God bless America, my home sweet home. Land of the free, home of the brave. The best country in the entire world…

…and also the country that has the dubious distinction of being the most materialistic people on the planet.

If you work retail like I do, it’s a good bet that the company you work for does not pay you well, yet expects customers who probably are in the same boat as yourself to transfer their hard-earned cash to your establishment in exchange for a product that always promises more than it delivers.

If you ever visit a retail store of any sort, you will more than likely find yourself visually bombarded by sleek advertisements featuring attractive people that in essence scream at you to buy a product that, as mentioned before, promises more than it will ever be of value to you, the consumer.

If you ever watch any amount of television, you will notice more and more of your favorite programming is being cut into by companies who pay top dollar to advertise that product that, dare I repeat it, promises more than anything you’ll ever do with it.

Personal story time. I walked through the mall yesterday while waiting for Evin to get off of work so we could drink coffee together, and I saw more foot traffic throughout the place than is normal. Of course, it’s the holiday season. That time of year where consumers are out in full force to buy this year’s “must-buy” item. And also the time of year when the stores do whatever they can to get you to indulge in whatever they have to offer — and blow your hard-earned money in the process.

Anyway, as I was walking through the mall I began to get this feeling that it was the first time I ever really hated the mall. Not because of lack of aesthetics or some downtrodden person I had a chance conversation with, but rather the fact that I was being visually screamed at to buy, Buy, BUY SOMETHING AS IF YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT.

Working retail makes me see it all the more. Most customers I deal with swipe credit cards. In my book, the term credit card is defined as borrowed money that you don’t have and most of the time can’t pay off anytime soon. These people are buying something they more than likely don’t need, with some money they more than likely don’t even have.

What I’m really scared about is all the young people today. I’m talking 18-25, those fresh out of the nest and making their own life decsions. With freedom comes responsibility, but take a good look in a young guy’s wallet or young female’s purse and they have store credit cards and major bank credit cards up the wazoo. Betcha some of those credit cards are somehow being used to pay other credit cards off.

Basically what I am trying to say with all this, being so across the board as I am in this post, is that we as humans see something, we want it, and we’re going to do whatever we can to get it. We grow up in a culture that preaches buy stuff, treat yourself the best you possibly can, look out for #1, and do what you can to make sure your life is as comfortable as you can make it.

There’s one problem with that, and that’s the fact that God has called each one of us to treat others the best we possibly can, look out for our brothers and sisters, and live a life that sacrifices comfort to benefit others.

Next time you go to the mall, take a good look at all the advertisements and hoopla surrounding what each store has to offer, and think about what God has called each one of us to do.

Or, if you don’t want to think about that, simply remind yourself that what you’re about to buy is massively overpriced. In most instances, at least.

We would all do good to take Karl Malone’s advice. Invest your money!

This is absolutely hilarious. I found this on Digg today.

‘Nuff said.

Faith is one of the hardest things for us as humans, and more specifically for me, to live life by, much less comprehend. It requires us to put our trust in something and someone that has our spiritual, physical and mental well-being in mind.

I look at faith like this: We drive everywhere. On our travels we inevitably pass through traffic lights. When your light is green, how do you know the person waiting at the red light isn’t going to cross the street and cause an accident? That’s faith in action right there.

So why is it so tough for me to believe that God can help me out a bit? I pray and pray and pray but I never really put any words or positive thoughts behind my prayers. Yeah, with things that I have prayed for I have hoped that God would help me out a bit, but I never really learned to put faith into action and trust God will take care of me.

Tonight at church I was talking to Rich & Anita Schultz, a great couple who serve as Crimson House’s worship leaders and are two of the better people in this world. We were discussing things such as my job and personal life, and how we have all been praying God will provide for me in every aspect — that he would make a way for me to get either a new job or one that can complement the one I have now, that I form good relationships with people I can connect with here in Springfield, and that I am blessed all around.

What impressed me was the fact that Anita spoke most of what she was talking about in future tense, as if it had already happened. She spoke encouraging, faith-building words such as “You will get that job you applied for,” and “God has you here for a reason and he will continue to bring people into your life.” Somehow after I heard her say it, it clicked with me that maybe the Lord was using her words to help increase my faith, and instantly my perspective changed, and my attitude became more upbeat and positive.

Yes, times are hard — my circle of friends is still smaller than it’s ever been, and I am growing restless in not being able to find many more friends my own age; my job isn’t paying well and I am trying to work something out in that regard; and I still don’t know exactly what my purpose here is in Springfield.

But tonight, I had my fears calmed, if not just a small amount, with the help of someone who spoke faith-building words into my life and helped me see more of the positive than usual.

I can’t find the verse, but somewhere I remember reading in the Bible, to speak which is not, as if it were. Simply to build faith.

Tomorrow I’m gonna really start doing that, and you and I will see the results.

So for the third day since Wednesday, I am off work. Having been paid for the holiday on Thursday and working 12 hours yesterday, I nearly reached overtime which meant I was awarded Wednesday, Thursday, today and tomorrow off.

After the Turkey Bowl two days ago, it wasn’t really a good idea to not try to get a couple extra hours of sleep after I woke up at 2 AM yesterday. Granted I had to be at work at 5, but my whole body revolted against me yesterday and told me to find a bed somewhere, anywhere or something bad was going to happen. I prayed for strength and made it through the day alright, but yeesh, my right leg is still bothering me from sliding on it a couple times (and having smacked into a tree) during the football game. It cramped up over and over pretty bad last night but it feels okay this morning. Still limping a little bit but there’s not any pain, which is cool.

Today’s a big day. Not only are Dad and Jason home for the holiday and the weekend, but I have a huge appointment here in a couple hours. I ask my readers to pray for me, I need all the God-given favor he can muster.

It’s also a big day because I’m getting a haircut for the first time since the day of Nick and Shauna’s wedding. That was nearly a month ago. Just don’t call me Big Haircut.

In my idle time, which sadly is too much these days, I am reading House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. Shame I hadn’t read this book since it first came out, but it’s turning out to be pretty good.

Well, I’m outta here. Gonna watch a Karl Malone parody video from the Man Show before I go. Peace.

Within the past few days, Sony has released the official trailer to the upcoming thriller, Untraceable, a movie about an Internet serial killer starring Diane Lane and filmed in the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. It’s due to be released in theaters January 25.

The great thing about this movie is that I’m in it. I’m not kidding either. Even if it is for literally fifteen seconds.

The crew filmed in our newsroom when I was working at Fox 12, and they also requested me as an extra for a scene involving (what else?) a murder investigation. I won’t divulge any details as to what scenes I’m in as of yet, but I’ve heard I am somewhat prominently featured in one of them. Wonder if my name will appear in the credits.

As a sidebar, I had the privilege of going behind the scenes and shooting video of the filming, production, etc. for Fox 12 a couple times when I was out and about on rover duty. My favorite time was when they closed the Broadway Bridge at night for a couple scenes and I got to watch one play out. Of course they had to do about seven or eight takes, but it was cool nonetheless.

I’m really looking forward to the movie. That, and Cloverfield promises to be good as well. Two great movies in two weeks to kick off 2008…anyone wanna join me?