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

Low Country Blogger

As you can see at the top of my blog page I am proudly showing off my LowCountry Blogger banner. That means that I am one of many Lowcountry bloggers here in South Carolina. Heather Solos is very instrumental in bringing together all of the Lowcountry bloggers and working with everyone to gain exposure as well as to encourage and facilitate face to face meetups for folks. I have been to several meetups in 2008 and enjoyed them so much I plan on trying to make as many meetups as possible in 2009l. My hat goes off to Heather as she does a bang up job.

Yesterday was January 20th and the lowcountry saw some snow. That is right we had snow flakes coming down here on Kiawah Island where I work. I had been telling all my twitter friends that I had been praying for snow and they thought I was crazy. They are not wrong about my being a bit touched however it did snow. I am wondering if I should pray for bags of cash to fall out of the sky one bill at a time. I probably wont pray for that because that means I would have to share with everyone.

Typically when I blog I write a LOT of stuff. Today is going to be a micro blog and I will probably surprise a lot of folks since this wont be 8 paragraphs long. Have a good week folks, what is left of it.






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

Happy New Year 2009

It is hard to believe that I have had this blog since 2002. That is seven years of sharing stuff from the heart. I also can not believe that it is 2009. Time flies when you are having fun and as fast as time is flying by I must be having a huge party. New Years eve was spent at church with friends as we practiced songs for Sunday service. Wednesday nights are traditionally practice nights for church and then when we can afford it we go out with the gang and get a bite to eat. We did the same thing last night. Once practice was over we hopped in the Durango and took our daughter over to her friends house and then headed over to Texas Roadhouse for supper. Once that was done we headed home and spent the rest of 2009 watching the idiot box and camped out on the Internet.

I have spent some time in 2008 getting familiar with new social networking technologies by joining Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace, Friendfeed, Twitter etc.
Once you join one social network you will find that it is very enticing to join them all. One of the things that I like to do on Facebook other than read what everyone else is doing is to play my favorite game "Bowling buddies". This is a Java driven game where you can dress up your bowling avatar and pick out their clothes, shirts, pants, bowling ball colors etc. Just in the last 4 months I have played almost 400 games. My highest score is 209 and I will not stop until I reach the magical 300 mark. I hope that I do not get carpal tunnel syndrome over this but if I do at least I am having some fun. Last night Gizmo started playing it to see if she can beat my score. So far she is up to 168 so I do not feel too threatened. One of our church friends, Brie who is now living in Germany has a 220 score which means I am in 4th place while Brie is in 3rd place.

The year 2008 was the year that our family got really involved in a hobby called Geocaching. Geocaching is like being a modern day treasure hunter in which you use hand held GPS devices and go out and find a cache. Katy, Justin and I like doing it the most. Katy (Gizmo) has really gotten into the preparation part of this hobby which is to log on to the geocaching.com website and find the new caches and download the way points into the GPS. Once that is done you can also print out the logs and hints and history for each cache. We have a special plastic notebook that we keep all of our paperwork in when we hit the road. Geocaching is good for building teamwork and patience. Geocaching is cool because you can combine technology with the great outdoors and even get some exercise doing it. The harder the cache is to find the more exercise you get. There are two levels of difficulties by which a cache is graded by. One is the size of the cache 1-5 (nano, micro, large) and the difficulty in which the terrain is to get to the cache. That means that a 1-1 cache is going to be an ammo container sitting on the side of the road with a large red neon sign saying find me. Most of the time we stick with caches that are not nano or micro caches (very tiny and difficult to find) and we try to select caches that are 3 or lower in the terrain level because neither of us are physically able to climb trees or scale hills.

Team building and patience go hand in hand. Katy and I found out very quickly that it works better if I drive and she runs the GPS in the vehicle and the laptop computer. You do not have to have a laptop computer with a broadband card but it makes it much more convenient if you do have one. I do the driving and then when we get close enough I start to use the hand held GPS to get the vehicle as close as I can to the cache. Once that is done we get out of the vehicle and then we start looking for the cache. Using the GPS, hints and common sense goes a long way for finding the caches quickly. Same days are better than others when it comes to teamwork and patience. Let’s just say that it takes a lot of work from all of us. We have a good time getting out of the house and visiting the many different cache sites. We normally take some pictures along the way that we can share online as well.

