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Behold, the Tax Man Cometh!

It’s that time of year again. Unless you’re an absolute champ and already have your taxes done, you’re probably gearing up to file them in the next couple of months. In this post we’ll ignore Washington’s inability to spend less money than it takes in, and instead focus on your taxes at a personal level.

Taxes are sort of a necessary evil. The government needs taxes in order to function, and unquestionably has the right to tax its citizens, but my view is that you shouldn’t pay any more taxes than you legally need to. I don’t have the time or space to get deep into taxes here, but I’ll try to provide some basic tips for those of you to whom taxes are a mystery. If you’re already well-versed with your own tax situation, this post probably isn’t for you.

With a few exceptions, every dollar you make is subject to tax. The obvious and most common source of income is your job, but in most cases if you’re receiving money that’s not a gift, that money’s taxable. If you have a side gig, or you have a yard sale, maybe you win the cash prize in your fantasy football league, or you win a bet with a friend, any time you’ve been given money in exchange for something, that means you’ve generated income, and that income is taxable. You’re responsible for reporting it come tax time. If you’re not reporting it on your taxes and the IRS can prove you received it, you have nobody but yourself to blame.

The U.S. has a progressive tax code. That means everybody is taxed lighter at low income levels, but income is taxed at higher and higher percentages as income levels rise. The lowest tax bracket right now is 10%, but rises to 12%, and then 22%. There are higher levels than that, but if you’re in a tax bracket above that level, you’re probably not going to learn much from this post. The system is a little deceiving if you haven’t ever paid close attention. If you’re in the 22% tax bracket, it doesn’t mean you’re paying 22% tax on every dollar you make; it means you’re paying 10% tax on all your income up to the cap of that first bracket, plus 12% tax on every dollar that’s in the next highest bracket, plus 22% tax on all the remaining dollars. That’s way better than 22% of every dollar you make. After you add up all the money you made last year from various sources, you can do a search for 2023 tax brackets to see where you fall.

Let’s say you’re married filing jointly, and between the two of you, you earn $60,000 a year. The government recognizes it needs to give people a break by not taxing every single dollar they make. Uncle Sam helps people out in the form of something called a deduction. If your tax situation is fairly simple (you rent your home instead of own it, you don’t donate much money to charity, and you don’t mess around with stocks or real estate), you should probably go with the standard deduction. It’s a value that’s updated every year, and in the 2023 tax year the standard deduction for a couple that’s married filing jointly is $27,700. That means you can subtract $27,700 from your annual salary of $60,000 (which shields almost half of your income from the tax man), and you’ll only have to pay taxes on the remaining $32,300. Deductions are good because they reduce the amount of your money that gets taxed, ultimately reducing the amount of tax you need to pay.

A second kind of deduction, called “itemized deductions,” is an option, but doesn’t make sense for everyone to take. For itemized deductions to provide you more value than the standard deduction, your itemized deductions (things like donations to charity, mortgage interest, property taxes, etc.) would need to add up to more than the standard deduction. It’s possible to do it with income of $60,000, but it probably doesn’t happen consistently unless you own a home and/or give a sizable chunk of your money to charity. If you’re making $60,000 as someone who’s married filing jointly, you’re probably going to want to take the standard deduction.

So if you continue with this $60,000 example (where you’re only taxed on $32,300), you calculate the tax according to the tax brackets. Ten percent of the first $22,000 (the upper limit in the lowest married/filing jointly bracket) is $2,200, and then you have to pay 12% on the remaining $10,300 ($32,300 minus $22,000). That comes out to $2,200 plus $1,236, for a total tax bill of $3,436. Don’t lose heart, you probably don’t have to cut a check for that much.

That’s the simplified version. If you have kids that are your dependents living with you, and you’ve provided more than half of their financial support for the year, you get to claim the Child Tax Credit. Depending on the child’s age, you get to subtract up to $2,000 per child directly from your tax bill. Tax credits pack more of a punch than deductions do, because while deductions knock a percentage of a dollar off the tax bill, a tax credit removes 100% of a dollar’s worth of tax liability for every dollar of tax credit you receive. Deductions = good, credits = better.

The last thing I’ll quickly cover is tax planning. Nobody likes to be surprised by a big tax bill when it comes time to file. Some people like to get a refund when it comes time to file, and others would rather pay at least a small amount when they file so they don’t have to give the government an interest-free loan with the money that comes out of each paycheck). I’ll let you decide what’s right for your situation, but the ideal tax planning scenario would be to owe no tax and be due no refund. If you know how much tax you’ll owe at the end of the year, it’s usually pretty easy to ballpark how much tax should be withheld from each paycheck.

