Sharing the burden of today’s financial worries

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

These are the words of a very wise man spoken thousands of years ago.  I wonder if he knew then that in this century the world would be facing the massive financial crisis that we find ourselves in.  At the time of this writing Dow Jones ratings look like readings of the Richter scale after a California earthquake.  We don’t know from one minute to the next where the Dow will end up.

And it’s not just Americans who are shaking in their boots as they watch their investments tank.  This is a worldwide financial crisis.  America’s bond rating went from perfect to AA+.  What does that mean, exactly?

According to investorwords.com a bond rating is: “A measure of the quality and safety of a bond, based on the issuer's financial condition. More specifically, an evaluation from a rating service indicating the likelihood that a debt issuer will be able to meet scheduled interest and principal repayments. Typically, AAA is highest, and D is lowest.” It’s kind of like our personal credit score but deals with trillions of more dollars. 

My father-in-law, who would be 111 this month if he were still with us, lost $3,000 in the stock market crash of 1929.  Three thousand dollars! That’s not much by today’s standards.  But in 1929 that could equal the amount of a life’s savings. He never trusted banking institutions again.  He created his own system.  He kept his money in an envelope in the Yellow Pages under “M” for money. He didn’t earn any interest with that system, but he was sure to retain his original investment.

The guy who told his followers not to store up treasures on earth also had other important instructions for them. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” If he were talking directly to us today in the language of today he might put it this way, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

He also said, “Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Sometimes our financial worries are the heaviest burdens that we labor over.  He also said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

When a yoke is put upon two oxen they are sharing the burden of the load they carry. A more experienced ox will lead and train a younger one as they share the burden. Jesus is telling his disciples to allow him to teach them his ways. Here he is asking his followers to allow him to teach them how to handle the worries of the day. When we allow Jesus to shoulder our worries, financial or otherwise, somehow our burdens became lighter.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

A tale of two teams and the lessons we can learn

A tale of two teams and the lessons we can learn

I am here to tell you the economy is alive and well…at least in Southern California.  My family and I trekked to the area for a family wedding.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever attended.  While visiting, we planned ahead to take in an Angel’s baseball game.  Since the game was sold out at the stadium we decided to order tickets from a ticket exchange company to ensure that we would be able to get a seat.  We paid double for the “cheap seats” through the exchange.  So we got $12 seats, which used to be $5 back in the day, for $24. It was our first Angels game in seven years, and we were thrilled to be part of the environment that makes up “America’s greatest pastime” with 44,000 plus attendees.

The thing I noticed most is how much money passed hands from patrons to vendors, and it occurred to me that there is no pending economic decline.  Life is good in the ol’ U.S. of A.  We’ve got nothing to worry about.

When one can go to a baseball game and pay at the very least $12 for a seat, $10 to park the car, $9.75 for a hotdog, $4 for a soda and God knows how much for beer, while sitting around watching 18 guys whose salary is in the multiple millions of dollars there must not be anything wrong with the economy. 

Not in the mood for a hotdog?  How about a personal-sized pizza for around $10?  Or maybe an ice cream bar for $7.50? frozen lemonade?  $5.50.  These items were selling like hotcakes on a Saturday morning.

There was a line to get into the team store.  Once inside I felt like I was in a mosh pit (you can ask your teenager what that is, if you don’t know).  I could not find a T-shirt for under $20, not that I was actually going to buy one.  Cashiers were crazy busy. Discover and AmEx were ever present. The plastic was flying.

Another So Cal baseball team, the Dodgers, may represent more of what America looks like.  Three days before payday, Dodger owner Frank McCourt led the charge for the Dodgers to file for bankruptcy. 

Were their hotdogs, beer, or peanuts any cheaper?  Were they not raking in the dough on concessions over there at the former Chavez Ravine?  I’m sure that’s not the case. There was a major mismanagement of funds and poor overall management by McCourt.

How does this affect the players?  The Angels are one game back from the lead. The Dodgers are 11 games back in their division.  The Angels play to sell-out crowds almost every weekend. According to Baseball-reference.com, fan attendance is down almost 8,500 people per game at Dodger Stadium. When attendance is down, so goes vendor sells.  Maybe we can relate better to this team.

The bottom line is this: we are personally responsible for our financial well being.  The government is not going to fix anything for us.  How we manage our personal finances will determine if we are playing to a sellout crowd or striking out. My hope is that we each hit a homerun in managing our personal finances. We can be the homerun hitters while our government sits on the bench clueless.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

Beating cancer includes healthy doses of lifestyle change and prayer

Precisely one year ago from the time of this writing I instinctively knew that I had symptoms of appendicitis. I spent the day completing tasks that needed to be done before a short surgery recovery and headed for the ER.  As the doctor entered the exam room I jokingly told him, “Let’s get this over with.  I don’t have time to be sick.”

