Are Kids Really Color Blind?

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I originally planned on writing about reality tv but then I read one of Huffington Post’s blog and felt the urge to address the topic.

The author of the blog post wrote about an incident in a kindergarten classroom, in which, the teacher corrected a student’s drawing by explaining the difference in the children’s color of skin. The author seemingly, is disappointed that the teacher pointed out that one child was African-American, thereby having a brown complexion, in comparison to the other child who is Caucasian and having a ‘white’ skin. I, on the other hand, applaud the teacher for so skillfully addressing the issue.

Despite what we think of children’s innocence, our children are very aware of their environment, even if they are unable to express themselves as well as we, adults do.
Let us pause for a moment, and let me insert this, I know that I am…

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Is there really a choice?

Ok, so the democratic platform is supporting gay rights, do we know what Romney supports? Do you believe that if he was in power the gays and their money would not be able to whip them into supporting that faction? For example, Romney once said he was pro-life, then he said he is pro-choice, now he is pro…I am not sure what. The reason for his flippant behavior was because he was trying to appease his audience. This is what they all do!

My point is this, I completely disagree with both party’s moral meter but like a commentator provided, we cannot expect these leaders to be the moral example for the church. The church is required to be the light. Accordingly, we need to fix our house. We need to clean up our act. Live a Christian life, one that is pleasing to God, not man. That is our liberty, we please God, not man, and should be willing to die for that. How much of us are willing to say this?

Politics change leaders and their views all the time. if a leader desires to be kept in their position, it is normally the group that screams the loudest and spends the most that the leader will have to support. Apart from the gays, look at how DACA was instituted. if those Dreamers weren’t pushing and raising money, the little appeasement that they have received would not have been granted.

So my approach is that it doesn’t matter which party is in power, gay rights would have become a big thing and the president (whomever it is) would have to buckle if he or she wants a second term. Therefore, to make my decision on who to support, I need to look on policies that will affect our standard of living. No one will be able to rise up and help out if we are all suffering. So which party has a plan, not just economic, but an overall plan, that will encourage life not survival.

Life, not in a shallow, economical sense, but life where peace is not a thing of the past.

 

My Imagination Did It

Being organized always makes my day smoother, yet I am unable to consistently organize myself and my environment. Why is this? Why do I procrastinate and then rush, while getting frustrated about the fact that I do not have sufficient time? Why do I ignore the instructions and then try to figure it out on my own?

This morning I am sitting shaking my head at all these bad habits that I have formed, wondering if I will ever get rid of them. Trust me, I certainly would like to be the person who always get my work done. I would love to be the one who has it all together and not the one who often times push the tasks to another day only because I just didn’t plan for that day. So where do I start?

I was once of the belief that keeping a calendar and a ‘to do’ book was the key, but I have since learned that those tools are not as effective for me because I fail to always read them and I either miss or ignore the alarms for the ones on my phone, iPad, or laptop. I more often than not miss these alarms because none of these gadgets are on or around me all the time, and some of the times, they are turned off. As such, I think I would greatly benefit from a talking calendar and or a ‘to do’ book if these were my only option.

This device would announce upcoming tasks at least one hour in advance and would send me reminders at least fifteen minutes before the start time. It would provide weekly, monthly, and yearly reviews in order for me to keep up with my workload and my completed tasks. It would also have motivational quotes that it would recite at the end of every reminder in an effort to motivate me into acting. In addition, and to prevent me from missing these announcements, this device must be capable of transferring information to every electronic device that I own, thereby, allowing the announcement to find me wherever I am at the time. This gadget will be very sensitive to me and will be somewhat like an electronic personal assistant. Wouldn’t that be super cool?

Ok geniuses out there in computer land, please get busy because I need this gadget ‘like yesterday.’ I need to be more productive so that this growing pile on my desk can be reduced, and all my daily tasks can be achieved. Until then, I am gonna sit right here and just stare…

Well, maybe not, I do need to get organized.

 

Living Life in Abundance

For the last two weeks, I have been plagued with illnesses in my home. It started with one child having a cold, which then transferred to the other child. After that, the older one had an allergic reaction, to what, I have no idea.

Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way complaining, because I know that these illnesses cannot be compared to what some other parents have to endure. While it was overwhelming for me because it was one after the other, it was still not as severe as what some families encounter.

So today, I am pausing to say, “thank you God, for your grace, for your mercies, and for your blessings. I know you know what I can handle and so I know that through it all, you have my back.” It is that simple for me.

