President Donald Trump -- How He Made America Great Again

I can't tell you how absolutely thrilled I was and am that Donald Trump has been elected as the 45th President of the United States of America. Things have been looking bad in this country for a long time now. Between Black Lives Matter and 3rd wave Feminism I can't tell you how close it's come to Civil War. You think I'm kidding.

As a veteran of the USAF and a Christian and a family man, I never thought I would own a weapon in my home. At least not until after my kids grew up and out of the house. Barack Obama's time in office as well as the vitriolic oppression of the left in this nation over the last 8 years and the outright abuse we on the right have taken since the craziness of the 2000 election and even before that during the Clinton years when we were attacked for holding President (shudder) Clinton to a standard no different than we hold our best friends to. You could say that we've been holding our patience for 24 years. 28 if you count George H.W. Bushes failed promise to lower taxes.

As for me I'm only 37 years old. When George H.W. Bush took office I was only 9 years old. Same age as my oldest son today. And when Bush Sr. lost to Bill Clinton I was 13. As a young adult I remember watching the election returns on our old tube TV in the basement of our house. I didn't know anything about politics but I do know it was disappointing but it wasn't the end of the world. Little did I know how badly things would get.

The Reagan years were amazing. We were proud of our country. We all got along. Sure, I was merely a child but politics was more of an afterthought. We were at war with Russia and the Green Bay Packers just plain sucked. We could handle it. We went to school. Learned. Made friends. We grew up together and worked toward making our world a better place among our peers, neighbors and communities. Maybe it's my naivety, maybe it's because I was nothing but a toddler in the 80's but life was GOOD. People were happy. We trusted the news to tell us what was happening in the world.

Something happened though. I don't know if it was backlash from the Republicans going after Bill Clinton for getting "hummers" in the White House or if it was simply a matter of the flower child baby boomers taking over every facet of society...but something changed. And not for the better. Sure we had the LA Riots in 1993 because of Rodney King. (Who was no innocent saint by the way. Don't get me wrong those cops were wrong in what they did to him though too.) We had our problems but none of them were so bad that we couldn't wake up the next day and press on with our joy.

It was the 2000 election that made me realize that something bad was brewing in America. My Dad would tell me it was starting long before that but I first realized that there was a divide in America that was brewing that just a matter of time would explode all over the face of this nation and had the potential to destroy us all.

The reaction to the 2000 election was a pivot in America that exposed how divided this country was and how deep those divides were going.

"George Bush STOLE THE ELECTION!", they screamed.

"The Electoral College is OLD AND USELESS!", they cried.

Questioning the Electoral College? They couldn't be serious. They were.

I didn't understand a LOT of what I understand now but even I had my reservations at the time about how the electoral process works in this country. I now appreciate the wisdom of the electoral college having studied the ramifications of a straight popular vote. Basically it comes down to "Screw you Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago! You don't get to choose who the next President is for the rest of the country!" If that offends you, then you should consider moving to another country that's based on a true democracy and see how quickly your voice gets squashed by the majority with pitchforks and roadside bombs.

But I digress. The divide in this country was starting to rear it's ugly head in 2000. When I joined the Air Force in November of 2000 at the height of the bickering over the results of that election, I remember telling my Training Instructors that if Al Gore won the Presidency I was going to seek a separation from the military because I refused to serve under an Al Gore administration. Sure, at 21 years old I was hot-headed and a big-talker. I'll never know whether or not I would have followed through on that threat. Thank God.

This told me something though. America was divided like never before. And it wasn't getting any better.

In 2004 I was out of the USAF after a medical discharge but after the 2000 election I decided to get involved. I volunteered for the Outagamie Republican Party as a Ward Captain for George W. Bushes re-election campaign. I was proud of Bushes handling of 9/11 and the subsequent ousting of Saddam Hussein. I truly believed in him and wanted to make sure to avoid another 2000 election fiasco.

During that time I also moved to Kenosha and volunteered for the Kenosha County Republican Party briefly while living with my brother. I got a chance to actually meet a young Reince Preibus before he became the Chairman of the GOP. I had already begun to move more Independent in my political ideologies but supported George W. Bush 100%.

When I met Mr. Priebus I remember shaking his hand and asking him, "So, why am I voting for you?" In retrospect I see how rude and awkward of a question that was to ask while standing in the Kenosha County GOP headquarters just as George W. Bush was rolling into town for a meet and greet. But I was certain that I wanted to be an informed voter and was grasping at any way to justify every vote on my ballot I was going to make.

I didn't really get a great answer but I decided to vote for him any way. I'm glad I did because he couldn't have been more pivotal in Donald Trump's success than he was. I'm actually really proud of him. I had my reservations but Reince proved me wrong.

