The Innocence

Article Published in the Meade Co. Messenger on December 9, 2009

by Kevin Hatfield

The day had been a long one, filled with the usual pressures, as Karl finished his evening sitting at his desk, staring face to face with his laptop.  The coffee he nursed filled the study with rich aroma as his daughter walked in.  She asked if she could do her homework in here with him if she promised to be quiet.  Karl agreed, knowing she would be hard pressed to keep her promise, but he let her anyway.  In the background he had his usual selection of music faintly playing a soothing sound of worship that drifted through the air.

He was hard focused on his task at hand trying to meet a deadline, when soft humming caught his attention.  He paused, and then looked over his screen to see his youngest girl fully engrossed in her math, but humming to the music just the same.
The song played on and she continued never missing a beat, completely oblivious to her harmonic sounds.  What he saw was a glimpse of pure innocence.  Her face changing as she thought through her homework,
almost angelic in beauty. Daddy’s girl didn’t know the true evils of this world yet, and was completely content sharing the study with her Daddy. He felt a lump swell up in his throat and a tear came to his eye. All he could do was watch and share in song of her heart.

Mary was in the manger when the shepherds came in.  Telling a story about an angel, and how they followed a star just to see this baby. When they had finished she looked down at Jesus in her arms, Joseph by her side, and saw true innocence. A baby born, given to all of mankind for one purpose, to share the perfect gift, Love.  She pondered these things in her heart.

Many years later, she watched the terrible scene of her son being beaten, and then paraded through the streets of town to full fill that gift of love.  As he hung on the cross in open shame before all, she again remembered that night so long ago, and could still see the innocence.

Karl and many of us will spend Christmas with family and friends this year hoping we bought the right presents.  Wondering how we shall recover from all the spending.  But the real Christmas is celebrated in our hearts, sharing in a story of love and kindness, filled with peace and joy.

This year let’s get past the usual and find what Karl found right in front of him. This Christmas besides enjoying family and feast, find the true innocence.  God has pulled up two chairs, sat down, invited you over, and said “Let’s talk.”

We The People

We The People: "Words of Wisdom: Wretchedness and Opression
As we sit on the edge of the greatest power grab in our nation's history, I feel that is important to look to our Founding Fathers for their wisdom. Never before have these words rang more true than in the day and time we live in now.

'We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
We must make our election between economy and liberty
or profusion and servitude.
If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and
in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and
our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...
[we will] have no time to think,
no means of calling our miss-managers to account
but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves
to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers...
And this is the tendency of all human governments.
A departure from principle in one instance
becomes a precedent for [another ]...
till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery...
And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt.
Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.'


Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Samuel Kercheval, Monticello, July 12, 1816"

The Shepherds

Article Published Dec. 2,2009 Meade Co. Messenger

The Shepherds

By Kevin Hatfield

The gentle evening breeze blew out the fading sun as the shepherds’ day came to an end. The sun had been especially hot and they were tired as they put the animals down for the night. With all today’s activities coming to a close they settled down around a small fire, snacking on a small meal, and reminiscing the struggles of their day. As dusk faded into dark and their conversation wound down something happened that would change their lives forever…

As we approach Christmas this year we come face to face with difficult challenges. We find ourselves in precarious times, the worst recession in my adult lifetime, a weakening dollar, record unemployment, foreclosures, and a troubled real estate market, to say the least. Safe to say Christmas couldn’t come at a worse time for many families in our area. But with all these pressures there is still hope.

Times are changing and we must change with them. Our culture of .coms, huge profits, and excessive living have come to a close. We must adapt our lifestyles to fit our budgets; get back to the basics if you will.

Vincent Lombardi, all American football coach began each season with a lecture to veteran players and rookies alike. Holding up a football in one hand and said, “This is a football…” Get back to the fundamental basics.

The basics: In generations past, before the big economic boom, families helped families, neighbors knew each other, and people took care of people. Christmas wasn’t about how big the gift was, or how much we spent. It was about families getting together and sharing. It was about celebrating Christmas a time of joy, not worries, and financial pressures. It was about Love and the first present, the real gift.