Let’s use our example from above (assuming the couple has no kids and no major tax credits). They’ll owe $3,436 in taxes. If they’re paid every two weeks, we can divide 3,436 in taxes by 26 paychecks a year to find that if they withhold $132.16 from each paycheck for federal taxes, at the end of the year that amount should fully cover the tax they owe. They’ll have to readjust for raises or substantial changes in deductions or tax credits, but that’s the gist of it.

It’s too late to make adjustments to Federal withholding for the taxes you’ll be filing over the next couple of months, but since we’re only a month into 2024, you have a great opportunity to choose how much money you accrue by the end of the year to use in paying your ’24 taxes in the winter/spring of 2025. If you know roughly how much money you’ll make this year, you can also ballpark how much money should be withheld from your paychecks. Just make sure to account for the fact that some paychecks have probably already come in and the withholding from them might be different from what you want it to be for the year’s remaining paychecks. Your pay stub usually shows how much is withheld from each check, along with how much has been withheld so far in a given year. Once you determine what you want withheld from each paycheck, get in touch with your payroll department or submit an updated W-4 form to your employer’s payroll support provider.

I can’t even begin to tell you how complicated the U.S. tax code is, so please understand that this is very basic information. There are all kinds of additional considerations to look at (like filing single, married filing separately, and filing as head of household). The way you earn money also affects your taxes; if you’re married filing jointly and one spouse collects a paycheck while the other makes money babysitting, it’s likely that tax is only being withheld from one of those income streams, but both of them figure into the amount of total tax that’s owed, so you’ll need to plan accordingly.

This is only enough information to get you pointed at areas you want to learn more about. I’ve only discussed federal taxes here. State and local taxes vary by location and are in addition to federal taxes, so don’t forget about those. Of course, the best way to ensure that you’re getting it done right is to pay a tax professional to do it, but if you’ve got a fairly simple tax situation and don’t mind working with numbers, you can probably file them yourself. Tax software makes it easier to do on your own, and can often get it done cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

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To My Friends (and Potential Friends) in China

Here in America most peoples’ normal routines are disrupted this week, and few people are likely to really pay attention to this week’s blog entry. After U.S. readers, Canadians are the top patrons of my blog. Though they probably don’t shut down to the same degree we do in the states, there’s still some of that because they celebrate some of the same big holidays we do. It turns out that’s not the case in the country rounding out the blog’s top three. Today I’d like to focus on my readers in China.

I suspect that most of you in China (or in territories China now controls) that read this blog are reading it for the sake of censoring it from your nation’s citizens. You’re not terribly interested in hearing what I want to say, this website just showed up on one of your lists to continue monitoring. If that’s the case, you’re probably some of the only people in your country that are even able to read what I write. Since I probably can’t reach the country’s average citizen, I’ll focus on you because you, too, need to hear this information.

Although many in our two nations maintain an aggressive posture toward one another, this is a shortsighted view. Regardless of the choices we make, someday all of us will pass from this life. I would like to speak to you briefly about the state of your soul after you die.

Despite what you see on American television and social media, many of us in this country are religious. We believe in God and that He created every human across the entire globe with a natural desire to know and pursue Him. All of us here on the planet come from common ancestors, so people from every country share in that same kinship. Our earliest ancestors, who enjoyed the privilege of walking and speaking with God when He came to visit with them in the cool of the day, made a terrible mistake. Unfortunately our ancestors could not follow even the simple rules God presented. As a result, imperfection entered the world, and all of humanity, everywhere on every continent, sailing on any ocean, and orbiting above the planet, now lives with this imperfection and separation from God.

After centuries of limping along with temporary ways to reconcile humans to God, God provided a more permanent solution. He sent a man to walk the earth and live His entire life without violating any of God’s rules, and this man achieved this goal, dying without any shortcomings. Through this man’s perfect life, we enjoy restored access to God’s presence. You know who this man is, but I’m avoiding use of His name here in the hopes that more people in your country will have access to this post without it being flagged. This door of reconciliation to God is open to you, and it is available regardless of political affiliation. God is bigger than the American Government, and God is bigger than the Chinese Communist Party. He wants people to accept His gift to humanity, and this gift is available to people from every country and all walks, even if those people think they are enemies in this life. Please take some time to consider what happens after you take your last breath. We can have peace with one another by joining in our pursuit of God through His son.

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Despite all the Mentions of “Peace” in Christmas Carols…

I have a daughter that looks forward to Christmas all year round. Sometimes we catch her humming Christmas carols in the summer. Once Halloween passes, she starts to crank it up into full gear. You can imagine how full of the Christmas spirit she is right now.

