Senioritis: Four Things to Ponder

Welcome to your last year!  If you are normal, you will experience senioritis.  Don't feel guilty about being sick of your high school, because...... it is normal.  In my 15 years of teaching high school (most of them with seniors)  I have come to not be surprised nor offended by senioritis.

By Richard Phillip Rücker (Flickr: Waiting for Time to Pass) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The thing I try my best to communicate to my students is that the senior year is really important even though it doesn't feel like it.   You need to fight through the urge to shut down mentally.  Here's some quick points to ponder on this year:

1. If you will be applying for the military, you will need to score high on the ASVAB test.  Score too low and no military for you.  How do you do well on the test?  Keep Learning This Year!
2. If you will be attending a community college, you will usually need to take placement tests.  Score too low on this and you may have to take high school level remedial courses that do not count towards your degree. Ditto any vocational colleges or programs.
3. If you plan on going to a 4-year college, low grades this year could cost you your spot even after you have been accepted to college.   This is one reason colleges have waitlists.  You will also need to take those pesky placement tests.
4. If you plan on doing nothing, then you may expressing to your parents the intense desire to be kicked out of the house as soon as you turn 18.

So there you go.  Just let all that marinate in your head.  Learning is a lifelong thing, so it is best to settle in for the long haul.

9 Benefits of Advanced Placement Classes

Increased Weighted Grade Point Average: (for C and above grades.) Colleges and scholarships want to see a high Grade Point Average. Some college also want to see your unweighted GPA, so it is important to carefully choose your AP courses and not over-commit. AP does not affect your unweighted GPA.

Level of Difficulty:   Colleges and scholarships want to see that you are attempting the most challenging courses available


By Shenandoah University (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]


Priority Registration: Impacted programs often register students with more credits first. This ensures you get your classes and get out of school quicker.

Increased Knowledge and Skill Base:  AP courses are challenging. This increases your overall level of knowledge and skills. This decreases the burden of learning future material in high school and college. It is kind of like a genius snowball effect. You learn more, which frees you up to learn more.This is why smart kids do well in college. They are coming to the table with more knowledge and skills while others are working just to catch up. Writing skills often determine the likelihood of college graduation and AP will help to develop those skills.

When you know more you will also do better on the SAT/ACT college entrance tests. Colleges and scholarships often weight this as importantly as GPA.

College Credit for passed AP Tests:  You save up to $4000 savings per passed test! According to the survey of colleges by the College Board, the average private college tuition per year is $30,094. Add in an average housing and meal cost of $10,000 and that AP test is worth $4000! Public schools, scholarships, and living at home will lower this cost and therefore the savings, but it is still significant.

Earlier graduation. The longer it takes to graduate, the more likely you will drop out of college. Each passed AP test shortens the time it takes to graduate.

Get to work sooner and make more money. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting salary for a degree holder is $44,259. That is how much you can have in hand when you graduate a year early. This will also give you a year’s seniority towards future promotion, raises, and retirement.

Avoid those super-huge 100 level courses. You will have done these in high school. These are often some of the most difficult classes to get because people are having to repeat those courses. 200-400 level courses are often much smaller and more intimate.

Smashwords Interview

Interview with Michael Johnson

What motivated you to become an author?
I did not intend on writing a book, it just happened out of necessity. I used to teach a class called AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), and over four years worked with a wonderful bunch of teenagers. The purpose of the class is to provide support in academics and behavior, as well as research for careers and colleges. In addition we helped them complete applications for colleges Naturally we grew very close, and I still maintain connections with many from that class. The problem was that as their senior year was closing I felt a strong urge to cram into them everything I felt they needed to succeed in the first year of college and beyond. They were getting frustrated, I was getting frustrated, and a good thing was quickly fading away. One sleepless night as I mulled what was going wrong and it hit me to just relax and enjoy the last few weeks with this great bunch of emerging young adults. The next day I told them I was going to write them a book and give them all a free copy. This book allowed me to say everything I really wanted to say as a friend and a mentor and not as a teacher. Being a Christian public school teacher presents issues in that I am not allowed to directly share my faith. After they had graduated, the limitations no longer applied, so I sent each graduate a link for a free copy of the book. Being an Independent author allowed me the speed and flexibility to quickly and efficiently get this book to these amazing group of young adults. The book was originally formatted and directed to this group only, but my wife encouraged me to continue to improve this work for wider distribution. This work later became my first book, The College Field Manual: A Young Person's Guide to Faith, Finances and Education.


What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
I love the free-writing process because it allows for randomness. I have a writing journal that I try to have with me so that when ideas strike I can get the idea down. In addition; I am an auditory learner, so I often discuss writing ideas with my wife Saundra. She thinks very differently, and much of what I write has her undeniable influence. I like to interview my friends and acquaintances to get their take on the issues that I am writing about to get their expertise. These talks are a lot of fun in that i am getting to know a person better and i am conducting research at the same time.


What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
I'm that guy that if I don't get up immediately I will sleep in, but I also have a neurotic drive to always arrive early for everything. The fear of lateness has always caused me to bolt me upright immediately and move towards getting ready for the day. This may sound crazy, but for the last year or so I have had a praise song run through my mind immediately upon hearing my alarm. I still bolt upright and immediately engage the day, but now this memory of a song engages me with a purpose that is greater than I. I'm less driven by anxiety now than in past years. Most nights I sing and play guitar for my daughters as they lay in to bed. It's a spiritually deep time for us and often one of the songs on that night's playlist is what hits me right away when that alarm goes off.


What do your fans mean to you?
My fans drive my work. I love the ideas people bring to me. I have a huge line of books waiting to be created through the input of my readers. I wish I could get the books out quicker, but I teach and during the school year, there is little time for serious writing and research.


