As you know, I'm an elected official. I hold my job by people voting for me. I happen to run with the letter "R" behind my name. That letter doesn't define me. Nor should it. Just as the letters "D" and "I" shouldn't define a person on any other ticket.
Throughout our great nation, we have many important elections coming up. Each candidate runs with a letter behind their name. That's where the trouble begins. We become so blinded by that letter that we forget that we're supposed to be looking for someone that represents us. Just as much as they forget that they are to represent us (remember, Enough is Enough). The letters divide us.
Though I run on the ballot with a "R" behind my name, it simply represents the party that most closely represents the values that I hold. I'm not a straight ticket voter. Nor are a lot of the people that elect me to do the job I do. I have to have support from both sides. I vote for the person that represents me and what I believe in. I look for a candidate that works toward good government, not party politics. Anymore that's just flat out hard to find.
Unfortunately, we've all become pawns in this game. We're led to believe that in order to be a good contributor to a political party that we must prescribe to the sheep mentality and follow party lines. We have to drink the kool-aid if you will and go lock step with the leaders of whichever party we claim to be. We as Americans have done a pretty good job of that. We've failed to hold our leaders accountable, we've followed party lines because that's what we're supposed to do.
Rise up America. Stop voting for a letter. Vote for a person. Take off your blinders. Stand up for what you believe in, even if it's the little guy that the world says doesn't have a chance. I mean who doesn't love an underdog? The bottom line is you should vote for who you think will do what's right. Find the one that you believe will represent your beliefs the best (let's face it, your not going to find one that represents and believes all of the things that you do). Then get out and vote for those values and beliefs.
The only vote wasted is the vote not taken.
I haven't and I won't vote for a letter. I'll vote for a person. Period. I encourage you to do the same.
This message brought to you by the letter R. (Remember they're supposed to REPRESENT us)!
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Why I'm Not Trying To Fool You With My Facebook Status
It seems to be more prevalent these days that I see stories about "why your Facebook status doesn't fool me." The author goes on to explain why they think people with the #blessed status are phony. Let's be honest, we all have thought that or know someone who's life isn't as great as they make it seem on social media. But here's the deal, life's about what you make of it.
Scroll through my page and you'll see lots of #blessed. Mixed in you'll see the real life fits and messes too, but not near as often. I'm not trying to fool anyone with what I choose to post. Let's face it, my life is as big of a mess as the next person's (check out It's A Sweet, Sweet Mess where I recount some of our ups and downs, the mess I made with Doughnut and A Puzzle, my own secrets in She Gave Me Courage, or someone saying something that irritates me Watch What You Say). Nope, not trying to fool you, just choosing to make the best of what I've got.
The way I see it is that you can choose to let the happy parts of your life shine through or let the negative overtake you. I'm real. Lots of times before or after those sweet pictures of my kiddos, there's been some sort of catastrophe, whether it be a fight, a mess, whining, or a million other things, it happens. But I choose to not let those things be my memories. I choose to let the smiles, the love, the happiness be what I live.
Don't get me wrong, there's times that I struggle to find highlights in my day. I'm human. I'm not trying to fool you by saying I'm blessed, but I believe that I am. I believe that my salvation blessed me with the greatest gift ever. I'm blessed to have a loving and supportive husband. I'm blessed because I have four beautiful healthy girls. I have an extended family that supports us and blesses us more than we deserve. I'm blessed with a job that I love and a home. Nope, I'm not rich. I'm not famous. I'm not stick thin because hey, It's Not What It Used To Be. None the less, I'm pretty darn blessed.
I won't be apologizing to those of you on your high horses judging my level of blessing or what you perceive my life to be. I'm not trying to fool you with what my Facebook status says, but here's the thing, I don't post for you, it's for me. I'm just trying to make the best of this life I've been blessed with and whether you see it or not, I'm #blessed.
Scroll through my page and you'll see lots of #blessed. Mixed in you'll see the real life fits and messes too, but not near as often. I'm not trying to fool anyone with what I choose to post. Let's face it, my life is as big of a mess as the next person's (check out It's A Sweet, Sweet Mess where I recount some of our ups and downs, the mess I made with Doughnut and A Puzzle, my own secrets in She Gave Me Courage, or someone saying something that irritates me Watch What You Say). Nope, not trying to fool you, just choosing to make the best of what I've got.
The way I see it is that you can choose to let the happy parts of your life shine through or let the negative overtake you. I'm real. Lots of times before or after those sweet pictures of my kiddos, there's been some sort of catastrophe, whether it be a fight, a mess, whining, or a million other things, it happens. But I choose to not let those things be my memories. I choose to let the smiles, the love, the happiness be what I live.
Don't get me wrong, there's times that I struggle to find highlights in my day. I'm human. I'm not trying to fool you by saying I'm blessed, but I believe that I am. I believe that my salvation blessed me with the greatest gift ever. I'm blessed to have a loving and supportive husband. I'm blessed because I have four beautiful healthy girls. I have an extended family that supports us and blesses us more than we deserve. I'm blessed with a job that I love and a home. Nope, I'm not rich. I'm not famous. I'm not stick thin because hey, It's Not What It Used To Be. None the less, I'm pretty darn blessed.
