Wishing a good morning to you!
It is almost a meme… how the dad gets up early on Saturday morning for some time to himself.For me, this is very real. I love getting up on Saturday morning, making coffee, reading, reflecting, praying. I truly do not do this enough.
My kids do this thing … where they stay in bed a little extra and play on screens until I get them up. Quite a little trick. My daughter is awake right now doing just that. She gets a pass as I complete this (rare 🙂 ) blog post.
I have had a very busy last 2-3 weeks. I traveled for work for a week, plus maintained a busy schedule of single parenting plus a few other activities. I found myself quite a bit more anxious late this week than normal, having stepped away from the normal peace of my life.
Some random thoughts:
- Tuesday’s election turned out almost exactly as I expected; in fact 7pm I correctly called out the winners. As a school district, we are split almost 50/50. The city is 2/3 progressive and the outlying area is 2/3 conservative.
- Will Dammeir is also a fantastic candidate. My discussions with Will regarding the need for real organization for Whitewater sports is a top need for the district. Will is a already coaching basketball for youth and making a difference. I love the dude and the impact and leadership he provides.
- The general election will be interesting. 300 more votes for conservatives took place in the primary. Divide that by three (since we could vote for three candidates) and that equates to 100 more conservative voters in the primary. Not a small factor.
- I have a handful of topics to be discussed on the blog over the next couple weeks: the Whitewater Library coming after our kids with the creepy identity mantra, diversity week at UWW without any diversity, and a Whitewater man busted removing campaign signs.
- With regard to the library and the identity mantra, I was asked the question of how does one make the case against this? The question was a reference, ultimately, to relativism and morality. The choice we must make, and be bold. I look forward to addressing this.
- I had a fairly interesting conversation in Charlotte Airport last week, flying home from 70F weather to a 2.5 hour drive home from MKE. I sat with a young (millennial) woman at the airport lounge. She was reading a book whose title (escapes me) implied a move towards a Utopian society via the internet and cyberspace. Turns out she had a JD from Harvard and was an environmental law prof and corporate law prof out East. I saw later that she is regularly quoted in major publications such as NYT. I asked her about the book, and particularly if she believes people are happier now than they were a hundred or two hundred years ago. Her answer kind of surprised me as it was quickly “no”. Her reasoning was anxiety, and particular climate change. Oh boy. I did what I do, dropped a couple Jesus seeds. Her background was not unfamiliar; brought up Catholic and hadn’t been to church since she cannot remember. I also asked her if women are happier now than 100 or 200 years ago, and with slight hesitation she said yes. The reasoning was the typical feminist reasoning; worth thru career. “what is family!?” she even said, disavowing the Biblical, nuclear family (and the only way to naturally create a family). Pontius Pilate cynically asking Jesus “What is truth?” came to mind. Striking about the conversation (to me, at least) is that I could have had this conversation with any one of millions of millennial. This is a generation lost. Funny how after I actually looked up the Prof and found she was actually tweeting during our conversation, about our conversation.
- Speaking of lost generations… I took my kids to Jesus Revolution yesterday late afternoon. Wow, what a great movie. I strongly, strongly recommend. Chuck Smith is an iconic American pastor and just a great dude. If you have (or get) the Blue Letter Bible app, he has a sermon for every chapter in the Bible.
- Also went to the UWW girls basketball game last night vs. Oshkosh. Great win. Kacie Carollo is a gritty, scrappy player who is not afraid to go after it. The whole team gels and plays their heart out. Looking forward to Sunday’s game.
- I had an amazing weekend last weekend, which included a couple sermons. Pastor Jeff Tillson at Lakeland went over boldness. Think about how taboo it is to speak Jesus’ name. And what is going on in Asbury Kentucky is awesome. I pray for revival.
I also went to Mt. Zion on Saturday night. Pastor Dave has such a heart for Christ. His sermon below discussing Bible Study is great, if you get a chance to listen.
I always say that you get ten times out what you put into Faith. It’s probably more than 10x.
I have many more random thoughts, but I will save them as I wake up my kids and make breakfast. Wishing everyone a great weekend.
Peace,
-mike
Discerning Whitewater 