So What Can We Do About It?

Well...we can begin to stand up for our principles...

1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life. God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson



We can fight to maintain our values in our homes, in our schools, in our families, in our workplaces, in our country, in our cities....Honesty, Reverence, Hope, Thrift, Humilityl Charity, Sincerity, Moderation, Hard Work, Courage, Personal Responsibility, and Gratitude

Another thing we can do in peaceful protest is send tea bags to all our city, state, and federal representatives in our government with a list of our values and principles. We have got to start opening our mouths, our nation is being stolen from us and our children and grandchildren will be the ones to pay.

Down with the Sickness

Okay, so for about a month I have been battling a sinus infection. I thought it was taken care of and this week it has snuck back up on me. I've been vomiting because of the mucus drainage, feverish, sore throat, ear aches, body achy, just everything has hit me. So I went to the docs today, and my severe sinus infection was only worsened by the previous doctors prescribing only amoxicilin and that irritating the infection instead of healing it. So now my sinus infection is spreading into my chest and has weakened me enough to cause a secondary infection----strep! Yeah!!! Good news, you may ask! I've lost 11 pounds since March 5th!

I have started a new round of antibiotics and Nadine and Rowan have started some too! Because they most likely have strep or will get sick in the next few days. So the doc is sanitizing the house. If Rob and Jourdyn begin to show signs than he will call them in prescriptions. But he thought that the little ones were a necessity since they spend all day with me, sharing drinks, giving kisses, and hugs, etc.

So pray that this leaves my house because I am NOT down with the sickness!

A Christian living in this world

I was introduced this week to the works of St. Teresa of Avila, particularly her "The Interior Castle," which is a portrayal of the "seven mansions" of the soul's spiritual growth. For her spiritual growth was a process and I completely agree. And like St. Teresa, I've experienced these "mansions" within my spirit moving among them, in and out, like the wavering seas. That, however, is not God's intention. His intention is that we fall so in love with Him that we become unwavering spirits filled with His truth.

To often today we fall prey to what Teresa herself experienced and explained in her autobiography in 16th century.

"On the one hand God was calling me. On the other, I was following the world. All the things of God gave me pleasure, yet I was tied and bound to those of the world. It seemed as if I wanted to reconcile these two contradictory things...the life of the spirit and the pleasures and joys and pastimes of the senses...I spent nearly twenty years on that stormy sea, often falling in this way and each time rising again, but to little purpose as I would only fall once more."

For St. Teresa prayer was the key to entering and remaining in these "mansions" she described. With each level our prayer life becomes deeper and more focused on the things of God. To me, these mansions are about levels of discipleship, prayer as well, but with each level comes a bigger heart for the things of God and for learning more about Him. Each level is characterized by our level of outward expression of the inward gift of love that Christ has given us.

Happy 12th Birthday Jourdyn!

March 23rd is a special day for me! It is the anniversary of the birth of my first baby, Jourdyn! On March 22nd, 12 years ago I spent the entire day in labor, experiencing what was the most painful day of my life, all because of the hope and new life that was promised to me. What a blessing Jourdyn was those two days (she held out until the 23rd). In the moment if you had asked me if I thought that pain was a blessing, I probably would have thrown something at you. It wasn't until it was over, until that new hope and new life was placed in my arms that I was able to praise God for what he had walked me through, to thank Him for holding my hand through the pain and blessing me in ways that I never thought imaginable through the gift of new life. God's faithfulness has overcome the pain that I felt that day.

God has just given me a beautiful picture of what he does for us in our lives daily and even for what he has done for my church. Romans 8:28 says, "We know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." The promise is that ALL things, even the pain, even the sorrow, the sunny days and the gloomiest of days - God is there and He is using those moments for his glory. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I worked really hard this year at planning Jourdyn's Birthday. This is the first year that her party was strictly a friends party! And because March weekends are just jam-packed with fun! Her party had to be on her birthday after school! We invited 11 friends plus her which made 12 for her 12th birthday. However, only 7 were able to go! So we had 8 girls! None of them, including Jourdyn had any clue where we were going for the party! They guessed bowling or skating, and then I told them we were going over the border, so they moved onto guessing gambling. Everything we drove by Rob and I made fun. We drove past the mall, and said, "hey, here's a clue, we're close." We drove past a pet groomers, slowed down and told them "We're here, I thought you guys would like to work with pets and learn how to groom them." We drove past a golf course, again slowed down and said "No really we arranged private golf lessons for each one of you." They protested a bit. They wanted to just drive golf carts and skip the lessons. But hey, they had no clue! And we ended up at Paint Your Masterpiece.

It was a total shocker! And they all loved it! Only a couple had ever done this before and it had been on vacation, not something for a birthday party! I had asked Jourdyn if I had planned it right and if she had fun and she said that she couldn't think of anything better to do! So I guess I did! We dropped all the girls off at either their homes or their volleyball game and then headed home where she opened her gift from us and grandpa and played the Wii with daddy until bedtime!

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