I won't be apologizing to those of you on your high horses judging my level of blessing or what you perceive my life to be. I'm not trying to fool you with what my Facebook status says, but here's the thing, I don't post for you, it's for me. I'm just trying to make the best of this life I've been blessed with and whether you see it or not, I'm #blessed.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
It Takes Work
A while back I read an article by a woman that had been married a little less than a year. In this article, she stated that she didn't believe that marriage was hard work because it's not hard work waking up to the person that she loves. I'll give her that. That part of it is easy. However, I think she's wrong; marriage is hard work.
I don't say that in the "I hate school because it's hard work" kind of way. I say that in the way that like most things that you work hard at, you appreciate it, it's important to you, and it's valuable because you do work hard at it. Even athletes with natural, God-given talent work hard. That's what makes them succeed. The same holds true for marriage.
Now I don't proclaim to be a marriage expert. In fact, I'm far from it. My marriage has had it's share of ups and downs. But what I've learned in my eleven years of marriage is that if I want this marriage to work, I have to work at it. When we were first married, I don't think either of us realized how true this was, but we quickly learned. In fact, I'm willing to say I was foolish in my expectations.
When we went from it being "my" money to it being "our" money, it took work. We worked to figure out what we wanted to do with it, what was important to us. We learned we had to communicate with each other. We worked at it and honestly we still work at it. There are times that I think something is more important than he does and vice-versa.
We've learned through hard times, we've learned through good times. In order to learn, we had to work through things. We've worked through hurt and mistrust. We've worked through new jobs, promotions that we were passed over for, going back to school. We've worked through opposite shifts. That one was really hard for us. We're a couple that distance causes us to fight. So the more we're apart, the easier it is for us to nit pick each other when we're together. It takes hard work for us to refocus on what's important.
We choose to love each other through the good and the bad. We've went through many seasons with each other. We went from being just the two of us to parents of four. We're working through this learning to parent thing together. We've worked to make time for each other, and at times it's hard.
We've worked through the loss of loved ones together. Through disappointments, through new friends and losing friends. Through new churches, new dreams, new hopes. We've been through times of uncertainty, awaiting test results. We've seen our family hurt and those we care about hurt.
Yes, being with the one that I love and waking up next to him isn't hard work, it's one of this life's greatest blessings and I thank God for my husband every day. As two separate people, learning to be together as one is hard because you are just that, two individuals. We choose to work hard at our marriage, some days it comes easy and doesn't seem like work, some days it's really hard. These hard lessons, the ones that make us work a little harder, make us appreciate each other more.
Just like that Olympic athlete, we've worked hard to get where we are. We cherish the success of our marriage like a gold medalist does his/her success. In order to do something right, you have to work at it. In order to succeed, we tell our kids you have to work hard. I believe the same is true in marriage. If you treasure it, you work hard at it.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Matthew 6:21
I don't say that in the "I hate school because it's hard work" kind of way. I say that in the way that like most things that you work hard at, you appreciate it, it's important to you, and it's valuable because you do work hard at it. Even athletes with natural, God-given talent work hard. That's what makes them succeed. The same holds true for marriage.
Now I don't proclaim to be a marriage expert. In fact, I'm far from it. My marriage has had it's share of ups and downs. But what I've learned in my eleven years of marriage is that if I want this marriage to work, I have to work at it. When we were first married, I don't think either of us realized how true this was, but we quickly learned. In fact, I'm willing to say I was foolish in my expectations.
When we went from it being "my" money to it being "our" money, it took work. We worked to figure out what we wanted to do with it, what was important to us. We learned we had to communicate with each other. We worked at it and honestly we still work at it. There are times that I think something is more important than he does and vice-versa.
We've learned through hard times, we've learned through good times. In order to learn, we had to work through things. We've worked through hurt and mistrust. We've worked through new jobs, promotions that we were passed over for, going back to school. We've worked through opposite shifts. That one was really hard for us. We're a couple that distance causes us to fight. So the more we're apart, the easier it is for us to nit pick each other when we're together. It takes hard work for us to refocus on what's important.
We choose to love each other through the good and the bad. We've went through many seasons with each other. We went from being just the two of us to parents of four. We're working through this learning to parent thing together. We've worked to make time for each other, and at times it's hard.
We've worked through the loss of loved ones together. Through disappointments, through new friends and losing friends. Through new churches, new dreams, new hopes. We've been through times of uncertainty, awaiting test results. We've seen our family hurt and those we care about hurt.
Yes, being with the one that I love and waking up next to him isn't hard work, it's one of this life's greatest blessings and I thank God for my husband every day. As two separate people, learning to be together as one is hard because you are just that, two individuals. We choose to work hard at our marriage, some days it comes easy and doesn't seem like work, some days it's really hard. These hard lessons, the ones that make us work a little harder, make us appreciate each other more.
Just like that Olympic athlete, we've worked hard to get where we are. We cherish the success of our marriage like a gold medalist does his/her success. In order to do something right, you have to work at it. In order to succeed, we tell our kids you have to work hard. I believe the same is true in marriage. If you treasure it, you work hard at it.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Matthew 6:21
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)