Joy and Pain

I have to speak with utter joy regarding my youngest. Don't get me wrong -- I honestly have no favorites. Each child of mine is precious to me and has a special place in my heart -- conversely, each child has their own unique habit that drives me nuts! I call each and every one "my favorite." With this last child, who I know is my last (unless God Himself wishes to reverse effects of surgery), I've learned to grasp and cherish every nuance.

For instance, this past Sunday, I was teaching Kid's Church. My youngest goes with me almost everywhere, and as per his custom, he came to class with me. At the beginning of the class, he somehow fashioned a dog out of flat pieces of sticky foam. He proceeded to disrupt the class by continuously saying, "Arf, arf, arf, arf, arf...", well, you get the idea. The other children were giving this little bundle of MY joy "the eyeball".

I looked at him and said, "Oh, puppy's asleep." He flipped the "dog" down onto the table and proceeded to make a snoring sound! Everybody started laughing -- he found his audience, and played it up to perfection. Suddenly, he made another sound, then started it all over again: "Arf, arf, arf, arf,,,," well, again -- you get the idea. I looked at him, gave him a look and said, 'Puppy REALLY needs his sleep, honey."

Down went the "dog", cue the snoring, and then, I finally got a grasp of the sound he made: "Ir, ir-ir, ir-irrrr!" What a rooster! What barking that followed! I asked my favorite child (the second born one) to let me borrow a specific toy of his. I proceeded to make my own noise: that of a race car, as I ran over the "dog". "Uh-oh, doggie's dead."

My favorite child (the babe of the family) looked at me amidst the laughter of the children, looked at the children, and then he looked at me again. I braced myself for the sound that only competes with that of a siren. That didn't happen, thank God! No, instead we heard yet again: "Arf, arf, arf, arf....", well, yet again, YOU get the idea!

As I write this, he has placed his bicycle helmet on his head, and has been using a plastic hanger from Wal-Mart as his handlebars, as he's riding an imaginary MOTORCYCLE, while forcing my favorite child (my daughter) to hang onto him, and run behind him as he VROOM-VROOOM'S all over the house. Earlier today, he placed a washcloth on his head and exclaimed that he was a "PIRATE". Following his time of conquering the stuffed animal shark which sat in the middle of the living room, he became a monkey, pointed to my favorite child (my first born) and said, "You a tree, I a monkey!" The other day, he "drove" to work in the back yard; he made a point to kiss me good bye, tell me he was off to work and that he loved me. He "worked" in the sand box for a time, and then burst through the door, shouting, "I'm HO-OME!"

I rushed up to him, gave him a big kiss, and said, "I've missed you!" He glanced up at me, wiped off the kiss and said, "I a dog -- arf, arf, arf,,,," well, you,, uh ,,, know by now.

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Now onto the thing that pains me. I cannot get over how vicious the attacks are hurling during this recent election. Now, I know that political insults have occurred since the early days of politics: a prime example is when Grover Cleveland was running for president, and it was discovered that he fathered a child out of wedlock. The cry during the campaign was "Maw, Maw, where's my Paw?" The Cleveland Campaign was no less discreet, and spread the word about a controversial statement that his opponent's friend had said. Because of gossip, he almost did not win the election; however, because of innuendo, Cleveland won the election, and the answer to the call, "Maw, Maw, where's my Paw?" was "He's off to the White House, haw, haw, haw!"

In another thought, everyone should know that actors involved in politics can be a lethal mix: just look at John Wilkes-Booth, the actor who assassinated President Lincoln.

Now, let's move forward. I don't know about most people, but I've heard nasty stuff on both sides. I honestly don't know what Sarah Palin has done to arouse the complete and utter hatred shown by the Entertainment set, and it pains me that people can be so outright vicious to someone who by all appearances is an honest and decent person. First we have Whoopi Goldberg stating on a site that she's "afraid" of Sarah Palin. Then we hear how Matt Damon is "afraid" of a woman who believes in a young earth. SO? To most people who study science and the Bible, that makes total and utter sense. I'll have to write a future blog on science and the Bible. Then, we get Tina Fey (I have to admit, that I laughed hysterically during the last sketch featuring the Palin/Biden "debate".) with her thoughts on Sara Palin.

Next, we get inundated with Sara Berhardt (I thought she fell off of the face of the earth), who says that Sara Palin should be "gang-raped" by guys in NYC. Now, we have Madonna, who changes worse than a chameleon to fit her purpose (does anyone remember her matching drapery-inspired dress and shoes complete with an up do and glasses to read her children's book to the children?), yelling that if Sara Palin comes to "her city" (which one -- London, New York City, or the town she originally hailed from) that she will kick a certain part of Sara Palin's anatomy. Sara Palin's accent, her mothering abilities, her intelligence, and so much more have been attacked to a degree that far exceeds normal politics.

I find this talk completely unnecessary and only divisive to our country.

I keep wondering, how can Matt Damon, Madonna, and all of these types tell ME what is best for me? If they want to do something to help this country, then why don't they give back ten million bucks a film to their adoring public, instead plopping down 200 dollars for a onesie?" When did being pro-life and being a Christian become a point of being a detriment to getting elected? We were founded as one nation under GOD. It pains me to see that those who love life -- all life -- are getting raked over the proverbial coals. The normal person cannot afford botox, private jets, private nannies, et al. Celebrities don't speak for me. And I wish they'd stop.

IF these politicians want to help the deficit, then why don't they stop spending money tearing each other down, and use those hundreds of millions of dollars raised to help out those in need? Hillary Clinton is 50 million dollars in debt due to her failed election bid.

The internet is being used as a battlefield, where rumor and innuendo are treated as fact. There's something wrong, here.

Personally, I think that instead of hearing all of this garbage by famous people who wouldn't know the price of a gallon of gas if they rode past the gas station in their limos, and extra commentary by pundits who are clearly in favor of one particular candidate, each candidate should be able to to have a certain amount of time on national television to make their case for why they should be elected WITHOUT any attacks on the other person. There should not be any extra commentary restating what that candidate "said", and why we should or should not believe that candidate. All that should be stated are facts, not this extra garbage -- when I learned about news, it was stressed that we needed to be balanced in our reporting -- we were not allowed to air our personal views.

Obama has stated from the beginning that electing McCain would be like electing Bush for four more years. Anyone who knows about McCain and Bush know that there is no love lost between the two, because they are so different. Now questions are being brought up about Obama's past associations, and the "FOUL" cries are going up left and right. I guess it depends upon who is making the accusations.

You know what I really want from these candidates? I just want to know where they stand on the issues -- I want them both to cut through the rhetoric, the name calling, the bashing, and to finally state in exact terms what they wish to do to try to improve this country -- without playing the "blame game". Instead, everyone gets their idea of politics from Comedy Central and Saturday Night Live, and rely upon other people to do their thinking for them.

Too bad that no one is calling upon the name of the LORD.