I can't help but laugh at how things happen.
Last night I had some Moms over for a Mom's Night Out. We Watched Anita Renfroe, ate desserts, and got a chance to fellowship. It was a good time.
Now that everyone has left and all the visitors are gone, my husband and I are putting the cabinet doors up in the kitchen. How nice it would have been to have all my mismatched dishes and tupperware hidden and out of sight. In honesty, I really didn't mind that they were not hidden, but it's funny how just hours later, it looks like such a different kitchen.
Just as I invited the ladies over for fellowship, not to "check" out my house, I know they felt the same. They were coming over for a little time away. A little adult conversation and a chance to watch a Christian comedian in the solitude of other moms.
I have been blessed with friends that truly don't care about the condition of my house, but of my heart. Friends like that are hard to find. I think it's easier to find them if you first become the kind of friend you are looking for. How could I ever expect someone to come to my house and not judge me if I am judging them?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Our Zoo
I finally surrendered my control over the pipe cleaners and allowed K to use his imagination to create something. I guess I finally realized that's what I bought them for.
The first thing we made was a butterfly. M didn't like it too
much since K went around the house pretending to be a butterfly saying "swoodle" everywhere he went.
much since K went around the house pretending to be a butterfly saying "swoodle" everywhere he went.
The next thing we made was a turtle. It's a blue, green, and black turtle, but... it's a turtle. That's what I love about a child's imagination, it has no boundaries.
Then we made a monkey. I actually made 2 different versions of a monkey. K picked out the colors. M was a lot happier with the "results" of K being a monkey versus a butterfly.
Then we made a monkey. I actually made 2 different versions of a monkey. K picked out the colors. M was a lot happier with the "results" of K being a monkey versus a butterfly.Then, we made a horse and added a chicken that one of K's friend had given him.
Of course, all the animals have to have a place to live, so I found a perfect shoebox that already had "bars" on them. I just had to cut them out. As I was cutting the bars, K gently reminded me to make sure I made a door so the animals could get in and out. :-)
Of course, all the animals have to have a place to live, so I found a perfect shoebox that already had "bars" on them. I just had to cut them out. As I was cutting the bars, K gently reminded me to make sure I made a door so the animals could get in and out. :-)
This morning, we made a silver elephant with red legs. I just finished making a baby green elephant. So, I guess when our zoo is completely finished, if that ever happens, I will post more pics.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Baby L first
Baby L decided she would try to stand today. She hasn't even learned how to crawl yet, but she's starting to pull herself up. I sat her down in her crib and being the curious one that she is, she grabbed on to the side of the crib and stood up. It wasn't for very long, as her legs aren't that strong yet, but before I know it, she'll be crawling and walking everywhere.
It seems as though she was just born the other day...
It seems as though she was just born the other day...
Monday, November 10, 2008
Idolatry?
I was at a church for a leadership meeting this weekend when I noticed something that really bothered me and I wanted to share it someone hoping to get insight. I'm sure I misinterpreted what I saw, but to be honest, I just don't know.
As I turned the corner, I noticed a big cross on the wall. Above the cross it said, "Soul Winner". That's a good definition and is definitely fitting above a cross. I then looked down and saw children's hand prints all around. Just as adults need to won over to Christ, so do children. What bothered me though, was the picture in the middle. It wasn't Jesus Christ, it was President-Elect, Obama hugging different children. Is that a form of idolatry or did I completely misunderstand or misinterpret what I saw? He's not even in office yet and people are holding him in such high regard that his face is already plastered on a cross and he's been given the title "Soul Winner."
There is not one human being on this planet that can win souls. It is our responsibility to "...go and make disciples of all nations.... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19. It is only through their personal decision to accept Christ as their savior that their soul can be won.
As I turned the corner, I noticed a big cross on the wall. Above the cross it said, "Soul Winner". That's a good definition and is definitely fitting above a cross. I then looked down and saw children's hand prints all around. Just as adults need to won over to Christ, so do children. What bothered me though, was the picture in the middle. It wasn't Jesus Christ, it was President-Elect, Obama hugging different children. Is that a form of idolatry or did I completely misunderstand or misinterpret what I saw? He's not even in office yet and people are holding him in such high regard that his face is already plastered on a cross and he's been given the title "Soul Winner."