Thanks to my new job and medical benefits Kristina and I have been able to upgrade our glasses for the first time in about 4 or 5 years. We are both very thankful that we can see much clearer now. Katy has been struggling with finding something more than doing substitute teacher openings here and there in Berkeley County which has forced us to make some hard decisions within our budget. Hopefully 2009 will not be as difficult on the economy as the experts are predicting but if it does we may have to make some more difficult changes in our life style. One of the things we are doing immediately is going back to being a one car family. That will reduce our car insurance bill, gasoline and vehicle taxes at the end of the year. That was a difficult decision because it is going to cause a lot of inconvenience with regards to getting around. Generally speaking we are going to have to figure out how to get by with less income and cut out all waste in our budget. We have struggled with that in the past but we are slowly but surely learning how to live within our means.

I am hoping that Katy can find a better job with more hours and I know Katy desires to pursue her Masters Degree and ultimately get her teacher certification which has been harder to do than she first imagined. We are hoping for more stability in these areas this year and we are determined to make the right choices and decisions to help that along.

We wish each and every one of you folks a very prosperous and safe new year in 2009. I hope that your dreams and aspirations are realized as you too work towards your goals and dreams this year.

God bless




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

Merry Christmas

Rise and shine and give God the Glory, Glory. Emanuel, God with us, that is our theme for this Christmas morning. Christmas IS and always has been about Jesus. Christ gave to us grace and mercy and in return we give him our love, respect and adoration. Christ is the true meaning of love, not the thing we call love. The love of God lasts for all eternity. For God so loved the world he GAVE his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God loves you and me and for that I am forever grateful. It will take me a life time to begin to glimpse how much God loves me and longer still for me to learn how to love him back.

This morning was probably a small let down for my two teenagers in that they did not get exactly what they wanted. What they did get was some presents under the tree which is a small token of our love for them. The kids are old enough now to know that money does not grow on a tree and they also know that if it did someone burned our money tree to the ground. The important thing is that we have a roof over our heads, food for our stomachs, clothes on our backs and all sorts of extra stuff that we really do not need to live. We live in a very materialistic and capitalistic country that tries to dictate to us through media that we have gotta have this and that in order to be successful and happy. Do not get me wrong, I love cool presents just like the next guy but those gifts only bring so much happiness and after a while that happiness turns to boredom as I look forward to the newest gizmo or gadget. I think if we were all honest we could admit to being affected like that as well.

The JOY of the Lord is my strength. Knowing that God loves me gives me JOY eternal. God is the same today , yesterday and forever. God never changes or falters. God is always there and I know that I know that if I need him he is only a prayer away. I know that I know that HE is in my heart and that HE fills me with the power of the Holy Spirit which enables me to love God and my friends and family. His Holy Spirit enables me to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The Holy Spirit gives me power to go on no matter how tough this life gets. I try to thank God daily for my family, my friends, my church, HIS love and providence for my life and all the other things he fills my life with. I try to pray for my friends and family and ask God to remember them and bless them from on high.

Today I remember my Jessica. In my minds eye I can see her smiling face and her saying "OH DADDY". I say MY Jessica because she will always be my girl. I know that she does not really belong to me however God entrusted her to me and Katy for a short time here on earth. Life has certainly not been the same since Jessica's Homecoming but I am assured that I will hug her again some day. Jessica loved Christmas time like most children and I remember how her face would light up as she would open each gift. Jessica's spirit was a very bright and joyful spirit that held that magical mixture of hope and fun anticipation. I heard on the radio how hard it is for adults to really get into the Christmas spirit and that is because we have lost that child like wonder about it all.

Christmas is about receiving cool presents and worshiping the Christ child. Just as Christ has given us an awesome eternal gift of love and joy lets remember those folks around us who are not as fortunate as ourselves. There are those around us who have lost loved ones and are grieving this Christmas day. There are those around us who are suffering from depression and all sorts of addictions. There are those around us who are suffering from lonliness. You and I can not touch all of these lives all by ourselves but if each of us will take the time to care and give we can reach out to the people within the community of folks that God has placed us in. Sometimes a 10 minute phone call can bring moments of joy and hope to someone. Just knowing that someeone remembers them and cares and that their life really does mean something more than they think.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the Moffitt Family.

