Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mother's birthday and I would like to tell the story of an incredible woman. Mom was born in Oklahoma at the beginning of the Great Depression. The family was incredibly poor and moved to Caifornia, a la Grapes of Wrath, to find a better life. Sadly it didn't work out so they returned to Oklahoma. There was tragedy in her life; my grandparents divorced, Mom lost all but one of her siblings and alcoholism ran in the family. My mother left the chaotic family as early as she could by marrying the wrong kind of man. She had two little boys, my brothers, while she still a teenager. Whenever we talk about her early life she muses about why she was the one to survive.

I can tell you why: My mom is a Survivor in every sense of the word. She was determined to have a better life than what she came from and she succeeded. She was introduced by friends to my father, a wonderful loving man. His family took her in and treated her as one of their own. Dad encouraged her to take some college courses when I was young and she gained confidence in herself.

When I left for college she decided to become a nurse and she did. She enjoyed her work and turned out to have a gift working with the elderly. She worked in a nursing home's hospital and was especially attentive to those whose families had forgotten them. When my dad had a stroke and progressed into dementia, he had to be put in a nursing home for his safety, she nursed him for the rest of his life. She was at the nursing home daily caring for him because she didn't want to leave it to the staff. She new she could take better care of him than the staff. And when he passed away she took care of all the details of his estate with the help of the lifelong friends who introduced them.

Mom is the strongest person I've ever known. Even though she had tough times she would ride them out knowing that things always get better. I have to say that my father had alot to do with that being the positive person he was.

It's been two years now that she came to live with us and let me tell you, I am so blessed to have her here. We've never been closer and I treasure our relationship. One of the things that made this so special was that she left al her friends knowing that she would have to develop brand new friendships. When my husband lost both of his parents in the span of one year, he told her that she was the only mom he had now. For those of you who think that she moved here because she is unable to take care of herself, nothing could be farther from the truth. She looks years (decades!) younger than she is. She's still sharp as a tack. We moved her out here because she needed several joints replaced and we have an excellent orthopedic clinic not far from our home.

We've had our disagreements, of course, but we always work through them. For instance she's a neat-freak and fairly obsessed with being organized. I am neither of those. She always had to tell me to clean my room. I think I'm still rebelling from the time she told me if I didn't pick up my dirty clothes she was going to empty all the clothes in my dresser and my closet. (I had a habit of just dropping my dirty clothes on the floor when I changed my clothes) . I guess she decided she was no longer going to enable my bad habit by picking up my clothes for me. I didn't take the warning seriously and sure enough, the next day when I got home from school my dresser drawers had been emptied all over the floor. I was so mad but she reminded me she had given me fair warning. It was the last time my dirty clothes were thrown on the floor!

So, to the most incredible woman I know, Happy Birthday!

Eduation Lessons Left Behind

Doing my daily perusing of National Review Online I came across George Will's latest column about the state of public education. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) openly talked about the disintegration of the public schoool sytem, the family and the power of teacher's unions. And this was back in 1983 based on years of research that government and the NEA attempted to supress. Moynihan was an advocate of the importance of an intact family to education results. Will writes:

Moynihan also knew that schools cannot compensate for the disintegration of families and hence communities -- the primary transmitters of social capital. No reform can enable schools to cope with the 36.9 percent of all children and 69.9 percent of black children today born out of wedlock, which means, among many other things, a continually renewed cohort of unruly adolescent males.

In 1966 the year the Coleman Report was released the government refused to print it. The report concluded:

Released quietly on the Fourth of July weekend, the report concluded that the qualities of the families from which children come to school matter much more than money as predictors of schools' effectiveness. The crucial common denominator of problems of race and class -- fractured families -- would have to be faced. But it wasn't. Instead, shopworn panaceas -- larger teacher salaries, smaller class sizes -- were pursued as colleges were reduced to offering remediation to freshmen.

Will concludes that "our nation is at risk now more than ever."

Please take the time to read the article and send the link to all your friends.

Pope Benedict XVI

I am not a Catholic but I was so blessed by the Pope's visit. Benedict is the perfect pope for this day and age. When he became Pope I started reading some of his writings and found that he is a profound thinker. The reason I believe that he is so relevant today is because so much of what he has studied and written is about the decline of western culture. He sees that as the most critical issue of our age and I, as an evangelical Christian, happen to agree.