There is not one human being on this planet that can win souls. It is our responsibility to "...go and make disciples of all nations.... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19. It is only through their personal decision to accept Christ as their savior that their soul can be won.
Cycle of Democracy
I enjoyed reading this article and thought some of you might too....
Cycle of Democracy by Orrin Woodward
http://orrinwoodward.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/11/6/3965183.html
Cycle of Democracy - Alexander Fraser Tyler
by Orrin Woodward on Thu 06 Nov 2008 09:21 AM EST Permanent Link Cosmos
The following quote is from Alexander Fraser Tyler - (in his 1770 book, Cycle of Democracy). I have been thinking about this quote and the state of our union for many months. I do not write this article in an attacking spirit, but in a spirit of searching for the right path in a world wandering down blind alleys.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a louse fiscal responsibility, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence:"
Here is Tyler's "Cycle of Democracy" with my thoughts of of America in the cycle.
From bondage to spiritual faith;
The Great Awakening of the 1730’s in the American Colonies was a time of revival and spiritual longing. Jonathon Edwards, considered by many to be America ’s greatest mind, led the revival with Biblical sermons and a fire for truth. Edwards taught the unvarnished truth about sinful man and our accountability to an Almighty God. Not surprisingly, he is mocked and laughed at today, but that is more of an indictment of our society than Edwards preaching. Pastor Edward’s magnum opus, Freedom of the Will has never been refuted by any scholar. This was a critical step in developing the conviction to fear God and not man. Even if man happened to be the largest empire in the world in which the sun never set – the British Empire .
From spiritual faith to great courage;
Spiritual faith leads to great courage based upon convictions worth sacrificing for. A person who will does not stand for something, will fall for anything. Think of the true heroes throughout history. One of the uniting principles that all heroes have is a willingness to stand for truth and convictions in a world of untruth and apathy. The Founding Families had great courage to stand for the truth of against tyranny and oppression. They did this because they knew the Bible said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty .” The British were moving in the direction of excessive taxation (1 %) and the Colonist would not sit back and allow an offsite government to tax local colonist.
From courage to liberty;
The Colonist defeat of the British Empire was not a defeat of British military forces as much as a victory over British will. The Colonists were fighting for their deeply held principles that they were willing to give their life, wealth and sacred honor for. The British were fighting for some extra taxation in one of their many colonies. The American will defeated the British will because of an imbalance in the convictions involved. With the defeat of Cornwallis and the subsequent genius of our American Constitution, liberty reigned in the United States under rule of law.
From liberty to abundance;
The abundance generated by free enterprise and limited government was one of America ’s biggest blessings, but also one of our biggest challenges. One of the few standing economies after WWII was America ’s. Our products flowed to nearly all foreign markets creating the wealthiest society in the world’s history. It takes incredible discipline to remember where our blessings come from with abundance heaped upon further abundance. Over time, people forget the principles that created the liberty and the fruit of that liberty. Seeing the inequalities in the blessing of individual citizens, an envy of our fellow Americans germinates. The fruit of this unholy thinking is a desire to take our brothers and sisters abundance and give to those less abounding. Government would have to intervene and right this wrong according to the envious.
From abundance to selfishness;
The 1960’s were a decade of self masquerading as a care for those less fortunate. Free love, destruction of society’s norms, and a drug culture prevailed in the youth. The 1960’s were a rebellion against the plastic society of abundance without the belief in the principles that created that abundance. The Church, having lost conviction of the truths of the Bible, ossified into ghetto culture within America . With little truth in the Church, the youth were left on their own to search for answers to the hypocrisy that engulfed them. Instead of returning to the Biblical principles and the God that created the blessings, society entered into the worship of self and self-actualization. The youth of the 60’s saw the hypocrisy, but in their endless faith in their own holiness marched America even further from its Biblical roots.
From selfishness to complacency;
Without a Biblical foundation, the rebellion was bound to produce worse fruits than the plastic culture it attempted to replace. With no firm convictions to stand upon, the rebellion dissolved into peace and personal affluence. The loss of Biblical absolutes is bound to lead from convictions to surrender to complacency as no one is sure what the truth is. What is the use of standing for anything, if we are not sure that what we are standing for is truth? The 1970’s saw this complacency as the youth joined the “system” and pursued peace and affluence with little understanding of original principles that America was founded upon.