God bless


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

Merry Christmas 2008

Breakfast has been consumed and the trip out to the boardwalk was uneventful. There is very dense fog on the island at the moment and it reminded me of some horror movies I have seen in the past. I almost expected some monster to come out of the fog with a chainsaw in its hand. I guess that means that I have seen way too many horror films and thankfully enough nothing appeared out of the fog.

I am drinking my Hazelnut Cream coffee that a friend of mine bought me for my birthday. Life is good and I am glad that I have friends that love me and are thoughtful on my birthday. I am enjoying the coffee so much I even offered it to some of my select coworkers. I would love to offer it to everyone on the boardwalk but that would mean I would have to get out of my chair and make a fresh pot. I am way too comfortable to do that and the selfish side of me just does not want to go through too much of this good stuff and risk not having enough for myself.

The network is running smoothly and everyone is nestled safely behind their glowing monitors and that means I am taking the time to do some much needed blogging. I missed my calling in life which would be to write full time for a living. Then again, I love technology so much that if I wrote for a living I would not get the satisfaction of solving all the problems that I solve and enjoy the fact that my talents enable others to enjoy using the technology themselves. The thought of having to write for a living means that some of the leisurely relaxation that I get from writing would go out the window. Writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. That is what one of my editors from years gone by reminded me of each time she would critique my writing.

Christmas 2008 is almost upon us and while it is 17 shopping days to Christmas the retailers have been pushing the holiday on us for the last 60 days. That in my opinion totally ruins the spirit of Christmas for me. The idea of Christmas to the retailers is to separate us of our money in return for lots of stuff to put under the tree. No, there is nothing wrong with giving or getting presents. The only problem I find with all of this is the focus is all wrong. Instead of saying Happy Holidays or Merry Xmas it should be Merry CHRISTmas. Christmas is about the Christ child, Emanuel, God with us. We have heard this story through the centuries to the point that it has just become a fable or wise tale that we celebrate. The only problem with that is the important significance of who Christ IS has been lost for the sake of having fun, drinking and being merry.

Our Christmas will be a somewhat frugal one. There will not be a lot of presents under the tree. We told our children that if they receive one present per child that they should count themselves blessed. Our children are teenagers so they understand that money does not grow on trees and that times are extremely tough. Just because Christmas may not be filled with lots of giving and getting of cool presents does not mean that we can not find other ways to give to one another and it not cost a lot of cash.

Just yesterday I registered online to become part of the Freecycle distribution list in Goose Creek and Charleston. Freecycle is sort of Craigslist but it focuses mainly on the giving and receiving of stuff that others are getting rid of. If you have something that you are no longer using and you want to bless someone else who does need it you offer it up on Freecycle. The whole idea is to keep the landfills to a minimum and gift the item to someone whom you chose to give it to. You offer the item up and go through the responses and decide who gets it. You are not obligated to fulfill any sort of requirements when choosing who gets it. Last night someone offered up a fake Christmas tree that they were getting rid of. They labeled it as a “Charlie Brown” looking sort of tree but it came with lights and red bows and a stand. Yes, it is used and slightly worn but it is quite functional and with a little bit of care it will work great as our Christmas tree this year. That also equates to a 40 to 50 dollar savings in my budget. That is 40 or 50 bucks that I can spend on a present. How can I go wrong with that?

One of our Christmas presents this year will be our move from the bottom of the hill in Goose Creek to the top of the hill on the other side of Goose Creek near Walmart. I know some of you are thinking, what is the big deal with that? If you have ever heard of Jeff Foxworthy you have heard the “you must be a redneck if” jokes. One of my favorites which fit this paragraph says “You must be a redneck if instructions to your house include turn off the paved road”. Well, instructions to our house, for the last 7 years has been “go to the end of the road, drop off the pavement, go around the old oak tree and find the next to the last trailer on the left at the bottom of the hill”. I guess that means we must be rednecks.

