Don't Like it? Change It!

Why are we so afraid to make changes? Why are we so afraid to take steps necessary to make changes? Have we, as a society, become so self deprecating that we do not believe we can make a change in this world? Sometimes change isn't necessary. I am a firm believer that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" But, by the same token, if it's broken, fix it! I understand that most of the time it is easier to just walk away and let someone else try to fix it. But, why? Why can't you be the one to fix it?

This is what my blog is about today.  I am not pointing any fingers and I am not judging.  If I post something that looks like I am referring to you, I may or may not be using you as an example.  Don't jump to conclusions and don't be upset.  I am not naming names or pointing anyone out specifically.  My hope/goal is that if even just one person reads this and it encourages them to make a change instead of walk away, then I have made a small change myself.

There are several people that are choosing not to have children because of the "way the world is today".  But, let's take a moment to think about this logic.  If you don't want to have children because you don't care for children, don't have the finances or any other number of reasons, then you are probably making the right decision.  But, to not have them because the world sucks, is truly the worst reason I can think of.  There are plenty of people that should not be having children, but they are still bringing them into this world.  Those children, despite the few lucky ones that are not negatively affected by their environment, are the ones that are ruining this world.

How can we fight against that if the good people that realize the world is in a terrible state have given up and won't have children?  The problem isn't the world, it's the people in it! Think of the opportunity for this world that you are throwing away!  You have the opportunity to make a difference in this world by increasing the number of good people in it!  So, not only would you have the love and joy of your children, but, by raising them with good morals and noble character, you will have already made a difference in this world!

Writing this entry has made me remember another blog I wrote last year.  I give my suggestions for making the world a little better, most of which involve how we are raising our children.  Here is a link to that post.

Sorry, Elton, Jesus would NOT support you!

Let me preface this blog entry by saying that I am not "against" gay people!  Someone can be a genuinely wonderful person and be gay.  It's not my business what a person does with their personal life behind closed doors.  Be they hetero or homo, it's not my business as long as they are not hurting anyone else.  I also do not disagree with gay-unions.  Gay people should be allowed to enjoy the same rights as married people.  I do however, disagree with calling it marriage.  If you want to be together, that's fine.  Just call it something else (not MARRIAGE).  I do feel sorry for gay people.  I feel sorry for their souls that they will not be able to enter into heaven.

With that being said, I am really disturbed by the interview I just read by Elton John!  Elton, you are a wonderful song writer and I have always enjoyed your music and your crazy costumes!  You are a fabulous entertainer! But, you MUST be living in one of your fantasy worlds, if you think that Jesus would be in favor of gay marriage. You can read the full story here.

During the interview Elton John refers to Pope Francis as being "wonderful" and says "He's excited me so much by his humanity and taking everything down to the humility of faith...it's all basically about love and taking everybody in inclusiveness". "If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him... saying this could not happen,".  Yes, Jesus was about love and compassion.  But, he was also about upholding God's word in the bible.  There are at least 3 places within the bible that are specifically against homosexuality.  Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27 and 1st Corinthians 6:9.

Unfortunately, Pope Francis and many other Christian leaders are giving up the core values of Christianity in order to include and not alienate many people.  Well, I think they have it backwards!  The church shouldn't change to include people, people should change to be included!  But, that is definitely a blog for another day.

For now, I will just continue to pray for people like Elton John.  But, please do not put words into my Saviour's mouth just because a Catholic leader has given you the false impression that your lifestyle is acceptable from a Christian point of view.

Separation of Church & State!

I swear, I almost threw up when I read this!  This is a perfect example of why we need separation of church and state!  So people and I use that term loosely here can't even think about doing this!

I found this article on Yahoo News.  Apparently, a satanic group has petitioned the Oklahoma legislature to have a 7 foot tall statue of satan placed at the Oklahoma State Capitol.  Back in 2012, a Ten Commandments monument was placed there.  While I love to see the Ten Commandments publicized and placed where everyone can see them because I am Christian, I do not like the door that it is opening.  I won't post the picture of the statue on my blog for obvious reasons.  But, if you want to see the planned statue and read the article, here is the link.
http://news.yahoo.com/group-unveils-satan-statue-design-oklahoma-224102124.html

It will be interesting to see what the Oklahoma legislature decides to do about this.  I guess legally, you can't include the Ten Commandments and leave out other religions.  If it comes down to that, I would rather see them remove the Ten Commandments than add the statue of Satan.

