The Inner Thoughts of a Maddog

A stream of consiousness from a random guy who cares nothing about spelling or grammar news, but love GOD family friends & football (mostly Clemson football)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Like Lazarus from the grave so is Inner Thoughts....

The blog that was no more, lives once again. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but since my July res pit (am I using that right?) I have had several thoughts that gave me the urge to post, but none have given me the energy nor the desire to post. That all changed after this weekend. The picture below is from my wife's blog in a post recapping our weekend.


Pretty harmless huh? Well, you wouldn't believe the firestorm it created. I won't get into the specifics of it, but a little bit of a debate resulted from it. My wife not wanting the post to turn into a debate on the sinfulness (or lack there of) of alcohol did the wise thing and removed the discussion from the post in order to let it remain about it's intent, which was simple recap of our weekend in Statesboro for one our best friend's 30th B-day.

I however am not that wise. So for this reason I have dusted off the ole "Inner thoughts" to pose this question: On the subject of alcohol, "What would Jesus Do?"

I think there are two schools of thought here in the Christian world, Frankly I have been in both camps at one point or another.

1.) The T-Totalers, that basically believe you should not, under ANY circumstance drink alcohol. Many good reasons for this are in the vein of not wanting to make your brother stumble. For some reason drinking alcohol ranks higher on the sin Richter scale than maybe some "lesser" sins in their eyes.

2.) The moderators, they believe that all things in moderation are OK. There's that verse that says for everything there is a season. Mostly they use the excuse: "Jesus turned water into wine, so it must not be too bad."

3.) (OK I lied there are 3 schools of thought) The gracies. These people believe I am saved by grace, so I can do what I want.

So, who's right? I'll reserve my opinion for later. I'll let y'all discuss it for now. That is if any of you have made it back from the bar and are just drunk enough to respond. (But only if you are Episcopalian or Presbyterian. If you are Baptist, we certainly know there has been no drinking done, at least that you would admit to.)


Tuesday, July 8, 2008

No, seriously....I'm Done...

You may or may not have seen last night/this morning my last blog. It was titled "Nothing to see here." Some how that post was deleted. I can't think of anyone that would do such a thing, but seriously I am done with the blog. Initially I thought I would have tons of pithy and whitty things to say, but I guess not.
The internet has better uses for ones time than my "inner thoughts" So I'll what most should do and keep them to myself. Bye bye.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

I'm Back!

I know all 2 of my readers have missed the commentary here at The Inner Thoughts, but as a man of great importance, I have just been too busy. I really just don't have anything to say. Here I am back at it ready for another try. . .

This evening, my beautiful wife got out a book she bought me when she was pregnant with Hannah. The book is "More Than a Dad" by Scot Anderson. If you know me at all, you know I really don't read books. Well, I actually finished this (note, Annie was only 25 weeks pregnant when she bought it, and I finished it when Hannah was 6 months old). Anyway, the point is, I read it! I highly recommend it to any father. Even if your kids are already older, you should read it. The author is also very funny. He doesn't come across as a know-it-all or "the perfect dad." He lays his mistakes out there as learning points for us rookies.

As I was turning through the book, this evening, I found a couple things that really stuck out to me. Stay with me here. I promise this is good stuff.

- "If for no other reason, you love her [your child's mom] because she is the most important and influential woman in your children's lives. How can a child trust a man who does not love the most important woman in that child's life."
He is talking to men married to their Baby Mama here as well as men who are not. He is very clear with that. I see how Hannah looks at Annie and regards her, and I know this is true. Annie will always be the most important woman in Hannah's life, and if I mistreat her, how can Hannah trust me with her heart?

-In another place, he talks about love languages. This is something my lovely wife has really gotten into lately. She has noticed the primary love language for most everyone she cares about. She also has noted gaps in relationships due to miscommunication in the language of love. I think she walks around examining everyone trying to figure out their love language now. Her primary love language is quality time. It has nothing to to with quantity of time. If I spend the entire day with her, but it is not quality, I have not filled her love tank for that day. Hannah is still a little young to figure out what her primary love language will be, but I pray that I am able to communicate my love to her in a way she understands. Anderson mentions that all 4 of his boys have different love languages, so he must communicate love differently to each one of them.