Yes, we are so thankful to have been able to move to a much nicer dwelling than the double wide trailer however I want to make sure to remember that we were living at Suburban Lodge at Ashely Phosphate and I -26 when we found it. We moved to Charleston in June or July of 2000 because our daughter Jessica had taken ill with cancer. We chose Charleston and MUSC for her treatment because it was closer to Bluffton than Memphis Tennessee. My wife and I were crammed into an efficiency with two beds, one bathroom and a tiny closet with our three children. We were living on top of one another and it seems as if we all stayed sick with colds all the time because of the close living quarters.

We were new in town, our credit was not the best and we did not have any savings that would afford us to move into a rental home of any type. We were not destitute because I did have a job still and was getting paid so we were at least able to pay rent somewhere.
Katy was part of a Circle of Friends distribution list in Charleston so she put out a plea asking those ladies if they knew of a place for us to move to. Much to our surprise our friend Shannon wrote us back and told of us a double wide trailer that was then available. Little did we know that our family and her family has several things in common and one of them was the fact that they had a child who had passed away.

What I am saying is that we have not forgotten where we were 7 or 8 years ago nor have we forgotten the huge blessing that Shannon and her family were during those 7 or 8 years as they graciously provided us with a place to stay and worked with us on the rent when times were extremely tough.

No matter where you live there are always some positives and negatives. One of the negatives with living in a double wide trailer surrounded by trees is that every time the weather would go south and there were threats of severe thunderstorms or possible tornados we would have to pack up the family and head for church. Much to my families dislike and much to my neighbor’s amusement this big chicken decided I would not sit still and take the chance that something might blow through the paper thin walls of that trailer and hurt me or my family. One of the things that precipitated my dislike of bad weather is that I was raised in NE Texas near the Oklahoma border and I have seen my fair share of tornados and severe weather and I have seen first hand what it can do to a mobile home. What do all of the weather warnings issued by NOAA say? If you live in a mobile home evacuate immediately and seek safe shelter. Need I say more?

The positive now and it is a huge Christmas present to all of us is that I am not acutely aware of the weather now. That means that when it rains outside I do not hear it because we do not have a metal roof 4 feet over our heads. I am not ignorant about the weather by any stretch of the imagination but I do feel somewhat safer which means that I am not quite as sensitive to it. That means that I get more sleep and my family is not inconvenienced by the bad weather drill of gathering the pillows, blankets and whatever it was we wanted to take with us into the vehicles for the mad dash to the church.

I could write more however I need to get back to the regularly scheduled work day. Whatever you do remember to take a deep breath and realize that you do not need to get sucked into the Christmas madness with all of the hectic shopping and parties. Do what you can within your means and do not go into debt just for the sake of giving a special present. Sometimes that special present needs to be taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with your loved ones and saying how much you love and appreciate them.
Keep Christ in Christmas and be thinking of ways to include HIM in your festivities.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours. Be blessed!!



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

Jammin4Jesus 2008

The weather forecast for Saturday November 15th was calling for rain and lots of it. The only problem with rain is that it was going to seriously screw up the plans to have a first annual Jammin4Jesus festival to be held at the Folly Road Park on Center st. I remember praying several times the week before the event asking God to clear the skies for the event because I knew how much work had been put into the planning. As I left Goose Creek that rainy Saturday morning it appeared that Jammin4Jesus would be rained out.

As I drove I remembered how I had made a commitment to be there and I decided that I would honor the commitment no matter what. I figured if it did rain I would not be the only person there and so off I went. As I drove closer and closer to Folly Beach I reflected back on a conversation that I had with the organizer of this event. I sent an e-mail to the organizer Tyna and asked her what the fall back plan was in case of rain. Tyna told me there was no fall back plan and not to worry because the rain would not ruin the festival.

The closer I got to Folly Beach the more I began to doubt that the event would not be rained out. It appeared to be getting more over cast by the moment. What I did not realize is that I was in for a surprise. Just as I crossed over one of the bridges coming onto Folly Beach I saw sunshine breaking through the clouds and I could see clear sky. When I saw that I smiled because I knew there was hope for the event to go forward.

