I stumbled upon this excellent essay. I have alwayas said these very words: "it's tough being a kid." I remember being a kid like it was yesterday. It is tough and life can and will hurt. I want to remember these words as my two beautiful children grow and go out into this oftentimes sad and lonely world.
By: Jenifer Ward, TheConservativeMom.com
As parents, we often forget just how tough it is to be a child, especially today. Our children need to have a soft place to land.
Our middle child broke down in bed last night. He was distraught, as much as an 11 year old boy can be. He told me that he didn’t enjoy school, because children were just mean. He just didn’t feel like he had any friends. He gave the impression that it was almost impossible to make friends. His heart was breaking. I could tell he wanted to say more, but he just didn’t know how to communicate it.
As a mom, I just want to hold him and tell him it will all be okay. I want to be a fly at school and see just how horrible it is and what exactly it is that makes it hard to make friends. I want to protect. At the same time I want to give him the chance to become a wise young man who realizes that friends come and go and that when all is said and done, God is our only true blue Friend.
I am so grateful that my son opened up, as little as it may have been. It is imperative that we create a safe haven for our children in this tough world. We don’t want to push our children to seek out others or destructive habits to fulfill their desire to belong. When our children feel safe, they can endure the hard times.
This safe place starts with a solid foundation and that can only be found in Christ. My husband and I must make sure that our children know their Creator and His love for them. Then they must be able to see Christ in us. Then and only then will they be able to make it through all the difficult times that will come their way.
Parents, your children need you—at every stage of life. We must make our homes a soft place to land.
It’s tough being a kid.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
A good reminder...
For all the crazines in this world, politically and otherwise, here's a nice reminder that God is still in control. Let's constantly pray for our leaders to do the RIGHT thing.
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Breitbart in Time...
This is a lengthy article about Andrew Breitbart, the mastermind behind the ACORN exposure of corruption and deceit. Careful, it's filled with your typical liberal adjectives of love toward all things conservative. It's good for a laugh!
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1974949,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1974949,00.html
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A fitting one from Churchill...
"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wonderful Reminder...
In my desire to post something meaningful today, I wasn't quite sure where to begin when I stumbled upon this wonderful article about gratitude. I hope it touches your heart as it has mine. As a mommy, I hope I remember this every day with my children. It's a little long but I hope you enjoy the link!
What Happened to Our Gratitude?
By Kerry Marsala
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Deuteronomy 6:10, 11
As citizens living in a country, that in the course of human history has never flourished so greatly, are we as parents remembering to teach our children gratefulness towards the Almighty?
The outside forces that we constantly let consume us as adults are spilling over into our abilities to lead our children into remembering to whom we are indebted to. We are living in a drunken like stupor- our cities are flourishing as our houses grow larger. Our over sized houses are bursting with all kinds of extraneous goods. We are reaping the benefits of others hard back breaking work as we enjoy the liquid blessings and the fruits of their sacrifices. Then when all is said and done at the end of our day and we lay our heads down upon our pillows-, our eyes shut in self-congratulating fulfillment- and we forget our Lord.
How we rob the youth of reflective moments.
As parents, we will go to great lengths to make sure our children have the latest clothing fashions, attend the highest rated schools, and have their own spacious bedrooms. We then fill up their innocent hearts with stuff… just stuff. We over equip them with state of the art electronics, sign them up for every sport possible, drive for hours to educate them in the arts and go into debt taking them on extravagant vacations. What is it we are trying to teach our children? Are we too busy satisfying our empty frail shells with materialism that we really do not know what we are filling ourselves up with? Have we become so numb, due to our over abundance, that there is no remembrance from whence our prolific riches have come from?
Daily we are showing our children what is important to us and what matters most in our lives. Each time we push towards bigger and better- and then leave the gratitude lost somewhere back underneath the foundation of our homes, we are teaching that self is the god and there is no room for gratefulness towards anyone or anything.