After moving back to Appleton and going back to Technical College for IT the 2004 election came to a close. George Bush won but the win was bittersweet. Instead of uniting America, it only fanned the flames still burning from the 2000 election. I recall saying to an instructor at the Tech that we are going to see a Civil War in this country in the next 15 years. Little did I know what we'd have to go through before it gets that far.

As the 2000's came to a close and the Democrats took over the senate and the Housing Bubble created by bad policies of the Clinton years busted. Things were looking grim for 2008. What was George W. Bush's solution? Work with Roll over for the liberals in congress and pass a bank bailout. At this point I had all but lost any hope of Republicans remaining the principled conservative party in Washington. Something was wrong with our Government and there was little hope for any real change. The Democrats had outflanked us and the country was paying dearly for it.

With all that was bad in America in the late 2000's I still had a little hope for our country. But it was fading fast. Betrayed by the Bush administration and the leadership in both houses of congress, I could see something was wrong. The people were not in control of their government. Something else was happening. Something sinister. Something unthinkable. I went down the rabbit hole. I swallowed the red pill.

7th Anniversary

I posted this on my facebook timeline. Hence the "facebook limitations" reference. I am reposting here for posterity.

As I venture into our 8th year of marriage with my wife Kelly, I take a look back and reflect. I notice the ups and downs. I look at the good times and the bad times. I've noticed that in this world many people talk about how marriage is difficult and I've often told myself and others that marriage IS difficult. Thinking back though, I must confess that so far it has not held true. Perhaps because of mental preparedness or some other reason but my thoughts don't quite gravitate that way. My marriage (knock on wood :) ) has been quite easy contrary to popular wisdom. Have there been bad times? Certainly! But not in the same vein as you might hear from people with troubled marriages. Our bad times have been times where decisions have been tough. The times we regret are when we haven't done the things we planned on because of certain factors, whether they be financial issues, laziness, lack of a sense of urgency, or whatever. Never have we ever struggled with a problem so bad as to wonder about the state of our relationship. I consider ourselves very blessed in this regard. The really tough times have been through personal struggles that we've taken on together and we always come out having grown and grown closer. There are a number of reasons I believe this has happened.

For one, we started our relationship from an understanding that God is the most important member of our family. He is our mediator. He is our refuge. He is our mutual Standard. If ever there is a disagreement we ALWAYS look to Him as our goalpost and when we make mistakes we forgive each other unconditionally. I've done my fair share of apologizing. I'm actually usually the one apologizing. :) Kelly has done very little that I can recall that required apologizing.

Secondly, we have NEVER allowed the thought of separation or "divorce" enter into the realm of consideration from the start. This forces us to ALWAYS reconcile any differences or arguments SWIFTLY. I can count on less than one hand the number of times I've let the sun go down on my wrath.

Third of all, we both understand that there is both a natural and supernatural order to the family structure. (1 Cor. 11:3 "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.") While we may discuss courses of action for our family and I indeed respect and desire the council of my wife, we both understand that the final decision lies with me. Even when I make mistakes or if my decision sounds "off-the-wall" bonkers to her, she respects me as her husband and follows me in whatever direction I take us. No matter what. NO MATTER WHAT. This is not some kind of chauvinistic male bravado position I take. It is rather an unspoken understanding. Don't try and picture me "pulling rank" on my wife at every corner. I don't have to. Since our standard is the same that we pull from we are often on the same page. One of the craziest things in our marriage is when we both agree to do something and then I never set the plan in motion. For example, we, for a long time, have been wanting to get rid of all or a large portion of our material possessions. I have not yet done this regardless of the number of times we've discussed it and have agreed to go forward with it. I have my reasons. Not one of those reasons are very good or convincing, even to me...but I have my reasons. And she doesn't badger me about it. It comes up from time to time. Especially in the wake of problems caused by some of our over-abundance of "stuff".  But it is never a point of contention. I don't know what I'm waiting for. The right time? The right financial situation? Approval of my family or peers? Wanting "the best" for our kids? Who knows? Like I said none of those reasons are good but they are my reasons. But I digress. She loves and respects me as head of the household and that is reason enough for her patience. I love her so much for that.

Fourthly, we are content with what we have. By that, I mean we do not desire MORE. Sure we have our moments of "Oooh, I want that!" but we don't topple dynasties to get it. We are content. Actually, we know we could do with less! We know for certain things could be a lot worse. I was advised by my father prior to marriage that the cliché, "Love can sustain us even in the gutter." or "Love will provide." is not a thing to be hanging your hat on. Well, not to completely disregard my father's advice but in all my experience these last 7 years I am truly convinced that even if we found ourselves living in the gutter, even that would not drive us apart.

