Pap & Peaches

Speaking of good memories. Here's one of my favorite pictures of Pap and Peaches (Meredith). I believe this picture was taken in the late fall/early winter of 2002 up at Pap's house. "Peaches" is riding the flat piece of plywood that Pap is pulling with his Toro lawnmower. The boxes are full of leaves. You can't see Peaches to well, but you get the sense that it was a lovely experience. I'll have to ask Meredith if she remembers this experience and record her thoughts.

Notice the handsome boxer in the foreground (Jean -- take notice!). Studdly, aye!?! That's Duke. Duke will rip your arm off if you mess with any of our kids. Otherwise, he's a great dog!

Also, notice in the background that Grandma Becky's house is for sale. What a sweet little house.

Remember, if you click on the picture, you'll (usually) get a much larger version of it on your screen. Check out the expressions on both Pap's and Peaches' faces. Both expressions capture these two perfectly. Also notice the lovely socks Meredith is wearing. More than likely, Pap helped her get dressed to go out into the cold. (No one helped Duke. He was born ready!)

Father and Son (and Pap & Peg) Workday

I (Doug) and Clint took a road trip Friday evening after the last Hornet's Soccer game (the Homeschool Hornets are a middle school soccer team on which both Clint and Meredith played this fall) and headed north to Ellwood City where we slept overnight at Pap and Peg's and then went over to "the building" to help Pap and Peg prepare the new office space for Eric Ryan (another business in town). It was a great father and son (and grandparent) experience. We had to tear down an 8-foot section of wall, move it back 1 foot and over 3-4 feet to the other side of the room. Clint was a great help. He did a good bit of cleaning up and generally helping when we needed muscle to move things. Bill Hiker (sp?), one of the happiest men in the world who lives in the apartments above Kimpel's Jewelry store, also helped.
It was great to see the four of us men working together. First, Clint and I would work together, then Clint and Pap would work together while Bill and I did a project. Then Pap and I would get involved and Bill and Clint would team up. Peg shot out part way through the morning to accomplish some other tasks. Probably too much testosterone in the room for any woman! I'd have gotten out also....if I were a girl!
We also moved a small refrigerator down from the 3rd floor so that Peg could return it. It wasn't working correctly. Wasn't getting cold.
We had a lovely lunch from Mary Fray's (sp?) Ellwood Hot Dog Shop -- wow did it take a long time to get our food. Clint had a double cheeseburger -- death by cheeseburger.
It was a great day and a good memory for all involved. I especially like doing these things with Clint because I know it will be cherished memories someday.

Friends House Burns In California Fires

We heard some very sad news today from our dear friends near San Diego. After visiting with Karen, Lauren and Graham Gantzer last weekend, October 14 & 15 (Jerry and Kyle were vacationing in Cabo San Lucas taking advantage of the free trip Kyle and his homeschooling buddy won on Wheel of Fortune), we were crushed to hear that their beautiful mountain-top home was consumed by the Southern California fires. Apparently, they lost everything except for what they could throw in their car in 20 minutes! (The picture to the above is NOT the Gantzer's house. I is a picture I pulled off the web. But come to think of it, it was SOMEBODY'S house!)

This link will take you to a satellite picture of what used to be there home: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Ramona,+CA&ie=UTF8&ll=33.082054,-116.738325&spn=0.00378,0.006223&t=h&z=18&om=1

According to what we hear, everyone is safe, but they've lost essentially everything they own.

For those of you who don't know the Gantzers, Karen (Leslie) was Mary's roommate in college and maid of honor in our wedding. We met Jerry after Karen met him. Jerry is the facilities manager at Oakbridge a Young Life Camp immediately adjacent to their home. He has been there roughly 10 years. Apparently, the camp sustained some substantial damage also.

Here's a link to the camp's website you might find interesting: http://sites.younglife.org/camps/Oakbridge/Open%20Content%20Pages/SouthernCaliforniaFire.aspx

Your prayers are appreciated -- Jerry, Karen, Kyle (who traveled to Germany with me this summer), Lauren (beautiful young lady and a great swimming talent) and Graham (a football, baseball, and all around good athlete).

Catching a Big Fish

Ellen and I had a great adventure this summer. During our summer vacation to Canada with the whole family, including my mom and dad, Ellen and I landed a 43 1/4", 14 pound musky. What a kick. Ellen had to "drive" the boat while I wrestled with this fish for 15-20 minutes. She did a great job and we would not have caught the fish if she hadn't learned how to drive the boat "on the fly."

If you click on the image, you should be able to view a larger photo.

Check out the look on Ellen's face.

Your Comments Welcome

Just so all of you know, you can reply/comment to my blog by scrolling to the bottom of the blog and clicking on the "comment" link. I have personally never done it and no one has ever done it to one of my blogs, but if you are brave, give it a shot. If it doesn't work, drop me an email at dhglenn61@comcast.net and let me know it doesn't work.

