Kansas City or Bust

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on May 30, 2012 by thechippedmug

This year millions of people will load up the car full of kids, fill their tanks of with gas, pack their bags and their wallets, and head to the great unknown.  There will be “are we there yet?” and “Next Services in 14 miles” that will impact the lives of all that roam this great country.  I have spent literally years on the road travelling these United States.

I decided that this year that we would plan our great trip to Kansas City.  At the last minute, we have had to change a few things. However, I have seen the great things that Kansas City has had to offer and it would behoove me to not share it.

1) Crown Center @ Kansas City- This great place is chalked full of great adventures, stores, sites, and more.  You can literally spend all day roaming around this great facility of stores, movie theaters, entertainment,and more!  The home of Hallmark, you can visit the Hallmark Store where you are entranced in a virtual reality with Hopps and YoYo and Maxine.  After you are mystified by these three great characters, you will find yourself browsing through countless stores. Along the way, you will find yourself submerged beneath the sea at the SeaLife Aquarium. This is a new addition to the Crown Center will enhance your knowledge of sea life. Over 5000 creatures await your arrival.  You can save money by booking online http://www.visitsealife.com/Kansas-city/.  Kids love the Legoland because they can built, climb, eat, and breathe Legos…..okay, maybe not eat because that to could cause problems but still, they will love this place!  Visit http://kansas.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/kansascity/ for more info!  Also, Kaleidoscope is a place of creativity and fun.  Kids can make art from all the left overs of Hallmark.  Best of all…it’s free!

2) Harry S. Truman Presidential Library- Nestled in the town of Independence Missouri (Just outside of Kansas City) is  the home and library of our “the buck stops here” president.  Harry S. Truman would become the most unlikely president and go on to bring great things to this nation.  His possessions and belongings along with his wife.

3)Kansas City Royals- You can’t visit Kansas City without stopping by the stadium to watch this great team play on their home turf.

4) The Plaza- If baseball isn’t your thing, then the Plaza will entice you with more shopping and entertainment along with carriage rides and other great amenities.

5) BBQ-This had to have a place of its own.  Hundreds of great BBQ restaraunts line the streets and highways of KC.  This is the place where BBQ happens.  It is the mecca of the mid-west BBQ. As seen on Man Vs Food, Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ has been awarded ZAGAT Best BBQ in KC and it lives up to its fame.

6) Worlds of Fun- Amusement is the great pass time of American History aside from Baseball.  Worlds of Fun amusement park will tickle your fancy with fun rides and unlimited fun.  Find out more @ http://www.worldsoffun.com/.

7) National World War Museum- The history buff in me loves to see artifacts, articles, and hear stories from the men and women of our wars.  This museum is no different.

There is so much more that I haven’t tackled in KC.  From the natural habitats for flowers to the downtown life, Kansas City offers much to those who desire a quick getaway in the Mid-West. What?  You want to go ?  Plan your trip at www.visitkc.com!

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Summer Lovin’, Havin’ a Blast

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2012 by Jeff Rushing

Our noble founder has asked us to contribute suggestions for summer vacation fun.

Ah, yes, those summer days, driftin’ away, to uh, oh, those summer nights. To which you reply, “A-well-a-well-a-well-a, tell me more, tell me more, was it love at first sight?”

Well, that’s none of your business, but instead of recommending the beach or the bright lights of the big city, I invite folks to explore the amusement, peace and relative inexpensivity (is that word?) of our Tennessee State Parks, specifically Chickasaw State Park near Henderson.

Why Chickasaw? Because Darling Valerie’s extended family has vacationed there every year for so long that she and her cousin are still on the cover of the park brochure, though with a picture taken when they were about 14 years old. Meaning, of course, only about 10 years ago *cough*. Love ya, babe!

 

The family rents a number of the 13 cabins in the park – some sleeping up to six comfortably – all within walking distance of each other. We lollygag to each other’s cabin to share meals, play Scrabble death matches or find babysitters so the parents can sneak into Henderson ten minutes away or Jackson less than an hour away to watch a movie, shop and eat out.

This will be Penny’s first year at Chickasaw (unless you count being in her Mommy’s belly last summer, of course), and Cooper’s third (or fourth if you use the same criteria).

They’ll both enjoy swimming in Lake Placid, which so far as I know has no alligators. But it does have sand on a beach, which Cooper quite enjoys. Maybe this year we can succeed in building more than just lumps out of a bucket and try our hands at something more complicated, like twobucket lumps.

