Well . . . it's the end of an era; the Bush Era. Some are happy, some are sad. I'm going to spend a few moments to reflect on the past and project on the future.

Here and here are a couple of blogs that have done similar. Not surprisingly, I do not wholly agree with either or them.

It should be no surprise that I am a conservative. I detest neo-conservatism (which is neither neo nor conservative by the way) as well as party loyalty. I like to think I am loyal to ideas, not political parties. That's why I am not very popular amongst Republicans or Democrats. I actually have an ideology.

Without further ado here are my thoughts:

1) This day saddens me. Not because I love President Bush, but because I am a nostalgic person.

2) Bush dissapointed my conservative ideals. I don't know why people who claim to be conservative love him so much, nor do I know why people who claim to be liberal hate him so much. You'll see why I say this in a moment.

3) He spent waaaaay too much money. He was NOT a fiscal conservative.

4) He expanded government in waaaaay too many areas. No Child Left Behind, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, his prescription drug program, the PATRIOT Act . . . and the list goes on. All of these were liberal ideas, yet liberals hate him and "conservatives" love him.

5) His foreign policy team was considered among the best ever at the time of its creation. Unfortunately, his foreign policy decisions did not turn out as well as he had hoped. However, all is not lost.

6) One thing NO ONE gives Bush credit for is the dismantling of Libya's WMD program. The day the U.S. invaded Iraq, Libya contacted British intelligence and asked them to set up a meeting with the U.S. to talk about relinquishing its WMDs. Libya did so without ANY promises from the U.S. delegation. This was a direct result of the U.S.'s desire to challenge authoritarian governments that possessed WMDs.

7) Invading Iraq was probably a bad decision. However, if anyone tells you for certain whether it was right or wrong is talking to you from a partisan point of view. The truth of the matter is that we just don't know how Iraq will turn out. It could be a great, fluorishing democracy for years to come, or it could become as horrible and despotic as every. No one knows. If they claim to know, they are speaking as a partisan, not a matter of fact.

8) I admire the fact that President Bush was unflappable given all the flack he took from his adversaries. Many, many, many people were downright hateful to him. Most attack him personally, not politically. I find such behavior absolutely ridiculous and frankly quite unintelligent.

9) Bush is also a man of faith. I admire him for that. Is/was he perfect? Absolutely not. Has he represented Christ well while in office? At times absolutely, and at others no, but that is no different than most of us.

10) September 11th changed President Bush. Everyone likes to rag on him, but can any of us say how we would have handled the situation differently? Probably not. If we did, it would be post-hoc. Undoubtedly, Bush was dealt a raw hand on 9/11. The people thought he did well, so they re-elected him. Even if we don't agree with his post-9/11 policies, we must always respect the fact that he had to deal with more in the post-9/11 world than any of us ever have or ever will.

11) Relating to the last point, there can be no doubt that President Bush loves his country. I cannot forget the many tear-filled speeches he gave following 9/11. The man loves his country and acted in ways to protect it. We should not fault him for that. We can question his actions and policies, but we need to remember that he did not want anymore American blood spilled on our soil.

12) Politics has been hate-filled during his entire administration. A lot of that comes from the 2000 election and a lot comes from the relationship between Clinton and House Republicans during Clinton's Presidency. I hope we don't experience that during Obama's Administration. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for people to give up their beliefs. I'm asking for people to be civil as opposed to the vitriol we have seen the past 8-12 years.

13) I don't fear Obama as much as others (and remember, I am a real conservative). He, just like GWB, will do what he thinks is best. No, I will not like all of his policies. I may not even like more than a handful, but he is the President of the United States. He deserves our respect.

14) There is no way Obama will be able to accomplish everything people are expecting of him. If he can't manage expectations, he will not win a second term.

15) Given Congress' far Leftward tilt, if Obama and Congress legislate from the far Left, he will not win another term. If he keeps Congress moderate to moderate slightly Left, he will be toast as will many of the Congressional Democrats.

16) And finally (unless I come up with something later), we ALL need to do what these two men are doing. We need to pray for our leaders. Pray for soon-to-be President Obama. Pray for his discernment, leadership, and wisdom. Pray that Obama relies on God. Many have questioned his faith, so make sure you pray for him. Pray for all those in government who make critical decisions for us.

Yup, I'm At It Again. I'm Asking For More Prayer.

Again I am here asking for prayer. My wife and I are both ready to leave this area and our current jobs/lives/etc. I have begun applying for some jobs in Washington D.C. and should be hearing from them very soon. I have some connections that are working on getting my resume past the bureaucrats and into the hands of people who actually make hiring decisions, so that is a plus. I am extremely excited about the jobs and am able to put forth a very competitive resume.

