"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney

For a happier post, here is a pic of one of Alex's best friend's daughter at Disney World this week.

Priceless...

Believe it or not

http://beforeitsnews.com/beyond-science/2013/06/video-glowing-angel-or-alien-caught-on-trail-camera-2442498.html

Angel pictures always fascinate me....

"Children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward..." - Ps. 127:3

As I'm sitting here tonight, thinking about what I feel the most passionate about - which is what I try to post about, I'm remembering back to the summer after ninth grade. As a straight A student, I never had to take summer school, nor did I want to, but for some strange reason there was a short course some of us took in the summer for extra credit. I can't even remember what the name of the course was, or really much else about it, except that the male teacher (who must have been mid-thirties at the time) told our class that we were going to argue abortion (this was before it was legal in Texas, but was already legal in a few other states.)
He made it very clear that he was going to argue FOR abortion and told everyone with him to stay on his side of the classroom, and whoever wanted to argue AGAINST it, should go to the other side of the classroom. I was the only one who did so...
Were there others who believed as I did? Yes, I'm sure there were, but they were not ABOUT to be intimidated by the teacher (or chance getting a lower grade.) As you know, public school teachers and college professors still use this type of manipulation every day.
I remember that we debated the entire class period, which was probably an hour. And I did hold my own, so I recall the teacher did not like me nor my beliefs, but he DID respect my courage. And as you might imagine, it was me debating the teacher, because a bunch of 14 and 15 year old public school kids were ignorant and fearful. In eighth grade I started seeking God after a personal search of religions, since my family did not go to church nor was religious. It was a personal discovery, as it is for everyone. But I "knew in my knower" as they say, that it was a baby and not some blob of tissue, which is what they were calling it back then.
Fast forward to public college, the University of Texas, which was wild then as it is today. I was one of two girls in my sorority house that woke up in my bed on weekend mornings because I didn't sleep around. One girl, let's call her Melanie, was dating this good-looking, rich guy from Austin, and she got pregnant THREE times, each time getting an abortion (which was legal in Texas by this time.)  As a matter of fact, about half of the girls I met in college have had an abortion. One of my closer sorority sisters got pregnant about 7 years after college when she went to a sales convention in Florida, and had sex with one of the guys in her company's seminar. She didn't even know the guy - they got drunk and had sex on the beach. She got an abortion and has never had children since. Each year she looks at people who would have been born when her baby would have been, and wistfully sighs. I worked with a girl at a newspaper in San Antonio who moved with her husband from NYC. They had gotten pregnant before marriage, so aborted their baby since it wasn't convenient. She nearly had a breakdown over the guilt and the last I heard was in deep counseling and on tons of anti-depressants.
I could tell stories all night I suppose. But I say all of that to tell you, that places like Planned Parenthood don't do sonograms and show the moms what babies that size look like. They try to rush the girls/women through the mill, sort of like Obamacare. Pass it to see what's in it. Only this is, kill it and then deal with it. And deal with it they do... Not only are they killing someone, but they are killing their OWN child, they're OWN flesh and blood. One of my ex-husband's brothers (raised Catholic) married a Scottish nurse, and she used abortion as her birth control. She had EIGHT abortions. And they divorced and neither ever had a child afterwards. How do you live with THAT?? I have no idea. I just know that this really is all common sense, and anyone with a brain knows it's a baby.
There really should never have been an argument...

(19 week old aborted baby)

"Be on your guard that you might not be carried away by the error of lawless men..." - II Peter 3

