Poison and Divisiveness AKA Partisanship and Obama

While any of you are pointing a finger  in an attempt  to bring attention to what you believe is a speck in another's eye, you're blinded by the plank in your own.  The blind leading the blind is beyond dangerous. 

Also, I would like to know how someone posts a picture dissing “one” party,  then in the next post, claims that the “one” party's sole purpose is... (wait for it) to bash  “their” party.

Wow!!! What??? The hypocrisy in this is so disturbing…

This is absurd, not to mention poisonous to this country. You might as well go set fire to another  forest, blow up or drive another plane into a building because you are further serving to divide this country; more so than the terrorists who hate us.

This isn't about party, this is about country. I don't care for all republicans, I don't care for all democrats.  In fact, I am pretty disgusted with most of them.  (About as disgusted as I am with the Christians who feed the fire instead of working to get it under control.) Politicians need to requisitioned and redistributed.  I say the DOJ officials go man the borders, why not? And we’ll even generously provide each with a bean bag gun….. *sigh*

“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession.  I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”    ~Ronald Reagan~

No, I am not a fan of Obama. It's no secret, I’ve never hidden it well, as if I ever tried!  However, you should know,  it has NOTHING to do with his skin color or his party affiliation. In fact I am sad, I am very sad that Obama was the first black man to be POTUS.  Why?  Because it was nice to think, to believe  as a country we had finally gotten past this "racial" junk that plagued us for so long, too long (ever is too long). Happy to think we had  finally moved beyond the days of any and all segregation, of thinking that skin color had ever determined someone's worth, ability or value. I want to know we're all finally bigger, smarter, over  this.

My dislike, my disappointment is solitarily about this man as a human being, as a leader. We can & we have to do better...  Do better than empty promises, do better than disgracing the office, do better than perverting the constitution and abusing power. I honestly don’t think we can do much worse, he is not an honorable man, and he hasn’t a clue as to how to lead, much less successfully.  It isn’t about his skin color, it’s about his character,  the lack thereof.

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond it’s limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”  ~Ronald Reagan~

And let’s not forget  the racial argument, ugh! It’s a tired empty accusation that has been so misused, those that throw it around only accomplish looking as sorry as the lame, unintelligible demagogues who came up with it out of desperation for a distraction from the real issues.

“If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago, and a racist today.”  ~Thomas Sowell~

Don't be a sheep that follows the flock off the cliff, think & research the facts for yourself.

 “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”  ~Abraham Lincoln~      

Check out this link, and remember, united we stand, divided....

 

http://patriotupdate.com/articles/obama-...

And for the sake of this country stop throwing lit matches where the moronic self-serving politicians have poured gasoline.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  ~Abraham Lincoln~

Freedom isn't Free, or a Forever Guarantee

I worried it was lame or maybe lazy to repost the same blog a year later.... But as I stared, blankly at the computer struggling to come up with how I felt, I realized this IS still how I feel. Not much has changed for the better, it's only gotten worse in the last year. The message is much the same, it's just more detrimental for us to listen now, than it was a year ago. We must heed the warnings of our forefathers before freedom becomes a lesson we teach our kids out of history book.......

Fourth of July is my favorite holiday; well honestly it’s in a two way tie with Christmas. I feel both holidays represent events that are essential to my freedom. Fourth of July for many, too many, has lost its meaning, its historical value, if you will. The struggle of independence from a tyrannical king to obtain religious freedoms is more of a fairy tale we read about in a book, not a reality. Fourth of July is about fireworks, cookouts, reunions and canned beverages, right?  Wrong, but many believe it is?

