A Whole Lot to Be Thankful For!

First and foremost, these two guys:





















These guys, too:

















Let's not forget these guys:

















And this guy:






















Also, all of these guys:

































































And so, so, so many more that I don't even have pictures of.

Dr. Dobson's Newsletter: November 2009‏

I am going to repost Dr. James Dobson's latest newsletter here today because after reading it, I wonder how many other people are as blissfully unaware as I was about the goings on in our Nation's capital. I hate to say it, because I was really praying that things would begin looking up for our country, but the more I read of this newsletter, the more I began to see a lot of likeness to Huxley's Brave New World. At the time we were assinged that book in high school, I wondered what relevance it could ever have to my life. Now I see.

Anyway, enough from me. Here's Dr. Dobson's news letter:

Dear Friends:

I'm sure many of you are aware of the assault on the sanctity of human life that is taking place in our nation's capitol. It involves outrageous attempts by President Obama and liberals in Congress to force the American people to pay for abortions with our tax dollars. This very well may occur under the guise of health care, despite the fact that in a recent Gallup survey, 51 percent of our citizens called themselves "pro-life," the highest number in 15 years.¹ More to the point, 67 percent say they do not favor tax-payer funded abortions being included in the proposed health care reform.² Their views don't seem to matter. Our politicians appear ready to cram their "culture of death" down our throats.

If direct funding for abortion becomes the law of the land, it will mean countless more babies will be killed and human life itself will be further cheapened. History shows that anything Washington pays for is almost certain to increase in frequency. All that is necessary to verify that fact is to "follow the money."

You may also have heard that the President said in his speech to a Joint Session of Congress on Sept. 9 that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions."³ We suspected at the time that Mr. Obama's assurance to the American people was not valid and indeed, that suspicion has now been confirmed. Almost all of the health care proposals put forward so far include public funding for abortion. On multiple occasions, pro-life members in the House and Senate have tried to strip those provisions from bills being considered, but they were voted down by pro-abortion legislators in every instance. As currently proposed, the bills most likely to pass do cover abortions and will mandate federal subsidies to pay for them.

Also in that speech to Congress, the President promised there would be a "conscience clause" that would protect medical personnel from being forced to perform abortions.⁴ It was another sham. The proposals in Congress do not contain sufficient conscience protections for health care professionals.

That brings us to the second assault on the sanctity of human life by our government. As of this writing, the health care proposals having the most congressional support call for as much as $500 billion to be struck from the Medicare budget.⁵ That's half-a-trillion dollars that will not be available to treat the elderly. It will inevitably result in a rationing of medical care and consequently, many of our senior citizens will be allowed to die. Newsweek addressed this likelihood in its cover story of Sept. 21 entitled, "The Case for Killing Granny: Curbing Excessive End-of-Life Care Is Good for America."⁶ What this means is, if it becomes law as written, many of the sick and old will be denied desperately needed care. Furthermore, Medicare is rapidly going bankrupt with no solution in sight! What kind of country will this be if the weak, infirm and helpless receive no compassion from those in positions of power? And as seniors depart from this life, what responsibility will we bear if we have remained silent in response to their misery?

Jesus said in Matthew 25: 40-45 (KJV),

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered, or thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

I shudder to think of the divine judgment that could befall us if we allow our politicians, to begin forcing the American people to pay for the killing of babies while they are turning their backs on the elderly! God forgive us for this wickedness.

Sadly, this radical shift away from scriptural principles is occurring in government at all levels. Here's another disturbing development by our leaders. In Washington and elsewhere, personnel is policy. The President enjoys tremendous latitude and power in making appointments to high-level positions within his administration. Many of them, called "czars," are radicals who have quietly assumed power beyond the gaze of the general public. Lately, however, a dozen or more of them have made headlines because of their extreme views.

For example, President Obama has appointed Kevin Jennings as the head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. He has been called the "Safe Schools Czar."⁷ What hypocrisy! Jennings is the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the largest advocacy group in the nation dedicated entirely to the promotion of homosexuality to students as young as kindergarten age. He has written five books advocating homosexual teaching in the schools and elsewhere, as well as the foreword to a widely publicized book titled Queering Elementary Education.⁸

Under Jennings' leadership, his group, GLSEN, has advanced the view that if "a lesbian attends a house of worship that preaches homosexuality as a sin," she will have encountered "community oppression."⁹ In his book titled One Teacher in Ten, Jennings also tells the story of counseling a 15-year-old boy [he later said the boy was 16] who was having sexual relations with an older man whom he had met in a Boston bus stop restroom. Instead of informing authorities of the incident, which was illegal under Massachusetts law, Jennings advised the boy to use a condom.¹⁰

