Letter to the President

Lately, I have been super convicted about how the abortion laws need to be changed and I felt compelled to write a letter to the President (though I don't really think it would ever be seen by the President). But, why not? What have I got to lose? So I wrote this letter. I haven't sent it yet but I am thinking about it.

Dear Mr. President,

During the time that you ran for office, I heard many comparisons between you and Abraham Lincoln for various reasons. I hope that you can live up to these comparisons, but in light of a certain comparison that I have not heard before. Lincoln was president in a time in which there were two sides of an important moral issue. The country was divided over a landowner’s right to own slaves. Though this was very much a hot topic at the time, we can all see now that viewing a slave as less of a person and taking away their rights because slaveowners felt that they had the right to, was not morally correct.

You also have become president at a time in which the country is divided on an important moral issue. The country is divided at this point in time on a mother’s right to end the life of her baby. Though this is very much a hot topic as of now, I hope that one day our children and grandchildren will look back on our country’s history and wonder how we could have possibly had a law that saw unborn babies as less of a person and felt that we could take away their right to live because some mothers thought they should have the right to.

In the case of owning slaves, the correct moral decision won out, and I pray that in this case it will too. But I am afraid that God is being taken out of our country, and thus our country may not ever make the correct moral decision for whatever reason. Just as you may not have ever been able to become President had the law not changed, many unborn babies may not ever be able to put their mark on the world if the law does not change.

Though I have always been opposed to abortion, my recent experiences are what has prompted me to write this letter. For in a few days or weeks, my first child will be born. It was at approximately nine weeks into my wife’s pregnancy that my views about this issue became so much stronger. In week nine of the pregnancy, I was able to look at an ultrasound of my precious girl. We could see her wiggling her little arms and legs and her heart beating and it was the most amazing thing in the world. Considering the fact that you have two daughters yourself, I assume that you too have had this experience. To deny that there is a life inside the mother at that point would be a slap in the face of the God who created that life inside of her. For I am a firm believer that God loves all the people he creates from the moment he creates them.

I agree with Byron White in his Roe vs. Wade dissenting opinion that “I cannot accept the Court's exercise of its clear power of choice by interposing a constitutional barrier to state efforts to protect human life and by investing mothers and doctors with the constitutionally protected right to exterminate it.” I really don’t understand the argument that women have the right to choose. There are so many situations that the government takes away our right to choose because our actions would infringe upon someone else’s rights. The law currently denies us the right to choose to murder, to steal, to rape, etc. Why should mothers be an exception that they should be allowed to choose to take away the life of their unborn children? If we were at the doctor’s office at nine weeks looking at our baby wiggle and the doctor intentionally ended the life of our baby in front of us, I would say that was murder. But if for some reason, we told the doctor to do it, how does that change anything? There should be no person living who has the right to take the life of a child, no matter what stage of life that child is in. Just like the slaves who lost their lives because treating them as a person might inconvenience the slavemaster’s life, thousands of babies are losing their lives because of the inconvenience it might put on the mother.

I am proud that our country changed its perspective in the way it viewed the slaves in this nation and we have become better for it. And I pray that in the future, our perspective will finally change to recognize an injustice that half the nation does not yet see. For in the Declaration of Independence, they declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” Somewhere along the way, certain people ignored the fact that all babies are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with the right to life. They have lost this right to life for now, but just as slaves eventually won their freedom, I hope that one day our unborn children will receive their full rights as citizens as well. What a mark to leave in history to be the President to stand up and use similar words as Mr. Lincoln in the Emancipation Proclamation, “…the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

This was undoubtedly a hard move to make by Abraham Lincoln because of the number of people who disagreed with him. Likewise, going down this path would be difficult for you as well. But steering the country away from the path of injustice and leading them down a different path is worth the price you would have to pay. I love the quote by Robert Francis Kennedy in which he states, “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Just as Lincoln sent forth that tiny ripple of hope that helped build the current which wiped out slavery, you too have a great opportunity because of the position you are in. I realize that your current viewpoint on this moral issue may currently be on the other side, but I am writing this letter because everyone has the ability to cross the line. I support you as President and may God bless you in every decision that you make.



So what do you think? Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

CPA!!!

1. Corporate Personnel Annoyance
2. Constantly Prying Auditor
3. Counting Party Animal
4. Calculator Punching Analyst
5. Couldn't Pass Again
6. Could Put-you Asleep (Okay, that ones a stretch)
7. Clint Patterson Amigo (One of the few readers of this blog)

Whatever it stands for, I am now one of them. I just found out to today that I got my license. Yes, I have been climbing the mountain of Nerd-dom and have reached its peak. You havent lived until you have killed a conversation by telling someone you are a CPA. Guess its not the most exciting thing. Its just a temporary gig anyway until I become a professional Frisbee Golfer.