-One of the best chapters is on listening. He tells of the importance of a father being the best listener he can be. We want our children to want to come and talk to us, and we need to be slow to speak. He gives a list of all the different types of bad listeners there are. This list is pretty long. I could fall into several categories. I want Hannah to know she can bring anything to me. I will not jump to lecture her, and I will not tell her how to solve every problem. I will listen with an open heart and mind and we can work through it together. I may know more due to worldly experience, but her thoughts and emotions are valuable.

-I will make one final point because I think this list could go on forever. It's a great book, and it makes me laugh out loud! Anderson stresses giving your children value. You show value to things in how you treat them. Your children should know they are worth it. Your sacrifices are nothing compared to their worth. They need to be built up through positive encouragement. They know their weaknesses, and they don't need them constantly pointed out. He doesn't say you shouldn't correct or punish, but you should not degrade. Stephen Curtis Chapman has a song that I can't think of the name of, but it's basically about how his daughter asks him to dance with her because she wants to be a good dancer (@ the ball, the prom, her wedding) he always says yes because he knows there will come a time the "prince will steal her away." Frankly, I can't listen to it, because it makes me cry, but EVERY TIME Hannah asks me to dance, I do it, no matter how tired I am or what I am doing, I do it. I know that I don't have much time before the "prince" will come steal her away. And she's too valuable to me to miss it.

Well folks, I have written more than I thought I possibly could. That's all this Maddog has to say this evening!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

My Shepard??!?!? Are you Freaking Kidding Me?!?!?

Ok, so there is never anything on TV on Wed night so Annie and I were watching the American Idol "save the world give money" special. Much to my surprise at the end Ryan (the host) said: Now singing Shout to the Lord here are your Idol contestants. I thought to myself "this ought to be interesting." Sure enough the first verse sent me through the roof! Instead of "My Jesus, My Savior.." They sang: "My SHEAPARD, My Savior." Are you serious? I guess the name of Jesus is SOOOO offensive that you can't say it on National TV unless they are using it in vein.

Well, let me end by saying something equally offensive: Jesus loves you! He came to this Earth to hang-out with and get to know YOU. Jesus died on the cross for us all, but if you were the only person that needed saving HE STILL WOULD HAVE DONE IT!

Sorry for the sermon. I am pretty sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but maybe not. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sand Castle Faith...

OK, first read this. It's a lot of don't do this, if you do that you have to do this to become clean, and so on and so on, that is the tone of the book of Leviticus in the "BIBLE". Now read this....How are they related?
A couple weeks ago while doing my quiet time, I read both just like you just did. Think about this for a minute...In the first passage, it's a bunch of rules. The rules were probably handed down by GOD to protect the Israelites from disease. In the second passage you have a man who was possessed by MANY demons and Jesus cast them out and gave him a new life. Shortly after Jesus freed this man, he was willing to follow Jesus anywhere. What did Jesus do? He sent him home to his family. What kind of testimony do you think this guy had when he returned home?
Here is what hit me like a ton of bricks: This guy had not one DEMON but several DEMONS IN HIM and JESUS said: "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Let that sink in for a second. Read it again if you have to. I think a lot of times we get lost in the "rules" that we don't keep, and forget that we can be used just like we are.
Confession time: I like to smoke cigars. I drink a beer or two or five from time to time. I tend to cuss when my team is doing something stupid (which happens a lot) or I hit a bad golf shot (which definitely happens all the time). Some might consider me to be a little arrogant. I am certainly not bragging here. These are things that I don't want to do, but have slipped up on me on more than one occasion. I think Paul calls it "doing the things I don't want to do" (that Paul, he's a smart guy.) You see, I get wrapped up in these things and don't take comfort in the GRACE that GOD provides. If the demon possessed guy can accept God's grace, then why can't I?
Shortly after reading these verses, I heard this song by Caedmon's Call on my way to work. It's a song I have heard about a billion times. Then this verse scorched me...
Waters rose as my doubts reigned My sand-castle faith, it slipped away Found myself standing on your grace It'd been there all the time.
This may not have made a bit of sense. I have been meaning to write this for some time, but never got around to it. Today, I had a three hour drive to reflect on it, so now was as good a time as ever.
Thanks for reading...
ITOMD

Friday, February 22, 2008

Peeling the paint off the walls in my brain!