Jammin4Jesus 2008 was sponsored by Bethany United Methodist Church and all of the proceeds from the event went towards the James Island outreach ministry foodbank and Ronald McDonald House in Charleston. The dream or vision for this ministry event originated back in either late August or early September within Tyna as God began to speak to her and motivated her to find the time to make those connections that would enable her to bring her vision into reality. Jammin4Jesus was not designed to be a church event but rather it was designed to be the type of event that would break the traditional and denominational barriers in order to attract those folks in the community on Folly Beach that may not be associated with the local church.

In order to facilitate this outreach event on Folly Beach there were several local praise teams that showed up to share the ministry that God has given them. As I listened and watched Crossroads, Exposed, Seacoast, Unmasked and Station 15 during their scheduled times on stage I was able to see how each individual and group brought something different and unique to the event. The main theme throughout this evangelical event was that God has done a work in the lives of those who were there to do their thing and their desire was for anyone that would listen to understand that the same God that has set them free from the pain and heartache of this world could do the same for anyone who was listening.

My role at Jammin4Jesus was to help MC the event and because of that I was able to walk around and talk to other folks who were there as volunteers and I was able to speak to the vendors that were donating their time, talents and services for this event. I remember one vendor in particular who was selling costume jewelry during the event. I happened to walk over and talk to this one lady and her friend and she told me how a little girl came into her area and was captivated by a small bracelet. The little girl looked up at her with a wistful glance and told her she had 3 dollars and wanted to know how much this particular bracelet was on the table. The vendor knew how much the little girl really loved the bracelet so she picked it up off the table and took the 20.00 price tag off of it and told the girl to keep her 3 dollars and that it was a gift.

I remembered standing in the park listening to Unmasked doing their routine and over heard a gentleman who was in biker gear asking the police officer who was working the event some questions about who was sponsoring the event and was it a church event. I do not remember what the policeman’s response was but I know that the gentleman who was wearing the biker gear seemed to be impressed and intrigued about the event in general.

I was particularly impressed that one of Tyna’s friends , Mike, came down all the way from Ohio with a truck load of sound equipment and portable stages and donate his time and talent to make sure that Jammin4Jesus would have the sound equipment needed for the event. Mike brought enough equipment with him to set up two full stages. When one band was doing their thing the next band could set up their equipment and be preparing for their time slot.

All in all Jammin4Jesus turned out to be a huge success. The rain held off until 4 pm and even though Station15 was only able to sing one song they were thankful for the opportunity to be there. As I helped the band members to cover their equipment with tarps and tear things down I apologized to the leader about their being rained out. Instead of being bitter or disappointed about it all of the band members were just thankful for the opportunity to be there and said they would not have it any other way. I stood there with them in the pouring rain holding an umbrella thinking to myself how cool it was to be hanging out with a group of people who have true servants hearts. No one was there that day to make a name for themselves but instead they were there to share with the world what God had done for them and to share his love with others.

In the days to come I will be sharing some pictures and video from this event. I will also be setting up either a blog and/or website for Jammin4Jesus so that you can get a glimpse of what God is going to do through his people in the next event in 2009.


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com

Out with the old and in with the new

Did the 2008 Presidential election turn out the way you wanted it to? As for me and my house the answer is no. Despite the fact that our candidate lost I am comforted in knowing two things. The first thing is that God is still in control. Who God is and his word remains the same no matter who the world leaders are. The second thing that I realize is that the new president will not have any more or any less ability to fix things than the president before them. Yes, the president is a very important person in our form of democratic government however they are not a dictator and they do not have absolute authority as to what goes on. I was telling a friend of mine the other day that instead of voting for a president during the next election what we need to do as a nation is go to capital hill with a bucket full of pink slips for all of the corrupt and lobbyist dollar chasing law maker in office. I think if we fired all of those people and replaced them with some folks who still believe that the law makers and decision makers are supposed to be working for their constituents. I know, the chances of that happening are about as slim as hell freezing over.