In a lot of Christmas carols, as well as certain Bible verses that are more prominent in December, “Peace” gets a lot of attention this time of year. There are a lot of Christmas carols out there that mention the word “Peace” somehow (sleep in heavenly peace, Peace on earth and mercy mild, his law is love and his gospel is peace). A lot of Bible verses point to it, too (…and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6). It’s as though the very presence of Jesus is somehow synonymous with Peace.

Yet despite all this mention of Peace, there’s a verse in Matthew chapter 10 that seemingly contradicts this concept of Christ bringing peace to the earth:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. –Matt 10:34

Now what does that mean? This doesn’t sound the least bit peaceful.

It’s actually a warning from Christ himself that His arrival did not bring peace to the world. In fact, wars have been fought in the name of Jesus. People have been disowned by their families for converting to Christianity. Though it’s not directly related to Christ, the world is currently in the greatest state of unrest in recent memory. Where’s the peace?

In Old Testament times, the fall of man severely damaged the relationship between God and humanity. God’s wrath and pure holiness prevent the relationship from continuing in the same way it previously did. The chasm between the two could only be temporarily bridged by animal sacrifices and priestly intercessors. Now Christ has changed the game and permanently bridged the gap on our behalf. This wasn’t possible before His birth. Christ didn’t come to bring peace; He came to make peace. There’s now an enduring pathway back to a restored relationship with God that could only have come from someone that fulfilled all the requirements of the law.

May you enjoy the Christmas season, knowing that despite all the imperfection present in the world, there’s a way back to a relationship with the Prince of Peace.

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The Difference an Hour can Make

If you weren’t aware, we’re changing the clocks this weekend in the United States. Since we’re “falling back,” it means we gain an hour of sleep on Sunday morning, the sun will be up earlier in the mornings, and it will get dark sooner in the afternoon.

There are some unsung heroes I’d like to remind everyone about.

Military members get paid by the month. That means no matter how many hours they work, they get paid the same; they don’t get overtime pay.

Years ago, when I wore the uniform, I spent a few years doing shift work. In our unit there was always a crew on duty, no matter what time of the day or night or what holiday it was. We worked 12-hour shifts and we changed over at 6 or 7 o’clock, if memory serves. We worked three and a half days, then had three and a half days off.

Twice a year we’d change the clocks. For those lucky folks on duty during the springtime clock change, it meant their 12-hour shift was actually only 11 hours long. The way the rotation fell, I think I was on duty a couple of times for this event. On the flip side of the coin, however, there was a crew right around this time of year that had their 12-hour shift get stretched into 13 hours. I don’t remember ever falling on the wrong side of things for that clock change, but there was always a crew that had to deal with it.

There are lots of people out there who deserve our thanks, not only year-round, but especially this weekend. Hospital workers, police officers, fire fighters, military shift workers, security guards, and all sorts of other people (right down to the gas station and convenience store workers) are pulling an extra hour this weekend to ensure there’s no interruption in service or capability. If you know one or run into one, give them an extra “thank you” in the next few days.

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So Help Me, if I Get one More Election Flyer…

Well, it’s election time again. In America, for better or for worse, a major election is never more than two years away. Where I live, I’ve been getting an obscene amount of political flyers in the mail. It seems like political campaigns are singlehandedly keeping the post office afloat.

If we’re totally honest here, there are problems that politicians cause and there are problems that they don’t cause but still get blamed for. For instance, the President usually gets credit for, or blamed for, the economy, regardless of whether or not their policies are behind its current health. Right now the economy is sputtering pretty hard, and an increasing number of economists are predicting some kind of recession in 2023. Unless you work at the Fed, there’s not a whole lot anyone (including politicians) can do about that. That’s just kind of the reality right now, but if you’re running for office, it’s your job to try to get more votes than your opponent. One way candidates are doing that right now is by saying “if my opponent gets elected, they’re going to crash the economy!” I’ve got news for you. The economy’s going to crash regardless of who’s in office. Don’t make your decision based on that argument. Pay more attention to who’s likely to get us back out of a recession without taking on a whole lot of additional debt.

Global economics are evolving. China’s role in the global economy is looking like it’s going to morph into something different. Xi Jinping has just been elected to a third five-year term in China, and that’s a pretty huge deal. They had to change the laws in China to allow this to happen. He’s a staunch Communist, and the changes he’s made in China have been pretty brutal for Chinese citizens. For the past decade or two, China’s been exploding in economic growth, and that’s been good for the country, but Xi has now accumulated enough power to be able to start exerting more control over businesses. His own speeches suggest he wants to close the wealth gap, which sounds great, but what that really means is that he wants to put everybody on the same economic level: poor. Communism can’t thrive if you’ve got a lot of innovators, free-thinkers, and billionaires, so he’s got to lock all of that down and bring it under state control.