Yeah, that's right. I'm the guy who is blogging on Friday night. Annie has gone to get some grub and Hannah is watching Dora Dora Dora the Explorer! (Did the jingle go off in your head like it did mine? Good! Maybe it will be stuck there like it is mine.) By the way...When are you reading this?
Earlier this week my former roommate (click here to see his wonderful wifes blog and all of the pictures of his brand-new baby) sent me a link to an op-ed peice in the Aspen Times from Feb 9th written by Gary Hubbell (Annie did I site him properly?) IF you want to read the entire thing, it's a pretty good read, and puts my thoughts on the political world into words almost as perfectly as if I had written them myself.
I listen to alot of Talk Radio. During the course of a day they will talk about a billion different things, and usually in there they start discussing Senator Clinton and her candidacy for the White House. I wouldn't vote for her if she were running against Hitler. Do you know why? It has nothing to do with her politics (which is about as close to communism as you can get, though not to be out done by Obama, but that is for a later day). IT's HER VOICE! She peels the paint off the walls of my brain. It's her monotone nasal screech that drives me up the wall. If she were to become the Commander and Chief, I would have to stick a needle in my ear to bust my ear drums. If water-boarding is considered torture, then this has to be right up there with it. Here's what you do...You take all the terrorists and have a taped recording of Mrs. Clinton reading anything by Maya Angelo, and they will surrender with in minutes. I know I would. I would make crap up if it meant the horror would end.
Sorry for the rant. Here are some passages from the aforementioned passage from Gary Hubbell:

...Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians. There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard...

...The victimhood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives. The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him....

...The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter. ...

...Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”...

...He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English...

...He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves...


I hope you enjoyed. Thanks again to Jonathan for sending this to me.

I.T.O.M.D.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Happy Birthday to me....

It was about 9:45 am twenty-nine years ago today, and I was roaring into the world amidst the largest snow storm this state has seen. Okay, so that's a bit dramatic. I doubt it was anything like that. I was actually breach (and have been doing things the hard way ever since) so I doubt I was "roaring into the world." I don't think it was 9:45 either. I actually have no idea what time it was. There was plenty of snow though.


While this little intro is a little odd, in true Maddogg form that's not the reason of this post. Since today is my twenty-ninth birthday, I am going to attempt to tell you 29 things I have learned since that fateful snowy day. ***Editors note: this is some pretty scary stuff as you will be exposed to some of my most inner thoughts. You have been warned.


1.) The Space shuttle DID NOT hit the school. I was in first grade when the shuttle exploded. I very vividly remember sitting in Mrs Clayton's class when another teacher came into the room to inform my teacher what had occured. I somehow miss heard and thought the space shuttle had hit the school. I don't remember being scared, but thought it was odd. I must admit that up until this point I had wanted to be an astronaut. From then on I wanted to be a policeman. I wonder what would ahve happened had the shuttle never hit Lyman Ele?

2.) I am more of a "Brian" than a "David". There was a brief time in my life that I wanted to be called David (first name) at school. But, all my church friends called me Brian. Needless to say, there was a lot of confusion. I soon went back to Brian and have been a Brian ever since. What's really odd though is that at Clemson, when people would forget my name they would ALWAYS call me John. Random huh?

3.) Never underestimate a b-day party @ Mr Gattis because your future wife may be there. Believe it or not, but Annie was actually at my 5th grade girlfriends b-day party. She was friends with the birthday girl's sister. Ofcourse I didn't know Annie, or even talk to her, but kind of freaky huh?

4.) Be careful what you pray for. This is another one that involves Annie. To make a long story short, I had my heart broken the summer between soph and junior year. I told GOD I was tired of dating, and I wanted him to send me the girl I would marry. Two months later, I met a hot little freshmen girl named Annie.

5.) Being on a clogging team, no matter how good you are does not come across as cool in any social circle and should probably be kept to yourself.

6.) See #5 and apply it to the Marching band. If you know what dinkles are you know this is so true.