From complacency to apathy;
1980’s were a brief respite in the cycle. Thanks to the leadership and convictions of Ronald Reagan, America stood its ground against Communism and found that Communism was a paper tiger. The respite was short lived because the President, even with his bully pulpit, cannot consistently educate Americans on Biblical truths. This must be a function of the church, which has abdicated their responsibility in an effort to be relative to a lost generation.
The 1990’s saw a near complete surrender to apathy and personal fulfillment. With a near complete rejection of absolute values, people defined their own values and pursued fulfillment in the myriad of choices available to them. People did not care who was running the government as long as they were left alone to pursue the own personal agenda. Government performed by doing focus groups to ascertain what the people wanted and giving it to them, surrendering all leadership responsibilities to the disparate wishes of the people. Government, instead of playing the role of umpire and defender of our freedoms began to play the role of a benevolent dictator. The dictator studied to learn what we wanted and offered that to us with only a presumed token price of submission to the almighty sovereignty of government in the affairs of the citizens.
From apathy to dependency;
The 2000’s will be remembered as the decade of complete submission to the government’s largesse. The American citizen’s depend upon government for their welfare, health care, social security, etc. It would be unthinkable for most Americans to live without the direct involvement of our beneficent Big Brother. The price of dependency is submission of our freedoms to the dictates of Big Brother. The old saying that you boil a frog one degree at a time aptly fits here. If you take a frog and throw him into boiling water, the frog will have enough sense to jump out. But if you turn up the temperature slowly, the frog will open up its pores and will literally be boiled without an attempted escape. Americans are now boiling in our dependency on our government.
From dependency back again to bondage.
Eventually in our dependence, we see our status falling in the free world as slaves can never perform the functions of free men and women. Although the government still mouths the words of our founding fathers, the words have new meanings. The citizens cannot put a finger on the malady, but they know something is not right. In their desperation, they look for a messiah to save them. Because the Churches are not sharing the message of the true messiah and the true way to liberty, the citizens look for a worldly messiah. A perceptive leader, with words that tickle the ears promises to be the searched for messiah. With the republican form of government torn asunder and transformed into a nascent democracy – the powerful words and promises of deliverance speak directly to the masses. A savior is born unto the people and salvation is just around the corner.
A shocking truth is learned too late that man cannot save man and only Jesus Christ can liberate the soul in bondage. A people held in bondage to sin can never be responsible to run a free government. The people in bondage will look to the government the way Christians look to their Savior. Government cannot be the savior to the people and was never intended to be so when created by our Founding Families. America’s national debt is now over $10 trillion and to service the debt on the interest is over $450 billion per year. This makes interest on debt the 3rd biggest item on our governments budget! We are bankrupting our children's inheritance on the altar of self indulgence! Ben Franklin said after the creation of our Constitution when asked what type of government was created, “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic was formed to keep the masses from directly running the government and voting the government into bankruptcy. How far have we traveled from our founding principles and roots?
I did not write this to scare people into inactivity, but to awaken our consciences to the choices that face us. We do not have to complete this cycle and just as Ronald Reagan interrupted the cycle, we can too! Will it take convictions and guts? Yes, but a Godly people that have studied the truth of our founding principles will not be swayed by the promises of an almighty government. Examine yourself. Where do you stand at this historic time?
Let me close with one of my brothers favorite authors. The science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein called this issue "Bread and Circuses" - a reference to Roman Emperors providing food and entertainment to distract the masses. In "To Sail beyond the Sunset" the character Lazarus Long discusses this problem:
"A perfect democracy, a 'warm body' democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally has no internal feedback for self correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens...which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it...which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'
"Bread and Circuses is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader--the barbarians enter Rome."
Where do you think America is on the cycle and what do you think we must do to address and fix? I will close this article with the Biblical passage from Hosea 4:6-10, which I believe captures the crossroads where America stands. I will address proposed solutions in several future articles. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “ The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
I will change[a] their glory[b] into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And reward them for their deeds.
