New thing learned for the day:
Great news! My baby, who is soon to be born, is a BOY! This is was a very great new thing to learn today!
Another thing I learned is that I was very wrong in a discussion with a friend recently. I was under the impression that the U.S. Constitution was very clear about what it means for someone to be a "natural born citizen". Apparently it's not so clear. So, perhaps, someday my son will still be eligible for the Presidency even though he was born in Japan. Because he will be instantly a U.S. citizen on account of being born to two U.S. citizens. He won't be a Japanese citizen, so I believe he would be considered a natural born citizen. I read some very interesting information on Wikipedia. Check out the following links....peruse at your leisure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born_citizen_of_the_United_States
If you are reading, friend who I had this discussion with, (and I very much doubt that you are) I now eat my humble pie. Yum yum, delicious!
And as far as my son being president. I wonder if the country can last long enough to wait till he meets the age requirements. More than that - I hope hope hope, desperately hope, that Jesus comes back first. Please!
Thought for the day:
In thinking about the earlier post regarding reaching goals. I today was reminded of 1 Corinthians 6:20 "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Of course one of the key phrases being "which are God's". In setting goals or chasing ambitions it is first of all most important to make sure that we are aligned with what HE wants since we do, after all, belong to Him (if we are Christians that is). What good is it to set goals if upon being reached, they provide only temporal value. It's hard to keep this in mind and really grasp this idea in a meaningful way, but just because it seems like a great accomplishment doesn't mean it is. I gave a speech one time (literally. I only ever gave a speech once) and I have to say it was the most terrifying experience of my life up to that point. But in it I encouraged people not to focus on investing their life simply for the future or worse yet, indulging in the pleasures of the present, but to invest life in eternity, by giving it all to Jesus Christ. For most people who heard it, what I said has probably been long since forgotten. But having to say that to a couple thousand people somehow seared it in my mind. Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (NKJV) Therefore, while I don't retract any of what I said earlier (I don't think), I must say that today God realigned my perspective a little. Not that I shouldn't be focused and determined to reach goals, but that I need to be attuned to HIS will and laying up treasures for heaven when I set my goals.
It's so hard, because it involves surrender, death to self, and doing things I plain old don't want to do. Yet I have to remember that God is loving and has good plans for my life (Jer. 29:11)
I feel there is so much more to think about regarding this subject and the earlier one - yet they are deeper than I and I have a hard time thinking them through. But that's ok - it's just one step at a time, one thought at a time, one day at a time. Perhaps I will soon learn something new that will help to tie these things together in my mind. How do we have ambition and endurance to do good, yet admit that we are weak? How can we attempt to be strong, but in someone elses strength? How can have goals, yet surrender them to someone else? How can I possibly have the strength to die to myself and my desires and live this way day to day without ever caving in and seeking after my own plans and hopes and desires? How can it be possible to aim for making someone else (God) happy, and hope that this will produce in us the most joy - more than seeking our own happiness? Well - I don't pretend to know. But I do want to learn. I like to learn, although it is hard at times.
Praise God for His love toward us, His patience with us, His mercy upon us, and His grace in us. He is so good.
No comments:
Post a Comment