Why I Think God Helps Me, and Why I Need It Every Day.

Published by Starfish

I read an interesting blog that someone posted on their Facebook page and ended up in my newsfeed. I normally don't have time to stop and read every thing, but for some reason today I did. I understood the general tone of the piece; young mothers are overwhelmed. This is a statement of fact, it is hard to raise a lot of little young ones who rely so much on you for every aspect of their well-being. But this particular piece bothered me for two reasons: One, she was way over the top in describing how horrible most of her days are. She made it seem like she was a slave to her home and children and she had no freedom. She would occasionally pause and say something like, "Do I love my kiddos? YES, absolutely, in a most incredible way. Being a mom is a wonderful blessing." However, most of the piece was talking about how horrible her life is, it was near excruciating to read and I skimmed much of it to get to the point. Eventually I never really found one, other than her love of having occasional help from a young woman coming to her home. I think that was the point. But the title of her post was about her not needing God, only needing help.

My very first thought was, "Uh, God IS help." That is the second reason this piece bothered me. I would not survive as young mother myself if it were not for God. Every morning I kneel to pray to Him and ask in humility for His spirit to be with me so I can be calm and in tune to my kids. Each of them test me every day for one reason or another. They all have their own little phases they are going through, and I have to be in tune to their needs. I can't be selfish. It is really hard to not be selfish, it is natural to be selfish and I would be lying if I said that I was always calm and collected, but that is why we need the spirit in our lives so that we can gain perspective throughout the day, at each moment we need it. We need to be familiar with the scriptures and what they teach us. They give us direction. Motherhood is not excluded from our need to be close to God and knowing His word helping us in our lives. Getting in home help with chores and the children does not replace that need. Motherhood is not about housework and making meals (though that seems to be a great big part of our lives, that itself is not motherhood). Children don't come out perfect, they need to be taught, and personally I wouldn't know what to teach them if is wasn't for God and what he has provided for us to accomplish this great task.

I think, possibly, if I didn't have God in my life daily, then I would probably dread being a mom as much as this woman seemed to. I understand when some mothers might need someone to come in and help them with housework or watching the kids so they can juggle things, but I don't think you either have God or you have help, I think you ALWAYS need Gold's help, and sometimes you need another person's help.

Also while reading that blog piece I wondered how helpful her husband must be. She made mention of him coming home and wanting to say, "You take care of them!" Why should she feel like that? Why should she feel like she had no freedom if her husband were giving her real breaks now and then? When my husband is home with us, he takes on an equal amount of responsibility for the kids as I do. Isn't that how it should be? That way my load is unburdened a bit for the rest of the day and it makes it all worth it. Thank you to my husband who makes real and honest efforts to make my life easier. I'm so glad I'm not married to the guy this woman is married to.

Race

Published by Starfish

There has been much discussion in the media about race, since the verdict on the trial of George Zimmerman. I heard many comments about this and could not quite understand why there was no one brave enough to say the truth. Then I heard these comments made by Bill O'Reilly and thought he was so gutsy and, honestly as much as Bill O'Reilly gives me the heebie jeebies, I really admire him for his comments on this. I know he's been getting some heat for his coverage on this topic but I totally love him for it. One segment that I watched, he discussed with another black man (I don't know who he was but he was amicable with Bill), about how the media will never report about how terrible the crime is among Black Americans, specifically in Chicago. He feels that if people were reported to about the atrocities, then people would have more clear thinking on the subject.

I really loved the following comment from O'Reilly. Taken from:  http://video.foxnews.com/v/2560422134001/president-obama-and-the-race-problem-/

The reason there’s so much violence and chaos in the black precincts is the disintegration of the African-American family. Without much structure, young black men often reject education and gravitate toward the street culture, drugs, hustling, gangs.

YES!

