Significant Event, June 7, 2009

It occurred to me that some significant events occurred between my last posts in 2008 and the restart in 2012. One of the MOST significant was the birth of my granddaughter, the Princess, Claire Elizabeth Brown. Claire is truly a princess with a mind and will of her own...Stubborn as a mule at times. She was born June 7, 2009, one week before the death of my daddy, Charlie Harper on June 14, 2009. Claire and Jake are true blessings to us. I know why people say, "If I had known grandchildren were this much fun I would have had them first!" I also know that grandparents are no match for the energy of grandchildren! It is good to be with them, but sometimes it is good to see them go home!

State Ethics Commission

The following is from the Newnan Times-Herald, published 4/12/2012:

State ethics commission lessens fines for late, local politicians ATLANTA — The state board overseeing campaign disclosures decided Wednesday to let 7,400 politicians off with a minimum fine for filing late reports for a total of $3.6 million.

Isn't it interesting that on the heels of Georgia being named the most corrupt state in the nation (see earlier blog) the state ethics commission, whom I would think would be charged with upholding legal and ethical standards in government, decided to reduce fines for politicians who did not file financial reports or filed late reports. It is not clear to me if the total fines were reduced to $3.6 million or if the initial fines were that amount. Either way, that is a lot of money. It says to me that a lot (most?) of our elected officials do not take this requirement seriously. I am sure that the number above includes state, county, and city elected officials. Shouldn't we expect more from our officials? Don't we have a right to demand better action than this, both by the elected officials and the state ethics commission?

Georgia the Most Corrupt State in America

The following is excerpted from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, March 22, 2012:

Georgia is the most corrupt state in the nation, according to 24/7 Wall St., citing a report by the Center for Public Integrity."The Center for Public Integrity's report examined issues concerning accountability and ethics in each state government. States were graded on 330 separate metrics, which were grouped into 14 major categories. Overall grades are based on the average grades in the major categories, which included lobbying disclosure, political financing, internal auditing, ethics enforcement agencies and redistricting," said 24/7 Wall St.Georgia received failing grades across the board.

From 24/7 Wall St:


GeorgiaOverall grade: F (49%) (Note: highest grade 100%)

Public access to information: F

Legislative accountability: F

Political financing: F

Ethics enforcement agencies: F

"Georgia has the worst levels of corruption risk and lack of accountability of any state in the country. The state scored a D or worse in 12 of the 14 categories. The state's biggest problem is the absence of a strong ethics enforcement agency. Republican governor Sonny Perdue managed to get an ethics bill through the legislature, but by the time it passed, his proposals to ban gifts to state workers and clearly define appropriate campaign spending had been stripped out. According to State Integrity reporter Jim Walls, while Georgia has provisions to prevent certain kinds of corruption in campaign finance and lobbying, the state is full of unaddressed loopholes and lax enforcement. About 2,000 Georgia officials, including one in five sitting legislators, have failed to pay penalties for filing their disclosures late, or not at all.'"

It just makes me proud to be a Georgian!

Children's Sermon

When I was a pastor I always did a children's sermon in the worship service. I discovered that the adults were more attentive and often got more from the children's sermon than from the "big" sermon. I even did my doctoral project on the use of the children's sermon in Baptist churches.

We had a great children' sermon at Palmetto Baptist today! Dr. Jimmy Orr began by talking about his love for one sport and one team. He had about twelve Braves caps and other Braves paraphenalia. He asked the question, "Do you know what my favorite sport is?" One child answered "Golf" and the congregation roared with laughter! Jimmy was not flustered and just proceeded to his point of asking the children how we show that we love Jesus. Carrying through with his lead, the children responded by saying, "we can wear a shirt that says 'I love Jesus'; we can wear a hat that says 'I love Jesus; we can have a mug that says 'I love Jesus'" The sermon was effectively ended, however, when one child said, "We can wear underwear that says 'I love Jesus'"

Such innocence!

8th Annual "Cars for Kids" Show

Reprinted from the South Fulton Neighbor, September 10, 2008

Chris Manley/Staff

James Harper, President/CEO of Georgia Baptist Children's Home in Palmetto, readies his 1996 Corvette and 1977 Chevy Silverado for the 8th Annual Cars for Kids Show

Little Red Corvette
Children's home to host car show
By LaTria Garnigan South Fulton Neighbor Senior Writer

On Sept. 20, the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home will host its eighth Annual Cars for Kids Show. The show will be held on its Palmetto campus, located at 9250 Hutcheson Ferry Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It is free for visitors to attend, and for those who wish to enter their antique, classic cars for display cost is $15 by Monday and $20 up until the day of the event.
The car show benefits the children’s home by getting people on the campus that might not have any other reason to be there, according to James Harper, president/CEO.
“A lot of folks come just to look at the cars and we always try to give them some information about the children’s home,” said Harper.
He said they discovered if they could ever get someone to come onto the campus, it changes them.
“They can’t ever hear about the children’s home again and not have a mental picture of where it is or what its like,” said Harper.
Besides being able to see the cars, many visitors just come to have a fun-filled family day outside and enjoy the company, food and many activities for kids that are available. Activities include live entertainment, moon bounce, face painting, games, racing ducks and more.
Vehicles range from antique fire trucks, old tractors, some fast cars, dragsters and other restored vehicles. Harper is entering a 1977 Silverado which he had restored last year. The truck, now belonging to his wife, was her late father’s truck, and was only used on the weekends. Harper also will showcase his 1996 Corvette he purchased a few years ago.
In past years they have had about 60 to 80 cars shown, depending on the weather. They always have a good crowd of lookers come and enjoy the day, said Harper.
The children’s home has been in operation since 1872. They serve school-age children (6 to 18) from broken homes, abusive or neglectful situations, and most of the children are coming from state custody (DFCS), Department of Juvenile Justice or other organizations from the state, said Harper.
“These days the children we work with have sometimes pretty severe psychological needs and part of our ministry is to give them whatever it is they need to be healthy and successful,” said Harper.
The home is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention, which has about 3,500 churches in the convention.
“We are an agency of the convention which means the Georgia Baptist Convention actually elects our trustees,” he said. “Then the trustees are responsible for setting the direction for the children’s home. Ultimately they are the legal ones responsible for the ministry and the children’s home.”
Harper mentioned they have trustees from all over the state of Georgia. This campus is one of three in the state; there is one in Meansville and one in Baxley, which is the largest as far as land area.
The Palmetto campus covers about 300 acres and features a chapel, campus residential homes for girls and boys, a maternity home for unwed mothers who need assistance until their baby is born, a recreational facility with a private school for those not integrated in area public schools and more.
Information: (770) 463-3800 or visit www.gbchfm.org.

New Favorite Pictures

These are my new favorite pictures of Jake! Above is Jake and me on Nanny Betty's front porch. As you can see, Jake and I look remarkably alike...at least our hats look similar! Jake is a great baby.
This is my other favorite picture...Jake, Nana and me on vacation at Panama City. I hope this is just the first of many vacations we can take with him!

James' Toy

I have wanted a Corvette for 40 years! In May 2007 my dream became a reality! I purchased a 1996 Corvette Convertible. The picture above shows me with my prize at the Children's Home "Cars for Kids" Show in September. I can't wait til Jake is big enough to ride with me!