Mega Millions

2 4 23 38 46 & 23.

If you’re one of the mega millions of people that played the lottery last week, then you’re familiar with those numbers.

I was, along with all of you, not one of the winners. But unlike all of you, I couldn’t be happier that I didn’t win. Of course, I guaranteed my ‘success’ at not winning because I never bought a ticket.

There are three main reasons that I have never played the lottery and I never will.

1 – A Sociological Reason

The problem with the lottery is that it makes poor people feel poor. Various studies have shown that low-income participants are more likely to play when they believe that they live below an implicit standard. In other words, poor people play the lottery because they feel poor.

This may not be earth shattering news for any of you, but what may come as a surprise is that other studies have shown those making less than $13,000 in annual income spend anywhere from 5%-9% on lottery tickets.

Which is why many people refer to the lottery as a Regressive Tax on the poor. What the government isn’t able to take from the poor in taxes, they take in state-sanctioned gambling. Other call it a positive feedback loop, where the poor play the lottery which keeps them poor which keeps them playing the lottery.

Meanwhile the state governments* (and federal governments by taxing the winnings) are making literally tens of billions of dollars ($53 billion in 2010) off of the poor. Plain and simple, the lottery is a state-legalized gambling system that exploits the poor.

* The state of NJ took in nearly $2.5 billion from lottery sales in 2010. [source: census.gov]

2 – A Mathematical Reason

[If you are intimidated by numbers, then feel free to skip this section.]

In order to be informed, you need to recognize some of the mathematical gymnastics that the lottery system plays on us. A few of the tricks they play:

• First of all, it’s not $640M you’re winning. You’re winning a $640M annuity paid out over 26 years.
• Based on current interest rates, the actual cash out is $462M
• Then in NJ you pay 10.5% income tax (in addition to all of the money NJ made on ticket purchases) so $48.5M goes to NJ in taxes.
• Then about 35% goes to the federal government in income tax. (After you deduct your state tax payment) Your federal tax payment would be $144.7M.
• So out of the $462M, you pay $193M in taxes and your take home is $269M.

Your odds of picking the winning number are 1 in 176 million.  So, the proper strategy would be to drop $176M and pick every possible number and pocket the $269M. However, that only works if you can assure that no one else plays the Mega Millions. Which is kind of difficult to do. Because estimates are that there were upwards of 680 million tickets purchased. Which means that if I won, I would have to then share that with the three other winners from Maryland, Kansas and Illinois. So, my share after splitting and after sharing would “only” be $67.25M*.

* I get it. It’s not a small number, but it certainly is a far cry from $640M that gets published.

So, even though the winners get to take home $269M, think of the ~$680M that the states get in proceeds and taxes (that’s double dipping!) and the federal government gets in taxes. They just made $411M off of all of us!

And this happens every day, all over the US (43 states have lotteries): scratch offs, mega millions, powerball, whatever.

By my calculations, you’re basically given a 39 cent return on your $1 ticket. Which means for that for every $1 you spend, you get 39c back. Or in other words: bad investment. And yet, according to one study, 21% of people polled believe the lottery to be sound financial planning or actually, worse: “a practical strategy”. (Those numbers are worse for lower income who saw the percentage rise to 38%.)

How society sits idly by as this Regressive Tax continues to exploit the lower income, while having governments double dip in proceeds and taxes is unconscionable.

3 – A Spiritual Reason

Perhaps most instructive to me as to why I wouldn’t want to win $640M is because I wouldn’t be better off. Oh sure, I’d be better off financially, but there’s no question in my mind that I would be worse in perhaps every other area of my life. The plain truth is that I am not ready to be $269M richer.

The apostle Paul states in I Timothy 6:6-10 states a warning that should be enlightening to us all.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

God doesn’t want you to be happy because you won $640M he wants you to be happy because you’re content with what he’s given to you. God’s desire for you is not for you to be rich; his plan for you is for you to be forgiven of your sins*. Particularly during this week’s celebration of Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, God has certainly given us enough to be happy about.

* “[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
~ I Timothy 2:4

So, don’t be beset by greed, don’t feed the system and don’t further exploit the poor.

My son opened his fortune cookie during dinner at the Oriental Buffet on Bergen Blvd. and I wish it could become the mantra of all lottery losers.

To be upset with what you do not have is to waste what you do have.

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Epilogue: Please enjoy this infographic on the Lottery by Mint.com.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

Tim Tebow 'Tebowing'

When a noun becomes a verb, it has reached a level of transcendence in the vernacular of the culture.

