Renew Your Mind

I read an interesting - and challenging - article in this month's issue of Charisma entitled "Go Against the Flow" by Rich Rogers. The article addresses the challenge of "staying faithful to God when the people around you are compromising." A study was conducted on 10,000 individuals from around the nation and found "that most people who claim to be a Christian don't have the mind of God on important issues." According to the results, 84% claimed to be Christian and some of the "same people also deemed the following behaviors and lifestyles 'morally acceptable':"

• Abortion - 45%
• Adultery - 42%
• Cohabitation - 60%
• Gambling - 61%
• Pornography - 38%
• Sexual relations between homosexuals - 30%
• Use of profanity - 36%

Rogers notes, "The Bible tells us that man will never think the thoughts of God unless he experiences the transformation of the mind" and references Isaiah 55:8-9.

"So, how does one begin the transformation process? Simply put, you must learn what God has to say about everything. How? Become familiar with His Word and allow it to change the way you think."

Memories from Christmas 2008

Maddie was three months old her first Christmas and wasn't much for making memorable moments. This year, however, was different. Our favorite memories (in no particular order) are:

• The figures in the Nativity can be arranged and rearranged endlessly. They can even stand on the roof of the stable.
• The Christmas trees MUST be turned on when Maddie wakes up and turned off when Maddie goes to bed - including midnight rendezvous for "mulk" (i.e. milk).
• Apparently Katherine Davis forgot a "bum, bum" after the Little Drummer Boy's "pa, rum, pa, pum, pum". Maddie even added the "bum, bum" while walking by one of those music-sample-kiosks playing the song at Target.
• The "ba" (i.e. pacifier) is taken out and "ho, ho, ho" is said any time anything remotely symbolic of Santa catches Maddie's attention.

Some of Maddie's favorite Christmas presents...

Good News of Great Joy for All People!

My favorite part of the Christmas story is whent the angel says, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-12). The birth of Jesus is GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY for ALL PEOPLE. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

For a different take on the Christmas story, check this out.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you in the New Year!

Thanks Dave!

According to The Auto Channel, "The United States is still very much in love with the automobile, with a national average of 2.28 vehicles per household." Thanks to Dave Ramsey, the Mauntel family is now a ONE vehicle family.

Christmas: Mauntel Style

Emily and I are Practical - with a capital "P" - and whenever someone asks "What are you getting Emily for Christmas?" and my response is "A toothbrush and a pair of socks!" they look at me like I have a third eye. Well, it turns out we aren't the only ones who celebrate this way.

The funny thing is Bethany's friend Tripp Crosby (DontBeThatGuy) created this!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

I grew up believing in Santa Claus. I was devastated when I found out he wasn't real. In fact, I recall standing at the top of the steps and yelling to my mom, "I guess that means the Easter Bunny isn't real either!" Emily, on the other hand, didn't believe and neither one of us have suffered any ill-effects.

So, what are we going to do with Maddie? Tell her the truth. But, we'll still have fun with him - just like we would with Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

Dada!

I was listening to Mark Driscoll's Pray like Jesus: the Lord's Prayer on my way to work yesterday. I'm sure you're familiar with the prayer - "Our Father in heaven..." Mark pointed out that "Jesus addressed God simply as 'Father', and taught his followers to do the same." He went on to say that "understanding that God is Dad is primary to prayer" and "if we understand God is Dad, then we will naturally speak to him anytime about anything because we know we are loved, cared for and safe with him."

When I got home, I took Maddie upstairs with me as I normally do. As soon as we walked into the bedroom, she pointed to a picture of Emily and me as if she DESPERATELY needed it. I grabbed the picture and brought it closer. She pointed to me and said "dada". It was the first time I've heard her say it without being prompted to do so!

Whether or not this was a coincidence, I was reminded that my relationship with Maddie has been ordained by God and it's my responsibility as a father - and a husband - to reflect the image of God.

To add a little humor, I asked Maddie to give me a kiss (in the picture) and she did. I then asked her to give me a kiss (in real life) and she ferociously shook her head NO!

Help make a difference in Africa!

My friend David recently joined Mocha Club's I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me campaign. As enamored as I am with Africa - and as much as I love Chris Tomlin's "Love" featuring the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda - I thought I'd check it out.

The idea behind Mocha club is: for the cost of two mochas a month ($7), you can "provide a solution to the challenges Africans are facing" (i.e. HIV/AIDS, orphan care, education, etc.).

