government – The Bless Your Heart Blog

Random Rambles

We all ventured out to the sale barn with daddy today. I needed a whole slew of random items from Wal-Mart and I always feel bad making hubby face the mad house after working all day.

Wryder shopped with me while sister stayed and collected money from all of the elder cow buyers to buy a pop to go with her popcorn. 😉 She’s kind of a hit around that place.

Brother and I met up with them a bit later and good gravy does that boy love the sale barn. He ate his fair share of popcorn, gave high gives, moo-ed at cows, double-fisted suckers and fell in love. This boy is ALL about tractors these days and he found a tractor house magazine…

Tractors and popcorn - a match made in heaven — Tractors and popcorn – a match made in heaven

He had a death grip on that magazine and cried when we took it away to eat lunch. He was reunited again once we got in the pickup and he fell asleep with it in his arms.

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Our sweet neighbors finished up corn harvest today and the kids snuck in one last ride around the field before next year.

I'm not totally sure what's going on here, but I LOVE this pic! — I’m not totally sure what’s going on here, but I LOVE this pic!

They were so excited to ride the combine in the dark and came home a bundle of loud, raucous storytellers!

Thank you, sweet Kruegers, for all the starts and stops so the Phipps kids could experience harvest!!

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Tomorrow is election day in Colorado. We’re gonna head to the local courthouse tomorrow and do our civic duties. The last time we voted, Sawyer thought we were going “boating.” She kept asking, “Where’s the boat??” Poor kid was slightly disappointed. We told her she would be grateful for the chance to vote one day.

Lately, she’s been playing Sesame Street and having words and letters of the day. The past couple of days, she’s been saying that “ridiculous” is the word of the day, but she pronounces it ree-dick-lee-us. It’s hysterical.

We’re not big supporters of Proposition 105 for a plethora of reasons. We were talking about it tonight at supper and we got her on video saying this tonight…

IMG_3402

Funny stuff.

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Speaking of funny stuff, Wryder has a new “trick.”

IMG_3401

WHY is poop so fascinating to children?!?

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Love this weather. Love this family. Love this life.

Jury Duty

When we arrived home from vacation I had a red, white and blue piece of paper awaiting me; I was being summoned for jury duty for the second time in three years. I served on a jury six months after we had moved to the area and it appeared it might be my time again.

That time, Goo Goo was in town and kept Sawyer for me while I was away. This time…well, I feel like the court picked the busiest week in the history of the world to hold district court. We don’t trust our kids with just anyone…and rightfully so…and it was becoming a challenge to find care for them. Our lovely neighbors came to the rescue on Monday and kept them for jury selection day.

The week leading up to my report date, I felt like I was in denial. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave the kids. I was hoping it would get cancelled. No such luck. A friend texted me and reminded me that maybe the Lord had me there for a time such as this…so off I went, verbally submitting myself to Him, as a reminder to myself if nothing else.

There were about 100 potential jurors and before we had our first break so the attorneys could look over the juror questionnaires, they had excused 10 or so people because of conflicts of interest, 10 or so people that worked in law enforcement or social services, etc. After the break, they dismissed 20 or so after reading their questionnaires. They then sat 25 jurors in the box and then had to have private meetings with them. When one was dismissed, they were replaced with another. During this time, I’d say close to 30 people were excused for one reason or another during the private meetings or for wheat harvest or one reason or another.

It was around 3:30 in the afternoon and the attorneys were just about to dismiss each of their six choices…when the judge dismissed one last individual who was replaced by a gentleman who asked to be dismissed so he could finish his harvest. And? You guessed it…my name and number were called to replace him.

At the end of the day, I was chosen to sit the jury. We knew from the moment we walked in that it was a child sexual assault case; a grandfather was being accused of repeatedly engaging his grandson in unwanted sexual acts. I wasn’t looking very forward to the testimony…at all. It was a hard, confusing, frustrating week.

There were testimonies that made your stomach turn…testimonies that made you question whether the boys’ parents should’ve been on trial for poor parenting…facts and figures that made you shake your head…things that were hard to follow because a child’s memory and concept of time is only so good.