Go and Xerox a memo. Facebook me. Just Google it.

Tim Tebow has now reached that rarified air that few nouns reach. His name has now become a verb. “Tebowing” is now the word that people use to strike a pose in the prayer position above. It is most often used derisively of the Broncos QB. (“Tebowing” has a website dedicated to it. It has become a mild internet phenomenon, a la ‘planking’) But his name has now transcended the football culture.

The fact that Tebow has transcended the NFL is clear. He’s been written about in the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, and countless other news outlets. And I’m not talking about their Sports sections. In fact, in the perhaps the most telling evidence of his transcendence, a woman in my church just ‘facebooked’: Out of curiosity I googled Tim Tebow cause everyone has been talking about him lately. Woah, I gotta start watching some football!

Even if you’re not a football fan, you’ve probably already heard about Tim Tebow and wondered what the big deal is about him. You’ve probably heard 2 things.

1 – All he does is win. The Broncos were 1-4, in last place and were headed to a dismal season under QB Kyle Orton. But once Tebow took over as the QB, Denver has gone 7-1 and has propelled themselves to 1st place. But more than that, it’s the way that Tebow has done it. He’s won in come-from-behind fashion late in the 4th quarter. And usually he’s done it after looking very mediocre as a QB for 3 quarters. Thus, the 4th quarter in a close game in Denver has become known as “Tebow Time”.

2 – All he does is talk about Jesus. This is the other thing that he’s known for. Every interview he does, he first thanks his ‘Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Seriously. Every time. There are plenty of Christian athletes playing. Every once in a while you will see a circle after an NFL game with dozens of players praying in a circle. This circle happens after every game. But we rarely see it. And none of those players have ever been known for their faith. Tim Tebow is known for his faith. 

There’s been quite a reaction to him and his outspokenness of his faith. Some respect him for his character and leadership, but want to hear less about his faith. Some have flat-out mocked him for his faith*. And it’s the mean-spirited, mocking backlash that I find the most troubling. It’s one thing to think he throws a wounded duck for a pass. But to mock, root against, or even hate him for his faith is another altogether.

* Although, to be fair, most of the criticism in football circles has been around his throwing skills as a Quarterback, or lack thereof.

I think the reaction to him has shown that as a culture, we are in many ways, unable to have a civil conversation about God and faith. At face value, all Tebow does is thank Jesus. If an athlete started every interview by saying, “First of all, I’d like to thank my mom and dad,” no one would make a big deal out of it. Or if they thanked their high-school football coach or his wife, no one would care. In fact, I think people would admire that. 

But, mention God—or worse, JESUS!— and suddenly, there’s a backlash. He’s not proselytizing. He’s not saying “You’re going to hell” All he’s doing is acknowledging the one to whom he’s thankful. And here’s the thing, I’m convinced that if he thanked “Yahweh” or “allah” no one would think twice about it.

I’m not quite sure why that is. I’m not naive that Christians haven’t always been the best examples in society historically or currently. However, it does remind me of a certain Bible passage that may be pertinent.

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

~ Romans 9:33, quoting Isaiah 8:14 

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

Jerry Sandusky

Monster. Pedophile. Deviant.

These are the words that are used to describe Jerry Sandusky after allegations of his sexually lewd behavior surfaced. Truly, this story, if corroborated, is troubling on so many levels.

And first let me say, that my heart and prayers go out to all of the children, their parents, their future wives and their future kids.

If the allegations are true (even Penn State’s acting president called them ‘victims’ not ‘alleged victims’) then the hatred and vitriol that Sandusky faces seems justified. Perhaps the monikers of ‘monster, pedophile & deviant’ are deserved.

[Disclaimer: In my following comments, I do not mean to trivialize the gravity of these allegations. However, I do want to make a broader point that applies to us all.]

However, we tend to demonize and villainize those that have (what we perceive to be) egregious sins. And preying on a under-privileged minor seems to be near the top bottom of that scale. But I think that tendency seems to belie a veiled comfort that we have in allowing us to focus on the sins of others and not on my own sins. “I am not a pedophile, so I must be far better than Jerry Sandusky,” we tell ourselves subconsciously.

By focusing on others, we fall prey to what I call “comparative righteousness”. We are holy, because so many other people are much more sinful than I. But, this subtle line of thinking ignores the Biblical teaching of the depravity of sin.

