Independent thinking

We have been watching a couple of episodes of "Life", a program on Discovery Channel which is saturated in the evolutional agenda.  I want the boys to become critical thinkers and think for themselves.  I was pondering this yesterday...that I want to be very careful, in all my passions for the Lord and for our country, that the boys draw their own conclusions about such controversial subjects and decide for themselves what to think and believe.  They are only 4 & 5.  But I am to "train them up in the way they should go" so "when they are old they will not depart from it."  Creation, God, our founders Providential intent for the USA is true and accurate.  There is no question about whether it is right or wrong to teach such foundations.  However, they must learn to think for themselves.  We discuss such issues as much as is possible for these precious young minds.

Just a little bit of what is in my head today.

Going Rogue, An American Life by Sarah Palin

What a cool book!  And for someone (me) who needs politics and economics explained to her to the point of exhaustion, Sarah's book is written by a regular girl for a regular girl.  (Though Jamie did read this book also so clearly it is not a "for girls only" read.)  I "get" what she's saying and she makes perfect sense.


Sarah leads off every chapter with fantastic quotes.  Here they are below:

"I don't believe God put us on earth to be ordinary." ~Lou Holtz

"Criticism is something we can avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing." ~Aristotle

"Our land is everything to us...I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land.  We remember that our grandfathers paid for it--with their lives." ~John Wooden

"I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.  And so it is with you...we re in charge of our attitudes." ~Charles Swindoll

"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and time again that they have the management skills of celery.  They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire.  I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.      The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club." ~Dave Barry

"Sarah's not retreating; she's reloading!" ~Chuck Heath Sr. (Sarah's dad)

I admire her dedication to natural preservation balanced well with ingenuity and development.  She is common sense and no-nonsense.  She is pro-environment AND pro-development.  Oh my!  Can the two exist together?  Apparently so.


Regarding her decision to resign as Alaska's governor:

"In the end, I decided, politically speaking, if I die, I die.  I had to do the right thing.  It might be the end of my career, but it wouldn't be the end of my work to make a difference.  No one can make me 'sit down and shut up.'  I don't need a title to effect positive change."

This was a flashback to the Beth Moore Esther study.  "...And if I perish, I perish."  (Est. 4:16)  What's the worst that could happen?  What is my greatest fear?  Talk yourself through it.  And do the right thing.  Honoring God is more important than saving our own reputation or even our own lives.

"They (the press) just couldn't believe that a politician would willingly give up power and title for good reasons.  Instead there had to be some huge scandal chasing me out of office.  But there was no scandal.  There was no FBI investigation, no greedy grasp for money, no divorce.  And it sure wasn't because I disliked my job--I loved my job.  The decision wasn't about me.  It was about Alaska.  It was as simple as I'd said it was."

Flashback again...but this time to our studies of George Washington...willingly leaving his position of power because he wasn't in it for the power, he was in it for the people.  Washington didn't even want to be president but felt it was his duty to serve the people that trusted him and the country he had fought so desperately for.

There was a moment in this book where I thought, "how can someone possibly endure such harsh and corrupt treatment and still function?"  It took me 2 days to get past that awful feeling of being beaten down.  But Sarah's resilience is incomparable and incredibly impressive.  Not only that, but she states that she would do it (the Vice-Presidential campaign & the drama that goes with it) again in a heartbeat.  (You have to read the book to know all the unbelievable treatment she endured during and following the campaign.)

So, if she would "do it again in a heartbeat", will we see Sarah Palin in the next Presidential election?  Something tells me, "yes!"  But, we will have to wait and see.  Maybe a Sarah & Newt Republican ticket? :)  

Enjoy this book!  It is an easy and enjoyable read.


So back to the library I go...

Truth about the health care bill

Always check your child's homework

Here's the reply the teacher received the following day:

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.  I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out of every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and several people were fighting over who would get it.  Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole.  It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to heck her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely, Mrs. Smith

Sometimes It Causes Me To Tremble... Easter & Earthquake

"There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven and, 

going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it." 

~Matthew 28:2

After church, we, mom, Dad, Linda and 2 of their friends (Ruth and Virgil) gathered at our place.  We put together a buffet and were enjoying a relaxing afternoon when, at around 3:30pm, the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced rolled through.  Jamie said, "Don't worry, it'll be over in a minute." But it was lasting much longer than any others and so I shouted that everyone get outside.  It lasted at least a minute and we all ended up in the backyard where the pool was sloshing strongly.  We could still feel the earth rolling below our feet.  It felt like waves and was much quieter than most earthquakes we experience here.  It always amazes me how some quakes roll through like that, some shake, and some feel like a truck running into the house. A few pictures fell over and the precious figurine Erika got me when Brandon was born fell to the floor and broke into pieces.  Funny...the pic of my aunt and uncle's wedding fell over, and I set it back up and then it fell over at each aftershock.  So, I figured it was just a reminder to pray for them.  :)  But everyone was fine, though a bit unnerved and you can imagine what the conversation then centered around.  I have felt numerous aftershocks since.  We had a big 5.1 yesterday morning right after I woke up.  The pots and pans were clanging together.  The original quake ended up being centered near Calexico and measured a 7.2.  That is the same as the Haitian earthquake.  But very little damage.  Thank God.  2 deaths that I have heard of in Calexico.  I don't know the details.  Both nights since, we have had a big enough aftershock to wake me up, but minor in comparison to Sunday afternoon.  

