Why we go to Cuba

• Treasury license for the church? CHECK
• Passports? CHECK
• Cuba visas? CHECK
• Currency in Euros? CHECK
• Insurance? CHECK
• Charter flights booked? CHECK
• Letters to Customs from our pastor? CHECK
• Emergency contact info circulated? CHECK
• Cuba transportation and accommodations confirmed? CHECK

Preparing to travel to Cuba is a lot of work. We're going for a week on February 4 representing Florida Methodists with our brothers and sisters in the Cuba Methodist Church at their District Conference in Havana. Hopefully, we will get to spend some time with our friends, Pastor Damián and his wife Samira, at our sister church la Sierra. All of this is associated with "Methodists United in Prayer," celebrating Christian love between Cuba and Florida Methodist churches.

This is our second trip. The first was two years ago. A dozen of us flew to Havana. We split up once we arrived, each going to our sister churches in and around Havana. There were a lot of unknowns: would we be allowed to bring in the 200+ pounds of medicine, clothes, and items for our sister church? Would we be able to communicate with our limited Spanish? Would our visas be at the Havana airport as required? Who would pick us up? What would we do for eight days? And on and on.

A very long story made short, we were received in Cuba with tremendous love. Pastor Damián met us at the airport and arranged our transportation for the 75 km trip to la Sierra in a '56 Ford. Thus began a week that would change our lives and cement friendships which will endure a lifetime.

For our upcoming trip, we have a much better idea what to expect. We have a sense of returning home. There are still questions of travel logistics, but we know one way or another, by God's grace, we'll get by.

We go to Cuba to help other people, strangers a couple of years ago, friends today. We got to share our faith with other Christians. We go because it is the right thing to do. In many small ways, we touch others' lives. And in many big ways, they touch ours.

George

Washington, are you listening?

The Dems lost a seat they'd held for what, fifty or sixty years? And Clinton, widow Kennedy, and Obama all capaigned for the Democrat candidate? And the winner came from nowhere in a beat up pickup?

Washington, are you listening? Ignore the message at your peril. Virginia, New Jersey, now Massachusetts. November is just around the corner. News flash: the problem wasn't your candidate.

George

Road Trip

Shannon turned 17 on Saturday (in Connecticut). Her birthday present was sitting in my garage in Florida. The need to get the car from south to north happened to coincide with a couple of business meetings en route. So Tuesday afternoon I turned right onto I-95, set the cruise control, and the odyssey began.

I overnighted south of Richmond, got up early Wednesday morning, and headed to Charlottesville (where we operate six fabulous radio stations). I had a productive day at the office. Late afternoon, it was onto I-64 headed west and enjoying a great sunset from the Blue Ridge Mountains. I stopped at a roadside park for an hour to complete a conference call. The goal was to get to Morgantown, WV where I had lunch plans the next day. Not sure about the weather, I decided (in consultation with Loree) to take the interstates and not cut through the shortcut over the mountains.

In spite of the good decision to stay on the major highways, the final leg of that night's journey turned into an E-ticket ride.

Heading west, about Cumberland, MD, as the hills became even taller, the first snowflakes appeared. West of Cumberland, the snow picked up and it was very dark and desolate.

By the WV/MD line, I was big time in the mountains and in the middle of blowing, freezing fog. Now freezing fog is a real treat, and a totally new experience for this Floridian. No matter how hard your defroster blows, the fog hits your front windshield and turns to ice. Suddenly. Worse, I had Florida windshield washer fluid which apparently has no anti-freeze characteristics.

So as my windshield froze up to where I could no longer see to drive, I pulled off into a rest area. So here's the picture. It is now midnight. I'm on top of a mountain. 19 degrees. Blowing, freezing fog. Roads becoming treacherous. And I'm only thirty miles or so from the safety and warmth of my motel room.

Prepared to spend the night (and maybe the week) in the rest area shelter, I got some local knowledge of the roads and weather from the attendant. Neither sounded promising.

