Priviledge

We're hearing a lot about White Privilege these days. I never really heard of it until probably a few years ago and never thought too much of it as I didn't feel privileged. But it's bubbled up and we've been having a lot of discussions at home with our boys. Wanting to help guide their thoughts and opinions into one that reflects Christ I've been thinking about it a lot and reading a lot about it and what it means to other people.

What I have determined is that privilege is something like grace. You don't earn it, it's given and you can't give it back. There are lots of privileges in this world. Here are some I have thought of and what they mean to me (currently), I am ever evolving my opinions on everything!

Male Privilege: men have it, women don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: women will always park under a lamppost, have keys and phone out with 911 at the ready in a "shady" location, they will check the back seat, lock the doors as soon as possible
What it means in my house: I am the first one to ask for a break when we carry a couch or dresser

Parents still married privilege: some kids have it, some don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: shuffling back and forth between houses, remembering which parent they will be with at a holiday or particular time, lack of consistency, and often lack of funds
What it means in my house: kids don't get away with Jack, we are a united front, ALL. THE. TIME.

Small Community Privilege: small towns have it, big towns don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: can feel alone, feel like no one has your back, you are one in many
What it means in my house: everyone in town knows us/their parents, everyone knows what car we/the kids drive, everyone knows the behavior we expect from our boys, we are held accountable by our community, our community supports us

Middle Class Privilege: most people in America have it, some don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: might not know where your next meal is coming from, won't have all the "things" that the other kids/people have
What it means in my house: we go on vacation as a family every year, kids and adults get spirit wear when they play a sport, they get to go on optional ($$) field trips with school, we get to go out to dinner once a month or so, we never have to worry if the utilities are being turned off

American Privilege: Americans have it, other people don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: not as many choices or freedoms, not a culturally diverse, etc.
What it means in my house: we honor those who served in the past to free us from oppressors, we honor those who serve us now to keep us from oppression and keep us safe, we can start a business, go to whatever church we want

White Privilege: white people have it, other people don't
What it means in the world for those who don't have it: get looked at second, second choice, feel/treated inferior
What it means in my house: I don't have an answer for this

My boys have all of the above! They are privileged for sure! But they didn't earn any of these things. We are quick to remind them they are in the Middle Class because Tim and I work hard and take on extra jobs and start businesses; they are fairly big fish in a small pond because we chose to raise them here, they are blessed their parents work hard at their marriage EVERY DAY to stay in love and together, and the other privileges they were born into and have no bearing on anything they did so they can't brag about it-it's how God saw a plan for their life so they better work it well.

Thus, my next line of thought becomes, when a group is not the same-meaning some have a privilege and some don't; what is our obligation to make everyone have the same privilege?
Can that happen? [I don't think so]
Should that happen? [This is what I am pondering]
Or did God give us all a different position in life for a purpose? Think of Queen Esther in Veggie Tales, as Cousin Mordecai said, Esther was Queen, "For such a time as this..."

Power Grab

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

— Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

I have been in a funk lately. I think it's non-interaction with other humans. I'm not good reaching out on the phone. I haven't seen many people in person. I think I need to read Atlas Shrugged again, it tends to center me on the business side of my personality. And bonus, I can't read it in a short period of time, it takes me awhile.

Maybe it's because Eli is graduating and we can't have the things that I've been looking forward to to commemorate this milestone. I need to jump in another Bible study too. And clean my house. And make dinner, always the making dinner!

Directive

Every day, a new "directive" from the government pushes our small business closer and closer to falling into the pit of despair.

I refuse to be pushed over the edge into despair by people who don't understand business, much less my industry or my business in particular. If we make a bad decision and fail, that's on us. I refuse to be shamed for wanting my business succeed and making decisions to ensure it's going concern. I refuse to be shamed by a welfare state and mentality. I refuse to give up on capitalism.

Born With It

I believe we are all born with certain tendencies. After giving birth to four boys who have the same parents and live in the same house, I can see some things they are born with. I have one boy who talks incessantly and one you have to pull information out of. Why is that? Nature and nurture are the same for these boys. I believe it is the way the genes shook out this time-they were born that way. Does it make one boy better than the other? I don't believe so. Does it make one boy right and one boy wrong? I don't believe so.

Do I hold both boys to the same standards in our home? Yes I do. Do I expect to be answered every time I address them? Yes, whether you are the boy who likes to talk or the one who doesn't like to talk. If I speak to you, you respond. Regardless of the tendency you were born with, that is irrelevant, you are expected to live up to the standard. Just like I hold them both to the standard of not talking just to hear their own voice or talking over people. 

