"Business By the Book" Book Review

~Posted by Ben

As assigned reading for school, I have been reading “Business by the Book” by the late Christian economist, Larry Burkett. Since Business is one of my main career interests (politics being the other) I was really looking forward to reading this book! It was published in 1990, right on the heels of a time in business known as “the greedy eighties.” This term used in business circles describes a time of economic prosperity following Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts on the wealthy in the early 80’s. These tax cuts caused a resurgence in small business investment that sparked an unprecedented interest in entrepreneurism and “climbing the corporate ladder.” This effect was the backbone of the “Reagan recovery” from stagflation.

Such changes had both positive and negative consequences on American culture, especially the culture of American Business. Although the 80’s were a time of great economic growth, blue collar cities like Detroit and Flint experienced a grave economic downturn due to disinvestment and deindustrialization. Sadly, many businesses came to the harmful conclusion, “profits over people.”

It was at the pinnacle of this time period that Burkett wrote “Business by the Book.” In it, he presents the “radical” idea that it is entirely possible to conduct Business in such a way that is profitable, productive, and Biblical. He cites the reconstruction of Japan after World War II as his prime example. When General Douglas was appointed by President Truman as the military governor of Japan, he instituted laws for business largely based off Biblical truths. This, combined with the Japanese inherit respect for authority, as well as their strong unity and national pride, propelled them beyond their teacher to become one of the largest economies in the modern world. Burkett also gives a variety of positive examples of Christian businesses in the US that have based their business plan off of the scriptures and have experienced great profit for it.

In this book, Burkett deals with a lot of required decisions in modern business, including decisions on hiring, firing, borrowing, lending, management selection, employee pay, discounting, and many others. He also, using scripture, provides answers to many questions common among Christian businesses; questions such as, “Should I hire women to be in management over men?” “Should Christian businesses hire non-Christians?” “Is it acceptable for Christian businesses to borrow money?” “Can Christians sue people and/or other businesses for money?” “What do I do about an insubordinate employee?” When addressing all these questions, Burkett constantly goes back to scripture when giving his final answer on the subject.

I would highly encourage anyone interested in business and entrepreneurship to read this incredible book! My dad and I are now doing it as a weekly study, as many of its principles apply to everyday situations we both experience at work. I’m so grateful for Larry Burkett and all the wisdom he was able to share over the course of his life!

My "Jonah Day"

 

 

~ Posted by Ben

 

I don’t normally believe in using social media for ranting. But I’ve decided to document a not-so-happy day I experienced recently in hopes that through it, I may encourage and provide comic relief to those of you who may experiencing a “Jonah day” today! J

 

This story has a background that includes a college conference; potential food poisoning thereof; an Eagle Scout project proposal; a deadline, and a nasty habit of procrastination on my part. This story then has a main plot that includes missed deadlines, chasing people around town for signatures, waiting for phone calls that never came, transportation issues, stress-related health issues (we won’t go into details :/), red ants, forgetfulness, and getting lost. And the end….well, let me walk ya through. J

 

CPE3

 

Bianca participates in an online college program known as “College Plus.” College Plus, or “CP,” is a Christian collegiate organization that works in partnership with several colleges and universities, to provide a fully accredited Bachelor’s degree for half the cost, in half the time, and with twice the flexibility. Bianca has been working towards a BA in International Studies with this program since January. I’m planning on enrolling in College Plus as well, so recently Bianca and I decided to attend “CPE3,” a large, week-long event hosted by CP in San Antonio. We had an EXCELLENT week! I enjoyed myself immensely, but knew that when I got back, I would have to work hard on finishing my Eagle Scout Project proposal that was due several days after I returned.