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

Jammin' for Jesus Folly Beach November 15th

The month of November is a special month because of several reasons. One reason is because we Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday and typically we get together with friends and family away from work and enjoy some time of fellowship. Another reason for November to be special is because I celebrate another birthday and grow a year younger. Last but not least another reason November is special is because the first annual Jammin’ for Jesus outreach which will be happening on November 15th at Folly River Park on Center Street at Folly Beach. This will happen from 11 am until dusk and there will be all sorts of activities and music teams from area churches there. If you are a music minister or involved in a musical group, puppet ministry etc and would like to participate please write sailboatmt@comcast.net and let Tyna know you are available.



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

Stressful Changes

I have heard that too many changes all at once can be stressful. In the last couple of weeks we have experienced a lot of changes as a family. We recently moved from a trailer that we lived in for 7 years and in order to move from there into our new place we had to make some tough decisions and sacrifices. One of the hardest decisions was to downsize the pet farm. At that time we had two dogs, a cat, a bird, two puppies and a kitten. We are now down to Angel the lab and Peaches the bird. It was very difficult for us to say good bye to our beloved pets but the new residence only allows for us to have two pets and they also put a very steep pet deposit in place which made it necessary to severely reduce the number of pets we took with us.

The other thing that was stressful for the teens was to uproot from their schools at Sedgefield and Goose Creek High School and make the move away from their friends into new schools at Westview and Stratford High School. I am sure that Justin and Kristina will find new friends eventually but I am sure that they sorely miss their friends from the other schools. I know that Kristina keeps in contact with several of her friends in person as well as through MySpace and e-mail.

I drove in to work early this morning and it is a dreary rainy dark looking day. It was good to go to bed around 10:30 pm last night because it enabled me to wake up at 6 am and get an early start on my day. That includes driving from Goose Creek to Kiawah Island which usually takes about an hour depending on traffic. The earlier I start out the easier the traffic is which makes my morning commute much more bearable. Speaking of change my new job as an I.T. manager for a resort rental company has been quite stressful. I found myself walking into somewhat of a mess and I had to hit the ground running with little to no training from the previous I.T. person that was here before me. When I arrived that person had been gone for two weeks and I had to depend on feedback from the technology provider company that was being utilized until my arrival. When I arrived here there was a back log of workstation problems that took me about 4 weeks to resolve.

On my drive in this morning I prayed for my family and my church, my nation and I am quite thankful for many things. I am thankful for Katy and the children. I am thankful that God has blessed me with a family who loves me and friends like you who care about me. I am thankful that I live in America and that I can enjoy the freedom of speech and religion and the right to vote for my leaders. I understand that our system is probably messed up beyond all measure however I also know as a naturalized citizen that if it were not for my adoption parents I would have never made it here. I also realize that no matter how screwed up the American form of government is or how many crooked politicians may be in office it is a far cry better than living in some socialist or communist country where we would not have any freedoms that we take for granted.


I am thankful that each American can go out and vote tomorrow during the presidential election. If you are an American I would encourage you to do what a lot of other citizens in other countries can not do, go VOTE. If you feel hopeless, and that your vote does not count then please know that you are probably not alone. All you can do is educate yourself the best you can and make the best decision you can. There are websites that are dedicated to providing us with a comparison of each presidential candidate and where they stand on the issues.

Your decision to vote will enable the democratic system to work the way it is supposed to work. For the people and by the people means that we vote people into office that we think will best represent us in our government. If you do not vote then you have robbed yourself of a privilege that you have as a citizen and you will not be able to complain about who makes it in office. The bottom line is this, your vote counts.

I am thankful this morning that I can go to church on Sunday and that my family and I can take part in open praise and worship. I am also thankful that other folks like you have the right to go worship God or not worship God. That is what is great about our country. We do not have to worry about our government forcing us to worship one particular religion nor do we have to worry about them throwing us in jail just because we do chose to worship.

I am thankful that I am employed this morning. There are a lot of folks out there that are being laid off or are having a very difficult time finding gainful employment. Our economy is struggling at this time and businesses and people alike are learning how to live more frugally than before. I am hopeful that our government leaders will be able to make the right decisions and the tough decisions that will enable our economy and citizens to get back on the right track.
I am hopeful that our government leaders will realize that downsizing and making budgetary cuts is not just limited to the poor and middle class Americans. All of us need to make some sacrifices for the greater good of all.


