On this, the first day of the rest of our lives, let me be the first to… Thank God it’s Friday RedStaters! I hope this day finds you happy, healthy, and grateful for our Creator, and what he has done for us.
Loss of a Friend
This week I received a card from a financial services company that I have been with for a long time. On the surface it had all the look of the invitation to a client appreciation event or seminar. On the inside it was an invitation to his memorial service. I was shocked. Steven Ross Kaneski. August 11, 1962 – January 16, 2018. 55 years old. Completely unexpected – I had met with him in December for periodic review and planning college expenses, etc. One more friend that I cannot see again. Steve was a great man. Hard working, cared about his family and friends, always was looking out for my interests and with a smile on his face.
I lost my dad when he was 56. I had a little more warning, but the same result – a person that was important to me, and I will not see him again on this side of my own passing. I hate this. I’m Christian, I know there is a heaven and that I will be there, but in the meantime I just hate this. So did Jesus, who wept as his friend’s death. You have probably had losses that have hit close to home for you as well.
Do you know where you will spend eternity? Or are you giving God the busy signal while he is calling to you? We all have to make a choice about whether to believe and trust our savior. I was blessed to get a chance to reconsider my bad choices a dozen years ago, and it changed my eternity. If you are putting off consideration of the same, consider this a friendly reminder that none of us knows how long we have.
Peace.
More Immigration Principles
I’ve had the pleasure of having traveled to many countries outside my native US. Mostly pleasure, some work-driven. I had an extended stay (almost a year) in the UK where I met some of my best friends and had a great time. And then I came home. The principle is easy – when I’m outside the US I’m a guest. I obey the local laws (as far as I can tell), use the guest accommodations (from hostels to friends’ houses to hotels), and respect the locals. On the way in I generally have to convince the host country that I am coming temporarily (is this just me? LOL), have a place to stay and a host contact, and that I have a way to get back out again. I go, I see/do, I come home.
Of course I do not expect:
- That I get to decide who else comes in with me (the host gets to decide)
- That I get to dictate terms
- That I get to stay as long as I want
- That the host should pay to cover my expenses
- To be able to break laws or be an ass and to have no repercussions.
- That a country owes me anything that individual people themselves do not owe me.
If I were to ever look for citizen status outside the US, I would expect there to be costs and responsibilities that would come with that. I would expect that I would first have to show that I would not be a problem or a burden on the country or its citizens. The receiving people get to decide. Here are some great examples of how this works in other areas:
Marrying into a family: A suitor will need to convince the prospective partner and/or family members in authority that the union will be a positive one for the family. The family dictates terms. If the suitor is successful, there is increased loyalty and status that will come from the union.
Adoption into a family: A family will consider whether they are willing to take on any possible costs/risks to bring someone into the family. In the end, the family gets to choose, the adoptee does not get to dictate an adoption.
Hiring into a business: hiring is done with an eye toward return on investment (ROI). Will we be better off (profits, flexibility, ability to chase new markets, resiliency, etc). Depending on the costs of integration and/or risks if the prospect were to fail to thrive, interviewing may be done over multiple days, by many people, by retained special recruiting talent, according to future performance metrics, etc). The business gets to choose, the prospect does not get to mandate the hire.
Blessings
Father, I ask that you would bless this community richly as we pursue a better and more Godly United State of America. May we always put you and your word first, loving you above all. And may we love our neighbors as ourselves, looking for solutions to make our country healthier, bring us together, and helping to take care of those in need. Amen.
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