We wonder as we read our daily newspapers or flip the news stations what has gone awry… why does our youth seem to be directionless and unfulfilled- but maybe what we should be asking ourselves as adults is this- due to our own lack of gratitude and thanksgiving to God- are we creating my own unhappiness and disillusionment which has led us to the continuation of emptiness and no gratitude? What hope of tomorrow are we teaching our children, for without recognition and thanksgiving- all we touch, see, taste and feel is void and without meaning. Objects are mere objects- and we then treat our loved ones much in the same fashion.
Without gratitude, life has no value. Want to change the world? Want to create a better life for yourself and the ones you love? Stop, be still, and remember with bowed heads and folded hands each day the giver of all gifts. Our God, our Creator, our Savior gave himself without asking for more than our gracious thanksgiving and obedience to His Divine will.
Our children are depending upon our leadership- when we rise, when we walk, when we take our fill, when we fall asleep- let our remembering become the catalyst for change and reflective measurement. It will create an atmosphere free from the false outer dependence of drugs, alcohol, and other addictions. Do not forget who has released us from the slavery of eternal death and destruction. Do not forget the Lord our God, call upon His name with a humbleness of gratefulness and thanksgiving individually and collectively as a family- life has been created to be a gift of abundant blessings and the hope of eternity.
What Happened to Our Gratitude?
By Kerry Marsala
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Deuteronomy 6:10, 11
As citizens living in a country, that in the course of human history has never flourished so greatly, are we as parents remembering to teach our children gratefulness towards the Almighty?
The outside forces that we constantly let consume us as adults are spilling over into our abilities to lead our children into remembering to whom we are indebted to. We are living in a drunken like stupor- our cities are flourishing as our houses grow larger. Our over sized houses are bursting with all kinds of extraneous goods. We are reaping the benefits of others hard back breaking work as we enjoy the liquid blessings and the fruits of their sacrifices. Then when all is said and done at the end of our day and we lay our heads down upon our pillows-, our eyes shut in self-congratulating fulfillment- and we forget our Lord.
How we rob the youth of reflective moments.
As parents, we will go to great lengths to make sure our children have the latest clothing fashions, attend the highest rated schools, and have their own spacious bedrooms. We then fill up their innocent hearts with stuff… just stuff. We over equip them with state of the art electronics, sign them up for every sport possible, drive for hours to educate them in the arts and go into debt taking them on extravagant vacations. What is it we are trying to teach our children? Are we too busy satisfying our empty frail shells with materialism that we really do not know what we are filling ourselves up with? Have we become so numb, due to our over abundance, that there is no remembrance from whence our prolific riches have come from?
Daily we are showing our children what is important to us and what matters most in our lives. Each time we push towards bigger and better- and then leave the gratitude lost somewhere back underneath the foundation of our homes, we are teaching that self is the god and there is no room for gratefulness towards anyone or anything.
We wonder as we read our daily newspapers or flip the news stations what has gone awry… why does our youth seem to be directionless and unfulfilled- but maybe what we should be asking ourselves as adults is this- due to our own lack of gratitude and thanksgiving to God- are we creating my own unhappiness and disillusionment which has led us to the continuation of emptiness and no gratitude? What hope of tomorrow are we teaching our children, for without recognition and thanksgiving- all we touch, see, taste and feel is void and without meaning. Objects are mere objects- and we then treat our loved ones much in the same fashion.
Without gratitude, life has no value. Want to change the world? Want to create a better life for yourself and the ones you love? Stop, be still, and remember with bowed heads and folded hands each day the giver of all gifts. Our God, our Creator, our Savior gave himself without asking for more than our gracious thanksgiving and obedience to His Divine will.
Our children are depending upon our leadership- when we rise, when we walk, when we take our fill, when we fall asleep- let our remembering become the catalyst for change and reflective measurement. It will create an atmosphere free from the false outer dependence of drugs, alcohol, and other addictions. Do not forget who has released us from the slavery of eternal death and destruction. Do not forget the Lord our God, call upon His name with a humbleness of gratefulness and thanksgiving individually and collectively as a family- life has been created to be a gift of abundant blessings and the hope of eternity.
