Old Fashioned Service Mood: incredulous Topic: General
In this day and age it is hard to find a store or company that will give you old fashioned service. You know, the kind of service where the customer is always right and we will do anything to please the costumer. It seems that businesses these days don't realize that if you treat someone kindly and go the extra mile, then the customer will come back and recommend you to their friends. Recently, I have had to deal with one of those rare companies that treat people with respect and wanted to tell you about them.
I had a gift certificate from Vision Forum, so I ordered a "Grow A Frog" kit for the kids. You order the tadpole "habitat" and within the box is a postcard to send in for your free "see-though" tadpole from the Grow A Frog company. They warn you that it may take a couple of weeks for the tadpole to get here, especially if ordered close to a holiday. They also warn you to tell your postman to deliver it to your door and not leave it in a mailbox. I sent in the postcard right before Thanksgiving. I figured it would take a couple of days to get there, more than a couple of days to process because of the holiday and then a couple of days to get back to us. I mailed it on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and we got back from grandma's house the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. I never dreamed the tadpole would arrive so quickly but low and behold what should be waiting in our mailbox? A poor, frozen, dead tadpole. Thankfully, the kids never saw it and we never told them. I was pleasantly shocked that the company was so prompt and knew that when I reordered that I would have to take that into consideration. They had a guarantee that if the frog arrived dead, they would replace it but I figured this was my fault because we weren't home to receive it and we had never warned the postman.
Well, with the busy holidays right upon us I forgot to call the company to reorder until last week. Joshua asked "Daddy, when is the tadpole going to get here?" and I thought "Oops". So I secretly got on the phone to the Grow a Frog Company. I knew that with the frog's demise being my fault and since it had been nearly two months, I needed to have my check card in hand. Another surprise! Not only were they kind and understanding, but they said they would send another tadpole as soon as the weather permitted.
It arrived alive today! We were so excited. We got the Grow A Frog habitat box out - only to find that Jacob had gotten a hold of it and broken it. Now we had a living "Taddy" and no habitat. Back to the phone with my check card. I explained the situation and asked if we could put our new pet in a canning jar until his new home arrived. They said not to do that and quickly explained what to do and said that they would send out a new habitat tomorrow - FREE OF CHARGE! Talk about being shocked! Those habitats aren't terribly expensive, but they aren't cheap either. I hadn't even ordered the original kit from them! This is definitely a company that cares about it's customers and knows what to do to earn more business. I had to tell you all about it. I know that most of you aren't in the market for a see-through tadpole, but if you ever are, I would recommend this company! You can order this kit through Vision Forum, or through the Grow A Frog website.
I am really trying to not focus on politics on my blog, and this is not meant to be political. However, one of my pet peeves is how our nation's history is being rewritten by liberal revisionists and this article on the first inauguration fits in with that theme. I received it in an email from Wallbuilders. Wallbuilders is an organization who's goal is to remember "America's Religious Heritage". Again, it is rather lengthy, so I will start it off and then leave the link if you are interested and want to finish it.
America's Religious Heritage
As Demonstrated in Presidential Inaugurations
Religious activities at presidential inaugurations have become the target of criticism in recent years, 1 with legal challenges being filed to halt activities as simple as inaugural prayers and the use of "so help me God" in the presidential oath. 2 These critics - evidently based on a deficient education - wrongly believe that the official governmental arena is to be aggressively secular and religion-free. The history of inaugurations provides some of the most authoritative proof of the fallacy of these modern arguments.
In fact, since America's first inauguration in 1789 included seven distinct religious activities, that original inauguration is worthy of review. Every inauguration since 1789 has included numerous of those activities.