They need to get creative.  The Ten Commandments can be displayed without calling them the Ten Commandments, well most of them anyway.  :( But, at least we could get the jist of them on a statue and not make it religious.  It could look something like this:

Guide To Life
Be Good to Your Parents
Do Not Kill or Hurt Other Things
Be Faithful to Your Spouse
Do Not Steal
Do Not Lie
Be Happy with What You Have

These are the last 6 commandments and I believe they can be adhered to by anyone regardless of your religion.  So, I really do hope that Oklahoma or any other state for that matter, does not allow this proposed statue to be placed anywhere that the public would have to be subjected to it.

So, I almost closed this blog.  But, then, I realized this is my opportunity to share the Ten Commandments with my readers.

It's an Obligation, Not a Gift!

As many of you know, we are getting The Big Bang Theory seasons from the library.  By the way, the library is a great way to get caught up on TV shows that you were a little later than everyone else in realizing how terrific they are.

So, anyway, we are on season 2 now.  During one of the episodes, Penny mentions to Sheldon that she has a Christmas gift for him and Leonard.  Sheldon is immediately put off by this and wants to know why she is giving him a gift.  Then, he voices his wondrous insight on Gift Giving.  He explains how Penny has not given him a Gift, she has given him an Obligation!  THIS IS SO TRUE!!  I have felt this way for years!  I love Christmas and the meaning behind celebrating the Birth of Jesus.  But, I hate the gift giving among adults. Children, I understand.  That's a big part of what Christmas is about to a child.

But, when it comes to adults, gift giving just causes undo stress at the Holidays.  That's why, as an adult, I have come to enjoy Thanksgiving more than Christmas.  I wish Christmas would be more about getting together with family and enjoying each other's company and not having to worry about finding gifts for everyone.

If you truly want to give someone a gift, no obligation in return.  Then, that gift should be given at the time you find the item.  Not stored away to give at a Holiday.  I sometimes do this throughout the year.  If I see something that I think someone would really enjoy, I get it for them. Then, I give it to them as a friend giving a gift.  Not as a birthday gift, so that now they feel obligated to get me something on my birthday.  Not as a Christmas gift, so that now they feel obligated to get me something for Christmas.

This year, my sister in law, Shannon, called the Salvation Army to find out about sponsoring a family for Christmas.  Then, she came up with the terrific idea to have the adults help with sponsoring that whole family in lieu of exchanging gifts among the adults.  This is a great idea!  We can help a family in need and cross those names off the list of stressful Christmas shopping.

Sheldon may not be socially intelligent.  But, I have to say he (the writer of this episode) sure did hit the nail on the head with this acumen!  Please don't give me any more Obligations!

Thank God we still have our Religious Freedom!

We are all complaining lately about how screwed up our country is right now.  Being one of the complainers, I would like to take a moment to appreciate and Thank God that we still have our Religious Freedom!

Reading an article this afternoon, I realized that there are so many people in the world who don't have this freedom.  Maybe I'm naive, but I really thought that except for a few countries, this was a thing of the past. But, it seems that Christian persecution is still wide spread even in this day and age.

The article I read was about 4 men in Iran being sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking alcohol at a communion. You can read the full article here.

http://news.yahoo.com/christians-iran-reportedly-sentenced-80-lashes-drinking-wine-122213900.html

The article goes on to say that it is against the law to drink alcohol in Iran.  Maybe if Iranians DID drink alcohol they'd be a little less "hostile".  But, I think that's a blog for another day.  On this point, I just think that if the men know it's against Iranian law to drink alcohol, they should have drank grape juice or something else like we do at our church services.  They can follow the law and still perform the service.  Although, I have a strong suspicion that they would have been arrested for something else.

The main reason I felt the need to blog about this is because of the little paragraph at the end of the article. Stuck in at the end and almost glossed over.  This paragraph has me truly upset!

"Protestant Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, has been in Iran's notorious Evin Prison for more than a year on charges of threatening national security by evangelizing in the Islamic country. His wife said in September that the pastor has been told he would be freed if he denies his Christian faith."

Why have we not heard about this?  We can hear about who the latest Kardashian is dating or what the 1st lady is wearing to dinner.  But, we don't hear about how there is a US Citizen trapped in a prison in Iran because he won't deny his Christian faith??!!  Why is our government not doing anything about this!  Why are we not demanding that he be deported back to the US? How can WE do anything about this?  I think I am most upset about this because I don't believe the government is doing anything to help a US Citizen in a foreign country and also because I know about it and I don't know what I can do to help!