10 For they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.
Cycle of Democracy by Orrin Woodward
http://orrinwoodward.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/11/6/3965183.html
Cycle of Democracy - Alexander Fraser Tyler
by Orrin Woodward on Thu 06 Nov 2008 09:21 AM EST Permanent Link Cosmos
The following quote is from Alexander Fraser Tyler - (in his 1770 book, Cycle of Democracy). I have been thinking about this quote and the state of our union for many months. I do not write this article in an attacking spirit, but in a spirit of searching for the right path in a world wandering down blind alleys.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a louse fiscal responsibility, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence:"
Here is Tyler's "Cycle of Democracy" with my thoughts of of America in the cycle.
From bondage to spiritual faith;
The Great Awakening of the 1730’s in the American Colonies was a time of revival and spiritual longing. Jonathon Edwards, considered by many to be America ’s greatest mind, led the revival with Biblical sermons and a fire for truth. Edwards taught the unvarnished truth about sinful man and our accountability to an Almighty God. Not surprisingly, he is mocked and laughed at today, but that is more of an indictment of our society than Edwards preaching. Pastor Edward’s magnum opus, Freedom of the Will has never been refuted by any scholar. This was a critical step in developing the conviction to fear God and not man. Even if man happened to be the largest empire in the world in which the sun never set – the British Empire .
From spiritual faith to great courage;
Spiritual faith leads to great courage based upon convictions worth sacrificing for. A person who will does not stand for something, will fall for anything. Think of the true heroes throughout history. One of the uniting principles that all heroes have is a willingness to stand for truth and convictions in a world of untruth and apathy. The Founding Families had great courage to stand for the truth of against tyranny and oppression. They did this because they knew the Bible said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty .” The British were moving in the direction of excessive taxation (1 %) and the Colonist would not sit back and allow an offsite government to tax local colonist.
From courage to liberty;
The Colonist defeat of the British Empire was not a defeat of British military forces as much as a victory over British will. The Colonists were fighting for their deeply held principles that they were willing to give their life, wealth and sacred honor for. The British were fighting for some extra taxation in one of their many colonies. The American will defeated the British will because of an imbalance in the convictions involved. With the defeat of Cornwallis and the subsequent genius of our American Constitution, liberty reigned in the United States under rule of law.
From liberty to abundance;
The abundance generated by free enterprise and limited government was one of America ’s biggest blessings, but also one of our biggest challenges. One of the few standing economies after WWII was America ’s. Our products flowed to nearly all foreign markets creating the wealthiest society in the world’s history. It takes incredible discipline to remember where our blessings come from with abundance heaped upon further abundance. Over time, people forget the principles that created the liberty and the fruit of that liberty. Seeing the inequalities in the blessing of individual citizens, an envy of our fellow Americans germinates. The fruit of this unholy thinking is a desire to take our brothers and sisters abundance and give to those less abounding. Government would have to intervene and right this wrong according to the envious.
From abundance to selfishness;
The 1960’s were a decade of self masquerading as a care for those less fortunate. Free love, destruction of society’s norms, and a drug culture prevailed in the youth. The 1960’s were a rebellion against the plastic society of abundance without the belief in the principles that created that abundance. The Church, having lost conviction of the truths of the Bible, ossified into ghetto culture within America . With little truth in the Church, the youth were left on their own to search for answers to the hypocrisy that engulfed them. Instead of returning to the Biblical principles and the God that created the blessings, society entered into the worship of self and self-actualization. The youth of the 60’s saw the hypocrisy, but in their endless faith in their own holiness marched America even further from its Biblical roots.
From selfishness to complacency;
Without a Biblical foundation, the rebellion was bound to produce worse fruits than the plastic culture it attempted to replace. With no firm convictions to stand upon, the rebellion dissolved into peace and personal affluence. The loss of Biblical absolutes is bound to lead from convictions to surrender to complacency as no one is sure what the truth is. What is the use of standing for anything, if we are not sure that what we are standing for is truth? The 1970’s saw this complacency as the youth joined the “system” and pursued peace and affluence with little understanding of original principles that America was founded upon.