At the end of the day, after five hours of deliberation, we found the defendant guilty. It was the right choice, no question – but still hard to make. We had to remember though, that the defendant chose this…not us. He chose this the first time he sexually abused his vulnerable grandson and he chose this for every time he did so after…for three. solid. years.

I am spent; my heart is heavy and my head hurts…though what I’m experiencing is not nearly as bad as what the victim has been through.

As we left the courthouse, the sky had clouded over and rain was just beginning to fall, almost as if the heavens were weeping for the victim.

I have been praying for you from the first day of this ordeal and commit to continuing to do so. I pray that you receive the help that you need to get past this and to quit blaming yourself and to heal. I pray that your new community would embrace you and not bully you. I pray that your parents, especially your step-dad, would truly understand the trauma you have experienced and will have grace with you. I pray that you would know Jesus and that He would send someone that is worthy of your trust to disciple you for Him. I pray that you would be able to trust again. I pray that you would be able to sort out all of the confusion and shame and mixed emotions so that you can use your story to help others and be all that the Lord created you to be.

We Don’t Have a Clue

I vacillate between hating the news and not being able to get enough of it. I like to stay informed and to take a peak outside my little safe haven a bit, but sometimes it’s just too much for my head and my heart.

NBC News has a feature called “The Week in Pictures” on their website and I’ve taken to browsing through it once a week. Some of the shots are absolutely breathtaking!

NBC NEWS - New Years Eve — NBC NEWS – New Years Eve

There are scenes that capture our culture and some of the major headlines of the week…

NBC NEWS - North Korea craziness — NBC NEWS – North Korea craziness

They usually have an amazing weather shot or two…

NBC News - frozen mist at Niagra Falls — NBC News – frozen mist at Niagra Falls

And a few that make you shake your head…or shiver…

NBC NEWS - a polar plunge of sorts — NBC NEWS – a polar plunge of sorts

And then…

Then there are the ones that absolutely destroy your heart. Like a baby who survived an airstrike in Damascus…

Or the family that gathered all of their belongings and fled from Banguiin, the Central African Republic that is under attack…

Or the mom and baby in South Sudan that are fortunate enough to have a mosquito net as they ride out being displaced due to fighting between the government and rebel forces…

NBC NEWS - displaced — NBC NEWS – displaced

We don’t have a clue. We wake up every morning in safe, warm homes with rights and freedoms and liberties and food and clean water. I don’t worry that my home will be bombed or that my children will be killed by rebels outside my door. I don’t wonder how or when I’ll eat again or where I’ll have to go to find food or shelter or safety. I don’t wonder where I’ll sleep at night nor do I have to consider keeping watch instead of resting. The decisions I make on a daily basis look nothing like theirs. I hope my kids grow up to the know the Lord and live for Him and treat others according to His word…and they’re just hoping their kids live.

Pray for these people; their plight isn’t as easy or as fanciful as ours. They are fighting battles much harder than I’ve ever even thought about facing.

I encourage to take a peak at one of their series’ or look back at the Year in Pictures – get outside of your living room walls a bit. Then, thank the Lord for your many blessings and thank Him that we don’t have a clue what that life is like…and then ask Him to change it for those afflicted.

The Home of the Brave

Thank you, veterans, for giving up your time, safety and comfort to protect our country…though a simple ‘thank you’ doesn’t quite seem adequate.

Thank you for sacrificing family time and better paying jobs and holidays and familial milestones so that my family can continue to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Most definitely, the home of the brave.

Thank you for those who fought on the front lines and for those behind the scenes and for all of the families that you left behind that supported you all the while. I have much respect for the military wife. I was most definitely not made to be one.

Thank you for defending our borders and our freedoms. May we never forget you and the personal things you surrendered so that we don’t have to surrender to our enemies.

May we, the Church – the hands and feet of the the most gracious Provider and Defender and Protector – always stand for you, assist you and aid you when you need it most.