 

Eagle Project proposal

 

After I returned from CPE3, I got right to work on my Eagle Project proposal. I finished it, but somehow missed seeing that I needed some very important signatures before submitting my proposal (face palm). Naturally, I discovered this Monday night…and I needed 3 signatures by the next night. L

 

“BEN JUDAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! GET OUT OF BED!” This was my Tuesday morning wake-up call. Somehow I overslept my alarm, it was 9 o’clock, and I had a deadline!! I leaped up and began discussing strategy with my mom. After a quick grooming and breakfast, my sister drove me all the way to church (about 25 minutes away) to obtain my first signature (the church is the beneficiary of the project). Here’s where the fun began. Our Lead Pastor could not sign it without first reviewing and understanding the project proposal, and getting consensus from the staff.

 

So we left the proposal, promising to return later that afternoon, and Bianca and I ran over to DPS to sign me up for a driving license test (that’s a story for another time) and then we went home. I was actually able to do some school work before dashing back to church to pick up my project binder, and then heading to the BSA Court of Honor that evening that I, as Senior Patrol Leader, had to preside over.

 

This is one part of the story that is actually quite happy. That evening would be my last Court of Honor as SPL, as my 6-month term was ending. At this Court of Honor, I was presented with 4 merit badges, an SPL award, and an Honor Camper award for the year. I also received many compliments from parents on my leadership over the last 6 months. I was truly humbled by their recognition.

 

However, after the Court of Honor I was informed by my project coach that there was a whole other packet of paperwork I needed to do. Thankfully, he was able to obtain a 24-hour deadline extension from the District Advancement Coordinator. I was also able to get 2 of the 3 signatures I needed for the proposal, at the Court of Honor. But I had a lot of work ahead of me…

 

Early the next morning, Mom drove me back to church, where I dropped the proposal off AGAIN (they didn’t have sufficient time to look over it on Tuesday), and then came home and plowed away at the extra paperwork given to me by my project coach. I was able to finish it shortly before heading BACK to church with my siblings for youth group that evening.

 

This is where the story really gets crazy. I get to church, and it turns out my proposal isn’t there. It’s with one of the associate pastors who went into town. Our Lead pastor rushes out to find him, gets the binder, and comes back. We then have a long discussion that results in some major changes of plans for the landscaping I am proposing to do. Drawings are changed; a landscape extraordinaire is consulted; and I get the final signature I need.

 

So I’m standing outside, talking with a guy who did a project there earlier this year, about the location of the sprinkler systems in the area where I will be working. In my mind, I’m thinking, “What a lousy 2 days I’ve had! This is the hardest signature I’ve ever tried to get. How could things get any WOOOOORRRSSSEE--AAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!!” Sudden pain shoots up my legs. I look down, and I am standing on a massive red ant hill.! I broke into what from a distance, probably looked like a white boy’s lousy attempt at break-dancing, as I furiously swatted at my legs, knocking dozens of red ants to the ground.

 

In the midst of this, my sister comes out of the church, ready to drive me to the house where I would be dropping off the proposal documents. I’m pretty sure she was trying not to laugh at my predicament…but she was also in a hurry since she’s supposed to be upstairs to help with youth group in 15 minutes. We drive, and are literally turning onto the street where the district advancement coordinator lives, when I groaned and grabbed my already-throbbing head. I realized that I forgot to add the extra paperwork I had completed that day to my binder.

 

Bianca turns around and heads all the way back to the church, while I resist the urge to slam my noggin on the dashboard. Through all of this, I am continually slapping at my legs to kill yet another red ant (they stick with you for a while). My stomach was churning, as I’d been suffering from a bit of, *ahem,* discomfort the last couple of days (not going to go into too much detail there, but there was an accidental food poisoning incident at the event Bianca and I attended. I had been feeling a bit iffy since returning, and it wasn’t being helped by all this stress.)

 

So we get back to church, where my sister needs to go help with junior high youth, so my Dad swings by from the office to take me back to the DAC’s house now that we have ALL the papers. As I’m walking up his driveway I’m thinking; “Walk slowly, don’t want to trip and die, because that would happen with the day I’ve been having!” But I successfully dropped off the completed documents. YEEESSS!

