Boy, if it isn't one thing, its another this weekend. First the nonsense in DC. Who in the world do they think they are, pulling this stunt? I swear, if these jokers don't get voted out....mercy, I think some (all!) of them ought to be recalled this instant! Remind them who their bosses are! Buy a policy, or pay fines up to $250,000, and/or jail time up to 5 years? Oh, sure, that's just great. You'll be building much bigger jails, won't you Madame Speaker?
Christian faith calls for charity. I think I've just about run out for some of these folks. If I actually thought that they believed they were doing the right thing for the right reasons, then I'd have a little more charity than I do right now. But frankly, I want all of those power-mad, money grubbing, leaches on the brea$t of our American populace, shucked off, and thrown into the trash (like the aborted babies they see no problem in tossing out like someone's ruptured appendix). Let them be consigned to the dustbin of history! We the people need to recall these jokers, and remind them, they were hired by US, they can be FIRED by us! (what's the old line we parents use? "I brought you into this life, and I can take you out of it!"? That one!).
Where to start? I'm a stay at home mom to five, homeschooling three of these blessings (the other two are still getting rudimentary skills like "please don't hit your brother with the blocks!"), and trying to run this ship so it doesn't hit the rocks, financially. I cannot be going to DC, or even OKC, to speak to my elected officials. I call, I write letters, and now, I blog. But obviously, even showing up on their doorsteps, and saying "DON'T YOU DARE!" isn't enough to get their attention (ie, the protests in DC on Thursday, where our representatives were visisted by some of their constituents--some reports say up to 20, 000 people showed up on the steps of the Capital building, to make their opinions known). What else is left? Remove them from office!
Fortunately, none of my representatives were so assinine as to vote for this. Woe betide the fool that crosses me, right now. A righteous momma on the warpath? Get out of my way....cause I'm angry, and I'm hormonally challenged, and I'd really like SOMEONE's head on a plate. Let's start at the top of the food chain and work our way down, what do you say?!? Start some recall movements in CA, NY, and the like, and get these losers back under control. Spread the word to your friends, to your family. Find out what your representatives voted on this issue, and start raising a ruckus. Make them aware that you KNOW, that you are NOT happy, and you are willing to take action.
Now, onto more grievous news...
My heart aches, weeps, and bleeds for those suffering from this last week's terrorist attack at Ft Hood. Yes, I used the "t" word. Terrorist attack. "Benefit of the doubt"??? Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? Did I hear you correctly?
Let's count the ways that this individual made their feelings known before the incidents on Thursday:
-made radical statements regarding the war, AS A MILITARY OFFICER, to fellow soliders, incl some fellow officers
-spoke to fellow muslims about this war, and how muslims shouldn't be killing muslims--it even concerned a local Muslim leader!
-made comments on message forums about how he supported the jihadist suicide bombers, and thought that they were heroes and the like...
Now, tell me...if someone came to you, and started making comments like this, etc, would you not turn them in? And yet some did...what happened? NOTHING. Oh, they 'looked into it'. But yet, did nothing. And so now, we have fourteen dead (let's not forget, one of the soldiers slain was a pregnant woman, so it not only killed her, but her unborn child as well). Not to mention the long term repercussions for those injured, the families and friends of those killed and wounded, and those folks who simply because they are in the military, are now going to be even more concerned than ever about their loved ones safety.
All in the name of political correctness (because after all, just because someone looks like a duck, smells like a duck, quacks like a duck, and waddles like a duck--well, it doesn't mean he's a duck. It just means he's...welll, maybe he is a duck, but we can't say anything about him being a duck because the other ducks might get offended!)....we now have 14 dead, and more than 30 injured. Because we couldn't say he's a Muslim who is sympathizing and agreeing with the terrorists, he's advocating these sorts of activities, and oh, btw, he has access to our troops! He *is* one! Gee. Maybe that should have been a big red flag to someone, somewhere, but apparently not.
Do I think that all Muslims are crazed suicide bombers in training? NO. Do I disagree with their religious beliefs? Most definitely. Do I think that we need to be screening our soldiers far more closely in the future? Absolutely. But are we going to, the next time some Muslim soldier starts mouthing off, either in public or private, sit back and let him have his opinion? Are we going to let it go, because after all, he's welcome to his beliefs? Or are we going to say "you know, maybe we ought to say something because this smells kind of hinky to me"?
