Pizza and Dallas Cowboys

This has been a very busy week and I am glad that it is over for now. I am sitting in my recliner waiitng on Pizza Hut to deliver a meat lovers pizza and a 2 liter of Pepsi just in time for the Dallas vs Titans game on Fox. I have been watching the Cowboys since 1969 and depsite their pathetic performance over the last couple of decades I am still a true blue fan. I am happy they got rid of Terrell Owens to the Buffaloe Bills and Tank Johnson is gone as well. I will be interested to see if my team can actually put together a game plan worth watching. I know this is only a pre season game but it will be nice to see if the Boys can show case some of their talent. For a team that has a lot of talent I do not understand why they can not seem to keep the drive alive all through the season and make it through the play offs. In the last couple of years they have come out like a house on fire for the first 7 or 8 games and then they fall apart at the end.

Starting next week I will be working two jobs. I will be doing my I.T. job during the day and studying my new classes in the evening hours. The text books suggest that for each class I will need to study between 4 to 6 hours per week so that means Monday through Friday will be booked solid. All I can do is take one day at a time and one subject at a time and just do the best I can. It will be good to be beyond the paperwork and preparation stage of going back to school and actually doing something productive like learning.

I am looking forward to the challenge and it will be nice to learn some new things and review some things that I already do know. I am hoping that my I.T. experience will help me to get through some of the computer courses without too much trouble. Only time will tell and I am sure that I will be bloggin about my experiences on the weekends. Now for some pizza and Dallas Cowboys.





James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

life and remediation

I have managed to provide Trident Technical College with all of the verification paperwork that they wanted. Now I can just wait for the admissions process to do its thing and hopefully start school on the 24^th of August. I can no longer snicker at my children and their having to go back to school. I will be right there with them studying and taking tests. I even told them that they can hold me accountable for my grades and look at my report cards. I am not sure that college students get a report card in the same sense as grade school kids but they know that they will be able to see my grades. I will have to do good so that they wont think their dad is stupid or something. I would hate for them to ground me for making bad grades.

Today started out by dropping off my wife at work and then going to work myself. I had not been at work for 30 minutes when I got a phone call from the wife telling me that she had just gotten fired and to come get her. As you can imagine she was upset about this turn of events especially since she just started this job three weeks ago. The reason that they fired her was because she was not getting it. They also said that she did not finish her work on Saturday and left without doing it. As you probably already know in the state of SC the employer does not even need a reason to fire you. You are employed at will and the employer and yourself can terminate that employment at will as well. Neither one of you have to have a reason however the employer requires that you give them 2 weeks notice while at the same time they don't have to give you 5 seconds notice.

The problem with this picture is that my wife is a very intelligent and hard working individual who has always been a long term employee. I will indulge the fact that she prefers to be in a classroom setting and probably excels at teaching children more than she does in a restaurant or shop setting where she has to do things she is not too familiar with. When they said she did not do her job on Saturday they did not care that she did not finish all of the tasks given to her because she was stuck at the cash register the entire 7 hours. She also was told that she could not work beyond her shift. How in the world was she supposed to finish her side tasks if she was told to run the cash register?

I know, what is done is done and it does not matter that I think that her supervisor is full of malarkey. They decided that they did not like my wife for whatever reasons and dumped her back out on the street from where she came. I know and Katy knows that life is not fair and you just have to suck it up and go on. The good news is that school starts in about two weeks and Katy can always be a substitute teacher at one of the Charleston County schools in the immediate area.

This month we are hoping to get our daughter tested for her official drivers license. I have been getting her to cart me here and there in the Durango in an effort for her to get some more experience. Princess does pretty good with regards to handling the vehicle on a two lane road as well as freeway driving. She still needs to work on her turning from one lane and keeping the vehicle in the same lane she is turning into. In her defense the love boat is not exactly the easiest vehicle to learn how to drive. All in all she is doing pretty well. The next step for her will be to learn how to parallel park and do a three point turn. I am not sure I even know what that is but now that Katy is off of work for the next two weeks she can figure out a way to do this. Monitoring my daughters driving habits has been interesting and a test of my patience. One of the things that I have had to do is to remind my princess that part of driving from point A to point B is to know where you are at and where you are going. I guess I had forgotten that when you are just riding in a vehicle all the time you really dont pay attention to how you get somewhere.

I have learned the hard way that working for a publicly traded company means that you get to participate in lots of audits through the year. My goal once I am done with my degree program and have my new certifications is to find employment somewhere that is NOT a publicly traded company so I can alleviate a lot of stress and headaches from my work day. Thanks to people and organizations who have defrauded others of their hard earned cash the rest of us have to suffer through the painful audit process. Here is how it works.

The organization creates and publishes its I.T. Policies which include how you are to perform you daily, weekly and monthly tasks. The company then hires an outside consulting firm who then analyzes your tasks and makes you create data controls to match those tasks. Then the organization deems it necessary for you to perform all the tasks outlined in each data control so that you can pass an audit. Then the auditing firm comes through and puts all of your actions under a microscope to make sure you have performed all of the data controls to the letter and requires that you give them evidence of doing it.

It all boils down to checks and balances and all of the data controls are just a fancy way of encapsulating everything that you already should be doing in order to safeguard and protect the financial information that you are entrusted to take care of. If mistakes are found, and there usually are some human errors that pop up then you get to go through what is known as remediation. Remediation means that you sit down with your boss and the bosses boss and that bosses boss with the auditor and you get to explain why you screwed up. Once you have announced to the world that you are an idiot and promise not to ever not do that task the wrong way again you get to help redefine the data control that contains all of the tasks or task in question.

In an audit you only did a task if you can provide evidence that you did it. That evidence needs to be something that is generated by the system or systems that you are managing. Not only that but there has to be multiple people involved in each check and balance to confirm that you did in fact do the task that you said that you did.

We have decided that by the end of September or the beginning of October we are going to take a week off and go back to Texas. All of our friends and family are there and we have not been back home in about 6 years. We are hoping that we can fly vs driving so we can spend more of our time enjoying our time with everyone vs eating up the time driving between states. I am ready for some much needed time away from work.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

29 years later and I am back to college

I spent the day at Trident Technical College emulating a human ping pong ball. Ok, I guess it would be more realistic to say I emulated a wrecking ball since I am no small person. The important thing is that no one got hurt and I got a lot of things accomplished. Here I am 20 years out of High School and I am just now getting serious about going back to college. My wife has spent the last year working on her Masters Degree in Education and I have been toying around with the idea of going back to school. I have known for quite some time that my career choices have always been limited because of employers who require a formal degree and certifications. If the truth were known I should have done this 10 years ago. There is nothing I can do about the last 10 or 20 years however I can work on this now.

I have to attribute my sudden burst of motivation and forward progress with regards to going to Trident Technical College to a new found friend who I met through the Lowcountry bloggers. I met Steve several months ago at one of the BBQ meetups in Charleston SC and I learned then that he and I have the love for Texas Holdem in common. I also know that we have the love of open source Operating Systems such as Linux in common. Steve seems to have a wealth of information when it comes to running Linux on a pc. One evening not too long ago I was speaking to Steve online via gtalk and he told me about Trident Technical College and the degree program he is taking. The more he spoke the more motivated I became. Steve even went as far as meeting me early one morning and introducing me to his advisor. Since that day I have been jumping through all of the numerous hoops necessary for getting registered and obtaining financial aid so I can afford to go back to school.

I have two teenagers left at home and I have been preaching to them the importance of getting the best education possible. The best education possible includes making good grades in high school so that they hopefully can pass an SAT and get into college and get a four year degree in something other than basket weaving. When I am telling my kids about the importance of college I have always been very real with them and used my life as an example. In retrospect I have gone a long way in the I.T. industry without a degree and tons of certifications. Most people that question me about my education are amazed at how far I have gotten. I believe that God has opened some doors for me and I have been a very hard worker and I have learned all that I can from each experience whether that was a contract or full time position. I tell my kids that my story is the exception to the rule. I also tell them that if I had gotten a four year degree when I got out of high school and certifications that I should be much further ahead today in this industry than I am.