Our new education/safe-schools czar also once said that the late Harry Hay, a homosexual Communist and advocate of NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association) was his inspiration.¹¹ Hay's vile and wicked support for child abuse was summed up in 1983 when he said, "If the parents and friends of gays are truly friends of gays, they would know from their gay kids that the relationship with an older man is precisely what 13-, 14- and 15-year-old kids need more than anything else in the world."¹²

Here's another quote from the memoir of America's new Safe Schools Czar. He said, "I got stoned more often and went out to the beach at Bellows overlooking Honolulu Harbor and the lights of the city, to drink with my buddies on Friday and Saturday nights, spending hours watching the planes take off and land at the airport, which is actually quite fascinating when you are drunk and stoned."¹³

As this letter was going to print, I learned of yet another appalling discovery relevant to Mr. Jennings. My great friend in Washington, Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, reported that Jennings, just this year, sponsored a pornographic AIDS activist exhibit at Harvard University. "Believe it or not," Tony reports, "the man in charge of protecting our schools has endorsed a celebration of perversion that includes video pornography, religious defamation, photos of genitalia, and stories of child pornography, cross-dressing, and sadomasochism."¹⁴

By his own admission, Kevin Jennings' views do not represent the beliefs of millions of American parents who have entrusted their children's education to our public school system. He said, "Many of the values I hold are alien to my students. I am startled and often surprised at their frequently conservative and rigid remarks regarding sex, recreational drug use, sexuality, and other 'moral' issues."¹⁵ How arrogant and bold he is in contradicting the nation's moral underpinnings!

Does it concern you to know that Jennings works at the White House and has the ear of the most powerful man on earth, despite the fact that he was never vetted or confirmed by the Senate? Unfortunately, he has many "fellow czars" in the Administration who share his leftist agenda. One of them is Van Jones, the "Green Jobs Czar," who was forced to resign for his extreme views and writings, having described himself as a "communist" and a "revolutionary" in 1992.¹⁶

The beat goes on. President Obama recently appointed Chai Feldblum to serve as one of five commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. Ms. Feldblum is currently a professor of law [gay studies] at Georgetown University. Among her many liberal perspectives, she publicly supported polygamy!¹⁷

Another radical, Mark Lloyd, has been appointed as the "diversity czar" to the Federal Communications Commission. Last year, he applauded Venezuelan president and dictator Hugo Chavez's media reform, suggesting that he had directed "really an incredible revolution--a democratic revolution." This newly appointed "czar" favors ending freedom of speech on talk radio and imposing ruinous fines on radio stations that do not comply with his policies.¹⁸ If he is successful in censoring talk radio, that could mark the end of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and, yes, perhaps James Dobson.

As if it couldn't get any worse, President Obama's White House communications director, Anita Dunn, once said that Mao Tse-tung was one of her "favorite political philosophers."¹⁹ The late Chinese communist dictator killed untold millions of his own citizens during his 30-year reign.

Ron Bloom, the administration's manufacturing czar, also appears to be a fan of murderer Mao. Last year, as an executive of the United Steelworkers Union, Mr. Bloom spoke to a forum on the union role in bankruptcy and said, "We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun ..."²⁰

Are you hearing this information for the first time? If so, it is because the mainstream media will not report the "czar story" to the public. They prefer that you remain uninformed and oblivious.

Here's a final development that you should know. President Obama spoke recently at a fund-raising event for the Human Rights Campaign and made numerous promises to a crowd of cheering homosexual activists. In his speech that night was a promise to pass so-called "hate crimes" legislation which has passed both chambers of Congress. He also pledged to work toward the overturn of the Defense of Marriage Act and to end the military policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He also urged Congress to pass a law extending benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. Finally, in an apparent reference to the nearly 50 percent of Americans who still believe homosexuality is morally wrong, the President articulated, "There's still laws to change and there's still hearts to open.''²¹

Those of us who disagree with these radical changes in national policy are treated like enemies of the state. We are subjected to distortions and lies by the liberal elites who are determined to reconstruct this nation once and for all.

