One Man on Fire

A Bundle of Thankfulness

2010-11-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year. Crowds. Lights. Santa. Shopping. It can only mean one thing: We have officially over-looked Thanksgiving as a means of "selling" Christmas to the average American. I'm glad my wife and I stand together in that we are not interested in Christmas music, putting up the tree, or decorating until Thanksgiving has passed.

Thanksgiving. A time to simply give thanks. A time to remember how we are blessed, who in our lives make living more enjoyable, and, often, who we miss.

I am thankful for a wife who loves me, first of all. That love sometimes includes picking up my dirty clothes, reminding me of all the things I forget, and never missing a chance to aggravate me when I'm pouty. Yes. Men get pouty. But a love that manifests itself the most when my imperfections shine like a new nickel makes me truly thankful.

I am thankful for a little boy who teaches me to love unconditionally. A boy that still calls me "DanDan" can mean so much without ever calling me "Dad". A boy who can push all your buttons and make you feel like not much you say gets through, but can make all the work worth the effort when he crawls into my bed at 2am because he can't sleep.

Thankful for a girl who changed my world 9 months ago and still amazes me when I see her. A girl who is sometimes if insatiable, bites me, pulls my leg hair, screams all the way home and still won't say "DaDa" can erase all of it when she cries for me to hold her or has her head buried in my chest while she snores.

Take the time to make sure this Thanksgiving is memorable for your family. This is by no means all for which I am thankful, but I have 3 good reasons to celebrate!

A "How Much Will She Weigh" Giveaway!!

2010-02-15T13:45:00.001-08:00

OK. So I haven't posted in quite some time. I'm gonna up the ante with my newest post with a little giveaway.

If you don't know by now.. you are way out of the loop. My wife is pregnant. She's actually been pregnant for almost 9 WHOLE MONTHS. We are having a little girl whose name will be Adalyn Joelle Smith. We had "heated discussions" over a name for months it seemed like to find the perfect name for our little princess. Tonya wanted a name that was cute. I wanted a name that had value. (Not to imply that she didn't of course. But coming from a family of biblical names, I wanted our girl to have a name that would have meaning beyond letters.) Here's a break down of what her name means:

Adalyn - noble or kind. We hope to raise her to be gentle but to also hold herself to a higher standard than today's society. (Also, it was a name of rank in the feudal system. Although she may not ever have much on earth, she's already an heir to the King. Romans 8:17-18)

Joelle - feminine of Joel which means Jehovah is God or God is willing. This is a truth we will instill in her every day of her life. Understanding this truth is critical for every decision she will make in her lifetime.

Smith - it's mine and her mommy's last name. It also was a popular name of tradesmen. It's the most popular name in the United States and the UK. She will come from generations of godly men and women in our family. Although she may not have this name forever due to marriage, we hope the foundation and the examples set by our godly family members will influence her in so many ways to please the Lord in all she does.

Now, the giveaway. As we share our gift from the Father with our family and the world, we also want to make it worth your while to get involved. It's pretty simple.

Guess the weight of Baby Adalyn and we will reward you with a gift card of your choice to the store/restaurant of your choice. $15 for the one who gets closest above or below (in the event of a tie will we give each participant the above amount with the same terms). $25 for the one who guesses it on the nose. Simply comment below with your guess and we will email the winner to obtain information and announce it across the social networks.

Thank You for all your prayers as we continue to patiently wait for her arrival!! Good Luck!!

Also: Let me clarify. There will only be one gift card given away; not one for each. Your guess must be submitted through the comments below. It allows everyone to see all the other guesses to avoid discrepancy amongst the participants!

One More Disclaimer: Apparently you have to have a Google account or something of the sort to post a comment on here. I'm now taking guesses on Facebook. The comment guesses will not be deleted and will be open for everyone to see.

M. Vick and What It All Means

2009-07-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

This post was very impromptu and my thoughts were very scattered. But this is how I really feel about the Michael Vick situation.

Michael Vick - a talented, maybe the MOST talented individual to play football in the NFL. He brought crowds to ATL (myself being one of them), sold tickets, jerseys and was a marketing machine for many companies. He was a threat in the air almost as much as on the ground, and defenses had no answer for him as he was progressing thru his career. I was truly a huge fan of Vick (minus him flippin' off the fans on occasion and the ALL TOO OFTEN SEEN attitude throughout the ENTIRE NFL). M. Vick was on top of the NFL world. And he knew it.