A quick journal entry for today. It is Sunday, October 21, and we had a wonderful day in church and then up in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, helping to celebrate the baptism of Evan Twiddell, son of Joe and Ann (Fox). Evan is roughly 8 months old and has the bluest eyes I've ever seen! Wow! Exceptionally cute kid -- maybe even cutter than my kids....if that were possible. Once I learn how to attach pictures to my blog, I 'll try and include one of Evan.

Have a great week, and don't forget to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).

If I Were A Gambling Man

Before I get into the meat of this blog, I’m going to do a bit of “journaling” and also tell you a quick funny that happened at home recently.

First, the journaling. I’m typing this in an airplane flying from Phoenix to San Diego. It’s Saturday morning, October 13, 2007, and I’m on my way to WEFTEC which is a trade show for one of my magazines, Pollution Engineering. I’ll be visiting with Karen Gantzer and her daughter, Lauren, tonight and maybe son Graham. Husband Jerry and eldest son, Kyle, on in Cabo San Lucas on a vacation Kyle and his high school buddy won on Wheel Of Fortune – that’s right, the one with Pat and Vana! It was a blast to watch them win. Kyle went to Germany with me this year in June to attend Thermprocess another trade show for another magazine I publish, Industrial Heating. Kyle is a mature young man and we had a wonderful time. He was a big help at the trade show and I’m pretty sure he LOVED the experience and the food….especially the food. I’ve never seen someone take so many pictures of their food before consuming.

Anyhow, that’s where I am and what I’m doing.

Now, let me tell you a quick “funny.” We’re sitting around the dinner table preparing to eat and as we’re assembling, a couple of the kids are talking about rap music and Evelyn, our youngest, is trying her luck at making rapper noises. With both hands cupped over her mouth, she is wholeheartedly attempting to make the rapper beat ..(boom, batta, boom, batta, boom, batta, boom, etc.). You have to understand that Evelyn (Evy) goes 100% at whatever she does. She is relatively fearless. The most fearless of all our four. So there she is, hands cupped over month, grooving the beat when she comes to an abrupt halt, lowers her hands and say, “I’m basically just spitting all over my hands!”

That about captures the essence of rapping. Just spitting all over your own hands and everyone else’s brains (depending on what your rapping at the time!).

So let’s move on to the topic of the day.

I have not often faced black and white moral decision in my profession. I’m sure everyday I face gray areas and hopefully I come down in the correct shade of gray, right where Jesus would want me to be. The Christian life is not black and white. The 10 Commandments seem black and white, but their application is not. Modern day Christians that oversimplify life into black and white are often “moralist” and are frequently “non-thinking” Christians who just want to say “that’s wrong” and not use their heads to really consider the situation.

Fortunately, I’ve not had too many situations where I’ve had to make moral decisions that could potentially effect the “progress” of my career. If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered more than once what you would do if presented with a moral dilemma. “Will I make the right decision?” “Will I choose to sacrifice advancement and do the right thing?” “Would I rather be fired than agree to do such and such?”

We’ll this week, in a small, but significant way, I got to live my faith.

Here’s the background.

First, over the past 5-6 years, I’ve been one of perhaps 2-3 people in my company to publish Chinese-language editions of my magazines. Moreover, I am the only one in my company to develop a profitable relationship with a Chinese partner in Beijing. This partner, Arlen LUO, started publishing four issues of Industrial Heating, and this year (2007) is publishing Chinese editions for roughly 10 BNP Media magazines all of them based on the agreements I’ve worked out with him. The volume and success of these international editions has grown enough over the past five years that our company owners are now talking with me about formalizing and growing our Chinese relationship and also looking at other countries like India where I’ve also dabbled over the past couple of years.

Several weeks ago, I had a phone conversation with Tagg Henderson, a co-CEO of BNP Media and the CEO in charge of publishing. Tagg asked that I put together a proposal to grow our international markets. With the help of John Schrei, my immediate boss, I put together a proposal.

Now the curve ball.

Roughly one month before I spoke with Tagg, BNP Media purchased 17 new magazines from Ascend Media. The Stagnito Professional Services Division of Ascend Media included a number of magazine in the food and packaging industry and a couple of gaming books. My immediate boss at that time was Dave Lurie. Dave was promoted to division director over 15 of the new magazines plus 5 we already owned. All of my pubs were removed from Dave’s oversight. This was a sad day since I worked with Dave for over 13 years. It was a smart move on Tagg’s part, but a bitter-sweet parting for me.

Anyhow, still not problem…yet.

