Abstinence VS Sex Education

This poster was created by a kid (don't know their age) in a school (don't know where) for a poster contest and they won first place. I thought it was pretty funny. And it brings me to the point of my blog. I'm getting tired of all the Palin-bashing! The media is frenetic and I want to scream "stop already!" What doesn't make sense to me is their pecking away at Sarah for promoting abstinence over sex education. I'm not going to criticize the Palin family for the choices each of them has made. They are human, like ALL of us. It is sad that a baby was conceived in that manner and it was wrong. What I want to point out though, is this. Why is it that everyone wants to claim the moral high ground when they are speaking of themselves but then insist on shoving everyone else's face in the mud when their mistakes are so out in the open. I wonder if their hidden flaws are any more wrong than ones that cannot be swept under a rug? Let's talk about sex education. The kind where you hear all about the birds and the bees and then are given "protection" to use, just in case you choose to have sex outside of marriage. First of all, this protection protects only against pregnancy. Why aren't parents AT LEAST concerned about all the diseases that their child WILL be exposed to. Forget for a moment the baby issue. Aren't the diseases reason enough for abstinence? And what then, about abortion? Wouldn't a mother want their daughter to know that having an abortion raises their risks of cancer? And that most women who are fully aware that the life they took was their own flesh and blood (and who haven't completely shut down their consciences) suffer the rest of their life knowing that they destroyed human life? So far, on one side of the scale we have dozens of communicable diseases, increase risk of cancer and psychological damage and on the other side of the scale we have physical, mental and spiritual health. But sex ed wins and to teach abstinence is weak. I don't understand it.

Let's look at it this way. Suppose your son or daughter is 15 and you send them off to take a driver's ed class. They learn all about the mechanics of driving, the rules of the road, and the consequences of breaking those rules. They come home and tell you all about it. You agree with them that they had a fabulous teacher and they must be well equipped to be on the road after such a wonderful class. "But there is one thing missing", you tell your child. You dig around in your closet and pull out a radar detector. You hand it to them and say, "You know what will happen if you speed and how expensive your ticket will be and that we can't afford to pay that ticket for you. So, plug this little box into the cigarette lighter and lay the box on your dash." And you go on to explain how it works. Then you say, "I know you are young and will be tempted to speed, so this will help you to avoid the consequences if you do decide to speed." There are parents out there that do that. There are also parents out there that wouldn't dream of doing that, but in the same breath they will give permission to their children for sexual "protection" to allow them to avoid natural consequences of sex before marriage. It's a double standard and it makes me ill! It's the same nation that wants to take One Nation Under God off our minds but will cry out to that same God when we face a terror like 9-11.

I hope we are all busy teaching our children a Christian worldview. And in these times, it means being very open and honest with them about what is going on in the real world and pointing out the flaws in thinking that God's spiritual laws can be avoided. His spiritual laws are just as real and valid as the physical laws. I always ask my kids, "If you jump off the roof of the house, will you go down? Every time?" I then explain that the spiritual laws (consequences) that God has set up can't be avoided any more than you can escape gravity here on Earth. Even though we can't see the spiritual laws, we can see the effects of them just as sure as we can see the effects of gravity. Not believing in gravity doesn't make it go away.

Take the time to talk to your kids! Teach them (at age appropriate times) about God designed sex and how abstinence is His idea! If you don't, someone else will and I can guarantee you, you won't like their version of the story.

Craigslist Mama

With the exception of one or two pieces, Rob and I have never furnished our home with new things. They have mostly been second hand. I used to find most of my deals through garage sales and Goodwill, but over the last year, I have found most of my deals on Craigslist. I don't have a picture to post yet, but I did find a dining table with 6 chairs for $50 at a garage sale that match the pine furniture in the living room. Since then, I have been keeping an eye out for a china hutch that would match the table. Craigslist to the rescue! I found the matching hutch for $100. I sold my old unmatching hutch for $50, so the new one only cost $50! Can you beat that?


