I'm the incredibly blessed mother of 9, "Granny" to 13, and wife of "The Papa," the knight-in-shining-armor whose loving support has made it possible for me to stay home and give my life to mothering, homemaking, and 25 years of homeschooling. Life at Granny's House is full of laughter, friendship, books, music, lively debate, writing, and good things to eat. My days are made even more meaningful by coming alongside other moms, giving them the support and encouragement that I lacked as a young mother and helping them to network with each other in ways that strengthen homes and families. A few times a year I board a plane to visit my "away" kids, to attend the birth of a grandchild, or to enjoy some lazy days with my best friend, but I always love coming back to...Granny's House.
Even when someone battles hard, there is an equal portion for one who lingers behind, and in the same honor are held both the coward and the brave man; the idle man and he who has done much meet death alike.
Homer (900 BC-800 BC)
What a sweet reminder that a child's life begins long before his trip down the birth canal:
(Nov. 5) -- From their very first days, the cries of newborns already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, scientists now find.
French newborns tend to cry with rising melody patterns, slowly increasing in pitch from the beginning to the end, whereas German newborns seem to prefer falling melody patterns, findings that are both consistent with differences between the languages.
This suggests infants begin picking up elements of language in the womb, long before their first babble or coo.
Government and those that proclaim it can solve so many of our problems – regardless of their party.
In 1959, in an interview with Mike Wallace, Ayn Rand posited that:
“A free economy will not break down. All depressions are caused by government interference and the cure that is always offered . . . is more of the same poisons that caused the disasters.”
Continuing my consideration of the prosperity gospel and its false teachers, I always want to make sure that if it can be preached with truth here, it will preach anywhere. Not that this alone makes it true, but a failure to translate to another culture automatically disqualifies it and should send up red flags. Sadly, the proliferation of American TV in Africa is infecting that continent with one of our most shameful exports. Watch and weep.
This morning, I asked you to write your congressman and protest the inclusion of public funding of abortions in the current Health Care Destruction Bill. My friend Dee Dee took me seriously, and I want to share her letter with you as an encouragement to do the same:
Congressman Miller:
I am watching with interest and a great deal of concern the attempts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to push her health care bill through Congress. This is not solely about health care; it is about power and control. If it were truly about what is best for the United States, then Speaker Pelosi and those in her camp would not be shutting out the myriad voices opposed to this takeover.
This is about my tax dollars -- and yours -- being spent to fund abortions, to end lives of Americans who are being deprived of their vote by virtue of being deprived of their lives. She may not -- indeed many in Congress may not -- feel abortion is murder. Fine, let their money fund it. I feel it is, and do not want my money spent on it. And you are there to represent me.
This is about the government giving itself the right to come into homes and check up on responsible citizens, just because it wants to. My forefathers - -and yours -- would roll over in their monument-marked graves.
This is about my daughter, a Type 1 diabetic, having her best care determined not only by her doctor, but by whatever government bureaucrat decides on her care, based on the government's and said bureaucrat's convenience. This is about the government someday being able to decide how many test strips I can get to test her sugar daily, and how much insulin she needs. The government! Think about your own child, who could be diagnosed with diabetes -- or cancer -- tomorrow. Do you want her care at the mercy of government deciders? Is this truly the America you know, and -- indeed -- aspired to Congress to serve?
Isn't the government you pledged to uphold one where the representatives of the people thoughtfully determine how to best implement the will OF THE PEOPLE? NOT one where an entire group in Congress is pushed aside so that a bill can be rushed through, without a hint of the transparency once promised by this administration, because someone in a high office thinks it is best for us, and thus the end justifies the means?
I am writing this letter to ask you, Congressman Miller, to stand up for the nation you want your own children to live in: one where the people's voices -- and not just the politicians' -- are heard and regarded. Please stand up for us -- and make us glad we sent you to Washington.
Sincerely, Darlene R(xxxx)
Milton NC
Thanks, Dee Dee, for this wonderful example and for allowing me to share it here.
Please don't fall for the Pelosi line that abortions will not be paid for with federal money. Not only will it be federal money, it will be collected from all participants in the public option whether or not they are opposed to abortion or whether they would ever be expected to "need" a murder of their infant at public expense:
Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it.
Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions.
What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan. It’s right there on line 16, page 96, section 213, under “Insurance Rating Rules.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.
Section 213 describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run plan. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.
There WILL be abortions at public expense if the Health Care Destruction Bill passes. It's just a matter of how well Pelosi and Co. can hide it or disguise it. More here:
Please, write your representative and tell him or her that you are watching and you won't be fooled by accounting tricks and soothing language. This morning I've written to my representative, Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), and to Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), House Republican leader to encourage him to keep fighting.
Hard words. Words which will cause many if not most of my readers to wince, because we are ALL, myself included, affected to some extent by the growing desensitization of our culture toward the abomination of homosexuality.
So I share this link with the disclaimer that I expect dissent.
Note: Don't get tripped up by his #1. Yes, it looks harsh. But if you accept a Biblical definition of love, then he's 100% right. Even Christians, wanting to convince each other we're "enlightened", have begun accepting the dictionary's definition of love, which is whatever society says it is from decade to decade. Love is what GOD, the Author of love, says it is.
We've talked here before about the correct use of apostrophes and how many people don't care to take the time to learn their correct use and so they just give up and pretend that precise use of our beautiful language is unimportant. I had occasion this week to be challenged in a work project to think carefully about some of the "grayer" areas of apostrophe use (yes, there are some), and so I was delighted today to find this little flowchart. It presents in a visual and humorous format some ways to remember when and when not to use apostrophes.
While gathering some information for dear friends today about a certain Word-of-Faith/Prosperity Gospel teacher, God was gracious enough to allow my eyes to fall on this precious ten minutes of video from John Piper. I hope you can watch the whole thing.
"...Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done....that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children." ~Psalm 78:4-6
My Focal Passage for 2009...
Granny wishes she had said...
"Going to Aunt Mirandy's is like going down dellar in the dark. There might be ogres and giants under the stairs, --but, as I tell Hannah, there might be elves and fairies and enchanged frogs!"
~~Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1903
Name:
Ayn Rand knew what caused our economic crisis; why don't we?