I read today in my devotions about keeping life about one thing because in doing so it makes your life much simpler and I smiled because I understood the truth in that. Complications are distracting and they detract from the abundance of life. It is also possible to add that more often than not, when we are leading a complicated life, we are involving something that is not of God. Stop and do a quick check and see…

We must be ‘about our Father’s business.’ This is a profound statement to me because it provides the realization that whatever you are involved in represents who your ‘father’ is. So in this crazy upside down world, where being busy has become so overrated, I have chosen to slow down and be about the things of my father. My father’s business requires me to live the way He wants me to live, to give until there is no more to give, to love until there is just no more love because I can never, never out-love the Lord.

Have a blessed day, today.

 

The Great Debate (Part Two)

Apparently, the purpose for this debate was to identify the differences between the two presidential candidates. In my opinion, this was a great idea because it would help us recognize where each party stood on important issues, not the little things that are meant to distract us. However, this was not necessarily what was done, since politicians are ‘unable to provide a direct answer’ without trying to confuse, dress up, and show off. With that said however, I was able to decipher some differing views between these two candidates and will wrap up my take on this first debate, by discussing them.

One of the issues I am very interested in is ‘entitlements,’ because of my idealistic viewpoint. President Obama stands behind Obamacare and I believe (with limited information of the ins and outs of the policy) that this is or will be a good way forward. I do believe we should have affordable healthcare for everyone because a country of healthy workers will be productive and successful. Governor Romney on the other hand is dead set against this policy. In listening to the bantering between the two, I realized that the real reason why Governor Romney is against this is because President Obama went ahead and passed this into law without the agreement of the Republicans. Now is that a good enough reason to stop a program that will be beneficial to our society? Mind you, he did give some other reasons but it seemed as if this one was his bottom line.

The governor also posed that healthcare should be left up to the states. This, I take an opposing view to. I believe that the federal government should monitor and oversee healthcare in order to allow for some equality among the states. This, I believe will ensure that the medical care will not differ greatly from one state to another. I must also, in jest, mention his comment about what his choice would be. He stated that he would choose private insurance over public insurance and I laughed and shook my head because I began to wonder, who wouldn’t if they could afford it?
It is this same reason why I believe that Obamacare is a good thing because with the proposed scrutiny, public coverage will need to be up to par with the private companies. If health care is left up to the states and these insurance companies, then the practice of providing a vast difference in care for the wealthy and the middle class will continue and more and more people will suffer for lack of sufficient care.

On education, I give Governor Romney a big check, only because his state is ranked number one in the United States. However, I also commend President Obama on Race To The Top. I did a thesis comparing this to No Child Left Behind and I do believe it is a better (and should be a more effective)approach to addressing our educational crisis.
Moving forward whose policy would be better for the country? I am still undecided. I need to know more about Governor Romney’s policy for the country.

Fixing the US economy was another issue, and me, being very challenged in this area will only be able to recap the differences I gathered. First, I found out that Governor Romney has a problem with borrowing from China, and assumedly, the President doesn’t. That is definitely worth researching. In addition, the governor does not believe that raising taxes for the wealthy will generate revenue but the President does. To me those were the two differences that stood out. I must add though, that I support Governor Romney when he said that the economic problem is also a moral issue and Americans need to stop spending more than they can afford.

My ten minutes are up and I do have to stop but I do not plan on giving this debate much more analysis. Accordingly, I will add, government should be for the people, and in my opinion, this means that the interests of the majority, not the minority, should be first and foremost. This, therefore, is my measuring stick.

 

The Great Debate (Part One)

I thought I was never going to get the opportunity to sit and write today, but thanking God, I am taking 10 minutes right now. There is so much that I could talk about right now but I will do like almost everyone else and comment on the first Presidential Debate for this election season. Were you wowed?

I must say, and I bet everyone else might be saying this too, Governor Romney did come off well prepared, although, it seemed as if he had an allergic reaction whenever he mentioned the middle class or the ‘poor’ like he once fumbled and called them. He lost all sincerity whenever he spoke about those issues and that struck me hard. President Obama, on the other hand, seemed less prepared and I was disappointed in one sense because I love when he debates, presents, or give speeches. Then again, I don’t think I would be on my ‘A’ game if I had to debate about this country’s issues on my anniversary.

I took notes though and I am now doing some research on some of the issues because I have been so tied up with homeschooling and being a mom and a part-time dad (while hubby is deployed). As such, I will try to keep my opinions on the issues to myself until I am better educated. In the meantime, I will recount a few things I noticed and have questions on.

First, Governor Romney’s plan for taxes seems as if he is definitely keeping or reintroducing the way of old and if it was a problem back then, then it will continue to be a problem once re-introduced. He claims that he will lower tax cuts, deductions, and exemptions. Assumedly in lowering the rates this will allow people to have money in their pockets but how will this happen if he will also lower the exemptions and the deductions? That sounds like an equalizer to me and so we are going to end up right back at square one, ‘without money.’