When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
We have four kids ages 7-15 so life is hectic with all the routines of sports, appointments, and the like. The most noble uses of my time are spending time with my wife, kids and parents. I read quite a bit. I do a lot of day dreaming and scheming. I enjoy my guitar occasionally and have written a couple of songs of my own that I think are pretty darn good. Like a lot of people I sometimes veg out in front of the TV, but I limit my exposure to stay sharp. I'm currently dealing with a serious Candy Crush addiction, but they limit my exposure for me. I lead a men's Bible study group and attend another with my wife. School is a constant draw on my time and thoughts during the school year. In the summers I transition to full-time author, but I keep piddling with lesson plans even then.


What are your ten favorite books, and why?

1. Foundation and I, Robot by Isaac Asimov : This book opened up a whole world of imaginary possibilities
2. Wild at Heart by John Elderidge: This book opened my eyes to authentic manhood
3.  Freakonmics by Steven Levitt: This book turned me on to economics
4. Eternal Security by Charles Stanley: I was searching for a definitive defense of the power of grace, and this book delivered.
5. Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell: This book has changed how I go about trying to get buy-in for a change to the system.
6. Left Behind by Tim LeHaye: This book and series gave me nightmares, but I had to keep reading
7. A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman: This book should be required reading for all children because we can't all do whatever we dream.
8. The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle: 10,000 hours of hard work + luck = awesome.
9. Greetings from the Salton Sea by Kim Stringfellow. Eerie photo essay of a dream gone bad.
10. Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Economics and Baseball are a great pair.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
My dad used to read to me a number of books, but one book I made him read over and over was Roundabout Train. That book captured my imagination like few others. A new diesel train comes to town fully expecting to show up the old steam engines. He is outsmarted by the wise old locomotive and is faced with the futility of his pride. My dad read it to me so much that I memorized it. One day I volunteered to "read" it to him and I have been reading ever since.


What do you read for pleasure?
I read from the Bible every day, but I also have a ton of free e-books by new authors that I am working through. Most are pretty bad, but there have been some good ones. Here are the best free e-books I've read:

• Memoirs of a Gas Station by Sam Neuman
• Exiles in Eden by Paul Reyes
• The Myth of the Garage by Chip Heath
• How Not to Run and B&B by Bobby Hutchinson
• Dear Coca-Cola by Terry Ravenscroft
• Iron City by Davis Scott Milton
• Endeavor In Time by Chris Hambleton

When did you first start writing?
I wrote some stories in high school that I was very proud of. I had a creative writing teacher who would pull out random stuff and we needed to create something that incorporated that object into a story. It taught me the power of harnessing imagination with my writing. I was dealing with the usual self-doubt of those years, so I began to journal my emotions. In a fit of embarrassment I threw it away. It would have been a best seller because the angst was so genuine and powerful. I couldn't recreate that magic if I tried.


What's the story behind your latest book?
The "No Freaking Guide" to College Admissions: Your 4-Year Plan grew out of the same AVID Class that created the College Field Manual. At the beginning I was wondering if the world needed "yet another college admissions book," but as I thought about it, there was more that needed to be addressed. Day after day I deal with teenagers as they deal with trauma of the college admissions process. I am noticing that a growing number of high school students struggle with the overwhelming array of variables involved in college admissions. I see a need to help kids focus on the most important issues and not get sidetracked with things of little value. I'm proud of the guide and I believe it is dealing with issues that other guides are ignoring.


What is your writing process?
I keep a nearby notebook to jot ideas. Occasionally I will sit and try to work out details of plot ideas, but I usually do not do details until I begin drafting. For my upcoming fiction work, I wanted to capture the reality of the outdoors, so I began to go to places and script everything I see, feel and hear. I need to do more of this in urban areas. For my non-fiction work I will begin researching once I am almost ready to begin drafting. I will try to cobble a draft in a few weeks of intense writing. I set the work down in a fit of exhaustion and disgust and let it marinate in my brain for months. I will then go back and begin filling in holes and doing additional research. Once I have gone through my work and feel somewhat happy, I will farm out the draft to writers and my wife who will review and give suggestions. I will then incorporate these suggestions. At that point the painful process of revision and editing go on and on like an endless rock tumbler getting it better and better with each iteration. At this point I am usually emotionally exhausted, but happy that the work is complete. It is not until later that I feel much happier with the work.


What is your e-reading device of choice?
I have a what Wikipedia calls a "4th generation Kindle" It is black on grey, but it can handle full sun. My wife has a first generation Kindle Fire. Sometimes I envy her ability to read in the dark, but I like the lightness of my Kindle. I can read websites but they look awful on it. It does format Wikipedia, and a few news sites fairly well.

Forward into Less

It is human nature to always want more.    When billionaire John D.Rockefeller was asked how much was enough,  his response was, “just a little bit more.”

Popular culture pushes this urge for more even further.  Watch any commercial and the basic message is that you are lacking and this product will make you feel better.  We are encouraged to be unsatisfied with what we have even if we have enough. 

A person at the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, working 40 hours a week grosses $15,080.  While this amount would make it very difficult for a person to live in the US, it would still be enough to put them in the top 12% richest people in the world (globalrichlist.org).

If you have the ability to read this blog, then you have enough.

There is a similar phenomenon in the spiritual realm.  For a person who has made Jesus his Lord, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the “perceived benefits” of service to the Lord.  When people notice the work that we do, it feels good, but it is not fun to toil away in obscurity or to see others get credit for our hard work.  This can lead to anger, jealousy and bitterness.  I think that is one of the reasons why we need to encourage each other.  But it stands to reason that there will be times when our work will not be as appreciated as we would like.

It is human nature to also want to move upwards in positions of leadership and with that the feelings of respect and admiration.  It stands to reason that we will reach our positions and may feel unsatisfied with filling a role that seems beneath us.  Having to accept a demotion can be very difficult to take because of the feelings of humiliation and perceived loss of respect and admiration.

John the Baptist was losing followers to Jesus, and when he was told this he responded correctly:

“A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’  The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.  He must become greater; I must become less. (John 3:27-30)

John knew his role.