Cooper also has fun on the playground and there is a lot of room to run around outdoors, lasso the deer and ride them like ponies. You know, ho-hum normal vacation activities. Either way, Val and I like that he wears himself out enough that we can all take some wonderful naps during the week.

Just so we don’t waste any time between meals and naps, we’re going to totally flaunt societal laws. Not only will we not make our children wait an hour after they eat to go swimming, we’ll insist they eat lunch while they’re in the water.

Even though we do this annual trip in the summer sauna season, for some reason being smoking hot on vacation is not the same as being outside at home when it’s “sweltering” and “so ridiculously hot that it might as well be a SyFy movie.”

We don’t follow the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” method of on-the-go travel, instead spending a lot of time outside the cabin, at the bridge on the lake or in the chairs watching the grass grow.

To make sure the kiddies don’t end up redder than turnips we apply 125 SPF sunscreen, which I’m told doesn’t exist by “scientists” with “degrees,” but that guy selling stuff out of his trunk along Winchester promises it works, and why would he lie?

If your idea of spending time outside involves getting angry at a little dimpled ball for hours, then the Godly Daddy looking to get away can find solace at a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courseright next door.

You might also be one of those weirdo families who like “the great outdoors” and have six bottles of skeeter repellant in your trunk, so you’ll enjoy hiking, biking, fishing, paddle boats on the lake and horseback riding. And if you’re one of those masochists who goes camping, then you’ll find plenty of areas for that, too.

Sure, you may say, this is the summer and I want to wade into the ocean or ride a roller coaster, and that sounds like a blast, but don’t overlook a little shoo-bop-bop, shoo-bop-bop at the state park, too.

It’s not cost-prohibitive, there’s lots to do for the kiddies, there’s plenty of room for Mommy and Daddy to get away from it all, and hey, what’s the summer without a few extra insect bites on your legs?

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Summer Vacation Series May 28, 30, & June 1

Posted in Uncategorized on May 26, 2012 by Steve Childress

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Remembering Memorial Day

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 25, 2012 by Steve Childress

If any of you personally know me, you know that I am a huge WWII history guy. No I did not grow up in that era, I am simply a 33 year old guy who understands the sacrifice the men & women of WWII gave, and why those sacrifices should still be respected to the greatest degree today. The WWII vets will tell you in an instance that they are a veteran of this Great War. You can spot them anywhere because most display their act of valor on their ball caps or bumper stickers on their cars. But do you truly understand where our world would be today, if our forefathers failed in the attempt to prevent the axis powers from world domination?

We can watch movies like Saving Private Ryan and get an idea of what it was like to storm the beaches of Normandy. Or watch, my favorite series, Band of Brothers, and see young men thrown into monumental leadership positions as their best friends are slain all in the attempt to save the world. You get a brutal idea of how war was handled then, face to face, bayonet to bayonet, and pistols verse tanks. These movies can create an illusion, whether how true to life they are or not, but in the end we simply brush it aside and move on with our lives. We tend to forget the sacrifice these men and women gave.

Tom Brokaw wrote a book called the “Greatest Generation” where he discussed in great detail why this particular generation earned such a name. These are people who were born into the Great Depression. They literally went with-out on a consistent basis. There were no credit cards, social security & unemployment benefits were not established until 1935 and even then it wasn’t meant for the payouts that people receive today, and people were not working because work was so scarce. This generation had to get by on what they had, and on a prayer. Yet they survived through disciplining each other and the Grace of God. Later Germany invaded Poland, and soon other neighboring countries, with its sights fixed on all of Europe. This generation, fresh out of the depression, was rebuilding its own economy when the US was forced into the war after Germany’s ally Japan bombed US soil in Pearl Harbor. America fought alongside England, France, and other ally countries in Europe and the Pacific islands to defeat this axis that was prompting to rule the world. Heroically this generation succeeded and put these threatening powers to rest. We in our current society, would look on this as a victory for the US of A but it really doesn’t take effect until we learned later after the war, that if the axis had succeeded, those from the Rockies to the west coast would be speaking Japanese today, and those from the Rockies to the east coast would be speaking German. This, in my personal opinion, truly was the “Greatest Generation”.

WWII was not the only war that we recognize on Memorial Day. The Korean conflict, where the North Koreans invaded the South Koreans and again the US stood their ground and said “No More”. And again, we in our current society will look at this as another US victory. I did, until I learned that my grandfather stepped outside his barracks in Korea to use the latrine, just as a North Korean missile took out his barracks killing every man inside. Life is that fragile and yet they fought.