On top of that, Xi has pledged to reunify Taiwan with the mainland. This is a little misleading, because “reunification” implies a reuniting, but the Chinese Government has never controlled Taiwan. For all intents and purposes, Taiwan is a separate country from China, but the U.S. position is to recognize the “one China” policy. I think maybe it’s time to change our policy, even though that would draw a tremendous amount of anger from China. Here’s the kicker…because of the strange demographics of China (especially decades of the “one child” policy), the average age of China’s population is about to increase very quickly, and the number of military-aged citizens are going to start dropping fast. That’s the long way of saying that China fully intends to control Taiwan, and if it’s going to do it through force, it has to be very soon.

This election may very well decide who is in office at the time this attempt takes place. I’m not sure how close he is to being ready to pull the trigger, but Xi’s best move would probably be to give the green light during the lame duck period…between the election and when the newly elected officials get sworn in.

Then there’s this Russia/Ukraine thing. The whole thing has been a disaster for Putin. The guy is an evil dude, but despite appearances, he’s not crazy. He’s a rational guy, but his rationale operates very differently than yours or mine might. He’s painted himself into a corner and there’s no way for him to achieve his objectives without doing some pretty unconventional things or taking a major hit to his credibility at home. His army is in shambles, his partial mobilization of everyday Russian citizens isn’t going well, and Russia probably faces a decades-long path to rebuilding itself militarily and economically (if that’s even possible). Running out of options, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Putin employs nuclear weapons in Ukraine if his forces keep taking shots on the chin. I don’t mean the big, multi-megaton “crowdpleasers,” I’m talking much smaller battlefield/tactical nukes. That’s still a big deal, don’t get me wrong, but perhaps not as big a deal as the average citizen may perceive it as. Any way you slice it, a mushroom cloud is something we don’t want to see, but we may be getting closer to seeing one on the news.

Those are some of the things that are happening abroad. In addition to our economy, we’re still trying to untangle snarled logistics chains. The Mississippi River is so low that barge traffic has been drastically reduced. Many of you may have heard about the diesel shortage that’s about to start hitting, probably later this month. Diesel powers most 18-wheelers, locomotives, farm equipment, and other major engines (construction vehicles, large delivery vehicles that supply gasoline to gas stations, etc.) that are crucial to the flow of products across the logistics network. The shortage doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to run out of diesel fuel, it means we’ve got a smaller margin for error when keeping the fuel flowing. As fuel becomes less plentiful, the shortage doesn’t hit all at once; the shortage starts manifesting itself in pockets of scarcity. Farmers, for example, will have to start making choices about what type of equipment to use if they don’t have enough fuel to run everything. Truckers will have to compete for a smaller supply (so do your Christmas shopping early before prices spike even higher or logistics routes take a further hit). If any other headwinds hit the diesel industry, we’ve got major problems.

Again, the people you’re voting for this election cycle could very well be the ones facing the tough choices to be made in such cases. God knows who will be sworn in, and those people won’t take office without His say so. It’s very easy to criticize our elected leaders, and we forget that they’re people with the same limitations that you or I have, but they also have some brutal decisions to make. In addition to praying for the elections coming up on Tuesday, please pray for wisdom and moral clarity for all of our leaders currently in office. Things aren’t getting any better, and we need people with God-honoring values in power if we want God’s blessing on our nation once again.

Lord, thank you that You’re in control and I’m not. Please bless the pending election and put the right people in office, whatever party they’re from. Our land is very divided right now and the world seems like it’s on fire. Please bring peace and revival to this place. In Your name, Amen.

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How Does He Bounce Back?

It’s been a rough few weeks for President Biden. Let’s take stock of the current political situation.

A stalled domestic agenda. The botched Afghanistan withdrawal. The first time ever that France recalled its ambassador to the US. Rising inflation. The crisis on the southern border (both the normal border crossers and now the Haitians huddling under the bridge in Texas). Trying to manage the optics of mandating vaccines for Americans while releasing unvaccinated illegal immigrants into the US. Even the press is starting to politely turn against him.

