperate area from chaos mode. Do whatever you must to pay attention to operating a motor vehicle while you are operating a motor vehicle.

And please, feel free to stress, fret, and have all the panic you want once you're parked.

Thank you.

Hi all; I hope you're doing well and having a great weekend. We have no plans for the rest of the day, 
so it's time to chill out. Dang, Netflix sent Thor last Thursday and now I wish we held on to it so we could watch it today. Oh well, I imagine it's in high demand and somebody else is waiting for it. Anyway, I'd better enjoy this slow time because this week is going to be busy - I have meetings tomorrow and Tuesday. Whew! When did my life take off like this?

I think that's a common question.I've attempted to twist my brain around major life changes over the past
couple of years, but I'm starting to see that I'm not alone. It seems a lot of people I know have gone through major life transitions that have caused them to feel a degree of isloation from life as they know it. It's sad that we couldn't navigate this together, but the nature of these changes have been very personal and as such, each individual has to cope on their own. We can say "yea, I  know how you feel" to one another, but there's really nothing any of us can do to help one another out in a productive way. It's ironic that you can know so many people on the same or similar journies and yet you feel alone. An example is that friend that died a few weeks ago. Lots of people miss her, and every person in our Sunday School Class has admitted that coping with her death has been a challenge. We did devote a class to discussing it, but in the end it came down to the fact that each of us is going to have to cope with our grief over her loss on our own. Comforting to know others' face the same struggle, and yet we must muddle through on our own.

Yes, it is good to know that my life isn't the only one that has taken off in radically new directions. There have
been some good changes and a lot of progress, but I'll also admit that some things have passed out of my life that I wasn't so ready to let go of. Simplicity is the biggest thing. For all my responsibilities, there was a charming simplicity to my life until a couple of years ago. It wasn't terribly complicated with multiple responsibilities and I wasn't bound to a schedule that had to be consulted twice a day. Not so anymore. Oh well. I hear there's a time and place where that trend reverses - it's called retirement. Hmm.

I guess the secret is to take each day as it comes and make the best of it. That seems to be where it's at right now, anyway. I'm starting to see the meaning of "daily bread" in The Lord's Prayer now. My life has filled up so much that "daily bread" is about all I can handle. And some people scoff and think I'm not busy because we don't have kids. Ha! I'll tell you the truth - when you're in those active years of your 20's, 30's and 40's, (and even into yoru 50's) something ALWAYS comes along to fill up your time. But life definitely doesn't leave you alone to plug along. It's more like a tidal wave shoving your forward, whether you feel like going or not - and you hope and pray your hard work and effort lands you on a shore you WANT to be on. At least it seems that way these days. Inevitably it will change. But when? And how? Who knows?

Well, that's all for today. I hope you have a great week. See you later. 

Bye! 

Yes, that's me with South Carolina Governon Nikki Hailey. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to speak at our staff appreciation picnic today. We hear so much about "dirty politics" that often we fail to acknowledge when a politician does something kind. Yet the truth is, they face challenges each and every day that few of us see, and they do it in an effort to work for the good of the people.

Truth is, I've gained a whole new appreciation for people that work in politics over the past couple of years. Through the legislative changes that resulted in my work move in July 2010, I got an inside look on what really happens inside the State House. Let me tell you, the "School House Rock" on how a bill becomes a law doesn't even scratch the surface! There are subcommittees, committees, floor hearings, and so much going on behind the scenes that it's a chaotic atmosphere crackling with activity each and every day. Senators and House Representatives have so much coming at them that they find it difficult to keep up. In fact, I heard one Senator say that during a one year session, it wasn't unusual for over 10,000 bills to cross his desk. He said that the ones people talk to him about are more likely to get his attention, and to get appropriate votes, because he knows what the people it will affect are really thinking and understands how it will impact them on a day to day basis.

Many people I've shared this with are surprised, but it's true. In the day to day realm of hearing and voting on bills, what it really comes down to is knowing what the people think. They do want to know how it's perceived by the people it will affect and depend on people attending and speaking at subcommittee and committee meetings to help them gain a better understanding on what they're voting on. In fact, the first question I've always heard in these meetings is "how does this affect people and what's their reaction to it?"

Sure dirty business happens in politics, and this is what makes headlines. In the day to day realm, they're trying to make the best decisions they can with the information they have available. So don't be afraid to contact your representatives. The State Legislature has a website with everything posted, from bills for consideration to schedules for meetings to biographies of Senators and House Representatives. Let them know what you think and how proposed bills affect you. Prepare a case and speak at a subcommittee meeting (anybody can speak at subcommittee meetings). They need to hear from you. They want to hear from you. They depend on hearing from you so they can fully understand the impact of the decisions they make. You'd be surprised at the big impact just a few voices can have.

Yes, I have a new appreciation for politicians and even lobbyest. While I may not always agree with them and their decisions, I do have respect for their office and the responsibilities they face. I support them whether I voted for them or not because they are our appointed leaders, and they need our prayers for wisdom and strength every day so they can fulfill the responsibilities before them. I hope you will to.