But Michael Vick made a mistake. Michael Vick got involved with the wrong crowd. Michael Vick had people around him who weren't looking out for his best interests and were simply "mooching" off him due to his available funds and stardom. And Michael Vick was a grown man who made grown man decisions and paid grown man consequences.

As earlier posts have read, I'm a huge dog-lover. Mr. Vick's involvement in dog-fighting and animal cruelty repulses me. It makes me sick. To think someone could be so cruel to helpless animals to the point of using them for profit AND for entertainment is sickening. But Michael Vick was caught. And Michael Vick paid the price that the judge imposed on him.

But there's something interesting about this story that can be used in my spiritual life.

Daniel Smith is Michael Vick. Daniel Smith at one point in his life was on top of the world, living what he thought was a dream. Like Vick, I too hung out with people who weren't looking out for my best interests, but were using me as a tool for peer pressure and fitting in with the crowd. I was a young man, making boyish decisions.

My sin involved in those decisions was repulsive to God, as Michael Vick's "sin" was repulsive to me as well as millions of others. God couldn't look at my sin. It disgusted Him. But He forgave me. Just like He can/has/will forgive(n) Michael Vick. No matter what he has done, men still sin, and God is still God with a just, yet forgiving heart.

God is still the God of justice and wrath. But He is also the God of forgiveness, second-chances, and love. And they all come in due time. What's to say this won't change Michael Vick's life forever and he goes on to be a great story of redemption. Josh Hamilton did it.

So, instead of worrying about how soon Michael Vick (the football player) will return to the NFL, let's make sure Michael Vick (the man) is ready for eternity. Isn't that what matters?

Baby Bambi Episode

2009-05-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

So, it was a typical day @ home. No work, no "real" to-do list (however, there are always things to do), and kind of just boring day.. until I went to check the mail.

After walking down the somewhat long driveway to get nothing more than bills and credit card offers, I return to the porch to spend a little time with my furry friends bc they hadn't seen me all weekend. I'm playing with Samson and Sophie while Hank is snooping around under the porch behind me.. nothing new; until I saw a little brown furry creature under the porch which was catching Hank's eye. It was Baby Bambi. Oh my gosh. Ok, we live in the country, we see things most city-folk aren't used to. Mice, spiders, wasps, among other things God has divinely created (although we are not commanded to like all of them, but simply understand their role in the food chain.. however, if they get too close, their role quickly becomes a target for the sole of my shoe or newspaper, whichever is closer.)

Back to my story.. I run and grab the camera, hoping it won't startle it and come back out. As soon as I turn it on - you know what it said.. "Battery Exhausted". Pleh! So I run and grab my phone to take some pics. Meanwhile, my dogs are having a hay day bc they are so curious, sniffing, licking, practically frightening this deer to death! They were really irritating me by this point.

Long story short, as of right now, I placed Baby Bambi just past the wood line at our house, and placed the dogs in the pen to give Mama time to find her baby. Just another wonderful day in the life of the Smith's. Living in the country, experiencing God's wonderful planet in our own backyard. It was really a magical thing to sit and hold and pet that little deer. And here are a couple of pics.

Baby Bambi awaiting her Mother!

My Dogs. Mad at their Daddy in the Pen.

Achieving Your Goals and Being Successful!

2009-04-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight, with my Dad, I had the honor of hearing ex-Indianapolis Colts coach and Super Bowl Champion Tony Dungy give a motivating speech about reaching your potential, achieving your goals, and overcoming adversity. There aren't many people in our society that I feel honored being in the same room with but Coach Dungy is, even before now, in my Top 10.

He gave four crucial points in how he achieved his personal goals and I feel they are fitting to pass on to you and apply to my own life as well:

1. Set a WORTHY Goal
-Coach Dungy told a story about how he and his wife went on a date in Tampa and it fell during Spring Break. The date consisted of dinner and a trip to the theater and traffic was bumper-to-bumper for miles. "Let's just skip the movie and go to dinner instead, traffic is horrible," he told his wife. Her reply was: "Well, when you were in Miami on the way to the Super Bowl traffic was twice as bad, but you sat through it." He compared how sitting through traffic to get to a movie and Super Bowl were two totally different "goals".
Make sure your goal is something worthy of your time and energy. I may never sit through traffic to coach a Super Bowl Championship team, but grocery shopping on Saturday morning with my wife in buggy-to-buggy traffic better mean just as much to me.