So, I've started a Mocha Club team. The team name is Upendo, which is Swahili for "love" in the Bible. And since the Watoto Children are AIDS orphans - and considering every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS (Compassion International) - I've decided to support orphan care.

$7 a month is $1.75 a week. $1.75 a week is $0.25 a day. Your $7 a month will support children like Prince, who recently lost his battle with AIDS.

I don't drink mocha, but there are plenty of things I can sacrifice to make a difference. And, every time I miss what I'm sacrificing, I'll remember why I'm sacrificing it. What can you give up to save $7 a month to "provide a solution to the challenges Africans are facing?" Join my team and help make a difference!

Mail from Africa!

We've received our first letter from Magazi! For those of you who missed the post, Emily and I decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. Also included was a drawing (of a cup, orange and flower) and a picture (he's on the right).

Magazi lives with his "mum" and dad, and has a on-year-old sibling named Abdalah. He was thankful for our sponsorship and, among other things, said our sponsorship will allow him to "get treatments once he gets sick." What does that mean? I know he lives in an HIV/AIDS-affected area. Is he sick? Does he assume he'll get sick? I could be reading into things, but with sub-Saharan Africa being home to over 70% of the total world HIV-positive population (more statistics), I may not be.

Regardless of his circumstances, he seems to be a happy - and appreciative - little boy. We look forward to sharing this experience with you!

Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving 2008 was fairly low-key. Here's a picture of Maddie showing us where her food is going ("in my belly"):

And here's a clip of Maddie kicking off Black Friday with a carousel ride with Grampy (Emily's dad):

Happy Thanksgiving!

I LOVE Thanksgiving - fall is my favorite season, the food is delicious, I enjoy watching football, and the thought of getting a good deal the next day (i.e. Black Friday) excites me. But is that what Thanksgiving is all about?

According to George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation (1789), we celebrate Thanksgiving "to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor." According to the proclamation, both Houses of Congress recommended we have "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."

As is with every Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for. But, what I'm most thankful for is:

• The cross - I've been forgiven; I've been set free.
• Emily - She's an answer to prayer; a living example of Proverbs 31.
• Madeleine Grace - Knowing she can't comprehend how much I love her reminds me (a child of God) I can't comprehend how much my Heavenly Father loves me.

So, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever" (Psalm 136:1).

Jack is back!

I'm not going to pretend to been an entertainment critic, so I'm going to quote someone else - 24: Redemption contained "all the adrenaline-laced explosiveness one would expect of a typical '24' episode." It also contained a tragic storyline many people aren't familiar with: the recruitment of children and their use as soldiers in armed conflict.

Several years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Invisible Children. While on a filmmaking adventure in Africa, three students from southern California (the founders of Invisible Children) discovered the tragedy of northern Uganda's child soldiers.



The Lord's Resistance Army (a designated terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State) was formed in 1987 and has been "engaged in armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa's longest-running conflicts" (Wikipedia).

According to Invisible Children, the rebel leader of the LRA intends to sign a Final Peace Agreement by November 29th. Although Uganda appears to be headed in the right direction, the tragic storyline continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Check out the photo journalism here (courtesy of David Wilhite).

Who let the dogs out?

Yesterday was the first neighborhood dog parade / competition. We don't have a dog (too many germs for me), but we do have a 13-month old that LOVES dogs. Here's a picture of Maddie and Honey (best dressed).

Big and small, she loves them all...

Click here for more pictures.

Mommy, wow, I'm a "toddler" now!

After crawling all over the babies and walking all over the crawlers, Maddie finally got promoted to the Toddler Department of Waumba Land (i.e. Church). That's right. Maddie's no longer a "baby". She's a "toddler". A toddler that's just now outgrowing her 9-month onsies!

Not only was today her first day in the Toddler Department; she also discovered her spiritual gift of coloring...

This signed original will be kept on our refrigerator, but numbered prints will be available in the coming weeks. Be sure to reserve your copy for Christmas!

We celebrated her promotion by installing her "big-girl" car seat and took a little field trip to Kroger...

She got bored on the way home, so she decided to use the pen Emily gave her to "fine-tune" her spiritual gift of coloring...on her face...

What a day!

This Girl LOVES Ketchup!

We knew Maddie loved ketchup. We've seen her dip anything from french fries (who wouldn't?) to mangos (are you kidding me?) in it. We just didn't realize how deep this love was until we saw her licking it off of her highchair tray...