Now is one of those things easier to comply with for each boy? Yes, they are. 

Do the standards change based on what is easier for an individual boy? No, it does not.

Are standards universal? Yes, they are.

As you can see, I believe a person has the responsibility to control their own actions regardless of the tendencies they have, or "were born with" if you will.

Then comes the issue of standards. I get mine from the Bible. Where do you get yours? 

There are those who have a different belief system or some other framework for standards, and I do not deny them that right. In my belief system God gives us free will. Free will to make both right and wrong choices, free will to adhere to a different system of beliefs and set of standards. But it does not take away my right to my beliefs and standards because someone else thinks them wrong.

Marriage

Legal does not equal moral.

Marriage is a moral institution between a man, a woman, and God.

The government decided to capitalize on this bountiful institution by offering "perks" for married individuals in the form of tax incentives. To be "married" then in the eyes of the law, you are required to provide certain information (sometimes even blood testing) and pay a fee and provide the government with your change of name status so they can further track your life. This created various revenues and jobs for the government. And over time, we began to forget that marriage is not a legal institution, but a moral one.

It is a moral one, let us not forget it.

The government is now redefining who is eligible to apply for a governmental marriage certificate, as is their right since they issue the certificates. This in NO WAY changes the moral institution of marriage. It is a moral one, don't forget.

Those folks who were gay last week and living together, can now legally get married in the eyes of the law. That's great for them that they now can have the "perks" of being married under the government. They can now file for divorce and be liable for the other person's bills just like us heterosexuals.

If I had known 14 years ago what I know now-I would have never applied for a marriage certificate. We would have had our same moral and religious ceremony and I would have changed my name to honor my husband and the commitment I made to him and to God. That would have been the end of it. We would have never let the government in on what is the most sacred institution we have.


***


Personally, what I don't like is calling a government certified "marriage" a marriage. I feel it is very different than the moral institution that we all think of when we hear the word marriage.

To me it's like calling The Beatles and The Backstreet Boys both "bands".

The Beatles wrote and performed their own music.
The Backstreet Boys sing songs other people wrote.
True they are both in the music business, but really, are they in the same category? Not so much.
Is one better than the other? That is a personal preference.
Should there be different words to describe the different kinds of "bands"? Definitely!

Let's get on the ball with finding a different word for the governmental certified marriage, or maybe a different word for the moral institution we call marriage. One of them needs a new word!

How to annoy a liberal

Believe in God.
Worship him in church every Sunday.
Pay for your own education.
Get a job.
Judge people on the content of their character, not their skin or social class.
Fall in love.
Get married.
Have children.
Lots of them.
Own guns.
Grow your own food.
Teach your children to shoot.
Eat meat.
Homeschool.
Stay informed.
Stay married.
Donate to charity.
Build a business.
Work.
Understand retirement is not a right.
Embrace capitalism.
Work hard.
Love your spouse with all your soul.
Be self sufficient, not government sufficient.
Be prepared.
Love your country, community, and fellow man.
Don't impose your beliefs on anyone else.
Have convictions.
Stand by your convictions.
Be happy.

Vote!

So today is the day to vote! I hope you have.

We talk a lot about politics at our house, and I would say our boys know more about the candidates than some of the people actually voting today.

When we talk I'll say "Romney" and Jesse will say, "Do you mean Mitt Romney?"  Yes Jesse, I do mean Mitt Romney. Then he'll go on to say, "Barack Obama makes bad choices so that's why we're voting for Mitt Romney. He doesn't always make good choices, but they are better than Barack Obama." That's a boy after my own heart!

I really am trying to get the boys to understand that even though the person we vote for may not win, we still respect the office of president and whomever is in that office. Which is hard if you're guy doesn't win. Which my guy won't-I never said who my guy was ;)

Consequences

We are given many freedoms, both by God and by our government. Both of which I hold dear. Along with that freedom comes choice. That, I truly cherish. Everyone has the freedom of choice. Some people choose wisely, some make stupid decisions. But it is their choice. Not mine.

Choices are decisions that spur further actions and consequences. We think of consequences as bad things typically. But that is not true-as a society we choose to only talk about consequences in a negative light. I am teaching my boys that every action has a consequence, it may be good, it may be bad. I’m teaching them to think of the consequence at the beginning of the process, at the point they are contemplating the choices available.

For example, when my boys get mad at each other, here is what I’d like to see in their minds:
When I punch my brother in the face, my anger will be immediately released, but a likely consequence is I will get punched back. Is that what I want the next sequence of this chain of events to be?
I could use words to express my anger, the anger will be released much more slowly, but possibly work out the issue with my brother. A likely consequence of that is we will get to play together since no one will be mad. Yeah, that’s the option I choose.