Similar to Korea, Vietnam, as controversial as it was, was another test of feats to our US soldiers. Some did not see the reason in this war, and although the US was not directly affected by this conflict the US soldier fought until the conflict had settled.

The US solider has continued to show its strength against world dictators in Dessert Storm as yet another defenseless country like Kuwait comes under terrene. Whether if you think this war was over oil or not, the US soldier fought on behalf of a country that otherwise would’ve ended in genocide and never thought of again.

And as the US falls under yet another brutal attack on our home soil on 9/11 the US Soldier goes into harm’s way to defend its country and its freedom. In efforts to defeat world terrene, the US soldier is not promised a tomorrow but still they fight for you and me. They fight so that I can write this very blog, and that I can worship my God freely, and that I can raise my kids by mine and the bible’s standards. So before you write off this coming Monday as a “holiday” remember why we have this holiday and who we have to thank for it.

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Thoughts on Modesty (Part 1)

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on May 23, 2012 by B.J. Maxwell

C.J. Mahaney writes the following in his book  entitled Worldliness:

Dads, I want to urge you to take responsibility for your daughters’ dress. Fathers are absolutely essential to the cultivation of modesty. When a young lady dresses immodestly, it usually means her father has failed to lead, care for and protect her.  Without a father’s care and protection, she may be daily exposed to the lustful minds of men.

My three daughters are grown and married now, but from an early age I sought to impress upon them the importance of modesty. Before an article of clothing became a permanent part of their wardrobe my girls had to get my approval. This wasn’t always easy—for them or for me. Modest clothing is hard to find. Sometimes, they’d arrive home after an all day shopping trip only to hear me say: “That’s not gonna, work, my love. I’m so sorry, but exhaustion from shopping doesn’t excuse immodesty. We’re not going to compromise.”

We confronted this very issue several years ago.  Pastors gladly live on used clothes. When our oldest daughter was 3-years-old she came into some shorts that had writing on the backside. What possible reason would there be for writing on the back of a 3-year-old’s shorts?  They were quickly relegated to play-at-home shorts and even then were to be worn backwards.

I see no reason for any girl (especially Christian or those being raised in the gospel) to want such writing except to say, “Look here!”  They mustn’t then wonder later why all guys want is to get into the very shorts they’re advertising! “You can’t deal me all the aces and expect me not to play,” crooned the country star. Yes, there is a word to be said to our sons as well.

Some may say, “C’mon, Maxwell, shes just three and they’re just cute shorts.” To that I say, “Shes not just three. She’s already three and already processing and learning the definition of modesty. I’d rather her learn that from Scripture, not you.” I understand the nature of total depravity, which means that I and my son are like dumb oxen and stupid birds (Prov 7.22-23). We need no help luring our eyes to inappropriate places. Men will take the bait every time. Therefore, I don’t intend to teach my daughter to set the hook.

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Who is on Your Heart’s Throne?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2012 by Steve Childress

There is a podcast I use to follow and I recently picked it back up and started following it again called www.crosspoint.tv. The pastor of this church, Pete Wilson, started a new series called “Empty Promises” that basically centered on idolatry and what we seek after that only Jesus can fulfill. Things in our lives that we consistently meditate on to the point of consuming us, and in the end, it’s never enough. Now idolatry can be anything that takes the place of God in our lives and it’s not necessarily always another god like Buddha, Baal, or anything else we typically think are idols. Idolatry can also be things like appearance, success, money, relationships, acceptation, and anything that we think we need in our lives that can deliver us to that next stage and make us “truly happy”.

I admit I really hesitated on writing this post because throughout this series God has opened some pretty dark doors I’ve had in my life that I chose to keep shut. Doors that I didn’t want to acknowledge therefore I would continue to live my life as I always have. I chose to post this because of the possibility that there are other readers out there who might be caught up in the same idolatry that I am, and are screaming to get out. Therefore I’m choosing to be obedient, and reveal something that honestly not very many people know about me.

I guess you can consider me a likable guy. I am like this because I am a people pleaser. I am always making light ended conversation with people, making them feel comfortable, and if I can get you to laugh or smile then my job is done. What you don’t see on the exterior though is this incredible need to feel accepted. I long for it. If I’m not accepted by one person then it literally consumes my thoughts until I can either resolve in my mind that I’m right or I can convince this person to like me. But it goes deeper than that. To be accepted I feel that I need to have the “perfect” life. I need to have the job to appear that I am successful. I need to have the money to make my family feel secure and in my mind the life “they” deserve. I need to have the house that I’ve always wanted, and take the trips to build memories with my family and friends. If I feel that I am lagging in one of these areas, I take drastic measures to change my situation. If I don’t feel that I am making enough money I hit the career sites frantically looking for the next job that will fix all my problems. In my mind I’m looking for the right salary that will make everything right, the right benefits that will allow these vacations and family time, and the right job that will turn heads when I tell them what I do for a living. When I do this I end up robbing myself when the phone doesn’t ring or the “Although your qualifications are impressive….” email that always follows. I am robbing myself because when you consume yourself with something and you don’t get it, you feel like a failure.