There is a lot of alarming news out there, but this catches my eye the most...
From The Blaze news, "The UK bans two prominent American bloggers from entering the country."
Pamela Geller (founder, editor and publisher of Atlas Shrugs.com and President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and Stop Islamization of America, author of books and regular columnist for World Net Daily, the American Thinker, Breitbart.com and others) and Robert Spencer (director of Jihad Watch and Associate Director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative), two outspoken American bloggers and pro-Israel activists were supposed to speak at a rally in the UK this week, but were "denied entry" because their presence is "not conducive to the public good."
We had better wake up, my fellow Americans!! Our liberal government keeps trying to fashion us after Europe, and this could be coming if we don't put a stop to it and stand up for our freedom of speech while we still have it. I'm still fuming about a story from a couple of weeks ago where the government said if anything hateful is said here in America about Islam, then it would be punishable.
Say what?!?
Notice nothing is ever said about punishing hatefulness against Christians or Jews. No... it's only Islam. And what happened to Freedom of Speech???? This country has become so Politically Correct that it has turned everything upside down. Which brings me to Paula Dean. Yes, she's 66 and from the South. Yes, she said the "N" word 27 years ago and yes, she has apologized profusely. But the politically correct police and the affirmative action police and the new payback whitey police have deemed her as toxic as nuclear waste. Sheesh!! Where is forgiveness in our nation??? Our first black president has divided this country more since the Civil War ended, and set us back decades. Unfortunately, we in this country, have much bigger "fish to fry."
Those of us with sanity have GOT to fight. We have GOT to each do our part. We have GOT to push back and stop letting others do it for us. I've gotten very political on Facebook, and I'm losing a few "friends" but I'm also spurring others on to get more vocal and more informed. The information I'm sharing some never see anywhere because they aren't looking. My very liberal niece in Washington D.C. probably only watches MSNBC, so doesn't see the other side to the story unless she sees those of us in Texas, who are presenting the truth. I'm "friends" with lots of people in the younger generation, who don't know that we are losing freedoms every week in this country. It's like a constant drip that has become a flood, but no one has noticed because it's been gradual.
As a "conservative blogger" - I'm not famous, nor much of a threat, but it strikes a very raw nerve that these two conservative bloggers were not allowed entry into the UK.
And it should with you too...

(No) Hope and (lotsa) Change...

It's pretty sad when Russia is making more sense than the United States lately... I read today that Putin said, "Barack Obama is either an idiot or he's purposely trying to destroy the American economy!" And this week a newspaper in Russia called "weak Obama" the ruler of Sodom and Gomorrah... They've given a safe haven to NSA "leaker" Edward Snowden, and Putin said that Snowden had not done anything wrong in their country.
It continues to be so surreal to live in a country where the governing regime views USA conservatives as the enemy, yet keeps giving money to the Arab nations and arming the Syrian rebels. The IRS has been targeting the Tea Party as suspicious and the NSA is watching everyone and collecting data that could be used indefinitely in the future as evidence to back up whatever case they choose to present.
It's clear  for ALL to see that things are progressing at break neck speed into an End Times scenario. The scene is being set (and quickly) for a collapsing world system, and the perfect storm that the Anti-Christ will present himself as the answer.
Today's rulings, in Texas with the (now failed) abortion legislation that would have closed most Texas abortion clinics  and nationally, the Supreme Court ruling that will pave the way for eventual same-sex marriage. I've argued with several random liberal strangers on the internet this week over these issues, but there is no convincing them. Only God can change their heart. And it's super discouraging, because the public schools have not only 'dumbed down' the next generation, but they've successfully taken God out of the equation of almost everything. Only the private school kids, the homeschool kids, and the kids that the parents have been talking to, even 'get' the ramifications of legislation that we are seeing. They've been brainwashed their entire lives to be politically correct and side with liberals like their teachers in public school and colleges.
Here are my tweets today:
-- Cardinal Dolan, Catholic Bishops blast gay marriage ruling. It seems the Catholics are the only ones taking a stand on this and abortion.
-- The mounting death toll of Obama's political enemies. (Referencing Hastings & others.) Chicago thug style...
-- IRS credit cards used for wine, porn.... Wow... taxpayer money for them to have lavish parties and stay in expensive rooms and party like it's 1994....
-- Twitter's pro-abortion vampires of the night (Obama's tweet last night said, "Something special is happening in Austin tonight" - This REALLY grosses me out. Here in Texas, the legislation was ending abortions AFTER 20 WEEKS - that's 5 months everyone. Even though it's life at conception, it is even "viable" at that age and can live on it's own, which pro-abortion types always argue.
-- Booz Allen Hamilton: Far Worse than Blackwater. - Everyone should read this article. Scary...
-- Muslim scholar tied to pro-Hamas group, radical cleric visits White House. Wake up everyone!!
-- Horrifying! Child Chained up, forced to watch parents executed by Obama-backed Syrian rebels. This is disturbing on SOOO many levels. 