2. Expect Adversity
-No personal goal is reached without challenges unless you set goals for yourself like: take out the trash, lose 10 pounds, or pick up after yourself around the house. Reach for things like: changing your attitude towards those with bad attitudes, or sign up for a triathlon within the next year and prepare for it. (And believe me, those being two of my personal goals have proven to be challenges within themselves.) The results only go one of two ways when you face adversity: success or failure.
-Part B to this would be: Don't dwell on adversity. A losing team never wins again until they have dealt with the failure and moved on. Deal with and Be Done!

3. Don't Let Adveristy Make You Want to Quit
-Quitting on yourself means you admit that you are a failure. And if you do quit, make sure it's because you couldn't do it and not because you didn't WANT to do it. Be honest with yourself here.

4. Rely on Something or Someone Other Than Yourself
-Yourself is the easiest person to quit on in the world. If you vowed to go to the gym three times a week, and you only went once, what's the typical response... probably something like, "well, I didn't make it this week, maybe next week I'll do better." Instead, try committing to going with a friend; having someone else depend on you should inspire you to fulfill that commitment. That's the problem I have with New Year's Resolutions. They're all about Me. Instead of resolving "I'm going to read more books this year".. get with a friend, buy the books you want to read. Or if you're Clark Howard, rent them from your local library... And each week, find time to get your friends together and talk about what you've read about in the books. (I'm trying to avoid the two words "Book Club"). In this case, if you haven't read you'll be left out of the loop and the guilt trip will be on you. :)

Achieving Your Goals is not easy, but it's not supposed to be either. Challenging yourself only makes you stronger when other life struggles come your way. Don't take my word for it.. but take it from the Super Bowl Champ.. Coach Dungy!

If April Showers Bring May Flowers...

2009-04-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Then what do April MONSOONS bring?! I'm not kidding, yesterday was the worst weather of the year to date. Cold, rainy, hail storms, the wind even capsized our trampoline.. and to make it all worse, it was also the day my dad and I had to move my dogs' house to our house.

Ok, let's start with yesterday. 11am I leave to go to my parents' house in Summerville for the sole purpose of moving the dog house with a few other of my belongings as well. Well, we had to borrow a truck and tractor from two of the church members to make the move of the dog house possible.. it's a seriously built dog condominium.

The weather is great pretty much all morning. Slightly warmer, warm wind blowing occasionally, and the sun was perfect... until we finally get it loaded and headed to my house. After loading up my 3 dogs: Hank, Sophie, and Samson into my two-door coupe more commonly known as the Bullet, I'm driving to the house when it begins to rain..

Better still, when I get to my house my dad informs me that he has gotten stuck and we soon find ourselves trapped trying to unhook the trailer, find a place to hook a chain to the frame of our borrowed truck and use my truck to pull it out of the mud. By this time, we are soaked, muddy, not a dry stitch of clothing on us.

Recap of yesterday: My dogs were moved with their house to my house, dad and I got soaked and muddy from head to toe, and now we not only have one, but two vehicles stuck in the mud in the side yard of my house.

The best place to be in a hail storm, or storm of ANY kind is inside. I would say my dad and I took on Mother Nature last night (mainly because we had to).. and she definitely had no trouble curing us from playing in the rain anytime soon.

Uncle DanDan

2009-03-11T19:42:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was filled with great anticipation, anxiety, joy, laughter, and relief. I became an uncle to the cutest little girl, now named Elliot "Ellie" Gwen Smith. She was all of 4lbs, 2oz. , and 16.5 inches long. Apparently she knew we couldn't wait any longer and decided to make her glorious appearance to us at 5:15pm.

I won't give the play-by-play, but there were some complications with Stephy yesterday morning and they went to the doctor and after several hours of tests and just waiting the doctors thought it would be best that a cesarean section be done and now I am an uncle!! I can't wait to spoil her and just plain love her and watch her grow. It's funny when someone in your family has a baby and everyone begins to stake their claim! The inspiring miracle of childbirth itself is amazing to say the least.

And I can't finish this post without publishing a picture of this beautiful baby who is an absolute miracle!!

