The Connecticut Shooter Makes Me Sick

Photo Courtesy of Newtown Bee

It just seems so illogical, so random, so evil. What reason would someone have to kill 20 small children? My heart sinks as I think about what the parents must be going through now. The anger, the anguish, the heartbreak… Are not even elementary schools safe anymore?

The Shooter Was Evil

New Town, Connecticut is the last place in the world that I would guess an act of such

Photo Courtesy of Charles Krupa/AP Photo

complete and utterly senseless violence would happen. I heard someone at work put it well after hearing many people voice a similar thought. She just looked at me and said “the devil is everywhere”. It’s true that we never know when or where such evil can occur. It’s moments like this that make it apparent that the earth is coming closer and closer to its end. I’m not one to believe in the Mayan calendar doomsday propaganda, but seeing 20 kids, as young as 5, get killed without rhyme or reason, makes me see how fast this world is going down in flames.

Tragedy – What To Do With All This Pain and Sadness

Photo courtesy of Andrew Gombert/Getty Images

What should we learn from all this tragedy? Better security in schools? Better gun laws (should teachers be packing)? Well, this is what I take away from it. Enjoy your little ones, cherish the time you have with them RIGHT NOW, and make the most of each day with your kids. Even the bible says that our time here is not guaranteed…

James 4:14 – “Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”.

Proverbs 27:1 – “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring”.

Ecclesiastes 9:12 – “For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them”.

I think it’s important to teach your children the ways of God to help them understand and take comfort in Him. We need to provide them confidence in the Savior Jesus Christ and their place with Him in Heaven.  After all, even if our children leave us early, they can still rely on their Heavenly Father to be there and welcome them home.

I pray that God comforts those who lost loved ones this day,

Dustin Thigpen

A Powerful Observation

There is something I’ve noticed lately. My wife and I have become involved in watching many shows on Netflix. We find one we like, and then watch 1 episode per night over the period of a few weeks until we finish the series. We have found great interest in drama type TV shows like “The Event” & ”Persons Unknown” just to name a couple.

It’s so easy to get involved and get pulled into the story. We begin to like the characters, and really want the best for them in this make-believe story, in this make-believe world…

Designed to Care

I think we are made that way. We are made to care about others, designed to feel for them and want good for them. I think it’s the reason we all want to see a happy ending when watching a good movie or TV show. We develop an attachment to the people. We want to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose. It seems like the natural reaction.

Our Moral Compass

It’s this desire which really intrigues me. Imagine if we used this desire the way it was intended. It’s safe/easy to care about people on TV because they can’t hurt us or our feelings, they can’t put us in danger, and they are easily “turned off” if we get tired of them. Imagine if we truly reach out to others. What if we truly care about those around us. What if we make a serious effort to become involved in other’s lives. An effort to really show compassion and love to our community…

Imagine The Effect Of “Loving Thy Neighbor”

I am reminded of God’s command to “Love Your Neighbor”. This was regarded as one of the most important commandments by Jesus, only second to loving God with your all. As I reflect on this, it reminds me of the importance of community outreach and how this all fits together. We, as human beings, are designed to care for one another and it seems I find some of that energy wasted on caring about fictional characters. I think if everyone really got to know the people in their community, we could find great fulfillment and purpose in serving/helping and fellowship with each other. This would also provide great opportunity to share testimony and the gospel for those in our community who need to hear it.

Community Outreach On A Practical Level

So what’s a realistic/practical way to start connecting with people in your community? Just take it day-by-day. Be friendly if you see your neighbor outside and try to generate conversation. You can attend community events such as local carnivals, school functions (field trips, dances, sports events) and look to connect with people there. It’s always a good idea to get to know the parents of your children’s friends anyway. Volunteering is also great way to get to know people and fill a need somewhere (mentoring, local homeless shelter, red cross etc). Do you know a practical way of connecting with people in your community? If so, feel free to leave it in the comments below. Also, check out the 2 videos below and see how people are reaching out and being missionaries in there own communities.

Take Care and God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

A 9 year old girl from Alabama dies of extreme dehydration after her step-mother and grandmother force her to run for 3 hours….