 

The rest of the evening went off quite normally…except for tripping over my sister’s ankle at bedtime and face-planting in our living room. But I finished the day with my objective met, and without serious injuries sustained. Needless to say, I showered very carefully that night so as not to wipe out and suffer a head concussion. Haha! J

 

At the end of the day, I’d learned some important lessons:

 

#1 Never procrastinate.

#2 Always take others’ schedules into consideration when working with people.

#3 Always plan for the worst so that you can deal with it when it happens!

 

I figure that as long as I’ve learned my lessons, I will be better prepared to meet life’s challenges ahead.

 

If you are currently suffering a “Jonah day,” I hope that this post and its ending provided at least some encouragement, if not some comic relief! May God, in His grace, bring you through whatever suffering you’re going through. Nothing in your life is capable of surprising Him. Keep up the fight!

 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

My Parents

My Parents in Rome, Italy

~Posted by Ben

This is my blog post for the month. And since we are in-between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I thought I would do a tribute to my wonderful parents Mark and Betsy.

                              

My parents recently celebrated 25 years of marriage with a trip to Italy. In 25 years they have finished grad school, held multiple jobs, lived in 7 places in 4 states, owned 5 homes and had 5 kids! Needless to say, God has done A LOT in their lives over the past 25 years. I have been blessed to witness the last 17 of those 25 years. I have seen them go through times of joy and times of sadness, times of peace and times of stress, and they have stuck together for better or for worse, for rich and for poor, in sickness and in health…and will stay together until death do they part. For them, marriage was not a contract, but a covenant made before God.

Sadly, we live in a world of fractured families. Our world is plagued with divorce, single parent homes (particularly single mother homes), illegitimate children, and in very rare cases, even homosexuals raising adopted children. It is becoming less and less common to find families that are intact; families as God designed them. I remember as a little kid having friends who came from homes with divorce or were being raised by only one parent (I actually still have friends like that, I think we all do). I did not view myself as superior to them simply because I came from an intact family, but I remember feeling sorry for them. Sorry that they did not have both a dad and a mom in their lives. I couldn’t imagine life with either a mom or dad. Or a life where I had both parents but they did not live together. I could not imagine the feeling of knowing that my parents weren’t together anymore because they no longer loved each other.

I’ve been blessed by God to grow up with the security that I will never have to experience that pain. But I pray for those who do. I’m not inferring that it is impossible for a person who has grown up in this situation to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives and live in a godly manner. God’s grace is sufficient to use people from difficult backgrounds for His glory. But it is still not the design He had for families.

I have been blessed to be raised in a family where my parents truly loved each other and loved us and taught us to love one another. My parents have worked overtime to insure that we are being raised to love God and others above ourselves. To love one another with a sacrificial love that cares for others’ needs above our own. To love people the way Jesus loved people. Not just in word, but in deed (I John 3:18). They taught us that love is a verb, not just an emotion. This kind of love is what has given me great security over the years. No matter what came our way, I knew that our family would band together and by God’s power make it through anything that life threw at us. I thank my parents for being who they are. For loving us, for caring for us, for teaching us the ways of God, and for instilling in us Biblical ethics such as the fruit of the spirit. Above all, I thank them for setting an example for my siblings and me of what a family who follows God looks like. They showed us what must be done to preserve a Christian heritage in a time of sinfulness and compromise. I thank them for showing me Christ in their lives.

Mother’s Day has passed, Father’s day is approaching. I would encourage you to give thanks to God for the parents He gave you. Not because they are perfect, but because He knew that you need them in your life. I encourage you to thank your parents for all that they’ve done in your life. For the example they’ve set, and for loving you even when you weren’t always easy to love. I thank God for my parents, and will do so every day that I live! God bless you all!

2012: An Epic Year

~Posted by Ben

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I was going to post today. At the very last minute--with my sister needing the post--I still couldn’t think of what I wanted to do. So I started looking through pictures, particularly pictures from 2012. I’ve always called 2012 the “twelve month rollercoaster.” For some odd reason, more events and more change in our family took place in 2012 than in any other years of our lives. I could tell you all about it, but instead I will take you through that year chronologically and show you just what took place in our lives during that busy year.