I'm angry, that someone sending up so many red flags, was not removed from command (okay, he didn't really "command" much, but he should have been removed to a different facility)...not watched more closely...that someone wasn't aware that this man was capable of these sorts of things...and that now, there are so many lives lost, so many scars to carry, for so many broken hearts. May God have mercy on this man, because I certainly don't have it in me, right now. I don't believe he was mentally ill. I think he was guided by his theology. I believe that he was following his religious beliefs. And I think we need to remember that, when we're dealing with him in the judicial system--assuming he is ever able to stand trial, and doesn't spend the rest of his life a ward of the Army/state because of his being in a coma/vegetative state of some sort.
You see, I'm the wife of a recently retired NCO...Army. We were never stationed at Ft Hood. We had friends who were (thankfully, long since out of the Army). But I know the way the military works. I know that there are ties stretched all over this world, from one Army family to another. From friend to friend to friend. And so when folks in NYC think "Oh, its just a TX thing"...it isn't. It's hurting people in Korea...in Germany...in the Sinai..in Afghanistan...Iraq...in North Carolina, Kentucky, California, Georgia, Alabama, New York State...at every army post in CONUS, at every remote outpost in a desert outcropping in Afghanistan..some soldier, somewhere, weeps in his heart. Their families know, that "there, but for the grace of God, go I". It could have been any one of them. It could have been any other post. And they know it, all too well. So please, don't just pray for the families and friends immediately affected. Pray for all the armed forces spouses, friends, families. Pray for the souls of those men and women, who may not have taken the time to know, love, and serve God in this life of ours...that He may be merciful with them...and console their families and friends in this time of loss...
SIGH. I haven't been bringing my feelings on these sorts of issues on here, before, but I suspect that they will show up now and again. Simply voicing my concerns to El Husbando doesn't do much for either of us, so chances are, you'll hear something from me off and on...I'd lol, but honestly, my heart hurts too much right at the moment...and it'd be a bitter laugh indeed...
On to something a little lighter, but not really less deeply felt/thought upon...
I've touched on it, before, the need to support local businesses...especially the mom-and-pop type places that really keep small towns alive...that give them their 'flavor'...their character...I was thinking on it, this week...what places I can support with my money, just right here in my own little burg...
There's a local hairdresser/flower shop/real estate agency (hey, diversity, right? ;-) ). There's the pharmacy--go there already...the diner, check..there's one smaller locally owned/run gas station (not a big Exxon or BP or anything like that), got gas from there yesterday. The local IGA, check. There's the local PO, bought stamps and mailed a package there yesterday, too. There is a local carpet/flooring store, I'll need to check them out when we have the money to redo some of the floors around here. There is also the local Emergency Services--haven't needed them yet, and really hope to not to in the future...lol. There's a local car wash...a couple of small hole in the wall thrift stores--been in two of them, but not bought anything (would have, but they didn't have anything I wanted or needed, unfortunately).
In my previous small posting on this matter, Persuaded (that'd be Diane) commented on how in days before the huge mega-stores popped up, there were bustling downtown areas, where people shopped from store to store...instead of getting it all in one big blow out at your local AR based multi-national conglomerate. Now, really, I'm all for making it easier on myself. I do, after all, have to run errands with five small ones in tow, and frankly, anything that makes that easier, well, I certainly appreciate that time/energy savings. But I'd much rather keep my downtown area clean, neat, well-trafficked, and BUSY, by making a morning of "going to town", and meaning our little burg, not the big town where El Husbando works. Getting out the stroller is a hassle for one store, but when one has four or so to go to, well, that makes a difference. And really, the money savings (which I am all for, as you know if you've read much of this blog before) at the Mega Store is not all that significant, if one watches the local stores' sales fliers. For instance, the store brand 5 lb sack of sugar at our local Mega Store, is $3 a bag. This week, at our local IGA, 4lbs was $1.69. Now, admittedly, the local store had it on sale. But if I didn't go in there, I wouldn't know that, and would be dropping $3/bag for sugar in the big town, when it came time for Christmas baking/candy making. Not to mention, resupplying from this summer's pickle making! As it was, 80lbs of sugar would have cost me $48 at the Mega store. In our local store, simply by being in the store and finding out about the sale, I spent $33.80. Now, fifteen dollars may not seem like much. But that's another 2 wks of diapers around these parts, thank you very much. Or another couple of bags of chicken feed. AND it went to the local store's sales, not just another ticket at the mega store...