Since the sixties, since God was declared dead, moral relativism has taken hold of our culture and it's happened so slowly that even Christians have grown complacent about it. Abortion and homosexuality are accepted. Partial-birth abortion is horrible and thankfully the majority is against it. So much so that Congress and many of the states have passed legislation against it. Of course courts have consistently ruled that the legislation is unconstitutional. But the culture accepts the lie that abortion should be legal for the "health" of the mother. It won't be long before euthanasia is accepted as we debate the definition of "quality of life."

Pope Benedict is ever vocal about the sanctity of life. I was so touched on Saturday as I watched him bless the children with disabilities as he walked down the aisle. He spoke about the trials the parents encounter in raising a disabled child and compared them to the trials Jesus faced. Perservere as Jesus perservered. It was very moving.

I love this Pope because he is Christ-centered. He used his time to point people to Christ who has given us new life. He also encouraged people to daily prayer. During a "rally" before mostly young people at St. Joseph's Seminary on Saturday he called the young people to consider a spiritual vocation. Our culture is caught up in the immediate and most of the youth have never been taught to wait, especially to wait on the Lord. We want what we want now. It is a selfish lifestyle and I admit I have done more of my share of getting what I want when I want it. Waiting on the Lord does not come natural to me. He exorted us to spend time in meditation and not be frightened by silence. He said to wait in silence so we might hear the voice of God. A good message for all us, young and old.

I hope you were able to watich the beautiful mass on Sunday. I've never been to mass and it was a blessing to experience the liturgy of the Catholic Church. I am thankful for his visit. I hope many Americans were pointed back to Christ. I know I was.

$40 Million for What?

It appears that MoveOn.org and Media Matters (both George Soros organizations) will spend $40 million to smear John McCain. Unless he has some awfully big skeletons buried in a closet somewhere, how can they possibly smear a war hero? He's a man of integrity and honesty. He always tries to do the right thing, although Republicans may disagree. I was against his campaign finance reform bill and the immigration bill, but I know that he doesn't waver when opinion is against him. He's never changed his stance based on which way the wind is blowing. And he's bucked his own party numerous time so he can't be tagged as a far right ideologue.

What will George Soros get for his money? I bet there will be lots of well-placed rumors and innuendos published in the NY Times and other MSM, but I'm sure they will be of no substance. When the Times published the innuendo about McCain's relationship with a lobbyist, McCain has a news conference and answered every question. I believe he is exactly who he says he is and has nothing to hide.

Revealing Obama

I hope you watched the ABC News debate the other night. I expected the same-ole same-ole from the MSM, but I was so wrong. I thought Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos did a fine, fine job. In fact my opinion is that it was the best debate of this election year. Instead of throwing softballs at Obama and Clinton and getting touchy-feely answers, Gibson and Stephanopoulos asked pointed and substantive questions with excellent follow up.

What did I learn? For one thing Hillary Clinton wiped the floor with Barack. He appeared flustered at times and struggled with some answers. Case in point - when he was asked about his relationship with Bill Ayers, an admitted and unrepentent Weather Underground terrorist, he was obviously uncomfortable as he stammered his answer, which was mostly a deflection as he compared Ayers with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). As though it was about disagreeing with their opinions. I was amazed that he didn't have a better response given that his campaign knew that this and other personal questions would be asked. He was remarkedly unprepared to handle them. I noticed that Senator Obama deflected this question along with questions about Reverend Wright and his "bitter" comment by saying he's already answered those questions and we needed to focus on the future and change.

Now why do these questions matter? Yesterday I heard Mark Steyn give the best answer I've heard. It matters because Obama's record is so thin. We don't really know him because he's not actually done anything other than win two elections to the Illinois state Senate and one to the US Senate. Consider this from Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Opinion Journal Online:

It is his youth, his relative untriedness, the fact that he has not suffered, been seasoned, been beat about the head by life and left struggling back, as happens to most adults by a
certain time. This is what I hear from older people, who vote in great numbers. They are not hostile to his race, they are skeptical of his inexperience."

And this:

Sen. Obama seems honestly surprised by the furor his the-poor-cling-to-God-and-guns remarks elicited, and if one considers his background—intense marginalization followed by the establishment's embrace—this is understandable. He was only caught speaking the secret language of America's elite, and what he said was not meant as a putdown. It was an explanation aimed at ameliorating the elites' anger toward and impatience with normal people. It's a way of explaining them, of saying, "You have to remember they're not comfortable and educated like us, they're vulnerable and so we must try to understand them and feel sympathy for and solidarity with them." You could say this at any high-class dinner party in America and not cause a ruffle. But America is not a high-class dinner party.