Crazy Love

Francis Chan's Crazy Love is one of Family Christian Stores' books of the month. It's 50% off! I highly recommend getting it.

For those of you unfamiliar with Francis, check this out:

Strike A Pose

Maddie loves to play with cameras. Believe it or not, she took this picture herself! Just kidding...

It's All Yours, God!

I was reminded this morning when I turned on the radio that, despite the election results, "It's all Yours, God, Yours, God. Everything is Yours. You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything. Its all Yours." -Steven Curtis Chapman

Politics

I'm not passionate about politics, but I'll admit I've been tempted to share my political views this political season. I recently read the Top 10 Truths No Matter Who Wins the Election. The truths reminded me that no matter who wins the election, God is in control (Proverbs 19:21) and Jesus will remain enthroned the King of kings (Revelation 17:14).

Our streak has finally come to an end...

This may or may not be "blog worthy," but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Emily and I went to a movie last night for the first time together...EVER. That's right. Our streak lasted over four and a half years. A co-worker of mine was raving about Fireproof and suggested we go see it. I told her about our streak and she reacted the same way everyone else does - as if I had a third eye. Long story short, she bought us tickets. We saw Fireproof last night. It was a great movie with a great storyline. I highly recommend it!

The least of these...

Emily and I have decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. As a parent, it breaks my heart to know there are children around the world living in extreme poverty and it only takes a small sacrifice on our part to make a difference.

Magazi is from Tanzania and was waiting over six months for sponsorship. It'll be a week before we receive his information pack; however, we do know today's Magazi's birthday!

We look forward to sharing our experience of sponsoring Magazi with you.

"To me, a faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned with the poor...it's nothing" -Bono, lead singer of U2

Leading by example...

I'm sure you've heard the cliche "do as I say and not as I do." Well, I never quite understood how important it was to lead by example until I saw my not-even-thirteen-month-old-daughter sitting in her highchair folding her hands to pray with us before dinner. That's right. After we said our dinner prayer, Emily and I looked up and saw Maddie sitting in her highchair folding her hands as if she was praying with us. I couldn't believe it. She's not even thirteen months old. And to drive the point home further was an email with a link to this video (I'm Watching You Dad) in my inbox this morning...



"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate." -Anonymous

It's official; Maddie's a Steelers fan!

Maddie started clapping on Sunday, which happens to be the day the Steelers beat the Bengals 38-10, so I think it's safe to assume she's a Steelers fan (just like Emily and me). And while I'm on the subject, can you imagine how it must feel to be Chad Johnson? I mean, you legally change your last name to Ocho Cinco and you're having one of the worst seasons of you career...

Certainty in a time of uncertainty...

As a banker, I couldn’t help but share my thoughts on what has been dubbed the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

What started as a "slowdown" in the residential real estate market has led to Government seizures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the U.S. (Lehman Brothers), an $85 billion emergency loan from the Government to rescue AIG, the conversion of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley into bank holding companies, the largest thrift failure in the history of the U.S. (Washington Mutual), Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia, and of course the unprecedented $700 billion Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fluctuated wildly since its largest one-day point drop in history (777.68 points) on 9/29/08 and was down 40% from its peak on 10/9/07.

All of this has left us with a tremendous sense of uncertainty and while I was reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love last night, I was reminded of what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17-19: "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

I think Paul hit the nail on the head when he warned of the uncertainty of wealth 1,944 years ago. The only thing that was certain then and the only thing that is certain now is God.

It's about time!

One would think Emily and I might live under a rock. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's 2008 and we're just now joining the Facebook, MySpace, Blogger revolution.

What we hope to accomplish with this blog is to keep family and friends up to date on our part of "the story" we are blessed to be a part of. And after reading the few blogs I read before starting our own, random thoughts might be a part of it as well.

So welcome to our blog. We hope you enjoy your visit and come back again. And for those of you who have no idea what's happened since the summer of 2004, here's an update:

• Emily and I met at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY in April of 2004.
• We were married on September 2, 2004 in Lexington, KY.
• We moved to Atlanta, GA right after our wedding for my job with Deloitte & Touche.
• Emily joined Superior Essex in November of 2004.
• We moved north of Atlanta after two years in Buckhead.
• I joined Bank of North Georgia's Corporate Banking team in February of 2007.
• We welcomed Madeleine Grace into the world on September 28, 2007 and recently celebrated her first birthday.
• Emily will begin working part-time in November so she can spend more time with Maddie (even though Maddie already gets exceptional care from my mother-in-law, Lynn).