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”  ~ Romans 3:10-12

The truth of the matter is that we all deal with the problem of sin. And just because our sins are not as reprehensible as someone else’s, that does not exonerate us from the punishment deserved for our own sins.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. ~ Habakkuk 1:3

So, as the truth unfolds at Penn State—and I imagine that the worst is yet to surface—and you feel disgust and outrage over the atrocities perpetrated on those poor children…

…remember that God sees our sins with disgust and outrage as well. Reflect on what God must have needed to overcome in order to love us and die for us despite our sins. Respond to the love that he has for us by loving him and trusting him in return.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

Steve Jobs (Credit: apple.com)

I’m writing this post on a MacBook Pro and will read it later on my iPhone. Steve Jobs and I have had a “relationship” for nearly 10 years, despite the fact that he probably doesn’t know who I am. (Although, come to think of it, he does have my credit card information…)

I’d known about Jobs’ health issues for many years: pancreatic cancer in 2004, leave of absence and liver transplant in 2009, leave of absence and resignation in 2011. His death was something that I was not only anticipating, but also expecting. When Steve Jobs died on October 5th, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

And yet it surprised everyone.

I think it took everyone by surprise because so many people relied upon the products that he produced. It was as if we needed Steve alive. We needed him to continue to make life-changing and industry-forming* products. We weren’t ready to see him go.

* the personal computer (Apple II), the graphical user interface & the mouse (Macintosh), the modern day operating system (NeXT, OS X), animation movies (Pixar), all-in-one computers (iMac), music players (iPod), the digital music industry (iTunes), retail stores (Apple Store), smartphones (iPhone), mobile operating systems (iOS), tablet computers (iPad), & advertising (1984 Ad, Think Different Ads, iPod Silhouettes, Mac vs. PC)

When people mourn the death of another, either a loved one or a CEO, we are mourning the loss of that person’s impact in our lives. I don’t emotionally react to any other company’s CEO’s death because I don’t emotionally connect to that company’s products. However, Steve Jobs meant something to me. His products created (and then satisfied) needs in my life. When my aunt passed away last year, it affected me because it created a void in my life that she filled. Death ends life.

Most of us view death as the end. But as a pastor, I teach that we should not view death as the end, but rather as a beginning. It is the beginning of our eternity. Our thoughts on death make us think about life. When we think of Steve Jobs’ death, we naturally think of his life and we think of our own lives. What am I doing? Where am I going? What purpose am I serving? 

Even if I revolutionize industry after industry, or even if I give millions of dollars to the poor, or even if I raise my two wonderful children, my death is a beginning, not an end.

So, today, I want to live with my eyes not on the end of my life, but on the beginning of my eternity.

Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

~ Jude 21 (NIV)

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

As you may have already heard, Harold Camping has been getting his small army of volunteers to spread the word that the world is going to end tomorrow, 5/21/2011, at 6am. So, naturally, this will be could be probably won’t be my last blog post ever.

My first reaction is to dismiss this. In fact someone first mentioned something back in November when they heard an ad on Star 99.1. And I didn’t think about it again until I heard it on ESPN radio, where they were mocking the guy about a month ago. I didn’t think about it much because I feel like the more that we pay attention to these things, the more they don’t go away.

But then, somehow, it’s hit the mainstream media. It’s on about every news outlet. Even the CDC released a tongue-in-cheek Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse primer just 4 days ago.

So, if CNN is talking about it, then I perhaps my mentioning it in my blog won’t make a remarkable difference in the amount of attention that this is getting.

First of all, as soon as you hear about someone saying that they know that the world is going to end on a certain day or a certain time, I think, “well scratch that one off the list…” because the Bible says,

“But concerning that day and hour  no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” ~ Matthew 24:36 (ESV)

Look, if Jesus doesn’t know, then why would God reveal it to this guy. Also, this is the same guy that said that the world was going to end in 1994. Plus, we’ve been through this before. I remember someone telling me that it was going to happen in 1989. And then I heard about it in 1992. And then with the Millennium. And now this. Besides, we all know the world is gonna end in 2012, right?

But, just because he was wrong before  doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong again right? Retest, anyone?

So, should we pay attention to what this guys is saying at all?

• NO! Clearly, the world is not gonna end tomorrow. And if I’m wrong, then I’ll be the first to admit it. Wait—how does that work?—okay, nevermind. I Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you yourselves are fully aware that  the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” I’m pretty sure that the original Greek does not translate to “billboards and radio ads”. So, don’t pay any attention to him.

