My wife has such great things to say about life. I have such great conversations with her almost every day of the week. Her heart for children and social justice is evident in her goals and dreams. I am so in love with her from the inside out.
I was pumped when she told me she would contribute occasionally to Riedlblog. It would certainly be beneficial to hear a bit from my other half, since she is such an integral part of my life. She stretches me and strengthens me in ways that no other person in the world does. I'm sure many of you readers out there would also appreciate hearing some of her thoughts and reflections from time to time.
So I'd like to give her a warm welcome, a hug, and a kiss to encourage her to feel free to write about whatever she wants!
All our boys ever talk about are video games. It's pretty crazy. A couple days ago, as the evening was coming to a close, we were waiting for two more boys' parents to come pick them up. Big surprise, we were having yet another conversation about video games.
3rd grader: "Do you have a Game Boy Advance?"
1st grader: "No, but I have a new version of the Wii."
3rd grader: "Oh really? What's it called?"
1st grader: "It's called a Wii Wii."
He was smiling ear-to-ear, clearly proud of his joke. And I'm still laughing.
One of the most painful things I have ever experienced just happened a couple weeks ago. A pilonidal cyst appeared near my tailbone. Basically, it is a small bump that is infected, gets filled with pus, and needs to be drained. I don't know how it got there, but it hurt. Bad. So bad that I had difficulty standing, sitting, crouching, lying down, or being in pretty much any position.
But I had to go to work! I can still remember the pain on that particular day, driving to work. I'm sure that everyone looking at me in my car thought I was attempting to sit on a cactus because I looked so uncomfortable. Thankfully, the cyst drained after a few days of pain and I felt much better. But during those few days, I was in so much pain that I would've gladly accepted help from anyone that offered it. I couldn't deal with the pain on my own and I needed someone to help me.
Most days I go about life and I feel great. I just went to get a physical, and my doctor told me I am doing wonderful. Because I'm not usually in pain, I often forget what pain feels like. Getting this pilonidal cyst helped me realize that there are many other people with pain. This world is so screwed up that most people have some type of pain often, and many people are in pain all the time.
Just think of all the ways we go through pain in our lives: marriage problems, chaos of raising kids, coworker complications, extended family difficulties, a death in the family, body aches and pains, financial stress, no money, no joy, no purpose, no reason for living.
What a great example of Christ would it be if I get out of my comfort zone and help someone in pain? We have a God that will work through His people to relieve pain and suffering in this world. I wrote a little note to myself to help remind me of this every morning:
There are people out there in the world who are in pain. God wants to use you to help them out. Be prepared.
I don't want to be selfish and only think of myself. I want to focus on the mission that God has given Christians: To spread the good news. What better way to do it than by doing exactly what Jesus did before He was murdered? Jesus helped people who were in pain...and that's what I can do too.
I remember back when I was in high school and I was a brand new Christian, excited to read my Bible all the time. Well that didn't last long. I remember my first couple years in college when I played more video games than I did studying for class. I remember when I graduated from college with two degrees in biology and sociology. I was proud of my accomplishments, but I was still unsatisfied because I hadn't been reading God's Word consistently.
I remember when I met a girl named Jen and eventually married her. I woke up this morning next to her, remembering back many years ago when I was anticipating this married life. Now, I think forward to when we have kids, when they grow up, and when we send them off into the world to fend for themselves. Life is short and it will be gone before we realize it.
Everyone wants to be prepared before doing something important. You don't want to go sky diving without a parachute, go take a test without studying, or go to a job interview without looking presentable. Right?
Well, I wanted to go into my marriage being prepared. I want to go into fatherhood being prepared. I want to be prepared for the rest of my life. How is a Christian instructed to prepare oneself? By reading the Bible. And when I say "reading the Bible," I don't mean reading it like any other book out there. It also includes studying, praying, meditating, memorizing, and applying God's words to one's life. In my life, I am certainly still working on all of these. It will take a lifetime to master. But my lifetime already has 25 years past. That's a lot of catching up to do.
I know that God's standard for being a good husband and father is not what the culture says. God tells me to wash my wife with God's Word and to teach and train my children in the instruction of the Lord. How can I do that if I don't read my Bible? I want to be able to answer any question my wife has, or any question my kids ask me about life. If I want my wife to mature and my kids to grow up loving Jesus, reading their Bibles, and pleasing the Lord, then I must be a good example for them.