My wife says she has a peace about the idea of us leaving. She has lost her desire to teach and is ready to do something else. When my wife says she "has a peace about . . . " that is usually a good thing. She always lets me know when we are doing something to upset her "peace". As for me, I have not been this excited about the future in quite some time.

I ask that you please pray that my resume finds its way into the hands of the right people for my future. My wife and I are working under some budgetary and time constraints, thus making things more difficult, but we are also looking forward to what God has in store for us.

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for us over the last several weeks/months. I appreciate you and your prayers.

Life Driven By Prayer

Yesterday while I was driving through town I saw a church sign that said "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" I thought it was ingenious. So often we rely on prayer when we are in trouble. How many of us use prayer to guide our path as opposed to using it to get us where we want to go?

I try to let prayer be my steering wheel, but I fail miserably. I think it is because I don't always know how to let prayer guide me. Praying in a time of need is incredibly easy. Even people who attend church twice a year believe in prayer when they they are in trouble.

How can I learn to pray for guidance? What do I need guidance in? How do I know that my answers come from prayerful consideration instead of hopes, dreams, and a little prayer here and there? What does a life look like that is guided by prayer?

Another Semester Down

I just finished another semester. This was probably the toughest, most depressing of them all. My fellow classmates agree with me on that observation by the way. This one was hard because we are nearing the end of our course work, the classes offered this semester were, ummm, dreadfully uninteresting to any of us, and most of us took classes taught by new professors. Needless to say, we are all burnt out and ready to jump ship.

I would love to get out of here, or at least move to part-time, but I just don't know if it will happen. I keep hoping I'll get a call one day and someone will offer me a decent paying job that appeals to me. I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks to all who prayed for me this semester. Unfortunately, the job is not yet done. I need a solid dissertation topic by next semester (probably early March or so) to continue to receiving funding from the university. Honestly, at this moment, I would take almost anything as long as it gets me a degree. That, or I'll just hope Jesus comes back in the next 3 months.

Also, please be praying for what I do next. Even though I am probably 2 years from graduation, some of the jobs I want may take a good year to get through the application process. When and where do I apply? What about my wife's job? What about the fact that we are not the richest people in America and moving or time without both of our incomes would be devastating? There are lots of questions to be answered. I just pray that I rely on God and not my own hopes and dreams.

Where Am I?

It's been a while, I know. Things have been kinda crazy around here. My wife got sick (feeling much better now), I hurt my back working out (still not quite 100%, but close), school got busy, and my wife has been working on some sewing projects at her mother's business.

All of these things have led to a lack of blogging, and quite honestly, a lack of spending time with God. It's amazing how much I depend on routine. I really need to work on that.

Anyways, . . . I will just go ahead and throw this out there, my wife and I need prayer. We are kinda clueless at the moment. Last week my wife told me that she doesn't know what she is meant to do. She is currently a teacher at a private high school. She took that job as a way to make a living while in college, not as a career. I'm a Ph.D. student in political science who is growing increasingly embittered with said area of studies. I don't know what I'm suppose to do either, I just know that it isn't political "science" research. For a long time I have questioned my purpose, but now that we both are clueless, it only adds to the enigma.

Also, my wife needs me to step up and be a better spiritual leader. This is something I have battled with. I am not confident in my knowledge or wisdom when it comes to spiritual matters. I am uncomfortable talking about such issues with people I know because I just don't feel that I measure up. That is one reason I started this blog. I yearn for the knowledge, and I find learning quite enjoyable. I just have trouble expressing my Biblical knowledge (or lack thereof) with others.

Back to jobs. I HAVE to have a job that makes a difference. I cannot handle doing irrelevant things. Honestly, since only God is relevant, I wonder if I should look into Christian organizations like Family Research Council or Focus on the Family, but I don't know what kind of job someone with a background in national security and conflict would be able to get at such an institute. And of course, going back to paragraph 2, I don't know how successful I would be at that.

So basically what I am telling y'all is that my wife and I are completely lost, wondering aimlessly through life at the moment. I'm 27, she's about to hit 26 and we are ready to find our niche. We just have no clue what it is or where it might be?

Daniel 6 and the Line between Loving God and Respecting the State

Daniel and the lion's den is one of the more well-known stories of the Bible. I do not plan to go into depth about it here. It is in Daniel 6 if you want more info on it.

The story did make me wonder about when it is appropriate to shun the state's laws. The Bible tells us that God puts into power the person He wants in power for that particular moment. We are also suppose to obey the state unless they ask us to do things that are against God.

Undoubtedly, Daniel continued to pray to God instead of Darius because the law that forbid praying to anyone but Darius was counter to God's law. That is an easy one. However, what about more difficult questions? What about school prayer? What about being a man or woman of faith while at work? Where is the line between being faithful to God like Daniel was and being respectful of the state and/or employers?

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 22:2
"The rich and the poor have this in common: They Lord made them both."