Senatorial District Convention

I went to the Texas Senatorial District 12 Convention yesterday. It was one of the most boring things ever. But I thought you might like a summary anyway. It took 4 hours to get 53 people through the credentials process. These were people who were eligible, but their precinct captain was new and didn't fill out the form properly. Anyway, since the rules do not allow for moving forward until the credentials are finished we listened to campaign speeches, ate the free breakfast, said the pledge, etc. Then when we finally got to what I hoped was the "good" part, I was so disappointed. It seemed that many things had already been decided in committees. The group at large voted on them and there could be questions, but it seemed more like a formality.

The local and state Republicans have done a great job (except the Governor). I will certainly vote for many of the local officials because I actually like what they stand for and have done. But all the rah-rah speeches are not going to get me to vote for John McCain.

Our precinct convention introduced a resolution stating that all candidates should be held to the platform. The committee in charge of resolutions ditched it. It makes the platform useless if the candidate will not agree to uphold it. It seems pretty spineless to not mandate that candidates agree to the platform. If they can't they should run as an independent or a Democrat.

Owl Pellet

Wednesday my family and I took apart an owl pellet (fur and bones an owl coughs out because they are undigestible). Here is a picture of some of the bones we found. It took the four of us an hour and a half to undo 1. Of course, the kids didn't work that whole time. :)

Doing Hard Things

Brett and Alex Harris are people that I greatly admire. They run the website http://www.therebelution.com/ that encourages young people to shun low expectations and do hard things that honor God. They have also written a book called Do Hard Things that has already made it to the top of Christianity on amazon.com.

On their blog they have an interesting article about an 18-year-old that has become mayor of his town of 8,000. The new mayor ran on the money from his summer job and had to be written in because he was too young to get on the ballot. He also only won by two votes.

Anyway, I found the response by Alex and Brett equally interesting.

Dear Michael,

The Rebelution is extremely excited for you for many reasons. Bur primarily because you are one more example of how our culture doesn’t quite know what to do with young people who take initiative and “Do Hard Things.”

The media blitz that you’ve faced has granted us small glimpses into the mind of a young man who wasn’t about to run a half-hearted or half-way campaign. And we are sure that your faithfulness in smaller areas prepared you for the larger task as Hillsdale’s new mayor.
We applaud you Mr. Sessions, but we would also like to offer you the following counsel:
Don’t Stop! Keeping “Doing Hard Things” in public and, more importantly, in private.

Remember that despite the blatant abdication of modern “celebrities” and leaders, you are a role model. Live like one.

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

Remember that in our “Fast-Breaking News” society, you can be picked up and dropped again by the media in the twinkling of an eye. Don’t let it upset you.

Fight Pride Constantly! I recommend that you read the short article, “How To Fight The Sin Of Pride Especially When You Are Praised,” by Pastor John Piper, as well as C.J. Mahaney’s new book “Humility: True Greatness.”

Realize that nothing would be a greater shame than for the highlighting of your competence to be the undoing of your character.

In Christ Our King,
Alex & Brett Harris

They also included the following disclaimer in the post.

Disclaimer: The Rebelution applauds Michael Sessions for his competence and character, as evidenced by his initiative and drive during his campaign. However, at this time, our readers must understand that — to our knowledge — Michael has made no reference to God, in gratitude or otherwise, and his political leanings are largely unknown. Because of that we encourage our readers to use discretion by only admiring, as we do, the positive, known characteristics of Michael Sessions. Please keep him in your prayers.

I thought they did a great job of congratulating this young mayor while reminding him of (or possibly introducing him to) the Lord. I thought it was good that they pointed out their admiration is limited to what they know to be good about Micheal Sessions.

We'll Show You Tolerance by Our Hate Mail

God bless, Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern. I learned about her from reading Janet Folger's article on WorldNetDaily. Rep. Kern made a speach that has led to an onslaught of hate e-mails and other shows of tolerance. Here are some quotes from it.

What they're trying to do is send a message of intimidation to those people who are taking a stand for traditional marriage and against the homosexual lifestyle. They want to silence us, is what they want to do. And it's happening all over the state. You know, the very fact that I'm talking to you like this, here today, puts me in jeopardy. OK, and so, so be it.

This is one of the more polite responses Rep. Kern received from homosexual activists. (She received about 30,000.)

I heard what you said and you should be killed you stupid c---- b----! along with George W. Bush! Christianity is the cancer in our society and should be eliminated!

It seems to me that the homosexual community is proving Rep. Kern right. Just speaking her mind has at least caused her to receive death threats.

Here is another quote from her speech.

Because what's happening now, they're going after, in schools, 2-year-olds. You know what, they're trying to get early childhood education. They want to get our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them. I taught school for close to 20 years and we're not teaching facts and knowledge any more, folks; we're teaching indoctrination.

This is affirmed (though they would never call it indoctrination) by the video "It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School"

Co-producer Debra Chasnoff stated: "What's clear in the film is that the younger the kids, the more open they were. If we could start doing this kind of education in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, we'd have a better education."

We are talking about my 5-year-old being indoctrinated with "having two daddies is great" when in reality children are designed by the Creator to need a mother and a father. The insidiousness of this makes me sad and frustrated and outraged. Once again, a great reason to homeschool. What your children learn, they will think. What they think, will change their behavior. Government schools cannot have my children.

So, like I said, God bless Rep. Kern. It takes courage to take a stand. May she embolden others. If you would like to e-mail her with some love-mail, here is the link to her site.

I Really Like Sheriff Joe Arpaio

When we lived in Arizona, I came to like Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He has been in the national news over the years for various controversial decisions. He made the inmates wear black and white stripes when they were out working on trash clean up instead of the typical orange suit of the construction worker. He turned off the cable and read classics to the inmates over the TVs. He cut the food budget. When the inmates complained, he went and had lunch at jail. He said it wasn't great, but was nutritional and filling. When the jail got crowded, he put up tents in the yard and gave the inmates plenty of drinking so they wouldn't get dehydrated. The outside inmates went in after a couple of weeks and a new batch came out. When the inmates complained about his changes, his answer was always the same. "If you don't like it, don't come back."

This time he made national news for refusing to allow an inmate an abortion because it wasn't medically necessary. Of course, the courts ruled against him, but I am still proud of Sheriff Joe. This is his response to the decision.

Sheriff Arpaio has continued to defend his decision, saying, "I did the right thing and I would do it over again."

P. S. The people of Phoenix love Sheriff Joe. He has been elected to an unprecidented 4 four-year terms. His approval ratings are through the roof.

Interesting Children's Book

There is an interesting book review on WorldNetDaily about a new children's book.

"Joey Gonzalez, Great American" by Tony Robles is the story of a young Hispanic-American boy who is proud to be an American – who wants to be a great American. He doesn't want any special treatment. He doesn't want any special favors. He just wants to work hard toward his goal and believes he can achieve it.

But, in school he is given other messages. He is told that he is different. He is encouraged to believe he needs special treatment – and that is it good for him to accept it.

It reminds me of my first college roommate. She was Hispanic, but she would get mad because so many of her teachers encouraged her to try for the Hispanic scholarships. The teachers said they were easier. She, on the other hand, said that she could compete with whites just fine without "handouts" (as she called it).

Anyway, if any of you have read the book. I would be interested to here oppinions.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone. This was the opener to the sermon at our church. I hope it energizes you. He is risen! He is coming!