The story I started with is a back story of what might have happened to the Shepherds you read about in Luke Chapter 2 of your bible. But my question is this; What would cause these shepherds to leave their flock and begin a journey to Bethlehem? What could possibly be so important to them to walk away from everything they had worked for? The answer…Hope.


The shepherds were also in an economic struggle. They were oppressed by a Roman occupation of their country with no end in sight. Taxation to Caesar taking from their ‘pockets’ at every turn. Which is why Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. The shepherds knew the stories of a leader that would come and deliver them, but not just some leader, a messiah, a deliverer.


…Just as they were about to fall asleep for the night, a bright light surrounded them, and a group of angels were with them around their fire. They were so scared they couldn’t even move. Then one spoke “Fear not, I bring good tidings of great joy…” The angel told them a baby was going to be born in a manger and to follow the star. They immediately left guided only by the star to the manger to see the hope they had prayed would come. The savior, the messiah, the deliverer of all mankind.



This Christmas we still have this hope. Our present given to us back in Bethlehem is love. A love that is much more important than anything we could purchase this year. Better than the toys or electronics that will become old and outdated. It’s something that will last and see us through our struggles. It’s a love that is bigger than just some empty story, it’s a love that will guide you to help a neighbor in hard times. Give you support from a church family as you struggle. It will help you make good decisions, and direct you to be a better person. And it’s already paid for.

It led shepherds to leave all they had to find, and guide you back to find all you left chasing the American dream.

This Christmas let’s find the basics in our homes: Faith, Hope, and Love. The real present is Love. And that’s a Christmas worth celebrating.

New Life International

Found this pretty interesting. My Daughter's class went on a trip here and did some community service work. She really enjoyed the trip. Please watch video.

How much difference we can all make if we only try.

Remember look up, live life, and be thankful.

Kevin

New Life International » Videos and Presentations

UN: Record 1 billion go hungry - Channel One News

UN: Record 1 billion go hungry - Channel One News

(Photo by Amanda Braisted, GO Ministries DR)

Somehow in our world today, all wrapped up in ourselves, we still have tragedy's such as this. Another interesting article that summarizes by saying one out of 6.7 children will die of starvation, or one every 6 seconds. Do I have the solution? No, but nothing is not the answer.


Remember those who can't do for themselves. Let's do something.


Kevin


UN: Record 1 billion go hungry

By TOM MALITI and ARIEL DAVID - 5 hours ago
Parents in some of Africa's poorest countries are cutting back on school, clothes and basic medical care just to give their children a meal once a day, experts say. Still, it is not enough.
A record 1 billion people worldwide are hungry and a new report says the number will increase if governments do not spend more on agriculture. According to the U.N. food agency, which issued the report, 30 countries now require emergency aid, including 20 in Africa.
The trend continues despite a goal set by world leaders nine years ago to cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015.
"It's actually a world emergency that calls for action from both developing and developed countries," said Otive Igbuzor, the head of international campaigns for ActionAid International.
"We know a child dies every six seconds of malnutrition," he said.
Spiraling food prices have added to hardships, especially in the world's most desperate countries where the poor could barely afford a single daily meal to begin with. The inflated prices — which caused riots across the globe last year — have stabilized but remain comparatively high, especially in the developing world, Jacques Diouf, director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, told AP Television News.
In Somalia, ravaged by violence and anarchy for almost two decades, the monthly expenditure for food and other basic needs for a family of six has risen 85 percent in the past two years, said Grainne Moloney of the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
On average, such a family spent $171 in September this year, compared with $92 for the same amount of food and other needs in March 2007, said Moloney, a nutrition expert for the Horn of Africa nation.
"Families are cutting out the school, cutting out the clothes. A lot of them are going for cheaper cereals," said Moloney, adding that despite those desperate measures, one in five children in Somalia is acutely malnourished.
Igbuzor said the trend can be seen in impoverished countries across Africa.
In Kenya, herders have seen scores of their animals die and crops have withered because of drought. Today, 3.8 million people in Kenya need food aid, up from 2.5 million earlier in the year.
After worldwide gains in the fight against hunger in the 1980s and early 1990s, the number of undernourished people started climbing in 1995, reaching 1.02 billion this year amid escalating food prices and the global financial meltdown, the FAO said in its Wednesday report.
The long-term trend is due largely to reduced aid and private investments earmarked for agriculture since the mid 1980s, the Rome-based agency said in its State of Food Insecurity report for 2009.
In 1980, 17 percent of aid contributed by donor countries went to agriculture. That share was down to 3.8 percent in 2006 and only slightly improved in the last three years, Diouf said.
"In the fight against hunger the focus should be on increasing food production," Diouf said. "It's common sense ... that agriculture would be given the priority, but the opposite has happened."
The decline may have been caused by low food prices that discouraged private investment in agriculture and competition for public funds from other aid fields, including emergency relief, said FAO economist David Dawe.

