High Vantage Point

Every day, there are children born with a variety of health challenges that are the result of premature birth. March of Dimes has helped the health community in their research to reduce the frequency of premature births that cause many of the health challenges.

On April 25, 2009, I will join the thousands of people across the USA who are walking to raise funds for the March of Dimes in the March for Babies.

Many of the people who are walking to raise funds for March of Dimes are doing so because they have children or grandchildren who have been born with challenges that resulted from premature birth. I am so thankful that my three amazing children were born perfectly healthy. I don’t have any first hand experience in dealing with the issues that other families have had to overcome. I can’t imagine the difficulties and the emotional stress that other families have had to work through. I hope that I never find out, but if I am ever faced with it through someone near and dear to my heart, it is comforting to know that I can turn to an organization like March of Dimes for help.

You Can Help

Yes, of course I am soliciting donations. If you are able and would like to contribute to March of Dimes and sponsor me in this walk, please do so. Clicking on on the link in this paragraph or the banner at the end of this post will take you to a page where you can donate either by credit card or with PayPal.

Whether or not you are able or even care to contribute financially, there are other ways that you can help. I am attempting to create sort of a “viral” campaign on the internet. You can help in the cause by taking a few minutes to promote this efforts to your sphere of influence.

Did you arrive here as the result of an email message? Take a look at the list of recipients of the message you received. If you have people in your address book that didn’t get the message, forward the message to them. If you prefer, draft your own message with a link to this post and send it to your contact list.

Do you have a Facebook profile? Copy the following line and past it into the “What are you doing now” box on your profile.

supporting the March for Babies. http://highvantagepoint.com/around-the-neighborhood/bad-news

Do you Twitter? If you don’t know what Twitter is, don’t worry about it. If you are a Twit, like me, please send out the following tweet.

RT I’m helping @ohohdon and March of Dimes fight for baby’s lives. http://budurl.com/yhtw

Use your other Social Networking tools. Stumble this post, Digg it, add it to your del.icio.us favorites, or any other social media that you use.

Do you have a blog? Please write a short blog post that links to this post.

Performing any of these suggested activities will take only a few minutes of your time, but will expand the reach of this message many times greater than I can do on my own and provide many thousands of people the opportunity to support a great cause. Don’t do it for me - do it for the babies and the families that pour out their heart and soul to love and care for their child who was born with problems that resulted from premature birth.

While we shopping in a grocery store, during our recent trip to McCall, Idaho, I decided that I needed to find a restroom. As I walked past the women’s restroom on the way to the men’s room, I noticed that there was a long line of women waiting for their turn. After walking right into the men’s room and going about my business without a wait, I thought to myself, “I’m glad I’m a man.”

I thought of a few more reasons for my gender satisfaction.

Fifteen of my Top Reasons that I’m happy to be a man

1. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
2. My grey hair and wrinkles add character.
3. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
4. I can open all my own jars.
5. I get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
6. I don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
7. My belly hides my big hips (Or, maybe I don’t have big hips - don’t know - I can’t see past my belly).
8. Car mechanics tell me the truth.
9. I know which screwdriver is which.
10. I don’t give a rip if someone notices my new haircut or not.
11. I can “do” my nails with a pocketknife.
12. One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.
13. My underwear is $10 for a three-pack.
14. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds.
15. The garage is all mine.

My wife, Leslie, and I enjoy listening to audio books while we travel. During our recent trip to the Winter Carnival in McCall, Idaho, we selected “Kiss” by Ted Dekker for our listening pleasure.

“Kiss” is a suspenseful story. I felt the hopelessness of trusting the wrong people - not knowing who to trust. Good people turned out to be bad and bad people turned out to be good. I felt like calling out to the character in the book to warn her about trusting the wrong people.

If you’re looking for a book that provides deep, philosophical, thought-provoking material, then keep looking. There wasn’t much for me to take away to consider how I might understand life better, or make myself a better person. It’s definitely a book that you read simply for pleasure, and it provides plenty of that. It is an engrossing, edge-of-the-seat thriller that will keep you hanging from the first page to the last.

