The Price of Children

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all.  Here is something absolutely positive for a
change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the
first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.
 
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140..00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

$8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, $171.08 a week.  A mere $24.24 a day!  Just over a dollar an hour. 

Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.'  Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

Naming rights.. First, middle, and last!  Glimpses of God every day.  Giggles under the covers every night.  More love than your heart can hold.  Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.  Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.  A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.  Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day. 

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:  finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:  keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watch Saturday morning cartoons, go to Disney movies, and wish on stars.  You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a  splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the: First step, First word, First bra, First date, First time behind the wheel.  You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,  communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber  party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price !!!!!!!!

Pray for a friend.....

I have a good friend who suffered a severe head injury yesterday.
She's a wonderful wife, and mother to two great daughters. She's in
the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Please pray for her
comfort, peace for the family, and wisdom for the doctors.

You may follow her progress at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/prayforemily

--
Sent from my mobile device

jim w
www.jwhitfield71.com

Catching up

Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything. If you could see my calendar, you would understand why!

I spent half of last week accompanying twenty-eight 6th Graders from Indianola Academy on a field trip to Chattanooga. I didn't know what to expect, but we had a great time! We've got some really good kids. It was fun to watch the guys do what Southern guys are famous for... smiling and being polite, holding doors open for women... all those charming things. And they're still kids! But growing oh so fast.

We stopped at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama on the way up. It's a small center, but packed full of good information and displays. It boasts a very knowledgeable staff of tour guides, too. It's worth a stop if you're up in north Alabama.

We did all the major sights in Chattanooga; Ruby Falls which was just stunning, Rock City (and got a See Rock City birdhouse), and the Incline Railway. The Tennessee Aquarium is also a great place to visit, too.

This week will have two overnight trips to Jackson. After that, two full weeks on the Coast. Then a couple more nights in Jackson, followed up by a week-long training in Nevada. I'm going to see more of this country than I ever intended to! Within a week's time span so far, I've been in 5 states.

During all of the trips over the continent, I've got to find some time to work on a house I just got. A few rooms to paint, and moving in. I'd like to be "in" the house when I get back from Nevada, but that's going to take a miracle.

Yall have a good week. I'll try to make blogging a bit more regular.

Remedial reading

Yall go back and read my blog about Matthew 18 from a week or so ago. Just click the link and you'll go to it.

I'm a bit perturbed.

Easter Sunday

What does Easter mean to you?

I've always enjoyed Easter more than Christmas. Think about it...Christmas wouldn't mean so much, if it wasn't for Easter, would it? But which holiday do we put more emphasis and excitement into?

Why do we spend so much time and energy observing the birth of a man, the Son of Man? Yet, in comparison, we hardly give passing notice to His "rebirth" from the grave. School children are normally dismissed for two weeks to observe Christmas, but Easter might get two days, if they're lucky.

Easter, to me, embodies so many notions of renewal. Our world is undergoing a renewal at this time of year, as new green growth and joyful flowers erupt from the heavy strength of winter's grip, as if they were straining against it for so many months. And in the midst of it all, we have Easter, when our Savior escaped the even more oppressive grip of death. It's so plainly written all over everything we see happening around us right now.

But our for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere see a different picture. Their world is slowly receding into that winter sleep. Perhaps for them, Easter brings that promise that in a few months their world will also be restored.

Whatever Easter means to you, I hope that you understand what happened a couple thousand years ago. Women approching Jesus' grave were met by a man gowned in light, asking them why they'd even come down there. Hadn't they heard from Jesus himself that he would rise again? Didn't they believe? Or were they so much like us today, sitting back listening to the words, but not realizing the promise they contain?

I lost a good friend on Good Friday this week. He's leaving behind a wonderful wife and a handful of great children. Yes there is sorrow and mourning to be had as we approach his funeral. But what is the promise? He's alive even now, not on this earth, but in Heaven. I wondered after I received news of his death, what sights and celebrations he must be marveling at in Heaven as Easter approaches. But you know, I bet every day in Heaven is Easter. Every day the angels and hosts celebrate a RISEN savior. We're not compelled to worship a statue, or a book, or a person. We're called into a relationship with a real person.

I picked a good week to read The Shack. It's all about the triune God, in all three of His countenances, wanting and seeking a RELATIONSHIP with us. Not a superior/inferior, master/servant type of relationship. But one that is as real as those we enjoy with our friends and family.

What's Easter all about? What does it mean to you?

Heading home...

