Power of Prayer

Power of Prayer

There is a sense wonder
Of sweet surrender.
A heartwarming love,
And a total-body excitement.
His presence is felt so strongly
More than at any other time.
No words could describe,
No painting could possess the power
To begin to show the thrill and awe
That His answers bring to those present.
You feel a tremor within you,
And without realizing it,
Your heart is soaring higher, and higher,
At the feeling of His power in this place.
Only God's love and presence could bring
Such a joy and wonder
As is in this very room.

I've Learned

I've learned...

I've learned that you must love to be loved.
I've learned that you can't know someone
unless they can know you.
I've learned that as easy as it is to give
your heart away, it's harder to get it back.
I've learned that to love it to live, and to
live is to dream - life isn't worth living
without them!
I've learned that waiting is hard, but
stopping once you've started is harder.
I've learned that you don't draw unless
you're ready to shoot, and you don't
shoot unless you're ready to kill.
I've learned to not worry about the little
things, to save myself for more important
things - and to know which is which.
I've learned to love is easier than to hate.
I've learned that some things you have to
learn the hard way to remember them -
and some you still don't.

Ode to P.B.Shelly

Ode to P.B.Shelley

Part 1
Earth - sad earth,
Where many a war-hardened ruler with
A "sneer of cold command" has lain his whip
Upon the backs of his unwilling followers,
And where the decay of nations,
Shattered by wealth and greed,
Lies in a colossal wreck.
"Down with the monarchy, and to the Devil with those who
Strut through their azure halls, as they
Close their ears to the cries for help,
And close their eyes to the nakedness around them!"
Can one be so heartless? Can one be so cruel?
Where is God in the midst of this?
Where is this Almighty ruler Who
Hath damned all mankind to suffer under His wrath?
How can One who makes such beauty as nature,
Turn his hand against those He has placed to keep it?

Part 2
"We are as the clouds that vail the midnight moon."
Ever changing and molding into
Likenesses that have never been seen before.
Yet things are not all as they seem, for,
Those same clouds often appear as we wish them to,
But disappear without a warning.
Nothing changes - nothing ever will.
The moment you're sure of your footing,
The ground disappears beneath you,
And you are falling,
Falling;
Falling through those same clouds, that
Are no longer a moist vail,
But a raging cyclone of clouds,
Whirling round and enveloping you.
The world is closing in, yet, in a moment,
You are alone in a vast field -
A large void, where you are falling once again.

Wake up people!

You know, there are a lot of things that I get tired of...

I'm tired of Starbucks coffee being so expensive, and Dunkin Donuts coffee tasting so burnt.
I'm tired of blizzards always being on a weekend so that it never effects work.
I'm tired of "drive to the next window" being the only thing you can understand at a drive through.
I'm tired of miles of highway being coned off with no construction present.
I'm tired of dishwashers that leave residue on glasses.
I'm tired of slice 'n' bake cookies always burning.

We all have things that we grow tired of. If I "had a nickel for ever time" I heard "If I had a nickel for every time _______ happened" in an annoyed tone... well, you get my drift.

The thing is, when something negative happens repeatedly, it can be beyond frustrating! It's the only thing you see, hear, feel, dream, or meditate on (which really defeats the purpose of meditating!).

Well here are my burned cookies right now:

I'm tired of elections being called for one delegate before 50% of the votes are counted.
I'm tired of people of the media that I used to admire slandering candidates out of ignorance.
I'm tired of the "politics" in politics.
I'm tired of people complaining about the government but not VOTING to do something about it.
I'm tired of people who can tell me the latest sleaze about the latest stars, but who can't name the candidates running for president.

Most of all, I am tired of hearing that "Mike Huckabee *is* the perfect candidate, he *does* stand for everything I believe, but he's just not electable so I'm not going to vote for him". IF ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO SAID THAT JUST WENT OUT AND VOTED FOR HIM, HUCKABEE COULD *EASILY* BE ELECTED!