Take this job and shove it...

There's a story in the news today that only 30% of Americans "are engaged or inspired at work."
This does not surprise me.
Gone are the days when I was younger, and there were enough people at a job where you could actually have a sick day or a vacation without feeling guilty that someone was having to do their job and yours too. Yes, granted, that has always been the case, but for many years, when someone quits, is fired or retired, no one was hired to replace them, and the work was just incorporated for everyone to add to their current responsibilities. By now, everyone that is left in this 'musical chairs' game of jobs, is doing at least three people's jobs, that 30 years ago was not the case. That's why you see when they say that even the "perks" don't really make a difference.
WE'RE ALL TIRED!!
Without trying to sound cliche, we're all overworked and underpaid. And THAT is an understatement! My poor co-worker walked out under duress last week crying, saying, "I quit." And she's not coming back. My boss kicked that dead horse one too many times. This was my favorite co-worker. Who was devoted and loyal and talented and personable and funny. My boss should have begged her to come back and offered her a raise because it will take three full-time employees to do what she did. She was the graphic artist for our newspaper, she ran the advertising agency part of our company, and she ran the printing part of the business. But she finally had it. My boss wouldn't even let her take a lunch. She had to eat at her desk. And my boss had taken away extra benefits lately like going to local charity parties for the company. My boss wouldn't let her take an entire week off ever, only 3 days at a time since she did so much. She took complete advantage of her, and if we ever briefly talked, she yelled at both of us. She reads all of our emails and stalks our Facebook. For me personally, she had promised 15% commission on all ads in the paper, but in actuality when it got too high, she took away about a third of the accounts and pays herself on those so I won't make too much money.
Well, my co-worker does not have another job to go to, but she walked out and she's not coming back. Most bosses make sure they and their families are just fine, and keep whipping their horses in a frenzy for more money. I get threatened all the time that if I don't sell enough, then she will fire me. I just look at her and say I am working much harder and much longer than I ever have, and if she doesn't like my work, she can fire me. Now she's threatening hiring another rep so that my pay will be cut in half. And she's admitted to others that she does that sort of thing so she doesn't have to pay unemployment.
Well evidently she is not alone, and there are hundreds of thousands of other small business owners doing the same thing. And many are only hiring at 30 hours or under so they don't have to pay for health insurance.
At what point did we lose sanity???

You Can't Make This Stuff Up...

Just asked my co-worker what he thinks Edward Snowden is - a traitor or a hero? He said he talked to two conservative men who used to be "in Intelligence" that he respects, and they said,"this is bad, bad..."
I'm not sure what to think. It is all so strange...
To my knowledge, Snowden had only worked for the NSA for three months and did not have a college education. Are we hiring inexperienced, unvetted people to guard our most important secrets? Evidently the answer is yes.
Too, we don't know how much information the guy has told anyone. Could he be tortured for info? Or paid off? Possibly. We do know he had a girlfriend the last few years in Hawaii who is a pole dancer, so clearly SHE has a price and isn't known for high morals...
It's just all so embarressing... that the greatest country on earth would be so stupid... I mean, I would say it should be made into a movie, but it's already playing out in front of the world. And too, the movie has already been made.
Anyone seen "Bourne Identity?"

This is one of those nights when my frustration level with the state of our country is really high...
I'm "arguing" with liberal women on the KVUE (Austin TV station) Facebook page, since Texas is about to rule on abortion clinic legislation (which would close many of them.) As you might imagine, passion is high on both sides, although all of the pro-Life commenters are extremely intelligent and kind and the pro-abortion women just keep saying they don't want "rich, white males" to tell them what they can and cannot do with their bodies.  They are rude and stupid and ignorant.
They are so blinded!!!
(Here is the Texas state capitol today)

Greetings from Cheer camp 2013

Retro (seventies) pep rally

*\o/*

"Let go and let God..."

