Dreaming With Martin

Political ideologies aside - socialist, communist, capitalist - our country made history two days ago. Yesterday morning it really started to dawn on me what had taken place when I saw a picture of Barack Obama superimposed onto that picture with the heads of all the past presidents - twelve of whom had been slave owners - how far we had come and what history had been made.
Throughout this whole process prejudices and ignorance abounded. I am so sick of this little "secret" between some white people that leans in a whispers some racist remark, with a wink of understanding. NO I do not know what you mean. NO I do not get what you're saying. Lord help me always as Mr. King so eloquently said it, judge others not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Watching the View yesterday morning and listening to Whoopi Goldberg talk about this sense of finally being able to "put her suitcase down", I was awestruck, and pained. Sherri Shepherd was so choked up that she could hardly talk telling about tucking her son in bed that night knowing that he COULD do anything, and that the color of his skin would not be a hindrance. This election has opened up that door. I found myself for the first time wishing that I was black just so I could share more intimately in this victory. It gave me chills. When Barbara Walters played the clip of Mr. King's I Have a Dream.... speech and told how it brought her to tears, I was choking up too.
This is HUGE. I am proud of America for this, that almost 50 years later we have seen a small glimpse of Mr. King's dream coming true. I'm dreaming with you sir. I'm still dreaming with you.
Kudos to my very talented writer daughter Kendra who has expressed some of the exact same thoughts on her own blog.

For the record, I am pro-life, believe strongly in our right to bear arms, don't want to spread the wealth, etc. But what's done is done. We have a fine system of checks and balances that prevent one man from having absolute power. I can be happy that I live in a country where the ghosts and demons of the past prejudices may be finally losing their power to haunt us. Amen!

THIS is an Outrage!!!!

We had a great day at my friend Shannon's house. A couple of us have been getting our kids together for some science experiments - but today we decided to put that on hold and study the election process. It was pretty interesting - and I know that Kaitlyn in particular was really taking it all in. BUT, this afternoon on our way home, Kendra got a text message from a friend that said,

Obama is in the lead for now, but that will change once white people get off of work.

I made her read it to me again - and then I asked her to let me read it for myself - as if I could not process the information. (I have to tell you I hate even having this written on my blog - but feel it is necessary for you to understand my outrage!) What was it implying - that black people don't work? It is just this same kind of thing that continues to drive a wedge between people, and I am sick to the full of Christians perpetuating this bullsh*t. The worst part of this was that this same friend sent a text message this morning reminding all her friends to pray that God's will would be done. Do these two messages imply that God's will would be for a white Republican man to win this election? Does God do our bidding? How arrogant to assume that God would not, could not and will not use whomever the American people put into office for His purposes, regardless of race or gender. If we wake up in the morning and Barak Obama is our president elect, are there those who will believe God has abandoned America?
I have just been so so so angry about this - fuming for the last few hours. It reminded me of this quote Kaitlyn pointed out:

I imagine that God is weary of being called down on both sides of an argument.
-Inman, Cold Mountain

I imagine so.
I stated here very clearly who got my vote here this morning - but let me be very clear that my vote had nothing to do with race or gender. My mantra will always be red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His site......

The VOTE: Just Do It!

I think with all that has happened this election year, it is exciting to think that within the next 24 hours we will finally have a new president elect. Either outcome will make history with either an African American holding the office of President or a woman in the role of Vice President. I am not sure what that outcome will be, and everything that I listen to or read looks as if it could go either way.
I have only recently decided where to place my own vote, and can say honestly that this is the first time I have ever considered voting against my conservative leanings. In the end I decided that socialism was too much of a risk to take, and am voting accordingly. Here is a quote from something that I wrote in an online political discussion that sums up my thoughts:

I have tried asking myself what Jesus would do – and I am reminded how he did not want a political standing – he wanted the hearts of people. I will vote my conscience – but I will also respect either outcome and remember that my Papa is still far more than capable of taking care of us whatever may come. I will know that He is in control. To me the absolute worst thing would be for people that are loved by Him to lose sight of the humanity of one another and start – as I have heard rumored- rioting and looting, escalated racial tensions, etc. – because these things will break HIS heart.

John McCain has my vote but Jesus Christ has my heart!

PS - You can vote however you like. I refer you to the previous post!

Election 2008 – Some Personal Non-Partisan Thoughts

This past weekend, my husband and I watched most of the Democratic Debate. There are a lot of candidates, and I have to say that I had not done my homework on who they were or where they stood on most issues. I have come to think differently about politics in the last couple of years, and it started with an understanding that I got in reading the book Are you Liberal, Conservative or Confused? I was confused. Primarily I have gained perspective that Conservatives typically want more government to regulate issues of morality and less governmental controls on our spending – while Liberals are often the opposite. I realize this is a very simplistic perspective but it helped me understand a lot. There are so many issues that it would be very difficult to align myself at the moment with a particular political party or candidate just yet.