I am thankful for technology and that I can use it to write these words and share them with you. If it were not for the advantages of technology and the Internet or World Wide Web I would not be able to share my thoughts with you nor would I be able to know all of you, my friends and fellow cyber citizens.







James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com

Roll up your sleeves

I heard this the other day and I have to agree with it. We do not change who God is because of who we are or what we believe however if we read God’s word and follow its principles God changes us. That is a powerful thought worthy of our meditation. How often is it that we bargain with God about the things in our lives? Dear God if you will do this and that then I will do whatever you ask of me. Are we really willing to do whatever God asks of us? Do we really mean what we are saying or are we fooling ourselves into believing that God does not know the intent of our heart when we say those things?

Our hope is in Christ and in who he is both to our world and in our lives personally. If we chose to believe that we are in control and that we determine the purpose of our lives then God is not in us. The truth of the matter is that we need God in our lives and we need his power, love, grace and mercy. The problem is that we are so busy with the things of this world that we choke out time with God that is so precious. Time with God gives us strength and hope and power. Only God can give us the peace that passes all understanding. Only God can restore us into his own image and make us more like him. God loves us without measure and he pursues us on a daily basis. God pursues us relentlessly. All we have to do is to slow down, take a deep breath and just listen.

Our lives are not our own. God gave us our lives so that we can live for Him and him alone. God has a purpose for our lives and that purpose is to love him and glorify him in all that we do and say. I want to encourage you to purpose in your heart to do something today that will give honor and glory to God in your life. One way that you can do that is to slow down and find time to spend with God. If you take the time to build a relationship with your creator he will bless you beyond measure. When you invest of yourself in anything you are usually blessed in return. How much time do we spend doing everything else but spending time with God? How much eternal reward will we get for doing those things?

Today I read something in my Values for Men devotional. It said this and I quote “Once we make the decision to trust God completely, it is time to get busy. The willingness to take action- even if the outcome of that action is uncertain- is an effective way to combat hopelessness. When you decide to roll up your sleeves and begin solving your own problems, you’ll feel empowered, and you may see the first real glimmer of hope.”

Those words really resonate within my life. I can not begin to tell you how many times in my life I have felt despair, depression and hopelessness because of the circumstances in my life. Some of these circumstances were things out of my control and some of them were there because of poor decisions in my life. No matter the reason the emotions were real and they were and are hard to deal with. Several years ago a dear friend of mine listened to me lament about how horrible and hopeless my credit rating was. I told this friend that this and that had happened in the past and that there was absolutely nothing that I could do to make this situation better. In my mind there was no hope and even thinking about the situation made me angry and depressed and despondent. I did not even want to hear that there is hope.

I am thankful that my friend was patient enough with me to listen and to allow me to have those feelings. My friend did not belittle my situation or tell me to get over it. What my friend told me was that they too had experienced these types of issues in their life and that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. One key ingredient of that hope was to have faith and believe that I could be a part of the solution and that doing nothing about it was the worse thing I could do. I do not know how long it took me to come around but somehow I chose to believe that there is hope and that I could do something about our credit problems. I chose to ignore the feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and despair. I chose to stop being a victim of my own feelings and to roll up my sleeves and do something.

The first thing I had to do was to educate myself about credit. What is credit, why is it important and how does it affect me and my family. Once I began to educate myself and to learn the things I needed to know I was empowering myself to take action. Knowledge is power but only if you apply the principles of that knowledge. You can apply that principle to Godly living. How can we live for God when we do not know what the instruction manual says? How many times have we purchased a new electronic gizmo and not know how to operate it? What is the first thing that most people do? They pick up the manual and learn how to do what they want to do with the new gizmo. That is exactly what we need to do with the Bible. We need to open up with the anticipation that God is going to show us how to be who he wants us to be. Once we do that he will open our eyes and illuminate himself and his will for our lives today.

Please allow me to encourage you to empower yourself and add quality and quantity to it by spending more time with God. How much time you spend with God will be up to you but I can tell you that you will never spend too much time. The more time you spend the more you will be blessed. God will restore your soul, give you direction for living and fill your heart with peace that you will not find anywhere else.

My God bless your richly as your purpose to pursue him today.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
jcmoffitt@gmail.com