He's the A in C-A-R-E

Photo by Dustin HusarikYou know already that our son, Andrew, moved to Columbia during the summer.

In mid-August he started his new job with a major financial institution. The first order of business was to study like his life depended on it (because it sort of did) for the Series Seven exam.

It's a hard test. You probably don't even want to know how hard. Andrew said it's the hardest thing he has ever done -- and this is a young man who stretches out on his stomach in the boom pod of a KC-135 Stratotanker and refuels fighter jets while in flight.

He passed the Series Seven exam on the first try. Then he had exactly nineteen days to study for the Series Sixty-Six -- a test many say is even more difficult than the Series Seven. The rest of Andrew's "class" of fledgling financial advisors had several more days to study, but Andrew had to report for military duty.

He passed the Series Sixty-Six on the first try. Next (and last) was a test related to the insurance industry. He passed that too. Then he was off to St. Louis for one of two separate weeks of training. 

He came home and closed on his new house; he'd been renting it from the owner leading up to the closing. Then it was back to St. Louis as a homeowner, for a second and final week of training.

This past Monday, Andrew went "live" as a fully licensed Financial Advisor and officially joined the experienced business partner who recruited and mentored him, in beginning to service accounts.

All this and he still serves in the Tennessee Air National Guard, requiring him to report for duty in Knoxville at least one weekend per month.

We're proud of him and so glad he's here.

Last week while he was in St. Louis, Erica and I decided to decorate Andrew's house for Christmas. He had nothing so I went to Hobby Lobby and Walmart. I bought a small tree, some lights, a red velvet bow, two stockings, and a door wreath with reindeer hanger.

It was dark and cold when we got to Andrew's last Friday night. He'd be home the next evening. Erica carried stuff inside while I made spaghetti; I'd been shopping all day and she'd been tutoring for hours. We were hungry.

When we left, everything was sparkling with multicolored lights and the stockings (hung on Rambo's crate) were stuffed with treats. We left the front porch light on so that Andrew would notice his wreath (he enters the house through the garage).

Our hero returned home after dark on Saturday after having driven the day before from St. Louis to Knoxville so that he could pick up Rambo, who had stayed with a family that adores him. He came straight to our house because TG had called and asked for his help with a small project.

I fed him a fried-egg sandwich (his favorite) and when he'd gotten his dad squared away, the boy went home to unpack and rest his bones before church on Sunday. He'd have to hit the floor running on Monday.

He texted Erica and me when he saw his Christmasy house and perceived that certain elfin activity had taken place. He loved it and was appropriately grateful. I think it touched his heart.

Touching his heart was something I wanted to do, especially since a liberal snowflake had carved a swastika into the driver's side door of Andrew's F150 while he was at dinner in St. Louis on the previous Thursday evening.

They'd also tried to deface the political sticker prominently placed in the back window.

So let me unpack this for you.

A young man of twenty-seven who has already served a decade in the United States Air Force -- and graduated from college while serving -- and who has never been arrested, never been on welfare, doesn't drink, doesn't carouse, sings in the church choir, works hard and likes to go fishing and hiking on his days off, who is respectful and considerate of his parents and his sisters, who loves his dog as though Rambo were a child -- this young man was targeted and bullied, labeled at the very least a white supremacist racist bigot and at worst an actual Nazi -- by someone who doesn't like the way a presidential election turned out.

I'm not contending that my son is perfect; he's not. Far from it. He's a flawed person just like you and just like me. But for all his faults he is a God-fearing patriotic American who serves his country and who contributes to society rather than taking from it. He's a gentleman and -- as it turns out -- a bit of a scholar. He has goals and a strong healthy work ethic and a mortgage.

You know: a hard-working, law-abiding taxpayer. The kind of person that, according to liberals, you need to fear.

In early October, TG and I posted two beautiful Trump signs in our yard. They weren't free; we had to pay for them. We were glad to do it. Only, about a week after we put them out, the signs were stolen.

We replaced them. The second two made it through to election night.

So the takeaway is, according to liberal Social Justice Warriors who have their knickers in a twist because Hillary Clinton lost the election -- lost it fair and square -- it's okay to preach tolerance and love and kumbayah to the rest of us while stealing people's personal property and calling them vile names and vandalizing their automobiles to the tune of many hundreds of dollars. Or at least, advocating such behavior by not speaking out against it.