• But wait! YES! We shouldn’t necessarily sell our possessions and paint our vehicles with dates and times on it. However, the Bible is pretty clear that we should be thinking about the end of the world. Matthew 25:13 says,

Watch therefore, for you  know neither the day nor the hour. (ESV)

We should be living in such a way that makes us prepared for the end of the world. And here’s the kicker: We live that way, specifically because we don’t know the day or the hour.

So, let’s recap.

• The world is not gonna end tomorrow.

• We don’t know when it’s gonna end.

• Because we don’t know when it’s gonna end, we should live as though it may end at any time.

So, I guess the question is: It’s the day before May 21st, 2011. Have you thought about your eternity?

See you Sunday, everyone!!

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

One of the issues that arose was How do you approach someone about an issue without appearing judgmental? Recently, I also had a conversation with someone (actually I was present during a conversation that my wise wife* was having) who was talking about confronting someone with a character issue.

* It always bothered me that people always introduce their wives in public forums as ‘beautiful wife’. It bothered me for a couple of reasons. Is she that insecure that she needs public displays of compliments? Are we that unobservant as an audience that we wouldn’t have noticed until you mentioned it? But the real reason that it bothered me is because it reinforces the subtle and sinister stereotype that a woman’s worth is only wrapped up in her beauty. (I was this close to blogging on the obsession with Princess Kate). I know, I’m strange, but this is how I think.

Her concern, and really the concern of most people in these situations, was Is this really the loving thing to do? What if they don’t receive it well? Will it do more harm than help? Again, my sage spouse (who also happens to be ravishingly beautiful… =D) brought up most of the good points. I only added one thing that I wanted to share with my you, my reader readers.

You have to think of a confrontation as a transaction. It is a transfer of funds. But the currency isn’t bills or coins, but love and acceptance. Basically, when you have to speak truth into someone’s life, you are cashing in whatever love and acceptance that you have build up with that person previously. And if you have enough currency, then they will receive what you have to say.

But, if you don’t have enough currency with them, if they haven’t felt enough love and acceptance built up in the relationship, then they will probably reject what you have to say, regardless of its truth. So, one of the implications of this is that we should be conscious of the currency we are building up with people. Because if you don’t invest in a relationship and wait until you need to confront someone, it’s already too late. Very rarely will that conversation end up in a good place. “Who are you to tell me that?” “You don’t even know me…”

When confrontations occur, so much of the focus is on what is said and how it’s stated. And rightfully so. But don’t forget about the currency of the relationship.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

• Relief – Relief that the visionary figurehead of countless terrorists throughout the world won’t be able to proliferate his message of hate and violence.

• Extreme Disgust – Once I jumped on facebook, I saw post after post celebrating the death of OBL. Some, like the Daily News (5/2 cover) used the phrase, “Rot in Hell.” No matter how evil this man was, the thought of relishing over someone’s life being snuffed out, let alone his eternal damnation, was just over the line for me. A quote from DA Carson is helpful here:

He is an evil man, and he must be stopped, but he is a man, and we should take no pleasure in destroying him. Vengeance is the Lord’s alone.

Do not offer the alternative, “Should we weep for Osama bin Laden or hold him to account for his genocide and prevent him from carrying out his violent intentions?”

The right answer is yes.

~ Love in Hard Places (Crossway, 2002), 143.

• Pride – As details emerged about the actual raid, I became extremely proud of our armed forces. As my thoughts turned to my brother-in-law serving a tour in Afghanistan with the Marines right now, I was once again reminded of the value that our brothers and sisters in arms provide. We do need them on that wall.

• Vindication – I lost one of my best friends in 9/11. And I can’t help but feel a bit of vindication for Andy’s life being taken. I took comfort that Bin Laden won’t be able to take any more lives like he did Andy’s.

• Faith – 9 days ago we were all thinking about Easter and the theories of the Resurrection. Here you have a visionary and controversial leader that was killed. And in the three days since his death, there hasn’t been any murmurs from Al Qaeda that Osama is still alive or that he has been raised from the dead. Can you imagine what it would take to propagate a lie that Osama was resurrected? How much coordination would it take? And if you only had 3 days to do it? Now, how plausible is it that the helpless, hapless disciples were able to hatch the greatest scam in the history of mankind in only 3 days? Makes you think that perhaps what these disciples believed was actually true.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

* I love my job.

Pastors are called to build their church. Not the dozen churches in his town. Not the hundred churches in the surrounding towns. Not the thousands of churches within driving distance from his church. Just his church.

But pastors are also called to build the Church. The universal Church made up of all believers, all places, all time. So, he is called to build up the dozen churches in his town and the hundred churches in the surrounding towns… and the thousands of churches within driving distance. Not just his church.