If you have convictions, if you have morals, if you have any back bone at all, you will stand up for the candidate that you believe will stand up for you!

Wake up people! We're not talking about burnt cookies any more, this is your future.

Get Smart; Go Vote!!

I'm a bit of a political junkie. Ok, not as much of a junkie as much since I got married, am working 30+ hours a week, am a youth director at my church, and am still trying to find the balance between these and time with my husband, friends, two sets of family, church, AND little slightly-less-important things like cleaning the house, writing thank you notes, keeping food in the refrigerator, and trying to shed more than a few unwanted pounds... BUT, politics is in my blood.

Actually, it's not in my blood - that would be coffee, thanks to my dad and my Swedish heritage - it's more of something that has been subliminally (and not so subliminally!) pounded into my scull from 19 years of living at home with my mother... which actually explains the excessive headaches in high school.

Headaches aside, studies show that having certain sounds playing softly and consistently in the background of studies or everyday life provides an atmosphere conducive to heightened sences; Mozart is said to increase brain power and thinking skills, the way that some people must sleep to the sound of a fan, or the way the sound of running water sends children running to the bathroom. Ok, poor analogy, but I wanted to stress the inensity with which background noise can effect you!

The background noise in our house was WABC radio. I was home schooled, so on nice days morning school workd usually took place outside (which is a little hippie when you think about it - that explains some of my tendencies) with my trusty coffee... this was the most poductive time of the day for me, because at about noon I would move inside and either study French with my mom, or start making lunch with her... or both. Once inside, the sound of the radio would begin to steep into my subconcious the way steam makes the rich flavor of espresso surface. French conversations would suddenly stop as a random comment from Rush (not the band, although they are great, too) would stop us dead in our tracks, and the french toast, tofu burgers, soup, or whatever we happened to be cooking, would slowly begin to burn as my attention was diverted to pathetic attempt at an argument from a disgruntled caller.

The day would continue with some project that I would be working on at the kitchen table as I would continue to marvel at my lack of artistic skills, and the increasingly ignorant comments coming from Sean Hannity's "Man on the street" interviews. On one particular occation "Sweet Baby James" was out on the street interviewing passers bye; some were students, some were business men, and some were sky-scraper-staring tourists who were insistent upon blocking pedestrian trafic as they gawked through their camera, straining their neck to see the Empire State Building, Swarovski's crystal ball, or the Naked Cowboy and his guitar. The first question: Who is the president? *Clinton*. Thankfully, most were able to answer that one accurately... the fact that some had to hesitate, though, sent me shouting my disbelief at the radio. The second question: Who is the VP? The answers on that one ranged from Al Gore, to Dan Quail, to George Bush (meaning HW Bush). At this point I was rolling my eyes, the pigment dripping from my paint brush which was now hovering over my painful attempt at landscape. The last question was who the Secretary of State was. I could pretty much understand that the random person on the street could not always come up with the answer to that when put on the spot, but even *I* knew that it was Madaline Albright, so you'd think that ONE of them would guess it!

Luckily for me it was Open Line Friday. You can guess where this is going. Sean Hannity and I became friends that day, mostly because he was in shock that a 12-year-old kid knew more than most adults, and what's more actually CARED about what was going on in our country....

Listening to those interviews directly effected my way of thinking about politics and our electoral system forever. The thought that the people in those interviews - the people who couldn't name the people who were in essence the most powerful people in the world - were deciding who the next world leaders would be was rather terrifying. I began to participate in Gubernatorial and state level races. I followed elections in other states as well as my own. I was given the amazing opportunity to attend the Republican National Convention in NYC my first year in College. I wend to political dinners, forums, and rallies. I drove my peers (and their parents!) insane with the e-mails, flyers, and voters guides that I swamped them with. My goal then is what it is now: to educate voters.


Now, I may sound like a bit of an extremist. Or maybe a geek. Or maybe I just sound like I was brainwashed.