It’s hard to believe, but 9 year old Savannah Hardin is dead because she lied about eating a candy bar. As punishment for lying about the candy bar she ate, the little girl was forced to run until she collapsed.

911

A call was placed to 911 when she collapsed and began having seizures after running non-stop for 3 hours.  She was brought to the hospital where she died this past Monday. The step-mother and grandmother were charged yesterday with felony murder. It seems police are still investigating whether the girl was forced through verbal commands or actual physical force.

So Sad

This story makes me think of losing my own kids. Despite the situation, I ask that you pray for all the family members affected by this tragedy. May God be with them in their time of need…

See the full story here.

Take Care & God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

Fighting Dirty…

Have you seen Microsoft’s new Google bashing ad? It seems Microsoft feels threatened by Google App’s new cloud-based productivity suite. Are they possibly afraid some of their excel/word/power point user base could switch over? It seems unlikely that businesses and individuals who are accustomed to using Microsoft products would switch over without good reason.

Here’s The New Ad Video

Check out the video below. If anything, just watching the video makes me want to try out Google’s new apps. I’m sure that wasn’t Microsoft’s intention though. Microsoft really could have done a better job with this commercial. It verges more on the cheesy side than funny… (by the way, “Googlighting is paroding the classic TV show “MoonLighting“)

Take Care & God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

P.S. Feel free to check out this video which reveals how this once homeless “van man” and ex-construction worker discovered this lucrative solution to the complicated online marketing world.

The Truth Hurts

I don’t know about you, but I think we all need a good *SLAP* every once in a while. Sometimes our judgement becomes cloudy and we need to be slapped back into reality. Maybe when you see something you want to buy, but you really don’t need it. When you feel as if you’re about to do something you’ll regret, you might appreciate a good SLAP from a person who cares…

Like the video? Pass it on! Go slap the ones you love!

Disclaimer: I can not be held liable for any injuries incurred during the “slapping”. If you receive a slap, please re-evaluate what you were doing before receiving said slap. Please slap responsibly.

Take Care & God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

P.S. Some people probably slapped themselves after seeing this video. Can you believe an ex-construction worker and a once homeless man figured out a way for people to make 100% commissions?

Happy Birthday Alleen!

It’s always been a challenge to celebrate your birthday since it’s so very close to Valentines Day. The 2 big events (b day & v day) seem to compete for attention, but I do my best to make you feel like the special person you are on each day.

Remember When? (My First Webpage)

Do you remember when we first got together? It’s hard to believe we’ve been married almost 6 years… It seems like we had so much more time for each other in the beginning of our relationship. Time to do nice things for each other “just because”… Time to enjoy each other’s company…  Time just to snuggle up on the couch, just so I could be close to you. I remember how hard I tried to make you feel special then. I made this corny webpage with a poem just for the heck of it…..

Then And Now

What’s changed? Why do I find it so difficult to make time for my beautiful wife? Life just seems to get in the way of us these days. The kids, work, and even sleep/exhaustion seem to get in the way of us making quality time for each other. The “special things” I use to do seemed to have gotten pushed aside by life. For this I am sorry, but I promise to do all I can to  make time for us. It’s amazing to me that my love for you still continues to grow more and more each day.

Wonderful Wife = Wonderful Life

My life is made better by knowing and loving you. You have given me 2 wonderful children and been such a great example to them and I. It’s been so amazing to see God working in your life. He is shaping you into such a godly woman. This is one of the most attractive things about you, your love for the Lord and your desire to follow Him. It’s one of the reasons I continue to love you more everyday. Your love for God is inspiring to me. Thank you for your commitment and reminding me of my own spiritual responsibilities to our family.

Moments With My Love

It’s nice to know I can still enjoy just hanging out with you and talking. It brings back those sweet memories of when we first met. Those moments of awkward silence and those “cool/wow” moments (inside joke)…

I feel we need to make more time like that for each other. Instead of laying in bed watching our favorite show, sometimes we just need to turn the TV off and just focus on each other. What do you say my love?

Your Grateful Husband,

Dustin

Just Plain Lazy…

You ever feel that way sometimes? Like you just don’t want to do ANYTHING? I absolutely detest that feeling when it comes over me. However, the strange thing is… I also want to embrace it.