I recently(a year ago, bet it's still accurate) read a statistic that 1 in 4 people don’t know from which country we declared our independence. Really? How is this possible? How can someone live, grow up in the United States of America and not know where we came from, how we came to be, and why these brave people endured sickness, separation from or the death of loved ones; often the loss of their own lives? Why doesn’t everyone in America know these facts? Because we’ve lost sight of our freedom, our liberty; we’ve taken it for granted. We’ve squandered our gifts; we’ve blindly left the responsibility of our lives in the hands of seemingly caring individuals. Individuals who call themselves politicians and ask us to vote for them, then we do, we have, and we will…. That is unless we heed the words of those that have gone before us, now! We’ve been warned countless times of what was to come. (Not ‘IS’ to come, because my friend those times are here)

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
John Adams in a letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775

First, we need to tell our kids about John Carver and William Bradford. Tell them how and why they left England to escape religious persecution went to Holland because Holland had religious freedom but left because they didn’t want their children influenced by Dutch customs/language; they then headed to the New World (known to us today as America the beautiful). Many left behind family but they made the sacrifice for future generations, and the hopes of a better life, a free life.

Second, tell them about the Revolutionary war(this too is a very important and disturbing statistic I read recently, it states, “Many Americans believe the war that freed us from ‘that country they can’t name’ is referred to as the civil war.”) Tell them about the 13 colonies, about the second continental congress, and their July 2^nd 1776 vote to approve the resolution of independence. Tell them about our Founding Fathers; and not the watered down version they get in a 5 minute lesson during history class, but the true version that allows for the religion and true reasons we are who we are, why we have the Declaration of Independence, Constitution/Bill of Rights/Amendments, the origin of Separation of Church and State. Then and only then should they set off fireworks, throw down a few dogs and celebrate the Fourth of July.

“Freedom isn’t free; someone has always had to pay the price.”

Freedom, liberty, and the possible loss of these unalienable rights are not to be taken lightly. Although our rights come from God, not from man, don’t think man won’t attempt to rob you of these rights in order to control you and all you have; don’t think they aren’t already trying as we sleep and feast, and play. A word from the great communicator, a hero of mine, resonates in my mind;

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was like in the United States where men were free.” ~Ronald Reagan~

This is the time to wake up and listen to the warnings of those who have gone before us, those who laid the foundation, stared death and persecution in the eye and said I will be free.

“Give me Liberty or give me death.” ~Patrick Henry~

We have the gift of freedom, afforded to us by the many heroes who have fought and died over the years; we have freedom unlike any other country has ever known. But we allow our sacred constitution to be abused, misinterpreted and denied by the very people we vote for. We are not the few, we are the many and we need to make our voices heard. We have the right to say God bless you anywhere we choose, and to never have one court ruling be influenced by sharia law. Babies, every baby has the right to be born, to have life, to have dignity; why doesn’t everyone know this; why doesn’t everyone practice this?

“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” ~Thomas Sowell~

Stand up, take a part in making a difference, in fighting for our country, in raising the next generation to fight for truth and freedom; to know why we light fireworks and send rockets soaring through the night sky before exploding into many brilliant colors. Then show them how we thank God for not only an amazing country but for the freedom to celebrate our freedom; because this after all is what July 4^th is really about.

“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV

I hope and I pray we have many more 4th of July celebrations to come......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA, THANK OUR VETERANS, AND PRAY FOR OUR SOLDIERS

What did you wear for Easter this year?

For anyone who doesn’t know me, you should know, I am fiercely competitive. I have been known to occasionally… often be sarcastic, (however, I prefer the term witty, thanks honey) somewhat head strong,  (I just can’t say stubborn, it has such a bad reputation) and lastly I may be a teensy weensy bit of a perfectionist.                       Feels so freeing to be self aware!

With all that said, you may now better understand me and one of my own personal, self made dilemmas. (Yes, I have more than one!) I am a mother of six; six beautiful, gifted, loving individuals. I am blessed beyond measure, I truly am. I know this, I at least try to know and to never forget this.  You see, I am aware how flawed I am; how often I fail, or fall short of who God wants me to be, who He created me to be.  I know I am so undeserving, thankfully I am not required to be… (Isn’t Jesus awesome?)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

And, I know I am not alone, none of us are….

