My wife's grandmother passed away on Sunday. I am sad because I will miss her very much. She was a wonderful woman and I am honored to have met her. I will always remember how we used to tease each other while playing cards with the rest of the family. I also rejoice for her since she is now reunited with her husband and they are in the wonderful presence of the Lord.

This makes me think back to when my grandfather passed away. I was not a believer at the time and it was so very hard to deal with the death of a loved one. I don't know if my grandfather was a believer when he passed but I hold out hope that I will get to see him again in heaven. My wife has told me before that she just doesn't know how nonbelievers are able to cope with the death of a loved one. I can tell you that it is very hard and a lot of people who don't know Christ never do get over the death of someone close to them. I know that until I received the awesome gift of hope from believing in Jesus Christ I was not able to get over the death of a loved one.

My wife sent the following email out to pretty much everyone she knows. I am a bit biased because my wife wrote it but I thoroughly enjoyed this exhortation and commentary on the culture we live in. I hope you do too.

This article I found is not worthy of a lot of attention, but I feel that it should be addressed.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5282987

The attorney that paid for the ad is under harsh criticism, but what about the advertising firm that created the ad? What kind of person would grab that job with both hands thinking, "what a great project!?" When an attorney asks for the ad, she is (deservedly so) raked over the coals, but what about the so-called artist that made the ad? When this "edgy" art is created (I'd like to put "art" in quotations as well), people say that the artist is "pushing the envelope" or "thinking outside the box." (Two terms that I hate by the way. "Pushing the envelope" can be another way of saying that the art lacks real aesthetic merit, but it's art because it offends the heck out of people or they are another Jackson Pollock - how innovative!) Today, artists are in a league of their own, excused for sick art purely for art's sake. Admittedly, I too have created artwork that was best left unearthed in my mind somewhere, but just because you can create a disgusting piece of art, doesn't mean you should.

This really hit me hard. I'm in a field where an "artist" can take dog poop, smear it on a canvas to look like the Virgin Mary, and make millions. I literally feel sick when I hear about such artists. As my friends, I urge you to seriously dissect what you watch, read, and take in. Those of you in the same field as I, please examine the work you produce. Don't be a mindless drone that paints feces on a canvas to make some absurd "I am an artist, so I need no moral compass" statement. Like I said, just because you can create a disgusting advertisement, doesn't mean you should.

Thank you for reading.

- at

Just a quick note here. I started my new job yesterday. Everyone that I have met has been very nice and the work atmosphere is pretty laid back. The only unfortunate thing about my new job is that it won't afford me any time during the day to post so my posting may be come even more infrequent. Once my work schedule is ironed down I will probably have more time in the afternoon at home which will be a good time to catch up on some news and have some time to post a thing or two.

On an another note. My wife and I found out that we are having a boy. He is healthy and is developing at a good rate. We are very excited but unfortunately are having a hard time finding boy names that we like. Please pray for the continued health of our son and for some inspiration into a good name for him.