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posted by Robert on 06/24/08

I was in serious trouble! I had promised to bring back dinner from a certain restaurant for a friend who was busy at work. Unfortunately, by the time I was finished enjoying my own dinner, the restaurant had closed and I was unable to fulfill my promise. It was a terrible feeling!

A while later on I apologetically called my friend up. I was dreading having to share my mistake. But, to my utter surprise, someone had already completely redeemed the situation and delivered dinner to them in my name! What a relief! It was a great feeling.

The benevolent soul who had heroically saved the day was none other than Mike Kelly. Actually, though, this kind of thing is pretty normal for Mike. Whether it’s surprising his coworkers with a box of donuts, making extra efforts to help his boss be successful, going out of his way to pick up someone stranded at the airport, or generously giving certain people a certain beverage from a certain location, Mike is always ready to sacrifice his personal time, money, and energy to encourage those around him. That’s what it means to be a giver.

There seems to be two kinds of people that you come across in life: “givers” and “takers”. Givers sacrifice their own resources to invest in the lives of others. Takers selfishly attend to their own needs and thus zap energy from everyone else.

“Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.”
Philippians 2:4

6 Comments » | posted in The Bright Side

posted by Robert on 06/22/08

At this time 145 years ago, not only had West Virginia just gained statehood, but the famous Gettysburg campaign was in full swing. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia moved unchecked into the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, General Meade was about to take command of the Federal Army of the Potomac, and the stage was set for the historic climax of the Civil War in the little town of Gettysburg.

A worthy question

One key factor in the events that led up to this historic battle was that Confederate Cavalry leader Jeb Stuart, the "eyes and ears" of Lee’s army, was off on a wild goose chase during most of the Gettysburg campaign. His dramatic cavalry raid passed around the rear of the Union army. However, it did little to benefit the campaign and left General Lee with a lack of accurate intelligence in the days leading up to Gettysburg and at a significant disadvantage until he returned.

Perhaps the puzzling question of why Stuart undertook this untimely expedition can be answered in part by understanding the Battle of Brandy Station, the first battle of the Gettysburg campaign, which transpired on June 9, 1863. During a recent visit with the Wilkes, our family enjoyed a memorable tour of this important battlefield.

Standing on a hill overlooking the field, I could almost hear the pounding of hooves, rattle of musketry, and yelling of soldiers as I pictured what this place would have been like with thousands of soldiers riding at full speed across it. The Battle of Brandy Station had been the largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War, with about 17,000 mounted cavalry involved!

Though I had read about this battle many times before, it was definitely nothing like being there. As our tour guide, Matthew Wilkes, began to explain what had happened, Jeb Stuart’s actions for the rest of the Gettysburg campaign began to make sense.

Pride goes before a fall

General Stuart had been totally surprised
and caught off guard when the Federal cavalry attacked him at Brandy Station. Just the day before he had conducted a grand review for General Robert E. Lee to display the skill of his horseman. It included a huge cavalry charge with the horse artillery firing blanks to repulse an imaginary enemy army. Believe it or not, this was actually the second such exhibition in the matter of just a few days—General Lee had been too busy to attend the first one. With the plume on his
hat flapping in the Virginia breeze, Jeb Stuart proudly galloped at the front of the column, gratefully receiving the South’s admiration.

The very next day was when the Federal cavalry splashed across the Rappahannock and surprised Jeb Stuart’s unsuspecting Confederate Cavalry at Brandy Station. Though Stuart’s troopers gallantly held the field and won the day after intense fighting, Stuart’s pride was hurt. The overwhelming superiority that his cavalry once enjoyed was gone. As one Confederate soldier wrote, the battle of Brandy Station is what "made the Federal cavalry."

Stephen W. Sears, in his book, Gettysburg, reports that the Richmond Enquirer wrote, "Gen. Stuart has suffered no little in public estimation by the late enterprises of the enemy." The Richmond Examiner described Stuart’s command as "puffed up cavalry," that suffered the "consequences of negligence and bad management."

Perhaps it was the sting of words like these that motivated Jeb Stuart to attempt to redeem his reputation with such a huge cavalry raid. But, as noted earlier, that raid proved to be disastrous for the Confederates in the days leading to Gettysburg.

Walking away from the battlefield, I was reminded of the words of Proverbs 16:8:

"Pride goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before a fall."