I am glad that I can be transparent with my children and I am hopeful that they will learn from my mistakes. I think that all parents want nothing more for their children than for them to NOT make the same mistakes that we did. What I did not realize was that by doing this I was basically telling my kids and myself that my chance of doing the right thing was over. I was telling them “do as I say and not as I do”. Somehow I believed that because I had failed to be successful at getting a degree that it just was not possible. Someone said something at Trident Tech that rings true. One of the ladies in Admissions said “everything happens in its due season”. I do not know why my season did not happen sooner but I am glad that it has appeared out of no where because I CAN DO IT!!!

The first person that I had to sell the notion to was myself. The other day I was thinking that if I can be an I.T. manager and manage a small network and support 60+ people on a daily basis then I must not be all that stupid. If I can solve complex I.T. related problems for a living then surely I am smart enough to crack a book and learn whatever is inside. When I think about it I am always reading and researching something computer or network related to solve a problem and that requires a lot of reading and studying all the time.

No matter what the challenge might be it is always wise to count the cost. One thing that I need to do immediately is to reprioritize my free time more effectively. I told my wife the other night that if I can spend 2.5 hours or more on the Internet playing around on Facebook, blogging, playing Texas Holdem then I can better use that time to study and earn a degree. There is nothing wrong with winding down and doing something fun for entertainment however I realize that at my age I am not getting any younger. I can no longer sit around and put off something that can always be done tomorrow. Today is the day that I must act and not tomorrow. I have to approach this one task at a time and one day at a time. From a distance the prospect of going back to school is sort of daunting and scary. I have to count the cost and make a wise investment into my future and the future for my family. In the end , if I am successful, we will all be better off for it. Not only will there be possible financial rewards with a better job but I will be more educated and that can not be a bad thing.



James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

I read this article in one of my HP oriented e-mail blasts I get from them and thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you.

Unless youre a professional athlete, chances are that you spend a fair portion of your day sitting at a desk. The average American works about 40 hours a week, and many spend a large portion of that time sitting at a desk. Unfortunately for desk-bound workers, research has shown that these people are likely to suffer from weight gain, decreased muscle tone, back pain and increased stress. Despite your best intentions, it can be difficult to balance exercise with the rest of your life. However, employees with desk jobs can find ways to incorporate healthy habits into our daily routine that will help alleviate the negative impact of sedentary work.

1. Skip the coffee and take a walk instead. If youre looking for an energy boost, walk straight past the coffee machine and just keep on walking. Taking a 15- to 20-minute walk will make you feel more alert, get your heart pumping and help you relieve stress without caffeine or sugar!

2. Avoid the snack machine.Many businesses have vending machines that dispense any number of tempting snacks such as chips and candy. To beat the temptation to indulge in these unhealthy items, try to keep some healthy, tasty treats nearby. Good choices include fruit, chopped vegetables, yogurt, nuts or low-fat cheese.

3. Enjoy a healthy lunch.Even if you manage to bypass the snack machine, there are still other food-related pitfalls at the office. One culprit could be frozen or take-out lunches, which are often high in calories. Specialty coffee drinks can also pack a punch sometimes upwards of 400 calories each! So whenever possible, try to bring a healthy lunch from home. This helps you control portions and is less expensive, too. If you must go out for lunch, choose a lighter option from the menu, like a salad. Trade your morning café mocha for a green tea, and be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

4. Pretend the elevator is broken.If you work in a multi-story building, take the stairs as often as you can. About 10 minutes of stair-climbing burns approximately 50 calories, so the next time you need to take a report upstairs to the boss or go down to check on the fax machine, take the stairs rather than the elevator.

5. Get fit while you sit. Stuck at your desk waiting for an important call? If you can't get up, dont do a few exercises while you sit. Try push-ups: hold on to the armrests of your chair, and push up until arms are fully extended. Next, lower your body until youre almost seated, then push up again. Alternatively, do stretches at your desk. Place your hands behind your lower back while sitting up straight. Move your right ear toward your right shoulder and then slowly move your left ear toward your left shoulder. Then, look down at your desk while pulling in your stomach muscles and straighten your back. Then look up at the ceiling. These and other stretches can help protect your back during the work day.

6. Bike or walk to work.If possible, leave your car at home and walk or cycle to the office. You might be amazed how invigorating it is to start your day in the fresh air, or how relaxing it is to decompress and think over the days events as you stroll home in the sunshine. It saves on gas money and can provide you with a days recommended amount of exercise.

These are just a few of the many ways you can keep your desk job from negatively impacting your weight and health.

Back on Track with healthy choices

Six weeks ago when we moved from Goose Creek to Johns Island I determined that I would take advantage of having a safe place to walk and get more exercise. My goal was and still is to lose a minimum of 1 lb per week. As of today I have lost 5 lbs and while I have not kept my goal of 1 lb pe week I am going to be happy about the weight loss. I have discovered that as I increase my exercise levels the better I feel and I have more energy. I am also finding that the increased activity has helped me to manage stress during the week as well. As the hashtag in Twitter #backontrack suggests I am “back on track” with my health related goals and seeing some small but marked improvements. Every day I have a choice to “start over”. Every day I have to choose to make healthy choices when it comes to my body. I can eat garbage and not do those things that I know I need to do or I can educate myself about the things I do need to do and DO IT. You know the saying, “JUST DO IT!!!!”

One of the things I have been doing is going to www.calorie-count.com and logging all of my calories each day. Every time I eat a meal or snack I try to remember to go there and log what I am eating. If I forget to do it one day I go back and think about what I ate and add it to the list for the previous day. I also log my exercise and weight there as well. Keeping track of all my calories makes me aware of exactly what I am putting in my mouth and it keeps me from eating emotionally. I read the other day that my mindset about eating should not be that of entertainment but rather to think of eating as using food as fuel. I am eating because I am hungry and I am eating the right things so that I can give my body the fuels it needs to burn calories. One of the pitfalls of eating because it is entertaining is that I get into the habit of thinking “I am sitting in front of the TV so I must have a snack”.

I have found that it is too easy to use eating as a way to make me feel better when I find myself suffering from situational depression. I might be upset about this or that or a circumstance out of my control so I will go rummage around in the refrigerator and look for something to eat that I “like”. When I am doing this I am redirecting my attention away from that thing that has me depressed or angry and I am focusing on food instead. The only problem with emotional eating is that I am doing myself a disservice by packing in the calories and pounds when I do this. I am happy to say that my wife Katy has hopped on the #backontrack band wagon with me and she has the same goal as I do, to lose weight and be more healthy. I think that she realizes that I am serious about “JUST DO IT” and that her being a partner with me will give me the added encouragement that I need to keep on keeping on. We can encourage on another and have the same goals. There is nothing like having an accountability partner that can help you stay on track.

One of the struggles with losing weight is to change how I think about eating but also to change what I eat. One of the low country bloggers mentioned to me in a comment on my blog that we should not have junk food in the house. If you do not have it you will not eat it. There is a lot of wisdom in that thought process and thanks to our budget being as lean as it is we have not had a problem with having a bunch of junk around the house. We have found some low calorie ice cream that we like so we get some of that from time to time to share. We have been eating more salad and baked chicken and boiled eggs as well. I know that we need to get better about drinking more water. We have been drinking tea with splenda and diet Dr Pepper. Katy has actually slacked off of drinking regular Coke and I am proud of her choice to sacrifice the sugar and calories that comes with drinking that.

My goal this week is to walk each day for at least an hour and to eat less than 2200 calories per day. Thus far I am averaging around 1850 calories per day and I am burning somewhere around 450 to 650 calories with exercise. Hopefully if I can keep this up and not let anything discourage me from this then I can stay #backontrack with the rest of you good folks out there that are doing the same thing. We will only be better off and healthier because of good choices.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Camp Happy Days 2009

Eight years ago on August 5th our Jessica lost her battle with cancer. On September 11, 2001 she would have been 11 years old. Just before she passed Jessica was able to experience Camp Happy Days which is camp for children with cancer and their siblings. My son Justin and daughter Kristina have been attending Camp Happy Days for the last 8 years. Kimberly was Jessicas' first and only camp counselor at Happy Days and this is what she wrote to be read by one of the counselors who is attending the camp this year. This will be read during the Renissance portion of the camp.
Kimberly also shared with us her jounral that she kept while taking care of our Jessica. Thanks Kimberly....