We're waiting for time to head back to the airport to fly to Memphis. It's been a LONG but great week.

Special thanks and greetings to Joel and Charlie from the Arlington (TX) Fire Department, and John from North Charlotte (SC) Fire Department, three great guys on Team Green.

Bugs, Bugs, and Bugs...

What did you hold in your hands today?

Me? Glad you asked.

I had in my hands today the bacteria that causes what is considered to be the sixth plague outlined in the Book of Exodus - anthrax (bacillus anthracis), yersinia pestis that causes plague - the same Black Plague of Eurpoean history in the 1300's, and Francisella tularensis that causes the disease known as tularemia or rabbit fever.

Anthrax (bacillus anthracis) gets its name from the Greek word for coal - anthrakis. The cutaneous form of the disease creates black eschar wounds on its victim, hence the name. We study anthrax as a potential bioterrorism weapon becuase it's readily available (occurs naturally among hooved animals) and is relatively easily cultured. Anthrax can also manifest as a gastric disease, or as a pulmonary disease. The pneumonic form is the most deadly among the three.

The Black Death of Europe 1347-1353 is considered to have caused the death of approximately one-third of Europe's population. Yersinia pestis is another naturally occurring disease, especially in rodents and can be transmitted to humans by infected fleas. Like anthrax, we pay close attention to this one due to it's relative availability. It, too, can present in three forms. The bubonic presentation indicates an infection of the lymph nodes. Septicemic plague is an infection of the bloodstream. Pneumonic plague, like anthrax, is the most deadly and can be easily spread from person-to-person.

Tularemia is a disease found in North America mostly in beavers and muskrats, and can be carried to humans by a vector such as fleas or flies. While the disease isn't seen all that often, it is of concern because it can be reasonably isolated, cultured, and disseminated as a biological agent.

Why write? Well, for one, it's not every day that an opportunity to hold in your own hands the causative bacteria of two diseases of antiquity. I thought it was pretty interesting. We were given the opportunity to study them closely under the microscope, then to sample them and utilize field tests that your local fire & police may have. My team of 6 (3 from Mississippi, 2 from Texas, and one from South Carolina) may never have such an opportunity again.

And it'll give you something to think about the next time you shake my hand.

Tired dogs....

We're whipped puppies out here in Utah. Two of my co-workers and I are out at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds west of Salt Lake City for the week for chemical & biological training. This is some of the best training available in the nation.

Yesterday was all classroom where we were bombarded with a lot of biology and chemistry. Today we spent the entire day in a WMD chemistry lab where some of the most deadly substances created by humans are used to test protective equipment that your local public safety men and women use.

We can't take pictures while we're out in the labs and on the ranges, but oh I wish I could. The scenery is amazing. From the lab area we were in today, you could see some 50 miles to mountains near the Nevada border. This is "high desert" country, but it has beauty in its starkness. You lose all sense of perspective between the huge mountains and the wide open spaces.

I have to confess I've got one of the best jobs in the state. I work with a great group of guys, and we get to be involved in things like this from time to time. Later this weekend I'll have some pictures of our time at the labs that they make for us during class.

Later folks!

Multimedia message

Just outside Salt Lake City enrotue to the high desert

Fun part of my job

I'm in Utah for the week, participating in chemical and biological weapons training. FUN!!!!

Here's a little video of what we'll be doing this week. (after you press the play button, it'll take about 12-15 seconds before you see anything...long black intro)



From the information packet about the training:

This course is designed to provide students with hands-on problem-solving opportunities regarding chemical and biological incident response. This course will introduce topics and information, provide laboratory experiences, and culminate with a free-play exercise to practice concepts taught in the classroom and laboratory. Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), West Desert Test Center (WDTC) Joint Operational Testing & Training Division, currently provides many of the nation’s protectors with state-of-the-art advanced chemical and biological counter-Terrorism courses. This Ph.D.- taught course provides lectures and hands-on training in chemical and biological environments, focusing on agent characteristics, sampling, protection, detection, decontamination, and signatures. Onsite courses allow students to work in biological level 2 and 3 laboratories with live agents, and in certified chemical facilities with actual chemical agents. Biological and chemical simulants that trigger detectors systems are used to enhance practical exercises for real-time readings and realism of the training.

We had a great flight out, but it was a LONG day! I'll add a picture album sometime this week for you to see. Once we're out doing hands-on training in the desert, there won't be too many pictures. Sensitive government-type stuff, you understand.

