Hypnotized

I have really been pondering this election outcome, and I have found myself taken aback by it all. I have a mixture of emotions as I watch everything unfolding in the world around me. I have tried to place myself in the shoes of the millions of black people that are in this country. I am thrilled that our country is becoming more and more "colorblind". What a moment in history to be alive!

I, too, know something about being a minority. I know, you are thinking, "What??" Living in San Luis, Arizona, population 25,000, and being pretty much the only white, English-as-a-primary-language resident, I got a taste of what it felt like to be odd-man-out, with little to no voice. Then I remember going to church in Mexico, and being the only American there...and when, by chance, another American would visit, I would find myself drawn to them, because of the common bond. I think that's how the majority of the black population is feeling today. I think that they are feeling empowered...that for the first time in history, they have a voice on a National scale, something they have, until now, only dreamed of. The issue that I struggle with is that sometimes, when you feel such a bond on one level, you can become indifferent to the things that really matter. I can't help but wonder how many people really looked beyond their own skin color to make this choice. I understand the power of culture...the pull that it has on humanity. I feel like many of the black people are deeply spiritual, "big faith" people. A majority have had strong Christian roots. But the excitement of this campaign has clouded their moral vision. There has been a hypnotic effect that has caused them to make choices that they normally never would have made before. I have learned through the years that we, if we truly are Christians, must not be controlled by our own human culture, but we need to be controlled by the culture of heaven...the moral standard that has been laid out before us. All of us...White, Black, Brown...need to be able to objectively look at the choices that are in front of us, and decide if we are going to be guided by the standards of the world, or the standards of the One who made the world.

The other struggle I have is that I am watching the country I love, heading in a direction that I don't like. I am watching people put the economy on a higher priority level than morality. People holding out for a hand out, rather than the satisfaction of hard work. Because of this, I am more energized then ever. I have been reminded of the urgency of the times, and the vitality of participation. We all have been given a sphere of influence. So, I am pulling my boots up, determined to let the Lord use me as He sees fit..to make an eternal difference in the world around me.

And the winner is.....

Being Election Day, we decided to scrap the traditional school day, and celebrate the democratic process of our land. Our little school room has been converted into a voting room. We have designed the whole day around the election, complete with voting, and electoral college maps ready to be colored red and blue as the results come in. (It's going to be a late night!) The boys have been excitedly following this election, and have learned a great deal about how it works! We'll have the "Parra District" results after Mom and Dad vote later today!

Update...5:09pm....well, the polls are closed here in our house, and the votes are in and counted in the Parra district...and McCain has won it!! It was a landslide victory, complete with jumping and cheering from the youngest voting members...Now we are getting settled to watch the real votes roll in!

It's a priviledge and a right!

"Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. " Psalm 146:3-4

This scripture, that was on my blog today, seemed very fitting for the times in which we are living! As Election Day approaches, filled with campaign promises from here to the moon, I thought is was fitting to remind myself that the only one we can really put our complete faith in is God. Using that plumb line, both candidates fall so very short of living up to a standard that high. So, tomorrow, I will venture out with my boys, and cast my vote for the man who I believe lines up with the issues that concern God most, not the issues that concern my pocketbook most. After all, He promises to bless us according to His riches in Glory, and not according to the economic standards of this great country. That being said, I encourage all of you to vote tomorrow...vote your conscience...vote as if God was watching over your shoulder...because in reality, He is!

Sweet tooth!

The boys and I went to the store yesterday, and being that it's close to October 31st, there is an enormous amount of candy for sale. Have you ever noticed how much the candy has changed since we were little? Here's a list of my favorites from my childhood...most of these are probably no longer sold...haha...I am getting old! :)

Marathon Bar...these were a foot long, chocolate covered carmel "ladder" that we used to almost choke on because it was so stringy and sticky!

Ice Cubes...delicious creamy chocolate cubes...the smoothest thing around...my Gramma "D" always had some on her purse!

Necco wafers....dry and weird tasting, but we bought them anyway! LOL

Whistle pops...Lollypops with an loud whistle (made by some candy man with no children, no doubt!)

Candy cigarettes...we "puffed" on these things until the paper got soggy!

Bazooka Joe gum...hard as a rock until you chewed it for a while...once it was soft, it lost all it's flavor...we could buy it for 2 cents at the snack shack...and the comic and joke of the day were great, cheap entertainment!

Pixie sticks...if accidently inhaling the powder didn't kill you, the 1.5 second sugar rush just might!

Reeses pieces...if it weren't for E.T., these candies would have never lasted!

Fireballs...another snack shack favorite...why did we buy something that spent more time staining our fingertips than in our mouths???

Sour patch kids...wegmans sold them in bulk, and we snuck them into the movies!!

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These days, our kids have an incredible variety to choose from...

Gummy whatever...bears, worms, bugs, body parts...Chocolate anything and everything...So what did my kids get on our excursion to the store?? A package of gummy Krabby Patties, Josh eats them like a squirrel with his precious acorn. Jonathan took one bite, yelled "Yuck!!", and spit it to the ground. I'll stick to my modern favorite...the Take 5 bar!

Asleep

This week is my least favorite time of the whole year. I really dislike Halloween and all that goes with it. Our family does not celebrate the "holiday" or trick-or-treat. You might be thinking it is because of my upbringing and the fact that my family didn't celebrate it either. While this is somewhat true, Luis, who had a very different upbringing than I, feels even more strongly against it. Mom and Dad taught me that there was nothing cute or fun about Halloween. As the neighborhood kids came to our doors dressed like ghosts, witches, and other hideous things, my parents would hand out candy along with a little note about Jesus. We would stay home that night, and always have an abundance of left over candy, much to our dentist's dismay. One of the moms down the road from us felt such pity for me, that she made her son that was in my class, give me a portion of his candy. (No wonder that kid didn't like me!). Those parents didn't share or even understand the conviction that my parents felt on the subject. We, as children, didn't always understand either, and merely saw it as "they got candy and we didn't". Now that I am a Christian parent, I find myself sharing those same convictions that my parents did. I have noticed how much the "church" has changed on the whole Halloween issue. More and more, the standards that used to draw distinct lines have been weakened and watered down until it has gotten to a point where it's getting difficult to tell the difference between the Christians and the non-Christians. The world has become more evil, even just in my short lifetime. The worst part is that as the world continues to move down the slippery slope, the Christians have moved to the same degree, away from their convictions. Even down here in the "Bible belt", it is evident. Our children definitely live in a different world than Luis and I did as children, and we are finding ourselves having to explain issues to them that we didn't even know about until high school and beyond. Never before has the world been so blatantly anti-Christian. This generation has very little knowledge of a moral standard, because for the first time in history, the generation before it, in general, has not passed it on to them. The alarm has been sounding...college campus shootings...school field trips to the county courthouse to watch a gay wedding...presidential candidate images hanging with a noose for all to see...and we keep hitting the snooze button, hoping for just a few more moments of sleep and warmth...Little do we know how late it has gotten, and how desperately we need to wake up!