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You see, my dilemma is this; for many years, fifteen Easters to be exact, I made certain that my children’s outfits matched at Easter. Now that I look back(even just a year ago) I’m not sure why I did this. It always seemed so important, almost urgent at the time… every single time!  Whether the dresses, vests, sweaters, etc. were store bought or homemade by my mother in law or mom, my kids matched. (I must take a moment to pause here, I feel as though I probably owe my oldest an apology… The only boy for twelve years, three younger sisters, pastel Easter colors… you get the gist.) Whether homemade or store bought I ran around frantically, dragging my kids in and out of stores, in and out of the car just to find matching outfits or matching fabrics for them all to wear.(Note, this became more difficult with each child.) This “tradition,” was so imperative that one year, out of sheer desperation, I wore bright pink! I don’t much care for pink, I’m not a pink kinda gal… I’m a bold, dark colors kind of female. But alas, pink is all we could find(Side note- the day before Easter is NOT the time to shop for matching outfits, on a budget, for eight people… Hello God, were You saying something?) so I endured, I sacrificed, I wore pink for the cause of matching. Why? Well, because it’s essential to Easter, right? Because it really, really matters, right? It’s required, yes that’s it, it must have been a requirement. Wrong! Nope, not at all… and let’s not even discuss the amount of money I’ve spent. (Great, now that I think about it, I have another thing to ask forgiveness for.)

 I know to many this may seem like a simple, small, minute thing, but it isn’t. It’s just another thing, another meaningless distraction in my life that takes me away from what TRULY matters. Away from DOING what truly matters, away from DOING what I am suppose to be doing. I have learned many things in the past year, and one very important thing I have learned; disobeying God isn’t always just what you’re doing, sometimes it’s what you’re NOT doing.  So, if I am consumed with finding matching outfits for my kids, then I am not spending quality time with them. I’m not taking the time to teach them the true meaning of Easter. Sure I read it to them. Of course we discuss it, but my actions say what to them? Actions speak louder than…  Yeah, you know how it goes.  If I am busying myself with meaningless tasks, squandering my precious God given time, then I am not following Jesus’ example. Remember when Mary and Joseph had been searching for Him? At twelve years old He knew what He was to be doing, to be busy with His Father’s business, shouldn’t we all?

“Why were you searching for me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49

Besides it being a colossal waste of my God given time, (five, six, seven hours each year, times fifteen years equals a lot of wasted time. Do the math…) However, I realize there is an even more important lesson to be learned from this;

That is, that Jesus isn’t concerned with whether or not my kid’s clothes are matching Easter morning when they walk into church. But I am certain He cares about how I have prepared them in life. Do they have on the full armor of God? And how about their hearts? What have they learned and what do they know about Easter? Do they understand the true meaning? Do they comprehend what He went through, what all He sacrificed for them, for us all? But most of all do they have a relationship with Him?

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One Who sent Me.” Matthew 10:40                       

I am notorious for being strict. I’m probably even considered a bit old fashioned, an ultra conservative homeschooling mom. (I’m good with it, it’s who I am.) So, I am prepared to have many people scoff once again at my words, as well as criticize the point I feel God was trying to make with me, so be it.  I don’t want to be a Pharisee, all caught up in ceremony and missing what matters. Jesus knew this would be the case all too often, concerning His commandments, concerning all things Him…

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

A Christian I am. This proclamation comes with much responsibility. I am challenged to be a living, breathing example of the Savior Who died for me. How do I do this, but more importantly, how can I not? How could I deny Him this, when He did, He gave, He endured, He sacrificed so much for me?(my earlier comment about wearing pink being a sacrifice seems so petty now, doesn’t it?)

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

I stopped and pondered these things, tried to listen to God. That is when I realized what I have to wear, what my family has to wear Easter morning, every morning. He’s already covered me with His precious blood of forgiveness. Now, I need to wrap myself in the wisdom of His word, clothe myself with the presence of the Holy Spirit, while allowing the love and forgiveness of Jesus to shine through me. So regardless of what clothes I wear Easter morning, or any other morning for that matter; I will forever be sporting the “I Am Forgiven and I Am Thankful” ensemble, everywhere I go.

 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16