After an hour and a half of pondering my plight, it appeared that the freezing fog had let up (though the road had gotten worse). I crept down the hill at 20 miles per hour and eventually got to my motel.

I enjoyed seeing Morgantown (my first visit). It is home to the University of West Virginia and there is a lot going on there.

Thursday night, I arrived Greenwich, CT uneventfully. Hopped Metro North into the City Friday morning, had a nice lunch at Michael's on West 55th, caught the train back to Greenwich for a late afternoon meeting, then headed to Ridgefield to celebrate Shannon's birthday.

I think she was truly excited to get her first car. We had a great visit, including catching up with her cousins, Tom and James, and her friend Sarah. Finding the hotel after the party proved to be a challenge, but Loree vectored me in via phone.

6:30am flight out of Westchester headed south. I am writing this on the first leg (HPN-CLT). It is amazing how much snow is on the ground. It is pure white outside.

Road trip over. Mission accomplished. Over 1,500 miles up (and over a thousand air miles back). Could use a little R & R.

George

Elon University: 2009 in Pictures

Megan is a junior at Elon University in North Carolina. It is a fabulous school. She just returned a few weeks ago from a semester in Florence, Italy.

The Daily Beast has named Elon one of the decade's hottest colleges. The list of 15 colleges and universities ranks schools that make up a "whole new class of first-choice schools" that have "transformed the collegiate landscape" during the past 10 years.

Here is Elon's 2009 in pictures: Click Here

George

Handbook 2010

This came to me this week in an email from family friends Leon and Nancy Wallace in Mineral Wells, TX (thanks!). I'm not sure who authored it, but I like it.

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2.. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants...
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12 Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits. (Note: this is contrary to my position of, "If it is worth doing, it is worth over-doing!")
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. God heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up..
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, be thankful for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

George

Check out Dori Schaffield's video about PVUMC

PVUMC member Dori Schaffield produced a great video of the story of Ponte Vedra United Methodist Church's journey from an office building to a school cafeteria to our new building on Roscoe Road. Check it out here:

Dori's video

George

WSJ: A Cheat Sheet for Keeping Resolutions

Here is a great piece from the Wall Street Journal on keeping your New Year resolutions.

• Take one step at a time
• Get a little help from your friends
• Change your environment
• Announce your intentions
• Figure out your attachment to bad habits
• Expect setbacks

Click Here for the article.

George

What is it about dolphins?

We live on the IntraCoastal Waterway in an area of Ponte Vedra known as Palm Valley. I spend a lot of time on the porch; it is a very peaceful venue with lots of boat traffic to keep it interesting. Occasionally, we are treated to dolphins swimming by, usually in pairs. Often we hear them before we can actually see them (breathing out a puff of air and spray). Willee, our dog, can hear them coming a long time before we can. He doesn't share my fondness for the creatures.

Every time a dolphin swims by, it brings a smile to my face. Is it me, or do dolphins look like they're always smiling? There is just something special about the experience.

A dolphin siting seems to set the stage for a great day.

George

Benjamin Franklin quote

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

Benjamin Franklin
Politician, inventor and author

Mercedes doubles up in Formula One; Michael returns

Formula One is a huge sport world wide. I believe that it will grow here, particularly with a U.S. team in the works. It is great fun to watch.

Click Here for a Wall Street Journal article on Mercedes' increased involvement and the return of Michael Schumacher to the sport.

George

The Tyranny of the Majority Party

Wall Street Journal article from Fred Barnes. Click Here.

George

From TVWeek: Best Viral Video of 2009

The Most Fun Wedding Procession of All Time (choreographed to the song "Forever")

Click Here

George

Janet Napolitano Gotta Go

The system worked (Sunday). The system didn't work (Monday). They're like the Keystone Cops. Only problem is, they're playing with our lives.

The bad guys are not criminals. They are armed combatants. They intend to kill us.

From Twitter (@martindave):

No one yet fired in the underwear bomber mess. POTUS should punish the bad actors, imposing, at least, some kind of double-secret probation.

