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My mom called me this morning to tell me her friend tried to look at my blog to see pictures of our baby but couldn’t because this post (now renamed and removed) was labeled as naughty.
Sure enough, when I checked from work I couldn’t even get into my own post about the dangers of p.0.w.r.n, because IPCop blocked it!
Tee Hee.
IPCop and Squidguard – protecting husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, sons and daughters (and bloggers) one network at a time.
Baby Emily has been fussy. Yes, we call it colic, but after experiencing this with our first, it is a little easier to handle. She pretty much fusses from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Getting little cat-naps in between the time she isn’t crying. She sleeps in her swing, and yes, I know all the controversy over swing sleeping, but I do keep an eye on her–I don’t leave her alone in it.
Also, the tummy sleeping seems to help. I know–controversy again. But I keep an eye on her, she is in her bassinette in the living room, after all. Besides, she only sleeps 15 minutes at a time before a gas pain wakes her up, so we’re pretty safe, I’d say.
This weekend, it seemed like everything was getting better. She actually slept during the day and went right down that night and slept for about 6 hours at a time. Then today, it was the same deal. Cry, cry, cry. It is only a season. And that season should be just about done, according to my calculations, so I think I will be ok.
This is one of the few times she actually sleeps.
This is the little piggy outfit my sister got. It has a pig on the butt and also a pig bib. Very cute!
This is another way she will sleep. On Daddy.
It makes me sleepy just looking at it.
ZZZZZ…..
I didn’t get a chance to watch the President make the case for more Socialism last night, but I have heard all I need to hear about it.
There are so many things that could be said about this predicament we find ourselves in. I wrote this post ten different ways in my head while washing my glorious naked body this morning, and as the shampoo drained away so did my fear. No one likes a no-it-all so I won’t pound the drum that I told you so, even though I did. No, instead of yelling to the wind about government education, Ron Paul, the Constitution, taxation without representation, I am going to try and connect the dots to what is really going on in all of this.
There is a foundational premise that we must understand about the world. That premise is that God is good and He has an enemy that is not. God loves us and the Devil hates us. This is key, every bit of knowledge comes from this foundation and is the magnetic north that must be established.
Point #1: Only God makes stuff.
This is rather self evident, but it is a foundational truth. God is the creator, nothing else can be that, He is it. He is the beginning and the end, the big cheese, big daddy, the man, and woman, but let’s not go there. :)
Point #2: Every created thing wants to be God.
God is so amazingly awesome that everything wants to be like Him. It is programmed into our DNA, we are created in the image of God to be like Him, to rule and reign, to create and multiply, to love and be loved. We really really want to be worshiped and praised and adored and put on a pedestal and all that comes with being an awesome God. Even the angels, as glorious as they are, want to be like God – He is just that amazing.
Point #3: God gives people the choice to love.
One of the most amazing feelings is when you realize your mate loves you. Another person has chosen us, out of all the other people on the planet, they said you are the guy or the gal for me. Nothing else satisfies our need to be loved like finding someone that loves us for who we are. The same is true for God. He could have made us love Him, but He hides himself for us to discover and it brings Him great joy when we choose Him. The fact that we must discover His nature all on our own makes it that much sweeter when we do. If we were to see Him in heaven in all His awesomeness, it wouldn’t be as sweet as falling in love with Him from His still small voice.
Point #3: The Devil hates that God get’s all the glory.
I really don’t need to elaborate on this. All we have to do is look into our own lives and see we are the same way – selfish.
Point #4: The ultimate goal of the Devil is to take what God made.
Since only God can make stuff, the Devil has been working overtime to steal what he made and claim it as his own. God really loves what he makes. Obsessively, painfully, loves everything He makes. The heartache we feel when we lose someone or something we love is an attribute of the heart of God. Multiply that by billions and you can see why the Devil is so fundamentally evil. His one goal is to destroy the heart of God and everything that brings God glory because he wants it.
Point #5: Money and currency are ways to steal Gods stuff.
Things that God makes have value or wealth because they have been created. Land, livestock, precious metals, oil, gas, people are all wealth. They have actual value outside of any currency because they are “God stuff”.
Money has no actual value. It only represents wealth and only sometimes is it backed by wealth. Our currency used to be backed by gold and silver, but not any more. Now, it is only currency, an ingeniously fabricated tool to transfer wealth without actually requiring wealth.