We are born sinners and each of us has our own specific weakness where we are more likely to sin. What I struggle with-my temper and speaking before I think, you may not. Some people’s weakness is theft, some people it’s adultery.

My point is, even though I struggle with losing my temper and saying things before I speak, by no means it is out of my control. I control every word and action that comes out of my body. I make a choice every day to keep my mouth shut and THINK before something comes out of it, or I choose to let it fly. I make that decision. The consequence of thinking first is I can keep friends a lot better as an adult than I did as a child when I let it fly. I like that consequence. Do I mess up? Sure, I’m only human. But I also understand there are consequences to popping off to someone that makes me mad, so I keep making the choice day after day to keep my opinions to myself when the consequence of voicing those opinions does not give me the outcome I desire.

Let’s put this in current context with the criminal shooting last week and the loss of innocent lives in a movie theatre.

We have the freedom to own guns. We have a choice to use those guns to kill animals to feed our family and protect our life and property from harm or to use them in rage to kill other humans. There are consequences to the decisions on how we choose to use guns. Consequences here in the laws of the land we live in, as well as consequences from the law of God our Father.

I find it interesting that a knee-jerk reaction to an event like this is to somehow ban guns. To take away the freedom of all to own guns because someone made a choice to use those guns to kill in a fit of rage is equitable to taking away the freedom to have children because someone chose to hurt their child. Or to take away the freedom to drive a car because someone chose to drive recklessly  and caused an accident that inflicted pain on an innocent person.

There should be swift consequences to those criminal choices. However, the consequence should not be to take away the freedoms of all because of the choice of the few. We are all accountable for our choices and should suffer the consequences for our decisions, both good and bad.

We need to be better at letting the proper consequences follow the actions the spurred it. Freedom and choice must stand. Appropriate consequences must be delivered.

VOTE!

Don't forget to get out there and vote today! Especially if you're voting my way! Oh, I kid. Just vote! Besides if you don't vote, you can't complain.

See you at the polls!

Where is it going?

With the passage of the "health-care" bill, you may wonder, where is it all going? Where do they go from here? What's their goal? We always hear of progress, but progress to what-where are we going?

One person who has helped me realize what I believe and has taught me a lot about history and our founding Fathers is Glenn Beck. I believe he's the real deal. He shows a lot of history and what can be learned from it and leaves you to make your own opinions.

If you don't listen to Glenn Beck's radio show, or watch his TV show on Fox News, or catch clips of it on the internet like I do (we don't have cable), then I suggest you watch this clip. It really hit home with me and tying in my Christian values and what is going on today. It's a 20 minute clip, and it's so worth your time. Please check it out.

Glenn Beck

Making a difference

Where I work, we're on a road that is two lanes each way, and the building also sits on the corner. The cross road is two lanes and does not have to stop at the intersection. The four lane road has to stop. I don't understand the logic of that really, they are equally busy roads.

There have been a lot of accidents at that intersection, several of which I have witnessed and had to call 911. I saw another accident back in July and had to call 911 again. At that point I had had enough. I contacted someone at the city and they gave me the name of the person I needed to talk to. I asked what needed to happen so they would do something to make the intersection safer-flashing lights, stop ahead sign, cross traffic does not stop sign, etc.

Her reponse was:
Janelle,

We have been looking at ways to improve this intersection for quite a while now. So far, we have tried things such as removing the sight distance obstructions (brush, trees, weeds, etc.) and also installing larger stop signs. Our next project is going to be to restripe the intersection to create one dedicated left turn lane on L Road and one through lane on L Road, rather than the extremely wide 2-through lanes as it exists now.

We hope to complete that work in the Spring of next year.

We appreciate your comments and observations regarding the safety of this intersection. Hopefully our proposed changes will help resolve these safety issues.

It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it was at least a start and now I knew who to keep pestering.

Then on Monday there was another accident. I promptly sent her another e-mail letting her know there had been another accident. She responded:
Janelle,

Thanks for keeping me posted. Just for your information, the Street Department will have the “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” signs installed before the beginning of next week.

And about two hours later they put one up. Let's hope it helps before someone really gets hurt!

Keeping Apprised

If you read here regularly, or know me in person, you know that I'm conservative. Generally, but I was specifically meaning politically. However we don't have cable TV of any sort so I don't watch any cable political shows like Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck for information. I rely on reading articles on the internet as opposed to relying on the major news networks that are so skewed liberally.