Ironically, the most busy year of our lives started off very uneventfully. Almost nothing major happened for the first 4 months. In mid-April our extended family went on a week-long Royal Caribbean Cruise.

Although we don’t have many pictures from after the cruise until July, several things happened. In May our Pastor announced that he was moving to Houston, Texas; I attended a week long leadership summit (National Youth Leadership Training or NYLT); our church did VBS; and we attended the funeral of my late great-uncle R. The above picture is our Haiti mission team. We were in Haiti from July 22-29. This was perhaps the most significant thing that happened during that summer. Our lives and perspectives of global poverty were absolutely transformed during the week we got to serve in Haiti.

I might also add that before our Haiti trip our family gathered in the living room for a very serious discussion. My dad announced that he was prayerfully considering leaving his 18 year career and pursuing an engineering job at a smaller company. At that time he was in job negotiations with companies in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas. But he was still undecided whether or not to leave his current job.



My Dad and I at the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado.

In late August, my Dad and I attended Vision Forum’s annual Father/Son retreat in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Many great memories were made during this special time with my Dad. I’m so grateful we had the opportunity to do this together!

In September my Dad officially accepted the job in Texas and resigned from his current job. He moved down here in mid October while the rest of us stayed in Michigan waiting for the house to sell.



Our home sold in 40 days! We were so grateful that it did not take too long.

Our stuff leading the way!

During our last days in Michigan, we got to see A LOT of people to say our last goodbyes. Here are some pictures:

Our “Framily” (Friends/family) the B’s.



Some more “Framily,” the M’s.

The Bright Lights group.

And so many more great friends…..

Our dear friends and fellow homeschoolers, the R’s.



Our friends from church, Mr. C and Mr. R.

Our wonderful youth director from church, Mr. K.



Our assistant youth director, Mr. J.

Our Worship Pastor, S.

And then early one morning……

All aboard!!!

And we’re off!

And so we embarked on a journey, and that journey would lead us….



Home.

Christmas 2012.

 

And so our journey came to an end, as 2012 was gone and 2013 had come. Not everything in 2012 was good; our grandparents' health continued to deteriorate until their deaths in January and February of the following year. Our church in Michigan went through some difficult times in the summer and spring. And as often happens in the course of life, we had to say goodbye to some friends and family who had been ushered into eternity. Overall, 2012 was a big year of change. But through it all, God was with us. The year 2012 is no doubt a year that will be remembered by our family forever. God taught us so many things, and we made so many long-lasting friendships. I wouldn’t ever take back one moment lived during that epic year of our lives!

Steel Wool Photography and Light Painting

~By Benjamin

Recently we enjoyed a movie night at our house with some friends from youth group. There were several photographers in the group so we decided afterwards to do some night steel wool photography.

The way you do this is to take some steel wool, stuff it in a kitchen whisk attached to a short rope or piece of leather, and set the steel wool on fire with a 9 volt battery. You then swing it around sending sparks into the air (have someone nearby to stomp out fires in the grass J). You need to have your camera set to ISO 100, 8-10 second exposure, and your aperture set at f/3.5. Here are some more steel wool pictures we took:

My attempt at the Olympic Symbol

My friend D and I thought it would be fun to both have our flaming steel wool and run in circles at the same time. The picture turned out a bit hectic but we thought it was kind of cool!

My dearly departed friend D getting zapped. J It’s amazing the things you can do when you start playing around with long exposure photography.

While we were out doing night photography we thought we might as well get some light painting in. Light painting is even simpler than steel wool. You simply set your camera to go until you stop it (we use a remote), ISO 400, and aperture at f/3.5. Then take a flashlight and outline a person or object.

My mom asked to be traced with her arms spread outward in the shape of a cross.

All in all it was a fun night with great people. Which picture is your favorite? Leave a comment and let us know!