P.S. - I dont do taxes :)

Daddy Loves You

I thought up a song for my daughter the other day while in the shower. I always get a lot of good thinking done during that time. She is due in just over four weeks. It goes like this (to the tune of Jesus Loves Me):

Daddy loves you, Yes I do.
I cant wait to me-et you.
Little one, keep growing strong.
Don’t you worry, it wont be long.
Yes Daddy loves you.
Yes Daddy loves you.
Yes Daddy loves you.
I cant wait to me-et you.

Pretty good, huh..I knew I should have been a song writer. And I think she really liked it.

Anybody else have any good made up songs? Or even any memorable songs that you sing to your kids or your parents sang to you. I like singing to my precious daughter.

Baby Love!

Our precious daughter will soon be arriving. The countdown has begun (47 days) until my princess is due. She is already showing how cute she is by sticking out her tongue at us for the ultrasound. But she can be shy also as she doesnt like to get her picture taken. Sounds like she takes after her daddy. And she will be as beautiful as her mommy!! So as the day gets nearer, I am getting more excited and also more nervous. Any good advice from any parents out there? I also need good ideas for fun daddy-daughter activities or traditions I should do over the years. Any suggestions? Maybe memories of things you did with your dad (if you're a girl) or things you do with your daughter or have heard about.

Opportunity Cost and Christianity

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the materialism that permeates our culture in America, both in Christians, Non-Christians, and even churches. On my 1.5 hour commute yesterday, I had an interesting thought that uses information I learned in my college Business Economics class (yeah, I know, who would have thought I would use that stuff).

The thought I had was that I think as Christians, we should do a better job at thinking about Opportunity Cost when it comes to how we spend the money and resources that we are blessed with. So what is Opportunity Cost? The definition on Investopedia.com is, "Opportunity Cost is the cost of an alternative that must be foregone in order to pursue a certain action. Put in another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action."

For example, if a gardener decides to grow carrots, his or her opportunity cost is the alternative crop that might have been grown instead (potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.). Another example is the opportunity cost of going to college is the money you would have earned if you worked during that time instead. On the one hand, you lose four years of salary while getting your degree; on the other hand, you hope to earn more during your career, thanks to your education, to offset the lost wages.In both cases, a choice between two options must be made.

So how does this relate to Christianity? Well, I think we live in a time where people do not think about the opportunity cost of them buying a $250,000 house, a $25,000 car, a $1,500 t.v, a $20 dinner, etc. If we take a serious look at the amount of money we spend each year on entertaining ourselves, I think it would probably surprise us. I just wonder how much the average person who claims to be a Christian spends on things like video games, movies, hobbies, cable, ball games, and other things entertainment related. A lot of times I think the main reason people would adjust their budget or how they spend money on things is because of their own financial reasons. But I am suggesting that as Christians, something else should drive our spending habits.

For example, the opportunity cost of buying a $250,000 house instead of $150,000 house with a 30-year loan would be $100,000 plus all the extra interest over the life of the loan, plus more taxes and insurance for a total of over $300,000 in opportunity cost. So what could be done with $300,000? Well, I looked at the World Vision website to see what could be done with that much money. $300,000 could buy 24,000 chickens, or 4000 goats, or even 600 dairy cows to help the poor people in other countries get nourishment and extra income. Or you could buy almost 17 deep water wells that would provide safe water for as many as 5,000 people. Or imagine all the clothes that could be bought to clothe the poor or meals that could be bought for the homeless. So what the true opportunity cost of choosing to live in a nicer neighborhood or get a bigger house is that 5,000 people will not have safe water, thousands of families will possibly die of starvation or go without clothes. And that is just the impact of one person choosing their house. Imagine the opportunities if all Christians based their decisions on the good they could do instead, and spent less on housing, transportation, food, entertainment, etc. We really could change the world.

I heard on the radio this week the illustration given that if we were walking by a lake and saw a little girl screaming for help and drowning, we immediately have a choice to make. We can either help save her or let her drown. The point was clear that the correct decision would be to do whatever you can to save the drowning person. The radio guest then made the point that thousands of people are dying every day in third world countries because they do not have food, water, or medicine. Just like seeing the little girl, when we know that children are dying in other countries we have a choice to make. We can either help save them or let them die.

Now I often hear the argument that people that have nice houses use them for God's purposes, so that can be good thing. So I guess they will have to decide whether or not what they do with their house will outweigh the opportunity cost. Thats what opportunity cost is used for. Helping choose between two alternatives. We can either use the money that we have to use on ourselves or others.

And this does not just relate to individual Christians. I know a church that has started a campaign to raise $9 million to renovate their building. Imagine what the opportunity cost is of that much money. Just multiply all the above examples by 30. And yet it seems so many church buildings are being built, renovated, or expanded all across the country by those who claim that their mission is to help those that are poor and needy.

And opportunity cost does not just relate to money. Our time is also an important resource. A guy who spends an hour watching ESPN could have spent that hour with his family, or reading the Bible, or feeding the homeless.