It's a red letter day in our house.... my "baby" finally got her drivers license today and drove off by herself for the first time... sigh
My mother used to say "the chicks leaving the nest" and it is how it feels. Literally. I've read that mother birds push their birds out of the nest to teach them to fly, and then catch them if they fall.
Anyway.
I didn't worry as much with my 2 much older children. They didn't have cell phones when they learned to drive and you didn't have to worry if your child would text, or worse, the other driver. For 5 years I've commuted 22 miles to work in another town, and it's more dangerous now than ever. Yes, it's a tad more crowded but mainly because it's a 2 lane road, and other drivers are on their phones, checking Facebook, Instagram, texting, or fooling with their iPods, and cross over in my lane, coming head on at my car. As a seasoned driver, I slow down and move into the shoulder, but it's still pretty dangerous. The other day, some jerk in the opposite lane decided to pass about 7 cars at the same time, and I had to  get out of his way to avoid a head-on collision.
And yes, everyone's moving to Texas thinking we have jobs, when we really don't. So if you're thinking about moving to Texas, don't. It's like California was in the 70's... everybody's moving here. I remember seeing a bumper sticker when I visited Cali that said, "Welcome to California! Now go home." Sounds mean I suppose, but it did, in fact, ruin "paradise." Police officers here will throw you in jail for anything. I guess it's like that everywhere now, and if you are in the younger generation, chances are you've been thrown in jail for something that they used to give you warnings about first. And don't even think about drinking and driving. First offense in Texas has jail time, and costs are over $20,000 for first offense. As I said, very similar to California. I don't drink and drive. I actually can't drink because of my tachocardia but I can tell you in the old days, the cops were a lot more lenient on people. Not anymore. Strike one and you're out, but I digress.
DD is on the streets driving now, and it's a bit terrifying as her mother. Even getting a license in Texas has become much more difficult. Here in the hill country, it's first come first serve to get a drivers license, and they only take the first 4 kids for driving tests. Consequently we were told you have to get up at 4 or 5 am, and "camp out" at their front door, which we did yesterday and waited from 6 am to 8:30 am when they opened. Of course, there was a snafu, and I had put the wrong license plate sticker on the other vehicle, so they wouldn't even let her do the test. She was furious all day at me. Ugh...
But today "all of the stars aligned" and, since cheer pix were cancelled due to hard rain, we headed over to the DMV to the zombie employees and voila, got her license. It's bittersweet though. She's so excited for her new found freedom,
But I won't see her near as much :(

Fathers Know Best

Dad...

