Time to Restart!

I haven't looked at this blog for many years.  The last blog was in 2015, nine years ago!  As I talked about it with my Bride, I lamented that I hadn't written for so long and she stated the obvious, "Today is a good day to start again."  

She's right!  Realistically, so much has gone by, the wisdom of much of it has been lost with the complacency of not setting aside purposed contemplative time.  May God give back the years the locust have eaten. 

Right now, I am taking my two youngest men through Mansfield's Book of Manly Men.  This morning as I was discussing with my youngest boys about their names and birth stories, I remembered I had written about their special days on this blog.  We read their stories and enjoyed looking at the pictures of their births and laughed together.  I am thankful to have recorded that piece of history for them and to have remembered it today.  

If you're looking for a good book to go through with men or young men, I recommend this one.  

70 Yr Old Grandma in Need of Immediate Help!

"Today it's me, tomorrow it'll be you.  It's time to wake up."
                                                   ~ Barronelle Stutzman

From time to time issues come across my desk that I just have to share with you all.  This is one of those times.   

Barronelle Stutzman is a Christian Florist in Richmond, Washington who employs gays, serves gay individual customers, yet is being vilified as a "hating bigot" for declining to do the flowers for a homosexual couple's wedding.  The gay couple's choice to marry simply goes against her Christian beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman.  When she told the gay customer she couldn't, in good conscience, do their wedding she offered three recommendations of other quality florists who could perform flowers for their wedding.  One of these recommendations were indeed able to get their flowers done for their big event. 

By taking a stand on faith this courageous woman is standing for the sanctity of marriage as defined by the Christian standard, but she is also making a stand for freedom that was once cherished by all in this country.  Today few understand what freedom even is supposed to look like.

Mrs. Stutzman declined the business without demeaning the gay couple, without treating them as second class citizens.  For God sake she and the gay customer hugged each other after she told him that it went against her beliefs about marriage.  Barronelle handled this in the most loving way possible.  Yet, because of her stand the State of Washington's Attorney General, the ACLU and the rest of the LGBT militants have her in their cross-hairs.  She has a court ruling that says she has freedom to believe but is not free to act on those beliefs.  This judge ruled the government, ACLU and the gay couple have the ability to sue her and her husband without limitations.


Realistically this is a battle for freedom.  Not every business must be forced to do business in areas that go against their beliefs.  Should a person who goes into a Muslim or Orthodox Jew butcher expect to be served a side of bacon even though it goes against the proprietors beliefs?  Would anyone reasonable person believe it would be right for anyone to force these hypothetical butchers to serve the pork?

What about a Seventh Day Adventist camp who refuses to serve a camper real meatballs verses vegetarian meatballs?  Is it right for them to lose their camp facilities because some spoiled little brats parents pitch a fit that little Johnny didn't get what he wanted?

Further, If I receive an invitation to the marriage of a gay couple and I refuse to participate in their event, is this grounds for a lawsuit?  When will it end?  I say enough is enough.     

The militant LGBT movement must be stopped in their relentless attacks on the God given freedoms of another person.  Mrs. Stutzman has not done anything hateful.  She simply chose not to participate in their wedding.  She handled this in the best way possible.  If the LGBT people really want freedom, then they must learn to respect the freedom of others who do not condone their lifestyle choices.  Even my kids understand that with freedom comes responsibility.  The gay couple was given the freedom in Washington to marry, true, but this does not take away the freedom of others who choose to not join with them in celebrating their personal event.     

She is being sued for everything she and her husband have on the personal, as well as, the business side of life.  Please consider standing for freedom alongside her. 

Listen to her tell what is happening in her own words.  

I encourage you to consider joining our family in supporting her through the gofundme site that has been set up to help her.  Her legal fight is being taken on by Alliance Defending Freedom. 

You might also consider sending someone flowers through Arlene's Flowers and Gifts website.  For an additional fee of $18 they can send flowers anywhere in the world.  I know $18 is a lot of money, but symbolically it communicates that you value her stand for freedom and, come what may, many people still stand with her for the sake of freedom.
 

Duty Dogs Website Launch

www.DutyDogs.com
Well after years of prayer and months of work the day to launch www.dutydogs.com has finally come.  Many of you close to us know that for quite some time we have been working with training Diabetes Alert Dogs we like to call DADs.  It is a family enterprise that we are very much enjoying doing together.  Today is the launch day of www.dutydogs.com.  Click on it and check it out.  Feel free to give us quality feedback as you view site. 

Love & Respect in the Family

Being a parent is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, things one is allowed to do in this life.  Love & Respect is a great read for helping a marriage to get off the cycle of crazy conflict.   