Many politicians view election results as the American public delivering mandates. That is, if there’s a large party swing after an election, it’s normally interpreted as the public saying “we want to go in the other direction,” and giving the new majority party license to do so. There’s a problem though. It’s one thing if your political party trounces the other; that outcome suggests the American public is willing to go along with your proposed agenda. However, in this case, this majority is one of the slimmest majorities in recent memory. In fact, the House majority is the narrowest it’s been in about 75 years. In the Senate, party lines are as close as they can possibly be; if a single Democratic senator disagrees, becomes incapacitated, or otherwise doesn’t show for a vote, Dems won’t have enough for even a simple majority, and that simple majority requires using the Vice President to break a tie. Despite this incredibly narrow margin, Democrats have approved and are pursuing highly controversial agenda items that would normally only be undertaken when holding significant majorities. (In the 2010 midterms, for example, after Democrats signed the controversial “Obamacare” into effect, President Obama admitted to the House taking a “shellacking” when they lost about 60 seats to Republicans.)

President Biden’s poll numbers are taking a beating. My sense is that it has to do with his identity crisis. Historically (prior to serving in his role as Vice President), Joe was pretty moderate. Why is it that he’s now gone full radical left? I’d guess it’s because, while he may have his personal political views, the people around him know how to persuade him to do what they want. Joe Biden is a likable guy, but he’s obviously not the one calling the shots. It seems he’s not permitted to engage in unscripted events, and he’s repeatedly made remarks about how he’s “not supposed to” interact with the audience or take questions. This is, like, puppet government stuff (think “Weekend at Bernie’s,” but set in the White House).

If I’m a democratic strategist, I’m looking at this situation and thinking that it’s probably best to wring everything possible out of President Biden (in terms of agenda), but then do my best to make sure someone else, maybe with a more moderate record, is the Democratic nominee running in 2024 (maybe Virginia Senator Mark Warner, if he can raise his profile between now and then).

The problem for Democrats…if Joe Biden leaves office for any reason during this term, Vice President Kamala Harris gets promoted to the big chair, and she’s not yet ready to carry the torch in a Presidential election. She might be ready by the time the election nears, but there’s still much work to be done. It took her a full three months to even visit the border after her boss put her in charge of the border crisis. That’s a fail, even if the border visit didn’t actually accomplish anything. She recently embarked on an official tour through Asia, which should give her some more experience with foreign policy. Time will tell if she’ll be groomed for the role of President.

Let’s say you’re a strategist working for the democratic “kingmakers.” You have President Joe Biden, a man with plummeting poll numbers, but you can pretty much get him to do whatever you want him to do. That benefit isn’t worth anything if he’s voted out of office, however. You’re almost definitely going to have a Republican-controlled House of Representatives after the midterm elections, and possibly a Republican-controlled Senate. What’s your call here? Do you go all in, trying to implement a Democratic wishlist that will get you voted out in the short term, but perhaps return you to office in the long term, or do you focus on trying to retain the White House even if it means tossing Biden (and possibly Harris) overboard in favor of a new ticket? Who do you have on the bench that can be used on the national stage?

Historically speaking, the President’s party loses House seats in midterm elections. (It’s just how it goes; it’s more of an anomaly when this does not happen, like when Republicans gained seats during the 2002 midterm elections…in the wake of 9/11 and the start of the conflict in Afghanistan.) My original prediction would have been that even though it’s predictable, President Biden will get saddled with the blame for losing the House and maybe the Senate, then in the midst of that blame game, the powers that be will demand a Democratic primary for the 2024 election, which he will not win. Judging by the way the press is openly questioning the White House, though, that plan may take too long.

I’m not saying that this part will happen, but it’s something to keep an eye on. There are four Republican House members that are planning to introduce articles of impeachment against President Biden in respect to the Afghanistan debacle and the catastrophe that’s happening on our southern border. They can introduce whatever they want, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to go anywhere. If we start seeing these articles get traction from Democrats, it won’t mean they believe there’s dereliction of duty going on; it will mean that they’ve wrung what they could from Biden and now it’s time to get rid of him in the hopes of having a better shot during the next election. It’s not the way the system should work, but it may be the way it gets used. Again, time will tell, but I don’t think Joe Biden will serve a full four years.

I don’t really like doing political posts here, but I feel it’s important to keep up with what your government is up to. The way I see it, this is more “political analysis” than posting political material.

A lot can happen between now and the next presidential election, and I expect that it will. I don’t believe that President Biden will run for re-election, but at this point I don’t know how that set of circumstances will unfold.

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It’s Hard To Put Into Words

To all the veterans and families of veterans that spent time in Afghanistan…

I’m sorry, and thank you.