Yes, I know it takes time to go in to the little local stores instead of doing it all at once. But honestly, most of us pass by these little local stores when we are going about our business..we're just too busy to stop. We figure "oh, I'll get it all done at the mega store". It might save some time, but what does that do to the local economy? Does it build your town? Does it make your town the best town it can be, by spending your money elsewhere, in the next town over? Does it let you get to know those men and women working behind the scenes, to keep your little--or even not so little!--town running smoothly? Those kind of connections, of knowing when someone's feeling ill, or run down, or whose MIL is ill, or when someone's had a new grandbaby, or when someone's husband lost his job...well, its not gossip--its prayer material, folks. Its learning where *YOU* can help...Maybe you are making chicken soup, and take it to your neighbor who is sick and rundown. Maybe you send the MIL a card, or put her on your church's prayer list...maybe you have some handme downs that the new mother can use that would otherwise sit around...maybe you heard of a job opening, or have some work that can be done around your place...it may not be much, but if you don't know where the needs are, how can you help?
Most of ya'll reading this will be Christians of one stripe or another. We know we're called to be ONE body....THE body of Christ, not 'the bodIES of Christ'. We know we are called to help bear one another's afflictions, even if we can only offer them up in prayer and fasting/sacrifice. But first we have to *know* about these problems--or blessings!--before we can do anything about them. We can't help, if we don't know they are going on in the first place. And people aren't just going to spill their guts to a stranger. You have to build a relationship, over time. You have to go in to those stores, and meet those people. They need to get to know you, your children, your life. You need to start building these folks into the fabric of your life...and you, in turn, into theirs.
Talk used to be about safety nets, and how the government should take care of us...I disagree wholeheartedly that the government ought to be doing anything along that line. Charity (love) starts in the home. It starts in a one on one relationship. Love is not something handed out by the government. All they seem to hand out is lead weights. With strings attached. We have to build a safety net alright...but not by relying on some nanny-state intervention. No, we CANNOT do that. We must, then, build our safety nets small. And locally. By getting ourselves woven into the fabric of our community. By strengthening the bonds that hold each of our little burgs together...by spending our time, our money, our energy, not just "beautifying" by planting flowers (although that certainly helps!), but by investing our SELVES into the town. Into the people who live and work there. By showing that *we* think it is worth shopping in our towns, that we think it is worthwhile to spend our time making the extra stop...by talking with our neighbors and fellow citizens in the markets, in the drugstore, at the gas station and the diner...this is how we build a community that pulls together when times are tough.
I know that this is a long post. These thoughts have been rumbling through my head and heart lately, like a freight train, what with the economic woes, the on-going brouhaha in DC, and of course, the tragic events at Ft Hood, TX this last week. And I hope, on the one hand, that none of this has insulted anyone out there. I certainly don't meant to offend. However, these are my thoughts such as they are. I believe we MUST hold our elected officials responsible for this trampling of the Constitution...I believe we MUST hold terrorists accountable for their actions, whatever that may mean...I believe we MUST start rebuilding our economies, by buying locally. Rebuild the economy one little building block at a time...one little town, one county, one state...each of us doing our best, each of us doing our part...
Ironically, it is not the words of a conservative that come to mind right now, but rather the words of the (nearly-deified) Democrat President John F Kennedy..."Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"...indeed, we need to make that an even smaller goal--what can do for your town? What can you do for your neighbor? Is it a prayer? Is it shopping in the local grocery store? Is it smiling and saying 'hello' to the woman next in line at the local gas station? Start small, think big! Think, think, think. Make your actions purposeful. Do what you can, where you can, when you can. And pray the rest of the time.
Cause goodness knows, we need it....
For now, folks, I'll leave off the rambling. You don't have to reply to this...unless you really want to (not that you would anyway, lol, but I digress). I hope that this gave you some food for thought. I hope that maybe somewhere, it echoes thoughts of your own, not down on 'paper'. Regardless, I hope that your weekend has been a blessed beginning to this next week, and that you start your week well prepared for what lies ahead.
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