University Graduation - 25 years late

The mere fact that I wanted to attend Biola University proves the existence and cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.

“For I was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now, I see.”
John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)

Most adults reentering academia have a great story to tell. My story isn’t great, but it is of the great guiding love of the Holy Spirit. Prodded by the Holy Spirit and Douglas Grisham’s father, C. S. Lewis, who constantly reminded me on Biola’s radio commercials, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil”, I approached Admissions Counselor Vanessa Velasco about attending Biola University. Emboldened by the Holy Spirit, I sought admission on a Friday and signed up for my first class, Acts, with Chico Goff, to start the next Tuesday. Off I went to class; my timing was perfectly in sync with God’s timing.


I thought.


The university had other thoughts. Biola is a leading Christian academic institution with a process for admissions. My admission was a little problematic. I had to write a letter explaining my dismal G.P.A. I had to write a letter explaining my “lack of academic progress.” I wrote another letter explaining some youthful indiscretions. I had to be interviewed by Biola’s BOLD faculty Advisor, Emilio Nunez. This took a few weeks and I was still attending Tuesday night classes with Chico. I was sure I wanted to be at Biola. Biola wasn’t so sure if or when they wanted me. But they were sure of one thing, that I shouldn’t continue taking the Acts class until I completed all the proper steps for admission. They requested that I stop coming to class. In anger, I continued attending and finally had to attend my last class, listening from the lobby. Chico taught the class and could look out the door and see me listening.

Finally at the break, he came out and returned my graded work and said that since I was not on the roster, he could not continue to grade and accept my work. He counseled me to take the class later. He said that maybe it was not in God’s timing that I should attend the class.
I did not hear the Holy Spirit saying, “In My time, not yours.” The Holy Spirit had been there the whole time watching me. So instead of fighting the system, the Holy Spirit gave me Kathy Mavity. She shepherded me (rod and staff-like) through the process and had me admitted as a “Pre-BOLD.” As a “Pre-BOLD” I was not assigned a cohort group. But the Holy Spirit led me to take another Bible class with a student who heard my story and said, “Pray for your cohort group. Pray for the students that will be a part of it, they will be integral to your success.” The Lord answered my spoken prayers and those that were unspoken and surrounded me with a group of friends will liver forever as “The McGee Group.” We are cohesive, loving, caring and strong in His love. The Holy Spirit was so tangible and apparent in our classes, we sometimes would leave class and immediately e-mail one another and say, “Was that you or the Holy Spirit?” The Holy Spirit was working and active at Biola San Diego.


What other proof do I have about the Holy Spirit’s existence besides, my admission, Kathy Mavity and the workings of the McGee group?


My professors. I’ll only name a few.

Dr. Charles Bradshaw
Dr. Forrest Weiland
Pastor David Fandy
Dr. John Coe
Dr. Jason Wilson.

Jason was my Statistics professor. I used to love Math and was fairly good at it. I loved the precision and the wild mathematical theories. But not all students had those positive feelings. Jason has an enormous heart for the Lord and seeks to help those who came with fear and insecurity into a Statistics class. So Jason sent an e-mail prior to the first week of class to all of the students. He asked that we pray about what God wants us to learn in Statistics and how God will use that to grow the Kingdom. He asked us to pray about any bad experiences we had or about anyone who said that we weren’t good at Math or said we weren’t smart enough. Then he asked us to forgive them and come to class with an open, loving heart. Jason may look like a mild-mannered Math professor, but he is a titan of Faith.

These are only a few reasons why I know the Holy Spirit is alive and well in my life, in your life and especially here at Biola University. So as I write this and think of my graduation day, 29 years after my high school graduation, I see the words of a writer, John Bingham, who wrote about completing his first marathon. He said, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

As I close, I say thank you to all of the family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ that helped me. And I thank them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Satan's advice to Barack Obama

C. S. Lewis wrote a great book called The Screwtape Letters . In the book, “we are made privy to the instructional correspondence between a senior demon, Screwtape, and his wannabe diabolical nephew Wormwood. As mentor, Screwtape coaches Wormwood in the finer points, tempting his "patient" away from God. (Amazon.com Reviews)”

I was trying to not be political this year but as I was exercising today I took this approach to having a “senior demon” as a campaign advisor.