Aviation Memories

~ posted by Ben

When I was about 5 years old, my father got his private pilot’s license. A lot of Dads spend their time with their sons hunting, fishing, or doing projects in the garage. And although those are all great hobbies, as a kid I always thought my dad had the best hobby of all! J I loved going up with him in his Cessna 172. I got to know a lot about how a small plane runs, takeoff procedures, and plane maintenance.

I had the pleasure of getting to know the men in Dad’s flying club: Mr. Richard, Mr. Bert, Mr. Ken, and later Dr. James. I also got to know Dad’s flying instructor, Mr. Decker, an aerobatics flyer in the local annual air show. Speaking of the annual airshow, that’s another thing my sister and I accompanied Dad to. Although it was small, it was still a lot of fun! Dad also took me to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo several times and to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton OH.

Of all the Aviation activities I experienced, nothing beat simply flying with Dad. I remember when I was 6 or 7, we were flying along, when all of a sudden he let go of the controls, looked at me, and said “she’s your plane.” I quickly grabbed the controls and flew with butterflies in my stomach until he took over! J I used to enjoy it when my dad would do “ups and downs” in the plane. When the plane goes steeply down, you get a floating sensation in your stomach and even begin to float off your seat slightly. Then when you pull back up, you feel like a 200-pound man is sitting in your lap.

As a little kid I begged my dad to do ups and downs, and would laugh in enjoyment when he would! Then all of a sudden, for reasons I myself never knew, I developed a distaste for that. I don’t know if it was a bad dream or what, but from then on I would wail for my Dad to stop the “ups and downs.” But I still enjoyed flying with him.

Here in Texas, my dad has yet to join a flying club. But when he does, I will look forward to more memories made in the sky with my favorite Dad!

Winter Storm Weekend

~ posted by Ben

This past weekend Mom and Bianca went to the College Plus conference south of Dallas for a couple of days. In the meantime Dad, Josiah, the twins and I were snowed in for the weekend! This is quite rare here so we thought we would take full advantage of it!

Josiah LOVED sledding again. He misses this a lot!

Photo Credit: Roma.

Photo Credit: Roma.

We didn’t dare go anywhere. Except of course for Dad, who braved the storm to go get some essentials from the store. Because of the rarity of snowstorms here, they do not plow or salt the roads when it happens. So the roads get REALLY BAD when a storm comes!

Photo Credit: Roma.

Overall, I would say it was a nice, relaxing weekend. We ate the delicious meals Mom left in the freezer for us; built lots of fires; drank a lot of hot chocolate, watched Christmas movies, listened to Christmas music, and watched football Saturday night. We were so happy that Mom and Bianca returned safely from the conference Sunday night and that they had a great time! We had an excellent time in this rare Texas winter wonderland!

DIY Garden Project, Part 2

~Posted by Ben

Towards the end of the summer. I began a project with Josiah to turn the patch of grass outside our kitchen window into a beautiful bird sanctuary. Our progress was a bit halted with our vacation to Puerto Rico and by the fact that we ran out of stones! We did get some more stones, and Josiah and I finished off the project. Here are some pictures of its completion.

I think it looks quite nice if I do say so myself! J Thank you, Josiah, for all your help. Now all we need are some birds!

DIY Garden Project, Part 1

~Posted by Ben

Over the past several weeks, my little brother and I have been working to install a bird sanctuary for our Mom behind the kitchen window of our house. We had some birdfeeders and a birdbath, and there was a patch of grass in the back that would be just perfect.

The patch of grass before digging. It’s about 6 feet by 26 feet.

Unfortunately the ground in Texas is VERY hard this time of year, which makes it very hard to dig. So we had to thoroughly soak the area with the hose before beginning.

The water apparently doesn’t soak in very fast here. J The project got rather messy!

I had to force a smile with how hot it was that afternoon. J

All dug up, just waiting for the Mississippi river to dry! J

Progress so far!