Another setback of mine that comes with being a people pleaser are my highs and lows. Now my wife, the one other than God who knows me the most, will tell you that I rarely get depressed. My depressed days, on an outward appearance, will typically play off of me just being in a bad mood. If I get an email at work that praises my actions, recognized for something great I did, or as a soloist, complimented on a song I sung, then I am on an extreme high. However with extreme highs come extreme lows. If I am chastised for something, do something that has let someone I care for deeply down, then I am in an extreme low. It might not show, other than a bad mood, on the outside, but on the inside I am devastated. Being in an extreme low I begin to revert back to the fact that I need to “fix” my situation taking me right back to the paragraph above. It is a continuous cycle because I am constantly trying to find the one thing that will fulfill my life that in the end will never be enough. I am seeking a fulfillment that can only be filled by none other than God.

It may seem after reading this that I am a non-Christian, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I know without a doubt that I am a child of God’s, and I accepted Him into my life to be my Lord and Savior. However, being a Christian does not mean that every day will be a day of perfection. In fact God uses the circumstances in our lives so that His love, grace, and mercy can shine through brighter than ever before. I have simply replaced God on the throne of my life with this overall need for acceptance. Whatever is on the throne of your life, this is what consumes your thoughts, desires, and actions. God has sat on my throne many times throughout my life, but every now and then I replace Him. Not intentionally and not in one swift movement, but I slowly replace God with other desires of my heart. When God is sitting on my heart’s throne then I am truly at peace with my circumstances regardless of how large or small they may be. I have no doubt that God allowed me to pick back up on this podcast at this particular time, because He needed me to hear this series. He needed me to realize that He is not on my throne seat and He wants what is rightfully His. After going through this series I came home the other night to an empty house. This is a very rare occasion, but the family was over at my in-laws and I needed to pick up a few things before joining them myself. In the quietness of my bedroom I laid face down on my bed and with great conviction I spoke with my God. I asked for forgiveness for replacing Him with this feeling of acceptance. I asked God to take His place back on His throne, and I asked God that His name be praised through the circumstances He allows into my life. No job, no income, no, appearance will ever give me what my God can give me. I will be provided for because my God will meet my every need. All of these things that I feel will make my life complete mean absolutely nothing because they will never fill the void I am looking for. My God has given me and will continue to give me peace as long as He is on the throne of my heart.

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Let’s get our Ant on! Time to put a plan in place

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2012 by memphisjosh

Hello again, last post I discussed having a financial meeting with your spouse and use it as a time to find God’s will for your life.  In the next few posts I am going to try and help you prepare for your first meeting and give a roadmap for the conversation.  Keep in mind that this is a RADICAL idea to seek God first in your finances.  I understand that it has been talked about a lot, but executing it is a whole different ball game.  I say this because money gets short fast and it’s easy to cut corners.  Trust me I Know.  It is a daily struggle of mine to walk with God when it comes to finances.  I say this not because I don’t want to; I say it because the execution is HARD.  So, as we start this journey let’s reflect on Proverbs 6:6-8

“Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest”

Let’s start to get our Ant on…..

Remember we first have to have face ourselves and know exactly what we are up against before a game plan can be made.  The best way to know what you’ve gotten into is to pull your credit.  There are three main credit bureaus out there and by law they have to give you a report every 12 months.  Here are a few easy ways to get this done.  Keep in mind that most of them require a credit card to get the report even though it’s free so, make sure you read the fine print and only order the free one.  Credit score isn’t really important to our exercise.

www.annualcreditreport.com

www.freecreditreport.com

www.creditkarma.com

Once you pull these, list out all debts including total debt, interest rate, minimum payment.  This will arm you with #theTruth!  I don’t know why I made a hash tag just seemed cool.  Remember this is a journey and it all starts with the cold hard facts.  Next post I will outline some conversation starters, and then I’ll get into how to combine your conversation with your information to develop a plan.  I will do the same thing so I can share my experience; please feel free to do the same.

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