Kimberly writes

Jessica Ann Moffitt attended camp 8 years ago with a huge smile on her face and the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. She had an unbelievable week. She drove a golf cart, made a ridiculous amount of sweets, danced with a boy for the first (and last) time, laughed a ton, fought mightily with a water gun, and made her mark on mine and several other counselor’s hearts for life. She did all this from her wheel chair, with very little hair, and the recent knowledge that there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. She lost the battle she was fighting with a brain tumor a month later. Jessica is now in no pain, her body is no longer broken, and she may even have hair (if that’s how things work up there). She will never be forgotten and her spirit will always be present at this camp. Her strength, faith, and kind words are the things I remember most about her. Please release a balloon for Jessica today. I pray that her precious memory will touch your heart and stay with you always.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

45 Rules by Regina Brett

I got this via e-mail this morning and thought they were worthy of sharing....

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain .

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words -- In five years, will this matter?

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Happy Fathers Day weekend

This week flew by like most of them do. Last Saturday we drove for four hours taking Kristina to Camp Agape up in Batesburg SC. This is a camp that is sponsored by the state offices of the Church of God of Prophecy church in SC. Our kids have been going to this camp for the last 8 years. I am glad that they have the opportunity to attend this camp because it gives them something fun to do and hopefully provides them with an environment to be with kids their age and to experience faith based activities designed to encourage them and build their faith.

In the last two weeks our weather in the evenings has been very active with some intense pop up thunderstorms. I am thankful we live in a brick and mortar house vs a double wide trailer. As I listened to the heavy rains, hail popping off of the skylights in our living room and the flashes of lightning I had flashbacks of having to load the wife and kids in the Durango and make a mad dash to the church in Goose Creek. I am so thankful we no longer have to do that.

One of the funny things that happened was President Obama killed a pesky fly on national tv and was reprimanded for doing that by PETA. PETA stated that Obama is not Buddha and that he should be more thoughtful and respectful of lower life forms. Peta is even going to send Obama a fly catcher so he can catch these lower life forms and set them free outside. Do we really want our commander and chief focusing on catching flies and setting them free? Ok, I suppose one of his staff members will wind up with the menial chore. I am wondering if Peta realizes that while the staff member is setting the captured flies free that all of the “other” flies outside will now be “inside” the Whitehouse.
I thought that the president taking the time to wrap the lifeless form of the fly in a napkin and handing him off to the staffer was a nice touch.

South Carolina seems to be in the news quite a bit however the reasons we are in the news does not seem very positive. The latest news out of South Carolina is the unemployment rate which is going through the roof. I think we have gone up to 12 percent which is one of the highest in the nation. I know that my wife has been looking for part time work in the last month or two but has not had any luck getting interviews. I am sure the school kids out for the summer and all the rest of the unemployed folks are battling it out for any work they can find. I looked at Craigs list the other day and it seems as if there were plenty of commission only sales jobs out there but not that many jobs worth mentioning.

One of the negatives to our moving out of Berkeley county into Charleston County and Johns Island is that the schools in Johns Island are not known for their scholastic excellence. My 14 year old son did some research the other day and wrote me a 2 page e-mail begging me not to send him to Haut Gap Middle school which is 10 minutes walk from our house. I looked at the scores that school has received and how they match up with other schools statewide and they are absolutely horrible. We are investigating sending Justin to a James Island school but we have been told by one of the principals that they are no longer taking traditional transfers out of district. The Charleston County School District has been slashing their budget which equates to fewer teachers in the classroom. We were also told about the No Kids Left Behind iniative which we can apply for from the Johns Island school board and if approved Justin could transfer to James Island tha way and then the principal would be guaranteed some extra teachers through that act.

As I was writing this I listened to a news report on channel two who highlighted a town hall meeting where President Obama had a panel of fathers present. President Obama said that fathers need to step up and be there for the children past the point of conception. He said that our children need for the men in the family to be willing to invest their time and energy into the lives of their children both in the good times and the difficult times. I would agree whole heartedly with the commander and chief. To be a father requires that we be active participants in the raising and training of our children. We should be emotionally, spiritually and intellectually engaged in the lives of our children. Our society is plagued by too many single parent families where there is no father involved. We also have families where the father is physically present but emotionally absent and not interested in any parental participation. That is the definition of a dead beat dad.

This weekend is Fathers Day weekend so I hope all of you fathers are able to enjoy this time with your families and are thankful to God for the blessing your family is to you. I am also hoping that your families will appreciate all that you do for them through the year. I always tell my children that the best gift in all the world that they could give to me is just to love me. I know that my children love me and it is always extra special to me when they take the time to demonstrate that love in some small way.


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Life changes

Two weeks later and we are settled into our new home on Johns Island. We relocated from the busy metropolis of Duck Ditch to the sticks on Johns Island. Having lived in the fourth largest city in the US I have to chuckle when I compare Goose Creek to a busy city. In the last two weeks I have noticed that Goose Creek certainly has many more stores, gas stations and access to almost anything you would want. The only thing I did not like about Goose Creek is that if you want to go out and eat a good steak you were forced to go to North Charleston or Summerville.

Just yesterday my son Justin and I spent some quality time in the dining room putting together a lawn mower. Out of the box I figured it was going to be easier to sit at the table in front of a fan in the AC vs bending over in the hot garage. Once I dug into the parts and instructions I realized too late that one of the nuts was missing for one of the wheels. I hoped in the SUV and headed down Maybank Hwy around 6:45 pm and realized that the TruValue hardware store had long since closed for the night. I wound up driving 18 miles over to James Island to get a 2.36 part.

By the time we got back from James Island and put the final touches to the lawn mower assembly the sun had gone down and it was not quite so hot. I fired up the lawn mower and took it into the back yard and made its first official round of the fence and then turned it over to my son. Having lived in a double wide trailer with very little yard and a townhome with no yard this is something different for all of us. I did the fatherly thing and warned my son to keep all body parts out from underneath the mower unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life handicapped.

Once I figured that Justin was in control of the mower and hopefully would not kill himself I went to the drive way and began washing the Durango. I love being able to wash my own vehicle without being forced to take it to a car wash. I have always found car washing as therapeutic. As a child I remember having to wash my parents cars as a chore and I guess to this day I still make a point to wash my own vehicles by hand. There is nothing like standing back and admiring a nice shiny paint job when it is done.

Moving out of Duck Ditch to the sticks means that there are lots of nice quiet places to go for a walk. I have started walking more in the hopes of implementing a new life change that will be beneficial to my health. In the last several years I have grown increasingly aware of my need to shed some weight. Some folks might look at me and think “gosh that guy is huge , he probably sits around all day and just eats”. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been struggling with the weight issue for quite some time now. In the last couple of weeks I have lost some weight and while it is no where near where I need to be I am going to use that loss as a positive thing and try to make better life choices.

The first thing I have had to do is to get to the point where I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of being fat. Someone chided me the other day about having man boobs and I think that was the straw that broke the proverbial camels ( baby seal in my case) back. Was the person that said that being a jerk and insensitive to how I feel? The answer to that question is yes. Then again truth can hurt but it can also be a motivator for change. Instead of getting depressed and despondent about it I am going to kick myself in the behind and find things that I can do personally to make my situation change.

The second thing I had to do was to realize that I need to make myself accountable for WHAT I am eating and HOW MUCH I am eating. In an effort to do that I am using the online calorie-count.com website to journal my daily calorie intake and exercise habits. Every time I eat something I find a moment to go to that website and enter it into my food log. I also keep track of my exercise and have a journal where I can write down my thoughts for the day.

The third thing I had to realize is that I need to burn more calories than I eat in order to lose weight. I am taking this one moment at a time, one day at a time. I did not gain this weight over night and I wont lose it over night either. My goal is to lose one lb per week. I think that is a reasonable goal and that it is obtainable. I am mentally forcing myself to be less sedentary when I am at home. During the day it is pretty easy for me to limit my calories because I can take my breakfast and lunch with me to work. When I am busy at work I do not have time to sit around and snack or eat food when I am not hungry. The danger zone is when I am home at night sitting in front of the TV and laptop. It is the time after supper and before bed time when I get the munchies and I think I must put something in my mouth to chew on. Night time is when I over eat and run into trouble. Now that we are in a nice neighborhood that is safe to walk in I am going to make a purposeful decision to get some exercise. My goal is every other day but lately I have been able to do more than that which is good.