Elliot "Ellie" Gwen Smith!

Two Mistakes on Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Mistake #1: My wife and I have been dieting almost perfectly for the last 6 weeks. Here in the past week we've fallen below the yellow line (if you're a Biggest Loser Fan) and splurged more than once while dining out thanks to Mom's Birthday and a Valentine's Day dinner date with the in-laws. That being said, the LAST thing I needed was a medium-sized bag of Lindt Lindor Peanut Butter Truffles. My wife loves me and knows what I love. You guessed it. Needless to say, the bag is almost gone after two days.

(disclaimer to Mistake #1: Sweets are my downfall. It's almost my biggest obstacle in life and I'm the under-sized linebacker.. I can't make the tackle.)

Mistake #2: My wife and I agreed not to buy any "gifts" for Valentine's Day, and unlike most women, she really meant it. So I bought her a 1/2 dozen Circus Roses. Score one for the home team.. BUT, I failed to buy her a card. She claims the one that came with the flowers counts, but not me. I consider myself romantic; a Pepe le Pew of sorts (or is that creepy? yeah, I think so.) Maybe my love tactics need to be re-charged.

(disclaimer to Mistake #2: I suck. but we did have a great Valentine's Day dinner.)

Funny Site of the Week

2009-01-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

My wife and I were watching a prank TV show tonight and were introduced to probably one of the funnier movements going on in NYC that may not be well known here in the South: a group called ImprovEverywhere! We saw the "No Shirts" prank and found it funny enough to explore into the site and found even more hilarity in their tactics. It's almost priceless!

Also, just something extra: check out Ciril Yakayama. This very well could be one of the greatest street "magicians" I've ever seen. Check the Head Trick.

Interesting Wal-Mart Experience Has Me Thinking..

2009-01-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day on the Thrive! diet. Yay. If you follow me on Twitter you would know how enthusiastic I am about this. Actually, it's something my wife and I have committed to and, even though it's Day 1, I already feel better. Maybe not physically, but mentally; the physical payoff will come in the next couple of weeks.

I digress. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things to get us started and happened to pass through the cat food aisle. There was a generally older lady buying canned cat food so I proceeded to pass her on the right of the aisle (details are not as important as what happened next). As soon as I approached her buggy to proceed by her, she immediately sped up ahead of me like a speeding teenager eager to prove her buggy was better than mine.

This triggered my thought process a little I must say. I am a dog lover. If you know me, you know that. But cat lovers on the other hand are, for the most part, set apart from us; somewhat reclusive and moody. Think about it. Most dog lovers I know are, in turn, lovable people. Yet, cat people have this peculiarity about them that is undeniable.

Just some canned food for thought.

Read, Love, Pray

2009-01-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not one to make resolutions or set silly goals such as love more, eat less, and enjoy life; however, all three of which would be great start to a new year. I have recently thought about the things I try to do the most and continue to fail or fall short of the deeper meaning of said things, and I want to share them with you.

resolve (verb) - to transform or convert by any process

I thought this definition was interesting because the other definitions actually lead to either disintegration or breaking down of something. Yet, most people often "resolve" to make themselves better. So, in turn, I guess to make ourselves better we must break down all the things around us that are either meaningless or unfruitful. (I could write an entire blog of this definition but I choose not.)

1. Read. More.

I want to expand my mind thru books, especially the Bible and books about men of the Bible or great scholars of it. My mind often is too perplexed to simply be able to read scripture and comprehend it even the third and fourth time of repeating it. And, how elementary it may sound, repition is the number one tool in memorization of anything and the chances of my recalling key scriptures in trials and hardships are greater.

2. Love. Fully.

This day in age, love is such a fleeting term and we as humans destroy our emotions by saying we "love" things or how much we really "love" this or that. I want to really evaluate how I treat people such as my family, co-workers, even strangers. And it all starts with my love for Jesus. The more I feel connected to Him through His word or His speaking to me through His spirit, the better I feel I can serve Him and love Him. And the closer I feel to Him, the more His love can shine in my actions and especially my attitude.

3. Pray. Heartily.

Prayer is the number one thing I feel like I need more in my life. My prayer life is my number one indicator of how close to God I am, and how close I am letting Him be to me. Your relationships with those around you is only as close and as great as you allow it to be. And like my brother, Jon, oft times I feel my mind wandering while I am pleading my case for mercy and understanding to my Creator and Savior.