There’s nothing I can say that will make things right. I can’t erase the things you’ve been struggling with while watching the events of the past few weeks. I just want you to know that there are still those of us that haven’t forgotten you, and are still thankful for your willingness to spend time overseas on our behalf.

I’m sure there are some today that don’t even understand why we were there. There’s a whole generation of Americans that have been born since the events of 9/11/2001. It’s so far in the past now that some of the Americans born since that terrible day have raised their right hand and spent time in Afghanistan within the past year or two.

I can’t help but think, though, about what Afghanistan was like before we put boots on the ground, and what it might morph into over the coming weeks and months. During that nearly 20-year window when American troops provided reliable security, there was a different group…a generation of Afghans (especially Afghan women and girls)…that experienced a level of freedom and seeing value in themselves that they’d never encountered before.

That’s thanks, in part, to you.

Thank you for your courage, thank you for your sacrifice, and thank you for, at least for a time, making a difference in that faraway place.

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When Your Mind is Used Against You

I’ve got a theory that might help explain some of the chaos in our country right now.

People are wired differently. That’s not really something that’s in dispute. It used to be that people could have different opinions and it was acceptable to agree to disagree.

I’m not going to take credit for this theory that I’ll describe; there are some books out there on the subject, but I think it’s important to pass the word along right now. I’m going to use a couple of terms that, on the surface, might sound derogatory. That’s not my intent; I think you’ll see what I mean if you give me a chance to explain it. It has nothing to do with IQ or level of intelligence.

Have you ever heard something that infuriated you? Your vision went red, your fists clenched, and you were ready to scream or take a shot at someone. This immediate, visceral reaction is what’s called “fast thinking.” It’s the knee-jerk reflex that almost seems to bypass your brain. It’s an amygdala hijack that overwhelms your thought processes. The emotions and feelings you encounter during the situation affect your decision making, and you react instinctively. On a much smaller scale it could be something as simple as making an impulse buy. Many times store displays and floor plans make it easier for the vendor to take advantage of a shopper’s inclination to be influenced to make unplanned purchases. It capitalizes on your brain’s wiring to stoke the urge to buy something you had no intention of purchasing.

Maybe the next day, after you’re at home, you take a look at whatever you bought, and thought “why in the world did I pick that up?” It’s why it’s a good idea to “sleep on” a big decision before going through with it. The emotions that clouded your vision earlier have significantly faded, and you make your decisions based more in rationality or logic. It’s the Mr. Spock version of approaching a decision point. The emotions were there and may have dominated the early thoughts, but you’ve had time to work through them. You can clearly remember how you felt when you were first presented with the choice, but you look at the situation differently if you focus on facts rather than the way things made you feel. Because the process takes longer to work through, this is called “slow thinking.”

Think “the tortoise and the hare.” The hare (your emotional thinking) is what takes off like a shot right out of the gate. Only when it’s run its course and laid down for a nap can the tortoise (rational thinking) catch up. The hare doesn’t know where it’s going, it relies on speed more than judgment. The tortoise had time to plot the route and formulate a plan as it was going, even though the hare was running circles around it, being a big distraction in the process.

Now, in light of that, let me ask you this. Think about how you keep up with current events. Are the stories presented in ways that appeal to the fast thinking or to the slow thinking portions of your mind’s processing center?

The way I see it, TV news coverage is designed to inflame your emotions. You’re shown images that anger you, sadden you, and because news coverage persists around the clock and the networks have to fill air time, they add commentary that may or may not be based in fact. The news dwells on a shocking topic until the emotional pull begins to fade or something more shocking breaks. It becomes an endless cycle of running from one head-shaking story to the next, all the while failing to report on the lead story from a few days ago, where new developments have revealed that the initial reporting was incomplete or erroneous. That information, or corrections/retractions, rarely see the light of day, because by then you’ve already been shuffled on to the next thing and you’re led to think of the story as “old news.”

Since feel-good news doesn’t provide that same shock value, many times it’s simply not covered. It’s not often you come away from TV news coverage with a warm fuzzy about what you’ve seen. You’re more likely to walk away from the TV feeling high levels of anxiety or emotionally wrung out.

So how do you keep up with current events without dealing with this phenomenon? Consider instead looking at a news source’s website. If you like a certain network, that’s fine, stick with that network’s website. I’d recommend not using just one source, though. Journalists are no longer known for being thorough or presenting all sides of an event. I’m not talking about streaming the feed from that website, I’m saying read the stories instead of watching them. Reading them, rather than being pelted with images and commentary at the speed of someone else’s choosing, allows you to go at your own pace, and lets you digest the facts (if presented) at your own speed.