Screwtape’s letter to Obama

If you want to get elected, there are few things my dear Wormwood, I mean Barack, that you’ll have to know. They aren’t easy and it doesn’t matter if you believe them or not, just do these things and after your elected, I’ll take care of everything.

Be on the Left – American media has been educated in some of the finest colleges and universities in the world. They are indoctrinated in this Petri dish until they graduate. If they work in the media, they can hold these beliefs and face no consequences like they would in the real world. Remember, you need them, they need a hero. It works.

Be good looking – Humans are designed to like the pretty. You can’t be beautiful or they’ll think you’re shallow. It’s even better if your opponent is older than you. Even better if he’s not as pretty.

Don’t have a lot of experience – Experience means you have left a trail of paperwork that can divulge our true intentions. Speak in grand tones about things you want to do, not about anything you have done.

Speak well – It is more important to speak well than to say anything. Remember, if you speak well people will believe you are intelligent and insightful. Do not speak about your true feelings or beliefs, those are dangerous and can be attacked. Any attack on you can be fended off with a laugh and a well-spoken line.

Be for abortion (call it “Choice”) – You don’t care about this topic, I do. Remember that mothers can vote for you, babies, I mean fetuses, cannot.

Do what is best for you at the time – If you are behind in fundraising, say you are for public financing, if you are ahead, don’t take it. If you are behind, challenge your opponent to an endless series of debates, if you get ahead, only do the minimum. Standards are for the other side, not for us. We want to win at all costs and the media will cover for us (See point 1).

If you have disgust for Americans below you, don’t say it – Remember that you need them to vote for you. If you think they cling to their religion and guns because they are afraid, DON’T say it. If you have to vent your disgust for the little people, say it in a safe place like at an editor’s dinner, at home with some college professors or anywhere in San Francisco.

Attack your opponent on YOUR weaknesses – If you don’t love the country, tell your opponent that you won’t question his patriotism. Since you are weak in experience, paint him as an entrenched part of the problem.

Promise everybody something – It doesn’t matter how the country will pay for it, Americans love debt. They all have it. They don’t mind if their country is mired in it also. It means they have company. Nobody totals up all of your promises after the election. If some sector complains, promise them some more.

Talk about being a Christian, just don’t live it – If you live like a Christian, you’ll have to follow my opponents Book. It doesn’t change, feelings do. We need flexibility if we are going to pull this off. People on the right are constrained by having to have moral absolutes and “loving your neighbor”, we want to win. Sure they are some good things about Christianity but don’t take it too far.

Make those poor voters feel like victims – Personal responsibility is so over-rated. Tell them it is not their fault and that “Big Business” or foreigners are at fault. Remember it worked for many of my protégés in the past.

You don’t have to have character, just speak about it. Charisma will win out in the end – Enough said.

I’ll keep an eye on you so the Enemy won’t suspect a thing.

Affectionately Yours,

Screwtape

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GOOD NEWS!

Mark is home! We picked him up at the airport on the 16th. Karina was elated. Mark took her to school to meet her teacher and Karina is so proud! Mark is in the middle of getting his house ready and he'll move in by early October. He has to put in some new floors, get his furniture moved from Las Vegas and some other things. As I said that night, "It's good to have the family together."

Also - Luke won his election. You may now call him, "Mr. Secretary." He ran against three girls (which split the female vote). I tried to offer the Vice Principal a twenty to "keep it fair", but she wouldn't take it.

To retire Luke's campaign debt to me, please send you tax non-deductible donation to:

Luke owes Dad $48

Carlsbad, CA 92009

VOTE FOR LUKE!

Luke ran up to my office and told me the news. He ran for Student Council Secretary and was one of the top four candidates, so he is in the finals. I asked him why he wanted to be Secretary and he didn't answer me till getting ready for bed that night. "Dad, everyone wants to be President or Vice President. Lots of kids like money so they want to be Treasurer. Not many kids want to be Secretary." Nice pre-race strategy. So now he must make one poster, submit a speech and stand for election.