Since it's Father's Day eve and everyone on Facebook is posting pix of their dad, I thought it fitting to say a little something about my dad....
He wasn't perfect.
Actually he was a very flawed man. He was the only child of his parents, who divorced when he was a toddler. Both remarried and both seemed to go on without him. They hired nannys and maids and sent him to military school, but clearly no one had time for him. So he built walls. Big walls. And no one could get through. Ever.
My dad never told me he loved me. Not even once. And nothing was ever good enough for him. Once I brought home a report card that didn't have all A's. Nope, I got a B in Physical Education. He glared at it, and threw it, and icily said, "Get the B off of there," and stormed off.
We learned to avoid him. You could set your watch by him, he was so Type A. He arrived home at 5:08 pm every day, so when it was 5:00, we all scattered and made sure we didn't cross his path. He never said much at home. He seemed really angry all the time. Except the weekends. He lived for the weekends. He loved hunting and fishing and boating, and we went somewhere every weekend. I'm not kidding. Every weekend. When I got older, I would stay with friends if there was an event I needed to go to. It was non-negotiable. Actually everything with my dad was non-negotiable. When he said no, he meant no. Forever. He wasn't changing. So we would make sure he didn't give a quick answer, because once he did, there was no going back.
My dad did have good qualities as well. Yes, he played Bad Cop to my mother's Good Cop, but that was actually helpful in the long run. I read once that a person's idea of God goes back to what their dad was like. Hmmmm. I do understand that God, although loving, is a very strict God, and there is right and wrong, black and white. My dad had very high expectations, and we were expected to meet them. This has taught me to set the bar high for myself. And my dad was extremely intelligent. I love that. My grandmother had him tested and he was deemed a "genius" by the tests he took at his very expensive schools. Gosh, he was never wrong. I bet him all the time, and I always lost. The man was just always right. That was annoying yet comforting somehow. My dad was extremely handsome, and he and my mother were always younger than their years and ahead of their time. The summer after my freshman year in college, my dad waterski'd in the coastal bay - he was an expert water skier. And he was manly. There was nothing sissy about dad. Somehow he reminded me of John Wayne, although he was a city boy.
My sophomore year in college my father had a massive stroke at the age of 46. As a matter of fact, when people called the hospital that night, they were told he had died. It took him a year to relearn how to talk, and although his right side was paralyzed, he refused a wheelchair always, and learned to drag that side of his body. He was never the same. We had to tell him that he loved steaks and Chivas. I don't know if he ever remembered that or just faked it that he remembered.
But he was still my dad. Flaws and all. And I loved him. And still do.
Miss you Dad...

"I've got a line on you Babe..." - Spirit

I have a great idea - someone needs to start a television channel just for Baby Boomers. You know, like MTV, only a little older. Now I'm not talking about the WWII generation with Big Band music. No, I thought of it today as I drove around town selling, and started thinking about the old cartoons that no one can see anywhere these days. Or how about the old Little Rascals? They are considered not politically correct.  And I want to hear 70's rock, and 80's for retro and well, let us relive the "good old days." I haven't thrown in the towel, I'm just homesick for the old days, when there was sanity. When I watch the movie, "Sand Lot," that brings it back and even the "Goonies," which is later but still reminds me of when kids could leave the house without a cell phone and play all day without today's dangers of pedophiles, et al. It would reach a valuable target market, as we Baby Boomers are still the largest segment of the population. Lately I've been listening to 70's and 80's rock, and my teenager agrees and says we had the best music. She and her friends listen to a lot of it too.
Go figure...

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive..."

Regular readers of my blog will have gone through my youngest's breakup with her first boyfriend (let's call him Jett) and know that she has pined for him for 6 long months. And cried. And worn me out... She made a last ditch effort at prom, the first week of May, where she told Jett that she still loved him, and asked if he still loved her. His mistake? He said yes. She then asked why they didn't get back together, and he said he's leaving for college in August (they are 2 years apart) but that he would think about it. So he thought. And thought. And thought some more. By the time it had been 2 weeks, I was furious that he was stringing her along. UGH. But I stayed out of it. A few days after that, she "called the question" and he finally said no, that he would be 5 hours away at college, and that they could still "hang out" together as friends this summer since it's a small town.
Finally, DD was done. She had cried for this guy for a half a year. He had started another relationship with a younger girl, which is why he broke up, but his parents put a stop to that because the other girl was super wild and a bad influence.
Anyway.
This finality happened on May 20th, and by that weekend DD was invited to go to the lake with a group of friends for Memorial Day weekend. These were friends of both of them, and one is a guy her age whom she has known since kindergarten. And they had a blast.
Last week, on Wednesday, June 5th, DD and many friends went to a local national park and played "Capture the flag" which they always do at the end of school. One of her 2 best friends, let's call her Delilah (and her 2 best friends are sisters, one a year older than DD and the other a year younger) pulled DD aside and said, "I hung out with Jett last night and we are going to date." DD sobbed. She felt betrayed. She was furious. IT HAD ONLY BEEN 2 WEEKS SINCE DD AND JETT DECIDED NOT TO REUNITE.  And he had said he was just going to do friend hangouts and not date.
Now, not only did she not get back together with whom she thought was her soulmate, but she loses one of her 2 best friends (and possibly both if the other sister sides with her own sister.) And, to make it even screwier, Delilah had dated Jett's BEST FRIEND (let's call him Joe) this entire last year. So, if you're paying attention, DD dated Jett. and double dated a lot with Delilah (her bestie) and Joe (Jett's bestie.)
So... where is loyalty?? Delilah is the girl DD called sobbing when Jett broke up with her. She told her everything. She confided in Delilah for an entire year. She's been in dance with her since she was young. And when Joe broke up with Delilah, DD was certainly there for her. It was traumatic. As a matter of fact, Delilah was crying just 2 weeks ago, saying she was suicidal about losing Joe.
And now this??
I don't understand people. I'm such a loyal person. Such a loyal friend. I can't fathom doing that. I think I'm madder than DD is. But I do know that DD is stuffing her emotions over it. She's been betrayed by other girls her entire life. No one is faithful to anyone anymore. How does one ever trust anyone?? Everyone is out for themselves and nothing more. Everyone is a user.
Yes, this hits a nerve with me. And yes, my high school best friend stabbed me in the back too. It was the end of high school, and she had used me to take advantage of the "toys" and places I had due to my parents. So, yes, I felt very used. (sigh) I realize I'm rambling, but it gets weary doing good. And we're not supposed to seek revenge, but leave it up to God.
I'm just hoping karma is visited sooner rather than later...