No matter what your political views, most of the people I know are not happy with the government taking over so many areas of the markets and our lives and choices. A website that I have found to have a lot of GREAT information is this one The 912 Project. If you haven't already checked it out, please do.

It's easy to think it's okay to let someone else fight those battles, to get busy with working and taking care of our families, helping with our churches, and keeping up with our friends. I know! I'm tempted myself! However, if we don't stay on top of where are going politically, they will take away many of those things. What jobs will we go to? What money will we have to spend? Will we still be able to homeschool or send our children to private school? Or will we be required to send them to government run schools that have all been adjusted so they all have the same funding despite the amount of money one district funnels into the system?

I don't want to find out.

Economy

A friend at work sent me a link to a documentary about the economy. It's a short (30 minutes) history of the deficit and where it's likely to go in the future. I found it very interesting and it seems credible. I hesitate to say it is since everyone has an agenda, but I think the historial numbers are very interesting and telling of the country's values. If you have time, click over and watch it.

http://www.iousathemovie.com/

Unfortunately they don't offer any solutions, but it is a documentary so it's only documenting.

Aftermath

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that I'm a Republican if you read my blog. I try not to discuss it much here, but to keep it a Mommy blog. However I did mention Sarah back at the convention. Be forwarned-this is a political post, if you don't want to read it, no hard feelings, check back tomorrow for more Mommy blog stuff.

I didn't post anything yesterday encouraging you to vote or who to vote for, but I do hope you all did. Today though, I need to get some things out of my head, and that's really why I started this blog, was to give me an outlet. So I'm posting.

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day for me. I heard from my sister that she got a job that's in my town, so that's great! That means she'll be close to us, and after she has the baby it's possible she'll bring the baby to our house and our sitter can watch him/her too. Yeah!

Then the election was not going so well for the Republicans. Which really isn't all that surprising since after 8 years of one party the other party usually gets into power.

I'll be the first to say that John McCain is not my first choice of candidates-I didn't vote for him in the primary, he's not nearly conservative enough for me. Now Sarah, that's a different story-she's a real conservative. I support that woman!

And I'm not the only one, apparently Tracy Lawrence does too, that was a fun surprise at the rally to have him come out and perform.

What I'd like to address right now is some of the frustrations I'm having with the election. There's a high probability that ACORN participated in voter registration fraud and in some places the officials aren't looking into it until after the election because it's just too big. Talk about making me sick to my stomach!

What I have gathered from watching a little bit of the Today show this morning during breakfast is that this election is highly racially motivated. Essentially, black voters who have never voted before came out by the busload and voted. Which is fine-it's everyone's right to vote, but a candidate should be measured by his merits and not the color of his skin, right? That's what they tell the white voters. Shouldn't it be the same for the black voters? Why is the double standard okay? No other time is it okay for a double standard concerning race.

Tim and I encountered this when we were voting last night. A young black lady-early 20's if I had to guess, came in to vote at our precinct. Except she had never voted before and wasn't on the list. They told her she had to vote where she lived. She responded she lives in our town. They told her there were multiple places to vote in town and that her specific polling place was across town based on her address.

I don't know if she took the effort to go across town to vote, but what I do want to know is why? Why did she vote? Just so she could say that she voted for the first black president?

Yes it is an historic occasion to be able to vote for a black man for our highest elected office, but to do that at what cost? Even if he is the wrong black man?

If she really cared about politics and the direction of our country she would have voted in the primary and would have known where her polling place was. I realize that I am making generalities based on this one person, but there are other stories and events (that I have seen first person) that have shaped my opinion.

I'm just sad our first black president is essentially a socialist and the dems also have control of congress. Change is coming, and I don't think we're going to like where it goes-even people that voted for him.

It's going to be a long four years for those of us who are selfish and believe that the money we earn should be determined by us where it is spent. It will be long for those of us that believe unborn babies have rights, and if they should make it through a horrific botched late-term abortion they should be awarded the very best medical care, not left to die on a table or in a trash can.

The fire that rises in my chest for those helpless, precious babies is something that I can not continue to ignore. Especially when I have to explain to my 6 year old why Barack Obama wants to kill babies (he came home from school asking if Barack Obama wants to kill babies).

How do you explain to a 6 year old that someone would not want the baby they chose to conceive? How do you explain that it's the mother's choice to kill them? How do you explain Barack is our next president and we have to respect him, but that he thinks it's okay to kill-as long as it's an innocent baby? How do you explain that it's not murder? Except that it is, and my goodness, God only gave us 10 rules and that's one of them! We have to respect the next president even though he thinks it's okay to break one of the 10 commandments.