Today’s visual news coverage is intended to evoke an emotional response from you and divide you from your fellow Americans. News coverage is supposed to present facts and some context, but today’s coverage is light on fact, heavy on repetition, and includes more opinion and speculation than information.

It’s important to keep tabs on world events, certainly, but if you’d like my unsolicited advice, don’t spend more than about half an hour a day getting caught up with what’s going on in the world. You’ve got to get back to doing whatever it is that God put you here to do, and it’s best to do that without getting worked up into a tizzy by someone that’s trying to do exactly that.

Lord, I’m human, and fully susceptible to the pitfalls of how my mind is wired. Help me to recognize the ways my brain’s wiring is used against me and not fall for it, staying focused on finding and fulfilling Your purpose for me here in this life. Amen

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Fortune Favors the Prepared

People in the Air Force regularly have to pass a physical fitness test. As long as you remember that Uncle Sam is paying you to stay in shape and even gives you time on duty to work out, it’s generally not difficult to stay in decent shape as long as you have some discipline and routine in place. When I was on active duty, a few times a week I usually did pushups and sit ups at my dorm or house in the morning before I left for work, and a few times a week I’d leave work early to do some running, swimming, or other type of cardio at the gym. Not a lot at once, just consistently.

I remember one occasion where a handful of us were getting ready to take a PT test. We paired off to help each other count repetitions and monitor proper form. The guy I paired with was older and more senior in rank than I, and we talked about the number of pushups we expected to perform. Things have changed since I last took an Air Force PT test, but the way it used to work is that there were several components (push-ups, crunches, run, body fat measurement), and you get a different amount of points for each component depending on how well you perform. Once you’ve performed all the components, you add up the points, and the total needs to be at least a certain number in order to pass. Each component also has a minimum passing score, and a maximum number of repetitions (once you hit the max number, you don’t get any additional points for doing extra crunches, for example).

He gave me his anticipated number, which wasn’t very high. I told him that I expected to max out my number of pushups and crunches. Almost dismissively, he said “yeah, well, you’ve got that muscular build.”

I was a little taken aback and didn’t quite know what to say or how to react. Did he think I accidentally had the capability to max out my pushups and crunches, or maybe that the capability was just handed to me? The responsibility to pass a PT test belongs to each individual in the Air Force. It’s not like the military branch’s leadership kept it a secret that we’d have to take these tests periodically, or that as a professional warrior susceptible to being deployed to warzones it might be a good idea to have a reasonably good baseline fitness level.

I never figured out whether he was serious or not. It certainly left an impression though.

If you know you have a test coming up…in any aspect of life…and you want to do well on it, it would behoove you to prepare for it. There’s an old saying: “Fortune favors the prepared.” It means that people who prepare for challenges tend to be more successful in overcoming them than the people that don’t prepare. Jesus said in John chapter 16 that “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Although Jesus was talking to His disciples right before the events of His arrest, trial, and execution, I believe the same message applies for Christ-followers today. If that’s not an indication of an upcoming test, maybe 2 Timothy 3:12 will spell it out a little clearer. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

No bones about it. If you follow Jesus, and other people know you follow Jesus, you’re going to have to take some flak. Bet on it.

So there you have it: you have a test coming up. It may be today, it may be decades from now, but you know it’s coming. To pass the test you may not have to “beat” the one doing the persecuting; passing the test might simply mean bearing up under the pressure or not giving in to what all the voices around you are saying.

Are you spending time in God’s word more than just whenever you go to church? Do you pray more than just basic prayers, and more than just at meal times? Do you read books or articles that help explain the things that are in the Bible? If you listen to podcasts about the stock market, retirement, politics, etc., those things are important, but are you also finding the time to listen or learn about something that has a longer-lasting effect?

Christ Jesus loves you (and those confronting you), will empower you, and will be with you until He returns or calls you home. In the meantime, just like in the Air Force, it’s the responsibility of everyone who wants to pass the test to prepare for it. Not a lot at once, just consistently.

Your test is coming, and fortune favors the prepared.

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If You Just Need a Smile

You know, considering everything that’s going on in our nation right now, I just kind of feel like it would be a good idea to try to help you smile.

I’ve got three kids, and they’ve each got their own distinct personality. When they were little and they did something cute or funny, we’d write it down in what we now refer to as “the quote book.” It’s full of little stories or fun quotes that came from the kids or the sleep-deprived things that we did as parents of young kiddos. Now that it’s at least a few years after some of the quotes, our kids enjoy when I pull out the book and relay some stories we’ve written down.

Lately I’ve been taking a look through the book, and thought I’d share a few entries with you. Just for context, I’ve got a daughter, then a son, then another daughter.