From complacency to apathy;
1980’s were a brief respite in the cycle. Thanks to the leadership and convictions of Ronald Reagan, America stood its ground against Communism and found that Communism was a paper tiger. The respite was short lived because the President, even with his bully pulpit, cannot consistently educate Americans on Biblical truths. This must be a function of the church, which has abdicated their responsibility in an effort to be relative to a lost generation.
The 1990’s saw a near complete surrender to apathy and personal fulfillment. With a near complete rejection of absolute values, people defined their own values and pursued fulfillment in the myriad of choices available to them. People did not care who was running the government as long as they were left alone to pursue the own personal agenda. Government performed by doing focus groups to ascertain what the people wanted and giving it to them, surrendering all leadership responsibilities to the disparate wishes of the people. Government, instead of playing the role of umpire and defender of our freedoms began to play the role of a benevolent dictator. The dictator studied to learn what we wanted and offered that to us with only a presumed token price of submission to the almighty sovereignty of government in the affairs of the citizens.
From apathy to dependency;
The 2000’s will be remembered as the decade of complete submission to the government’s largesse. The American citizen’s depend upon government for their welfare, health care, social security, etc. It would be unthinkable for most Americans to live without the direct involvement of our beneficent Big Brother. The price of dependency is submission of our freedoms to the dictates of Big Brother. The old saying that you boil a frog one degree at a time aptly fits here. If you take a frog and throw him into boiling water, the frog will have enough sense to jump out. But if you turn up the temperature slowly, the frog will open up its pores and will literally be boiled without an attempted escape. Americans are now boiling in our dependency on our government.
From dependency back again to bondage.
Eventually in our dependence, we see our status falling in the free world as slaves can never perform the functions of free men and women. Although the government still mouths the words of our founding fathers, the words have new meanings. The citizens cannot put a finger on the malady, but they know something is not right. In their desperation, they look for a messiah to save them. Because the Churches are not sharing the message of the true messiah and the true way to liberty, the citizens look for a worldly messiah. A perceptive leader, with words that tickle the ears promises to be the searched for messiah. With the republican form of government torn asunder and transformed into a nascent democracy – the powerful words and promises of deliverance speak directly to the masses. A savior is born unto the people and salvation is just around the corner.
A shocking truth is learned too late that man cannot save man and only Jesus Christ can liberate the soul in bondage. A people held in bondage to sin can never be responsible to run a free government. The people in bondage will look to the government the way Christians look to their Savior. Government cannot be the savior to the people and was never intended to be so when created by our Founding Families. America’s national debt is now over $10 trillion and to service the debt on the interest is over $450 billion per year. This makes interest on debt the 3rd biggest item on our governments budget! We are bankrupting our children's inheritance on the altar of self indulgence! Ben Franklin said after the creation of our Constitution when asked what type of government was created, “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic was formed to keep the masses from directly running the government and voting the government into bankruptcy. How far have we traveled from our founding principles and roots?
I did not write this to scare people into inactivity, but to awaken our consciences to the choices that face us. We do not have to complete this cycle and just as Ronald Reagan interrupted the cycle, we can too! Will it take convictions and guts? Yes, but a Godly people that have studied the truth of our founding principles will not be swayed by the promises of an almighty government. Examine yourself. Where do you stand at this historic time?
Let me close with one of my brothers favorite authors. The science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein called this issue "Bread and Circuses" - a reference to Roman Emperors providing food and entertainment to distract the masses. In "To Sail beyond the Sunset" the character Lazarus Long discusses this problem:
"A perfect democracy, a 'warm body' democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally has no internal feedback for self correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens...which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it...which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'
"Bread and Circuses is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader--the barbarians enter Rome."
Where do you think America is on the cycle and what do you think we must do to address and fix? I will close this article with the Biblical passage from Hosea 4:6-10, which I believe captures the crossroads where America stands. I will address proposed solutions in several future articles. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “ The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
I will change[a] their glory[b] into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And reward them for their deeds.
10 For they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.
Prayers for Our Nation
Let it be known, I started praying for our country LONG before I even knew who was going to be on the tickets. So, to say I am praying for our country means just that. Just as I prayed for our current President, I will also pray for our President-Elect and his family before and after he takes office. The higher the level a person is in leadership, the more eyes are on them and the harder the fall is.