That's acceptable, to a liberal. Because Trump.

And then there are the ones who claim they don't feel "safe" now. You know what? We were in more danger for the last eight years than we could ever be in the next eight. Far more. Only history will tell the depth and breadth of the peril our country was placed in due to the liberal ideologies of Barack Obama and his ilk having free rein.

And so I say again -- again, because I've said it before -- I thank God every day of my life that I am a conservative. I would rather die than be a liberal.

Yes. That's what I said. If someone who had the power to do so, told me I was going to die tomorrow, but offered me another twenty-five years of life and promised that throughout that time I'd be free of illness, have no financial reversals, suffer no tragic events -- but for the duration of that quarter-century I'd have to be a liberal, I would choose to die tomorrow.

Why? Because liberalism tends to death. Liberalism mocks God. Conservatism, based as it is on Biblical principles, tends to life. Before you get mad, remember: I don't make the rules.

If you don't agree with me -- if you were scared on election night, or have experienced anxiety in the days since, because Donald Trump won -- please know that the last thing in the world I would ever do is hurt you, or key your car, or call you ugly names, or steal something out of your yard.

You have nothing to fear from conservatives, or from capitalism. What you need to fear is liberals. Not least because every time they speak and with everything they do, they are lying to you.

The vote of someone who disagreed with you was not a hate crime.

That's rubbish. Complete and utterly false hate-filled asinine imbecilic liberal claptrap. Nonsense. Rubbish.

I am thankful that my son's life wasn't directly threatened by the leftist bully who vandalized his truck. It could have been worse; we all know that's true.

And I am grateful that, instead of Barack Obama II in the form of Hillary Clinton, we have been granted a reprieve in the form of another imperfect -- some may say woefully so, but I wouldn't be one of them -- but sincere man who I believe truly will give his heart and best efforts in a bid to Make America Great Again.

I wish him every success. I look forward to his leadership.

And that is all for now.

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Merry Christmas :: God Bless America

Comments

[Mari]

First - I am so proud of Andrew! It is young people like him who truly can make America great again. Kudos to you and Erica for your decorating job. I'm sure it did touch his heart, because he is not the sort of entitled young person that we see far too often.
I am also so sick of the double standard held by the liberals. There is much to say on that so I won't go into it, but that swastika carved into Andrews truck really ticks me off! And as you said, the conservatives will not be out there doing cray protests, harming people or damaging their property.

[Donna (Texas)]

OMG!! Bless his sweet Heart!!!
And yes, I'm farther south than you so I can say this and get away with it... That Bastard!
How dare they do this... Did it happen while parked at his house? Ask the neighbors...a lot of people have cameras on their homes! We do and so do three other houses on our street.
Oh, I'm mad!!!
((((((HUG))))))

[Jennifer]

@Mari ... We know who the real subversives are. They identify themselves daily with their "The election was an act of terrorism" narrative.

@Donna ... His truck was in a parking garage while he was out to dinner in St. Louis last week. There didn't appear to be any cameras.

[Cheryl Arment]

I don't get "spitting" mad any more but this post brings me close to it. I am so sorry about Andrew's truck. The news media is fanning the flames and causing the liberals to act out in ways they possibly may not, had they not had support from the media. Just yesterday I heard that Michelle Obama said.....now we have no hope right now! That is scaring the little people.

It was so wonderful that you decorated Andrew's house for him. He needed some cheering up and I am glad that the Lord put it in your heart to do it. Give him a hug from all of us conservatives.

[Jennifer]

@Cheryl ... What is most sad is that, for all her fame and fortune, Mrs. Obama knows nothing of the One Who is the only source of true hope. She's lost and (in my opinion) too arrogant to see her need of the Savior. Even if Hillary had won (Heaven forfend), I would never have described myself, or our situation, as hopeless. I will convey your conservative hug to Andrew! xoxo

[Sally]

Oh no! I feel so bad for Andrew as I can only imagine his bruised feelings having such a heinous act happen. This liberalism has gone far too wide and close to home. I'm sorry yall were treated so unkindly.

Xoxo

[Jennifer]

@Sally ... Thank you but I think the entirety of Andrew's vexation is the cost of repairing his door! He's aware that liberals will always behave stupidly. It's their sad condition. xoxo