Also, I love the following talking point. Taken from: http://conservatives4palin.com/2013/07/bill-oreilly-liberals-are-running-from-the-truth-on-black-families.html

On Geraldo’s radio program today I told him to let me know when President Obama holds a press conference about the disintegration of the African-American family. I also asked Geraldo when a seminar on the damage hip hop and rap is doing to unsupervised children will be held by Sharpton and Jackson. I’m looking forward to that.
Perhaps at that seminar more positive entertainment might be encouraged and maybe an exposure like that would encourage President Obama not to invite people like Jay-Z to the White House when he is putting out dubious material that children are absorbing.
And finally I told Geraldo that I feel sorry for black kids who don’t have fathers and who were born into poverty because their mothers become impregnated at a young age without any resources. It is America’s shame and all politicians are responsible somewhat that we have not discouraged the astronomical out-of-wedlock birth rate in this country.
As we stated early this week that drives poverty, that drives crime. And that’s what’s causing the massive chaos in many black American precincts.

I also want to say that I do not agree with Glenn Beck's comments about O'Reilly's comments on the Black American family, that goes (taken from: http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/07/30/msnbc-guest-bill-oreilly-is-surprised-black-people-dont-throw-bananas-at-each-other-or-swing-from-trees/):

The same thing could be said for the white, quote, culture. Same thing could be said. As the family disintegrates, so does society… I fear all our communities are starting to do this, to where you minimize the effect that men have on families and society.

I agree that as the family disintegrates, so does society, and that when you minimize the effect men have on the family, society downgrades. I agree with that, but I do not agree that you could say the same for white people as you could for black people. I don't feel that the white neighborhoods will ever be as bad as the black neighborhoods like I think Glenn is suggesting, since he later says that black people are "farther down the road" (follow link). Black people are being enabled in their behavior, white people are not. And that's the difference that will never change, our cultures are just way too different.

Don't misunderstand me, I believe that all people can be good and change. I believe there are good black people. This is a general discussion of race cultures.

Federal This and Federal That

I was born in the 50s.

I recently discovered that Harry Truman was President when I was born. I always thought it was Dwight D Eisenhower, but he was not in office until 1953. That was a time before interstate highways. ZIP codes did not exist until 10 years after that. The world was small. Everything was about the local neighborhood. It was a big deal to go for help more than 10 blocks from the family home (police, fire department, etc.). If there was a big problem in the community, citizens went to the County-Seat officials for help. Rarely did people go all the way to the state-level. I hardly knew about a governor until Ronald Reagan because California's leader in 1967. That was noteworthy because he was a movie star and everyone knew him. Nonetheless, government was smaller in those days. Even though I was just a kid I can honestly state without equivocation that people handled their own problems and did not look to Uncle Sam to manage their lives.

Fast forward to 2013.

Today we not only go beyond the 10 block neighbor perimeter for government services but it seems like everything has a paper trail that is processed 2000 miles away from my house. Washington DC. We don't gather in a family living room to talk about issues and solve problems between friends and families in a local area. Instead we are resigned to having some faceless person in the nations capital make decisions that affect our lives, our faith and our families.

This includes

• not only how our children and grandchildren are educated - but what they are taught (not the facts that I know)
• emergency response protocols (instead of neighbor helping neighbor responses require FEMA support) 
• personal recreation and public parks (subject to fees and regulatory requirements)
• safety and protection (based on the judgments of people who don't want what I want for my family nor the world)
• ability to provide for our families (controls on business smother commerce) 
• defining what a family is (how did the government get involved in something so personal) 

(blog followers, add to this list, as you will)

There is a natural progression in society. I get that. It was during my youth that the first astronaut went into space. Things have changed. I am not against progress. In fact progress is an argument for maintaining a focus on a single unit. The point is, that we are not just a few houses in a subdivision any longer. We are part of a universe. But ---- the bigger our space the more vulnerable we are  to having our voices silenced.

I want my voice to direct my own life and not be subject to a shouting proclamation that goes against my values. Who is to blame for this void? The administration? Congress? SCOTUS? Or all of the above?

You tell me.

Signed:
Smaller is better