Fifthly, (and I'll make this the last reason for now as this post is WAY longer than I expected it to be) Kelly makes this so much easier. She NEVER complains. Well, okay, she complains from time to time. But she never complains about the way it is. She doesn't complain that her life hasn't turned out the way she imagined. I suppose there are a number of reasons for that. I don't gather she was ever the type of girl that pictured her marriage life and children a certain way. She wasn't the type of girl that would practice writing her first name in front of the last name of some childhood crush and imagine a big white house with a picket fence and 1 boy and 1 girl for children both named after their parents and a husband with a great executive job making tons of money who would come home saying, "Honey! I'm Home!" Wait...maybe that's how I imagined things. :D j/k lol. I don't know, perhaps Kelly set the bar really low and even a "schlubb" like me is a pleasant surprise. I remember talking with my friends as a young guy about how, "Nice guys finish last." and complaining about it as if it was such a terrible thing. And at the time, it WAS! We were always getting crapped on by beautiful women and turned down at every turn even though we did EVERYTHING, "by the book". Only to see them run of with some idiot who everyone knew was treating them like total garbage. As a 34 year-old, married to a beautiful bride with two AWESOME kids (even when they are annoying) :D I can honestly say that was the only thing we ever got right as young men. Nice guys DO finish last. But at least we finish, and finish well.

There are so many other factors that have contributed to the relative "ease" of our relationship these past 7 years that I don't think facebook would necessarily allow in one post. And maybe that is contradictory to my premise. But perhaps the fact that these things come so naturally for the both of us is why it works so well. Anyone who knows us, knows that the two of us have some of the most different backgrounds and would have been considered the most unlikely of couples. God indeed works in mysterious ways. I still contend that one of the first times I saw her in Jimmy John's while I was mopping the floor and watching her walk out the back of the sandwich shop, something said inside me, "You're gonna marry that girl." while laughing softly and shaking my head at that most unlikely of prospects. I suppose that was my "Sarah" moment. It wasn't for quite sometime later that I had even seriously considered it. So much longer that I sometimes wondered if it was her that I remember thinking that about. But EVERY time I recall the incident I end up more and more convinced that it was. It's a bit surreal. :)

Anyhoo, I love you Kelly and Love you more and more every day. At this rate of love growth I may explode with love for you before our 14th anniversary! :D And of course, no romantic expression of love can escape the ever-so obligatory Jerry McGuire line, "You complete me." :D Kelly...You....complete me. :)

Happy 7th Anniversary and Lord willing MANY more!

With Love,

Chad

How to edit a non-DRM .mobi to .html and back

This is outside my normal scope of blog posts but a friend on facebook was struggling with this so I decided to put this on here since he's having a busy day and I haven't slept since 4pm yesterday.

This will only work with non-DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected files.

The file may have a different extension but I tested it with a different file extension and simply changed the file extension to .mobi from whatever it was.

Things you'll need:

1. mobi2html win32 tool
2. notepad++
3. Mobipocket creator or another tool to repack the .mobi This one creates a .prc file that seems to open fine in Kindle reader for PC

Unpack the mobi2html tool and run it. (I've been told there is a false positive on some antivirus programs out their but according to multiple sources it truly is a FALSE positive and can be ignored.)

It will ask you for the location of the .mobi file you're trying to "explode" / unpack. Locate the file and continue.

This little tool extracts the contents into a simple HTML file that you can then edit simply with Notepad++.

When you are done editing the file save it and open Mobipocket creator and choose the files accordingly to repack into the new .mobi/.prc file that you'll be creating. Don't forget any images from the cover or table of contents it may have unpacked.

Click Build and off you go. Once it's done you'll have a new .prc file you can then open in your reader.

Again I don't know that this works on DRM protected files. You're on your own if you're trying to do that. Also if you DEFINITELY need it to be ".mobi" you can try simply changing the file extension but I didn't try to as I didn't actually have an actual ".mobi" file to start with.

Anyhoo, good luck and God Bless.

In Christ,

Chad Kennow

1 Timothy 5:16

Someone recently shared their thoughts on 1 Timothy 5:16. I figured I'd share my thoughts about their thoughts in a more creative way. Enjoy.

Love NEVER Fails!