Sooooooooooo, we used to have a great family live with us for a while and the father is a graphic artist. One phone call and Bill Kozak was at the house after dinner, with his Apple laptop, Photoshop and our ideas. Within 45 minutes, we had the poster ready and we sent it to Kinko's. Two hours later we had it printed. three hours later I still couldn't fall asleep because I was still laughing.

Karina's 5th Birthday Party

Pinata - Teaching children that if you hit something with a bat long enough, candy comes out.



This was a major event for our house. Karina has been talking, planning and probably dreaming about this since July. With all that has happened to her, I'm glad she has something that she looked so forward to. We staged it at our community pool. Karina's sister Malishka and her husband came from Vegas, along with Mark's friend's Jake, Cassandra and their children Brooklyn and Brielle. Karina's brother Markie came also with a few guys from out Monday night pizza crew. Pool, party and a pinata.

The next day Karina went to the San Diego zoo with Malishka and Malcom. By Sunday night we had a very tired little girl, but still extremely happy because she shared it with her dad.

And we got to share it with her also.

1st Day of School - Hannah 5th - Luke 4th - Karina Kindergarten

This is the same thing all around America, the first day of school. Except to us. We now have Karina in our family. Mark won't be home till mid-September so we got Karina ready for school, a little young, a little small, but ready. When we found out she was going to be staying with us, Darcy immediately signed her up for Kindergarten. She goes in the afternoon during the same time Darcy teaches. Great timing.

So Luke goes to school by bike and Hannah either gets a ride with a neighbor or Darcy rides her. Now to Karina's first day. We wanted to take lots of pictures for Mark. Karina got out her back pack. It was so big that it went down to her knees! As Darcy and I started to argue about it, I saw that it had princesses on it. Karina would carry a lead box, filled with water if it had a Princess on it.

So off to school she went to Mrs. Fishers class. No crying, no sadness, just another adventure for one of the most amazing children we've ever known.

Re-Smithification of Luke - 6 Day "Guy" trip

I haven't been working for a while and it has probably been the best time of my life. I've been finishing my degree, training and spending time with the kids. But, I wasn't spending as much time with Luke as I used to. Real time. So we decided that we needed a "guy trip" to kind of get Luke back to where he used to be, more polite, more friendly and just having a better relationship with me and others.

First we went and visited Selena (I was a bridesmaid in her wedding), who manages the Van Nuys Airport. Great trip to tour the airport, have lunch and start the trip.

Next to Thousand Oaks to see my cousin Bobby, his wife kids, my uncle and my cousin. Luke thought this would be the best, but it was tough because his older cousins, Ryan and Brett, had friends there that were their own age (19-21) so they didn't quite spend as much time as Luke wanted to with them.

Now to Santa Barbara to see Jake Muldowney, Jim Muldowney's son. I say that so you'll know who he is, but even if he wasn't Jimmy's son, he is a great guy. He picked my mother up in Las Vegas (He's a student at UNLV) and drove her to Mark Millam's house in Summerlin, Nevada. He's an intern at Sandpiper golf course. We saw the course and then took Luke to get his haircut. See, one of the issues that we had is that Luke wanted his hair real long like one of his friends. It looked like a mullet gone bad. It was my fault. Again, I didn't spend enough time with him. So Jake and I talked him into a haircut. Then a walk around Santa Barbara, a picture with Jake and Luke and then a picture with Jake, Luke and a homeless guy.

Jake has gone from being a friend's son to being a friend of the family in his own right. I could be no prouder than to have Luke look to him as a friend and a man he can turn to.

Off to San Luis Obispo (SLO) to see Chad Theule and his family. This was a great time as Chad was one of the originators of Monday Night Pizza 9 years ago. We went out to Pizza, spent time at the beach, biked and went to the SLO Farmer's Market. True friends are true friends no matter how far away they live or how often you see them.

Then back to Carlsbad to go camping with Norbert and Derek for Derek's 9th birthday. We took their trailer up to Big Bear. Luke and I camp a lot with the YMCA Indian Guides but it is much better having a 28' trailer, or "Aluminum Tee-pee" as we call it in the Guides.

This was a great trip. A trip that every father should make with each of his children. Time alone to talk, to laugh, to pray and to spend time with friends.

Luke is back to the "old" Luke.

We are back to being best friends.

The Smithification continues.