No rest for the weary

Well the kids are all in summer mode - they have no idea how serious the things going on around them really are. And it does make you wonder... how could SO many scandals be going on right now??
Here are my tweets today:

-- Google urges voters: Trash traditional marriage. These huge conglomerations that run social media are in bed with the liberals. Literally.
--  On Facebook, MySpace? Obama's got your email. Guess this is old news. Maybe not for those who are clueless...
-- Yahoo is spying on you. Even though they deny it.
-- Troops 'targeted by NSA for anti-Obama views'. This should send a chill down every American's spine. The similarities with Germany as Hitler rose to power are uncanny.
-- Limbaugh: 'We are in the midst of a coup.' And he's serious.
-- IRS seized 60 million medical records. Yeah, I know. All Californians are liberals so they don't care. But 'as California goes, so goes the rest of the USA'
-- Ron Paul: Fear Snowden Could be Target of Drone Assassination. The similarities with Jason Bourne of the movie Bourne Identity are just scary.
-- Snowden threatens to reveal more 'explosive' NSA secrets. Well THIS ought to be interesting..
-- Libyan anti-aircraft missiles now apparently in Al-Qaeda hands. Hmmm, it's all fun and games until an American 747 gets shot down...
-- IRS seeks to buy hidden cameras, surveillance equipment. Duh.
-- FEMA denies aid to Texas for West, Texas explosion. Yeah, they said it wasn't big enough... only the size of a small atomic bomb.
-- Sarah Murnaghan, 10-year-old fighting cystic fibrosis, will receive lung transplant. Yeah, thanks to a judge who overruled the law and no thanks to Death Panel leader, Kathleen Sebelius.
-- Secret Service to outspoken Obama critic: We'll come for your guns: Media silent. Again. Chills.

Quien Sabe?

Okay, I'm super tired... I can't sleep unless it's quiet and I have a teenager and it's summer... so I'm averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night...
Anyway.
Just a quick weigh in on the PRISM whistleblower. My take? He's a hero - a big, fat HERO... Now I can only go on the information that's out there at this point, but it does appear that he's risking his life by revealing the truth. He's fled America and is hiding in Hong Kong, allegedly. Most are wondering why Hong Kong, so I'm sure there must be a good reason. He is only 29 years old, and appears intelligent and purposed. I'm not sure I can call him a man of good character yet, because I don't know enough about him, but his girlfriend for the past 4 years is a pole dancer, so there's that...
He could be one of those people who sat there watching the overwhelming lies and just couldn't take it anymore - like Bourne Identity or something. And even at his younger age, he somehow realized the magnitude of this, and looked around and wondered how the others that knew the top secrets could be such sell- outs. Just take the money and run. And let the world (and particularly our country) be damned. At least that's how I'm hoping this all went down.
Time will tell...

