Life | I'm A Giver

America has a gossip problem.

I’m sure we do on an individual level as well, but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about gossip on the national level. And it’s completely out of control. You probably don’t recognize it as gossip because it isn’t whispered in a private corner at a party or in an empty break room at […]

You Can’t Say That Hate Is Un-American

Over the past few days I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how “hate” and “racism” are un-American or that you can’t support “that cause” and still be an American. And that is simply not true. Let me tell you why.

What are stay-at-home wives worth?

What is a stay-at-home wife worth in American currency? (And why that dollar amount is bogus.)

Why Womens’ Empowerment Is Always A Failure

The United Nations chose an honorary ambassador for worldwide womens’ empowerment. Who did they choose? What one woman embodies all the qualities that young women should strive for?

Stop Calling Cops “The Peacekeepers”

Why calling cops “The Peacekeepers” is a disservice to the Bible and a great burden to them.

Kaepernick’s Cosmetologist

The media coverage of Colin Kaepernick’s interview, even by the “right wing” media outlets, has been absolutely abysmal. The real story isn’t about standing for the national anthem or police brutality. The real story is America’s completely distorted view of “freedom”. People of color have been targeted by police. So that’s a large part of […]

A son just like you

I vividly remember my parents telling me….my mother in a threatening, exasperated tone and my father in a humorous, I can’t wait to watch it happen tone….that one day, “You’ll have a son just like you.”

What Pandora Really Meant….

On July 7th, twelve police officers were shot in Dallas, Texas in an act of domestic terrorism. Five of them were killed. On July 8th, Pandora (a music streaming service) published this on their Facebook page….

Glimpses

I mourn my children growing up.

We ALL Operate On Faith

Follow this example with me for just a minute… Mr. Banker opens a new bank in town and advertises that his bank is the safest one around. Mr. Hammer owns a construction company and decides to deposit the profit from his latest job in Mr. Banker’s bank. Mr. Hammer deposits $1,000,000 in Mr. Banker’s bank. […]

Every time you walk in the rain.

Every time you walk in the rain, this is what happens. This Earth that we live on is covered in water. Imagine a cube that’s one mile tall, wide and deep, then imagine that cube filled with water. Now imagine 300,000,000 of those cubes–That’s how much water covers the Earth. Every day 280 of those […]

The little boy who cried “offended”…..

There was once a little boy who no one payed much attention to. The little boy wanted so badly to be noticed that instead of just doing his job he cried out to everyone who could hear, “I’m offended!!!”

Hillary’s “Positive Gangs”

Last month Hillary said that a gang can be like a family and that what we need are “positive gangs”, presumably to influence young people to be good people. Of course, the obvious alternative of just encouraging families to raise their children so that they wouldn’t need gangs is out of the question for the […]

Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell

On October 22, 1707 Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell was in charge of five English warships off the coast of France. The dreary, gray skies made navigation difficult and Shovell wasn’t quite sure just how close to the coast they were. A young, unnamed sailor, fearing what he believed was an eminent crash due to Shovell’s […]

A look at the radical environmentalist agenda (and the dead).

According to Hindu religious beliefs the dead must be burned in order for their soul to get “complete freedom”. In India most traditional cremations take three days and consume a considerable amount of wood (presumably causing unneeded air pollution and certainly using a considerable amount of wood from the countryside). So Indian environmentalists are trying to […]

364 More Days Until Mother’s Day

It’s 364 days until Mother’s Day. For some mothers that probably means that it’ll be 364 days until it seems like you’re noticed again. To hold you over, think about this…..

Find Your Tribe

Seth Godin talks a lot about our tribe. Rather than speak of people in terms of “friends” or “family” or “neighbors” he refers to those closest to us as our tribe. Family can be obnoxious, exhausting or even abusive. Friend is an over-used and watered down term. Neighbors would sometimes be better, if they weren’t. Because […]

Bernie VS Trump….Who made these quotes?

Let’s talk about the two most polarizing figures in the current political race. You’d think that there would be worlds of differences between the positions of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. But is that really true? Are their views really that much different? Don’t let me tell you, just read what they have to say […]

Attention Parents: There are no “strong-willed” children.

That’s right, there are no strong-willed children. They simply don’t exist.

I want to be known as a failure.

The problem with results oriented parenting…

I had an acquaintance ask me recently, “How old were your kids when they started listening to you?” He went on to explain that his four year old sometimes disobeys him, so he’s not sure that he’s even going to bother with trying to discipline her anymore. And that demonstrates the problem with results oriented […]

Why I Am A Single Issue Voter

There are countless things that matter to me in a candidate. I’d prefer to find one that agrees with me on everything, but until that happens I’ll be forced to make concessions here and there. So I’ve had to decide what’s most important to me, and I have. In America, approximately 20% of pregnancies end […]

Facing our problems philosophically

Law and order. I wish there was a way of saying law and order that didn’t make our critics say, “Oh you’re talking about the racial question now”. I would like to know how to say law and order by other means, but still mean law and order. One of the problems that we face […]

The All-Time Quarterback

Do you remember playing backyard football as a kid? There were never quite enough people to make up two full teams, so somebody was designated as the “All-Time Quarterback”. He’d throw for both teams, hustle the entire game and never really got a break. Once you become a dad of fishing age children, that’s what […]

The 3 Kinds Of Imperfect People

There are three kinds of imperfect people in this world. They are all the same, in that they aren’t perfect, but they’re all different as well. The first is the man who uses his imperfection as an excuse. This man is lazy, or apathetic, or both. You’ll hear “I’m not perfect” used to excuse mistakes […]

If a rainbow adorned White House turned your stomach…

If the rainbow adorned White House turned your stomach, like it did mine, consider this….

What America Wants

I don’t think America has any idea what it wants in a politician. The Left wants everybody to be equal and have lots of free stuff. The problem is that their dream is impossible. So no, they really don’t know what they want in any realistic scenario. The Right wanted a true conservative. They wanted […]

Isn’t “Homosexual” an insulting title?

This post is not suitable to be read with a child looking over your shoulder. I’m not writing crudely just for the sake of crudeness, but crudeness is sometimes a byproduct when speaking of the most intimate details of our lives.

The things we surround ourselves with.

I suppose that I take great pride in the things that I surround myself with. I enjoy the tug of a fish on a line, the smell of fall in the air, the comfort of my favorite chair, the sound of my favorite rickety fan when I nap. But the more I surround myself with […]

Trading Heartbeats

Somebody mentioned to me recently that you should always be proud of your work, because you’re trading heartbeats to produce it.

Authority VS Credibility

I realized recently that all too often we fail to realize the difference between authority and credibility. Authority is given and its assumed. Authority can come from a promotion, an election, by birthright or by chance. But credibility is earned. So why does that difference matter? It matters because too often parents think that […]

Stanford University–“Mass shooters prefer gun free zones”

Stanford University recently published statistics from a study of mass shootings in America and their results just aren’t that surprising.

A Presidential Worldview on Christianity

You won’t every find a candidate that shares all of your opinions on everything, the best you can hope for is someone who shares a similar worldview as you. And it’s easy to see a candidate’s worldview, if you just listen to what they’re saying.

Should we “let our kids decide”?

I’m not talking about letting them decide what to wear or what kind of cake they want for their birthday. I’m talking about real decisions. Should we let them decide?

Mission Statements

I always make it a point to read a company’s mission statement when I happen to see one. Mostly to see just how far they’ll go to make themselves sound important. And they always act like they came up with these ideas…. “We will strive to work synergistically with local stakeholders to build trust and […]

Why we don’t pay our kids for doing chores….

We don’t pay our kids for doing chores. That’s not to say that we don’t understand the idea of positive reinforcement. When they were younger we had a “star chart” and gave them stars for good behavior and let them cash in stars for a trip for ice cream or such. But as they’ve grown […]

The Danger Of “Click To Share”

I think that Christians today are facing a challenge never faced before. We’re commanded in the Bible to be reliable people (Matthew 5:37) and we talked about that a few days ago. But before people find us reliable, they have to trust what we say. 200 years ago in order for people to not trust […]

The gun violence story the media isn’t reporting…

There’s a gun violence story that the media isn’t reporting on, but I’ll tell you about it.

