Always look on the bright side of life

That inane Monty Python tune is stuck in my head as I read the morning paper and stumble across this beauty. I think I may have figured out what our feckless friends in Lansing are doing. This is not an economic depression. No. It is a well-designed plan to alleviate traffic congestion on our state's highways. The $1.8 billion state budget deficit is just a by-product of their masterful social engineering designed to avoid the need for new highway construction. The exodus of people leaving Michigan are just mere pawns in the chess game.

I have to give it up to Jenny and the gang in Lansing. They almost had me fooled with this one. I should be more trusting of the fine elected leadership we send to our state capital each year.

I'm so tired of saying goodbye

Greetings from Michigan, the state that sends people to other states. Given the pitiful state of our economy here, there is a slow-motion exodus out of this once-proud economic giant. Now we are just a shell of what we once were and will lose another congressional seat or two in the next census.

Our little church in Dundee will say goodbye to three families in a six-week period because of the economy. One family went to Texas, another is going to Colorado and a third is going to the Cleveland, OH area. I'm tired of packing my friends up and moving them out. I don't mind the work, but this business of being a "sending church" is wearing a bit thin.

My apologies for whining. Please pass the cheese.

I praise God for His provision for each of them. The Rister's and Stevens' are going to Colorado Springs to study for the ministry. The Doktor's and Henry's are taking jobs to do what they think is best for their families, and the Lord has provided for all of them. And I do look forward to what God will do next in our little congregation. But God, you can feel free to stop the exodus any time now. As if you needed my permission.