A Poem

I wrote this in high school and I am pretty sure I never shared this with anyone before. I am not sure why I wrote it but something must have been on my heart.

A Hammer’s Song

“Forged from iron, honed by stone.
I am a soldier’s hammer and that alone.
From the depths of Earth I came,
But my purpose remains the same.”

“I have existed for nothing less,
Than to pound and shape.
Is there any relief from this emptiness.”

“Propped against this wall waiting to be used.
What’s this, a man clothed in white?
His clothes are tattered and He looks abused.
My master whips Him, but He never gives a fight.”

“His beatings are now over, yet His freedom’s not bought.
He is forced to carry his wooden death pole,
While the crowd tightens around Him like a hangman’s knot..
Why do the people scorn Him? What has He done?
Is He a murderous thug? Or a rogue thief?
The mob jeers and mocks now, everyone.”

“A tangle of thorns adorns His head.
A sad kindness covers His face,
Along with the blood He shed.
Yet even through this, He seems to possess a loving grace.”

“Slowly, my master and I mount the Place of the Skull.
This is the final destination of the man.
For the fate about to befall Him,
He appears as calm as no mortal man can.”

“With the pole upon the ground,
The man lays Himself down.
Darkness and cold surround this mound,
As He stretches His arms out wide.”



“Cautiously, my master takes me from his belt.
He places me to a nail.
I wonder to this day what that strange man had felt,
As the nail dug deep into His flesh.”

“Making no sound the man in white waited.
Just waited.”

“Finally, the last nail came.
Along with it the ringing of metal against metal.
It is my trademark, my song, always the same.”

“The man in white was finally raised.
The air still echoing my final ring.
Then I saw it.,
A sign above the man, proclaiming Him the Jewish King.”

“My heart tore as I read the sign.
How could someone kill a king?
Then it happened His gaze met mine.
I immediately felt the compassion and love,
That covered His face.”

“I realized what He was doing.
I could see why He had not cried out.
His love was just so strong.”

“From this day forward, may the ringing hammer,
Remind you of this, a hammer’s song.”

World Population

So the UN estimates that the world's population will be over 9 billion by 2050. You read this story and you would think having kids is a bad thing. They have lines in there like, "The good news is that new estimates show that it will take a little longer to add the next half billion, reaching the 7 billion mark probably by 2013." Is it that bad that we continue to add to the global population? Are we seriously going to run out of land or space?

Here is an interesting fact. If you took 9 billion people and put them in Oakland County, MI each person would have 2.7 square feet of living space. Granted this is a simplistic view due to resource consumption and other factors, that make over-population a potential issue. But for me this seems like yet another scare tactic used by people to gain funding for pet projects. It is obvious this is the case based off of this line, "We must take more urgent action to promote access to reproductive health, including family planning, and fight HIV/AIDS to save millions from AIDS and maternal death..."

Hmmm, I wonder which groups are promoting this idea of over population being a problem?

Genesis 9
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

Kid updates

Well, the kids all seem to be crazy these last few weeks. Maybe it is because Lori hurt her arm so she can't do as much with them. Or maybe it is because they are kids? Either way, Spring will be welcome so they can get out more and run around because out house is WAY too small for all their energy.

Eben is continuing his pre-school and is doing well. He is starting to draw things more and can write his name and most letters really well (for his age). Here is an example.



Aliza, has taken a certain fascination with going on the "big girl" potty so we are encouraging that but not forcing the issue. Eben really seems to be a help as he will sit in the bathroom with her and give her company. She has gone three or four times when I have been around.

Nora, is getting bigger, as are all the kids, and she has been a very good baby. She is smiley and very alert. She definitely likes it when we are in the room and she likes to take in the action of the older kids running around.

New New Deal?

"Some economists argue that although the New Deal did not end the depression, it helped to prevent the economy from decaying further by increasing the regulatory functions of the federal government in ways that helped stabilize previous troubled areas of the economy: the stock market, the banking system, and others. Popular historians, like Thomas Woods in The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History and Jim Powell in FDR's Folly, argue it worsened the depression or delayed recovery. All analysts agree the New Deal produced a new political coalition that sustained the Democratic Party as the majority party in national politics for more than a generation after its own end.
During Roosevelt's 12 years in office, there was a dramatic increase in the power of the federal government as a whole. Roosevelt also established the presidency as the prominent center of authority within the federal government. By creating a large array of agencies protecting various groups of citizens—workers, farmers, and others—who suffered from the crisis, enabling them to challenge the powers of the corporations, the Roosevelt Administration generated a set of political ideas—known as New Deal liberalism—that remained a source of inspiration and controversy for decades and that helped shape the next great experiment in liberal reform, the Great Society of the 1960s...(courtesy of wikipedia)"

Sound familiar? This is what the current administration is aiming at. But the fact remains that the New Deal did not work and yet, maybe it did. The New Deal was a actually a veiled attempt by the liberals in America, at the time, to further their own agenda and line their pockets. They truly didn't care that America was in such dire straights because they looked at it as a time to shape the political landscape to meet their own designs. Much like today's "stimulus" package is being used to send pork to the lobby groups for the left.

In the meantime, you rarely hear anything about the egregious-ness of the new package from the media because they are all smitten with Obama. You think Bush and the Republicans could have gotten away with such a pork-ridden bill and not heard media outcry? I think not.

12 lbs

While, I am thinking about it. I have lost 12 pounds since Christmas and I am about halfway to my weight loss goal. Here's hoping I can keep it up! I am sure I will update as things progress. Though if they regress, I may fail to mention it :).

Another go at blogging

Well, I am going to give the blogging thing another go around. We'll see what happens...

Kicking things off....

Here is a nice little article from the Wall Street Journal, talking about the fear-mongering our President seems to excel at. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy, how about you?