Another thing that has changed in me is my perspective on the church’s role in politics. Donald Miller helped hammer it out in Blue Like Jazz that all to often as Christians we think that we have to be conservatives – because moral issues are far more important than money to a believer. Personally, I have come to realize that you cannot legislate morality. I am not saying that the answer is to sit back with our hands in our pockets and do nothing to stand against evil, but making laws is doing little to affect the hearts of people to make a real change. What more often than not seems to happen is Christians are setting themselves up against a hurting world – pointing the finger of condemnation instead embracing them with the love of Christ, in their sin, and saying at the same time, as our Lord would say, “Go and sin no more.” No, we will not say that wrong is right and right is wrong. God’s standard still stands, but I believe with all my heart that love is the only vehicle to get people there.

Since the debate a couple of days ago, I have come to realize an issue that is of particular importance to me is National Healthcare. My thoughts on the issue are just starting to gel, however, I have a personal story to share – I’ll make it brief.

My son was born in September of 1997. When he was a couple of weeks old, I was returning home from a visit with a friend. As I was putting my key into my front door, I looked down at my newborn baby in his carseat to find that his lips and face were turning blue. I practically slammed the carseat on the ground there on the front porch, and jerked the belt off to get the baby out, and in all the violent jostling, he took a big gasp for air and started to cry. I was crying with him, holding him in my arms and terrified.

When I was pregnant with him, I had consulted with my pediatrician about this baby. His older sister had been on an apnea monitor until she was a year old because she too had stopped breathing at a 2 week pediatrician’s visit when the nurse was drawing her blood, and a subsequent sleep study showed that she was only breathing normally about 40% of the time. In spite of this, the pediatrician assured me that it would not necessarily be the case with her siblings.

I took my son immediately to the pediatrician’s office after the incident on the front porch. The doctor held him in her arms, and looked him over. She listened to his chest, and his stomach, and looked in his ears, nose and throat. After the exam was done, she sat down and very calmly said to me, “Well, he looks fine to me.” I started to cry realizing that she was not remotely concerned about the child that had stopped breathing on me until he turned BLUE that morning, and started to plead with her to do the sleep study that our previous pediatrician had done on my daughter. She looked at me calmly, without a bit of concern and said, “The bottom line is that there is no way your insurance company is going to pay for that study unless you had a child who died of SIDS.” I pleaded with her, telling her that WE would pay for the test, if it took the rest of our lives, and begged her to please not send me home with a baby I knew there was something wrong with. She suggested that I was suffering with post-partum depression, and had a counselor from my OB/GYN’s office contact me later that day!

Long story short, I found another doctor. I went home, got out the phone book and determined with one eye on the phone book and one eye on my son to call until I through to someone who was willing to take care of my baby. We got an immediate appointment with another doctor, who sent me directly from his office to the hospital. My son was admitted and within 36 hours we knew that his sleep study showed he was only breathing normally about 20% of the time – far more irregularly than his sister.

What bothers me the most is that there are poor people who with poor diets and the struggle to survive need healthcare, and they are the least likely to get what they need. The doctor in my story knew it would indeed take us the rest of our lives to pay for that sleep study ourselves, and she made money more important than a human life. That is why National Healthcare will be such a major issue for me in the coming election. Wealthy people shouldn’t be the only ones able to afford medical treatment. We treat something that is a necessity as if it is a luxury.

I won’t post a lot about the coming elections, but I will be chiming in from time to time with my thoughts. I’m not sure I’ll ever be endorsing a candidate. I would, however, like this to become a discussion. What issues are most important to you in the upcoming election? Which candidate are you favoring and why? I would even like to hear from some of my international friends about what you think Americans are doing wrong.

As my friend Leslie would say, these are my thoughts.

Scrap Happy - Week 2

Okay - so it is slow going here getting this meme started - but I know that if we are patient, and if all participants help get the word out, we will see other digital scrapbookers emerge from the shadows. Please grab the button and put the word out on your blogs, and wherever other scrapbookers gather. Let's get this thing going people - I want to see some pages!

Here is my page for week 2 - the pictures were taken at a Presidential Rally a couple of years ago. The America kit I used seemed perfect for the patriotic theme. I don't remember where I got it.
Let's see some of your pages! Post your page on your blog and link up here. Don't forget to only grab the link to the specific post where your page for this week is posted - it helps the rest of us find it without having to sort through all of your other posts.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at julientexas at sbcglobal dot net.
Thanks! Happy Scrappin'!