Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace
How Sweet the Sound
That Saved a Wretch Like Me

I am always moved by the words of this song of praise to our Lord, Jesus.
When I consider the substitutionary death of Jesus, I am amazed that God would do such a thing for his deeply flawed and rebellious children.

On July 17th, 1996, I received Christ as my Savior. I was baptised by immersion several years later as an act of obedience to God and an outward symbol of my faith. The Lord has been faithful to me, granting to me many blessings. When I chose teaching as my profession, I did not think of it as my calling, but through a decade of teaching, I now know that He has placed me in a position to serve as salt and light to those with whom I work.
After surviving a cardiac arrest in my classroom while teaching, I learned a lot. I learned first and foremost that He has further plans for me. I also gained a deeper understanding of the value of family. My wife and kids are so important to me. My most vivid memory of August 31st, 2005 was waking in the ER and seeing my wife. Other than our wedding day, I was never happier to see her. Of course, when I saw my two daughters the next day, I was happy to the point of tears. The outpouring of love from my family and my in-laws was special. My dad flew in to be with me, an act that just made me love him more. My father- and mother-in-law came to spend several weeks with us to help with the girls and provide moral support for myself and their daughter. I freely state that I am blessed with terrific in-laws, including both parents and siblings.
Finally, I further appreciate the witness that I can be for my students. While I am not blatant and in their faces about my faith, I do my best to live out my faith in class, demonstrating honesty, fairness, and compassion. The Lord gave me a sense of humor to use as a teaching tool. I am extremely honored that He gives my the opportunity to go to work each day and to have fun with my students who teach me as much as I do them. It is always my intent to be the same man in the classroom or in the community that I am in church. Thanks to the teaching of Brother Phillip Smith and the associate pastors at First Baptist Church in Bentonville, I have a deeper understanding of the role that I play in Gods plan for His people.

Thank you God for your Amazing Grace!

Erin Go Bragh

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A Soldier Goes Home

George Robert Names

Our beloved Grandpa George Names died Tuesday morning, February 17th. This wonderful man was a blessing to us all.

The following narrative describes his service in the United States Army during the Second World War.

George Robert Names served in the United States Army. He was attached to the 80th Infantry, Third Army in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War. Private Names landed in Normandy, France in 1944, shortly after the main Allied invasion in June of that year. He fought his way across northern France in pursuit of German forces withdrawing from occupied Western Europe. He saw combat action in the areas of Metz and Nancy in the eastern frontier of France, spending most of his nights in foxholes as a forward observer, frequently within earshot of German troops.

As is characteristic of most who served in combat, Mr. Names’ account downplayed the dangers and brutal realities of warfare. Those experiences are only comprehensible to the few who have been through them and words have little real impact.
In the drive to cross the Moselle River, George Names experienced the common problems of the infantryman, including the malady that eventually led to his evacuation from the war; extreme frostbite to his feet. More terrifying were the sudden exchanges of fire with the enemy that was sometimes only mere yards in the distance. One such incident nearly took Names’ life.

German machine gun fire sprayed across the network of foxholes in which American troops kept watch over suspected enemy positions near the river. While seated in a foxhole with another soldier, Names began to rise from his position in the hole. His comrade pulled him back into the bottom of the hole. His account of the incident was that many of the men around him were wounded or killed and the action taken by his foxhole-mate saved him from the same fate. Clearly grateful, but subdued in his description, George Names told this story to few people. This underscores the nature of this citizen soldier that survived the war and lived a life of postwar peace with his wife of more than sixty years, Vetta Arlene Names.
At the time of his death, George Names left a legacy of both soldier and devoted family man. This quiet man lived to see several generations of adoring family members. He is remembered as a great yet common man who was the embodiment of his generation. One of millions who participated in the war, he would be the first to say that the true heroes of the war never came home. Nevertheless, he was and remains our hero.

President Obama, Ice Storms, Puppy and Praise

Good Morning World!
As I write, we are in the midst of a major ice storm. It is the heaviest such storm since my family moved here in 2001. We are getting at least an inch of ice and I have to tell you that the new puppy in our house is not excited about heading out into the weather. House training has been a challenge already, but I guess this is a day to throw your hands into the air and say "oh well." She's going to do what she is going to do under these circumstances. We are blessed to have her and even more so to have a home to keep us out of the elements.

President Obama has been in office for a week now and there is a lot of excitement about him and his talk of change. While I cannot say the same for my friends on the left, I proudly accept this man as my president. It is my sincere hope that Americans in general will view him as such and enthusiastically work toward the improvement of our nation. For eight years, it was as if President Bush was considered a pretender to the throne. One might think that he failed to do one positive thing. Few on the left were capable of swallowing their partisanship and vitriol to admit to ANY successes during his presidency. I find it laughable that President Carter, whose presidency was marred with economic misteps and foreign policy failures was suddenly viewed as some sort of guru from whom Bush was somehow supposed to draw invaluable advice to save the nation from "malaise," foreign adventurism, and the evil lord Cheney. Wasn't it exciting when Ronald Reagan arrived on the scene to promise change? Americans soundly rejected Carter in favor of a brighter future with a new commander at the helm.

