The most arrogant aspect of John Edwards

He's been out of the news for a couple of weeks, and that's fine by me. But at breakfast this morning I thought about John Edwards, and an incredible urge to string him up from the goalpost by his mini-sized jock strap came over me. There are plenty of reasons, but one really stands out. Not the cheating, not the cheating on the wife with cancer, not the lying about it or being a horrible example to his kids (each of which would require a lot more than a string-up as punishment).

I watched the Dateline episode a few weeks ago (or whatever news program it was) where they profiled his ex-aide, Andrew Young. In a taped phone conversation where Edwards was trying to convince Young to claim paternity over the Edwards/Rielle Hunter child, Edwards was quoted as telling Young "The fate of the free world is in your hands."

Gimme a W! Gimme a T! Gimme an F! Whatcha got? EDWARDS!

This guy wasn't president. He wasn't vice president. He wasn't even his party's nominee to BE president! Yet he has the arrogance (even if the expression was made out of fear of being exposed) to tell his aide that the world is going to take a nose dive to hell if Young doesn't cover JE's backside.

I hope the ensuing crapstorm for Edwards humbles him enough to start thinking about others. Umbrellas out!

Great lesson learned

I heard a very profound piece of ministry yesterday. And it was AFTER I got out of devotional.

It's hard to forgive yourself sometimes. You are the one who must live with the emotional consequences of your actions, even if it was someone one else who was hurt by them. But after speaking with a friend of mine about that subject, I have a new perspective.

She told me of Jesus' words in John 20:23. "If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people's sins, they are retained." I was too thick to fully understand what that meant, so she broke it down for me. I am a person. I'm in that group that God says to forgive, and if I don't forgive myself, that irritates Him.

If you're in the backyard with God throwing the football, and you drop a pass from Him, you have to get over that so you can get back to enjoying your time with God. He'll wait for you to quit kicking yourself, but get over the dropped pass. The only one more eager than you to do that is the Man Himself!

Valentine's Day

Something about Valentine's Day has puzzled me since I was old enough to know what the flip it was.

Sure, I get that prices are jacked up beyond belief (a rose on Feb. 14 costs as much as a bouquet of them did 4 weeks earlier). There's that whole stereotypical thing of how your girlfriend/wife says not to get her anything, then she gives you the cold shoulder for not getting her anything. But that's not what puzzles me.

My question is: When it's a well-known fact that the lines at most restaurants will be a mile long, why does everyone still insist on going out to dinner? If you went to eat out at 5:30 and were told the wait is 2 hours (and that's WITH a reservation and a $20 tip to the host), would you still go out? Of course not!

I say have a night in. Buy some groceries and spend the evening with your other half cooking your favorite dinner. That, in and of itself, is a bonding experience. And it's a heckuva lot easier than standing around waiting for someone to yell your name to say that the table's ready.