Our current “financial crisis” is a ruse, a lie, a trick. We have been sold into slavery to money. The top prize for the devil is people as God places a value on them above Himself. I wish I could really get a hold of that in my spirit, deep down when times get tough, but it is the message of the cross. If the Devil can make people exchange their “God wealth” for money, he has effectively stolen their wealth from God. If we exhaust our lives pursuing money, the devil gets the reward or value of our life. We literally exchange the wealth God placed in us for paper.
If you take a close look at money you will see Egyptian symbols. Call me crazy, but I think that is neat. The history of Israel and Egypt has a striking similarity to the history of all mankind. We may not be making bricks but we are certainly slaves none the less. If you don’t think so, what would happen if you stopped working and paying taxes on your home? We are owned brothers and sisters. Our task masters are government and banks and they are just as cruel as an Egyptian Pharaoh. In a matter of seconds, your entire life is summed up and assigned a value. They call it a credit score.
The most glaringly sadistic example of the Devil stealing God’s stuff is the abortion industry. We can now literally place a monetary value on human life in 2008 by figuring out the fees charged to end a human life. There is much I could say about this, but my heart can’t bear to think about it.
Point #6: There is hope – God loves to set the captives free.
Help is on the way, and it sure isn’t a power grab bail out package from the Republican or Democratic party. If there is one thing I know, one thing that resonates deep within my soul, it is that God loves His stuff. He hears the cry of His people and has promised to never leave or forsake us. Our only problem right now is us. We could fix this country overnight if we turned back to God. If we could only stop giving ourselves over to the spirit of money and put our trust in God. If we could step back and see that the people in power do not have answers, they made the problem, God is the answer.
Our currency says “In God we Trust”, and even though the God they are thinking about is money, we don’t have to go along. We can trust in God Almighty – the God of Abraham, the Father of Jesus Christ, the maker of Heaven and Earth.
All we need to do is ask.
Point #7: God is for us.
Who can be against?
See, the thing is, this is just about the only way we can get her to sleep.
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| From The Virginia Rohrs |
Poor little girl, it breaks our heart not being able to do anything for her. All we can do is hold her and tell her it will be over soon. Things have been slowly getting better and if memory serves, there is only a couple weeks more to go.
Until that time, have a good morning, or night, or afternoon, or whatever time it is.
Tomorrow, my dear husband and I are going to set up the school room. This is no easy feat, since all the school room is in boxes right now, due to the fact that Alex moved up to the school room, Beth moved to Alex’s old room, and Emily moved into Beth’s old room. We have a very large kitchen with a big table and chairs. We also have a dining room, so the school room will be in the kitchen this year since we don’t really use the table and chairs in there, anyway. (I’ll post pictures when we finish, but the kitchen is huge, so it won’t be a problem to add the schoolroom in there.)
I’m kind of freaking out about starting school this year. Due to the fact that Emily is now in the picture, I have so little time to get stuff done. I have been assured by veteran home school moms that it will all work out. I just have to remember that things will NOT be the same as they were last year, and adjust for that. I know I can do it, but right now, I don’t know how it will work!
Having two teenagers in home school is a little easier than if I had two elementary school children. A lot of their work can be done independently, with a little guidance from me. In fact, most of their work can be done on their own, as long as I prepare their lessons beforehand. I say that a lot of their work can be done independently, but I don’t know that I really believe it. That is the problem with having a teaching degree and trying to home school. You get stuck in public education and forget that their ARE so many other ways of doing things, instead of traditional education. That is where I am right now. Trying to get my head around teaching in a non traditional way. I had a long conversation with a veteran home school mom yesterday and found out that actually, there are no real requirements to getting a diploma from high school. There are suggestions, but really, I can teach whatever I want and give a diploma whenever I think they are ready. Not that this is the way I want to go. In order to get into college or a technical school, you need certain classes to be accepted. If you aren’t going to college, it doesn’t really matter. Both of our kids are interested in some sort of school after high school, so there are certain classes I will need to make sure they have. That is a lot less intimidating.
I’m worried about the fact that up until this point, I have sort of coddled my high school age children in home school. I am constantly reminding them to study for this or that test, constantly checking Alex’s math work to make sure he is understanding, and constantly going behind them to make sure they do what they need to. It’s my public school training coming out. That is the way it was when I was teaching. So much reminding and not enough independence. My daughter, I think will be able to handle doing stuff on her own, but my son, that is another story. Boys really are more immature than girls at this age. If I have to remind him everyday to unload the dishwasher–A chore he has had for many years–what is school going to be like?
So this year is going to be different. I’m way scared. But ready for a change, because there is NO way I can do it the way I did last year.