Of course the crown prince of Hope, Arkansas could do no wrong outside of his personal life. Partisanship was alive and well during President Clinton's presidency. This time it was the Republicans who could not stomach accepting the good policies of the rival party's leader. In many ways, Clinton's eight years in office were marred by continual efforts of the right to undermine the executive branch's actions, whether they had merit or not. There were, of course, mistakes. Some were major. But these could be blamed in part on the impeachment efforts in Congress. "What if" history will ask what preventative measures might have been achieved had the president been able to work with some degree of bipartisan support.

This entry is not meant to suggest that all should be butterflies and rainbows in Washington, but there does need to be a move toward thoughtful cooperation on behalf of the citizens of the United States for whom the denizens of Washington claim to represent. Was the Bush administration haughty, hasty, and single-minded in its pursuit of the president's goals? Perhaps one could say that. But did the Republicans reap what they sowed in the Clinton years? Was the eight year assault on his character payback for the attacks upon Clinton? There would seem to be at least stong suggestions to the affirmative. Have the issues that have plagued the Bush presidency been soley of his doing? Fair-minded observers would recognize the good with the bad. History rarely makes its judgment for several decades. Enough time has passed to make educated judgments about Carter and Reagan. The truth is that insufficient facts have been uncovered or declassified to evaluate either Clinton or Bush.

So now the 44th POTUS is in office. He will without a doubt make decisions that anger the Republicans, and even some in his own party. But isn't it time to consider President Obama the leader of all of us. We can use our constitutional rights to support or oppose him on policies. But institutionalized rejection of our leader because of his party affiliation will continue to carve a divide in this land. Could civil unrest be an outcome of continued ultra-partisanship? This writer believes that to be a realistic possibility. Thomas Jefferson once remarked that sectionalism in early 19th century America would eventually lead to dire consequences. While the nation is not currently geographically divded per se, it is ideologically split. Political partisanship is not without precedent in our history, but few are the times when the stakes of national survival are so clearly in jeopardy from beyond our borders.

I wish to close this posting with praise to the Lord for bringing Harper Stamps into this world. It is always heart-wrenching to know of a couple that desires so strongly for a child only to have those hopes dashed time and again. So it is with great joy that I raise up this child's name as a gift from God to parents who continued to believe and have faith that all things are possible through Jesus. God bless the Stamps and their beautiful daughter. Although her entry into the world was not without difficulty for mother and child, one cannot question the enduring faith of Kelly and Scott Stamps and the legions of those in the blogosphere who fervently prayed for this child's survival. Glory to God in the Highest!

David

A Christmas to Remember

Christmas 2008 has now passed and we are moving into 2009 with a hope and prayer that God will bless this country, our leaders, and our people.

My family and I traveled to Tucson, Arizona where we had four generations come together for a festive time. Lots of card playing and reminiscing. Even more simple enjoyment of time together. Cheryl and I are proud of Ali and Erica for being great travelers. Mercifully, we did not encountertoo much in the way of delays.

Cheryl and Ali (left) and Erica (right) Daddy Dave with Ali (right) and Erica (center)

It is always wonderful to see Grandma Arlene and Grandpa George. They are both getting on in years, but they are still going. I certainly cherish the times that I get to reflect with Grandpa George on his time in the Army during WWII. He was in the 317th Regiment of the 180th infantry, 3rd Army in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). While he does not speak much about his experiences, I do get little glimpses into his experience each time that we meet. The rigors and terror that he faced while in France seep slowly out of a memory repressed. As a military historian, I cannot resist pushing just a bit for more information. Some of it has been forgotten, some better left unsaid. Perhaps what I admire most about George and Arlene is their home-spun simplicity. Life is certainly hard for them at their age, but they retain that dignity of a time that is seemingly in the past, not to be carried on by those of us who have not been tested by the traumatic events of their youth.

At right is the newest addition to our family. This is Cinderella (Cindy). She is an 11-week old pure-bred Maltese. We lost our Mollie two years ago and did not want to get another dog for a long time. Lately we have been anxious to find another little darling and we found her right here in Bentonville. She is still getting used to us and she DOES NOT like to take walks yet.

During a year when things of historic proportions took place (economic crisis, the election of Barak Obama, etc.) We as a family fared pretty well. We are blessed with pretty good health and job stability. The girls are terrific. God is good.