After reading very slowly for the past year and a half, I just finished the New Testament. Yep, I'm a slow reader, but it has been wonderful! I absolutely love reading this book. In Revelation, John talks a lot about how Jesus will come again like a thief: when we are not expecting him to. I don't want to have to honestly tell Jesus, "Hi Jesus. I know you were betrayed, beaten, and suffered and died for me . . . and I was trying really hard to do what you instructed me to, but I just get really tired in the morning. I really need that extra 30 minutes to sleep, so I just kept hitting the snooze." I mean, can you imagine that? Talk about pathetic.
And for my last point. I often think to myself, How can I honestly call myself a Christian if I haven't even read the whole Bible? The majority of all of my beliefs have been based on what other people tell me about the Bible. I want to be personally responsible and knowledgeable about what I believe in. I don't want to misrepresent Jesus' name. I find it very refreshing to open it up and allow God's words to go straight from Him to me.
So that's why I read it every morning. I enjoy it while I eat my breakfast. Yum. I like to eat it up. It strengthens me.
My privates were touched again this morning! Sheesh... I think this is becoming a regular occurrence. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you must read my previous post about it: An Old Dude Touched My Privates
If you've already read it, then it just might be worth revisiting. :-)
If you are uninformed about the issue regarding the newly appointed Portland mayor, Sam Adams, read this CNN article for a quick summary.
I believe that Sam Adams should resign. It has nothing to do with the fact that he is homosexual. It has nothing to do with what goes on in his private life. What it is about is how he dealt with the issue.
When he was first questioned about his relationship with then-17-year-old Beau Breedlove, he had 3 choices of how to answer the questions: 1) Tell the truth, 2) Lie, or 3) Say "That's none of your business." I would say that the best choice for him would have been to tell reporters that it was none of their business. After all, a person's sexual behavior in their private home doesn't necessarily influence how they do their job. If he wasn't having sex with a minor, then he didn't have anything to hide if a criminal investigation was launched. If he was having sex with a minor, then he broke the law and should obviously lose his job.
But he didn't just say "that's none of your business." He chose to lie. And even worse than that, he continued to lie. And even worse than that, he asked that the teenager to lie about it too.
So here are three reasons I believe he should resign:
Honesty should be at or near the top of the list of characteristics we expect from our public officials. Just think of the most important things you want in a mayor. Is it possible to leave out "honesty"? For me, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Honesty influences his integrity and his ability to represent the citizens of Portland. If we can't trust him to represent us truthfully, then we need someone else.
If we had a re-vote today I doubt he'd get elected again. As of now, The Oregonian, The Portland Tribune, and Just Out (Portland's gay publication) have all called him out to resign. Whenever people in Portland hear his name or see him on a ballot from now on, they are going to wonder if they can trust him. Would you vote for someone that you aren't sure you can trust?
A public official who repeatedly lies as well as asking others to lie should be given a consequence. If he isn't disciplined for his actions, then that's setting an example for all others in public service that you shouldn't get a consequence if you did something wrong. Adams even admitted, "I should have told the truth at the time and taken the consequences." Well that was then, and this is now. Now he made it worse and should expect greater consequences because he didn't stop his deception.
If you lied repeatedly at your workplace (even if it's something as trivial as your private life) and also asked others to lie for you so that you'd get a promotion, would you expect to keep your job? I wouldn't.
Sure, everyone lies. It's one thing if he lied once and then apologized. If he was really sorry. But he actually admitted that in a way he lied to get elected. When the leader of our city says something like that, then I just don't think his head or his heart is in the right place. We need a leader who has respect, has integrity, and brings forth good judgment.
UPDATE: Well, Sam Adams did not resign. He's just gonna keep on working without getting a consequence. I'm not surprised, especially after reading this interesting article on lying: You’re a Liar! (But aren’t we all?)
My wife has such great things to say about life. I have such great conversations with her almost every day of the week. Her heart for children and social justice is evident in her goals and dreams. I am so in love with her from the inside out.
Most days I go about life and I feel great. I just went to get a physical, and my doctor told me I am doing wonderful. Because I'm not usually in pain, I often forget what pain feels like. Getting this pilonidal cyst helped me realize that there are many other people with pain. This world is so screwed up that most people have some type of pain often, and many people are in pain all the time.
Most days I go about life and I feel great. I just went to get a physical, and my doctor told me I am doing wonderful. Because I'm not usually in pain, I often forget what pain feels like. Getting this pilonidal cyst helped me realize that there are many other people with pain. This world is so screwed up that most people have some type of pain often, and many people are in pain all the time.
If you are uninformed about the issue regarding the newly appointed Portland mayor, Sam Adams, read this CNN article for a quick summary.