Happy New Year!

also, I need a great way of getting my blog to more readers. I feel like the more readers I have, the more dedicated and committed I will be to my blog in the following months. any ideas?

Christmas Time is Here

2008-12-22T18:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight, my family and I made somewhat of a smorgasbord of goodies for Christmas including:

-White Chocolate PB Crackers
-Sugar Cookies (sadly, they never made it)
-Cocktail Weiners (is there a better word to use here? that sounds so.. )

and the granddad of them all...

-A GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!

I must admit, my wife and I have a sweet tooth and sometimes it gets out of control! But, with all the hustle and bustle and running ragged to-and-fro from Wal-Mart to Target to Home Depot, sometimes the greatest joys are the simple ones. The greatest times I can remember in my life involved my family being together, whether in times of sorrow or great joy; and especially when you can get together and destroy the kitchen with flour, icing, milk, etc.

Brayden and I decided to make a gingerbread house tonight, and no, no one lives there which can totally devastate a 4-year-old. (hint: if you make a house of any kind, someone has to live there, no matter how great or small.) We took some pics and hope you all enjoy and..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Brayden decorating his roof!

The Chimney!

My Door!

Mission Accomplished!

Emancipated & Opinionated

2008-12-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

So, I scrolled through GoogleNews and randomly picked a topic to blog about..err, simply voice my often uneducated opinion.

Barack Obama Picks Rick Warren for Inaugural Invocation!!

Two questions here that first came to my mind:

1. Google usually lists the first two sentences or so as a little precursor, or "teaser" to the story and the writer of this story started it by saying..."Barack Obama picks conservative, anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren to deliver invocation...."

So.. I know Rick Warren is somewhat conservative and openly against homosexual unions of any kind, but I think this is just another ploy to spark the already intense outrage by the gay community against his pick. So, what do YOU think was the most intriguing or stirring part of this statement about Rick Warren..?

a) "conservative",
b) anti-gay,
c) actually a Pastor who, for the most part, preaches that not everyone is simply "ok"?

You make the call!

So.. Question 2 is:

Do you think Barack Obama once again picked a Pastor for political achievement/gain? (except this time to appeal to the Right?)

Part Deux:

Isn't this really what a true depiction of how we have formed and molded Christmas in America?

Again.. your thoughts.

D. Smith

Athens, Sanford Stadium, and The Giant Elephant

2008-12-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting one of the greatest football towns in the US this past weekend. Athens, Georgia. The weather, however, was very unfavorable and we were forced to raid places like Wal-Mart, Target, and CVS to find ponchos that were nearly sold out.

After staying in the HoJo on Broad Street and grabbing some breakfast at Cracker Barrel, it was time to head down for the Dawg Walk.. little did we know it would soon be cancelled after we stood pretty much in the downpour for 45 frigid minutes.

Before I reveal my take on the game/season, take a look at some of the pics from the experience.

Biscuits and Blackberry Preserves!

Rufio and ....

Good, Old-Fashioned Hate!

Yes, those were probably my Top 3 pics of the trip!

Now. Business. I could sit here and make excuses and blame it on the rain, injuries, and even the throw in the phrase, "well, every 7 years you're bound to win one!" The entitlement of my blog is "One Man on Fire", and I tell ya, I am.. en fuego. (ok, so I took the liberty of using the same phrase, only saying it in spanish to bring more emotion to the table. it's my blog.)

Now, as I will tell you up front, I am a Georgia fan-atic, but I also am a realist. Every August I don't jump on the Dawg-Wagon and make presumptuous statements such as "We're making a run for the BCS this year", or "this is our year", etc. That being said, I had so much faith in our beloved Red and Black this year to make what might have been our best chance at a national title bid in the past few years and for the next few. The injury bug bit hard at the beginning of the season and forced us into a situation at the O-line that clearly made a difference in the early games. BUT...