 
Author Dr. Emerson Eggerich has used his work to bless many people around the world through the unpacking of God's word in simplicity.  He is at it again with his a new work is titled Love & Respect in the Family.  It is scheduled for release in early November and is available for pre-order by clicking the provided link above.

I was encouraged to see Fox News publish his article yesterday.  I am always encouraged to see good books that helps me to be a better parent, God knows I need to be a better father.

Western Man's Education into Imbecility

“So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

When you're lost, find your why!

When one loses their why, they lose their way!

Recently, I found myself struggling with low motivation or energy to finish some goals. After floundering for a while, telling myself time and again that I needed to get them done. I became frustrated that I just didn't seem to have what it took to get these things moved along. I began to think that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew. I began to doubt my own abilities and even started to look for a rock to hide under rather than face these projects that seemed to be perpetually in my face.

Then I began to ask myself why they needed to be done. Once I began to chew on the why that lies behind each project, it became much easier to roll up my sleeves and accomplish those supported by the most important why. Each project needed to be done, but when I lost my vision of the why it was easy to allow the rest of life to consume me.

It is nice to have the reminder of the value of vision coupled with the purpose to keep the vision alive by keeping the why before me (Eph. 5:16). I see this applying to every aspect of my life and I trust you will as well. Remember that once you forget the why, you're headed to being lost!

Quality Customer Service from TTI

Quality customer service from Wayne Hill of .

The story:

Recently, while ripping a 2x4 for trim on the back of my office, the motor for my table saw caught on fire. My 6 year old son was supervising from the side of the saw and pointed out that the thing was on fire. Though it created a lot of smoke, it seemed to be a minor electrical fire in the motor housing itself. I was able to blow it out after several attempts. Obviously this meant the motor was shot!

I visited the manufacturer's website and sent an email asking if there had bee

A couple of hours later I received a request for my phone number and address. By 7:15 am the next morning, I had been contacted by Wayne Hill asking if he could inspect and replace my saw! By that evening, after working out logistics, Wayne Hill emailed me to say that I could swing by my local Home Depot and pick up my brand new RIGID R4510 saw. All I had to do was package up my old saw and they would have FedEx pick it up to send it back to their home office in South Carolina.n any recalls or anything of that sort on this particular model of portable table saw. I also asked where I could purchase a replacement motor for my saw.

It was truly refreshing to see Wayne's amazingly quick and extraordinary customer service. He did not have to do this, but in doing so he has gained a loyal supporter of TTI's products. It is so refreshing to see a company willing to stand behind their products beyo

nd standard expectations. When it comes to purchasing my next tool, I will be drawn to the brands associated with .

Welcome Benjamin Rush Becker

Weight - 7lb 9oz

Length - 20"

Location : Becker Birth Center

Timeline:

-- sporadic labor all day-- nothing to get excited about-- let's decorate for Christmas and have Grandma & Grandpa over for soup dinner!

6:15 pm Called friends in Clovis to let them know we would be coming down that night because Alicia said, “We should probably go down tonight so we are there just in case.” One of the kids asked, "Are we going to have the baby tonight?" Alicia said, "Probably not until tomorrow or the next day."

6:20 pm Hannah tells me Alicia needs me in the bathroom

6:21 pm I called 911 at her request

6:23 pm I was holding Benjamin Rush Becker, our 6^th child, after Alicia delivered him into my hands!

What is behind the name?

Benjamin Rush was one of the three most influential founding fathers along with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Over time, he has garnered the least notoriety, probably because of his open embrace of Christianity and his view of its role in the nation. Read more here.

We had been leaning toward Benjamin, but did not realize it's meaning. After the delivery, I researched it and it means "Son of my right hand." Since that is how I caught him, it seemed all the more appropriate.

"Rush" fit for obvious reasons if you see the timeline above!

Mama and baby are doing exceptionally well at this point. We praise Jesus for their good health and ask this to remain the case. Alicia posted other pics here.

We are delighting in God's sense of humor in reminding us Who is really in charge of the timeline!

Understanding Women

James Madison of State vs Federal Power

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite."
–James Madison, Federalist No. 45

Unfortunately, today one has to look extremely hard to find any glimmer of the concept of limited federal authority in any aspect of life. It is time for local responsibility to be re-instituted and federal responsibility to be diminished. Realistically, I am not sure the majority of the American people have enough in them to stand up and take responsibility for their lives.

My hope lies in the fact that many in my generation are looking at things quite differently and choosing another course of travel. Many are homeschooling their children because they realize the public school experiment is a disaster. Some, like myself, make the stand based on the principle that it is a parent's responsibility to raise their children to be responsible adults. It is not the job of a secular humanist government to raise morally responsible citizens.