Our country's moral standards have been declining for quite some time. It has nothing to do with our economy, but with people's expectations. It seems the busier we get as a nation the less we expect of others and our children. Expectations tend to be inconvenient. We have become a nation of convenience.
In regards to the economy, I didn't know it was bad until someone told me. Yeah, I noticed gas prices went up. I noticed I got less food but spent more money at the grocery store. I noticed the prices of candy bars :-) went up, but it didn't really effect us too much. My husband and I decided to take control of our personal economy and not depend on the government or someone else a long time ago. We've been blessed. We've tried to share our blessings, at least how we obtained it, with others, but I was surprised at how few were actually interested in learning and educating themselves.
"Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security" Ben Franklin
To be honest, I got kind of excited when someone told me we were in a recession. When Mike mentioned he wanted a house on the lake, I smiled. There's almost no better time to buy land or build a house than when there is a "recession" because prices are low.
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Ben Franklin
Our country's moral standards have been declining for quite some time. It has nothing to do with our economy, but with people's expectations. It seems the busier we get as a nation the less we expect of others and our children. Expectations tend to be inconvenient. We have become a nation of convenience.
In regards to the economy, I didn't know it was bad until someone told me. Yeah, I noticed gas prices went up. I noticed I got less food but spent more money at the grocery store. I noticed the prices of candy bars :-) went up, but it didn't really effect us too much. My husband and I decided to take control of our personal economy and not depend on the government or someone else a long time ago. We've been blessed. We've tried to share our blessings, at least how we obtained it, with others, but I was surprised at how few were actually interested in learning and educating themselves.
"Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security" Ben Franklin
To be honest, I got kind of excited when someone told me we were in a recession. When Mike mentioned he wanted a house on the lake, I smiled. There's almost no better time to buy land or build a house than when there is a "recession" because prices are low.
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Ben Franklin
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Differing opinions
I LOVE talking to people about ideas and opinions in which we DON'T agree. I just wish I could find more people that wouldn't be offended by the fact that I may not agree. I know I don't know every answer, every option, or every outcome, but I am more than willing to listen to other people's ideas and opinions with an open mind. I enjoy enlightning conversations that can possibly open my eyes or mind to things or ideas I had never thought about.
I have a friend that I went to school with. Her and I disagree on many things, but it doesn't change the fact that she is God's creation and she has a right to her own opinion and ideas. I love reading her blog because her ideas are so different than mine. I'm not offended by them, I respect them. It doesn't change the fact that she's doing great things by involving and teaching her 1 year old in and about politics and the things she believes in.
I have a tendency to play "devil's advocate", not because I believe in all the situations, but because I want to be aware of all the possibilities and knowing that my way might not be the best way.
I got called out on it once at work. They told me I shouldn't be asking particular questions because it didn't pertain to me. If I'm in a room full of people and I have a question about something that I may have observed or could actually get in trouble for, I doubt I'm the only person that has ever had that question. Why shouldn't I be able to ask it?
Why is it so hard to find people that can truly appreciate others' difference and not feel the need or urge to argue about everything? I know some people don't even share their opinions or ideas in fear that someone will argue with them or even insult them.
I have a friend that I went to school with. Her and I disagree on many things, but it doesn't change the fact that she is God's creation and she has a right to her own opinion and ideas. I love reading her blog because her ideas are so different than mine. I'm not offended by them, I respect them. It doesn't change the fact that she's doing great things by involving and teaching her 1 year old in and about politics and the things she believes in.
I have a tendency to play "devil's advocate", not because I believe in all the situations, but because I want to be aware of all the possibilities and knowing that my way might not be the best way.
I got called out on it once at work. They told me I shouldn't be asking particular questions because it didn't pertain to me. If I'm in a room full of people and I have a question about something that I may have observed or could actually get in trouble for, I doubt I'm the only person that has ever had that question. Why shouldn't I be able to ask it?
Why is it so hard to find people that can truly appreciate others' difference and not feel the need or urge to argue about everything? I know some people don't even share their opinions or ideas in fear that someone will argue with them or even insult them.
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