Father, we could never thank our military men and women enough for their courageous service and sacrifice to our country and its people. Yet today we lift up our voices to express gratefulness and honor to these military troops both from the past and present. Show us ways in our communities, churches, and families to thank and love them better. Keep and protect these heroes and their families, in the powerful name of Jesus. (militaryfamiliespray.com)

***As part of our continued month of gratefulness, we are writing to military men and women via the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. I encourage you to take time to do the same.***

Common Sense is a Beautiful Thing

http://www.daveramsey.com/show/videos/dave-breaks-down-aca-obamacare

A Little Gloom for your Friday

This weather looks like my heart feels. It just feels so heavy, sinking really, for our country. I watched this video last night after I had scrolled through the latest headlines. While it’s a funny take on the state of the union, it’s not really funny, right?

We live in a broken society with a broken system in a broken world and all the public policy in the universe won’t be able to “fix” us. (Ever been to the DMV or wondered why UPS and FedEx can be profitable organizations but the USPS can’t?! Our government has yet to prove that it can do anything with excellence.)

We need Jesus. We need our Congressmen and women to need Jesus. We need our Senators to need Jesus. We need our President to need Jesus. We need people to lay aside their pride and be willing to humble themselves for the greater good instead of their party or for the instant gratification of “what can I get for myself for ‘free’ TODAY.” We HAVE to look further down the line than just 2013 or 2014 or even 2020. What kind of financial decisions are we making today and how will they impact us in 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? We HAVE to look past the short term and towards the long term. This is one of the plights of our society; we all want everything that makes us happy and we want it NOW. Who cares what that looks like in 10 years – I’m living in today and that’s what matters. Uh, no. We live in community, not a vacuum; every choice I make affects someone other than me and vice versa, and those effects can be felt today or 20 years from today. We have to look past the short term and towards the long term.

It’s not JUST the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that needs ~~to go~~ revision. It’s our budget, it’s our gun legislation, it’s our social security system, it’s our abortion laws, it’s our tax laws, it’s our prison systems, it’s our welfare system, it’s our farm subsidy system – it’s our government, in general. Now, I’m not saying I want it to be perfect. That’s a completely unrealistic goal because it won’t ever be – see paragraph two. But I do think they owe it to the people to function as designed. It was created to be FOR the people and BY the people; it was created to ensure that we weren’t subjected to tyranny ever again…and dare I say, we’re close? And we’re partly to blame.

We can’t keep just handing over right after right after right to a broken system. The return on our input will be broken. And we? We will be a people who got something in the short term that didn’t really benefit us because it didn’t benefit us in the long term. We can’t continue to keep the mentality that, “someone else will say something” or “this is so wrong/off/ridiculous/out of line, surely it won’t pass” or “we’re so far gone, who cares.” We have to take a stand for our freedoms so that we can continue to have those liberties.

I don’t mean to sound like Debbie Downer here. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE America and I praise the Lord that He chose me to live here but we HAVE to make choices to continue to ensure our rights are protected. There is no freedom when you’re saddled in debt. (I’ve been there. I would know.) There is no freedom when you have no free will or choice. (Read the Word. It’s pretty clear about that). There is no freedom when when you don’t EXERCISE that right to free choice. We can’t stand idly by and think that someone else will fight for us.

I encourage you to take a stand today. Write an email or letter to your senators/congressmen and women. Let them know how you feel about what’s going on in Congress and with the Affordable Care Act and with other legislation. Encourage them to think about the long term effects of the decisions they are making. Inspire them to make decisions that unify us and not divide us. They may not receive, or respond to, your messages until after the shutdown (sigh) but let your voice be heard regardless.

Nebraskans, find information to write your Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=NE

And here’s contact information for your Congressmen: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc2011&state=ne

Coloradoans, find information to write your Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=CO

Congressmen, here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc2011&state=co

Above all, pray for our nation. Pray for our President. He has a BIG job, yes? Pray he does it well; with humility, common sense, respect, unity, mercy, grace, forethought, thought for the future, thought of our kids. He’s a broken, sinful, self-deceiful human being just like his Supreme Court, just like his Congress, just like his Senate…just like me. And just like me, they need Jesus. He IS the only answer, the only “fix,” the only policy or legislation that can repair the system. Pray we choose Him.