Christmas Eve 1938

I was always interested that my parents got married on Christmas Eve.
Today would have been my parent's 70th anniversary. But my dad passed away October 31, 2005, about 3 months after these pictures were taken.


I love this picture that my niece Elizabeth took. I'm pretty sure it was spontaneous. To see two people love each other all their lives is significant.

I am so glad God gave us this time so we all could be together.

BRRRRRRRRR......

The quote states, "One picture is worth a thousand words."



What do you think?
We had an ice storm here in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. We had about 2 inches of freezing rain and sleet.

READER'S DIGEST...stop the harassment!!!

Over the last few months we have received, MANY TIMES, the following phone call from Reader's Digest, RD - "Hello, Mr. Thornton? We would like to speak to you about your Reader's Digest subscription." ME - "We have not had a subscription with Reader's Digest for 10 years!" RD - "Our records indicate that you have a subscription and we were wondering if you would like to renew it."
ME - "We have not had a subscription for over 10 years!"
RD - "Why have you discontinued your subscription?"
ME - "When your magazine was sold, many years ago, we noticed the quality drop and the conservative viewpoint changed."

One of the last times RD called, I asked to speak to a supervisor and the conversation was even more convoluted. I asked them to remove me from their call list. The supervisor gave some odd reason they could not remove my name and I stated, "Well, you are going to continue wasting my time and your money by callingn me. I will NOT be subscribing to Reader's Digest."

So today, December 20, I received another call from... you guessed it!
I stated to my wife, "I am NEVER subscribing to Reader's Digest."
They have burned the bridge.

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED

I've been reading a book by Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. He was the Carnegie Mellon professor who was made famous for his "LAST SPEECH."





Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and valiantly battled it, but passed away July 25, 2008. He was 47 years old.

In chapter 18, he tells a wonderful story of how his wife backed into his car with hers and described it as the "One-Driver, Two-Car Collision."

He was not home (he had walked to his office). When he arrived home, she had placed both cars in the garage, prepared his favorite meal, had soft music playing and at the end of the meal, gently broke the news.

His response surprised her. He said, "the repairs are not necessary, we will just live with the dents and gashes." Pausch's philosophy is that you don't just repair things if they still do the job that they are supposed to do.

He further states, if your trash can or wheelbarrow has a dent in it, "you don't buy a new one. Maybe that is because we don't use trashcans and wheelbarrows to communicate our social status or identity to others."
The last line in the chapter says....
"NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED."

I thought of some people who feel it is their "calling" in life to FIX everything and everyone.
I have most often found that these people are controlling and insecure.

Joy taught a great Bible Study that focused on forbearance. That is a subject you don't hear a lot of anymore.
It is all about extending some grace.
It is all about NOT being a controlling person.
It is all about trusting God.
It is about NOT sweating the small stuff.
It is about extending grace, love, forbearance.

IT'S JUST A TRILLION DOLLARS

MILLION - BILLION – TRILLION….

We toss those numbers around like they are popcorn or throwed rolls for Lamberts Restaurant.

A 400 million bailout here... a 3 billion bailout there.... It's only money.

Drudge had a story on his site that said U.S. Pledges Top $7.7 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit (Bloomberg)

It is easy to lose sight of such numbers, because they are so casually tossed around. Translating numbers into time can give us a better sense of their magnitude. A million seconds, for example is 11.6 days. A billion seconds is 31.7 years.

One American trillion (ie. 10¹²) would equal about 31,688 years 269 days 17 hours 34 minutes 25 seconds. (Leap years counted)

So that 7.7 trillion dollars equates to 2,440 centuries.

This is getting nuts folks.

I think the best thing to say is…”Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.”

READY FOR THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - family, football, fun and food.

Another caption for this cartoon could be
"Are you an innie or an outie?"

DOUBLE SWEEEEEET

Thanks Bears and thanks Raiders for an early B-Day present. Wins!
And of course, there is nothing SWEETER than a Raider win over the Broncos.

Chicago Bears 27 - St. Louis Rams 3
Oakland Raiders 31 - Denver Broncos 10

SWEET

TRUST

"Give all your worries and cares to God,
for He cares about you."