Now that we are settled in somewhat and most of the boxes are unpacked we now need to find a church home closer to where we live. I have not been looking forward to this but I know it is inevitable. In the next three or four weeks we are going to visit area churches and see if we can find one that has a good youth program for our teenagers. We worshipped and served at Grace Fellowship church in Goose Creek for 8 + years and those folks are like an extended family. It is going to feel totally weird not being there and going to different churches. I HATE looking for a new church home. Who knows, we may find out that GFC in Goose Creek IS still our church home and we may wind up driving to Goose Creek once or twice a week to continue our service there. Only time will tell though.

Now that my food has settled and I have cranked out three pages of drivel I need to wrap this up and go for that walk I was telling you about.




James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Happy Birthday Gizmo

The move started last Thursday evening and ended this last Monday afternoon around 12:30 pm. We moved 6 loads of boxes and small odds and ends in our Dodge Durango between Goose Creek SC and Johns Island. Most of the driving and loading was done in a slow wet drizzle which I am sure helped to bring on the cold that I am still fighting with. Katy came down with some sort of stomach bug that climaxed to its full potential sometime Tuesday which is when I wound up driving her back to North Charleston to Health First. Come to find out I could have taken her over to Doctors Care on Sam Rittenburg and Savannah Hwy. That is what happens when you move to a different town you have to figure everything out again. I guess in the heat of the moment I opted to take her where I felt that she would get the best care and the most expediently without having to go through the insurance discovery madness.
The month of May is birthday madness at our household because everyone other than me has a birthday. Not only that but Katy and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in May. As of this May Katy and I celebrated 19 years of marriage adventures. As my pastor says, she is a saint. I would not have tolerated me for 1 year much less 19 years. Ok, maybe I am being too rough on myself but let’s just say Katy is the blessing in this marriage.
We have only been in the house now for less than 3 days but I think we are really going to enjoy this neighborhood. I spent several hours washing my SUV since it was horribly gross from the move and I noticed that several of our adjoining neighbors got off of work, came home and then stood around talking to one another in each other’s yards. It is nice to see neighbors actually talking to one another. That also means that people know who is supposed to be on that street and who does not. From what I can tell it is very quiet in the neighborhood. It has been nice to sit out on the front lawn and not hear the rush of traffic or the screaming of kids from all directions. Not only that but we will not miss the noises that came from the townhome directly above us.
In the last year or so I have been wandered deeper and deeper into social networking online and offline. I probably have spent more energy online than offline but I have forced myself to attend several Lowcountry blogger meetups in the Charleston area. I am not much of a social butterfly and so it is difficult for me to be in a group of people and find a way to break the ice with them. I guess that it just takes some time. One of my friends who has gone to one meetup told me that I needed to remember that Katy and I are older than most of the meetup attendees. Ok, so Katy and I are a bit older. Does that mean that we do not have something to offer? I know how to walk up to a table full of folks I really do not know and listen to their conversation. The only problem with that is I feel uncomfortable doing that. We have been able to make a connection with three or four folks but for the most part I get this feeling of not belonging. I find myself wishing that the organizers of these meetups would think of a way to help people to “break the ice” with everyone in the group and not just the people that they have already made friends with.
I understand that not everyone is going to like everyone nor is everyone going to have something in common with everyone. I was hoping that social networking online would also make it possible to make those kinds of connections with new people in the real world. Twitter, Plurk, blogs, Facebook, Myspace are all good media access points that enable us to connect in the virtual world. The only problem with the virtual world is that it can be difficult to communicate feelings and it can also become very impersonal. Just today I asked a friend of mine if she would mind calling my wife on the phone and wish her a happy birthday. Her response, “is she online so I can send her an e-mail”. My thought was that sending an e-mail to wish someone you know locally to wish them a happy birthday is sort of impersonal. Maybe that is what technology is doing to us, driving us more inward than outward. We are happy to know that other humans exist and we want to experience their connectedness to a certain degree but we really don’t want to invest too much personal energy to be near them.
This evening I have plans for Katy and I to go out and celebrate her birthday at California Dreaming in West Ashley. Katy turns the big 50 today and I want her to celebrate this special day and know she is loved and appreciated.









James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Calamity of errors

The calamity of errors started over 7 days ago when I got in the SUV to find that someone had helped themselves to my prescription glasses, wallet and digital camera. I am assuming that in my older age and being more forgetful than I would like to admit that I must have left the SUV unlocked. I replaced the drivers license without too much pain and had all the plastic stopped and reissued. The only thing left to replace other than the 23.00 in cash would be my SS card.

I am not sure what it was that caused me to forget to lock the truck but it transferred over to my wife as she managed o misplace all sorts of things. This week she managed to misplace her debit card, purse and car keys. This all happened in the last three days. I can see losing your debit card and even the car keys but how do you forget a purse that that is big enough to hide a truck in?

I am off of work until next Tuesday and during this time Katy and I will be moving all of our belongings from Goose Creek SC out to Johns Island SC. We found a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath home about 14 minutes from my job. It will be wonderful to add 2.5 hours back to my day and not have to drive that far just to go to work. It will also be nice to live in a house with more space than we currently have in our townhome.

The timing of our move is a bit inconvenient in that the two teens are still enrolled and attending middle school and high school in Goose Creek. My pastor and his wife graciously offered for my kids to stay with them during the week and finish out the school year where they are at. Hopefully everyone will survive each other for the three week visit. Once that is complete it is summer time and the kids will begin to drive their mother batty with all of their demands and being bored. Luckily for us the kids are already scheduled to attend several summer camps which should keep them occupied.

In the last couple of months Katy and I have been attending some Low country Blogger Meetups and getting to know some of the folks here in the Low country who hang out on Twitter, Plurk and all of their different blogs. It has been neat being able to rub elbows with different people with different interests. It seems that most of the low country bloggers are photographers because more folks bring cameras to the Meetups than do not. That is fine with me because I can always just enjoy all of the quality pictures that others have taken.

We have taken three loads over to the new place and now it sounds like the storm outside has subsided a bit so I need to wrap this up and go get another load. I will have to keep Katy out of the recliner though or I will lose her help.



James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Will I ever learn?

Sunday May 3rd was not very fun, especially in the morning around 9:15 am. At that time I hopped into the SUV and started it up. I was waiting for my teenagers to join me for our weekly trip to church. When I looked down at my console I noticed that my brown glasses case that is normally there was gone. I sat there and wondered if I had taken it inside and forgotten to bring them back out with me. I then opened up the middle console that has a lid between the driver and passenger seat and noticed that my brown wallet was missing. That is when panic set in and I hopped out of the truck to go back inside the house.

I went inside the house and sure enough no brown glasses case or wallet anywhere to be found. My worst fears were confirmed as I realized that these things were missing. I would have sworn that I had locked the doors to the SUV with my keyfob that is on my key chain like I always do. When I hit the lock button there is a audible tweet through the horn that lets me know the vehicle has responded. Maybe I had a senior moment and left the vehicle unlocked all night long and someone was walking through the property trying car doors to see what was unlocked.

The weird thing about all of this is that I had a TomTom GPS on the windshield, a Bearcat Police Scanner and a Garmin handheld GPS in a bag in the back that was not touched. The Sherriffs deputy told me that the thief probably thought that the glasses case was a pair of nice sun glasses and that is why those were taken. The wallet had a sum total of 23.00 and a bunch of other worthless items to anyone else other than myself.

I know, I should never leave my wallet in the SUV whether it is locked or not. For whatever reasons I have fallen victim to a feeling of false security where I live. I personally do not believe that anyone who lives in the townhomes with my family are the ones doing the stealing. This place caters to professionals and the rent is not cheap. I would think that most people where I live can more than afford what they need and they dont need to steal things. I think that what is happening is that thieves from a neighboring subdivision are walking through the property scoping things out and then they come back and steal.

If it is not nailed down it can and will be stolen. I learned that the hard way several weeks ago when both of our used bycycles were stolen off of our front porch. Together the bikes probably were worth about 10.00 so it is not like it was a huge financial loss. I guess someone needed the bikes more than we did. The financial loss is not what really makes me mad. What makes me mad is the inconvenience of having to go to the DMV and get a new drivers license and having to spend hours on the phone canceling all the plastic in my wallet and having to have new cards and id’s issued. It also irritates me that I feel so violated and that someone would have the gall to go into my SUV and steal what they wanted.