If you have heard about this Pastor or know how I can help him, please share the information here!

Way to Go Texas KYA!

South Brevard County Champs

Finally a Kids Sports Program moving in the right direction!  The Keller Youth Association Football Program is doing away with Participation trophies this year.  Read the full article here.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/football-program-no-more-participation-trophies-224827133--abc-news-topstories.html?vp=1

I for one am glad to see a program that is willing to take that step to get our kids (our future society) to realize that you have to earn things in life.  They are not going to be given to you and you are not "entitled" to anything.  You want a trophy?  Put in the effort and hard work needed to win the championship!  You want a medal?  Put in the hard work and effort needed to win the race!

The only downside I see to this change is that the kids who have received trophies in the past are going to have a harsh slap of reality.  But, reality is harsh.  So, the kids are actually getting 2 lessons here.  Life doesn't hand you things and you have to suck it up and deal with harsh reality sometimes.

Upset He Didn't Earn an Award

The picture on the right is my youngest son, Aaron at the school's End of the Year Award Ceremony.  Now, no parent likes to see their child upset and neither do I.  But, I am kind of glad that he is upset that he didn't do well enough to earn the Principal's award that year.  Every other year, he has earned it.  That year he didn't.  So, it gave us the opportunity to talk with him about how he needs to consider if he truly tried hard enough that year. And what he could have done better and what he will do next year.

Unfortunately, all the years of giving kids rewards for just "showing up" or for mediocrity has given us a society of people that don't try to do their best because they think they don't need to.  It has given us a society that thinks that they are "owed" something.  This can be seen by all those EBT users and the amount of people on permanent welfare.

But, I also believe that it's never too late to make a change!  It's never too late to see that something isn't working and make it right!  I truly hope that the other sports programs around the country see this article and follow suit.  Not everyone is going to agree and there will be those parents that get upset that their coddled child isn't getting a trophy.  But, the programs just have to ignore those parents and stick to the principle. Eventually, it will become the norm.  Then, the programs will be doing what they were originally intended for....to teach kids how to work as a team and work hard for an end result.  My younger son Aaron says it best "2nd Place is just 1st Loser"!

Happy Birthday, Oliver!

So today is a very special day!  It's so special we even count down to this day.  But, this year it's even more special!  My dear friend Oliver is celebrating his 40th birthday today!  So, Happy Birthday, Oliver!

I have known Oliver since High School.  We shared Mrs. Pittman's Anatomy & Physiology class together.  How many friends do you have that you can say that you skinned a cat together?  LOL, I hope not many!  Anyway, as many friends do, we didn't see each other after High School.

But, then, My Space came along and I got his friend request.  This is when Oliver and I really got to be friends, without High School to get in the way.  I got to know Oliver and see what a truly interesting and awesome guy he is.  He shared his artwork and comic endeavors.  Oliver, you are truly talented!  I hope that one day you will get to show it to the world! :)

Then, Facebook came along and Oliver and I continued our friendship on there.  I got to know even more about him and even help to support him on some of his art contests and movie projects.  He made me wish that I could live in Jax again to be able to go to some of his premieres.  One day, work won't get in the way and I'll be able to go! ;)

So, then this thing called DragonCon 2011 came about.  I had never heard of such a thing.  But, my favorite Author was attending, so my Best Friend, Lacy and I just had to go.  But, we couldn't afford to just split the expenses 2 ways.  We needed a 3rd or 4th person to go.  Immediately, Oliver came to mind.  I knew he loved comics and superheroes.  But, we didn't really know each other THAT well.  I figured why not take a shot and ask him to go with us.  Oliver, being the awesome guy that he is, was up for the challenge of spending 4 days in Atlanta with 1 girl he had never met and another he hadn't seen since high school!

You can really get to know a person during an 8 hour car ride!  We sung along to our favorite rock songs, chatted about everything and nothing.  I learned from the many many many billboards we passed along the way, that Oliver loves Sushi as much as I do.  Or maybe it was just the subliminal messages from the many many many billboards we passed.  Did I mention there were many many many billboards?  LOL, sorry that was an inside joke I had to write. ;)

Support from friends is a beautiful thing.  I always appreciate the little signs of support as well as the big ones.  A like to my blog post or a comment does not go unnoticed.  I can always count on Oliver to be there supporting me in my writing and encouraging me to write more.  I really do appreciate that and thank you for your support, Oliver.  It means a lot!  So, today I dedicate my blog to an "awesome", amazing, talented guy! Happy Birthday, Oliver!!