I'll blog as I have the opportunity, but we're going to have some pretty long days out here in the desert.

Finishing from earlier...

I started a missive last week with Matthew 18 as the basis. This will be a bit of a ramble, as my thoughts are only in time with my typing fingertips.

Matthew 18 (The Message Translation)

¹ At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"

^{2 -5}For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. ^{6 -7}"But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse—and it's doomsday to you if you do.

Two things jump out of the first passage. First, no matter what things, what actions, what human definitions we come up with - faith is simple. Jesus himself said so - "unless you return to square one and start over like children." How much more plain could it be? I've heard that even though we might have our "fire insurance" by way of salvation, we must work work work to "earn greater rewards" and to "store up our treasure" in Heaven. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying punch the salvation ticket and then run do whatever feels good. Certainly we must live in a manner that doesn't cause our brother to stumble. Yes, there are later New Testament teachings from the apostles to strive on, continue to reach higher for the cause of Christ. But again, He said it "unless you return to square one and start over like children"... Are we missing something in this teaching? Is He saying that when we get to a point we just can't seem to figure "it" out, to step back, regroup, and start over? To go back to where we were as we began our walk of faith?

^{8 -9}"If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

I'm not sure about this...scratching my head as I type....I might come back to it in a later blog.

¹⁰"Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

^{12 -14}"Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

Oh wow, this might get long. I've vented and ranted on here just a little, and in private to some of my readers about feeling on the "outside" a lot lately. Yeah, there's a cursory phone call on a rare occasion. But I'm guilty too...I've been one of the 99 that knew a church member was missing in action. And I didn't step out. I'm not sitting here crying that I'm the 1 sheep, but I can say I've been on both sides. Why don't we as a church do a better job at bringing our own back into the family? What point have we reached in our "faith" to be able to sit back and either do nothing, talk about doing something but yet still sit idle, or to "feel" for the missing member...but we never DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!?!?! We do it, and we justify our inaction through our self-serving "empathy" for the fallen member. I'm not talking about the truly LOST; I mean those of the family of the redeemed who've fallen by the wayside. Empathy feels good, but it gains nothing. Did the shepherd just feel bad for the missing sheep? Did he call the other 99 together and discuss how pitiful a situation the 1 sheep must be in, and pray for his safe return? Did he call, text, or email the sheep with well-wishes? Did he find the sheep and offer to feed him while he explained to the sheep how to find his way back to the fold? Go back and re-read the passage and see what the shepherd did.

^{15 -17}"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

^{18 -20}"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

I've hit on this before too, either on here or privately. It's a tough-love that lets you do what Jesus says. But thankfully I've been on the receiving end from a loving and caring brother. And once, I've been the one going to a brother. Is it easy? NO! But having been on both sides, I can assure you it's far more of a blessing than any degree of "empathy" you can muster for anyone. The family of faith is just like any other family. We'll have our times where we disagree. But lets disagree and come back into agreement privately. We gain nothing in going to others to "discuss the situation" until it's forgotten about, but left unresolved. We're given here a step-by-step way to work things out with each other. And if all else fails, look what Jesus says - just like with the children earlier - go back and start from scratch. Don't throw someone under the bus. Back up, take a deep breath, and start over with love.

²¹At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

²²Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

^{23 -25}"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

^{26 -27}"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

²⁸"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

^{29 -31}"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

^{32 -35}"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

Wow. Re-read that again. Ok do it just one more time. Now....let's talk. Which is worse? Is it worse for me to forgive the contraventions of my brothers against me, yet be "talked about" around town...."I can't believe he said he forgave him for that!!" Or what about "I'm not sure I can forgive you for...."? The servant has his gift of forgiveness taken away because he refused to forgive another brother. We're human, yes. Emotions are very real and very difficult to sometimes see through. But if I refuse to forgive someone, am I not putting my very own forgiveness in peril? Re-read that last sentence in the passage. Powerful stuff.

I never intended to sound "preachy", because I have PLENTY of my own faults. I struggle with forgiveness, and pray for the ability to forgive, because I know my forgiveness wasn't earned. Absolutely nothing I have done warranted the Master and Creator to send his Son to be unrelentingly tortured and humiliated with common thieves. But He did.

I'm forgiven, because you were foresaken....
I'm accepted, You were condemned.....
I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me.....
Because you died and rose again.....

Amazing Love, how can it be,
That you MY KING would die for me?
Amazing Love, I know it's true,
And it's my joy to honor You....