Friday, March 26, 2010
A personal favorite from the Gipper...
"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."
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thugocracy...
Just when we think our leaders can't get any more condescending and arrogant... think again:
From Reuters
President Barack Obama dared Republicans on Thursday to try to repeal his newly signed healthcare law but warned their effort would backfire as he touted the benefits of the massive overhaul.
"If they want to have that fight, we can have it," Obama told a university crowd in Iowa two days after putting his name on the most sweeping change in U.S. social policy in decades.
"I don't believe the American people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat. We've been there already. We're not going back," he said.
Taking his public relations blitz on the road as he seeks to overcome public doubts, Obama held a campaign-style rally at the University of Iowa Field House in Iowa City.
In the face of opinion polls showing the American public divided about the healthcare law, Obama and fellow Democrats are mounting an aggressive effort to gain credit for passage of the overhaul and to put Republicans on the defensive.
Obama first announced his healthcare plan in Iowa City in May 2007, launching a drive that aides say led to the bill passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law this week.
Republicans, who unanimously opposed the bill, have vowed to make repealing it a major issue in congressional elections in November.
"Well, I say go for it," Obama said, goading his critics. "If these congressmen in Washington want to come here to Iowa and tell small business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest."
Designed to revamp the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry, which accounts for one-sixth of the country's economy, the law will extend health insurance to 32 million Americans who lack it. It will bar practices like insurers' refusing coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, expand the Medicaid government health insurance program for the poor and impose new taxes on the wealthy.
Obama acknowledged the bill was "not perfect" but listed what he saw as numerous benefits such as tax breaks to help Americans buy coverage.
'BIRDS WERE CHIRPING'
Looking relaxed and upbeat, he mocked Republicans for acting as if the bill would lead to "Armageddon."
"After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth," Obama said, adding it turned out to be a nice day and "birds were chirping, folks were strolling down the mall."
Republicans are seeking to reduce or reverse Democrats' big majorities in both houses of Congress in November's elections.
The Senate on Thursday approved a package of final changes to the healthcare bill that must be approved again by the House after the Senate parliamentarian cut two minor provisions.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Iowa, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs brushed aside complaints from two big manufacturers, Deere & Co (DE.N) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), that healthcare reform would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Gibbs said the healthcare law simply closed an accounting loophole that had been giving them a subsidy.
Support for the law seems to be growing, according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday. Before the House passed the bill, 54 percent of Americans surveyed disapproved of it, while 36 percent supported it, the poll found. After the vote, the disapproval rating dropped to 49 percent versus 40 percent.
From Reuters
President Barack Obama dared Republicans on Thursday to try to repeal his newly signed healthcare law but warned their effort would backfire as he touted the benefits of the massive overhaul.
"If they want to have that fight, we can have it," Obama told a university crowd in Iowa two days after putting his name on the most sweeping change in U.S. social policy in decades.
"I don't believe the American people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat. We've been there already. We're not going back," he said.
Taking his public relations blitz on the road as he seeks to overcome public doubts, Obama held a campaign-style rally at the University of Iowa Field House in Iowa City.
In the face of opinion polls showing the American public divided about the healthcare law, Obama and fellow Democrats are mounting an aggressive effort to gain credit for passage of the overhaul and to put Republicans on the defensive.
Obama first announced his healthcare plan in Iowa City in May 2007, launching a drive that aides say led to the bill passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law this week.
Republicans, who unanimously opposed the bill, have vowed to make repealing it a major issue in congressional elections in November.
"Well, I say go for it," Obama said, goading his critics. "If these congressmen in Washington want to come here to Iowa and tell small business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest."
Designed to revamp the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry, which accounts for one-sixth of the country's economy, the law will extend health insurance to 32 million Americans who lack it. It will bar practices like insurers' refusing coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, expand the Medicaid government health insurance program for the poor and impose new taxes on the wealthy.
