(With a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Learn from my experiences. I want to try to do this in the spirit of “Consumer Reports.” If I am off base, I apologize. Here is my tale:

            Last summer, we decided we needed to replace our old dishwasher–Haleigh, who had left for college. (Rim–shot, please!)

            So, Judy and I began shopping around for non-human dishwashers. We found one at Home Depot that we really liked. The salesperson said, “Why don't you apply for our Home Depot card, and then buy this dishwasher using our card. If you pay it off within the year, will not charge you interest. For people who are disciplined, it is a good way to purchase. You're basically using other people's money to make your purchases. This is how successful businesspeople operate.”

            I knew enough about business to know he was right. On a much larger scale, successful businesses use other people’s money to their advantage over an extended period of time.

            Now, understand, Judy and I try to purchase everything paying cash. There have been exceptions—our house being the most obvious one.

            I felt like this purchase could be an interesting experiment. We had the money saved up to pay for the dishwasher in cash; however, we decided to take the salesperson's advice.

            I would obtain a Home Depot card. I would purchase the dishwasher on the card. I would make regular payments on a monthly basis. I would pay each payment early so there would be no chance of a late fee.

            Why not give it a try?

            Last summer, I made my first payment two weeks early. Thereafter, I kept on a disciplined program to pay off the dishwasher before this spring.             

          Consequently, you can imagine my surprise a couple of months ago when I received a bill with a $10 late fee on it. I called the good folks at Home Depot National Headquarters, and they told me that, yes, indeed, I had made a late payment.

            Raffling through all of the bills I had in hand, I could not find a single late payment anywhere. Then the representative pointed out that I had made two payments in January.

            I tried to explain to her that I had never considered that to be a problem. In my mind, I was way ahead of the due date of the February payment.

            The Home Depot representative explained to me that when I had made that second payment in January, the billing cycle had not even ended for what was to be the February bill. Therefore, not only did they NOT count my second payment in January, they counted the payment I had made at the end of February (in my mind, I was paying early for March) as late.

            I considered asking her why Home Depot accepted my money, since it appeared they had no place to earmark it. I decided this would be inflammatory.

            I have a Discover card that I use to make purchases for my ministry at Shiloh. I pay those purchases off every month.

            I can remember once receiving a late fee, calling Discover Headquarters, finding out that I was indeed at fault, and being told that since my record was so good, they would waive the penalty in order to assure that “we can continue to maintain good customer relations.”

            Hence, I was surprised when Home Depot did not say something to the effect of, “Hey, since your credit record is so outstanding, and since we can understand why you did not understand our policy regarding billing cycle, let's just waive the $10 fee in order maintain your business.” Alas, it was not to be.

            I guess this is how Home Depot makes money on deals such as the one they offered us last summer. I immediately paid the fee, paid off the dishwasher, and closed down my account.

            One more thought: it occurred to me later that I had never heard anyone on the planet say, “Boy, Wal-Mart sure ripped me off.” Surely, somewhere there's a person who is unhappy with a transaction at Wal-Mart, although I have never heard of it.

            The attitude I have encountered at Wal-Mart is, “We want to err on the side of caution in any transaction that we have. If you're not happy, we will take the responsibility. Here is your money back.” Maybe that is why Wal-Mart is where they are today.

2. I have heard good buzz about the movie OCTOBER BABY, which is opening this Friday. It is a movie about a young woman, who discovers that she was adopted—after she had survived an abortion attempt on her life. The cast includes former television stars John Schneider and Jasmine Guy.           

            My understanding is for OCTOBER BABY to have a chance of staying in theaters, and to be shown in more theaters, this opening weekend of March 23–25 is critical.

            I like the movie trailers; I like the stories, both of the movie and of some of those who participated in it; I, for one, plan on seeing the movie this weekend.

            The actress who plays the birth mother in the movie aborted a child in real life about twenty years ago. She has found God’s healing and forgiveness, which empowered her to participate in this story.

            I would love for Shiloh to be known for its compassionate and redemptive ministry to those who have experienced abortion in their lives—male or female. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are suffering.

3. I finally got to take Judy to see the movie THE VOW last week. The story is of Leo and Paige. They were a couple that was involved in a car crash shortly after their marriage. She lost much of her short-term memory, including any remembrance of her wedding to Leo. He patiently tries to win back her love by wooing her all over again.

            The movie offered spiritual themes including a high view of marriage, commitment, and, ultimately, of forgiveness. It is based on the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Unfortunately, my understanding is Kim's book describes much more the faith in Jesus that sustained the real-life couple.

            I wish more of the spirituality of the original story could have been conveyed in the movie; still, I appreciate the fact that Hollywood did not glorify immoral sex, and, instead, lauded love and commitment in marriage.

4. I finally got to see the movie COURAGEOUS Sunday night. We had some of my singles’ class over for pizza and a movie, and one of them brought the DVD.

            I had been putting it off, waiting for an opportunity to watch the movie with my entire family. With Haleigh off to college, that has not happened. However, when this opportunity arose, I could not resist.

            The movie was made by the folks from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. I read they filmed it for $2 million. Last I saw, it has grossed over $33 million. (Why am I not investing my retirement money in the Kendrick brothers’ movies!)

            It seems the quality of their movies improve with each new product. I know they have been accused of a “paint by the numbers” approach, but this movie is rooted in tragedy—so much for the “happily ever after” theme.

            I'm looking forward to Haleigh returning home from college and our entire family sitting down and watching it together.

5. I am pulling for Baylor to win the men’s’ and women’s’ NCAA basketball championships, but in the women’s division, I am rooting also for Elena Delle Donne. I read a great article in SI about her a month or two ago.

            She was a phenom given a scholarship by UCONN. She left in part because she missed her sister, who is blind, deaf, and suffers from autism and cerebral palsy.

            The University of Delaware campus was near her home. She joined their volleyball team and later picked back up with basketball.

            She is having an amazing year and the U of Del is in the tournament. I’ll be watching.