Video Trailer

Books by Ted Dekker

More Reviews of “Kiss” by Ed Dekker and Erin Healy

Christian Novels: Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

When you open a Ted Dekker novel, you know you’re in for a mind-blowing ride. In Kiss, Dekker and Healy send you on that ride in the black of night. This is Blink on a caffeine high with a touch of amnesia. …

My Friend Amy: Review: Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

I pick up maybe 5 to 6 books a year to read, but I got a copy of Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. It is I have to say a great read. Dekker’s work is always good but with first time author Healy, this book is outstanding. …

Window To My World: Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

Just about the time I think Ted Dekker can’t possibly get any better…he does! This time he has combined his talent with that of Erin Healy to create the most amazing plot twists imaginable! The result is Kiss – a story …

7 - Kiss; Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

Ted Dekker is a “new to me author”. He is known for writing Christian Fiction, which I generally do not read, but this novel was a psychological thriller so I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. I read this book in one day …

Finding Hope Through Fiction: TED DEKKER & ERIN HEALY BOOK SIGNING …

New Book “Kiss” written by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy - It’s a great thrill ride you’ll want to take. TED DEKKER AND ERIN HEALY To my great surprise I met a fellow blogger in line. Her name is Kim Wood. The name of her blog is Window to …

As my siblings and I were growing up, I remember Mom expressing many times how she wished her children were still babies. Oh, how she loved the “baby years.”

When our first daughter, Alyssa, was born and began to grow and develop, I realized that I loved her as a baby, but more than that, I loved to witness each phase of development. I would never wish for them to remain as babies.

Rolling over by herself
Crawling
Standing while holding onto something
Taking first steps
Muttering first words
Talking incessantly
Potty training
First day of kindergarten
Sleepovers with friends
Puberty
Boyfriends
Driving
More boyfriends
High school graduation
Going away for college
College graduation
Living independently
First job
Serious boyfriend
Graduate school…..

All this has led to….now….

Two weeks ago, Alyssa’s boyfriend, Casey, met Leslie and I for breakfast, at his invitation. He arranged this meeting to ask for permission to marry our daughter. He drove all the way from Idaho, overnight, to do this.

About Alyssa

The name “Alyssa” comes from the Greek word meaning “against madness”, or “Rational”, which was a highly regarded characteristic in the time. It is also the name for a flowering herb, Alyssum, or commonly called “Sweet Alyssum”.

Alyssa’s middle name is Brooke, which is from my Grandfather’s middle name of “Brooks”. A brook is a small quiet stream which to me symbolizes peace an tranquility, a comforting spirit.

When Alyssa was dedicated as a baby, the pastor prayed for her to keep her body pure and clean in God’s sight and that she would grow and develop in righteousness. Then he prayed that God would begin at that moment to do the same for some young man in preparation for them to unite.

God answers prayer

Alyssa began dating Casey only a few months ago, but they have been good friends for several years. Casey grew up near our current home in East Valley. He attended a different Nazarene church than the one we attend, but our church youth groups combined for various activities, so Alyssa and Casey were acquainted back then. In fact, Casey had even been in our home a few times during his high school years.

Casey and Alyssa both attended Northwest Nazarene University. While there, they began attending the same church, mostly because Casey didn’t have a car so he would hitch a ride there with Alyssa. Today, they continue to attend that church and Casey is on staff there as the Children’s Pastor.

When Alyssa announced to us that she and Casey had begun to date, Leslie and I both agreed, “What took you so long?” We had both wondered for several years, of all the guys that Alyssa dated, why she didn’t pick Casey. Alyssa reasoned to us later that she didn’t want to take the chance that it would mess up a great friendship.

God is fulfilling his plan

Tonight, Casey proposed to Alyssa.

I couldn’t have planned it better myself.

Every year, at this time, McCall Idaho puts on a huge week-long event that they call the Winter Carnival. This year marks the second consecutive year that our family has participated.

We arrived in McCall at around noon and promptly opened the trunk of the car for a little 25 degree tailgate party.

After lunch, we roamed the town for about 5 hours. They have the most amazing ice sculptures. Some of the artists have created incredible detail in their work.

My only regret, was that the 2Moto race was scheduled for the following weekend, so we planned our trip for the wrong weekend.

I’ve posted my photos from our trip, here.

Though I will be cheering for the Arizona Cardinals to beat the Pittsburg Steelers in the Superbowl, it should be difficult for them to win.

The Cardinals have had a great season, but I doubt they have ever played in a game where their 11 players had to compete with 18 opponents on the field at the same time.

Do you remember the last time that the Pittsburg Steelers were in the superbowl?

I ran across this when I was cleaning out some old email files. I don’t know where it originated, but I felt at the time that it was worthwhile enough to save it.

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old.

I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.

I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer’s day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple; When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn’t bother you, because you didn’t know what you didn’t know and you didn’t care.

All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simple again. I don’t want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So… here’s my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

Or…..should I wait until I’m 90 to do that.

One of my cousins sent me a note on Facebook - you know, one of those viral kinds that you get and are asked to send out to a bunch of people and it goes on and on.