Admittedly, I am just as over-the-top with my favorite sports teams - it's who I am. Super Bowl Sunday I dressed for the success of my team complete wish a Shocky jersey, face-paint, and red and blue hi-lights in my hair. Ok, so the Bull Horn was a little excessive. As far as being a geek, I don't wear coke bottle glasses, or have stereotypically greasy hair. My Red Bull consumption is to get me through a day at work, not an overnight gaming session. My acne-scared face is the result of physical issues, not a lack of caring for an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Despite the "subliminal messaging" going on in our kitchen growing up, I don't even really blame my seeming fanatical thinking on the phenomenal education given to me by my passionate parents.

No, I think the way I do because I care. I care about what happens to my country. I care about what decisions will be made that will effect my children in the future, and the teens that I mentor now. I care about the 1/3 of my generation that has been aborted - and the 1/3 of the next generation that will be. I care about our Armed Forces over seas - for the men and women, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, boyfriends and girlfriends, friends and family members who will give their lives for a country that seems to loose respect for them daily. I care about my right to defend myself and my family with if we are attacked in my home. I care about the right for my Nativity Scene to be displayed on the lawn of the municipal building right next to the Menorah, and the sign celebrating Kwanzaa. I care about my students who can be suspended for praying in school, while prayer rooms are being built for Muslim students to be able to worship the way they choose - I care about the incredible bias against Christianity in a country that was founded on it. I care that the sanctity of marriage is being trashed, and that the sanctity of human life has become second to that of whales bugs and rodents. I care that the rights of parents are disappearing, and the rights of the public school system and DYFIS are growing.

Finally I care about the right to publish this blog - to voice my opinions, share my views, and the opportunity to challenge my few readers to think about *their* rights as American Citizens to influence their future and the future of the next generation of Americans.

Take advantage of this right! Take advantage of this power that you have been given! THINK about your candidates, THINK about the issues, and the VOTE! Take charge of your future, and your home, and *vote*. The people elected to your town, state, and federal offices directly effect every aspect of your life, and the person who *you* elect as President of the United States of America will effect the climate of the world over the next four years.
Think about it. Who do you want making those decisions?

Do the research. Don't make your decisions solely on the Hannitys, Gretas, Rushes, Coulters, Drudges, O'Rilleys, Bouers, and Robertsons, and of the world. Don't make your decision based on your friends or family members. Don't base YOUR decision on someone else's. Do the research. Make your own choice. You don't make other life altering decisions based on other peoples opinions, don't do in this this one.

I am not here telling you who to vote for, just to encourage you to take advantage of this honor and (quite frankly) this responsibility that you have been given as citizens of the greatest country in the world.

Having said that, I would be completely removing myself from the very essence of my being if I didn't say who *I* have decided is the best candidate for President - after excessive research, of course.

Governor Mike Huckabee: You have my support - and all of the fanaticism that it comes with!

What is a republican hippie?

Have you ever watched "Dharma & Greg" on WE? The commercials for it summarize the show in this statement: "She's hippie, dippy, groovy and free; he's... Republican. Hey! Stranger things have happened!"

This irks me. Why is the assumption that you can't love to be in nature, wear flowy, colorful skirts, eat tofu, and like yoga, while at the same time loving the freedom provided through our government and military, be pro-life, on fire born again believers, and want the right to vote out bills that will let us get oil wherever we need to? Why can't we love the earth God gave us without worshiping it? Why can't we make "W"s with our fingers instead of peace signs and still want peace.... even if we know that true peace only comes from God, and peace on earth will only come with the new Heaven and New Earth?

I guess it's a paradox; a solecism if you will.

Kind of like Jesus - all God, and yet all man. The Theanthropic Christ; the God-man.

Kind of like Christians - In this world, yet from another. Here in flesh but not in spirit. In it, not of it.

So, in a sense, I guess we're all republican hippies.