Governments and investors may also have chosen to put their money into other economic sectors because agriculture's share of the economy in some developing countries dropped as people moved to cities and found work in industry.
But agriculture still needs sustained investment to feed people in developing countries, Dawe said.
The world's most populous region, Asia and the Pacific, has the largest number of hungry people — 642 million — followed by Sub-Saharan Africa with 265 million.
Diouf said world leaders are starting to understand that investment in agriculture must be increased. He cited the goal set by the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila, Italy, in July to raise $20 billion to help farmers in poor countries produce more — a shift from previous emphasis on delivering food aid.
However, more investments will be needed to fulfill pledges like the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which aim to halve the number of those living in hunger and poverty by 2015, the report said.
The FAO says global food output will have to increase by 70 percent to feed a projected population of 9.1 billion in 2050.
To achieve that, poor countries will need $44 billion in annual agricultural aid, compared with the current $7.9 billion, to increase access to irrigation systems and modern machinery as well as build roads and train farmers.
__
Associated Press writer Ariel David reported from Rome.

A day downstream

I spent today relaxing and spending time with the family, or La familia to my Latino friends. We went canoeing with a local outfitter http://www.cavecountrycanoe.com on blue river in Milltown, IN. Funny thing about canoeing, you're never really sure how the day will turn out. I think it went really well, at least it did in my canoe. The other canoe, found it's own problems as the day progressed.



Felicia and I each took a canoe and a daughter and headed down river. The weather was good today for such a trip, a balmy 75 degrees, the water temperature was cool but not cold. Just about perfect, so to speak. We talked, we laughed, we splashed, and we sang.



Shortly after a swim, the day began to turn. It started with a change in the weather from sunny to cloudy, and eventually a light rain. But that even wasn't bad as far as I'm concerned. As we passed through one of the rapids along this journey, my wife encountered a rock about mid way in the canoe. Which led to her demise and another short swim. Only this time it filled her canoe with water and drowned everything she had in it. Even the dog wasn't happy about the circumstances. But that's canoeing on blue river, sometimes you paddle, sometimes you just ride, and sometimes you swim. After righting the canoe and helping another family right their canoe we continued on down stream.


As we paddled we had a chance to reflect on today. To summarize, life is full of choices. Each day brings it's own challenges much like the river. Many days are just a simple smooth ride down stream, but some days bring turmoil and problems. I took today's circumstances to talk to the kids about working through problems, keeping a level head, and making good decisions. We all make mistakes like not avoiding the rock, but we learn from them and try to do better next time. To 'steer' in the right direction.


My life has recently taken one of these turns. As I went downstream I saw an impasse much like the rock that stood in Felicia's way. Although it wasn't something so easy to avoid by turning the paddle. It involved leaving a company I had grown familiar with and starting a new relationship with another one. The impasse I came to was much like the rock sitting in the river, sturdy, unchanging, and easily seen if you know what to look for. As I came to the it I steered. It ended a season with a company I have a long history with, but opened up a new opportunity. An opportunity that I have high hopes for.


Today ended my first week with the new team, and although I'm not settled in yet, I've made up my mind to approach this change like many I've made before. To have a positive attitude, and do my best. To build new relationships and stop crying over those that have ended. To grow and learn, but also to share and teach. All we have is who we are and the time we are given. I decided to make the most of it. Jim Rohn a motivational speaker once said in a speech that "life is like the ocean, the wind is always blowing, there will always be the rise and fall of the waves. Don't ask for better wind, that's naive, set a better sail." So I set a better sail.


The trip ended with the four of us cold and wet (five if you include the dog, which we always do), heading home with the memories of a Saturday afternoon spent canoeing blue river. But deep down I felt it was something more. Today was spent on the river in a canoe, but we each learned our own life's lesson. We invested time in each other and to me that's a good investment.


Through my years as a salesman I kept a philosophy taped to my desk that I read every morning. I think it keeps life in perspective. This will clearify how if feel about my day today, and it's worth sharing.

"This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is important because I’m exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it. May I have sufficient wisdom and courage that this shall be my record for today." ~Og Mandino



Remember Look up, Live life, and Be thankful


Kevin

Family Talk

Since my wife has pointed out to me that I tend to not include my family in some of my posts, it appears the blog seems to be all about me. I assure you this is not the case, or at least not my intention. I only included them indirectly, or only in mentioning, less frequently as to protect my family from those people on the Internet that would want to cause us harm, if you know what I mean.



It has been a long spring and beginning of summer. I've traveled quite a bit across the Midwest and have spent my off time with the family. So let's catch up a little bit....



Felicia and I took the kids to Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Falls for the weekend. We did a bit of hiking and ended up getting rained on some. Miley was soaked (the family pet). But the point is we all had fun. Spending time together makes those family memories that will last a life time. As my girls grow into their teens, I know my time is deminishing quickly, so I try to make the most of it.



I've found that as we progress with technologies, such as twitter, facebook, Blackberries, Iphone, and such... we are spending less time together as a family, unless of course you keep a text count. Now I'm not against technology, surely you know this by now, but it tend to get out of balance. It is ok to turn them off once in a while.

Once upon a time families sat down to dinner and ate together. They had conversations about their daily activities, they were "fully present" to steal a term from the book "Fish!". They built relationships with each other. They were in tune if you will. Families now just pass each other on the way to activities. And an occasional vacation if you're lucky. I wish it wasn't so but this is reality. Life has become fast paced and a long marathon.

My family enjoys time together when we can. Now we get our fair amount of TV time and things, but we make it a point to spend quality time with each other. My wife and I enjoy watching DVD together, and we try to "date night" when we can. Evenings sitting around the fire ring in the back yard, or an afternoon of hiking.

We recently spend the Holiday weekend camping at my good friend Eddie's Lake, which lead to swimming, fishing, a lot of talking, and too much food of course (smoked pork loin, chicken, burgers, dogs, and everything to go with it. Hungry yet?)



Everyone has to figure out what works for their family, but talking is a good start.

Short Story...

In Jan '95 I was deployed to Haiti for Operation Uphold Democracy while I was still in the army. For the next 93 days I told myself that if I ever got back home to my girl, I would never leave her again. Well of course I was a bit naive and life has brought me to a place where I travel as part of my career, but not a day goes by that I don't talk with my family, and make it a point to 'tuck' them in a night, and pray together.



Life is short, and as said well in a song by 33 miles (One life to love) we only get one time around, one shot at this... One life to Love.

Don't miss the opportunity to spend time on something valuable; relationships. There will always be time for work, time for TV, time to waste, but don't let life pass you by. Invest in your family the time you spend has huge paybacks.

Remember Look up, Live life, and be Thankful


Kevin

Hiking in Southern Indiana

Sometimes everyone just needs a break. We need to just get away from life, even if it's for just a few hours.

This photo is from a hiking trip I took recently. I find the quiet outdoors to refreshing. It allows me time to think and plan. It helps me stay in focus and regroup. I hope everyone can find places like this and unwind.

Remember Look Up, Live Life, and Be Thankful

Kevin

Who Am I Casting Crowns

Who am I? or Whose am I? as it should be.

K