After all the water soaked in (or got carted away a bucket at a time by Yours Truly), we planted two bushes, and put in two birdfeeder hooks (one of which we broke trying to push it into the said HARD ground), with a bird bath in between them. We aren’t quite finished with the project yet. Still to come: more bushes, some landscape tarp, garden rocks, and numerous feeders. Stay tuned to see what the finished product looks like!

My Guatemala Experience

~ Posted by Ben

I still remember the January Wednesday night when our Youth Pastor announced the upcoming Senior High mission’s trip to Guatemala City in July. I must admit, I didn’t listen very closely. Bianca and I had both planned to go back to Haiti this summer. So I figured that whatever he said about Guatemala had nothing to do with me.

As the months forged on, between losing two Grandparents, doing schoolwork, and continuous unpacking from moving, I literally forgot our youth group was even going on a missions trip. It was of little consequence to me. But as we got closer to our projected June trip to Haiti, it became crystal clear that this was not God’s will for us this year. The harder we tried to make it possible, the more doors kept closing for us to go. The message was clear.

I remember talking with Bianca about the situation in the office of our house. She told me that our Pastor D had mentioned that one of the Guatemala team members dropped out of the trip. Pastor D said he would try to create another spot so that we could both go. Before long, we got word back that he was successful. We were going to Guatemala! We attended the remainder of the prep meetings faithfully, did the assigned reading, and did all the studying we could do on Spanish and Guatemalan history and culture.

We spent the whole last week before leaving packing and shopping. The night before we left, Bianca and I kneeled in our living room as our family gathered around us and prayed for our departure the next day. Morning came quickly (4:00 am) and we met the rest of the team at the church and then departed for the airport. We made it through our flights safely and arrived in Guatemala that afternoon.

I will not go into much detail about the actual trip itself, since Bianca has dedicated several posts to that. But I would like to briefly share from my perspective what affected me the most during the trip. One of the most meaningful moments for me was on Wednesday, when we toured an orphanage and played with the children. This orphanage exists for children who have been forcefully removed from a bad home situation. They live here while the courts do an investigation into whether or not the children can be returned to their abusive/dysfunctional homes. The children introduced themselves to us one by one, sang a song for us, we played a game, and our group did a skit in Spanish of “the boy who cried wolf.”

The children singing a song for us.

Yes, he really is biting my leg! J

Being attacked by the “wolf” (our youth pastor, D) in the skit. Yes…I know I’m supposed to be wailing in terror and agony, but I couldn’t help but laugh. J

Perhaps the most emotionally touching part of the trip was when our time with the children was over. The founder of the Orphanage spoke to the team, sharing her testimony and how she came to start the orphanage. I was amazed at the immense  faith she had. especially when it came to the finances for the orphanage. She talked about how the end of the month was coming, and they didn’t have the money needed to pay July’s expenses. But she stated confidently that she was not worried. She knows that God will provide. He always has, and the way she sees it, He always will. She states with a smile on her face that the orphanage has no debt and doesn’t intend to. They have full reliance on God and His mercy and grace. I can honestly say that I have never seen that kind of audacious faith in the United States.

Another aspect of Guatemalan culture that I was inspired by was their sense of family community. I watched the people from Iglesia Biblica interact with one another at the missionary’s house and I can say that they seemed like they were truly family. They know that they have all been saved by Christ’s grace. That is their common denominator, nothing else matters, they are family. I pray that more churches in the US would have that kind of fellowship!

I returned from the Guatemala trip changed in many ways. I went to teach and serve, yet I felt like I had done more learning than teaching. I hope that I can someday go back and serve and learn again!

Bianca and me with Pastor A and his wife.

Driver's Ed

A couple of weeks ago, Ben started Driver’s Ed! It’s so hard to believe my siblings are entering into the world of adulthood. *Sniff.* L Ben has been anxiously awaiting the day when he could drive, so he has been very excited about going to class, despite the need to get up earlier than normal.

He completed a week of classroom work before getting his permit (which allows him to drive with a parent.) The second week, he started driving with an instructor. He has one more week of Driver’s Ed to complete, and he will be set with his permit! Good job, Ben! Watch out world; here he comes! J