Imperfect Solutions

We need solutions. Anyone can identify a problem. I can look at a sick person and say, “Hey, you look awful. I bet you’re sick.” Any politician can say, “Our tax code is broken.”, or “We need immigration reform.” What we need are people who are willing to come up with solutions. Of course, all […]

New Year’s Resolutions

Start your New Year’s Resolution today. Right now. If we’re not serious about it on December 30th, we won’t be serious about it on January 1st. If it’s not important on December 30th, it won’t be important on January 1st. We’ll pretend that we’re serious about it, we’ll pretend that it’s important. But we’ll really only […]

So what does an effective gun control plan look like?

Everyone is clamoring again for gun control to end all of this senseless violence. So let’s see what kind of plan we’d actually need to accomplish that goal.

Batman & Police Brutality…..What?

The latest Batman comic is taking on social issues like never before, depicting Batman rescuing a black teenager from white cops about to gun him down. Let that sink in for just a minute. Yes, it was hard for me to believe too. When I first read about it I just sat in slack-jawed astonishment……They’re still […]

Go Shopping On Black Friday

I’ve worked a lot, probably most, of the family holidays since my kids were born. Coming from someone who has worked so many holidays, I can speak from experience when I say that you shouldn’t feel guilty for shopping on Black Friday. Some of those holidays I was required to work, but some of them […]

Would a Christian government let the refugees in?

Click and Share…..Unless you’re a terrible person?

Does anyone else think that the “Click If You Agree” stuff has gotten out of hand?

What We Say

As the trans-continental railroad stretched east from California, a flood of Chinese workers made the trip to America looking for work on the railroad and in the booming California economy. Of the books that have survived from that time are Chinese-English translation books. And the phrases they translate are very telling, as it were.

Dogs are easier to love than people.

I like dogs. I’m not a crazy dog person like some people are though, and I’ve never really understood how some people go to the extreme of “they’re like kids to me” until I read this….

What if you had to carry your free speech in your pocket?

What if your free speech, all of those ideas and opinions that our founding fathers guaranteed you the right to proudly proclaim, what if that free speech had to be carried in your pocket rather than your heart?

Why do your kids argue?

Why do your kids argue and fight? And does it matter? On a recent road trip this hit me, and I wish it would have a long, long time ago.

The real problem with the left isn’t any policy

Yesterday in a conversation about gun control Hillary Clinton said, “We need to make every politician who sides with [the NRA] to look in the eyes of parents whose kids have been murdered.” And that’s a perfect example of what’s REALLY wrong with the left.

“Gun Control” Is An Insult To Our Intelligence

“Gun Control” isn’t working and to say that it is, is just a slap in the face of intelligent people.

“It’s For The Kids”….Now Give Me Your Money

Apparently my local school district has taken a play from the liberal anti-gun playbook and is using the worn out “it’s for the kids” line, which is never actually true.

Cuz the haters gonna hate-hate-hate-hate-hate

Have you ever felt like no matter what you did, there were going to be a long line of people waiting to find something wrong with you? Of course you have, that’s why Taylor’s song was so popular…People identified with it.

I try to keep good company.

I try to keep good company. So I just don’t see how I can visit the White House on our next vacation.

The Einstellung Effect….And Why It Matters

The premise behind the Einstellung Effect is that people will be more likely to use a solution to a problem that they’ve already used in the past than a better solution that they’ve never been exposed to.

Things We Don’t Know

Just for conversation, here’s a list of things that we (mankind) DO NOT know….

The audacity of the Vanderbilt Women’s Center

Next week the Vanderbilt Women’s Center will be hosting a lecture series on “Healthy Masculinites”….AKA “A study in absurdity and arrogance”.

How To Honor The Harris County Deputy

Yesterday Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth was buried. If you want to honor him more than just liking a Facebook post, this is how to do it.

I didn’t say he stole the car.

I had an argument with someone yesterday and neither one of us knew what the other person was even saying.

It’s only scary because it’s unexpected.

There’s nothing inherently scary about ReadsWithBooks whispering to me. But a few months I walked into a dark room and before I could flip the light switch he slowly closed the door he had been hiding behind and whispered, “I’ve been waiting for you…..” I almost jumped out of my skin. As I turned to […]

Apparently the blind really can lead the blind

This is hands down one of the most interesting stories I’ve heard in a long time. A blind man, Daniel Kish, has learned to echolocate his way around the world, much like bats and dolphins, by making clicking sounds. What he can do, and what he has taught scientists, will amaze you.