Little did I know there was a lot more going on than the average appendicitis.  After the CT scan the doctor came into my room, with social worker in tow, to say, “Well, you do have appendicitis and we will take care of that tonight.  But the CT scan showed something more serious.  You have a large mass on your right kidney and it is cancer.  That kidney is going to have to come out.”

Suddenly I realized that not having time to heal from a minor appendectomy become a non-issue.  I left the hospital minus an appendix, plus a cancerous kidney.  Not quite what I had planned. Now I had something much bigger on my plate to deal with. 

I share this with you because I have learned so many things about cancer, life style and living a healthier life. Though I am cancer free today, going through that experience has completely changed my perspective on how to live a healthier life, not to mention strengthening my walk with God.

Part of what I learned came from local resident and educator Phil Fons, who contacted me and provided a seemingly endless amount of information.  Part of it comes from a book entitled, Eat This and Live, by Dr. Don. Colbert.

There is a direct link between diet and cancer.  Some things I have given up, or at least cut way back on include soft drinks, diet and regular; processed microwave foods; processed sugar and sweeteners; caffeine, “enriched” pasta, rice and breads.

Things that I have increased or added to my diet include fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have even learned to like asparagus. Alkaline water, which helps to kill cancerous cells, is my daily beverage. My doctor told me drinking alkaline water is the best thing I can do for my remaining kidney.  I bought a filter. I purchase more organic foods, cook at home more and eat out less. 

I no longer cook anything in the microwave in plastic wrap or plastic containers, which emit carcinogens. Dr. Colbert puts food into two categories: Dead food and live food.  Live food includes fresh organic produce, grains and healthy oils, foods that remain as closely as possible to the way God created them.

I wash my vegetables in alkaline water to remove impurities.  Dead foods are processed foods, fatty meats and sweets. I do enjoy and occasional ice cream cone or hamburger now and then, but those are now treats-not the norm.

My great-grandmother, two great-aunts, grandfather and two of my dad’s brothers has died of cancer, mostly related to poor life style choices.  I’m the first of my generation to be diagnosed.

I believe cancer is beatable.  But lifestyle change is absolutely necessary to beat it.  If we were to make changes towards healthy living now, possibly within one to two generations, there would be way fewer victims of cancer. Nothing would make my happier.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.

Celebrating the lasts and looking forward to new firsts

This has been a time in my life to celebrate lasts.  With my last child graduating from high school I have enjoyed all the lasts as thoroughly as possible.  In the fall we had the last high school football game.  There was the last marching band competition down Tabernacle.  I enjoyed attending the last parent-teacher conferences, which allowed me to thank teachers who have worked with my kids over the last five years. They became like family. I will miss them.

This winter I enjoyed my last road trip to judge at region and state debate tournaments, despite riding through near whiteout conditions on a school bus coming home from Cedar City. I had to hold myself back from hugging the bus driver when I stepped off of that bus with wobbly knees.

If it hadn’t been so cold I probably would have darted to the ground screaming, “LAND!” like the little girl in Vin Diesel’s “The Pacifier.”

Spring brought us the last music department pops concert, and this week brought the last of our children to graduate from high school and look forward to college. We have brought our two children successfully to adulthood. 

My eagerness to be involved in these experiences to the nth degree could stem from surviving kidney cancer.  Though I lost a kidney I gained a refreshed perspective on how important it is to enjoy each moment of life.  And to have mountaintop and valley experiences.

When I am having a mountain top experience and know that the valley is just around the corner.  And when I’m in the valley I know that all I have to do is look up.  Like the country gospel song says, “God of the mountain is still God in the valley.”

Enjoying the lasts also brought me to a time of reminiscing about the firsts.  When I dropped my oldest child off at preschool for the first time he darted off to play with barely a wave goodbye. As I slowly walked back to my car I waited for that little, “Momma, don’t leave me.” It never came.  Instead I sat in my car until my tears dried enough so I could drive home.

Excitedly I picked my son up after three long hours of waiting for school to end, only to have him cry to stay longer.  I was devastated. 

I thought about the first time I could go grocery shopping by myself after my second child started preschool.  Thinking of all the things I could get done while she was at school.  Things get easier with the second child.

I thought back to the first note my son, now a music education major at Dixie State College, played out of his rented trumpet when he was in the sixth grade.  I remember yelling from the kitchen, “Who let the elephant in the house?”

As we move to the next phase of parenting adults, as opposed to children, I’m reminded of Proverbs 22:6, which reads: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 

In time we will again experience those firsts. Though I’m not pushing it, we will someday have a child get married, and have a first grandchild.  It’s called the cycle of life. 

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com