SOME THINGS I LEARNED AND SOME THINGS I REMEMBERD IN 2008

1. Be happy being naked in the garden and don't eat the apple.
(sometimes one little temptation can ruin a life, a job, a marriage or paradise)

2. When everyone else is running out, you should be running in.
(when everyone and their cousin was flipping houses for a living, that should have been a clue)

3. "The greatest argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with an average voter." Winston Churchill
(ok so its not my quote but it seemed to really apply this year)

4. A really good book is the best gift you can receive.... that or a Wii.
(seriously, the older I get the more I love to read)

5. It is important to be grateful, even when it appears there is nothing to be grateful for.
(thanking God for tough times will bring you blessings, peace and answers)

6. If you are going to be dreaming anyway, you might as well dream big. -Donald Trump
(another borrowed quote.... but just think about it)

7. The top 25% of income earners pay 86% of all federal taxes.
(it seems the incentive to be successful is getting smaller and smaller)

8. No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.
(this one goes along with no.7)

9. Our God is a good God.
(I can't say enough about that yet I don't have to say anything else)

10. Magnum P.I. is the greatest tv show of all time.
(again, enough said)

11. Fan is short for fanatic.
(keep that in mind when you are trying to have a rational conversation about college football)

12. Having your own business cards is cool. Having your own business is cooler.
(its that dreaming big thing again)

13. America is great inspite of Washington not because of it.
("why should I trade one tyrant a thousand miles away for a thousand tyrants one mile away" -The Patriot. Sometimes I still wonder...)

14. Hippies smell.
(honestly even a hippie won't deny that one)

15. My wife makes me a better person.
(my best friend, my cheerleader, my psychiatrist, my help, the love of my life)

CHRISTMAS SONGS AND THOMAS THE TRAIN

"So this is Christmas and what have you done ? Another year over and a new ones just begun." Ok so this Christmas song isn't exactly one of the major ones. Its not as fun as Jingle Bells. Its not as religious as Silent Night or as beautiful as Carol of the Bells but its always been apart of Christmas for me. At least for the past five or so. You see, what this song lacks in the fun or religious or beauty department it more than makes up for in the gut check department. Honestly how much more straight forward can you be with someone. "So this is Christmas and what have you done?" thats not really pulling any punches. Theres no misinterpting that line. Brutally Honest. I like that. It makes things simple, either you do something or you have to admit that you blew another year. The feeling of wasting a year is never a good one but the truth hurts sometimes and sometimes a short term hurt is required in order to avoid a long term disaster. There have been times in the past few Christmas' that I have felt the short term hurt of having to admit that another year was over and I hadn't done much. This year however is different. This year that short term hurt of wasting another year has been replaced by a clear purpose and a thankfulness to God for a year in which I was blessed with a wonderful wife and a wonderful group of friends. Things are changing and thats exciting. There will still be challenges but this year there will be less fear of them. There will still be dissapointments but this year the hurt will be less. There will still be times when I ask God why but this year the answers will be a louder. Or maybe I will just hear a little better. I think a great way to sum up what Im saying is this. We went to visit some friends of ours last night at the hospital after they had their third child. A beautiful baby boy. The conversation varied but as it generally does in situations like that it included alot of stories about the first two children. A story about the oldest child seemed to sum up my year really well. You see he is a big Thomas the Train fan and he can't sleep at night until he has his toy Thomas in bed with him. Not just in bed with him mind you but snuggled up right on his cheek. That toy train is his most prized possession. He would go crazy without it. As I stood there and listened to his mother tell that story I realized that just like that little boy I now have my Thomas. Now I can sleep as peacefully as he does, now i can worry as little as he does. Finding your purpose will do that for you. It makes all the wasted years blur into memory and all the past fears fade away. Now the only thing I have to worry about is finding a new Christmas song to write about next year.