My older daughter used to pick the most inopportune times to tell us about her day. When you have multiple young kids in the house, life is a blur. There’s not a whole lot of conscious thought that extends out past the next meal or bedtime. The minutes leading up to dinner were a mad rush of “go potty,” “okay, who still needs to wash their hands?” all while getting hot food on the table and scooping out some of the hot food early so it can cool off enough for the kids. Right as we sat down and things got quiet enough to pray, our daughter would pick that moment to start telling all of us about some event from earlier that day that was memorable in her mind. We’d all sit around the table, holding hands, about to pray but unable to begin. We could’ve shushed her, but…that just didn’t seem right. Then, just as she finished recounting her tale, but before we could jump in and start praying, her spellbound little brother would ask a question about her epic yarn. (“Nooooo!!!”) This happened at bedtime on a regular basis, too.

She could also open “childproof” caps before she could put together a complete sentence. We kept them away from her for awhile, and she lost the knack for it, but it still kept us on our toes.

She could also open “childproof” caps before she could put together a complete sentence. We kept them away from her for awhile, and she lost the knack for it, but it still kept us on our toes.

My little guy was the craziest blend of sweet and sour. He had heart-melting moments when you just couldn’t believe how compassionate or kind he was, and he’d have moments that make you want to pull out your hair. When he was little enough that he still slept in a crib, there was a time when my wife and I were laying him down and he saw his favorite little stuffed dog laying in the crib waiting for him, and my little guy let out a giggle. It made me appreciate how wonderful it must be to laugh simply because you’re happy.

On the flip side of his personality, there were other times he’d just utter blatant, unprompted lies. If he said “I don’t have anything in my mouth,” it’s a solid bet he just got into some snacks that he knew he wasn’t supposed to touch. He also knew that naptimes were for napping, but he loved to get up and look out the window. As he got big enough to come downstairs on his own after a nap, he’d reassure us by seeing us and saying right away “I wasn’t looking out my window.” The stool near the disheveled curtains suggested otherwise.

It’s also fun to look through the book and find little exchanges like when he and I were watching the winter Olympics on TV together when he was probably about 3. During a ski-jumping event, I told him “That guy’s from Norway.” He looked at the screen, interested, and said “Oh, is that his home planet?”

There are some slapstick memories, too. Parenting is a full-contact sport. All of our kids enjoyed when my wife and I read books to them. My younger daughter, when she was a toddler, had no concept of causing pain in other people. If I was laying on the floor and said to her “do you want me to read a book?”…man, I’d better watch out. She’d take off and find a book to read, which was great, but on her return trip, I needed to keep my gloves up. She’d come bouncing back at me in a full-speed toddler waddle, holding the book out in front of her. In the beginning, I figured she’d slow down as she got close. Nope. She came running with her arms stretched out in front of her, and she didn’t stop until she slammed me in the head with the book. (It didn’t take me long to learn to pay attention when she came running with a book, though I think it took me longer than it should have.)

This is the same little one who, when I held her in church during the live music, would watch intently everything going on up on stage. One time everything was quiet as the worship leader prayed, but my little girl kept her eyes open and was mesmerized by all the light reflecting off the shiny instruments. During the prayer, when her face was about six inches away from mine, she let slip a little burp that smelled like Cheerios.

Also, as our third child, she’s the only one I’ve used a dust-buster on.

And finally, to cap it off, here’s a story with all three. There was a phase (at least, I hope it’s a phase) where my older daughter liked to over-dramatize things, so she’d pretend to cry at certain things. The problem was that anytime my younger daughter saw someone cry, she thought it was her cue to start apologizing, even if it wasn’t her fault or she didn’t know what was happening. She’d keep doing it until someone acknowledged her, too, and would get louder as she went. Making it more fun was the fact that she couldn’t pronounce an “r” sound very well at that age. There was one instance where I sat in the living room and my wife and all three kids were in the kitchen. My wife and older daughter started acting silly, and began pretending to cry about something. Right around then my son, who needed to hear the same thing three times before it started sinking in, got hyper and did something he shouldn’t have, which distracted my wife. Imagine the sound of fake crying from one daughter, my wife talking firmly to my little guy, and an ever-more-persistent little voice saying “sowwy. Sowwy! SOWWY!”

You know, despite what you see on TV, there’s still some good stuff going on out there. Despite what you may see and hear, there are some good people in the world. Keep your chin up and keep smiling, because like I’ve said before, your joy and positive attitude in Christ is one of the things that will make people take notice, especially in times like this.

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