It would be so much easier to just say “yeah, I would rather sit on my butt and watch another episode of warehouse 13 (syfy channel)  or stay up late playing Uncharted 2 on my PS3 instead of working on my blog tonight…

I Hate That I Love It

It bothers me so much that I want to lay around on the couch all day Saturday and watch TV. I want to order pizza just because I’m too lazy to cook dinner or go out and grab something. Pajama days are good, but only once in a while. It’s not good for me to sit around all day long. My body needs exercise and fresh air every day, even if only a little. I just feel like crap if I sit around the house all day and do nothing. It’s not good for my body, mind or spirit. Not to mention, all this free time could be spent on something more productive…

Being STUCK

Not only is it not good for me physically, but it also keeps me from reaching my goal. My goal to make a full time income from the internet…  It takes dedication and steady focused effort to succeed here. Every day I need to spend at least a little time managing my online business. Being lazy and spending my time doing unproductive things could gradually destroy this success.

Fighting the Lazy Monster

I think we all have that feeling inside of us every once in a while. That “Monster” that wants us to forget we have dreams and goals in life. That monster that makes us believe we can put all of our hopes and desires on “hold” just for a little while… Then, Lazy Monster’s buddy comes along for a visit, “The Procrastinator”. He joins along in the lies that Lazy Monster tells you.

You hear things like “you can always do it tomorrow”, “it can wait another day”, “don’t worry about it now, you can fix it later”…

Get Out! Now!!!

I’m here to say right now that these pests are not welcome in my home. I have too many dreams of helping others, too much desire to make quality time for my family to let these vermin get in the way. I’m tired of listening to their lies. I’m tired of believing that fun/relaxation/entertainment/pure laziness is more important than reaching goals in my life.

Every minute wasted believing those lies is a minute that could put me closer to being a better person for others, for my family and especially for God.

How Does God Fit In?

God should be (but not always is) first and foremost in my life.  Every moment of my life spent in front of the TV, could have been spent reading the bible and learning more about how to live this crazy life. There seems to be answers for almost everything in there. It really is the handbook/instructional guide to life. I definitely need Him and His word in my life everyday to stay on track.

Exterminate the Monsters in Your Life

Do you have monsters in your own life? Feelings that you want to embrace, but ultimately will lead you away from what you need/want in life? How do we fight these monsters? The simple answer is “action”. The next time you hear those lies whispered into your ear, take action! Do the things you know you need to do. It’s usually the exact opposite of what the “lazy monster” is telling you.

Motivate yourself by remembering your ultimate goals in life and what the results mean to you. It also really helps if you ask others in your life to hold you accountable and to remind you of your goals. Never give yourself permission to quit. You have a purpose in this life. Ask God to help you find that purpose and NEVER LET IT GO.

My Purpose

My goal/purpose is to read my bible and work towards building my internet business everyday. The result of accomplishing this goal is that I will be a better husband to my wife and father to my children. It also means I will be able to truly help others the way I desire to in this life.

I will NEVER let go of my dreams…goals…purpose…. Will you?

Take Care and God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

P.S. Ready to slay the lazy monster? Check out this video which reveals how this once homeless “van man” and ex-construction worker did just that and built a great income in the process…

My Electronic Battleship Review

Fire on B3…….Bam! I sunk your aircraft carrier! Booya! Ah, the thrill of victory. I remember fondly playing the game of battleship as a child. It was easy and simple to understand. The game took a bit of luck to win though. You would randomly shout out coordinates to your friend and hope to hit something on his/her board. Once you hit a ship though, BAM!, it was over for that ship. Some time ago, Harbro released an electronic version of the game called Electronic Battleship Advanced Mission. I didn’t even know about it until my wife suggested getting it for my son on Christmas.

Board Games Usually Bore You? Not Battleship!

These days, I’m not a big fan of board games or really any games in general that don’t require a controller. However, I decided to give this one a chance since the word “electronic” was in the name (and the fact that my son begged me to play it with him,lol). Surprisingly I had a lot of fun playing this game.