Kelly and I walked 3.5 miles to Walmart today with the kids. A bit hot I admit but it was a good walk. We had to exchange some items we bought the other day as they were the wrong size. On our way out the door we had rewarded the kids with some Skittles at the candy machines for being good during the long walk. An older couple saw us and noticed how happy the boys were that they were getting candy. I mentioned it was for good behavior during our 3.5mile walk from home. Apparently, the man was very impressed with our decision to walk instead of drive and we had a nice conversation about appreciating the little things in life. The man inquired if we were walking by choice or if we simply were struggling financially. I said, "Well everyone is struggling a bit financially these days...but no we are doing okay. We chose to walk even though we could have drove." He responded that it was inspiring and impressive that a young couple like ourselves were taking the initiative to appreciate the little things. We concurred. He asked if we would be receptive to a donation to help us out. I said, "Well, it's not necessary but I won't deny you the blessing of helping out your fellow man." He asked me if it wasn't an issue if we could wait there at the doors for a moment while he stopped at the ATM since he didn't have much cash on him at the moment. I said no we're in no hurry and reassured him that it really wasn't all that necessary but we won't stop him. He said, "No, No! We always try to keep our eyes out for those we can help and have the right attitude." I said, "God Bless you sir. Thank you." He returned in about a minute with $40.00. Handed it to Kelly and I promptly thanked him with a handshake and a hug! I asked him his name which he immediately showed with body language that he wasn't comfortable giving so I reacted and said, "At least give me your First Name." He said, "Jerry." God Bless people like Jerry. A man after my own delicate heart! More importantly a man after God's own heart. Please send up some prayers of blessing for Jerry and his wife! May we all have the same heart to bless others at any and every opportunity. God Bless you all.


In Christ,

Chad Kennow

"Command those who are rich..."

‎1 Timothy 6:17 "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy."

Now I know there is a lot of "hub-ub" about the "1%" in this country right now, but many would be surprised to learn that Paul is telling Timothy to speak to YOU. Yes, YOU. 

On a relative scale, when compared to those who lived in the first century, we as Americans, (every one of us), would be considered "the rich" by their standards.

It is easy to read this verse and think of people like Bill Gates and just about every Hollywood Superstar in America and point the finger and say..."YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT PAUL YOU TELL THEM!". I would like to caution us here in America to not be too quick to point the finger.

Did you know, that (according to: http://www.globalrichlist.com/) if you make more than $2500.00/yr. than you are among the top 15% of the world's richest people?!

Now I understand that most of us make much more than that in a year. Heck, I spend more than that at Best Buy every year just to keep my Silver Reward Zone Status. :\ Shame on me.

The federal poverty line in America is actually $11,170.00/yr for a single person and $23,050.00 for a family of four, according to this chart for 2012:http://coverageforall.org/pdf/FHCE_FedPovertyLevel.pdf

Now when I punch that into the Global Rich List calculator we come out with: $11,170.00/yr (Top 13.06%) and $23,050.00/yr. (Top 10.5%). This is indeed humbling!

Now you may say that this is all relative. And I would agree...to an extent. But how many times have you gone LITERALLY hungry for days? Ask yourself...how much did you pay for that nice new cell phone? The fact that you are reading this on a computer (whether borrowed or own) is an indication that these statistics are more real then you can explain away by simple relativity.

God tells us, "One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." Proverbs 13:7 

Let us stop fooling ourselves and take heed the command to those who are rich. Let us not be haughty/high-minded. And let us not trust in uncertain riches. But let us rely on God who richly provides us with EVERYTHING to enjoy!

Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Bread of Life

Now, usually, the strong can support the weak, the rich can support the poor; but not the other way around. It seems therefore hard to understand how, in Nature, it is the other way around: the lower creatures support the higher creatures: the soil (minerals) support the vegetables, the vegetables support the animals, and all three support man. Take bread, for instance. Bread has no life, no mental or intellectual qualities. Yet, when a person eats bread (or other foods), it is not only transformed into human flesh and blood-which is a most wonderful transformation in itself-but also into those extraordinary cells of tissue which make up the human brain, which enables a person to think and to speak. A child feeding on cereals and other foods grows and develops, not only bodily, but also mentally and spiritually. How is this possible? Does bread have mental and spiritual qualities, which pass on to man as he eats it?

The answer is that it is not the physical matter of the bread (the carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, etc.) which gives and sustains life. For in every particle of matter, there is the "word" of God which created it out of nothing and constantly says to it: Be! It is this "word" of God which is the real thing, while the physical matter is but an outer "shell," very much like our body is the outer shell or frame for our; inner, and hidden, soul. It is this real thing -the "word" of God, which "brings forth bread from the earth" -which really gives life and sustenance to the human being.

To make it a little clearer: When God willed to create the world, there was nothing at first, and God created every- thing out of nothing by saying, "Let there be!" The process of creation has continued ever since. If God should withdraw His "word" for one instant, everything would turn back to nothing as before Creation. Thus it is the "word" of God, or "that which issues from God's mouth," which is the real bread that gives life to the person eating it, and with it all those mental and spiritual qualities which make up a human being.

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 6:48-59 "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum."