A long time coming!

Andrea and I have been married for almost three years now and while she has talked extensively to my family in America online, she has yet to meet them in person. All that is about to change! Today after months of preparation and weeks of intense gathering of documents and research Andrea finely had her interview at the US Embassy in Manila. She applied for a 6 month tourist visa and the tourist visa is possibly the hardest for a Filipino to attain. It has about an 80% decline rate. So to say we were nervous would be putting it mildly. However, even in our nervous and somewhat worried state we knew that our God was bigger than any obstacle that might come in our way. So after much prayer, not only by us but by my family in America, our entire Filipino family Pastor Felix, Pastor Gerry,Pastor Greg, the time finely came. I am pleased to say that God beat the odds for us and Andrea was approved for her visa!! We plan to leave this September! Thank you Jesus!!!

My thoughts on Andy Griffith

You know, it used to be that whenever something bad happened to a conservative republican, it was the liberal democrats that would cheer these bad things and would say the most vile disgusting things you could imagine. Like when acting legend (and conservative) Charlton Heston announced that he had Alzheimer, the liberals cheered and said that he deserved that horrible illness and even more.And then again when he died they cheered even louder saying it was about time that he died and that they wished it had happened sooner. Again when Rush Limbaugh announced that he had gone def the cheers from the left and the vulgar comments abounded. As a conservative myself I have read, listened to and watched conservative commentators for many years now and I have observed that while the liberals tend to wish death and bodily harm on their political opponents, conservatives tend to not get so personal about it and tend to talk more about defeating their opponents rather than wishing death on them. I mean it would NEVER even occur to me to wish death or harm on anyone, no matter how much I might disagree with them. I know there are freaks out there on all sides that would think that way but I'm talking about the mainstream of both sides, liberals have been vocal in wishing death and harm on people they don't agree with while conservatives are vocal on issues. That is why I was so very disgusted and disheartened when I visited a conservative media site today and saw something that I never thought I'd see, conservatives sinking to the level of the liberals.

For those of you who haven't heard, the TV legend Andy Griffith passed away on July 3rd. In addition to many movies over the years Andy Griffith also had two long running TV shows. Firstly "The Andy Griffith Show" back in the 1960's and then later on "Matlock" in the 1990's. Later in life Andy Griffith supported Obamacare and did some adds in support of it. While I strongly disagreed with him on that issue, I would NEVER say the things these conservatives were saying about him. Literally it was like reading a vile liberal blog. They were saying that they "wished he had died sooner" and that "he got what he deserved for supporting obamacare" and "Good riddance" and all sorts of other disgusting things.

People often ask me why I want to live in the Philippines, well, this is one reason. I feel that if things have gotten so bad there in the States that even the conservatives will lash out in filthy vile tirades wishing death and harm on their opponents, then what is left? No matter what his political views may have been Andy Griffith is an American institution and a legend. Through his TV shows he has brought joy, happiness and many many laughs to millions of people over the last 50 years and he deserves more respect than to just be dismissed because of one political stand he made late in life. As Andy Taylor, the Sheriff of Mayberry he showed us integrity, love, compassion, humor and strength of character. He was a very strong moral role model, qualities that are completely lacking in today's "entertainment". For future generations he also provided a window into the past, a glimpse at a simpler, cleaner and more moral society where humor doesn't equal filthy language or filthy subject matter. So, the next time you want to jump all over someone for going against our political views, ask yourself - has the good that this person done out weigh what I perceive as a mistake that they have made? Has the legacy this person left behind been a good one? I think we can answer with a HUGE yes! to both of these questions. When it comes to Andy Griffith I am just thankful that we have so much of his wonderful work to enjoy even after he is gone.