You can play the traditional “battleship“ game here, called “Territorial Waters”. This game style was fun, but reminded me how long it takes to play battleship. It’s basically a lot of guessing until you get a hit. The real fun started when we used “Advanced Weapons”. During this mode, you can use jets (which are placed on your aircraft carrier, cool right?) and submarines to scan areas on the other player’s board. Once scanned, the game tells you which positions contain a ship and which are empty. This makes the game move along a lot faster. What’s even cooler is the other player can shoot down your jet with an “anti-air” missile if they can figure out where the jet is located. Awesome right?

Battleships AND Battle Jets!

Losing a jet can crush you when playing with advanced weapons. A jet has the ability to scan an area you specify on the other player’s board. If the jet locates a ship, it can immediately fire upon it. This is why jets are an important tool to hang on to in this mode. You’re blind without them, just back to guessing. In addition, advanced weapons mode offers a limited number of special attacks from each ship type. A submarine can shoot a missile from one end of the board to the other. The battleship can use a tomahawk missile and take out an entire ship!

You can also play other game types, such as salvo. When playing salvo, you can fire as many shots as you have ships left. For example, if you only have 3 ships left, you can fire 3 shots before your turn ends. This speeds the game tremendously.

As you can see, I had a BLAST playing this game with my son. It’s nice spending time with him not in front of the TV. I would highly recommend the new version of battleship to parents looking for quality fun with their kids.

The First Argument

You think Adam and Eve ever argued about whose fault it was? Argued about who was to blame for the fall of mankind?

What’s your opinion on this? Who was really to blame? Voice your comments below!

Take Care and God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

P.S. Feel free to check out this video which reveals how this once homeless ‘van man’ and ex-construction worker discovered this lucrative solution to the complicated online marketing world.

How To Track Your Empower Network Blog With Google Analytics

Today I would like to share with you something I discovered while using my own Empower Network blogging platform. This article will show you how to integrate Google Analytics with your Empower Network site, thus enabling you to track traffic coming in to your blog.

Here We Go…

This procedure is fairly easy to do with a normal Word Press blog. Usually you just need to download a simple plug-in and “viola”, it connects to your Google Analytics account. The Empower Network blogging platform is different though. You can’t just download the plug-in. It requires a bit more poking around.

First Things First

If you haven’t already, go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ to set up a Google Analytics account. Look for the “Sign Up Now” link. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use that login to set your Analytics account up. Once you sign up with all the necessary information, you will be prompted to enter the website you wish to track.

Enter your Empower Network Blog address there…

For example, mine is- https://www.empowernetwork.com/dustinthigpen

NOTE: This is crucial. For some strange reason you must enter your blog address with the word “blog” after. Example: Mine would be entered as- www.empowernetwork.com/dustinthigpen/blog

Click To Enlarge

Once you finish this, you will be given a tracking html code to enter into your website. You will not need it for the Empower Network blog though, so just click continue. Once you get into the main page showing the chart and stats, click the upper left orange box under the “Google Analytics” logo and then the little black arrow pointing to your website name.

Now highlight and copy the complete code (ctrl+c) to the right of your blog web address (code starts with UA-).

Back To Empower

Now, log in to your Empower Network blog dashboard. If you are in easy mode you will need exit that mode by clicking the button on the left side of the screen (EXIT EASY MODE). See below…

After you exit easy mode, you will need to take 4 simple steps to connect your Empower Network Blog to your Google Analytics account.

On the left side of the screen (see pic below for help):

1. Click “Settings”
2. Click “Google Analytics”
3. Paste the code you copied (ctrl+v) from Google Analytics into the “Site Tracking Code” box.
4. Click “Save Changes”

That’s it! Now just keep an eye on your Google Analytics account to see how your blog posts are performing. Analytics gives you detailed information on how many unique visitors you get per day, the website that referred them (where they clicked a link-facebook, twitter etc) and also what articles they were reading. This information is crucial if you want to know what interests your readers and what kind of marketing methods are getting you the best traffic results.

If you don’t track your traffic, you’re almost doomed to fail at the marketing game. You need to know what’s working and what’s not to succeed here. I hope this instructional article was simple and informative. Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below. Until next time…

Take Care and God Bless,

Dustin Thigpen

P.S. Feel free to check out this video which reveals how this once homeless ‘van man’ and ex-construction worker discovered this lucrative solution to the complicated online marketing world.