1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR....

(THE APPLIANCE SURGEON)

This past Thursday (November 13) our refrigerator decided to get sick.

As Joy and I were preparing to go workout at the gym, I opened the fridge to get our water bottles and noticed they were not really cold. So I stuck a thermometer in the fridge (say "ahhhhh") and when we got home, it was reading 55 degrees.
Now, the optimal operating temperature for a refrigerator is around 38-40 degrees. So obviously, ours was sick.

Joy called the fridge doc and they came out and determined that the "defrost control cycle generator furmongddoua d wot=- whatch-a-ma-call-it" was out. And we needed a new one.

Not too bad, repair cost about $100.00. That's not as bad as the cost of a new fridge.
Refrigerator replacement surgery could cost as much as $2,500.00.

So, all that to say... I was thankful for God's Refrigeration. It was a splendid 32-40 degrees outside and God took care of the perishables.
It was a little tough going into the "fridge" to get the milk though.

So, all things do work together for cold... oops... I mean good.

PAUL HARVEY PAGE 2...
Actually the broiler on the top oven doesn't work and that is a $400.00 repair. So, may as well as get that healed as well.

So, Blog Readers... now that our appliances are heeeealllllleeedddd, please pray with us that our house will sell. It has been on the market since May and nothing is too hard for God.

GOD-SIZE YOUR DREAM

At what age do you become a “grown-up”?

What does it mean to be a grown-up”?

Does it mean – no more school, no more studying, tests, homework?

I do a lot of reading in all kinds of areas or disciplines. It is my homework for growth. I’ve never wondered, “When does it all stop?”

I’m amused when I hear people in college state, “I can’t wait to get out of school and not have to study anymore.”

I don’t ever plan on stopping reading, learning, studying and growing.

Why is it that we come to a point in our lives when we think we don’t have any more growing to do?

The tense of the term "grown-up" implies that we have stopped growing. When you stop growing, it gets worse. You resist growth and change.

Children dream (daydream) They have an incredible ability to imagine the future. That’s the way God has wired us. The Bible says without a vision, people perish. (Proverbs 29:18)

Now grab hold of this. Without a vision, people perish; become stagnant… your life journey is severely limited.

I can’t believe the people who live without passion.

What would it take for you to have some "fire" in your life?

What would you do different if you were told that you were in the last stages of an illness and only had months to live?

What would be on your “Bucket List?”

When facing death your values change.

All of a sudden, people want to know God’s purpose. Business will wait. Life values change in the face of death.

Here’s the most important thing you can do with your life today. Don’t waste another moment. You need to articulate your life purpose.

We are so busy doing good things that we miss GOD things. Good is always the enemy of best.

By articulating your life purpose, you sharpen your focus.

Recession?

I’ve been flying into NYC about once a month since May. A couple of times my seat assignment, weather and flight landing pattern have cooperated and given me a good view of The City.

We currently have our home in Plainfield on the market (please pray that we sell soon – all it takes is an undeniable miracle from God!) and so real estate has my interest. But when I read this story, my first reaction was “what recession?” But, as some say, market issues are regional.

The Most Expensive Apartment in New York City

A penthouse at the Time Warner Center just came on for $65 million, which works out to a bewildering $7,831 per square foot.

A bigger problem is that the monthly maintenance fees are $13,361 and the monthly taxes are $16,332, which means it costs an extra $356,316 per year to live there. On the bright side, the master bedroom suite happens to have an office, his-and-hers dressing rooms, his-and-hers bathrooms, and a gym too. Then the condo has a 41-foot-long living room with floor-to-ceiling windows; a red lacquered corner library/office (not the first red lacquered library in town); a dining room that can see the Hudson River; a chef's kitchen ("and pantry with full laundry center); a screening room; and four bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms.

The apartment was sold for less than $30 million two years ago.

That is what I call an increase on your investment.

Would you like to spend one night there? Just to cover monthly maintenance fees and taxes would cost $976.21 per night! To cover the actual cost of the real estate, that would cost $178,082.19. That comes to $179,058.40 per night. Do you want to make a reservation?