President Obama spoke about his 4 trillion dollars deficit reduction plan but he did not provide details, although he told us to go look on his website (rude). He also did mention that a part of his plan would require $1 increase in taxes from the wealthiest segment of society for every $2.50 in tax cuts. This sounds ok, but the question that is most important to me is, how will this play out in helping the middle class? I have no clue but I am sure we will find out from all the so called experts on CNN and elsewhere.

 

Just so you know!!

I am pouring my heart out to you, dear
Because of all that you do
To keep our family together.

I am shouting my feelings out, dear
Because of how much you care
About each little thing that affects me.

I am taking a stand and posting my claim, dear
Because I am your wife
And you are still MY husband.

I am telling the world, dear
So no one can question!!

 

Epic Fail

“Oh no, I can’t believe I did that!”

How often have we made that exclamation? Well this morning was no exception. I woke up and was going through my mental note of my day and realized that I had dropped the ball; I had forgotten to plan for Zee’s lessons for today. This became even more evident when at 7:30am my son comes to me asking, “mom, do we have a compass?”

Now picture this: a woman in her pajamas (sorry babes), pulling on a long sweater to add some modesty to her attire, grabbing her youngest, who was also in his pjs, then hurriedly rushing off to Walmart to see if they sold compasses. Getting there, she realizes that Walmart does not provide such intricacies, so she hastily, but with caution, drove to Office Max. At Office Max, she found quite a few but decided to go with the one closest to ‘those from back in the days’ (yes, she is an old fashioned kind-a gal). She walks up to the cashier and realizes that she did not have her purse…

Welcome to my world! This morning is the start of an eventful day. One in which I plan on being thankful, comes what may. Today, I am determined to breathe and see the rainbow throw every twist and turn, knowing that God will not give me more than I can bear.

On another note, this morning I was thinking about the meaning of ‘equality for all before the law.” A few nights ago, a friend and I were talking about the true meaning of that statement and he pointed out that he is a firm believer of that statement. This morning, while laying in bed this thought came to my mind, “equality for all before the law is a hope dangled before us but almost always never attained. We are all different and experience different circumstances and as a result, we oftentimes expect that our circumstances will color or provide some justifiable reason for our actions. Accordingly, and even though we have our laws, we will get varying decisions along the way because it is not only the law that is in operation, human behavior is too. The law, therefore, does not and cannot operate outside of ‘life.’

My ten minutes are up…

 

Simplifying Me

I took a break from my challenge because life became overwhelming; being all that you can be is not an easy task. However, I am back to my challenge and this week, I will attempt to write a post each day. The challenge within the challenge is to write my thoughts as they come within a ten minutes time frame. The activity will help me to recognize the things that are occupying my brain space so that I can focus on the topic of ‘my book’ and in essence, I will understand me a little more.

So here goes:

Today, I woke up wanting more sleep. I got to bed at 2:19am and my alarm went off at 5:15am. I was completely annoyed. I did not get up though, I rolled over and laid in bed for another 2 hrs. While lying in bed I thought about my writing, realizing that my confidence has grown through posting and publishing some articles, so now I should move on to the next level of focusing on either completing one of my three unfinished books or beginning a new one.

My mind then took me to a mental check of what my day will be like, and while it is overflowing with things I need to get done, I made the promise to myself that I will stop and breathe at least once today.

In the middle of that thought Zee knocked on my door and I knew my ‘me time’ was over, I now had to face today, but before I do, I stopped and prayed. Of late my prayers have been random and this morning was no different. I found myself praying for the very small things; being appreciative of love, my family and friends, and even the opportunity to be living in this beautiful place call Whidbey Island.

I also took the opportunity to write a love note to hubby to remind him of how much I love him. Seriously, deployment is no joke, and anyone who decides to join the military needs to be aware of how difficult it can be to cope with such long absences. I am certain that we are able to endure this, our first of many, because of our faith in God. It certainly has given us the strength to overcome and shed light on the many lies and attempts that the enemy uses to distract and destroy couples. It is because of my faith in God, I can keep on loving and trusting this man even though he is half way around the world. As a matter of fact, my love for him has multiplied immensely, and the most wonderful thing is that his expressions of love have also intensified. Only God, I say!

There is no deep rooted message from me today and I think that’s okay because one of the things I have realized is that once in awhile I need to uncomplicated my day and simply take things slow. Life is already in the way, so for today, I will just go with the flow.

Tendai Mwari

 

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

I made a few attempts to write an article today but have not been able to sit long enough to do so. I however cannot allow this day to end without posting and so I thought I would re-post this presentation from BBC World News. It is a very interesting piece.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19670031