The Great Scandal

So I was sitting in Mass on Saturday night when the Priest where I work got up and told us to fast and pray that a relgious exemption will be upheld and that the Catholic Church will not have to provide access to sterilizations, abortions, and contraception as part of their federally mandated employee insurance package.  Wow.  Look how far it has come.  And how fast.

I am fasting and praying on this.  I can't believe how blatant the Obama administration is in pressing 1/4 of the American population into compliance to a federal mandate, and against their Catholic conscience.  This is brutal totalitarianism that we sought to avoid when our forefathers made their way to America in the first place.  It was religious liberty that was the reason why this country began in the first place.  Escape from a nasty monarchy that was limiting the religious lives of every man, woman, and child who sought out and paid with their lives the very soil we stand upon today.  If Obama realizes what a crime against the Constitution he is making, he is showing that he simply doesn't care.

But you know, there's another layer to this too.  If I were sitting in any pew this past weekend as my Bishop's letter were read, and I were an average American Catholic, I would be beyond confused at what I was hearing.  I'd be downright dismayed.  It would sound to me like the Catholic Church is fine with any procedure that will, by worldly standards, enhance your marital life by artificially limiting the size of your family, but as a whole the Church will not be responsible for the bill.  I wonder if any of the liberal priests or the bishop himself got yelled at by the 98% of contracepting couples in our national diocese?  The same priests who either remained silent or spoke in support of every couple who struggled with the idea of being open to life and choosing to contracept, sterlize, or abort, rather than follow God's law or the Church's teaching.  The same Bishops seem chagrined to speak out against the President, I would be too if I were in their shoes, as it has been estimated that 80% of the Bishops voted that man into office in the first place.  And where was the Bishop, or at the very least, the Pastor of Kathleen Sibelius, she who claims to be Catholic on the teachings of the Church long before she penned a law blatantly against same said teaching?  Where are the men of the Church?  And if they are here now, where in the Hell were they UP TO NOW?!?

I'm looking back at those statistics.  98% of all Catholic women have at one time contracepted.  One in 4 Catholic women have had an abortion.  One in 2 Catholic men are sterilized.  Those numbers alone are scandalizing.  And yes, I choose my words carefully.  You bet I do.  The "great scandal" was not nearly of this proportion.  Less than 4% of Priests are accused of pedophilia, and that great plague has traumatized the Catholic Church across this nation.  It has single-handedly shut down Churches, ruined Dioceses, ruptured the relationship between a Bishop and his Priests, while withholding and manipulation the organic relationship between a pastor and his people.  Everyone is guilty until proven innocent.  Volunteers in the Church are no more, unless they want to give ALL of their personal information to some bureaucrat behind a desk.  4% of men ruined the Church by hurting children.  98% of laypeople contracept children out of existence and no one bats an eye.  That is a great scandal my friend.  And now, we must either turn into the biggest hypocrites of our time, and admit that we are no less than money changers in the Temple, or we must change.  We must regard human life as precious and relegated only in the Sacrament of Marriage, or we must admit that we no longer hold the Truths of Catholic Church, and stop hiding in the shadows.  Why proclaim in the light what we do not practice in the dark?  President Obama, and more directly Kathleen Sibelius, are only trying to get the Catholic Church to make a choice.  Either live the Faith that we profess or abandon it and embrace this law.

I fast and pray that we make the right decision.  Our religious freedom is now in danger.  And yet, what was being preached outside the field of view of the tabernacle has endangered the souls of almost every Catholic in America up until this point.

The best of both worlds...

Can anyone else feel the heat of this race to primaries?  I think the intensity and energy between the candidates far surpasses the primaries held before the 2008 presidential elections.

I like Newt Gingrich.  Let me just put that out there.  Newt is articulate, he has the backbone, he has presence, he speaks candidly and blithely about every issue that is at the heart of this election for me.  He is forthright and honest about his past, and while it was shady, I believe he has changed.  I hope for his Catholic soul that he has changed.

I also like Rick Santorum.  I believe that Rick Santorum would make a great president...Someday.  What I don't believe is that Rick has shown that he is consistently ready for the nod to lead out against Obama.  He is a gentlemen and a scholar.  I can't believe I'm saying this...He isn't the politician to go up against Obama.  I would love to vote for him, but I don't feel that he could secure enough of the nation to do the same.  And that is what scares me about Rick Santorum.

Ron Paul.  Where do I begin?  He is okay.  His fan base is absolutely amazing!  I wish we had that kind of love for any other candidate out there.  Boy we could sure use it.  He makes his way through every political point as the outsider.  That's refreshing.  That isn't going to work in Washington.  He's a little too isolationist for our times, we can not become a sleeping giant again, not without the Muslim world taking note.

Mitt Romney.  No way.  No how.  No sir.  No thank you.  He is a liberal in conservative clothing.  Let's just ignore for a moment the FACT that Romneycare was the script Obama's team used when crafting the national mess we find ourselves fighting state by state.  Not only does the Massachusetts mandate of health care for all state citizens strike at the heart of the civil liberties, it has ruined the Massachusetts' economy.  He not only vowed to sign into law same sex marriage, but he pushed it through almost single handidly by allowing civil unions of same sex couples even before that was written into law.  He has a long and gruelling pro death record.  No.  No.  No.

So here's my point folks.  We have some great conservative candidates out there.  Let's do all we can to rally behind those candidates so that we don't have to plug our noses and vote for "the lesser of two evils".  I'd like to point out that in 2008, a majority of voters claimed to have done just that.  And we've had 4 years of 'Destructocon' to show for it.  Let's not just look at this election as a chance to vote against Obama. Let's also build up the conservative voice, and get that man in office, so that we might have a chance to rebuild this great nation.  Let's not only look for a way to get that dupe out of office, but let's then replace him with someone who has America at heart.  Who is a true conservative.  Who will not only recognize but ABIDE by the Constitution.

And I finish by saying.  I still say that is Newt Gingrich.

A teen's take on homeschooling

This was hilarious!

Here I Am! Send me!

Hello all!  I'm not dead!  But I must say, we have come a long way baby!!!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you my dear readers for your prayers and best...After almost 9 years of marriage...After 5 kids in 900 square feet...After selling off the home we had to live in a camper for almost 3 months...MIKE AND I BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOME!!!

God is good.  Let me start (and I probably could just end) there.  This house is perfect.  I mean, not by any stretch of the imagination here.  It's perfect.  Every detail of this house is perfect.  A quiet, dead end road for the kids to have a 1/2 mile on which to ride their bikes.  Near the water to allow us gorgeous views.  Five (you read that right FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!) bedrooms.  A kitchen that even inspires this Spagetio chef.  One of the bedrooms is just perfect for Mike's home office.  The other is a perfect school room.  Yes, ladies, I have a SCHOOLROOM!!!

Why did I worry?  Why did I even give in to doubt?  Why didn't I look forward and just know He would take care of us?  This beautiful family He gave us in the first place...

I even got a new to me camera around Christmas so I promise my dear and very patient friends, that pictures are forthcoming...

But for now, thank you THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! for all your prayers and for bearing with me these past 3 years now, as I've whined and moped, and pretended to be oh so courageous...;)  Thanks for the many needed warm thoughts and prayers.

Life is good.  God is better.

That's about all I can say about that.