Lesson is learned, no more valuables left in the SUV over night. It all goes inside now.


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

connecting the dots in community

This week is not unlike most in that it was a blur. I knew that it would be busy just because of the nature of my job but here it is Saturday night with only 4 minutes to go until Sunday.

Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm I took part in a meeting about the IP phone system at work. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday getting ready for that meeting in the hopes that we as a collective team we can put those issues behind us once and for all. At one point in the last 10 months the system was purchased and configured and it replaced the old Avaya system that was in place. We have had nothing but problems with it every since.

Wednesday evening we had praise team practice at church which happens every week like clock work. Thursday evening marked the end of the Mixed Nuts bowling league at Royal Z bowling alley in Goose Creek. My wife and I met up with all of the league bowlers and we all ate food and chatted just before the awards were announced and the pay outs were given. We left the bowling alley at around 8:30 pm on Thursday and then ran over to meet up with the Low Country bloggers who were meeting in Hanahan for their monthly meetup.

Due to having been to several of these meet-ups I recognized most of the faces and I actually know some of the names. Having been in law enforcement for over a decade I never forget a face. Remembering your name is a good trick though so it takes more than random meetings in a room for me to get it drilled into my brain cells. The tough thing about these low country meet-ups is that while people are gathering in person you still have to do more than just be there to get to know folks. Participation means that you have to engage the people and be a part of the action. For me it is just easier to sit on the outside periphery and watch and observe.

This particular blogger meet-up was special because one of our members had his birthday wish granted. Chuck celebrated 70 years of living this week and he had mentioned in one of his blogs that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with a cake with 70 candles. Several folks who are better at reading other blogs noticed that and decided to help make his wish a reality. Thanks to Heather and several other folks Chuck got his wish and the Hannahan Fire Dept got to crash the party thanks to the 70 candles that were all ablaze. I am not sure the fire dept actually got called to the event because we arrived after the fact but that is what Chuck told me.


While we were at the birthday celebration Thursday evening we found ourselves taking part in a trivia game that was being run by the DJ that night. It was fun to watch different people at the table putting their heads together to figure out the answers to the trivia questions. There was a sense of competition in the room as the DJ called out the scores. In the end the Low Country Bloggers were victorious with 40 points and they won a 25.00 gift certificate to be spent at that restaurant which was cool.

I have been told recently from people who are not that familiar with the Internet that they just do not “get it” when it comes to social media. What is all of the chatter about Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendfeed and bloggers? Why is everyone buzzing about this new phenomenon? As I think about it all I realize that these tools enable us to build community and to connect with other humans.

I have been blogging for years and I have been part of the Low-country bloggers website but I never knew it until just this last year. I became aware of the community after I got caught up in the Twitter madness and I think Jared Smith reminded everyone of the low-country blogger meetups. Once I started going to these meetings I started making personal connections with other bloggers just like me. When you make a commitment to go to the meetings and you participate in some small way you are able to connect the dots. You meet with other people just like yourself who are in their own unique worlds writing about things that they are interested in and are passionate about.

Being able to connect the dots through social media and getting to know the people who are part of the local group of Internet users in our area helps me to realize that I am part of a bigger picture. If you look at the Internet from a distance you could very easily get lost in the huge vastness of what goes on. It is sort of looking at the night sky and trying to comprehend how huge our universe is. Only until you start focusing on the planets that are close to us like the moon are we able to bring things into focus. Yes, we are all part of the bigger picture and we are never going to be able to meet everyone or understand what makes everyone tick or how to fix all the problems that we see. What we can do is to make the connections that we can make within our own local communities and do what we can to help one another through personal connections and by sharing our dreams and visions and talents.

Friday was not a typical work day because it was so darn quiet. Most of the time my Friday is usually like a horrible Monday. It seems as if Tuesday through Thursday everyone is in meetings and planning on how to unleash holy heck on the IT department on Friday. Everyone comes out of the word work and wants everything done yesterday. This Friday was unusual because it was quiet but it was a nice break for me so I could get ready for other things coming next week.

It is hard for me to believe that it is Sunday May 4th. It seems like we just celebrated Easter and that was two months ago. In 14 days we are moving out of Duck Ditch and going to Johns Island. We are doing this so I can be much closer to my job on Kiawah Island. For the last 9 months I have been driving back and forth to Kiawah Island and I have to say I am getting pretty sick and tired of it. The morning drive is usually bearable however when I am tired at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is to get hung up in the five O'clock processional of traffic leaving Kiawah Island. When I am mentally worn out I find it very difficult to be patient while I am stuck behind soccer mom or the school bus who is inevitably doing 8 miles per hour under the speed limit which then drags my commute beyond the typical 60 minutes. I also have to consider the amount of money that is being drained out of my family budget for gasoline and the wear and tear on our family SUV that is now three years old and getting closer to having 70,000 miles on it.

Saturday was a laid back day that included running errands and taking naps in the middle of the day. The children managed to box up some more of the stuff in their rooms and they are trying to separate the stuff they want to keep vs the stuff that needs to be donated or thrown away. While at Walmart I rented two movies. One was The Day that the Earth Stood Still and one was Marley and Me. Both of them were excellent movies. The first one was a Scifi that Katy and I had seen before in the theatre but the kids have not seen it. Marley and Me is a definite chick flick but it also turned into a huge tear jerker at the end so if you have a tender heart just have the tissues ready because you will need them.










James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Createsouth 2009

This last Saturday I attended Createsouth in Myrtle Beach SC which was hosted at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College campus. I was able to car pool with several of the lowcountry bloggers out of Charleston SC so the trip was pretty interesting. It was nice to rub elbows with folks that I have seen on Twitter and Facebook online. Some of these folks I had also met at a couple of the local Blogger Meetups as well.

This Createsouth event was the second event in two years but my first to attend. When we arrived the weather was awesome and even though there were forest fires approximately 10 miles north of us I did not see any hints of smoke or ash in the air or sky. There were approximately 100 + people registered to show up for the event and it looked like quite a few of them had already showed up.

The first key note speaker was Tiffany Trent who is a writer and author. Tiffany spoke about the importance of creativity and being willing to do whatever it takes to pursue that creativity whether that be writing, drawing, painting etc. Tiffany handed out small sea shells to everyone in the conference and asked us to think about how we would feel if we were that sea shell. How would we stand out and what would be our best attributes.

Tiffany stated that creativity is play and that we should be passionate about our creativity and be willing to work hard at it. Tiffany encouraged us to get the book called The Artists Way which is a book about writing and tips for creative people. Tiffany said that we should be willing to engage in commitment, vision, action and networking. What is our vision? Am I willing to commit to that vision and take action? Tiffany said it is very important that we be willing to come out of our shell and network with other people who can encourage us in our creativity and to share in that creativity.

Tiffany challenged us to set goals with regards to writing such as 1000 words in the morning in the form of “morning pages”. Tiffany told us that we should be willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to perfect our creativity. That means that our social life may have to take a hit and our friends and family may not understand why you can not participate in their social events just because you are committed to writing. Tiffany also stated that the path to publishing is different for everyone. Some folks start out writing and getting published in print first and then going on line and then some are just the opposite being published online first and then publishing in print later.

Tee Morris was the next key note speaker for Createsouth 2009 and he spoke more about the nuts and bolts of social networking. I was very interested to see that he used a notebook computer running Linux to project his multimedia presentation complete with audio. It was nice to see someone utilizing an operating system other than Microsoft Windows to get a point across. Tee Morris made us aware of the need to remember the “social” in social media. Tee also echoed something that Tiffany Trent told us and that is the importance of community. It was evident that most of the attendees of this conference were not only big on social media but they were all very in tune with technology. We were reminded that while we use technology tools such as Facebook, Twitter etc that we are connecting with a community of people who have a lot to offer.

Tee Morris reminded us that while it is ok to use social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to network and make money it is not alright to use social media tools to leverage donations. Tee Morris spoke to us about several celebrities in the news such as Oprah Winfrey who totally misrepresent social media and what it is for. In other words it is not important to see how many people you can get to be your friend. What is important is that what friends you have because of social media you are making real connections with them by being social. If you are not interacting with your community then you are doing noting more than broadcasting.

