Because I am a nerd :)
Populations are based on the 2010 census, just the population in the city (not surrounding areas):

How To Quit Your Job

A lot of people don't like their jobs. They would love to quit, do something else, retire, or any number of things. But they don't, usually because they can't (or don't think they can) afford to quit their job. Sometimes, they are right.

However, the disappointing thing is that most people in this situation don't actually do anything to try and change their life. This generally is because they have a fundamental misunderstanding about money, and the affect that it has in their life.

After reading Your Money or Your Life, it has driven the point very hard into me - our society does not understand money and what it does to people. We are ruled by materialism, and it is making a lot of people lead unhappy lives. We live in a society where "more is better," and where it is looked down upon to live a simple life where you don't need new gadgets.

This type of attitude seems to make people think (in my opinion) that they need certain things, or that their life will be happy if they can only afford [new car, huge house, etc]. No longer is it enough to simply take care of your needs, we need more and more stuff (even if it doesn't make us any happier).

Of course, this has an averse effect on our life in the big picture. If we buy more stuff we don't need, we will have less money for savings, for retirement, for having some money just in case we decide we want to pursue a different direction in our career.

In the long run, we buy things we don't need (or really even want) with money that would be better used for savings, which means we have to work more and longer at a place we don't like. Seems kind of funny, no?

If you find yourself in a situation where you are dissatisfied with your career and your job, you have a choice. You can look for another job, and you can also rein in your spending as best as you can, to put yourself in a better position for you to make changes.

After all, cutting back on some non-necessities sounds a whole lot better to me than continuing in the rat race you never wanted to run in the first place.

Happy Independence Day!!

God Bless the USA, and God Bless our soldiers.

I for one am not thankful enough for the privilege and joy that it has been to grow up where I have, and live where I do. I am truly blessed to live in America!



Hope you have a safe and blessed holiday, filled with family, fun, fireworks, and barbecues! :)

Scripture Sunday: Romans 4: 19-21

Every Sunday on this site I will take some time to look at a passage from the Bible that I like and think is great... though they could obviously be presented by themselves without further mention, I will throw my two cents in on what the verse(s) mean to me.

God has promised us that if we follow Him, we will have eternal life. He has also promised us that He works for the good for those who believe in Him. Do we really believe this? Do we believe it even when it seems like this are going the exact opposite of how we want them to go?

"He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body as (already) dead (for he was almost a hundred years old) and the dead womb of Sarah. He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; 6 rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do." (Romans 4: 19-21)

In the Old Testament, God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, even though they were old and well past child-bearing age. Yet Abraham never resolved in his belief that God would come through, because he knew that God does not renege on His promises.

We must have the same attitude at all times. If we work for the glory of God, we must always have the belief that God in turn is working for good for us. Even at times when it seems hard to believe, or when life is against us, or we lose something we love. Those are the times where it is hardest to believe that God means good by it, but we must follow the example of Abraham.

Do we believe God is capable of keeping His promises?

The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 4

Each week I will summarize a chapter from The Screwtape Letters

This chapter deals with prayer. Oftentimes we find our prayer simply meandering... our mind focuses on something else, and all of a sudden we are not really praying, we are thinking about what is on our to do list. It is then that we stop listening to God for advice, and simply try to follow our own path, which does not lead us anywhere.

Lewis writes:

"He may be persuaded to aim at something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularized; and what this will actually mean to be a beginner will be an effort to produce in himself a vaguely devotional mood in which real concentration of will and intelligence have no part." (20)

For me, this definitely is true at times. I will go in with the intent of praying, and leave not really sure I actually listened to what God was trying to tell me. I let myself be distracted and therefore miss the prayer itself.

We must focus on aligning our wills with God when we pray. Focus on talking and listening to Him, and what He wants to tell us. When we are able to zone into this... and not simply think about what we have to do when we stop praying, that is when prayer can and will have a transformative affect on our life.

Using Your Gifts

All of us have been given certain talents and gifts in our lives. Sometimes we recognize them early on, sometimes we don't realize we have them until later in life. No matter, when we know what they are, we should work hard to utilize them to make others lives better.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

If we do not give all that we can, or use our gifts as best as we can, we are sacrificing the gifts that we have been given. We are then not becoming the people that we can and should be.

For example, if your talent is writing, but you never write (not even letters to friends), you are not using that gift for all that it could be. Even if you are giving your best to enriching the lives of others through writing personal letters, you are using your gift. If your gift is music but you never play, you are sacrificing your gift.

This quote, I believe, can bring about good reflection. What is your gift or gifts? Are you using them? In what ways could you use them even more?