Cecil The Lion VS Planned Parenthood

The moral outrage we’ve heard about a dead lion in a far away place this week has been heart breaking to me. Not because I care about the lion. I actually don’t care anything at all about a geriatric lion being killed in a country that is built on lawlessness and corruption.

Texting While Driving….And God’s Wisdom

A few weeks ago I was driving down the road and got distracted by a scrolling sign banner thing on the front of a city bus. I was paying so much attention to the very long message that I nearly rear-ended the car in front of me that had stopped for a red light. My tires […]

Personality is not Character

This phrase isn’t original to me, but I’m certainly not above stealing it. And with the election season careening toward us at a breakneck pace, I thought it was worth mentioning.

An Unassuming Hero

If I ever make “I’mAGiver” bumper stickers, this guy is getting one of the first.

Don’t be a drive-by ____________ (Fill in the blank)

Rush Limbaugh defines the drive-by media as people who arrive on the scene of major breaking news and they stir up emotions to a frenzied fever pitch. They spread lies, and then, after a few hours or a few days when the real facts emerge, they’re gone.

I completely agree with Obama’s foreign policy….

I completely agree with Obama’s foreign policy. And as a matter of fact, his domestic policy too. It’s just that I think he should flip them around.

Repost from Seth Godin: The Rejectionists

I’m reposting this from Seth Godin and you can find the original post here. It definitely gave me pause, because I tend to do this very thing…In work, in politics, in religion, I tend to define the value of what I do and believe by who rejects me-rather than who accepts me. And that’s about […]

Because, ‘Muricah

Today I will turn off my complaining switch. I’m not going to gripe about taxes or elections or foreign or domestic policy. I’m going to smile and speak kindly with everyone I meet and be thankful that I was lucky enough to be born in the greatest country on Earth. This country was founded so […]

More lies about gun control

Out of respect for the dead I wasn’t going to say anything about the South Carolina church shooting and gun control. But since Obama went there, I do feel compelled to correct what he said. (I was going to post this earlier, but the Supreme Court went crazy and I got sidetracked.)

Flags, Wedding Cakes & Power

Honestly, I think there’s about 5% of the population that really cares about the confederate flag being flown today. And I think there’s only about 5% of the population that cares about wedding cakes being baked for homosexual “marriages”. So why do so many people pitch such a fit about them? I’ll tell you why.

The REAL Protected Class

There’s definitely a protected class of people in this world. And membership in it has nothing to do with gender, race or creed. To be a member of the protected class you have to be brazenly, flagrantly…..hypocritical.

To Get I’mAGiver Updates

Just a heads up… So here’s how Facebook pages work…. If you “Like” the I’mAGiver page you don’t necessarily get notified when a new post is made to Facebook. The post will only show up in your FB feed if FB determines that it’s popular enough to bother you with. There’s two ways to get […]

Tomorrowland

We took the kids to see Tomorrowland a few days ago and I’ve gotta say, I really enjoyed it. I’d heard that it was all about how evil humans were destroying the earth and honestly I just didn’t see that.

Where’s The Outrage? Dolezal vs. Jenner

Rachel Dolezal is a white woman. But she’s spent the last several years claiming she was black, pretending to be black, trying to appear as a black person. She even claimed that a black man was her father (he wasn’t). And people are freaking out.

Being a cop…After McKinney

The fallout from McKinney (and Ferguson….and Baltimore) will be felt for years in many different ways, and this is just one of them. Would you encourage your kid to become a cop today?

The Point Of Beginning

In 1785 Thomas Hutchins, the first ever (and only) Geographer of the United States began a survey of over 1.3 MILLION acres of the American wilderness. With a sixty-six foot long piece of chain.

If you see poop…You’ll lie, cheat and steal!

Garbage In / Garbage Out isn’t anything new, but these researchers actually put it to the test and what they found was fascinating.

5 Names That Should Be On That Plaque

Last week a plaque was set in the sidewalk near where Michael Brown was killed. And the sad part about that sentence is that you likely know exactly which Michael Brown I’m talking about.

I feel bad, but I don’t feel RESPONSIBLE

I think one of the biggest problems with politics today, for the elephants and the donkeys (hahahahahaha….the mascot of the democratic party is a donkey….don’t tell me there’s no truth in advertising!) is that they refuse to acknowledge the difference between feeling BAD about something and feeling RESPONSIBLE for something.