“The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:35-36)

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:1)

This year, He must become greater, and I must become less. 

Welcome to High School, What is Your Vision?

Let’s talk about high school.  I love teaching high school because that is where I feel the action is.  So much hinges on the decisions made during high school.  In a way I think it is unfair, because most kids have no clue what they want to do, but they are expected to make this decision.  Most college students are also unsure, so if you aren’t sure you are not a freak.  In a perfect world you would know your career and your desired major.  Then you would take the best high school courses to make the transition to that field of study more easily.  You would then choose a college and a major in line with that exact career.

The problem is a concept of vision.  Look at the picture below taken from inside a forest:

Now look at the same forest from a different vantage point:

You can see that the higher vantage point allows you to see how large the forest actually is.  If I were lost I’d rather have a view that allows me to see more.  Career identification is a lot like this.  As you begin to interface with the working world, you will begin to see the immense career choices available to you.  There are thousands of jobs you can do.  If you take apart any organization you will see this.  Did you know that McDonald’s employs statisticians?  In the same way, IBM employs day care workers.  How do you get a clearer vision of what you want to be?

One thing is to just start paying attention to what you see around you.  You have access to quite a few adults who do many different things.  Ask them about their jobs, what they do, what they like and dislike about it, the conditions, the outlook, and the best way to get qualified to do such a job.  As you meet adults soak up as much as possible and you will get a clearer vision of what may be your dream job.  You are forcing yourself into a better vantage point that doesn’t appear fast enough if left to itself.  It takes effort to get a handle on what is a good career fit for you.

Volunteering at multiple organizations can help.  One student of mine volunteered with a local hospital twice a week.  He got a real look behind the scenes and found out that he didn’t want to be a doctor but rather a nurse.  In addition, by working in many different wards of the hospital he discovered the exact sub-field that he wanted to pursue.  When he went on to college, he sought a college with that exact major.  He is going to end up where he wants.

Your high school classes are a good indicator of career possibilities.  As you take your classes ask yourself if you enjoy the material and if you are good at it.   Competence and enjoyment are two powerful indicators of where we should be going.  They are mutually reinforcing.  When you are not competent in your job, people complain at you all day long, there is less pride in your work, and you will not be promoted.  This will lead you to be unhappy with your job no matter how much you initially enjoyed the job.  We need to have the basic skills required in order to pursue a college major.  A person weak in math should not pursue a math degree, nor should they pursue a career that demands a lot of math.

Young Men, Guard Your Rep!

How do people see you? 

Think about the different circles of people that you interact with such as classmates, teachers, teammates, coaches, principals, counselors, close friends, girlfriend, internet acquaintances, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, sisters, brothers.  This list would include all people who remember something about you even though you may not be aware of them.   

What if all of these people were to gather in a large room and in this room is a large whiteboard. The first person comes up and writes words that describe you. The next person places a check-mark next to any words they agree to and adds to the list.  The group lines up in a huge circle going round and round until everyone has a chance to check any words they forgot to list. 

Some of the words would probably have many checks, some might not.  Your girlfriend might write great kisser but obviously others wouldn’t check that term.  What would that list look like for you?  What we are talking about is something called integrity.  Integrity is maintaining a consistent character in all aspects of your life.   It is normal to adjust your behavior to the situation, but your basic character should be reliably similar regardless of the situation.  The problem is that many people have serious inconsistencies in their character.  They lack integrity.

The things you do will be the evidence for the judgments people make about you.  If you are caught lying, then you might be deemed a liar.  If you tell the truth 99 times and get caught lying one time, you are a liar.  Luckily people will cut you some slack.  When you screw up with people, apologize and don’t screw up and people tend to forgive with time. 

The secret to a healthy reputation is to consistently treat strangers kindly.

Our school has a no-hood policy.  Unless it is raining, sweater hoods must stay off the head.  Most of our students think the rule is really dumb, but a simple hood renders all of our security cameras as useless.  A hood also allows students to effectively avert and cover their eyes so that class discussions become less manageable.  I believe that the hood is also symbol of disrespect towards our school, so I enforce the rule wherever I walk on campus.  

What I have noticed is that when I am correcting one of my students in the hallways, there is compliance without complaint and the hood goes down. If; however, it is a stranger the reaction is very intense for some kids.  “Who are you?  You can’t tell me what to do (insert explicative here)!”  All schools have knuckleheads, so I try not to take it personal.  Since I teach freshmen and seniors I might have multiple run-ins with a kid before they walk in as a senior.  This is always an interesting thing in that their world is crashing around them, they are nice to those they know and jerky to strangers.  This is a lack of integrity. If you are a respectful person, you are respectful at all times and not only when people are respectful towards you.

This type of behavior is extreme, but you need to know that highly respectful people are more likely to benefit.  You never know who somebody is and whether they will hold the key to something you want.  Every adult you see on campus could be a potential recommendation letter or a single voice against you in a scholarship committee.  You never know who somebody may be, so make it your policy to be respectful and follow directions from any adult on campus.  That teacher or counselor may be next year’s vice principal.  That campus supervisor could become the principal’s secretary (the most powerful person on a campus).

He looked me dead in the eyes and with a look of pure hatred retorted, “You have to give respect, before you get respect!”  At that point it was clear the discussion was going nowhere.  I had just tried to explain how his lack of a respectful attitude towards me and his classmates was hurting his reputation.  He wasn’t getting that it.  As we sat together I could feel the anger dripping from this young man, and his attitude was going to be a death sentence for whatever aspirations he harbored.  I can’t remember anything else from the conversation, only that I think I have tried to tackle this conversation a million times.   Sometimes I get through to them, most times I don’t.  I think truth has a way of working itself into a person’s heart over time, so it’s possible that many of these hurting souls later got it.

That phrase: “You have to give respect to get respect” is interesting in that there is some truth to this.  It’s a half-truth.  We can earn respect when we are respectful to others, but not always.  Some people take a respectful attitude as a green light to be abusive towards us, but we can still be respectful in the face of disrespect.  The point is not to focus on how others treat you; it is to focus on how you treat others.  

Don’t wait to decide whether a person is worthy of your respect before you extend it to him or her. Make it automatic and you will have a healthy reputation as a person of integrity.

If you are disrespectful to those you feel are mean, then others will see you being disrespectful when they disagree with your assessment of that other person.  When I hear that one of my star students was disrespectful to another staff member, then that student has lost some of my respect for them and I will be less willing to back them in a scholarship committee or write a letter of recommendation.  I can only write a recommendation letter for people who are respectful in all situations to all people.  This is because the purpose of a recommendation letter is to vouch for a person that is not known by the college.  If I see someone who can be respectful to all people regardless of how they are treated, then I know for sure they will behave well  towards students or professors at that college.

Image: By The U.S. Army (www.Army.mil) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Mixed_martial_arts_at_Fort_Benning.jpg

College Application Anxiety

The decisions that cost us the most anxiety are those that involve a lot of risk and where there are many variables to consider.  The stakes are high when choosing a college because it is a major jumping off point for the next phase of life.  

If you are not anxious at all then I’m seriously concerned that you are not taking this whole thing seriously.  People who have zero anxiety tend to be lazy on the application essays thereby insuring a denial.   I’m going to assume you are taking this seriously, or you wouldn’t be reading this.  To you I say, stop freaking out! Anxiety is normal, but you cannot let it get the best of you.   

Make your list of things to do and begin working on them.  After that no amount of worrying will really change anything.

I have great news for you!  You don’t have to make a final college choice just yet.  You should be looking to apply to seven colleges.  This means we just need to narrow it down by the beginning of the senior year.  That said we should put a lot of effort into this process because we are starting with over 3000 fully accredited colleges.

I need to repeat something I say a lot:  Most public universities have a wide range of majors that will give you most of what you want in a college.  I believe the perfect college does not exist and all colleges (as well as all organizations) have flaws.  There are quite a few colleges that are very good and will meet all your college needs.

How many colleges should you apply to?

You are looking for seven colleges to apply to.  You can do more, but it takes time to fill out the applications, do the essays, round up recommendation letters, and in addition to the time, each application requires an application fee ranging up to $70.  This means you are going to be limited to the number of colleges that you will be able to apply to.   

The object is to choose 2 colleges that are considered reach colleges, 3 colleges that are matches and 2 colleges that are safety colleges.  A safety college is a college where you will get in easily.  Your grades and test scores are far above the averages posted for that college.  Note:  these averages have been rising recently as more students have been chasing fewer freshman slots, so give yourself some wiggle room by going far above the averages posted for that school.  A match college is exactly as it sounds.  Your grades are about where the average scores are for that college.  A reach college is a college where you are slightly below the average scores for that college. Reach colleges are where we run into trouble.

Some people use the word dream college in place of reach college.  The reason I like the term reach college is that we are talking about a stretch, but not an unreachable chasm.  If you have a 3.1 GPA, then a reach college is one that has an average no greater than 3.5.  Do you see where I am going?  Some websites will delineate the percentages of students who have each level of grades.  

Collegeboard.org does a great job of this and in my opinion is the best place to get college data for score ranges. 

While  I was watching the swimming qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics.  One female swimmer who qualified was in the process of applying to colleges.  Listen, anyone who is good enough to qualify for the Olympics should have no problem getting a full-ride scholarship from a college.  After the race a commentator asked her if the colleges were leaving her alone.   She responded that they were being good.  I don’t know how good her grades are, and grades are important to colleges, but she will not need to score on the higher range of the academic scale.   

The low end of the range is often reserved for special status students.  This is important when thinking about applying to a reach college.  You must have something to offer them because your grades are not in the highest range of what they accept.  You should investigate which things each college values and apply to reach schools who value the type of experiences that you have.  In this way a reach college can become closer to a match college, and your chances for getting into that college increase.

Tithing and Debt

Leonardo da Vinci Christ Carrying the Cross via Wikimedia Commons

A good way to center any discussion is to think about the Cross.  Jesus willingly went to the cross and suffered a horrible death (Matthew 26:53-54) (Hebrews 10:14).  He did this to offer a us a way to God that was unreachable through our own effort (Romans 3:23-24). Our salvation is a total act of grace and this should fill us with total joy and peace (Ephesians 2:8) (1 Peter 1:8).  Gratitude always trumps guilt as a motivator.

If you call yourself a Christ follower and are not tithing, then you have been stealing from God (Malachi 3:9). This sounds harsh, but there are real consequences for wrong living.  I'm not trying to guilt you into tithing, I just want you to see the reality of what is happening.  Sometimes as Christians we just need to do the right thing even though every fiber of our soul is saying we shouldn't.

The average family has almost $7000 in credit card debt.  Most families in debt tend to not tithe.  If you have no income then there is no need to tithe.  If you have income (even welfare) then you can tithe.  Most people have sufficient income to work their way out of debt, with a serious cost cutting plan.  

I believe that the tithe should be paid before any other debts are paid.   I know this sounds crazy, but if you can't live on 90% then you probably can't live on 100%. Tithing while in debt takes great faith, so you must trust God in this, because this will feel highly illogical. 

 If in debt, the concept of tithing sounds irresponsible, but you need to pay back God first what He has given you.  God wants you to test Him in this (Malachi 3:9-11).  This is the logic of the world: When I get out of debt, then I will tithe.  God’s logic is different, because He can work miracles and if you are in debt, you can use some miracles in your life.  Trust Him by obeying Him.  Remember, the logical side of things doesn’t always apply to issues of faith.  God is able to sustain you, bless you, and allow you move towards fiscal sanity.

Here is an odd mystery: obedience to God takes strength of character that comes from God (Matthew 6:9-13).  When you tithe in the face of debt, God rewards your obedience. One of the fruits of the Spirit that comes to Christians in obedience is self-control.  Self-control will allow you resist those urges to spend on things of short term value, thereby improving your financial state.  Another two amazing fruits of the Spirit are peace and joy.  When fulfilled by God, you will not experience the urge to spend as much because you will be satisfied with what you have.  In fact you will be grateful.  Gratefulness is one of the most powerful motivators in life. 

There is disagreement among some as to what qualifies as debt-free.  In my opinion, being debt-free doesn’t mean a lack of bills.  It also doesn’t mean an absence of loan payments.  For some things (cars, houses) you will need a loan, this is good debt, so don’t assume that all loans are evil.   Debt is a trap that God wants to release you from.  Trust him to set you free, but God does not promise that you will win the lottery. You need God's strength to radically downsize your spending and get out of debt.  Obey God and you will have access to this strength (Galatians 5:16).   


Look to the Cross, understand what you have, feel the warmth of God's love and then go do what He says.

Blowing Your Mind!!

Last week I talked about how a house actually costs less than an apartment, and now I am going to blow your mind.  Ready?  What happens in year 31 after your house is paid off? 

 

For the home owner, something amazing has happened in year 31.  They own their home, free and clear!  They now hold something of amazing value.  The other thing is that $16,000 each year is now freed up for whatever you want because you are no longer paying your mortgage.  For the renter, they face yet another year of rent increases AND they hold nothing of any real value.  It never stops!  In this case the rich do get richer and the poor do get poorer. 

But wait!  There’s more:  Once you have gotten yourself into a house you will eventually notice that it gets easier to make the payment. Over time, inflation renders money less valuable and this is a good thing for a homeowner because inflation increases your pay over time, but your mortgage is a fixed cost that does not change (assuming a fixed-rate loan).  All of these factors over time combine to make your home payment a smaller and smaller portion of your total costs.  This feels good.  

 Go check out zillow.com and type in your address.  If you live in an apartment, find a block with single family houses.  You can see how much each person on your block paid for their house.  Most houses in the suburbs are built in large groups utilizing a few floor plans to minimize costs. My house has five exact replicas on my block.  They all were priced identically initially, but over time various owners have come and gone.  In one of those identical houses is a fellow who has his house paid off, while I have another 20 years to go!  He paid far less and his payment was far less than mine is now.  That’s ok for me because I’m 40 and at 60 my house will be paid off!  This is about the time my kids will need me to be helping with college tuitions and weddings, but I will no longer be paying a mortgage.

As a young adult these future things will be easier if you make small sacrifices now.  Spend less than you earn and save up for a house.  Yes the housing market can be crazy, but I'm not trying to sell you on a get rich quick scheme.  If you buy a house THAT YOU CAN AFFORD and stay put, you will soon be paying less than the average renter. Eventually you will have no monthly payment for your housing and you will hold something of immense value.

Buying a House

 As a young adult it may seem that buying a house is a long, far-off dream; but I want you to see why buying a house is key to your economic success.  Once you see the importance of buying a house,  then you are more likely to watch your spending now and begin saving money. 

I want to show you something amazing.   Below is a comparison of a $900 apartment with a $270,000 house.  (Note for older adults: These numbers reflect Southern California rates, as the market rebounds these numbers will be much higher) I want you to see how rent prices per month go up each year, while the mortgage payment is fixed over the course of the loan.

We will now take a look at the same comparison by year.  Notice the total amount that you will have paid at the end of 30 years.  You will have paid more than the loan amount of $270,000 because you have to pay interest.  It is a lot of money.  The interest does add up, so that is why you need to be reasonably sure that you can afford the payments and want to stay in this house for a long time. 

If you have to sell before the value of the house appreciates significantly, you will have to literally pay money to sell the house because of the interest payments that you will pay to get out of the house.  I made an assumption that you will get a fixed-rate loan, because this type of loan will help keep you from a similar fate that is facing many stressed homeowners. This is something you need to learn out of the housing crash that we have witnessed.  

 A variable-rate home loan allows you to get into a house at a much lower cost, but it carries more risk that could get you in trouble.  The idea of a variable rate loan is that the bank charges you a low interest initially and raises it later.  Before the housing crash, the pitch they were making was that the house was rising in value so fast that it didn’t matter; you could just get further loans based upon the value of the house.  People were buying houses they could not afford and were banking on unrealistic rises in housing prices.   

When your home is worth more than you owe on the loan it is called equity.  Equity is nice, but in reality, it is worthless until you sell the house.  Since you need to live somewhere, the house you purchase next will eat up much of this equity.  If you downsize to something smaller, or move to a less expensive area, you can walk away with a lot of cash in your pocket.  In retirement, it typically does not matter where you live, because your kids are grown up and you do not need to be tied to a location for a job. 

            Do you see it?  You will pay almost twice as much over thirty years for an apartment.  I’ll bet you thought that apartments cost less, because that is where the poor people live.  You are right, poor people do live in apartments, but they cost more.  The reason why poor people do not buy houses and save a lot of money is that it takes a significant amount of money up front to get into a house and the mortgage payment will usually be initially higher than the average apartment rental.  You will need to save 20% of the house price (in this case $54,000) to get approved for the loan.  This is why poor people can’t get into a house.  The up front commitment is too big.  If you save aggressively you can get there.  

Celebrate Failure

I have one failed business under my belt, and while upsetting, I learned a lot from it.  Those lessons are being put into practice in my newest venture as an author.  When I first started teaching, I went through the usual round of substituting and being laid off as a new teacher.  Once after being laid off, I didn’t get rehired right away.  

Photo by Bill Nicholls

 Now I’m fairly responsible, so I launched immediately into an aggressive job hunt.  My family was depending on me and I couldn’t sit around and wait on a job that might not be there for me.  Seeing that nothing was coming and we were temporarily doing ok financially, I decided to upgrade my fairly useless history degree with a masters degree in business administration.  I was convinced that there were no opportunities in teaching and decided to cast my lot with the business world.  

I developed a two-track plan to create a business while looking for a position with a company.  Ironically, I was offered a teaching position at the end of that very summer.  While teaching, I took night classes to complete my master’s degree the following year because it would lead to an immediate pay raise, and it would provide some semblance of a lay-off back-up plan.  

A requirement of the degree was that I had to develop a business plan for a new business.  That summer I decided to pass on working at the San Diego Fair to try my new business idea.  It was a failure and it was upsetting.  I did; however, get a clear look at my interests and abilities by attempting this business.  I got a better look at what I enjoyed doing and what I really don’t want to do as a career.  At the time I was not sure what practical experience I had learned from that experiment, but I now believe it all had a purpose in my life.  

You also will travel down similar “dead ends” but it may be preparation for something greater, so don’t freak out when things don’t make sense.  Uncertainty is one of the hallmarks of a concept called faith.  Faith is trusting in something that is intangible or unseen.  When you walk with God, you must trust that He has your best interests at heart even when things are going horribly (Romans 8:28).  If you don’t trust Him, you won’t stick your neck out.  

Writing represents a new chapter of my summer life as an author so it is new, exciting and scary.  I don’t know if this will be successful, but what I do know is that God loves me and even if this becomes a failure it will mean something in God’s overall plan for me. 

I have put many hours into all this new venture and success is not guaranteed, but risks need to be taken or I'll stagnate. You should have a similar outlook towards taking risks. 

(Proverbs 3:5-6). 

As you trust God (a risk) with more and more of your life, you will be led into some uncomfortable things that may not succeed outwardly.  Sometimes success is not something you will see this side of heaven. Failure is a good teacher, so be ready to stop and contemplate the lessons in the failure.  In the same way that successes are not readily evident, there will sometimes be no apparent lesson to be drawn from a failure.  This is the mystery of God.  Sometimes bad things happen and there is no clear explanation why.  All we can do is press into Him for the strength to get through that difficulty.  Celebrate failure even though it stinks.

This post is one in a series of posts with the Christianwriters.com blog chain.  This month's theme is Celebrate.  Please check out some very talented writing by clicking on the links along the right side of this website.  If you are a Christian writer, this website offers a wealth of advice and support on your journey as a writer.

Money 101

 Here is an amazing plan for your finances.  At the beginning of each month or whenever you are paid set aside 10% for your home church (1 Cor 16:1-2).  This is called a tithe.  There is a lot of arguing going on about this issue, but my point is that the church is the vehicle through which the community is most likely to be blessed.   

Image by selbstfotografiert

The idea of a tithe is that you are giving back an amount immediately that has been given to you.  In fact none of your money is yours, it is all God’s, so 10% is a reasonable amount (Deut. 10:14).  Failure to bring this tithe leads to natural economic consequences (Malachi 3:8-10).  While the rest is yours to live on, you should also consider giving.  Giving and tithing are separate issues and should be handled differently.  An additional amount can be set aside for charitable giving, but it should be considered something you want to do.  

 Do not bow to pressure to give without consulting God, for if you resent having to give, then it is not pleasing to God (2 Cor 9:7).  If you fall into debt you may be tempted to stop paying your tithe, but this is unwise. Dave Ramsey in his book The Money Answer Book: quick answers to your everyday financial questions has noted that many people fall into worse financial situations once they stop tithing.  He further explains that 10% is a reasonable amount and if a person cannot live on 90% then they cannot live on 100%.  The effort to pay the tithe forces a person to budget, which can lead a person out of debt.

Earlier we talked about the ability to utilize gratitude as a way to follow God’s commandments.  By focusing on the tangible and intangible gifts of God, you reach a point where change happens.  God’s plan will take you out of your debt.  You need to set aside 10% of your salary for tithing and an additional 10-20% for debt repayment and the rest is the amount you must live on.  Living this way takes faith in God’s provision for your life (Matthew 6:31-33).

A good way to reason out the tithe in your mind is that God gives you a total amount containing the tithe on top of your amount, the total amount is really determined by Him.  What if a stranger knocked on your door and handed you $110 and walked away.  Cool.  But, what if that stranger came back an hour later and demanded $10 of the money back, you would be bitter, wouldn’t you?  But what if the stranger told you the deal up front?  What if he said, “I’m going to give you $100, but I’ll also give you $10 that you need to give back to me. Oh and by the way as long as you are faithful in giving back the $10 I’ll keep dropping by with $100 for you,  if you are faithful I may entrust more to you”   This is a pretty sweet deal, but this is similar to how God deals with us (Matthew 25:15-30).  Remember that God gives us all of it, even if you work for it. He has brought about everything to give you the opportunity to earn it.  (James 4:1-3)

When you are faithful you are showing yourself able to handle more responsibility, but don’t think that God can be fooled into giving you more.  He won’t necessarily give you more money just because you are faithful, but by being faithful you are now able to access the blessings that flow from being obedient.  Remember, more money brings more responsibility for those around us who have less (1 Tim 6:17-18).  The Spirit that resides in you prompts you to be obedient to God’s commands.  When you obey the Spirit there are benefits that flow from obedience (Galatians 5:22-23).  These “fruits” are amazing characteristics that I want in my life and you should want them too. 

God is very clear that these are the blessings that flow from obedience. Monetary wealth is not promised.  It is possible to be poor and very happy, and at the same time to be very rich and miserable (Prov 13:7).  Wealth is not the purpose of life, in some ways it brings more hassles.  Most people live a lie by living above their means resulting in debt.  You have to realize this and not try to “keep up” with them. 