Tee Morris said that the secret to social networking is participation on a global stage. There are a lot of social media tools on the Internet and not every one of them will work for everyone. We need to learn about the tools and how to use them and see which one works best for us. Tee Morris reminded us that social networking can make us better communicators. He also said that Twitter is not just another way to promote your crap.

Tee Morris also reminded us that if we are going to use social media that we are going to have to be fearless. He reminded us of the fact that if we are willing to publish our thoughts on social media that we are not as much an introvert as we might think we are.

He encouraged us to step outside of our comfort zones and be willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.

Social media is about reaching out and connecting with your communityand sharing your talents with others. This same community in Myrtle Beach SC recognized that there are a lot of talented people in Hory County that utilize social media and have a lot to offer in that community. They banded together with a common desire to see that community grow and to share that community with other users of social media in the Carolinas. It is good to see the different people who have banded together with this vision to bring about this conference which is no small feat in itself. The conference was created for and supported by the same people who use social media.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Createsouth 2009

This weekend I attended a conference called Create South which was all about South Carolinians embracing social networking (Facebook, Twitter etc) and using it to build community both online and off line. The key note speakers were excellent and they really helped me to understand why it is important to utilize these tools in the market today whether you are a business or a professional consultant or every day user.

In one of the classes that was held in the community track in the afternoon I was told that Twitter gathers metrics on all of the tweets that are sent out on their network and the more tweets that are sent out by an individual or company using # (hash tags) the more likely that person or company is likely to be trended. The bottom line is this. If Twitter sees that you are very active on their network because of all the #(company name) hash tags showing up then your company will be highlighted.

Does that mean that one single individual person at one location needs to sit at their desk and constantly tweet this or that with the #(company name) hash tag? No, absolutely not. What it does mean is that every single location that has a marketing person assigned to BUILD COMMUNITY within the Twitter/Facebook communities should be using the #(company name) hash tag so that Twitter will begin to build metrics on our activity. I guess this is sort of like the way Meta tags work on web pages. I am assuming that meta tags are still be used to build metrics on web pages.

I was also reminded of a tool that is being used online to build community. This tool is called Meetup.com. Meetup is used to bring people together in real life in a face to face meeting who have common interests. For instance there is a Meetup for Photographers and bloggers in Charleston. How can you use that for you or your company? How about searching Meetup for people who are interested in a specific aspect of your business or hobby?

Another tool that is used for building online community is Podcasting. Podcasting is where you create a 5 or 10 minute video snippet about your business or whatever and post it to your website for others to view. You also can have folks download the podcast to their iPhone or iPod touch or whatever. There are podcasts on almost any topic you can think of.

No matter what tools you use or how you use them the key element of using them is to BUILD COMMUNITY. To make personal connections with other people and businesses who can help you network your talents and what you are trying to sell or share with others.






James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Create South Conference this Saturday

I am excited about going to the Create South conference this coming up Saturday. It appears that there will be some interesting material covered and an opportunity to learn from others.

This year it will be held April 25, 2009 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The conference will be held at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College facilities on the old Air Force Base - a few blocks from Market Commons and about half a mile from the beach.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Significance of Good Friday

Today is turning out to be the perfect day to end a work week and to appreciate the significance of Good Friday. This day is not like any other day in that we should be reminded of the awesome event that occurred over 2000 years ago. This is the day that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cruel roman cross at Golgotha. This event is central to Christian theology and it is important for us to remember that if it were not for this event we would not be able to embrace grace.
There is a popular primetime cop show on that features a female detective who is portrayed as a female cop who is shadowed by an angel whose job is to lead her towards God or familiarize her with God. At the beginning of the show there is a theme song where this actress is heard speaking about living the good life and embracing everything there is to embrace which basically means she is encouraging people to live life to the fullest , no matter what that is, and they will be “embracing their grace”. You can go on the website for the Saving Grace show and tell your “embracing grace” story.
The problem with the “do it if it feels good” or “live life to its fullest” mantra that the world loves to preach is that it has nothing to do with the GRACE of God that only Christ is able to provide. When Jesus endured the pain, torture and suffering of the cross he fulfilled prophecy and he became the sacrificial lamb that took upon himself the penalty for sin for all mankind. Jesus Christ chose to do the fathers will instead of imposing his will. When Jesus prayed in the garden he said this in Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done." Jesus could have chosen not to endure the cross and to call down a legion of angels from heaven to end the torture and suffering but he did not. The bible tells us in Romans 5:8 “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. How great a love God has for his creation to demonstrate it through the death , burial and resurrection.
Good Friday provides us with blood bought GRACE and not the cheap grace that is portrayed both on TV, movies and in secular media. There are preachers out there in this world that also preach a cheap grace. They preach “come to Jesus because he loves you and all will be well”. They falsely portray Jesus Christ as a puppet who offers salvation to all and all you have to do is say the sinner’s prayer and all your problems will go away. Life will be grand, your checking account will be full, there will be no more sickness and you will be prosperous.
If you do not believe that there is a prosperity doctrine being preached by wolves in sheep’s clothing just turn on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) and you will be able to listen to the likes of Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagan and company. Just make sure if you listen to them and decide to buy into the lies make sure you have your check book handy and have lots of cash to give them. You will be prosperous ONLY if you are willing to give. After all, televangelism COSTS loads of bucks and they NEED and WANT you to give.
The GRACE of God portrayed in the bible as God has pursued His creation through the ages is not a cheap grace nor should it be thought of or treated in that manner. As a teenager God revealed to me my need for His love, mercy and forgiveness of sins. He showed me through his written word (Bible) and through other Christians who showed me His word that my righteousness and “good works” theology was just not good enough for me to obtain forgiveness of sins or to have my name written in the lambs book of life. Only through accepting the gift of God at Calvary and by repenting of my sins would my sins be forgiven. When Jesus hung on that cross surrounded by thieves that act provided the forgiveness of my sins, your sins and the sins of the world both past, present and future. There is nothing more awesome than that folks. God paid the penalty of our sins through his son Jesus Christ on the cross. That is how much he loves us. How we live our lives in obedience to His word will be the determining factor in our telling God how much we love him. When we “embracing OUR grace” by living our lives to the fullest and “doing it if it feels good” then that cheapens the grace of God. If we embrace the world view and live life according to our will then we are spitting in the face of God.
I would encourage all of us to take the time today to reflect on the gift of God on the cross. Let us embrace the love of God and the Grace of God by rededicating our lives to living the kind of life that will bring glory, honor and praise to Him. All we have to do is to pray and ask God to forgive us of our sins. Ask God to set our feet on a new path and read His word and ask God to open our eyes to the truth that is there. We can ask the Holy Spirit to renew us as only the Holy Spirit can and give us power to live by. Once we commit to doing these things will we experience the Abundant Life that God promises for us.







James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Happy Thursday

Good morning folks! I landed at the boardwalk AGAIN.... We owe, we owe, off to work I must go. That is the song that I sing every morning when I get into my Dodge Durango and make the trip from Duck Ditch USA to Kiawah Island. Yes, it is a long long drive and yes it really sucks. I have been doing this for six months now and the only reason that we do not live closer to my work is because the schools on Johns Island have a horrible reputation. If I were to move closer that means that I would have to have two vehicles so my wife could transport both my kids back and forth to schools on a neighboring James Island. She could do that or we could just take them back out of public school and just homeschool them until the graduate from 12th grade. I do not see that happening any time soon so I guess I will just need to start saving up for an ultra light helicopter so I can shorten the drive from 1 hour down to 25 minutes via flying by air. It would be easier to just win the lottery at this point in the game. I am sure ultra light aircraft are not exactly cheap.

On March 24th a new Internet Domain structure was made available to the general public and I now have a new chiefpropellerhead.tel domain name. I was made aware of this thanks to one of my twitter friends who tweeted this short video link for us to view.

You can go to http://www.telnic.org/ to view a short video to see what this is all about. I am thinking that I am going to just use it for name recongnition and for an easy way for folks to keep up with me that know me here locally in the lowcountry and all across the globe. It is a single place on the Internet that you can make your public and private information available via profiles that you set up and you control. You do not have to put up with ugly advertisements and you can control who sees what information. You also do not have to maintain a website with this domain structure and your information is always available through the DNS or Domain Name Service on the Internet that keeps track of all Domain registrations globally. Check it out and see what you think.