7.) No TV in the bedroom makes for a much happier marriage. If you have one. Get rid of it. You'll thank me later.

8.) It's just a football game. It's not the end of the world. I am ashamed to say it took me going way over the line @ the VT game, and Hannah told me she didn't want to come to games with me anymore to help me realize this. This is one I struggled with for a while.

9.) Songs about dogs, and dads make me cry, recently this was extended to daughters. I HATE ALL songs that have ANY combo of the 3 d's.

10.) Boot camp is not fun. But can be thought of fondly several years later. And while it's not for everyone, everyone can benefit from it. I was much more of a badass several months after grad from BCT (boot camp). Life has since beat it out of me a little, but I still have a confidence to know I can do anything I want, and can kill a man with my bear hands! Ok, so maybe the last part is a bit of a stretch and I never actually had to do that.

11.) There was never a finger outside my window. When I was a little kid there were shrubs outside my window. Sometimes they wouldn't be trimmed and the branches looked like fingers floating on my window sill. I am not sure why but this was scary as heck.

12.) For some reason when I was little if I pulled the covers over my chin I would have a nightmare about giants (not NY Giants, but you know big guys. And they would be chasing me.) I am not sure how, but I deduced that the two were connected. If I would wake up from a giant dream, I would just pull the covers down and go back to sleep. No more giants.

13.) Drinking and driving is not illegal, if you are drinking a Dr pepper, while driving a car. It was completly logical to me for it to be illegal for drinking while driving. Something about how the can blocked your vision or something, but needless to say, when I was on the way home from karate and the guy I was riding with was drinking a Dr Pepper while driving I was appauled. He was breaking the law! (I need to tell you that I was like 6. )

14.) Not being much of a drinker in college myself, I heard lots of drinking stories. They all seemed to end with "I was sooo drunk, I passed out at like 3:00 in the morning." I would always laugh and think: "No you didn't pass out. At 3am it's called going to sleep, not passing out." My college roommate Jonathan actually came up with this one, but it is so true!

15.) Sometimes you can be right or be married, but not both. You have to learn to pick your battles, and focus on what's important. In short don't sweat the petty things, or pet the sweaty things. (I just wanted to add that. I'm not sure it really applies.)

16.) There is no job I am too good for. I have scrubbed toilets, folded mats with vomit on them, picked up bar towels that "moved" from all of the maggots on it, and unloaded & reloaded a truck on Market St ALL in the 100% humidity that is Charleston, SC. But it all pays off in the end.

17.) Don't be afraid to ask the guy in your senior English class to be your roommate, but if you do, you won't get to talk about how you both lived black-guys named Joe who are sophmores in Engineering. You'll have 4 years to make up for it.

18.) A random guy you know through other people can be one of your best friends if you take a chance and let him live with you.

19.) Sometimes you need to leave the dining hall and go to class.

20.) Becareful when you turn on your roommates stolen Satelite TV. At the very least don't turn it on in mixed company. There is no telling what you are about to witness.

21.) Finding a fourth is harder than you think.

22.) You can end any story with "..and then I found $20.00". It instantly becomes better. So, the next time you start to see your listener's eyes glaze over, just end it by abruptly saying "and then I found $20.00." You'll thank me later I promise.

23.) GOD makes the best lemonade.

24.) The Patrick Swazie action pack is sweet, but you can only watch Roadhouse like a million times. A million & 1 us pushing it. The same holds true for The Matrix.

25.) It amazes me how one little girl can change your whole universe with in seconds of meeting her. The Matrix and Roadhouse will quickly be replaced by Cinderalla, Little Einstiens, and 101 Dalmations.

26.) The lack of money at the beginning of your marriage will prepare you for the blessings you will recieve later on in your marriage, and it's all worth it.

27.) A night with the "girls" (i.e. Annie and Hannah) is more fun than a night with the guys.

28.) People don't care what you know, until they know that you care.

29.) Never ask someone to do something you wouldn't do yourself. That doesn't mean you have to do it, but they need to know that you are willing to do it if the need arose.

I know this list is a little long, and it actually took me longer than I thought. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.

I.T.O.M.D.