Dave Martin

A church finds me

I moved from Atlanta to Ponte Vedra in 1987, and belonged to an Atlanta Methodist church at the time. With the best of intentions of finding a new church home, I got busy with my new job and life in general and never seemed to find time to identify a new church. Time marched on; still no church attendance. Fifteen years passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, I noticed the Methodist church logo on a sign visible from my bank's parking lot. The seed was planted. After a few weeks of "I really should check it out" thoughts, I showed up one Sunday morning in the office building, sharing space with a dentist's office, for services at Ponte Vedra United Methodist Church.

The congregation greeted me warmly; the pastor, Jeff Bennett was warm and engaging. I could relate to him. Jeff is several years younger than me. His path to the ministry occurred after a successful career as an engineer. He heard the call, enrolled in Emory University's seminary, and became a Methodist pastor. PVUMC became his church when it was formed as a south campus for Beaches United Methodist Church.

After attending regularly for some months, I joined the church. Loree began attending with me and joined a few months later. Both of us found what we needed (but previously hadn't realized that it was missing). We met a number of wonderful people.

We started becoming more active in the church's activities. I joined a small group (we're big on small groups in our church). Loree became one of the original volunteers for Hart Felt Ministries. The church began a multi-year campaign to find land to construct a building. Once the land was identified (and ultimately purchased), we moved into a grade school cafeteria for Sunday services to save money (the office building rent was expensive). Every Sunday, volunteers would set up a church in the morning only to tear it down again in the afternoon. That went on a couple of years.

Finally, the new church was completed (see picture above) and we moved in just in time for Christmas. I am happy to report that we have already had a big jump in attendance as members of our community stop by to check us out.

In the meantime, we have become very involved with the Methodist Florida Conference's Cuba mission. The Methodist Church in Cuba coordinates with the Florida churches so that every Methodist church in Cuba has a sister church in Florida. Our involvement started when we visited our sister church, La Sierra, near Havana in December 2007. It was a life changing event for both Loree and me. We were embraced by the people of the church, and became life long friends with its pastor and his wife. We are committed to helping them in any way we can. We have since become North East District Co-Coordinators for the mission.

If you're unconnected to a local church and feel that there is something missing in your life, don't ignore it. Stop into an inviting church one Sunday morning soon. And if you're in the Ponte Vedra area, please check us out (76 South Roscoe Blvd).

George

Here we go!

So what do you write as your first post in a new blog? I've decided on the subject of "expectations," specifically mine for "A Bright Dawn Ahead."

First, a word about the title. It is a phrase used in 1994 by Ronald Reagan when he announced his Alzheimer's affliction to the world:

"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."

"A Bright Dawn Ahead" captures my outlook for our future. However, there is work to be done. In particular, our country is careening in a direction which could prove disastrous. President Obama is charismatic and a fabulous orator. But we elected a Rock Star when we should have chosen a leader. Where is Ronald Reagan when we really need him? Where is John Galt?

In these pages, I want to discuss:

What the teacher's union has done to public schools

• How the bailouts and deficit spending could crush our future
• What liberalism has done to just about everything
• How the ideas in "Atlas Shrugged" can save the country
• How the word of Jesus Christ can save our souls
• How we can assist the Methodist Church in Cuba
• Using Mind Mapping to foster creative solutions
• Using social media for social good
• Thoughts from great thinkers
• Music (creating it, listening to it, discovering new talent)
• Art
• Enjoying wine
• Bonsai
• Learning languages
• Family
• Sending Senator Bill Nelson packing (his vote on health care was the last straw)
• Tea parties and the Conservative movement
• Formula One racing

How's that for a hodge podge of topics? Unlike my other (business oriented) blogs, I want this one to foster conversations and ideas on a wide variety of interesting topics. That is my only expectation. I invite you to sign up and participate regularly. Opposing views are encouraged, but please keep it civil.

Let's chat!

George