The Bible states in Mark 12:31 that the second greatest command is "Love your neighbor as yourself." Considering this is the second greatest command, we should definitely look at our lives to see that our lives reflect this. Does the way we spend our money show that we love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves? For every $5,000 we spend on ourselves, do we give at least that much to help others? Or do we tend to spend most of our money on ourselves and not consider what benefit that money could do for our neighbors both in the U.S and in other countries. Or for every hour we spend relaxing or having fun, do we spend any time serving or loving others?

I encourage everyone to consider the opportunity cost when we make decisions in our lives. Because we usually have two choices. We can either spend money and resources on ourselves or we can use it to help others. My prayer for myself is that I can start choosing the latter.

A Letter from Dad

In our Wednesday night Bible class, we are studying a book called Crazy Love which has a weekly video clip that we watch as well. This week's video clip was talking about how it benefits us to think about death and asked us to share with the class someone you knew who died abruptly and tell about their accomplishments and any regrets that they may have shared with you. It then asked us to share with the class what regrets we might have if we died abruptly. This immediately made me think of a letter that my dad had written just months before he died in which he mentioned things he learned from having cancer. I do not know if it was sent to anyone or if it was just a journal type letter but I thought I would share it. I typed it up just as the one is that is typed up in my Bible. It was neat that he wrote this up and his insights can live on for a long time.

Saturday, October 2, 1999

My cancer is in remission. Two weeks ago I had a C-T Scan that showed that there was no cancer in my esophagus. The doctor ordered another test, and endoscopy for last Friday. The pictures were sure different from the pictures that were taken in July. It looked so clear of tumors that I could not believe it. There were a couple of nodules that he took biopsies of. Those came out negative. I am so thankful that my life has been spared. In the doctor’s visit yesterday, there was some sobering news, though. In July, he said that there was a 70% chance that the cancer would reappear. That is still the case. He told me that I had taken my limit of radiation therapy. If the cancer reappears in the esophagus, there is nothing that they can do for me. He said that the chemo, without radiation, is only minimally effective. If the cancer spreads to other places, that is treatable, just not where all the radiation was done. I started back to work full-time last Monday. I have felt OK this week. I have not done anything in the evening so that I could rest. When I found out that I had cancer in July, I gave up my calculus classes. I did not want them to be taught by a substitute. I had no idea that Permian would do what they did. In August, just before school started, the principal that handles the class schedules told me that the calculus classes would be held in reserve for me. I could have them back when I was up to it. (That surprised me. I thought that I was giving them up completely.) Well, I will get one of the classes back next Friday, at the end of the Nine Week grading period. I will get the other one back at the beginning of the second semester.

I taught our Bible class last Sunday for a discussion leader who was out of town. The topic was “Why Does God let Satan Hurt Us?” I decided to talk about things that I had learned in the last 3 months. I will briefly list the points I made.

1. Our God is an awesome God. When I heard the word, “cancer” I knew I was going to die. The pictures from the scope down my throat were awful. Three months later, my throat is clear. That is more than I thought possible in July. God, who made the world, can do amazing things.

2. The importance of the Christian family supporting one another. I have been blessed abundantly with card and prayer-grams and prayers of people I know. I looked forward to the mail coming. Knowing that so many people cared gave me a reason to continue.

3. I benefited from facing death. It made me think about what is really important in life. It made me admit how very fragile I am, and place my life in God’s hands.

4. There is a peace from God that comes to those who live Godly lives. Some may think that I live a boring life, but it is a life that if I die tomorrow, I would have no heart-breaking regrets.

5.Hardships have strengthened our family. Jana and I are closer than we were a year ago. My boys have seen their father in a time of weakness – very different from seeing their father as a maker-of-rules. My sisters and my parents have spent much time taking care of me.

6. This illness has made me take a good look at commitments that take me away from my family. Time is so short. I hope that I can balance the demands away from home with spending time with those I really care about.

7. Life is so uncertain that if you think that you can plan your life, you had better think again. I had just reached a level of professional respect that I had worked all my life to achieve. I had plans for the future. Those plans melted in a moment when the doctor said, “You have cancer.” The lesson is that we should always realize that we are in God’s hands. We should guard against feelings of self-importance.”

David Love

He Leadeth Me

Ever since my dad died, this song has been a comfort to me. My mom was looking in dad's bible after he died and was reminded of this song and it has been special to us ever since. I sometimes turn on my Acapella cd and just listen to this song or sing it in my head. It gives me comfort when I dont really know where life is headed. When I dont know what job I am going to have, or where we are going to live, or how good I am going to be at being a dad. I am glad that as Christians, even when things are tough, even when the economy is bad, even when we or our family members or friends are hurting or struggling, we can know that God is leading us. And where He leads us is peaceful and good.

He Leadeth Me

He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught.
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

Chorus:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me!
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful foll'wer I would be,
For by His hand, He leadeth me.

Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,
By waters still or troubled sea,
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me!

Repeat Chorus

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the victory's won,
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me!

Repeat Chorus

He leads me, He leads me!
By His own hand, He leads me!
His faithful foll'wer I would be,
For by His hand, He leadeth me.

Scriptural Reference: “He leadeth me beside still waters, He restoreth my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3