You know there was an earthquake the first Easter (Mt. 28:1-2) so it seems fitting to have one on the last Easter.  LOL!  Yes, I am hoping for the rapture before next Easter.  ;)  Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

I have the letters: J-E-S-U-S standing on one of the nooks in the dining room.  They fell backward and have been out-of-sight since the quake.  "He's not here!  He has risen just as He said!  Come see the place where He lay"  ~Mt. 28:6.  Teehee!

Were you there when the stone was rolled away... Sometimes is causes me to tremble. 

dust rising off the mountains near Mexicali during the quake & road damage.

(not sure where I got these, but thought they were fascinating.)

Who is God and what is He like?...my perception.

God is the Creator of the atom and of the universe which is so expansive we will never, this side of heaven, grasp the massive size of it.  And yet it is all small enough to God that He holds it in His hand.  He is physically enormous yet that word does nothing to accurately describe His size.  And even though, God is awesomely huge, He still is able to know the secret workings of my earthly body and the private thoughts of my heart. (Gen. 1:1; Is. 40:12; Ps. 139:1-4, 16, 23-24)

He is Love.  Not just loving, but He is love.  He encompasses all love and one can not claim to know God if there is no love in him.  God's love is so all-consuming and overflowing that it is easily a trait that we all have inborn in us because we are in His image.  And He withholds nothing from us, not even His most precious possession, His Son. (1 Jn. 4:8; Gen. 1:27; Jn. 3:16)

He knows my days before there were any of them.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He knows and cares about every detail in my life.  The fact that He can know me (and all of His creation) so intimately means He is a multi-tasker beyond comprehension.  Certainly our ways and thoughts are not to be compared to His.  It is absolutely ridiculous to entertain the thought that our limited/finite minds can even slightly grasp His wisdom. (Ps. 139:16-18; Is. 47:10a; 48:4; Is. 55:8-9)

He is a great Healer.  He gives new life when all seems lost and is lost.  He is a resurrector of all things dead. (Is. 43:19; 2 Cor. 5:17; Ps. 30:11-12)

He is His Word, the Bible.  And how thankful I am for all those pages of Scripture. (Jn. 1:1)

He is the Father and Keeper of Israel.  And we must continue to support His people if we want to remain a blessed people as well.  He has adopted/grafted me in as if I were a Jew.  (Gen. 12:2-3; 1 Ptr. 2:9-10; Rom. 11:11-25)

He wants me to make the most of every opportunity, to bloom where I am planted, to "wherever I am, be all there."  (Eph. 5:16)

He is Comforter and guide and the Light that exposes and drives out all darkness. (2 Cor. 1:3-4; Is. 30:21; Jn. 1:5)

He is a Daddy who wraps His arms around me...soothes, cradles, and rocks me when life is tumbling down around me.  He is the eye of the storm.  My hair swirls around me, yet there is peace in Him and so I sit calmly in the midst. (Rom. 8:15; Is. 26:3)

He is so much that no one can look on Him and live.  But one day He will come and take me and I will be with Him forever.  He will one day rule earth and do so righteously.  The peace and justice we so earnestly desire will come only when Jesus is King of this world. (Ex. 33:20; 1 Ths. 4:17; Rev. 20)

He is in the details.  He causes me to be creative because He is the Creator and I am in His image.

He is the center of my life.  The reason I do everything I do and my motivation in doing it.  He sees me fall numerous times a day and still loves me and helps me up.  (Col. 3:23-24)

He is the Father to the fatherless, Defender of the widow, and satisfaction of everything we long for in our lives.  No one can find wholeness, completion, fulfillment, or satisfaction apart from Him. (Ps. 68:5-6; Jn. 14:6)

Breaking the cords of the Constitution?

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality an religion.  Avarice (excessive greediness), ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.  Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." ~John Adams

No wonder Obama sees the Constitution as a document of "negative liberties."

The Constitution was created to limit government.  Do you want to make decisions for your family or do you want a president and other "smarter-than-you-but-don't-care-about-you" politicians creating "rights" for your family?  "We the people" are the first three words of the Constitution for good reason.  The government is about you, not about Obama or whoever else wants to trample all over your freedoms.  Be loud, be persistent, don't sit idly by while your freedoms are stripped away from you.  Humble yourself, pray, seek God's face. (2 Chr. 7:14)  Exhibit faith, hope, and love ...even toward those who are trying to ruin you, but don't tolerate or allow them to take what God has given.  This is so hard.  Temper anger with love.  Knowing that Jesus died for them as much as for those of us who love Him with all our hearts.  "Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they do."  Or do they?  Be loving, be strong.  Familiarize yourself with our true history (I'll give you a hint that you won't find it in the public school, government-written textbooks), and the Constitution, and the fact that freedom is God-given, not Nancy Pelosi-given.  Open your eyes & recognize that the government has been and will continue to influence you through media, the government-run school system, universities...  It's called brain-washing, folks.  Think for yourself.  Question everything and discover the truth for yourself and then cling to it with everything you have!  Have conviction.

"If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to.  This is the last stand on earth."  ~Ronald Reagan.  It's true.  Is Antarctica still inhabitable?  Darn!  Where else can we go?  Hold on to tightly and fight for what you have because once it's gone, it's gone.