Class of 2013

Big Brother is Watching You

Here's what I say every summer, but it particularly applies THIS summer. Decent, conservatives had better not take the summer off, because that is when liberals do double time. They go into overdrive during Christmas holidays and summertime, when normal families take some time off and don't pay attention. They do news dumps on Fridays when the working world is ready to take a load off. And now that the prez is in his second term, remember what he said to the Russians... "just wait until my second term..." Wow, that still haunts me. And how was he so confident that he was going to win?? Did he know something we don't?? There are so many scandals right now, it's hard to find the worst one and concentrate on it. And they are all important. They all affect us. I guess the "scandal du jour" is that Big Brother is now watching us all - our phones, internet, social media... And when I say us "all," they are not cherry picking suspicious people, they want everyone's.
Add to that the little girl waiting for the lung transplant who was turned down by the Grim Reaper herself, Kathleen Sobelius. But we still have a few good judges, so the poor girl has a little more time. It all gets overwhelming but I'm not giving up. It seems to be that most Americans are sticking their heads in the sand, and remaining politically correct, and don't want to "offend" anybody. That reminds me of a Winston Churchill quote, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
I don't know... my mother and sister were/are nice people that want everyone to like them, and they would never want to be confrontational or stand up or stand out. My sister voted for Obama both times, and no doubt my mother would have as well. My sister, whom I love, is a liberal teacher and my mother was kind of a bleeding liberal too. Both overvalue education and think that having liberal causes makes them appear more intelligent. My mother would never have wanted to vote against the first black president of the United States. She would have thought that made her really relevant.
But it always goes back to what's in the heart, doesn't it? There are always litmus tests on what's inside of the heart. If you believe in God and the ten commandments, you believe that murder is always wrong and that life is precious. If you are fine with abortion, then you can't be fine with God.
It's incongruent...

All you need is love...

Of all the things in the news, I would like to comment on Michael Jackson's daughter's suicide attempt today. This poor little girl.... Here is the problem when we mess with families in America. You know, Michael Jackson evidently paid off a nurse, Debbie Rowe, to have his children and she signed away parental rights. Then he was completely messed up and died, and his 80 year old mother is trying to raise them at her age? Meanwhile her husband and other children keep trying to make money off of Michael and now his children. And poor Paris is looking for someone, anyone, to love her for her. Not because she is Michael Jackson's kid. And here she is, my own daughter's age. And we all know how hard THAT is these days, and you multiply that times a million for those kids. Yes, they aren't hurting for money, but they are for everything else.
My own father grew up very wealthy but without love. He was given everything his heart desired and then some, but no one wanted to raise him. They sent him to military school and made him board there. He built walls that no one could get through. All the money he ever wanted, and he committed suicide.
I really feel for Paris Jackson. I wish I could help...

Life as they know it...

