The Lessons from the Lady Bugs

This morning I did a bit of weed mowing around our acreage.
I noticed several Lady Bugs that I at first started to avoid, but soon found I really couldn't!



Unfortunately, I noticed that though there was certainly warning (wind generated by the mower, noise, vibration, etc) they would stay where they were. They had the ability to fly off and yet seemed to sit and say, "It's not going to happen to me. It's way over there."

For some reason this highlighted the areas of my life where I sometimes think it's ok to be passive.. "after all it is happening way over there, not to me." This didn't work out so well for the lady bugs today! I don't want to find out what the mower feels like!

As I sit, the mower whirs at the rights of parents in other countries to homeschool their children. They are treated like criminals for wanting to impart knowledge to their own kids without the state doing it.

I sit and parental rights in our own country continue to erode. Children are forcibly given medical treatment neither they nor their parents want. Children are taken from parents who are trying to do their best, not only the abusive ones we are all concerned about.

I sit while there are children starving, literally, across the globe right now. While my own children go to sleep in a safe, warm home, tummies full... there is a child on the street, hungry and cold. Are we resting in our decadence? Do we continue to live lavishly; thanking God for our abundance, yes, but what are we doing for the "least of these?"

Amazing how much one (namely me) can be convicted of by some bugs! ;)

Guess God knows how to get me to pay attention.

Who's children are they anyway?

A parent’s right to raise their children as they see fit is a time-honored American tradition, but today it is being threatened. The Supreme Court’s Troxel v. Granville decision in 2000 undermined a 75-year heritage of Constitutionally-protected, fundamental parental rights, which 8 of the 9 justices abandoned. At the same time, a growing body of international law fuels activist judges to legislate foreign standards from the American bench, while treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child would subject parental decisions to government oversight and international review.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (MI-2) has proposed HJR-42, the Parental Rights Amendment, to stop the erosion of parental rights in American courts while simultaneously defending our laws from international invasion. Please, visit parentalrights.org to learn more about the Amendment, and to join their email network by signing the petition to protect parental rights.

Shame on Texas!

Disclaimer:
I am not Mormon, nor a polygamy advocate.


So today in Texas, parents accused of abuse have no due process. Without following the traditional practice of investigating a claim families have been ripped apart.

Quote:
Mothers and children seperated.
CPS bus supervisors, having taken lists of names, call the mothers names and the number of children going with them, and escort them off the bus. Mothers who have children under the age of five are allowed to take all their children and get off the bus at the Coliseum. No caretakers are allowed to go along with the mothers to help. Mothers who do not have children under the age of five, but children five and older, stay on the bus and are driven a short distance to the Pavilion. All caretakers are also told to stay on the bus and get off at the Pavilion. Inside the Pavilion there are many CPS workers, male and female. Workers call the group of mothers and children to order, then a spokeswoman reads the names of mothers, caretakers, and number of children who go with each one again. Mothers and caretakers are told to walk a short distance away from the children. Some children try to follow their mothers and caretakers, but are stopped by CPS workers. Any mothers who object are escorted by CPS workers. Once the group is sorted, the CPS worker in charge tells the mothers and caretakers to step into the next room where, "...we will give you some information." Some children start to cry and hold on to their mothers. CPS workers take hold of children and say, "We will watch you. Your mom is just going to step into the other room. We will watch you until she gets back." Mothers reluctantly walk into the next room where the entire wall is lined with policemen, firearms handy. The mothers and caretakers are called to order as the spokeswomen reads the "information". The mothers and caretakers are told that the state has custody of their children. The adults are given two choices: to go back to the Ranch, or to go to the Family Alliance Shelter. There is not a choice to stay with the children. One caretaker asked what the shelter was, and if it would mean they could be closer to the children. A CPS worker explained that a person could go to the Family Alliance Shelter if they were afraid of anything happening to them at the Ranch. The majority of mothers and caretakers chose to go by bus to the Ranch.
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:35 PM

That's from this site set up by the church to support the restoration of the families.
Go there if you have an open mind, watch the videos and read the timeline articles.

You wont typically find this side of the story in the media.

At least California law, if not Federal law, states that children cannot be interviewed without the parents consent and they are entitled to be in the room. Where are these parents rights?

We also have a couple of legal safe guards like "innnocent until proven guilty" and the right to face your accuser.
The accused in this case doesn't even live in Texas,, he lives in AZ and the accuser is MIA! Yet for some reason 400+ children were removed from their homes for this?!?

An appropriate commentary from Joshep Farah at World Net Daily. says it better than I can!

Our society...the anti parent

Now first the disclaimer that I don't believe that I am the best parent in the world.
That said, I am getting sick of TV commercials and shows and people in public that seem to scream incompetent parenting.
Example, a new cell phone commercial which has the moral of "switch to our company and don't worry about going over on minutes" portrays a teenage girl laughing and talking away, while at home by the way, and the 'helpless parents' dazed watching her saying "she must have a new boyfriend and we are already over our minutes for the month"
My first thought...
Take the phone! It can be done respectfully and all, but she obviously could be on a land line and who thinks she needs to be on the phone for a long time anyway?
Which brings up the next point...
Since when do young teens need to have adult relationships?!?
Look at the 14 year old girl with the 18 year old boy friend who shot her parents! She was obviously having a rather adult like relationship that she (and he if you ask me) were completely unprepared for! Why? Because they are not adults yet! We cannot keep treating our children as adults and wondering when everything is screwed up!

I live in CA where the 9th circuit court thinks that parents should have even less rights regarding what their children can be taught and when. But I am not going down with out a fight.
I will teach my children respect for others, common courtesy (which is far from common, huh), faith and love, not to mention that I (and hubby) will be discussing sexuality as our children are individually ready! This is something that cannot and should not happen all at once to the detriment of the child, but something that needs to be handled as maturity is reached and as questions are brought up.
For example, my 2 year old isn't ready for "the talk" but last week during a diaper change, he said, (pointing at himself) " My peindus" then (pointing at me) "You peindus"; to which I explained "Neno, penis; Daddy, penis; Mommy, no penis."
This is a basic way he will learn the differences of the sexes, and his own, along the way, not all at once. And not by a stranger nor someone outside of a strong and loving relationship.

As we corrupt the family and the fabric of the foundation of our country, we cannot be surprised by immoral behavior and decadence. We should not be shocked when we strip parents of their respect and authority, or they simply wont take it, when we herd or children like cattle thru a failing public school system, and feed them lies like "there's no absolute truth" and have the results we are now seeing.

Exiting soap box.