The defense. Our potent, volatile, machine last year. Disappointment. If someone had predicted UGA would score 42 Points, Matthew Stafford would throw for more than 400 yards and 5 TDs, Mohamed Massaquoi would bring in 3 TDs, and Knowshon Moreno would rush 94yds and catch 74yds with one TD.. obviously, I would have slapped your mom. But not this year. In a year where our Defense gives up more than 30 points in 5 games and loses 3 of them you have to make some changes. I have reservations of joining the Facebook group "Fire Willie Martinez" mainly because of last year alone. The schemes are lacking somewhat, but even more so than that is execution and intensity. Several plays Saturday the 'D' failed to cover the pitch man in the triple-option. (if you were wondering, Rule #1 when playing against the triple-option is cover the pitch man. *taken from Triple-Option Defense Rulebook, Chapter 1, Section 1, Verse 1, Rule 1). Last year, our 'D' was the main reason for our success, not to take away from Knowshon or Stafford, but our 'D' took a lot of pressure off those guys. I will not "woulda, coulda, shoulda" 'd the situation from last year.
Any analyst or commentator would say that our 'D' was no doubt the Number 1 Defense in the country, especially the last 6 games of the season.

Now look at us. We were just a few plays away from being 6-6 this year, however those plays did come from the defense. So, when it comes to Willie Martinez, I am torn.

Next up, Special Teams. How many have seen the kickoff kicked out of bounds nearly 50% of the time this year, raise your hand? High five. Special Teams, not just Saturday, but nearly every game, have killed us this year. I understand strategy on the Special Teams side of the ball as well. Directional kicks, kicking away from excellent kick returners, I know this. But covering punts, returning punts, and kickoffs have been abysmal. Even Saturday, did anyone notice when GT botched the PAT the guy had to run around Prince Miller to try and score.. doesn't sound odd? P. Miller was simply standing in the way, not in pursuit. Bottom line: how many games come down to field position, and what determines field position? Special Teams. and they have been special, but not like outstanding special.. more like little puppy with one eye special.

And lastly, to you, Mr. Richt. What have we settled for this year? Off-field issues were not handled very authoritatively, on-field issues such as penalties, execution and intensity were obviously not very well-addressed.. so, what now? I have said what we've all heard here today.. injuries, things out of our control we certainly cannot help, but being almost the most penalized team in Div.I-A is unacceptable. (interesting note: UGA was ranked #1 in the APR score that came out this past fall.) Coach Richt, you have a lot of soul-searching to do these next few months. I would definitely re-consider not all of my coaching staff, but a few positions. And I would definitely recruit heavily on the other side of the ball. Where have all the Bailey's, Thomas Davis', Pollack's, and Moses' gone? Sure, we have Rennie Curran, Dannell Ellerbe (well, did.), and Asher Allen. And I realize Jeff Owens will be back (ACL), but really. Our tackles have become like bumper cars at the county fair. Friendly, Fair, and Frankly Pathetic.

Now that the regular season is done, bowl games are looming, and Florida is truly destined for another national title, I will not blog or try to even consider blogging about College Football until after the Champion is decided, news in college football demands my opinion, or Matthew Stafford and/or Knowshon Moreno declare for the draft, thus ripping my heart from my chest in which causing a few more issues than just special teams and defense (which again are 70% of football).

D. Smith

The Inaugural Blog

2008-11-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

One Man on Fire.

In a world where we have successfully elected the first African-American President of the United States, the economy continues to plummet, jobs are lost, retirement funds are squandered by big executives... the Dow is down, unemployment is up... the Detroit Lions are still terrible, the Falcons have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in a few years, and a caveman and a gecko are undoubtedly the most popular advertisement icons on the "sin-box"...

"The times, they are a-changing" - well said, Bob. It used to be said that there are two things certain in life; death and taxes. It might have been better said... "let the Democrats control government and they will tax you to death." OK, I'm not here to strictly talk government or politics, especially being Blog 1. But I do have some serious reserves about what's going to happen in 4 years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

As I grow and mature, I have begun to involve my mind in things outside of pop culture, brand name clothes, and other superficial things MTV and Hollywood portray as the essence of living.

FIRE! Me, being a firefighter, understand fire and it's detrimental power when used wrongfully or ill-advised. However, when used in the correct way, using fire makes a cold house a warm home, raw harvest a delicious meal; and in it's natural beauty, Mother Nature creates fire to clear out the things that are dead or not producing to make room for vegetation will bring forth life and give back.

My hope for this blog, and for my life, is to use what I know or use the potential that I have to know to help another. My goal, first and foremost as a Christian, is to serve my Lord above all else and help lead others to Him by my actions and my attitude.

Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, or make suggestions at any time.