Sing Of Mary

If this is not one of the most beautiful songs you have ever heard, well, you have heard more beautiful songs than I :)

Remembering Our Dreams

I am reading a book called "Your Money or Your Life" (which I very highly recommend!) and there is a great part in the book where it talks about fulfillment and dreams. I will quote from the book (all emphasis mine):

"For many of us, however, 'growing up' has meant outgrowing our dreams. The aspiration to write a great book has shrunk to writing advertising copy. The dream of being an inspiring preacher has evolved into being an administrator and mediator between the factions of the congregation. Instead of really knowing who their patients are, how the patients live or the challenges in their lives, doctors today are plagued with back-to-back fifteen minute patient visits and malpractice suits. The dream of traveling around the world becomes two weeks a year of hitting the tourist traps. Living a fulfilling and meaningful life seems almost impossible, given the requirements of simply meeting day-to-day needs and problems. Yet, at one time or another practically every one of us has had a dream of what we wanted our lives to be.

Wherever you are, take a few moments now to reflect upon your dreams. So many of us have spent so many hours, days and years of our lives devoted to someone else's agenda that it may be hard to get in touch with our dreams. So many of us have whittled away at our uniqueness so that we could be square pegs in square holes that it seems slightly self-indulgent to wonder what kind of hole we would be inclined to carve for ourselves. Indulge yourself now. Stare out a window. Shut your eyes. And envision what would be a truly fulfilling life for you. To help you get started on your journey, ask yourself the following questions:

- What did you want to be when you grew up?
- What have you always wanted to do that you haven't done yet?
- What have you done in your life that you are really proud of?
- If you knew you were going to die within a year, how would you spend that year?
- What brings you the most fulfillment - and how is that related to money?
- If you didn't have to work for a living, what would you do with your time?" (109-110)

I think those are powerful thoughts, powerful questions.

Spend some time thinking about them. Not only right now, but tomorrow, and next week, and periodically throughout your life. Focusing on these things, and how to make them a reality, can change your life in amazing ways.

Scripture Sunday: 1 Thessalonians 2:8

Every Sunday on this site I will take some time to look at a passage from the Bible that I like and think is great... though they could obviously be presented by themselves without further mention, I will throw my two cents in on what the verse(s) mean to me.

Preaching the Gospel does not mean merely telling people what it means or what it says. It does not mean simply reciting the teachings of Christ, and then failing to live them out. St. Francis of Assisi expressed this thought when he said, "Preach the Gospel at all time, if necessary use words."

In a similar vein, St. Paul talks about this in his first letter to the Thessalonians. He writes:

"With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us." (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

The Bible calls us to love others as we love ourselves, and we cannot do this if we do not share ourselves with them and invest in them. This means spending time with others, making them a priority in life, and giving them the very best of ourselves.

Notice that St. Paul still talks about still sharing the gospel of God with others. If we want a relationship to be as fruitful as possible, Christ still has to be at the center of it. It is easy to think that just by spending time with some person we are sharing ourselves with them and having a great friendship, but that is only part of the equation. We need to share Christ with them.

In your friendships and relationships today, I would challenge you to think if you are living this out. I know I could be better in many ways when it comes to this. If we love another person (as we are called to do with everyone), then we need to share with them our lives, and our faith. This will show them how beloved they are to us.

The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 3

Each week I will summarize a chapter from The Screwtape Letters

This chapter is a our relationships with other people, especially close friends and relatives. I have found this especially true in the circumstance of young adult moving back in with the parents, or even being home for a holiday break. All of a sudden, everything bugs you, especially when it is done by your parents.

Who has not experienced something similar to what Lewis describes here?

"In civilized life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face... Your patient must demand that all of his utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on their actual words, while at the same time judging all his mother's utterances with the fullest and most oversensitive interpretation of the tone and the context of the suspected intention." (17-18)

Lewis hits this so perfectly on the head in my opinion that I can hardly think of anything to add. This is a very easy trap to get into, especially with parents and those people who we spend a lot of time around. We must be careful to make sure that we see the splint in our own eye.

We must also make a thorough self-examination, and honestly look at our lives and the way that we are living. We do not want to fall into the trap that Lewis explains:

"Aggravate that most useful human characteristic, the horror and neglect of the obvious. You must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with him or worked in the same office." (16)

If we are going to grow and improve as people, we must be able to honestly assess our faults. Spend some time in prayer and contemplation on this. If we don't know what areas we struggle, we will be unable to grow in them.

Do these things apply to your life?