Why College is so Expensive

Two weeks from tomorrow, my baby girl will move into her dorm room for her freshman year at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. Now both of my offspring will be in college. I'll gladly accept your prayers anytime.

So earlier this week, Bailey gets a letter from GWU telling her about a new feature on campus this year. It's called Laundryview. Laundry is free for students on campus. That's a nice touch. But here's the big bonus: You can go to laundryview.com to check the status of each washer and dryer's availability as well as how many minutes remain until your load is complete. She showed this to us and I thought, "You've got to be kidding me! Every washer and dryer on the campus is wired to the internet? How much did that cost and guess who's footing the bill for it? We wouldn't want our precious children to walk downstairs to the basement of the dorm to actually see if there is a machine available or to see how much time is left on it, would we?"

Turns out laundryview.com is not a new thing. They have it on college campuses all over the country and, I suspect, in apartment complexes, too. I know we live in the 21st century but I just couldn't believe it when I saw it. God bless the person who created laundryview.com. I wonder how many people thought they were crazy when they came up with the idea? I guess they're sleeping in late this morning or headed toward the beach. And I guess they have their own washer and dryer at home now.

The Hazards of Tunnel Vision

I've mentioned National Geographic Adventure magazine on a couple of previous posts (April and May). Not only does it have amazing photos, it almost always has a few notes of interest to me. In the latest edition there is an article called "Terrorists at the Tea Party" by Amanda Ripley. It's about the science of fear and how humans react in desperate situations.

Ripley writes about the hazards of tunnel vision in an account of an Eastern Airlines jet traveling from New York City to Miami on December 29, 1972. The plane was making its final approach into Miami on a clear night with unrestricted visibility. When the pilots tried to lower the landing gear, they didn't get a green light indicating that the gear loaded properly. The captain with more than 30 years experience called into the control tower and said that they would circle the airport while they worked on getting a green light.

For eight minutes the entire crew focused completely on the landing gear and the failure of the green light. They were so focused on that problem that they didn't notice the alarm going off indicating that the plane was losing altitude. By the time they realized what was happening to the plane it was too late. The plane crashed in the Everglades 19 miles from the airport.

Investigators discovered later that the plane was in perfect working order - except the bulb was burned out in the landing gear indicator light.

Sometimes we get so busy focusing on one thing, (e.g., work, finances, personal and professional pursuits) that we forget to look at the big picture. It's easy to get bummed out about temporary things. It's easy to allow the urgent things that scream for our attention each day to get in the way of the important things. Don't become so focused on immediate problems and pursuits that you forsake the other things that are happening around you. Celebrate what God is doing in your life. Rejoice in the blessings you have instead of regretting the things you don't have. Thank God for what he has done and what he is doing. Lift your head up and see what he's up to. Pay attention to his handiwork and praise him for his amazing grace.

PS - Notes regarding my previous post: Cliff won't be America's next heartthrob. He said it was a great experience but the "auditions" were somewhat of a joke. American Idol is definitely made for TV. Got an email from my agent today. A publisher is very interested in my book. She will take it to the editorial board soon. Pray!!

Mid-Summer Brain Dump

This summer has been really busy so far. Haven't been able to blog as much as I would like so I thought I'd do a brain dump today.

• Last week Beth and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. It wasn't real romantic but we had fun. We just went to Atlanta for a night and spent half of the day at IKEA (pretty amazing) and the other half at the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. Maybe on a future anniversary we'll take a cruise or something but it wasn't possible to celebrate big this year with all of the other things going on this summer.
• My son, Cliff, just left about 5 minutes ago to go audition for American Idol in Louisville, KY. Could he be the next American heartthrob? We'll see.
• Books I read on vacation at Hilton Head: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham, Lost in Rooville by Ray Blackston, and Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace.
• Number of times Beth has teared up thinking about Bailey going off to college in August: too many to count.
• Number of times I've teared up thinking about how much college will cost: too many to count.
• Number of times we've had our boat in the lake: 1. (Isn't that pitiful?)
• Last night we had a family send off for Cliff at Carabba's. We saw a couple at the restaurant that we knew from our previous church. I caught up with them for a few minutes then sat at our table. They spoke briefly when they left as we were still in the middle of our meal. A few minutes later, the waiter asked us if we would like dessert. Then he said, "Before you answer, you might want to know that the gentleman that was sitting over there has paid for your dinner." We were shocked. What a blessing! Thank God for wonderful, giving, Christian people. Isn't being a part of God's family neat?
• Number of pages written in my latest novel: 135
• Number of publishers who have rejected current novel that my agent is trying to sell: 2
• Number of publishers yet to respond: a bunch
• Number of publishers it takes to sell a novel: 1
• Number of "no's" you get from publishers before you sell a book: a bunch
• Amount of patience I have in this process: a lot but it's slowly decreasing
• Number of resumes I've looked at in an attempt to replace Walt Tanner: scores. (Thanks Walt!)
• Number of resumes I've looked at in an attempt to replace Hope Hall: in the 40's.
• Number of resumes I've prepared for myself: don't know but I haven't written a resume since 1991. I've tried to let God lead me. So far so good. I love TNC and I don't plan on writing another resume for the rest of my life!!
• Number of people bored with this brain dump: all 3 of this blog's readers.
  

I'm out.

Wow is God!

Our staff devotion time took us through the Old Testament book of Micah yesterday morning. We noted how God's prophets often looked back and remembered the great things God did for them. Looking back often gives hope for today and tomorrow. The prophets also reveal and remind us of God's greatness and power. When difficult days come, instead of walking around with our heads down sulking and saying, "Woe is me!" maybe we should we lift our heads up and remember how great God is and say, "Wow is God!"

Would you read these books for $420?

Years ago, when my children were in middle and high school, I heard an old audio cassette by a motivational speaker who came up with a list of books that he felt like his son should read as he became an adult. He offered his son $10 for every book read. He said it was a good investment and very worthwhile. I thought it was a neat idea so I did it with my kids. (But I offered $20 per book. I figured with inflation costs it was only fair to double what the motivational speaker did with his kid in the '70's.)

Unfortunately, they didn't have too much interest. They had enough homework assignments from their teachers and they weren't interested in doing homework for dad -even for money. I've only paid out $20 so far.

I thought the list was long forgotten until last night Bailey came to me with the list and asked, "Dad, is this deal still good?" Of course, I said, "Yes." She went to the bookshelf to seek out some of the books. So, it looks like I may make this investment yet. So what books are they? These are some books that I think everyone should read. I won't pay you $20 per book but I would suggest you read them and possibly make a similar arrangement with your kids. Hey, it's a lot cheaper than college - and probably more valuable.

Honest to God (Bill Hybels)

Financial Peace (Dave Ramsey)

The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)

The Search for Significance (Robert McGee)

Found: God’s Will (John MacArthur)

Ordering Your Private World (Gordon McDonald)

How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)

30 Days to Understanding How to Live as a Christian (Max Anders)

Mere Christianity (CS Lewis)

More Than a Carpenter (Josh McDowell)

The Kneeling Christian (author unknown)

The Hour That Changes the World (Dick Eastman)

Autobiography of George Muller

Joshua (Joseph Girzone)
The Big Bucks

Books of the Bible:

Genesis

Exodus

Ecclesiastes

Acts

Romans

Revelation