Fortunately, social conservatives who support traditional morality and values are not alone. There is a powerful movement developing in this country that will not remain silent. The "tea party" phenomenon, for example, has been led by citizens of all persuasions and faiths, and they are gaining in strength and numbers. I am convinced that a significant percentage of these activists are Christians who feel that the Washington establishment has lost touch with their beliefs and concerns. Ultra-liberal minds in Congress and White House operatives intend to keep them quarantined and marginalized. Please join me in praying that God's people will continue to make their voices heard for the sake of our nation, for the welfare of future generations, and for the propagation of the Gospel.

Although I have shared some disturbing trends in this letter about the direction our culture is moving, there is reason for hope for a return to sanity in our public and private lives. The Lord would not want us to despair. Instead, let's use our voices to support biblical truth at the ballot box and throughout the culture at large. We must defend our children against those, such as Kevin Jennings, who would warp their impressionable minds. We cannot allow ourselves to become like lepers huddled around the fringes of society. We are an integral part of the government whom Abraham Lincoln described as being "of the people, by the people, and for the people." That is us, and may we never forget it.

Finally, we must preserve our own family integrity against all the forces allied against it. A good place to start this month is by celebrating a meaningful Thanksgiving Day around a holiday table, where prayer is led before eating and children are honored and loved. We will be doing that in the Dobson household again this year, and I hope you will join us in that spirit.

May the peace of Jesus be upon you and yours.

Sincerely,

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman Emeritus

Where am I?

Where am I these days?! You'll notice that my blog is being a little neglected. Hopefully that will change when I am finished with the mountains of reading, outlining, observing, and testing for my Bradley instructor certification is finished next weekend.

If all goes well, by next Monday (not the one following today), I will be a certified natural child birth instructor. In January (need to wait until after the holidays) I'll start with one class a week and see if there are any students out there to be instructed;-) If all goes well, then I might move up to two classes. But one step at a time.

If you're a praying person, I would love prayer over this. I have not taken an exam in over 8 years! It's a little intimidating.

Go with it. . .

Who needs store bought toys. . .




























































. . . when you have cereal bowls and ankle socks?

Of course, you can see from the back ground that he is in no short supply of store bought toys. . .

Body after baby

Can I just say: OH YEAH!!!

Remember that I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to be participating in the Body After Baby challenge? Then I never said another word about it again?

Well, I've been doing the WORK (watching portions, getting more exercise, and thanks to Jude's maturing sleep habits, getting more sleep. Yep. Sleep has something to do with weight loss!), just not the work (logging points for the weekly challenges, doing weekly weigh ins and posting about progress).

And, DrUmRoLl please. . . in one month. . . I have lost. . . 8 POUNDS!!!!!

Go me.

Pretty soon, this will be me!




















Well, except I won't be a man;-)

Favorite!

I was looking through the pics from October and I think this must be the absolute best picture from Jude's birthday party! Let's see. . . What is he thinking here?

The God of Slim Chances

Ours is the God of everything, even slim chances. I've been praying along with thousands of other people over the past 8 months for baby Stellan. On Monday, I honestly was thinking he was going to fly to Jesus. But ours is the God of slim chances, even when we forget to have faith.

Click here to see the interview with Stellan's parents after the surgery that saved his life.

Biggest fan

I didn't think he would remember this, but Jude's first concert was a Skillet concert. Of course, he was the size of a peach because I was only in the second trimester of my pregnancy.

It is amazing the things that someone so small, that some people want to say is just a bunch of cells, will remember. The first time we took a long car trip (for our 6 week midwife appointment) Jude started wailing. I was alone with him because Jeff was at work. Out of desperation, I turned on the Comatose CD and he quieted right down.

Well, apparently his favor of this band stuck. I have seen him rock back and forth and shake his head for other songs, but nothing like this:



Eat your heart out John Cooper. I think you have some future competition;-)

"My Husband Rocks!" Friday

Oops! Or Saturday. . .

But, none the less, Jeff still rocks! I wanted to take a picture of all the leaves he will be cleaning up from the yard (from only two trees! Two very, large trees, but still, only two trees!) but it was too dark when we got home tonight. (Grr! Day light savings!)

During this time of year, trying to keep the leaves out of the yard is like trying to hold 100 ping pong balls under water. As soon as you get some of them cleaned up, there are just as many on the ground again. And on the roof. And in the gutters. And in the elderly neighbor's driveway. You get it.

So, in additon to everything Jeff has to keep up with on his off days around here, now we are in leaf season. Fall is kind of a love/hate thing. But my rockin' husband never complains. He just does what needs to be done.

Yeay, Jeff!

Trick or Treat

I bet that in his head he was saying, "Trick or Treat?"