Upon reviewing the first draft of my international proposal with John Schrei at the Gear Expo in Detroit just a week ago (early ctober), John mentioned that “gaming is a huge industry in China” and how he was looking forward to growing gaming revenue in China.

RED FLAGS went up.

Several weeks earlier, when I found out that BNP had purchased gaming magazines, I told Mary that if they ever asked me to do anything to directly benefit those books, I would have to politely decline. No more than two weeks later, I am faced with that decision and the decision could substantially alter my plans to develop international markets and put a stop to that advancement track and potential more pay.

Thank God (literally), there wasn’t much hesitation in my mind. Although I didn’t tell John right away that I would have trouble doing anything that would benefit the gaming books (for which he is responsible), I did have the opportunity to do so before the day was out. He graciously understood and did not (at least outwardly) look at me as an outdated prude.

So he and decided to present the proposal and he encourage me to put into the proposal my thoughts about the gaming books. I did. I essentially told Tagg that I would rather forfeit the entire international project than do anything that today or in the future would accrue to the benefit of the gaming books. I would want the gaming books explicitly excluded from using any of the agreements I’d work on. As a business owner, I would not accept such a condition. We’ll see what Tagg does.

My preference is that BNP sell the gaming books. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most compelling is the inevitable shady deals and corruption that are associated with that industry are sure to find their way to BNP and potentially put the entire business at risk. Sell now. Also, God is not going to bless any business or individual that operates in opposition to his law.

So there is my moral dilemma. Thank God, I answered correctly (I think).

So why is gambling wrong?

Biblical Reasons

There are several reasons from the Bible and of course the Biblical reasons are the most important and would be enough by themselves.

1. Gambling can easily become “the love of money” which is condemned in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all sort of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang.”
2. The book of Proverbs tells us not to seek quick and unearned gain.
3. Gamblers are typically not content with their current income and a hoping to hit it big. This is unbiblical. Hebrews 13:5, “Let your character be free from the love of money being content with what you have, for He Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
4. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord and he will give you the desire of your heart; commit your way to the Lord and He will do it.” Gamblers are typically trusting something other than God to give them the desires of their heart.

Economic Reasons

1. Gambling is not productive. Nothing is added to the economy -- only money changing hands. No wealth created. For this reason, the gambling/lottery set is a reallocation of wealth, not an increase in wealth. From an economic standpoint, we ought to encourage wealth-producing activities.
2. Gambling harms the lower income level people most. It is a demonstrable fact that gambling takes its greatest toll on low income people. Governments and gambling establishments are for this reason preying on the disadvantaged and poor. Not only does this encourage more poverty (bad economics), but it is also the Biblical equivalent of harming the widow, orphan, and poor.

Anger Management

Nearly every dinnertime at the Glenn household is not only a time of feeding our faces/bodies, but also a time of feeding our souls. We typically read a portion of Scripture and work on memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism. We’re up to question 30 in the Catechism. Periodically, we’ll dispense with one or both of these items and discuss a topic of spiritual and/or material importance.

On Monday night, September 30, we discussed anger. I didn’t tell the kids what we were going to discuss, I simply started by telling them a true story about two men I knew from my work that got really angry while checking out of a hotel in Las Vegas because they thought they were not being treated with the preferential treatment they deserved as frequent visitors to the hotel. For 5-10 minutes, I stood and listened to these grown men make nasty comments and generally act like big babies. I told the kids, I tried real hard not to laugh and I certainly didn’t look around at other people because that would have surely made me laugh.

These guys looked ridiculous. Their anger was a great example of how “stupid” a person looks to others when they get angry.

I asked the question, “Is it ever okay to be angry.” Wheels started turning. Initially, the answer was no, but then the lovely and gracious Mrs. Glenn mentioned a Bible verse that says something like, “Be angry but do not sin.” That got the wheels turning even more.

One of the kids decided it was okay to get angry if someone is doing something wrong. That made some sense. But consider the fact that Christ hardly ever got angry at people even though they were doing wrong all the time.

I then asked the question, “Is it wrong to get angry when people treat you badly or do something wrong to you?” Clint answered “no,” meaning it was not okay to get angry when people treat you wrongly. I agreed.

I next asked them, “Why do we get angry when someone treats us wrongly?” The simple answer is that we believe we deserve better than we are being treated. We think the other person is not giving us the respect we deserve. Or it is just outright selfishness. “I want them to do this and they are not doing it, therefore, I’m angry with them.”

There isn’t a situation I can think of where getting angry with someone for the way they treat YOU is acceptable. I’d be curious if anyone can come up with one.

So when IS it acceptable to get angry? It seems to me that the example Christ gave is probably the best. When people mistreat others or God, then it is a righteous anger and acceptable.

By this time the kids were angry with me for talking so long about it so we finished the topic and moved on.