5 (Good) Things Everyone Should Know About Josh Duggar

Disclaimer: I’m not a Duggar fan. I think they’re weird. I think JimBob’s hair is bizarre. I think the notion of having 19 kids is outrageous. I don’t like the show, but tolerate it on principle because it’s clean and it’s success must drive liberal America crazy. BUT….Even though I don’t like them, it’s time […]

What Racism Really Looks Like

Racism is ugly. And this is what it looks like.

I’m not homophobic….I’m homoscared

It seems like the popular thing these days is to label anyone who doesn’t approve of homosexuality as “homophobic”.

I’m going to give my kids an unfair advantage

I’m going to give my kids an unfair advantage. And you should too. Especially since loving your kids is now considered giving them an unfair advantage.

Don’t let your phone commit cellucide!

Every year millions of cell phones are lost and not returned to their owners. Those cell phones wind up in dank, crowded cell phone orphanages. Unable to connect to Facebook every eleven minutes like they normally do, many of these cell phones just give up hope and let their batteries run dead. Don’t let your […]

Good Guys With Guns

On January 7th, 2015 two armed terrorists attacked satirical cartoonists of the false prophet Muhammad in Paris, France. On May 4th, 2015 two armed terrorists attacked satirical cartoonists of the false prophet Muhammad in Garland, Texas. In Paris, twelve innocent people were killed in the initial attack. The terrorists escaped and murdered five more people […]

Women’s “Rights”

Just in case anyone was keeping score, the Women’s “Rights” movement has done more to devalue women than anything else in modern history.

As patient as I am deadly.

Now I’d guess that not all of these people actually NEED to be medicated, but the point is that one out of every five adults you meet FEEL like they need to be medicated. And that’s scary.

Now we’re throwing teachers in jail?

If you haven’t heard, this week school teachers and administrators in Atlanta were found guilty of changing students’ answers on tests so that they would receive a passing grade. And then they were sent to prison. Oh my goodness gracious. Are Georgia’s prisons really so empty that they need to fill it up with some […]

12 hours, 300 miles and 1 Picture Worth Taking

We loaded the kids up last week to take a road trip through the Hill Country. Actually, that’s not entirely true. We loaded the kids up to drive 300 miles to take one picture, the road trip was just the lagniappe.

New Schedule

Just a heads up, my plan is to start a Monday – Wednesday – Friday schedule for posts here, rather than every day. Every Monday will be a new post in a series we’re doing at our congregation titled Challenges To Our Faith. Look for the first post tomorrow morning. I think this will be a […]

The Malthusian Trap

Just imagine the situation… You’re living in a village raising some corn and along comes a new fertilizer that doubles your production. All of a sudden you can afford to have a few more kids. And then the people down the way find out your land is producing bumper crops of corn and so they […]

The hardest stupid decisions we make.

I really think the hardest decisions to make are not the important decisions in life. The hard decisions are usually the stupidest ones.

Maybe everybody SHOULD get a trophy…

Let’s get real about this trophy business. And I’m not talking about how EVERY kid gets a trophy these days in little league. I’m talking about how EVERY grown up gripes incessantly about it.

Read Your Kids’ Books

Not read books to your kids, but read your kids’ books.

Being Right, Gracefully

I’ve gotta admit, I love being right. It’s like a drug to me. And I’m most definitely strung out on it. Now that doesn’t mean that I always feel like I have to have all the answers. I’m pretty quick to say “I have no idea”, even about stuff that I should know the answer […]

Empty Calories

Hidalgo County, Texas is on the southern border of our great country, just this side of the Rio Grande from Reynosa, Mexico. Hidalgo County has roughly 806,000 residents and 47% of the children in Hidalgo County live in poverty. The poverty that exists in Hidalgo County is real. It’s not the “I’m poor, but I […]

Party Like A……

LIKE A 9 YEAR OLD!!!!!! Oh yeah!!! Last night we celebrated KickTheBall’s ninth year of survival. And by all measures he’s not only surviving, but thriving; Which is a good thing for those of us entrusted with ensuring his survival and thrivation. Go me, right? Birthdays can be a weird thing (just like how the […]

Edison’s Elephant

In 1903 Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant. On purpose.

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