I also kept searching Craigslist for a new couch. I don't have a lot of room, but with 7 of us, we needed more than just a couch and a bench. I really wanted to hold out for leather, but wasn't seeing anything that I liked that was in my price range. My persistant searching paid off when I found this couch, chair and ottoman for only $300. It is sooooo comfortable and of course, everyone wants to sit in the chair with the ottoman!


I really thank God for helping me find these deals! Sometimes the way I find things and how well they match what I'm looking for and the price being in line with what I have saved up leaves no doubt in my mind that I have my very own personal shopper working things out just for me! In other's eyes, we have so little, but in my opinion, we are blessed with so much! Compared to the majority of the world, we are rich, and I'm always thanking God for his blessings to us. We have a (little) roof over our heads, but it's a roof. We have plenty of clothes and food, too. God has provided for us and we are thankful! It's a little early yet to do a post on Thanksgiving, but I'm thankful, nonetheless!

While the cats away (at work)...

...the mice will play.


Rebecca desperately needs a little sister to play dress up with. Poor Nate! Actually, I don't think he minded a bit! Poor child looks like he needs Jesus! Click on the photo to see it close up.

The Three Sisters Hit the Town

My sister, Adela, and I try to get together a few times a year to eat out and window shop without any of our 9 children in tow. Our wonderful, loving, sister-in-law, Jennifer, who lives in West Virginia got wind of Adela's visit and wanted to be in on the fun. Not wanting to leave her out, we decided to go ahead and invite her to come along! We haven't seen her in awhile, so we greeted her when she arrived with many kisses. She was very tired from traveling, but ready to hit the town with us.



We hopped in the van and headed off for Ruby Tuesday for a yummy lunch. The A/C in Adela's van wasn't working too well. Jen felt a little warm.


Due to all Adela's suitcases, the only spot available to sit was in the car seat. I don't think she was very happy being squished in there.


Adela had water with lemon. Jen had never tried that before, so they shared the drink. Jen found it a little sour.


I shared my artichoke and spinach dip with Jen. The artichoke gave her gas.


We left the tip on the table and headed out to window shop. In our hurry, we left Jen behind! I had to go find her.


At the store we tried on hats...


...and shoes...


...and Jen tried on this beautiful wedding dress just for fun. Poor Jen couldn't get the dress zipped up in the back!


We headed over to Home Goods next, where we promptly lost Jen. Couldn't find her anywhere. Adela paged her. We were worried!


She must have been very tired because we found her sleeping on this comfy bed.


Within 10 minutes, we lost her again! We were pretty frantic this time!


After looking everywhere, we found her cornered by this cute little old man. He was fairly smitten with her.


We had a great time and are looking forward to our next sister's afternoon on the town!

Help Benjamin come home to sunny Florida!

Correction: tickets are available until SEPTEMBER 1st, not August 1st.
My apologies!

While at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday evening with Ana (my GOOD friend :-) we got to chatting about the adoption fundraiser that they are having for the adoption of a little boy from China. Paul Vedder (who is one of the managers there) and his wife have already adopted a little girl named Lily from China. You can read about their road so far in the process of adopting little Benjamin by clicking here.

Ana and I picked Paul's brain a little bit about the whole process and how the fundraiser was going. Paul and his wife have a deep faith in God and are trusting Him to provide the finances for bringing this adorable little boy home. As of this week, they have only sold about 15-18% of the total tickets available. The Vedder family is a little surprised by this, but they are not wringing their hands! They know that God knows! Paul gave me permission to spread the word and encourage everyone who can to participate in the raffle, and more importantly for everyone to help them PRAY! You can read about the prizes being offered here.

Odds are very high for winning, right now!!! I know I would love to have any or all of the prizes and this is a worthy cause! The tickets are 1 for $25, 5 for $100. For a limited time only, Early Bird Special is 6 for $100, or a Whole Herd Discount of 30 tickets for $300. The tickets will be available until about 4:00 pm August 1st. The drawing will be held at 5:00 pm. I plan on being there!