Obama acknowledged the bill was "not perfect" but listed what he saw as numerous benefits such as tax breaks to help Americans buy coverage.
'BIRDS WERE CHIRPING'
Looking relaxed and upbeat, he mocked Republicans for acting as if the bill would lead to "Armageddon."
"After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth," Obama said, adding it turned out to be a nice day and "birds were chirping, folks were strolling down the mall."
Republicans are seeking to reduce or reverse Democrats' big majorities in both houses of Congress in November's elections.
The Senate on Thursday approved a package of final changes to the healthcare bill that must be approved again by the House after the Senate parliamentarian cut two minor provisions.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Iowa, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs brushed aside complaints from two big manufacturers, Deere & Co (DE.N) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), that healthcare reform would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Gibbs said the healthcare law simply closed an accounting loophole that had been giving them a subsidy.
Support for the law seems to be growing, according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday. Before the House passed the bill, 54 percent of Americans surveyed disapproved of it, while 36 percent supported it, the poll found. After the vote, the disapproval rating dropped to 49 percent versus 40 percent.
Grateful...
While being a stay at home mom for the last 4 years, I've learned that it really is the job I thought I always wanted. There are days where things are crazy, kids are crying and mama just hasn't had the time or opportunity to crawl out of her pajamas, but it really is everything I had hoped for. This week I've had the pleasure of filling in at my old place of employment. While I have missed my kiddos dearly, there's something nice about "getting away" for a bit. That and the paycheck ain't half bad either. But really it makes me realize just how blessed I am to have a husband who's able to provide for us all and one that values this mommy on the right being home doing the most important job in the world. Here's to all the daddies on the right who love us for who we are and what we want to be!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Parental Rights Anyone?
As parents, this should infuriate us all! Is there any wonder the homeschooling movement has grown so quickly?
SEATTLE -- The mother of a Ballard High School student is fuming after the health center on campus helped facilitate her daughter's abortion during school hours.
The mother, whom KOMO News has chosen to identify only as "Jill," says the clinic kept the information "confidential."
When she signed a consent form, Jill figured it meant her 15 year old could go to the Ballard Teen Health Center located inside the high school for an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy.
"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," she said. "Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."
Jill says her daughter, a pro-life advocate, was given a pass, put in a taxi and sent off to have an abortion during school hours all without her family knowing.
"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said Jill. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."
The Seattle School District says it doesn't run the health clinics at high schools. Swedish Medical Center runs the clinic at Ballard High and protects the students' privacy.
T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs for the health department, says it's always best if parents are involved in their children's health care, but don't always have a say.
"At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy," he said.
But Jill says she not only didn't have a say in her daughter's abortion, but also didn't know about it.
"Makes me feel like my rights were completely stripped away."
SEATTLE -- The mother of a Ballard High School student is fuming after the health center on campus helped facilitate her daughter's abortion during school hours.
The mother, whom KOMO News has chosen to identify only as "Jill," says the clinic kept the information "confidential."
When she signed a consent form, Jill figured it meant her 15 year old could go to the Ballard Teen Health Center located inside the high school for an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy.
"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," she said. "Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."
Jill says her daughter, a pro-life advocate, was given a pass, put in a taxi and sent off to have an abortion during school hours all without her family knowing.
"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said Jill. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."
The Seattle School District says it doesn't run the health clinics at high schools. Swedish Medical Center runs the clinic at Ballard High and protects the students' privacy.
T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs for the health department, says it's always best if parents are involved in their children's health care, but don't always have a say.
"At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy," he said.
But Jill says she not only didn't have a say in her daughter's abortion, but also didn't know about it.
"Makes me feel like my rights were completely stripped away."
Welcome!
This Mommy on the Right is ready to let it all out! Welcome aboard as I blog my way through motherhood and living on the right. I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I'll enjoy making them!
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