If you haven’t noticed yet…life seems to flow in cycles. If you are aware of this you may just catch some of the messages being sent your way like a barrage of artillery in the middle of a war.

Or…as I like to say…”Lord, hit me on the head with a 2×4 if you really need me to hear something.” Of course, that is not the way I operate mostly in my relationship with God because most of our communication is rather quiet and unassuming.

However…there are those times…these past two days have been one of those times where a thought or concept seems to make itself visible multiple times in a row. I have been confronted with three specific instances where a communique was only partially true with the (intended or not) results being a mis-direction of the facts. When I took just a moment to think about this topic, dozens more examples flooded into my mind as well over just the past couple of weeks.

I am going to categorize these mis-direction strategies into three categories…those intentionally trying to cover the truth through deception, those unknowingly communicating partial truths and those purposely not sharing the whole truth for the good of the listener.

Examples of all three of these ways can be found in our government. Politicians are masters of mis-direction. In times of war, mis-direction can be used to intentionally mis-inform the enemy and/or to protect the troops in battle. Our wartime commanders have a responsibility to protect those under their charge. They do not have a responsibility to share all of the facts with the general public.

However, this same strategy can also be used to intentionally deceive the very people who are holding you accountable for your actions. In this case…politicians (in wartime or not) often tell partial truths to deflect the hearers to focus on something only partially related.

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It has been 9 days since I last posted. I can’t remember when the last time that happened. I apologize to people because I know visitors come with an expectation that there will be a new post at least every 3-4 days. So…this is my formal apology but there has been some great things happening.

I have not been away on vacation or off having fun somewhere (it would have been nice). No…I was working diligently on many various things. I want to briefly share two of those things before I get into the theme of today.

The first thing is my son and I have spent some time scouting for a new soccer team we are putting together for him. The story behind this is that we have been told by many people that it would be nearly impossible to put together a new team at this age and at this level.

The age group is U-17 and the level of play is Division 1 Competitive Soccer. By the time these young men reach this age they are typically set on a team or realize the fact that higher levels of soccer are not in their future. We knew going in that it is a tough task.

I told my son about 3 years ago that I would help him in any way I could to enable him to follow his dreams and passions to play professional soccer. There was one caveat to this that I clearly shared with him. That is, he needed to apply himself to learning how to create wealth. I didn’t just tell him he needed to get a job and work. He needed to learn how to become an entrepreneur, learn about investing and other things so that he could set himself up for financial success no matter what the circumstances were in his life or the life of the economy at large.

Well…he followed through and is diligently learning what it means to create wealth and also to follow his dreams at the same time. The other part of this equation is that I have coached all of my other children who play. The only two that I have not coached are my eldest and my youngest…who is too young. So we decided that if we didn’t make that happen now…it never would.

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If you have hung out here long enough you know I love to share things from my family life that has an impact on me. I believe these things are “given” to me to not only experience for myself but to share. There are people that need a lift today in this area and I simply want to help in any way that I can.

Just a few moments ago I got up from the computer to go get a drink of water. I spent most of the morning bouncing around visiting and sharing some of my favorite people’s content with other fine people I’m privileged to be associated with.

I share other people’s stuff with my friends and followers because I want to be a support for them in their endeavors and I also want to get good inspiration and information out to people.

We live in an incredible time when we have access to so much that can be helpful. Not everything is helpful to everyone…but if I can share something that will help one person today…whether it be from myself or from someone else…then I have helped to make the world a better place (at least on this day).

My Beautiful 2 Year Old Boy…

With that spirit in mind I just want to share what just happened with my youngest son. For those of you who don’t know…I have seven children and my youngest just turned 2 in December.

As I was walking through the living room on my way to the water dispenser I saw my youngest son watching my next youngest son (a month away from 6) playing with a toy. I am not sure what you call this toy but it had a wheel that moves along two curved rails as you move your wrist. The wheel lights up and it is a bit fascinating to watch.

My 2 year old wanted it and as I was walking into the living room I overheard my wife telling him that he needed to say please (he actually signs it at this point) or he would not get to play with it.

I saw his reaction and he just stood there. I could see that this was a moment of deciding for him. Was he going to listen to his mom or was he going to be defiant? You can see the thinking going on in his head. I stood and watched for just a moment and he chose to not listen…to just continue whining mildly.

As I watched I simply had an great desire to  “love on him.”  I came up to him, wrapped my arms around him and kissed his neck a number of times until he started giggling and his demeanor completely changed.

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Leonard E. Read (1898-1983) founded FEE  (Foundation for Economic Education) in 1946 and served as its president until his death.
“I, Pencil,” his most famous essay, was first published in the December 1958 issue of The Freeman.

This is his essay! It is not mine…but I believe it to be very important. I did not get permission to post this here so I hope they will forgive me for doing so. The book is available for free in pdf format here: http://fee.org/library/books/i-pencil-2/

If you like this essay please visit the FEE website and look around. I say this not because I have spent a huge amount of time there…but I feel like I need to encourage you to do so because it would normally be the place where you would find this essay. I simply want to be a link to them since I am using this essay. You can also purchase the physical booklet at this website among other resources

Here is is:

I, Pencil

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.^*

*       My official name is “Mongol 482.” My many ingredients are assembled, fabricated, and finished by Eberhard Faber Pencil Company.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery— more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

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My eldest daughter and I travelled down past Matthew Neer’s territory into the heart of Central California tonight. Fortunately there were only small patches of fog and none of that thick car crashing cannot see sort of fog that is so prevalent in the heart of the central valley of California. We drove nearly four hours for a soccer tournament this weekend in the small town of Lemoore, CA. Are we a bit insane? Perhaps…but there is more than just soccer happening here… Please Continue Reading…