Getting into College: Extracurriculars

I teach mostly freshmen and seniors.  I call those grades the bookends.  Freshmen are learning how to do high school academics, make new friends, and begin thinking about later on.  Seniors are totally different.  Since college applications are due by the end of November, then even the first semester grades of the senior year will not be available.  This means the initial judgment of college is based upon the 9-11 years.  In fact some colleges do not look at the freshmen year at all.  A senior who has messed around all high school has little options and they know it, because the kids who are applying for college are shoving it in their faces.

Image by Paul at Ft. Collins

Freshmen, the best thing you can realize is that the friends you have now are probably not the friends you will end up with at graduation.  Why is this? All people change over time, but there is no greater window of time that experiences more change than the high school years.  There is just something about high school that holds a lock on our hearts.  I’ve been out of high school for 23 years but nothing draws memories more than my high school years.  You are figuring out who you are and that requires experimentation.  I’m not talking about doing drugs and all, but I’m talking about those adjustments to our personality that comes during adolescence.  Researchers have determined that more brain development happens during adolescence than any other phase of life.  This is significant, so cut yourself a break.

A class discussion took a curve one day in my senior economics course.  We were nearing graduation and the kids were sharing that they had made really good friends in high school and didn’t want to lose them.  That piqued my interest so I asked them, “Who are your friends and where did you make these friendships?” What they shared has stuck with me and I now share with all my freshmen.  They shared that their closest friends were their teammates.  There are other renditions of this, such as band, theater, choir, and other clubs but the concept was the same. 

The things you do outside of the classroom will determine your friendships.  If you don’t get involved then you will have few authentic friendships and high school is going to be very lonely.  An authentic friend is someone you can talk to face to face and in person.  It is someone you can be open and honest with and not have to wear a mask.  They accept you for who you are and you do likewise for them.  It is a give and take relationship.  I’ve seen many of my better students neglect their friendships (as well as schoolwork) to focus solely on the person they are dating.  Once the breakup happens they find out that they have no one to lean on in their pain because their friends have moved on and made new friendships.

Colleges like to see involvement in sports, clubs, and community service because it shows that you are a well rounded person.  It also shows that you can manage time by juggling the responsibilities of homework, social life, as well as practice. There is something about slogging through a losing season and sticking with it that builds real character.  How about taking the time to teach a technique to a less skilled teammate, or having that tough one on one conversation with the coach because the rest of the team is afraid to say something?  All of these experiences make these activities very valuable.

As good as these experiences are, you should understand that to a college, your extracurricular activities are a very, very small portion of what colleges are looking for.  In fact some colleges are very upfront by saying the only thing they look at are grades and college entrance exams.  

Community service is work that is performed without pay where you make a contribution to the community in which you live.  Community service allows you the opportunity to help others and feel a part of something much bigger than yourself.  Many students have found their calling by doing community service.  It is a great way to learn about your strengths and weaknesses.  There is something about helping a person, it makes you care for them.  As you do more community service, you will begin to care more for others.  This will make you into a better person.  Another benefit of community service is that you will gain a better understanding of the basic working of life and how things work.

While there are many things you can do, my suggestion is to view it like a buffet.  In a buffet, you try a little of this and that and then you go back for the stuff you really like.  Going alone to do community service can be intimidating, so go with friends and you will have more fun.  Think about the things you care about the most.  What around you needs improving?  Then go find others who are already doing good things to help in that area.  If you are feeling innovative, organize it yourself.  There is a cool website to check out called Dosomething.org.  They have lots of ideas, events to join.  They will even fund your organization if you submit a good plan to them.

Private scholarships heavily lean on community service, so while the community service may not get you into a college, it may help you to pay for it.  The goal is to find something you are passionate about and put lots of time into one or two things.  Summers are made for fun and relaxing, but they are a great time to rack up community service hours.

Many colleges look very favorably on community service, but even colleges that have a comprehensive review of the whole set of experiences of a prospective student still rate grades and entrance exams as the highest factor of consideration. 

Life is a Lot Like Frogger

There is this game from the eighties called Frogger, and I wasted a lot of quarters on that game.  The object of the game is simple.  You try to get your frog across a highway and a moving river to the lily pads at the top of the screen.  There are cars you must avoid on the highway, and you must hop on logs and turtles to get you across the river.  The logs and turtles must be abandoned before they reach the side of the screen or you die.  The turtles have an additional peril in that they regularly submerge, and if you are on them when they do your frog dies.   

http://www.arcade-museum.com/

All games have strategies for winning and so does Frogger.  One strategy is that sometimes the way to move forward is by temporarily moving backwards.  This aspect of the game is a great analogy of fiscal livelihood.  You must move forward through education, training, and hard work.  Sometimes you can look down into the future and you can see an end of a job coming (like the log or turtles) and you must alter your course.  Sometimes you must accept a short-term career path or job that holds you until something more stable comes along.  


Taking a low paying job may feel like going backwards, but that may be the best strategy for that moment.  You may look down the line and see that the job you have is about to become obsolete.  In this case you need to “hop off the log” and begin preparing for your next move. All analogies have their weaknesses and Frogger is just a game and not real life, but in life you will be blindsided occasionally.  Layoffs and health issues are two areas that catch people off guard.  It is very hard to recover financially when blindsided with something big, so preparation is the best measure. 

My son Bryce had a condition called Kawasaki’s Disease.  This disease is a temporary inflammation of the arterial system.  Since the heart is a part of this system, extended inflammation can lead to an aneurism or even a heart attack.  Bryce was very fortunate to have an alert doctor catch the subtle signs, and he was quickly medicated with two treatments of an anti-inflammatory called gamma globulin.   Bryce recovered quickly and had no major aftereffects of the disease.  When we got the bill in the mail we were blown away that each treatment would cost us $20,000!  