Let's just hope Barack keeps this in mind:

but I have my doubts.

SNL had it right--Palin in 2012.

Bailout

I know the handful of people that read this blog are probably already following this, but I thought I'd post on it to see if we can spark some discussion, just for fun, not for making any enemies with differing opinions.

I'll start by saying I have no idea what's really in the bill, it's difficult to find out, but I've heard several things that bear some discussion.

One being that judges would be given the authority to look at a loan and somehow reduce the payments of the mortgagee. I'm not sure then if the government would pick up the tab of the monthly shortfall to the bank? If so, we would be effectively subsidizing someone's mortgage. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Feels a lot like welfare-not really much different than Metropolitian housing now.

Since the bill couldn't get enough votes to pass they have added specific items that would then make certain senators vote yes. These specific items add an additional $150 BILLION to the price (according to the news). I know how I feel about that!

One of the on-line information sources I subscribe to sent me a link to a Ross Perot website-haven't thought about him in a while. Here's an alternative plan to the $850 Billion bailout. I don't know if it's better or worse than the current bailout plan, but it's certainly worth looking into in my opinion.

Anyone have any thoughts out there?

I'm a big believer in the market. It will correct over time. I think we should do nothing-the banks that have a bad business model of sub-prime loans will fail, and sell their good loans to banks that have a good business model. Lots of people who can't afford the home they have will lose their homes and rent like they probably should have (not all mind you-I'm generalizing).

Now realizing that if the banks do fail, good money would be lost for depositors of those banks-and I think the government could step in with FDIC insurance and beyond to make those depositors whole.

I think we'll end up paying for it one way or another and I'd like to reward the banks and people who maintained good financial decisions when everyone else was all willy-nilly, instead of raising the failing banks and home mortgage defaulters to the level of the good business model companies and responsible homeowners who only bought as much home as they really could afford.

But hey, really, what do I know?

So, Sarah?

Well, did anyone watch/listen to Sarah Palin last night?

I did and I thought she was absolutely fantastic! Of course, I am biased since she's a conservative, but still!

I thought she came out forceful, but not mean. Just right for a pitbull with lipstick!

I appreciated that she wore a skirt and didn't feel like she was trying to be a man-that's the impression I always get with Hillary.

I liked that she didn't name Obama just referred to him as their opponent.

I enjoyed her humor.

I felt proud that she is representing working mothers as capable and smart. We often get a bad rap!

She's young so she doesn't have years of experience behind her, but her experience is quality experience. She's done some amazing things in her tenure as Govenor of Alaska.

And she's a mom of more than 2 kids, which makes me like her all the more!

In case you missed it last night or would just like to revisit, here's a transcript of her prepared remarks.

Politics

Did you hear? Romney dropped out. I'm not sure where that leaves us, I don't think Huckabee can win the nomination, he has less delegates than Romney. Which leaves us with McCain, and he's just so liberal for me.

Which, where do the delegates go that were won by people that then drop out? Maybe Huckabee does have a chance if all of Romney's go to him.

It's just not the way I wanted this primary to go. I would have liked to have seen a Romney/Huckabee ticket.

The democrats are still neck and neck, so who knows what the November ballot will look like at this point?

Religious Freedom

I heard about Mitt Romney's "religion" speech before it happened and more coverage since he gave it today, so I looked up the transcript on-line. I found what was written, so it may not be exactly as he delivered it, but it is well worth the read.

Myself, I have not determined who I will vote for, but if this speech does not stir you to be thankful to have the religious freedom we have here in America, I just don't know what will! And, it does make me lean more towards the Romney camp, but we'll see, I have some time until the primary.

It's a little long, but well worth the read, I encourage all 3 of my readers to go read it!

A little bit of Activism

This blog is normally about my kids, and I have a couple of blog entries that I’m itching to write, but today I got an e-mail from AFA (American Family Association) regarding a newly elected Congressman and his preference to swear on the Koran instead of the Bible. I am linking to the AFA page that has a commentary about this issue, which at first didn’t concern me, but after reading it, I sent the letters to my representatives. You should check it out and see what you think.

VOTE!

Don't forget to get out there and vote today!

This an exciting and important election. As I get older I get more and stronger opinions on everything political, and have even started to follow politics all the time, not just at election time. I have anticipated this election to see where the voting public stands, is it where the media says it does? It should be very interesting to see if the polls the last few weeks reflect the opinions of the voters that turn out at the real polls. I'm also praying that God would touch the hearts of the elected officials to do his work and not theirs.

If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain!