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amv1025
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Name: Matt
Gender: Male
Interests: My God, my family & loving life
Expertise: well, we have 4 kids... so guess we do a good job making them
Occupation: Co-owner, Remodeling Co.
Industry: Construction
Message: message me
AIM:  amv1507
MSN: amv@cox.net
Member Since:
9/6/2006
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| Excellent Article:
The following is an excerpt from a blog posting by author and political commentator Mark Steyn on NationalReview.com:
First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay (National Review's
Nordlinger) describes her, "all-American", but hyper-American. What
other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt
caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not
saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but
it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin'
Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids
makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a
guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community
organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another
creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class
that infests every advanced democracy.
Second, it can't be in Senator Obama's interest for the punditocracy to
spends its time arguing about whether the Republicans'
vice-presidential pick is "even more" inexperienced than the Democrats'
presidential one.
Third, real people don't define "experience" as appearing on unwatched
Sunday-morning talk shows every week for 35 years and having been
around long enough to have got both the War on Terror and the Cold War
wrong. (On the first point, at the Gun Owners of New Hampshire dinner
in the 2000 campaign, I remember Orrin Hatch telling me sadly that he
was stunned to discover how few Granite State voters knew who he was.)
Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are more or less the same age, but
Governor Palin has run a state and a town and a commercial fishing
operation, whereas (to reprise a famous line on the Rev Jackson)
Senator Obama ain't run nothin' but his mouth. She's done the stuff
he's merely a poseur about. Post-partisan? She took on her own party's
corrupt political culture directly while Obama was sucking up to Wright
and Ayers and being just another get-along Chicago machine pol (see his
campaign's thuggish attempt to throttle Stanley Kurtz and Milt
Rosenberg on WGN the other night).
Fourth, Governor Palin has what the British Labour Party politician
Denis Healy likes to call a "hinterland" - a life beyond politics.
Whenever Senator Obama attempts anything non-political (such as
bowling), he comes over like a visiting dignitary to a foreign country
getting shanghaied into some impenetrable local folk ritual. Sarah
Palin isn't just on the right side of the issues intellectually. She
won't need the usual stage-managed "hunting" trip to reassure gun
owners: she's lived the Second Amendment all her life. Likewise, on
abortion, we're often told it's easy to be against it in principle but
what if you were a woman facing a difficult birth or a handicapped
child? Been there, done that.
Fifth, she complicates all the laziest Democrat pieties. Energy? Unlike
Biden and Obama, she's been to ANWR and, like most Alaskans, supports
drilling there.
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| LOVE/hate
One of my favorite television commercials right now are for New Balance shoes. I think I appreciate the truth in the message (aside from the fact that it is a running commercial!) and relate to it more than most other advertising jingles. The runner describes the hardships of running throughout the commercial and parts of it that they "hate", but by the end the part they Love far outweighs everything else. It ends with nothing on the screen except for "LOVE/hate" along with their company information.
I got to thinking about this concept as I was running last night. My life is made up of so many differing emotions on so many things right now that compare to my Love/Hate relationship with running. You see I have grown to absolutely love running. There is something about the challenge, the experience, the 'runner's high', something that has sucked me in. But, some days I absolutely hate the thought of running. I guess that's one reason I like running early in the morning because I usually wake up half-way through the run. If I wait until mid-day, it's much harder to convince myself that it will be worth all the pain - and in my case bucket-loads of sweat! (seriously, you have not seen sweat until you see me after a few miles). But, when I ignore those negative feelings and simply remember that feeling of accomplishment and that high that comes after running, I reap the benefits of doing what I should.
It's that way with many things in my life right now. Here are a few:
LOVE: My daughter Ellie - she can be such a joy at times
hate: The stage of life she is in - She constantly whines and complains about everything! She hasn't eaten her dinner voluntarily in months!
LOVE: Our friends, we are blessed with incredible friends, both here and around the country.
hate: That everyone (including us) are so busy at this stage of life that it is difficult to find time to spend with them
LOVE: Fatherhood, the privilege that I have to be daddy to 4 little girls!
hate: That many times I feel like a failure in this area.
LOVE: Our business. God has blessed us with tons of work over the past few months!
hate: The time that it takes to battle mounds of paperwork!
LOVE: Church, the teaching, our pastors, SS leaders and friends
hate: the disconnected feeling I've had of late
LOVE: Life! It is good and there haven't been many times in life I have enjoyed more than right now.
hate: Balancing all of the responsibilities (personal/spiritual-family-work-church-friends-etc). Sometimes it is almost impossible to prioritize everything without leaving a few things out.
I guess what I was thinking about while running last night was that regardless of how much I "hate" certain parts of each area in my life, simply doing them gets me to the Love part. Just like running, I reap benefits each time I do something I do not necessarily think I will enjoy at the time. The Love part always outweighs the hate part.
I've been studying the book of 1 Corinthians and Paul speaks to this issue as well:
1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27:
24"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games
goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not
last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27 No,
I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to
others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize"
and on Love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (of course!):
4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres"
I can't say it any better than these 2 passages! So, we must keep running in every area of life - even when it feels like we can't go on - even when every item of clothing is literally soaked with sweat and it looks it has rained down the sidewalk in back of you - we must keep going out of Love. Love for God first of all, and love for others.
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| Up from the (Blog) grave he arose -
Yes, it has been quite a while since I have updated on here. Life has
been a blur these past few weeks! Since I last wrote on here, we have
celebrated New Years, Valentines Day and various birthdays throughout
our family. Work has continued to stay very busy which is a huge
blessing. God has been good to provide a lot of work for this 1st
quarter of 2008 - by the way, can you believe we are almost through the
1st quarter?? Wow.
A couple years back, we started asking my family for gift certificates
for Christmas for a little winter get-a-way, instead of the standard
fare of Christmas gifts. The girls have more toys than they know what
to do with, so this little annual event has become something they look
forward too. A few weeks ago we redeemed those gift certificates
(thanks everyone!) and went to Great Wolf Lodge for swimming and fun
and what fun it was! Here are a few pictures:
     
We also went to T-Rex Zone, which is a LOT of Dinosaurs (Kinda like Rain Forest Cafe):
 
Just last week I was able to attend CBMC Conference at Lost Valley Ranch again. This retreat always challenges me and causes me to grow in ways I was not anticipating. LVR is a beautiful place with wonderful food and the guys there are always fun to spend time with. Here are a few pictures from that trip:
     
One of Sara's Christmas presents was going to a Micheal Buble concert, which was last night. We got to see the Sprint Center for the 1st time (huge and beautiful - for a arena!) and we were able to see the new KC Live area in downtown which will be fun to re-visit from time to time. I had a lot of fun with Sara just talking and enjoying Buble's voice. It's not quite as good as mine, but almost. harharhar.
Finally, here are a few pictures of a recent project:
      
The guys working above are the best. Sean is, however, a K-State fan (which fit in well with this customer). He get's a lot of grief from us, but always has a smile on his face. Noah (my brother) is a great friend and employee. John above (painting) is also a great guy.
The only other new Item I can think to update about is a new emphasis on health this year. Sometime in January Sara and I decided to do a little 3 day fast to cleanse and that gave me the motivation to jump start my long-needed diet. So far, by God's grace I have been able to lose 15 lbs. I've still got about 20 to go, but as running season arrives and we are able to be a little more active (curses on this winter!) I think it will come off soon as well. I have enjoyed running these past few weeks at the gym.
Well, it seems as though this has become a quarterly thing now... hopefully won't stay that way.
Have a great Spring!
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| Merry Christmas!
Friends and family - We do pray that all of you are blessed this holiday season!
May you all have a wonderful holiday season!
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