Saturday, December 15, 2012

From the heart of the daddy figure!

Guest blogger here...I am Brad, the daddy figure in Essary 4.0. 

Yesterday was an emotional day for sure.  I had been sick and off work on Thursday and then was scheduled to be off on Friday for our 10 year aniversary.  We had planed to go somewhere but that fell through for various reasons, money being a big one, just saying.  No pitty cause we split the kids at the grandparents to spend the weekend for the the first time like ever and are doing a staycation...just like we did for our honeymoon, huh.  Well we wanted to post on facebook about our aniversary but were having trouble with the internet at home so didn't get to that morning.  Then word of the tragedy in Newton happened and it just didn't seem right to post about our stuff at that time.  So that is why we posted so late in the day to celebrate our day with FB.  We did have a good family day and I was glad to be home with my kids for the day.

Now as far as the shooting goes here is my opinion:

The guns used did not kill anyone.  I personally do not own a gun but I do collect knives and swords.  Not a one of my weopons have every harmed a persons life.

Evil was present.  This is not God's fault, He did not make this happen.  God allowed for evil into this world way back in the day so that we could experience Heaven one day.  There is only one way to do this and that is to have a personal relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It would appear that this adult individual was not being led by the God that I know. 

They say Autism was a possible factor in the adult taking the actions that he did.  I'm not really sure where to go with this one but I do hope that the media has their facts straight.  I do hope that people don't just make up things and say hurtful things just to be doing it.  Wait what am I talking about?  Of course there is ignorance out there and these things will be said and happen.  People are mean.  Kids are mean to other kids.  When the wrong info is put out there then it hurts deep to those of us who are living with such as Autism on a daily basis.  Please do not make this a stereotype about EVERY person with autism will do this.  It is already a fear within us that we can not control this thing called autism so why make it worse for us.  Give support not discouragement.

Now for the most important and the purpose for me chiming in here.  I hope for this to be the encouragement that I intend for it to be to whoever needs to hear it right now.

They say God is not allowed in our Schools:

Yes it would be wonderful if we had a government that by their laws allowed freely for us to have the word of God in every aspect of life but at this time that is not so.  We have a government that allows for all freedoms and is not being led by God but by law.  I have no faith that a law would do anything with God being anymore in our school than he is now.  I am in almost every school in Corinth and Alcorn County at least once a month.  I see God in our schools.  For one I know for a fact that I take him with me whenever I enter because I have that personal relationship with Christ.  I do not say that to boast but just pointing out facts here. I see Him in my coworkers who also take into the schools their own personal relationships with the Savior and share that by actions shown.  I see Him in the kids I work with that talk about what they have done at church and home that reflect on a family searching for God.  I see Him in the many teachers that are very active members in the numerous Churches in the area.  I see Him in the Principal who is a Sunday school teacher.  I see Him in the deacons on the school boards.  I see Him in the superintendents who hold various leadership positions in their Churches.  I see Him in the cafeteria worker who prayers for your child as they prepare a meal for the day.  I see Him in the janitor who with God’s grace gives a helpful smile that means so much to a child.  I see Him in the coach that is a positive example who prays with the team.  I see Him in the countless number of parents who enter each school on a daily basis who train their children up in the way of our God.  You see God is already present and accounted for in our schools.  He can be there by the simple piece of paper that can be prayed over and put in a backpack.  A law will not make this happen any better than it is now.  A petition for a law will only take away the time that could be used to pray for or to witness to the countless number of individuals in our community that do not have this personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  What is the best use of our time here?  Is it to fight to get signatures for a possible vote?  And then what if we lose that vote, then what, what does that tell us?  Now just like the passing of liquor for the City of Corinth does not automatically make everyone in it a drunk, the passing of a law allowing God back into the schools would not automatically make everyone have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Both are a personal choice by each individual.  Even with laws a person must make the decision to purchase the alcohol and get drunk.  People need to be seeking after God and making the personal choice to follow Him.  The only way for this to happen is by witnessing to those who do not know Him.  That is where I believe time would be better spent.  So instead of a signature petition for a law why not put together tracts to pass out to the lost so they can know the way to be saved.  God is in our schools, He just needs to be in more lives!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

How To Stay Awake

My newly turned three year old Selah is a PRO at fighting sleep. Seriously, she has some rather interesting techniques. During a particularly grueling nap that did not happen earlier in the week, I started thinking that if I was as good at avoiding sleep as she is, I might never sleep. I could get all kinds of stuff done. I realize many parents fight this same battle, so the next time you find yourself needing to stay awake here are some of Selah's tried and true methods:

1.  Do not stop moving. For any reason. Even if you can just keep your big toe twitching, that's probably enough to keep your whole body awake.

2. Should your mother tell you in her Very Serious Voice that you must keep your hands and feet still, contort your face into all sorts of strange and wondrous expressions. Someone might be able to hold your hands and feet still but eyebrows can't be stopped.

3. Ask your mother the name of every single one of your friends' mommy and daddy.

4.  Then inquire if the friend has brothers or sisters.

5.  Go ahead and ask if they have pets, too.

6.  Classify your friends into groups.  My favorite one of Selah's: Friends Who Pee Standing Up (aka boys) and Friends Who Pee Sitting Down (aka girls).

7.  Sing. Even if you are so tired your words run together and you sounds like a drunk, don't give up. Things are just getting interesting.

8.  Should anyone come along and offer you a friendly snuggle to aide in the sleep process, scream at the top of your lungs that they are CHOKING you. Remember, your goal is to stay awake, not fall asleep and anyone with different plans is clearly the enemy.

9.  Should you accidentally fall asleep, make sure you are draped across the windpipe of the person helping you get to sleep so that you actually are choking them. Then wake up as soon as they shift you off and start the whole process over.

10.  Lick your arm. (Disgusting!)

11.  Lick somebody else's arm. (even more disgusting! But effective.)

12.  Count your fingers and your toes. Repeatedly.

13.  Count your digits in every language you know. For Selah, this is English and Spanish. Thank you Dora and Diego.

14.  Get somewhat still and close your eyes long enough to instill hope in the heart of whoever wants you to sleep. Then shout "AM I ASLEEP YET?"

15.  Do your best impression of a worm crawling through hot ashes after drinking a java.

16.  Poke someone in the eye. Hard.

17. Ask someone to tell you a story. Then interrupt them to explain they are telling it wrong. Argue with them if they don't believe you.

18.  Pretend you are scared of something.

So there's her list. I'm sure I could add to it later as more things come to mind, or as more sleep avoidance methods come to her mind.