I don’t normally jump into those things, but in this one intrigued me. He had put together a list of 25 interesting facts about himself. Among other things, I learned that my cousin had been stung by some type of jellyfish and that he had delivered peaches to John and Yoko in Japan.

In his note, he requested that I make a list of 25 things about me and send it back to him along with some people that I want to learn more about. It took me about a week to think of 25 things to put on my list. It wasn’t that easy to come up with at least 25 halfway interesting things about me, and yes, there were plenty of things that I wasn’t willing to make know publicly.

Here’s the list I came up with…

1. Love to travel - have visited 35 of the 50 US states and 8 foreign countries

2. Fanatic about motorsports - have competetively drag raced motorcycles and have raced sprint karts

3. Have driven a motorcycle from 0 to 145 mph in 9 seconds

4. Would love to make a full time income on the internet

5. Started smoking when I was in the third grade. Quit smoking later that evening after my dad found out

6. Graduated from college 11 years after I graduated from high school

7. Fired from my first full time job at Mervyns. Today they are out of business….hmmmm

8. Been to 6 indy car races - 5 as a guest of the Bobby Rahal team

9. When I was very young, my dad told me that the big, black Seafirst Bank building was the box that the Space Needle came in. It was quite a few years before I realized that didn’t make any sense

10. Addicted to chocolate - the darker the better (up to 85%)

11. Drink an average of 18 oz of Tree Top juice every day

12. The first time I made chili, I entered it into a contest and took 2nd place

13. Worked in the interpretive center at Ft Simcoe, giving tours and telling stories about it’s history. I’m sure that the guests never even realized that half of the stories I made up.

14. Can go a full day without a latte, but my wife can’t

15. Started a friends pant leg on fire while attempting to refill a disposable butane lighter with gasoline

16. I never forward those emails that go around without first verifying them with Snopes

17. I once wore ski boots to marching band practice

18. Made the state honor roll on a math exam in high school - one of only two students from my school to score at that level, but by the time my children reached the 8th grade, I could no longer help them with their math homework

19. For all 4,529 people who have asked me, “Do you play basketball?” The answer is, “No, are you a jockey?”

20. The odds are pretty fair that I might become father-in-law to 2 pastors

21. I’ve hiked to the top of Mt St Helens and looked down into the steaming crater

22. The first Mongolian Food restaurant I ate at was in Moscow, Russia

23. Paying half of one year of my daughter’s college cost me almost as much as I paid for my entire college career.

24. Did a double flip off a 200 ft high bridge (with a bungee attached)

25. I keep a journal in blog form at http://highvantagepoint.com

Here’s a followup to my previous post about Joe Parsons winning the Gold Medal at the Winter X Games in the Speed and Style event.

Last night, Joe Parsons concluded the Winter X Games by winning yet another Gold Medal - this time in the Freestyle even.

As a neighbor that he doesn’t even know, I must congratulate him on a job well done.

My oldest daughter gave the first book of the series, “The Negotiator”, which is part of Dee Henderson’s O’Malley series, to my wife along with a strong recommendation to read it. My wife was in the middle of the “Twilight” series at the time, so I picked up “The Negotiator” and read it.

After I finished “The Negotiator”, I found out that it was only the first book in a series of six. I was happy about that because I had been so captivated by “The Negotiator”, that I had read it through in just a few days. In fact, it was the first Christian novel I had read for many months, and I became compelled to get back into the reading mode.

The book is about a hostage negotiator, Kate O’Malley, who had become targeted for a hit. The ensuing investigation brought up the name of someone that she was not prepared to face again.

The book is filled with non-stop action and suspense, though it is considered to be a romantic novel. I never thought I would ever read a romance book, let alone enjoy it. It held my attention from cover to cover, despite my short attention span.

“The Guardian” by Dee Henderson is book two of the O’Malley series, and a review of that book should follow shortly.

Other Reviews of “The Negotiator” by Dee Henderson

CWaltersWrite Blog

“The Negotiator”, written by dee henderson, is a compelling novel. henderson intertwines captivating characters with an intense plotline. this suspense/romance novel combines pulse-pounding action …

Families.com

The O’Malleys are an unusual family. Most of us get our brothers and sisters through chance or fate, whatever you like to call it; the O’Malleys are brothers and sisters by choice.

The Loud Librarian

The Negotiator by Dee Henderson - A huge number of my patrons at the library read nothing but Christian fiction, and are always asking for suggestions of authors to try. As I am NOT well versed in Christian fiction, I’m making a good …

Reading to Know

I have enjoyed all of Dee Henderson’s books. This was the first one of hers I ever read …