There has been quite a lot of talk about the economy lately. Perhaps its the upcoming election, perhaps the sub-prime mortgage bubble, or maybe it's because the FDIC has just stated that it may have to borrow money from the federal reserve in order to make good on it's promises. There's a lot of talk on the part of both Barack Obama and John McCain on the policies they would like to implement in order to improve our economy. The problem I see in all of this is that each candidate wants the government to fix things, so that life can go on as usual for the people in America. I think our economic problems go far beyond a deficit in the government. We are a society of excess and we're consuming all of our resources. Just look at the amount of credit card debt, mortgage debt, consumer debt, student loan debt that we amass as a society. All this in the name of 'getting ahead' and 'living the American dream.' Yes there are unscrupulous practices in the f...

Note: This post was originally done on Facebook on August 2. Although this is day 5 this will be my first post on our mission trip. It's been an interesting couple of days. We arrived last Tuesday after a day of travelling and have been spending time in Managua. Every year a group of us come down early to purchase pots and other crafts from the locals. We then send it back to Norfolk, sell it during coffee hour, and use the proceeds to fund the next trip.This is my first time to a 3rd world country so I've seen quite a bit that I'm not accostomed to. For example, you're just as likely to see automobiles in the roads as you are horse-drawn, ox-drawn, or bull-drawn carts. A good deal of Managua is built up and modern, while many of the villages have small cinder-block homes that many people live in. The other day we stopped on a highway to purchase some pewter from a local artisan. This person's store was in the front of the building. In the back was both the workshop...