We had insurance and after a lot of calls, our insurance paid for all of it.  We were very fortunate to have insurance, but we had always made it a priority to make sure we had medical insurance and so should you.  Besides the importance of having medical insurance, this episode illustrated to me that there are events that can come along that have the ability to immediately turn your world upside down.  It is prudent to expect a couple of these events in your life and prepare to the best of your ability.

Another area where people get blindsided is a layoff.  Are there signs to look for to help you notice an impending layoff?  There are, and some signs can be seen years in advance!  When you are working, it is wise to take note to what is going on around you.  You will want to continually ask yourself if the company you are working for is healthy.  Is your position secure for the moment, and for how long?  Is there a skill you will need in order to progress or continue?  Is this job going to evaporate when a new innovation comes along, and how likely is that?  Am I getting positive feedback?  Are the things I’m doing relevant for this company, and could they decide that I’m not needed?  


Even with watching carefully, you may still get blindsided, but you should still watch carefully and make adjustments.  Using the Frogger analogy, use your footing in the current job to work on your plan to ensure you have current skills that are in demand in the marketplace. 

The Continual Pursuit of Digital Crack

ad·dic·tion:  the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma (Dictionary.com).

Image by Petr Kratochvil  

As a teacher at a school with a “no cell phone” use policy I have come to rue the moment that I have to ask a teenager to give up a cell phone (cue temper tantrum). For me, this reaction is proof of an addiction. Over the years, the social expectation among teenagers is that everybody has a cell phone and to properly interact with everyone a cell phone is needed

The reaction to losing a cell phone is so visceral, so intense. In my mind, it was unwarranted, but I didn't understand what was going on underneath.   I eventually came to understand the role of the cell phone in a teenager's life.  It is their connection to the social world, but it can also be a crutch that limits the ability to conduct true face-to-face friendships. 

Many of my  former high school students are now college students and the cell phone has moved to a different (although important) role.  It is the link to what was left behind in high school.  At some point the real work of developing new relationships must begin.

Loneliness is a top reason why people drop out, and I wonder what the role of the cell phone is in all this.  We need face-to-face friendships.

Our society is still "negotiating" the rules surrounding digital media, so there is a lot of disagreement regarding what is offensive.  To put it simply, our usage of digital media should not come at the expense of reality.  How often have you seen two people sitting next to each other texting away ignoring each other?  Pity the poor fool who has to stand there "looking stupid" while their companion texts.  Most likely the other will whip out their phone to look busy.  Texting is a way to look busy, but we don't need to be busy.  In fact busyness can cause us to neglect what is really important (Luke 10:41-42) .

If any activity hinders our true calling, than that activity has become a problem and should be jettisoned (Hebrews 12:1).  God has called us to love Him with true concentration.  It is hard to do that when we have filled every second with something.  There is opportunity in boredom and we don't need to be externally stimulated in every waking moment.   Pondering takes time and quietness.

""Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 

Psalm 46:10. 

This post is one in a series with the Christian Writers Blog Chain.   This month’s topic is ‘Pursuit’. You can find links to the others in the blog chain in the link list to the left.

Spiritual Economics

There are two obvious and one hidden dimension of the financial equation. Income and expenses are the obvious ones, so what is the hidden one?  As long as we spend less than we earn we will build savings.  The emphasis on limiting expenses makes sense because when we want to change the situation it is easier to stop spending than it is to bring in more money.  Income can be raised through increasing your education. 

 Photo by Petr Kratochvil

It is possible to make more money but the options tend to take a lot of time.  It is appropriate to work on these long term fixes, but it is best to reign in your spending now.  So what are some ideas to make more?  Some jobs automatically pay more if you have furthered your education.  You can switch careers, but this may take going back to school.  A switch does cause most people to experience a short term drop in income because you move to a lower tier on the pay scale.  As a teacher my pay is entirely a function of time in service and education level.  


If a car mechanic making $52,000 a year goes back to college, finishes a bachelors degree and gets a teachers credential it will take roughly 7 years at my district to get back to the point of where they were.  Remember, that in those 7 years the auto mechanic would probably be receiving pay raises.  This doesn’t mean the auto mechanic should give up on the dream of teaching, it just means that switching careers can be time consuming and expensive.  If that same auto mechanic were receiving no medical or retirement benefits, switching careers would make sense in order to get these benefits.  This pay drop keeps many people from going after something they want. 


 Long term thinking always trumps short term thinking, but is generally more painful in the short term.  You can generate more cash by working overtime, taking a second job, starting a sideline business, but these options eat into your time.  Sometimes it is best to make do with what you have then to chase after more money.  This chase for money can erode other areas of your life, especially you relationships with God and the people you love (Mark 8:36).  It is not wrong to be rich, but the thirst (or lust) for riches, is a foolish pursuit (Luke 12:13-21).

By lowering expenses you will generate savings, allowing you to invest and build wealth.  The goal of wealth, is to allow you to be independent and not dependent on others (1 Thess. 4:11-12) while able to help others (Eph 4:28).  Most people when they take a good hard look at their spending can identify areas where they can cut.  The truth of spending cuts as a way to economic freedom out of debt takes us to the third dimension of finances.  There is a spiritual dimension to your finances and it must be taken into account (Luke 12:34). 

The above verse talks about the correlation of spending to thinking.  We think about the things that involve our money.  If our money is going to bills and ever increasing late fees we will only think about that.  This is the mental trap of debt.  The hard reality is that you do not control any of the important variables of life (Matthew 6:25-34).  You could lose your job because the company you work for goes out of business, gets taken over, or moves to a new location.  Companies know that increasing productivity allows them to produce the same or more products with less human labor.  


According to Steven Bragg in his book The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual human labor represents the single largest expense for most companies; therefore, companies are always searching desperately for ways to limit costs.  Lower costs equals greater profits for companies, so you just need to be aware that there is no loyalty within the context of the free market system, and you can essentially be let go for any number of reasons.  Even government agencies are working to limit labor costs. You will need to view everything as temporary and be ready to adapt or adjust if you see change coming.