Just his church. And not just his church.

Confusing, eh?

But that’s not all. You see, the way that he builds the universal Church is by faithfully building his own church. And at the same time, the way that he faithfully builds his own church is by remembering that he is building the universal Church. Even as I write it, I’m getting confused.

All that is to say, a balance must be struck when you’re serving in the church, whether you’re a pastor or volunteer.

The tendency for pastors is to get caught up in building their local church. They place too much of their value in the size or success of their churches. The get depressed when people leave their church. Or they get angry and bad mouth them. The temptation  is to believe that they are competing with the other churches in the area. We need to be reminded that we are all serving the same God and building the universal Church.

So, how can you ask someone who is in charge of the success of a local church to not be overly focused on its success but at the same time be focused enough to not neglect it? Where is that perfect balance between serving both the church and the Church?

Ultimately, we have to do what we can do and trust in God to do what he’s gonna do. I once asked Tim Keller about power in preaching. He said, “you have to ask God for the power.” And then he said, “And then you have to be content with the apportioned amount.” So true! There are some things that I can do as a pastor and some things that I can’t. All I can do is what I can and I have to trust that God is gonna do what he’s gonna do.

The way that I see it is that all I can do is bring my 5 loaves and 2 fish. God is the one who feeds the 5000. Some of you might have 10 loaves. Some 2 loaves. Some of you will feed 10,000. Some maybe 500. We do what we can do. Let God do what he’s gonna do.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ~ Mark 6:41

And all of that takes faith. Which, I guess, is why we’re doing what we’re doing in the first place.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

Our church has teamed up with charity: water in 2009 and 2010 to raise over $13,000 to bring clean water to the nearly 1 billion people that are without access to it.

More recently, I gave up my birthday to raise money awareness both for charity: water (through One Day’s Wages). I was able to raise $1,660. [I'm glad, because I never got that much on my birthday!]

For your enjoyment, here are a few facts that you might not have known, regarding the problem of water in the world, from change.org.

Water is everywhere, right? Actually, for such a plentiful resource, clean water is surprisingly scarce. Less than 1% of all fresh water is readily accessible for direct human use, representing only 0.007% of all water on earth. Bet you didn’t know that. Check out five more clean water facts and find out what else you didn’t know:

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it’s no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.

2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.

3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.

4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that’s just one meal! It would take over 1.8 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.

5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using just 10 gallons to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

Want more info? Our friends at Water.org just put together a handy resource guide for Blog Action Day 2010 bloggers where you can learn even more about water access in the developing world.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like Water.org and charity: water continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world. Take a moment to register your blog and grab an action widget, and get ready for an amazing day of blog activism.

So, blog away and raise awareness.

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.

* That’s about the distance from the Empire State Building Observation Deck to the ground.

The weeks following today’s rescue will be filled with a mixture of elation, relief, rest and gratitude. I imagine it will be days, if not weeks, before any of the miner’s lives get back to any semblance of normal. In fact, one of the miners, only 19 years old, has written a letter stating that he believed God had a purpose for him to be down there and his life will not be the same afterward.

However, imagine, if you would, that many days from now, one of the miners decides that he actually prefers his life in the mine shelter and finds a way to climb back down the mine shaft and plans to live the rest of his life down there. At first, there would be curiosity and probably ridicule. However, eventually, there might even be outrage over the gargantuan effort it took just to extract him from that very shelter in the first place. Eventually, however, I think sadness would be the prevailing sentiment that would rule the day. How could this man, who was rescued from that prison, still desire to live in it?

It is with the same ridicule, outrage and sadness that we must view ourselves when followers of Christ return to a life of sin. You see, we have been rescued from a pit of darkness from which we could not rescue ourselves. However this pit was not just 1000 ft deep. And we were not just at risk of death. And it wasn’t just 69 days. The pit we were trapped in is our sins… and it rendered us spiritually dead.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.
~Ephesians 2:1

Having been rescued from that pit of death and raised to life, through Christ, how could we return to a life of sin? God rescued us by climbing into the pit and saving us. And the new life that we have been given is to be lived for him… for his glory.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
~ Galatians 5:1

So, remember, you have been set free by a God who rescued you and who died in your stead. He did it to rescue from the pit of death called sin and he also did it to give you a new abundant and fulfilled life. So, live with a new purpose and new perspective. And stop climbing down the mineshaft again.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
~John 10:10

©2012 richlee blessed. All Rights Reserved.