James Moffitt
chiefpropellerhead.tel

Fireproof

Today was a typical day which started out by climbing out of bed, having my first cup of coffee and getting ready for church. Some Sunday mornings are uneventful and we manage to get out the door without too much grouching or fussing over this or that. It used to be that we only had one bathroom that was shared amongst four people but now we have two bathrooms which makes it somewhat easier.

The sermon topic today was Den of Thieves and the pastor did a good job of illuminating the story of the money changers in the temple and how the Lord Jesus Christ became angry at the fact that people who were attempting to have relationship with God were being taken advantage of. Jesus got so angry he demonstrated his dislike by turning over the tables and chasing the money changers out of the temple with a whip.

Thanks to budgetary constraints we came home after church and had beef stew and a sandwich instead of going out to lunch. That is when I discovered that the other bicycle that I had not locked up on the porch was gone. Once lunch was over I called the office and reported it missing and then called the courtesy officer on site and reported it to him as well. We hopped in the Durango and made some trips through the apartment complex and the neighborhood behind where we live to see if we might spot the bike.

I went bowling tonight as usual and as usual I did not do as well as I would have liked. That is ok, luckily for my family I do not depend on my bowling prowess for putting food on the table or paying the bills. It is more an excuse for me to get off my rear end and simulate some physical activity which would be called exercise. Despite the struggle to reach the magical 300 score I do manage to have some fun with the game.

I came home after bowling and settled down in my favorite recliner and geared up to eat dinner and watch the idiot box. As my luck would have it there was not much on TV to watch and even if the show was worth watching I had already seen the movies that were showing already. Katy and I decided to check ON DEMAD for Comcast to see what movies were being offered there. Fireproof was one of the new movies that was in the New Movie section so we decided to watch it. I had seen several announcements about the movie from other Christian related websites etc and was glad to be able to have something to watch that I had never seen before. I call the TV an idiot box because of several reasons. One reason is because there is not a lot of redeeming value in most of the programming that comes out of it. Sure, there are some good things on TV and if you search for them you can find them but for the majority of what is offered up you and I (and our families) would be much better off not watching it. One of the other reasons I call it an idiot box is because most of the movies that are on TV we have already seen at the movies. Why is it we like to watch the same ole movies over and over and over and over again?

From the outset I already knew that the movie was going to have Christian values at the heart of the message. I also know that if you have not seen the movie that you do not need for me to ruin it for you here in my blog. That leaves me with a dilemma because I really would like to write about some of the thoughts and feelings that I had while watching the movie. Without giving too much away I will not talk about the plot of the movie and just share some of my thoughts that I gleaned from it. Oh yeah, if you watch it and you feel that you are the sensitive type then you might want to have a box of Kleenex available.

One of the main points that stood out for me was the fact that as a human being I do not know how to love my spouse. I think that I can love my spouse the way she needs to be loved but if I am depending on my ability to do this from within myself with no help then I am fighting a loosing battle. If I were honest with myself when I look within my own heart all it wants to do is make me happy. My heart, no matter how hard I fight it will only do what it can to satisfy itself. What can I do to make me happy and fulfilled? If I truly want to love my spouse the way God wants me to love her and the way she deserves to be loved is to understand what love really is.

This is where the love of God and his message to humanity at the cross leaves the love that is preached by Hollywood behind. The love that is preached by Hollywood is self absorbed and self centered and only lasts for a season. Hollywood portrays the “if it feels good do it” and”if it does not work out you can always throw it away and find a different one” mentality. The Bible tells us that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. Through the ages God has provided us with everything we have needed and much more. Despite the fact that we have fought him at every turn and spat in his face God has pursued us and provided his son as a living sacrifice for our sins. Godly love is eternal and unconditional while the love that a man can offer is conditional and self centered. The only way that I can understand how to love my spouse is to enter in to a love relationship with my creator first. Once I do that God enters into my heart and shows me his great love and gives me the tools I need to learn how to walk away from the old ugly habits that I have and to walk in the newness of life that only God can give.

One of the other points that stood out for me that came from the 40 day “love dare” book was the importance of understanding that there are parasites that are in our lives that can suck the life out of us and our marriage. The word parasites mean addictions. How do we find out what addictions are in our life? That is easy, what do you spend your time and money on? What consumes your time? When you are left to your own devices what do you do during your quiet time when no one else is there watching? There are many things in this world that can capture our attention. There are more addictions in this world than I have time to write about. To name a few lets start out with drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, pornography, food. How about being addicted to technology and the Internet? How much time do we spend surfing this website and that website and before you know it the hours have slipped away.

The important thing is that we are honest with ourselves and God and ask him to reveal to us those addictions in our lives and to realize that the time and energy that we spend on them is robbing us of the time and energy that should be spent on learning how to love our creator and learning how to love our own spouses. If there is anything in our lives that is more important than God and our families then we should take a serious look at what that is and why we are allowing that to happen. There is nothing more important to us than our relationship with a God who loves us and our families who he has placed in our lives.

One of the other things that I got from Fireproof is that if I am going to love my spouse I should do it with the attitude of going all out. I should put my mind, body and soul into it. I should give my spouse my very best and not be cheap. The love of God at the cross was not cheap and our relationship with him should not be treated that way. Neither should our marriage relationship with our spouses.

Our spouses deserve our very best. I am going to say this from that of a male perspective and because I have been married to a godly woman for the last 19 years as of this May. Giving your spouse your very best does not always mean buying her all of the diamonds and roses that your pocket book can buy. Yes, our wives do love fine jewelry and roses however those things will only go so far. How you speak to your wife and how much quality time you spend with her will go much further than anything you can buy with money. Sacrificing what makes you happy to provide her with the things that make her happy is what will go a long way towards showing her that you love her. Your wife needs to hear that you love her and respect her and that she is your number one gal. She also needs to SEE your love in action. There is nothing more powerful than love in action. That is where the rubber meets the road and the proof in the pudding.

Last but not least men, your wife needs for you to be a leader in the family. That does not mean that she needs for you to be a dictator in the home. It means that she needs for you to do what you say. Live what you preach. Lead your wife by example. Say I love you and then do those things that reflect your love and admiration. If you want to have the type of peace and happiness in your marriage relationship that will weather the fires of this life time then you will need a close relationship with Jesus Christ. Only through his love and strength will you find what it takes in your heart to do whatever it takes.

The movie Fireproof is excellent and it will challenge you and your spouse to do whatever it takes to Fireproof your relationship with him and each other no matter how good or bad it might be.

God bless







James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Bicycle thieves

I have been reminded that you can not trust most folks as far as you can throw them. If you want to hang on to your stuff be sure to lock it up or nail it down. If you do not some thief will come along and take it as if it belongs to them. In all actuality they are the thief and I am the idiot for not locking down the two bicycles on my porch. I live at Devon Pointe townhomes next to Wal-Mart on Hwy 176 in Goose Creek. The bicycles were actually donated to us by a friend of ours several months ago. Living at Devon Pointe is not exactly what I would call cheap. I made the mistake of assuming that most of the folks who live here are hard working honest folks who earn a decent living and do not have a need to steal from their neighbors. Then again, who knows, perhaps it was someone from Devon Forrest who lives right down the street from us. This is also a very nice neighborhood where folks appear to be able to afford their own bicycles. I am assuming that someone from the neighborhood behind our complex walked through here early this morning or while we were at church and just helped them selves to the bike. Either way I guess they must have needed the bike worse than we did since they had to stoop to stealing it. Whomever you are , I hope you enjoy the use of these bicycles. The next bicycles that I purchase for my children will certainly be locked up behind a closed door.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Low Country Blogger Meetup

On Thursday I met up with a wonderful group of people who are part of the LowCountry Bloggers group. We met at the Glass Onion on 1219 Savannah Hwy. I have only been associated with this group for about a year now with regards to attending the meetups. My blog at http://jcmoffitt.blogspot.com has been listed with LowCountry bloggers website for quite some time and I had not even known it.

I believe that my introduction to twitter by a dear friend of mine is what awakened me to this group of folks who use Twitter to communicate about every day happenings both personally and professionaly. I remember when my friend introduced me to twitter the first time. At first I was really resistant because I felt that it was just silly to micro blog. I was very content with my occasional spurts of blogging here and there when I had the time. Once I installed the Twitter client and started using it I was hooked. Micro blogging allows you to be spontaneous and to post thoughts about this and that with a limit of 140 characters. Making a statement and confining me to 140 characters was somewhat daunting since I can be long winded.