In closing, I say that one of the best events of the year was the birth (actually 12/28/07) of Stacy and Mike's beautiful twins, Ian and Jillian. What else could be better than an expanding family.

God Bless All! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Current economic crisis and politics

The current election is certainly an interesting one. The economic situation has turned things on their head and it has probably given Senator Obama the election because it takes the primary strong-point of the Republicans, foreign policy, away. While McCain may have some reasonable ideas regarding the economy, he seems unable to articulate them in a way that gains him any additional support beyond his base. I would be surprised if this election is close after all.

As one may recall, the president/party in the White House at the time of financial problems usually takes the blame, whether or not their policies actually caused the problem. In the case of the current crisis, years of encouraging lenders to grant loans to high-risk borrowers have come back to haunt the banking industry, particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the last 15 years or so, there have been regular efforts on the part of the Democratic Party to assist lower income individuals in getting home loans. This has been against the council of numerous economists who were not enthusiastic about the housing boom that was created. Remember, booms tend to bust over time. Hear that? That was the sound of a bust! Republicans are certainly not without dirty hands in this, but their issues tend to deal more with deregulation efforts. Many GOP members did warn that Fannie and Freddie were going to be unstable if lending practices were not closely observed. Those calls were poo-poo'd as unfriendly to lower class borrowers. Now the government has had to step in to rescue these institutions as substantial taxpayer expense.

The current stock market instability is very scary but probably temporary. What may prolong it is the insistance on the part of government to interfere too much. It has also gone global because we are such a major force in the economies of the world. Willingness on the part of individual countries to stabilize their situations will play a role in the length of the crisis. Some may not play along with the rest of the crowd for nationalist reasons. Should that occur, things could drag on longer.

Market "panics" are a part of our economic history. Panics over banking and speculation have taken place as early as 1819 and reemerged periodically every twenty years or so. This convinces some that the markets are cyclical; the classic theory of economics. During the early phase of the Great Depression, many in the U.S. government believed this to be the case. In the 1932 election, Hoover took a drubbing from FDR because the latter promised CHANGE from the "failed policies" of the Republicans. Whether it was Republican policies or not, poor Hoover, only in office for a few months when the Crash occurred, took the blame and was unable to climb out from under the economic crisis of his day. Now here we are with a new major crisis and a party to blame. Astute voters will note that Congress has been dominated by the Democrats for the last two years, but because of an unfortunate vendetta against Bush, they allowed themselves to lose focus on their agenda. This Congress faces unprecedented low approval because of their lack of action on the things that they promised to fix. I have been saying for some time (at least five years!) that partisanship from BOTH parties has stalled progress for the American people. NOW is the time to break that practice. I am not convinced that EITHER candidate for president is truly willing to do what must be done - true bipartisan efforts. Despite claims otherwise, McCain is a proven agent of bipartisan action. But Congress will play a far more important role in breaking the partisan chains. The President MUST lead us in that direction. The Congress will have to bring that spirit forward for REAL change to occur.

Iran and Nukes

Make no mistake about it. Iran is a problem that we created a long time ago. Our support of the Shah of Iran was similar to what American leaders have done in other parts of the world before and after the Iranian Revolution. The issue has generally come down to our support of an autocratic government for fear that a radical government would emerge. Yet our support of a strongman has frequently led to unrest because of the economic gap between the few who run a nation and the masses that have little control over their lives, economically or socially. This brings us to Iran. Shah Reza Pahlavi represented the modern, wealthy side of Iranian society. The poorer masses resented their position and turned to fundamentalist Islamists who decried the Westernization of Iran and called for a return to traditional Muslim ways. The denizens of the streets of Teheran and elsewhere were a prime audience for revolutionary rhetoric. The odd thing is, we were taken by surprise by this. Jimmy Carter was president at the time and certainly accountable for much of this, but the coddling of the Shah pre-existed our greatest ex-president.

So now we face a sabre-rattling Iranian government that hates the U.S. and looks for street cred in the Middle East by calling us the Great Satin and threatening the annihilation of Israel. Iranian nuclear ambitions are well known. How far they really are in their program is hard to say, but the most out-spoken anti-American state in the region seems bent on getting the bomb. Logic should dictate to Iranian leaders that a nuclear attack on U.S. interests would yield nothing but their own destruction. That is, of course if we have political and military leaders in place who are willing to go all the way if necessary. If a small-scale terrorist attack using a nuclear device should take place, the sources for that weapon would be a limited family of nations that already have the technology, or one who is anxious to join the clan.

Will we see the first modern instance in which nuclear weapons are used in hostilities. The U.S. bears the distinction of being the only nation as yet to do so. Will Iran ultimately take such a step. The results of elections in November could narrow Iran's options. But don't expect Israel to sit idle while Iran plots her demise.