I think she says it all. He needs time to show us who he is and what he stands for, other than hope and "a change we can believe in." He needs a legislative record rather than promises. He may sound good, but that's just it - he sounds good. I believe his record will show that he is exactly who we speculated he was.

Now regarding Hillary's performance. I said I thought she wiped the floor with him and was glad to see that the pundits had the same opinion. Still, is it too late for her? I thought her answer to each of Senator Obama's answers on those personal matters were well done. Obviously well-rehearsed. To me she came across as authoritive and strong. The only blip on her screen was her handling of the "sniper fire" lie she was caught in. Other than that I thought she did an excellent job.

Who knows what will happen in the end? I think Obama has shown that he has alot of vulnerabilites and not much substance. Whether Democrats will think twice about nominating him remains to be seen.

Call Me Bitter!

Wow! Obama seems to have acquired the dreaded "Foot-in-Mouth" disease. John Kerry had a bad case of it in 2004. It's funny that it comes around every four years and mainly to Democratic candidates for President.

In 1991 our family moved from a small city in Texas to a very small town in Arizona (Pop. 5000). Owning guns was like a prerequisite in order to live in this small western town. Our family had its ups and downs, but never did we get bitter during the tough times. We didn't cling to our guns or become prejudiced against people who weren't like us. We also didn't cling to our religion in the negative way Obama meant. Instead we clung to Jesus and placed our faith in Him. We had faith that the tough times would bring us closer to Jesus as He is our only hope. We know that He never leaves us and even when those tough times come as a consequence of bad choices we have made, we have assurance that He will get us through. I suppose some people grow bitter when they have their hopes pinned on a job or a relationship or their own control and power and they are let down. I guess some people even grow bitter because they feel the government has let them down.

I will admit to struggling with resentment and bitterness at different times in my life, but I have NEVER looked to government for salvation. That's just silly. Ronald Reagan said it best when he said that government wasn't the answer it was the problem. To that I add that Jesus is the answer. Fellowship with other believers is the answer. Holding each other up in prayer is the answer. The Bible is the answer.

I don't think Obama understands the role faith or religion plays in our lives. It makes me wonder what role faith or religion plays in his own life. He has attended an angry church for 20 years; his spiritual mentor is a man who preached that the US started the AIDS epidemic in order to wipe out black people. From the bits of his sermons that were on TV, it sure sounded like he was spewing hate at the US (translate: White America) for making all black people victims. If this is Obama's experience with religion I understand why he and so many followers believe that Obama is the answer. I wonder whether he has truly experienced a loving God. And therein lies the problem.

He has shown himself to be terribly out of touch with the average person whose faith is the answer and not an excuse. I only hope we hear more of what this man truly believes before Nov. 8.

Punishment According To Obama

In a speech over the weekend Barack Obama spoke about sex education when he made the following statement, "Look, I got two daughters -- 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information." (HT: Hugh Hewitt) (Blogger Ed Morrissey has a great take on the situation.)

Teen pregnancy is now the equivalent of STDs? Obama's handlers are now trying to back-track the statement. "It was taken out of context," they say. I find it curious that so many of his statements are taken out of context.

He did equate the two consequences of teen promiscuity and there is no doubt about what he said and meant. I think it was one of those remarks that seem to leak out which he has to later clarify. I don't believe he meant to say it, but I think it's statements like this that shows the true character of the man. Call it a "Freudian" slip.

There is another aspect to this statement I want to mention. It is that he doesn't want his daughters to face the consequences of their actions, especially pregnancy. I gathered that he would actually support a daughter getting an abortion should she get pregnant as a teen and may even facilitate it. Of course I do not know what is in his heart, but if he doesn't believe it, why would he say it?

If he really wants to prevent STDs and teen pregnancies why doesn't he support abstinence education? Abstinence is the only way to 100% prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. And statistics support the success of abstinence programs in schools but instead of supporting abstinence programs, most liberals are more concerned about condoms and a sex education program that supports teen sexual behavior. I am reminded of Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders' (Clinton) pro-abortion statement "... every child a wanted child ..." (emphasis mine.)

Last but not least I think King David said it all in Psalm 139: 13-16 (NIV).

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.