The First Inauguration
Constitutional experts abounded at America's first inauguration. Not only was the first inauguree (George Washington) a signer of the Constitution but numerous drafters of the Constitution were serving in the Congress that organized and directed that first inauguration. In fact, just under one fourth of the members of the first Congress had been delegates to the Convention that wrote the Constitution. 3 Furthermore, the identical Congress that directed and oversaw these inaugural activities also penned the First Amendment. Having therefore produced both the Constitution and all of its clauses on religion, they clearly knew what types of religious activities were and were not constitutional. Clearly, then, the religious activities that occurred at the first inauguration may well be said to have the approval and imprimatur of the greatest collection of constitutional experts America has ever known. Therefore, a review of the religious activities acceptable in that first inauguration will provide guidance for citizens in general and critics in particular
Recently I emailed our soon to be outgoing president to thank him for his years of service to our country. As a tribute to him, I would like to share that email with you.
Dear Mr. President,
I realize that with all of the correspondence that you receive, you will probably not read this e-mail, but I had to express my thanks to you for these past eight years.
I watched with tears in my eyes as you gave your farewell address to the nation last Thursday, and have thought much, recently, of your presidency. There has been a lot said of the change that President-electObama will bring to our country, but there are three changes that I pray will not come.
1. I pray that the safety of my family will not change. You and the policies that your administration has brought forth have protected us from another terrorist attack. I hope that does not change with the new administration.
2. I pray that the selflessness of the presidency will not change. You have always done what you have felt was best for our country whether it was popular or not. I pray that our new president will be just as selfless.
3. I pray that the spirituality of the White House will not change. I know that you have sought God daily in your decision making for our country. I pray that the president elect will do the same.
Our soon to be 44th president has been treated almost like a Hollywood celebrity, but one of my heroes will always be our 43rd president. Thank you for always caring for our country first and doing what was best for our country even when it wasn't popular. As you have said, it will be left up to historians to judge your two terms in office, but I feel they will judge it favorably. At least it will be favorable in my book.
Abraham Lincoln's Godly Presidency - Followup Topic: Politics
Yesterday I was very pleased to hear (on Fox News of course!) that the Obama's went to church and are actively seeking a church to regularly attend. That was very encouraging! I continue to pray for the President Elect and his administration and hope, for the sake of our country, that his presidency is a Godly, successful one.
Abraham Lincoln's Godly Presidency Topic: Politics
President Abraham Lincoln has been in the news a lot lately. In an interview recently, President Bush remarked that he has studied our 16th president much during his own presidency. Our soon to be 44th president, Barack Obama, has also spoken of him frequently. It is no secret that president-elect Obama is a great admirer of Lincoln's. He mentioned him several times during his campaign; he and his family quietly visited the Lincoln Memorial late in the evening last week; he is even being sworn in with his hand resting on the exact Bible that President Lincoln was sworn in on. Fox News (who else?) just had a professor who opined at how similar their individual roads to the White House have been.
Although I have enjoyed the study of history and politics since my youth, I must admit that I have not taken a deep look into Abraham Lincoln's faith until recently. I have seen the pictures of Lincoln with his head bowed and heard the commentary by others about his Christianity and knew that he was a believer in God. However, all of the recent talk has prompted me to research how much of a part God actually played in Lincoln's presidency. My research has been brief and certainly not thorough and there are many views, favorable and unfavorable regarding his presidency, but there are three things that most of the researchers agree upon regarding his faith:
1. He regularly attended church.
2. He daily sought God's help, through prayer, in making decisions regarding our country.
3. He constantly referred to God in his speeches and in his writings.
It was interesting to learn that both our soon to be out going president and our soon to be president both admired Abraham Lincoln. It will be left up to the historians to determine how President Bush's presidency compares to Lincoln's and time will tell how similar Lincoln and President-elect Obama are. I sincerely pray, though, that, out of the many good qualities that Lincoln had, our new leader chooses to follow him in the above three areas. Recent reports about Obama's church attendance are not encouraging. Unfortunately, he seems to be more interested in his exercise regime than going to church. But, it has always been my honor to pray for our elected leaders whether I agree with their politics or not and I will continue to do so. This is certainly a historic time for the United States. For the first time in our history, we will be inaugurating an African American as our president. It is a great day for America. I think Abraham Lincoln would be proud. I sincerely hope, though, that President Obama will see fit to not only follow Lincoln politically, but spiritually as well. If he does, despite political affiliations, President Obama's term in office will be prosperous and great. That is something that we can all pray for.
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