Today I read that Michael Douglas is blaming his throat cancer on oral sex. Well, if this is true, the current set of American high schoolers are in big danger...
I'm not sure how oral sex became so, well, non-sex? Maybe we can blame Bill Clinton, since he was president and said that he "did not have sex with that woman," (White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. As a matter of fact, a "Lewinsky" and oral sex are now synonymous. ) Clinton was a master of his own definitions (depends on what the definition of "is" is.)  And he did not define oral SEX, as "sex," but only sexual intercourse as "sex." Seems there is an entire generation of kids thinking the same way. As I've mentioned before, oral sex is NOTHING to this generation. The girls think nothing of doing this with guys, and all feel safe that there is no danger of having a baby. Hmmmm, but now this. And, of course, other STD's are transmitted with oral sex as well,  it really is not as safe as they think or hope.
Since I have a public school high schooler, I'm learning the social etiquette for their generation. They start out with texting. That shows interest, and if the other is REALLY not interested, they don't even respond. If they are polite and not interested, they answer with one word answers, like "yeah" or "cool" or  yes or no. You get the idea. When they are a little more interested, they add "haha" or "LOL" which seem really stupid to me, but since you can't hear emotion in a text, it becomes necessary. Actual talking on the phone doesn't seem to start until they are "dating," but I've gotten ahead of myself.
Even when they date, they still text. A LOT. And can answer whenever they feel like it. When they are SUPER interested in someone, and it's reciprocated, they have a "Thing." And it's not just in our small town, this is all over the US. But having a "thing" means you can't kiss, or be physical. It's just interest showing. (Mainly texting) They don't usually go out together, unless it's in a group of kids, so consequently don't get to know each other that well.
At some point, (and not like the old days, when a guy and girl have gone out on dates and decide they like each other enough to start dating) the guy wants to get physical, so he will ask the girl to "go out." And then they are "going." This means they are exclusive, and the guy expects kissing and much more. (There are some guys who don't expect this, but they are rare, usually religious, and often give in as well.) But most religious guys are pretty faithful, and don't quite follow the norm.
At DD's high school, the boys pay for the girls dates sometimes (and usually in the beginning of the relationship) but then later ask the girl to start helping with paying.
Most kids, even in small towns, do not expect to marry until their mid to late twenties, unless it's the Hispanic culture, and they marry much earlier. They either go to college, or tech school, or start jobs, but they delay adulthood as long as possible. I personally attribute this to the TV show, "Friends," where they go to college, and then hang with friends for their twenties, and just party and be irresponsible until they turn about 30. For most, they then decide to (sort of) be adults, get married, and have a baby. Yet by this age,  some of them have addictions and need rehab.
It's a big part of what's wrong in American society.We let our kids delay adulthood, and they become spoiled and useless. They party a lot, go to music venues and bars a lot, and wait to have the responsibility of children. Often they have fertility problems by the time they are ready. And they have become set in their ways.
Anyway.
You see the progression. And early sex trains them into this lifestyle, which is actually physically dangerous. But the cat is out of the bag now. People who want to wait to have sex when they are married are mocked incessantly and made to feel that they are mentally ill (or have homosexual tendencies.) So there you go --
life in 2013...

God is good....

Since it is Sunday, I will tell a 'God is good' personal story. Two weeks ago DD went to bed early since she was sick. She is never sick, so it was strange. I went to bed just after midnight, and a few minutes later went into tachocardia. I've had this my entire life, but in the last ten years, it has gotten worse, and only stops when I go to the ER, spend several thousand, and they 'convert' me. Evidently my heart has two natural pacemakers, so when they get off rhythm, my heart races into the heart attack range. That night, it was worse than usual. I could hardly walk. I didn't know what to do, since DD was sick and I didn't want to drag her to the ER, nor did I want to leave her home alone, especially since she was sick. And it was late. My tach almost always happens at 10 pm, but that night was strange. I decided to look who was up and on Facebook, so they could say a prayer for me. As God would have it, the first name I saw is a co-pastor with her husband of an on-fire church in West Texas. (We've never had a conversation in person - I added her on FB since she visits our church a few times a year.) She, of course, agreed to pray and as we Facebooked messaged, every eloquent prayer of hers that I read, I could feel my heart beat calm down. This has never happened before. She is probably the most connected to God of anyone I know of. She prayed for 30 minutes, which already was more than I ever expected, and I thought we had signed off. I felt the Lord direct me to chug vitamin C (EmergenC) in cold water. I did, and then my heartbeat had converted. AMAZING!! This has never happened!! I went back to message her, thinking she had gone to bed, but she was still sending prayers. I shared the great news, and we both were so elated!! I am blown away by God's goodness to heal me, and that my fellow Christian friend would be willing to stay up and pray for me until the prayers were answered, as it was 1:00 am when it was all finally over.
And when DD woke up the next day, she was healed too - no more fever!! Yay God!!
He is indeed good....

Let the fun begin

Our day