One of the nice things about being a part of the LowCountry Bloggers group is that I am part of a community that has something in common. We all love to write about whatever it is that we write about and most of us seem to be addicted to technology in one way or the other. Every month the group gets together to eat and talk and take pictures. I have only attended three or four of these meetings but I have enjoyed myself each time. I can not speak for anyone else other than myself but it is easier for me to communicate through the written word from the comfort of my recliner and laptop vs meeting complete strangers in a social setting. The thought of doing that can be scary at times.

Thanks to Twitter and blogging I have met folks like Heather Solos, Don Lewis , Jared Smith and others which means that my social network has slowly but surely been expanding. Just like the Star Trek intro says "Going boldly into strange new worlds", Just today I spent some time on Vox looking for other Lowcountry bloggers and added them to my neighborhood. One of them I actually know through the LowCountry Bloggers group and one of them I did not. The cool thing is that we all have something to contribute not only to the blogosphere but also to one another. Until just recently I had not realized how tunnel visioned that I had become by only focusing on my blogs and not really paying attention to others. I guess that I felt as if the "blogosphere" was so huge that it was like a forrest that was too scary to even wander into. There is no way that any of us can have the time to read all the blogs that are out there nor will we be interested in everything either.

The food at the Glass Onion on Savannah Hwy was very good. The business card describes their food as "soulfull food". I am not sure that I understands what that means however I will say that what I ate was very tastey. I ordered their Gumbo which was spicey but not over the top. I enjoyed their world famous banana bread pudding with a touch of whiskey as well. Both the gumbo and desert were delicious and I am looking forward to taking my family there one day soon. The restaurant is in an excellent location in West Ashley and it appears to seat between 50 + people. Our meetup started at 6 pm and sometime between 6 pm and about 7 pm the place started to fill up pretty quickly. Heather had already arranged to reserve 3 or 4 tables for us and those filled up quickly. The staff was very busy but they were very courteous and did an excellent job of filling all of our requests in a time manner. I would highly recommend this establishment to anyone.

If you are a lowcountry blogger I would highly recommend that you try to attend some of the LowCountry Blogger meetups. They happen monthly and Heather Solos does an excellent job in coordinating the effort and finding us a different place to meet each time. In the three or four times that I have attended the meetups everyone has been very cordial, friendly and helpful. I have not had a problem in finding something in common with folks at my table and jumping into the conversation. I am thankful that this group of folks are here and that I can be allowed to expand my horizons and learn more about other folks and the things that are of interest to them.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Thoughts on presidential news conference

I do not pretend to understand politics in Washington however I did decide to listen to the first presidential news conference this evening. In the next few days there will be plenty of qualified and unqualified political analysts who will be sure to analyze what was said tonight and what the Treasury Secretary will say tomorrow.

Whether or not we voted for the current president or not one thing is certain. Our current president has inherited a huge mess. We may or may not like the man for whatever reasons however he is the man for the job in this next 4 years and we should support him.

One thing is for certain folks, things are certainly a huge mess. Lots of folks just like you and me are losing jobs left and right. The President stated that it was as if everyone in the state of Maine has lost their jobs. Lets assume for a moment that all of the people who have lost their jobs subscribe to Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman and they have 3 to 6 months of emergency funds saved up. Will that be enough time for things to turn around or not? The only problem with that assumption is that it is not reality. I am thinking that the percentage of folks who are not living from pay check to pay check is extremely low.

The president spoke of a three pronged plan which over the next year will begin to stop the current recession from spiraling completely out of control. He promised that there are no pork barrel spending or wasteful earmarks for this 800 billion dollar bail out package that he is trying to get passed in congress. The president stated that there needs to be new thinking in Washington and private sector accountability. The president also spoke about entitlements but he never came out and said anything about all of the wasteful spending in Washingon.

I agree with the president in that he has inherited a mess and that he is not solely responsible for the administration of the last 8 years and the mistakes that were made to get us where we are today. Never the less our president and former senator was part of the problem. Our government wants Corporate America to become accountable for how they spend government bail out money and not use it for frivolous private jets or ski trips etc.

The same government that promotes a new administration and a new way of thinking is not addressing the problems within the white house itself. Does our government and its leaders really identify with how every day Americans are living and being affected by this economy?
I believe that our leaders who are supposed to be elected by the people and have the interests of the people at heart are far removed.


Yes, our government has lots of problems and I would say that it has strayed far far away from what our founding fathers meant for it to be.
I also believe that after 200 + years of being a young nation that we all must take responsibility for where we are at. We are one of the richest nations in the world however we are desperately dependent on the middle east nations for more than half of our crude oil. Capitalism is wonderful compared to communism or socialism however if there are not enough checks and balances in place then greed sets in.

It is the age old story of the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and the middle class working stiffs like us get stuck with the bill. Are we all Americans and are we all in this together? If so does that mean that the rich Americans are obligated to do what they can do to help or does that mean that they are shielded from the immediate results of the recession? How many of us Americans are willing to admit that we too are part of the big picture with regards to being greedy?

Most Americans, including those whom we label as poor are richer than most folks in a third world country. It is a crying shame that the richest nation in the world has a growing population of homeless people which some of them are actually veterans of foreign wars. How long will we pursue our capitalistic entitlements at the expense of others around us? It is one thing to support our families however when we do this at the expense of our family values and it starts to affect our children and how they are being raised then we have to start looking at our motivations for having to have a bigger house or newer car.

All I am saying is that our capitalistic system has birthed a materialistic self centered and self absorbed generation that is bent upon feeling good and grabbing up whatever worldly goodies that we can. I am also agreeing with our president in that our Federal Government nor the private sector are going to be able to be solely responsible for fixing our economy. It is going to take each and every one of us to do our part.











James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net

Sleepless in Duck Ditch

It is 12:43 am Tuesday morning and I am sleepless in Duck Ditch USA. I am watching a rerun of The Closer on TNT. I am sleepless in Duck Ditch because my sleep habits have been screwed up thanks to pnuemonia. I thought that I had a garden variety cold as of last Friday. Typically my colds start out in my head and then move into my chest which causes me to have a day or two of coughing which screws up my rest. This process typically takes one or two days and then I am done with it. As I entered day 4 today I realized it was time to suck it up and go to the HealthFirst Clinic in North Charleston. We like this clinic because it is Christ centered and they move you in and out of there very quickly. They also work with folks who do not have health insurance and allow them to set up payment arrangements on their bill.

Luckily for my family and thanks to my new employer I now have a full time job with benefits. It seems that the whole family was in serious need of these medical benefits since we have all been in and out of the health clinic since the insurance kicked in December of 2008. The alternative to this was just not going to the clinic and just waiting out the symptoms in hopes they will go away. I feel sorry for folks who are already barely making ends meet in this economy and then having to their rent money or car payment money so they can take their loved ones to see the doctor. I have no clue what the current percentages are but I can only imagine that a lot of folks live from pay day to pay day and do not have the magical emergency fund of three months of income that is set aside for these types of emergencies. I am not saying that saving money or having an emergency fund of some sort is impossible. These things are possible if you make very wise financial decisions early on and set up a strict budget that you follow. If you wait until later on in life to make these changes and committments then it is more painful to keep the committment and will take longer to reach the goals.

Grace Fellowship Church in Goose Creek is hosting a 3 day revival February 5,6 and 7 starting at 7 pm. Mitchell Louper is the guest evangelist and from what I have heard is is a very dynamic speaker, singer, preacher and evangelist. I am hoping I feel better enough to sing on the praise team all three nights. We are hosting the revival so that means other churches in the area are going to be meeting with us at our sanctuary which means we should have a full house for three days. Singing in front of home folks seems to be easier than singing in front of a bunch of folks I have never met before. All we can do is make a joyful noise unto the Lord and hope that everyone else will be doing the same thing and not be paying attention to any screw ups.

My Katy has out patient surgery last week and is now trying to recover. Katy has been approved to pursue her Masters Degree in Special Education online so she has been very busy with studying and such things as that. It is hard to believe Jan 2009 is done and now we are into Feburary and Valentines day will be upon us.






James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net