6 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Robert on 02/29/08

David Waller and I enjoyed spending the month of January at the beautiful Northwoods Conference Center in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Jensen family was very hospitable during our stay. With Mrs. Jensen’s fine cooking and Mr. Jensen’s entertaining stories, we spent many enjoyable evenings together.

Our fun adventures included the opportunity to go cross country skiing, a first for me. David, having practically grown up on skis in the great state of Wisconsin, was a very patient instructor.

Another new experience was a snowmobile ride with Mr. Jensen. Zipping through miles of untouched snow along forest trails, across frozen lakes, and through hills and valleys at high speeds was an experience to be remembered!

5 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Robert on 02/5/08

From CBS News:

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s there to hear it, does that mean that it didn’t make a sound?" This was Mike Huckabee’s response when a reporter noted that a state newspaper had endorsed John McCain, calling Huckabee’s foreign policy experience unsettling. "The fact that they are not aware of, maybe, the experience that I  do have traveling to 41 countries, visiting with several prime ministers, having many trade missions and dealing with policy they may not be aware of, it doesn’t mean it did not happen, it may just mean they may not be aware of it," Huckabee continued.

"I also would remind people that what you would look for in a president is judgment. You look for the capacity to make decisions, and if you’ve been a governor, you’ve had more experience in actually making decisions and doing that across the broader battlefield than simply in the legislative body. Being able to pick an issue or two, focus on it, specialize in it, but maybe never have had the experience of looking at all of those issues and how they integrate together. In the executive branch, you don’t have the luxury of isolating issues, you have to integrate those issues and how they all function together."

Does Mike Huckabee have the experience to lead?

Mike Huckabee has as much experience as any other Governor who ever ran for President. Mike Huckabee has the leadership experience that comes with being an executive and has shown he can make tough executive decisions. He knows how to surround himself with good people, listen to advice, and make the best decision. He seems to be the only candidate with a clear grasp on the nature of this war as a radical religious mission of extermination and tyranny on the part of the terrorists. He believes in the Powell-Schwartzkopf doctrine of overwhelming engaging force, and fully stresses that military decision-making should be delegated to our commanders with "the blood on their boots and the medals on their chests." This doesn’t sound much like a Jimmy Carter, but more like Theodore Roosevelt. "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." (source)

Executive experience is considerably more
important  than foreign policy experience.
Mike Huckabee has that experience .

3 Comments » | posted in Politics

posted by Robert on 02/4/08

Many people have heard the whopping statistic from Huckabee opponents that there was a "47 percent increase in state tax burden" while Mike Huckabee was Governor of Arkansas. Few, however, get the rest of the story.

"During Huckabee’s years in office, total state tax burden — all 50 states combined — rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005."

But in Arkansas, Huckabee was standing as a fiscal convervative:

"In Arkansas, the income tax when he took office was 1 percent for the poorest taxpayers and 7 percent for the richest, exactly where it stood when he left the statehouse 11 years later. But, in the interim, he doubled the standard deduction and the child care credit, repealed capital gains taxes for home sales, lowered the capital gains rate, expanded the homestead exemption and set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and college tuition. Most impressively, when he had to pass an income tax surcharge amid the drop in revenues after Sept. 11, 2001, he repealed it three years later when he didn’t need it any longer. He raised the sales tax one cent in 11 years and did that only after the courts ordered him to do so."

Pretty impressive, eh? It must be, because Arkansas businessman really like him. Then, to top it all off:

"When Governor Huckabee left office last January, he had turned the $200 million state budget shortfall left by his Democrat predecessor into an $844 million surplus allowing his successor to follow Governor Huckabee’s lead to begin the elimination of the state sales tax on food."

And what are his fiscal goals as President? Huckabee is the the only presidential candidate calling for genuine permanent tax reform through the elimination of the IRS and supporting the "FairTax." This well-researched and proven method of taxation "abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities."

The Professor of Economics at Boston University reports that the FairTax "is more efficient than the current income tax system and these efficiency gains will redound to all Americans." It is designed to make "American goods 12-25% more competitive, boosting economic growth, increasing our exports, and securing American jobs. It also prevents criminals or illegal aliens from avoiding taxes, and makes the taxes we all pay 100% transparent."

By the way, did you know that Mike Huckabee signed the No-Tax Pledge?

So don’t be swayed by the politics. Learn what Mike Huckabee really stands for.

3 Comments » | posted in Politics