The Sky is Blue

I believe....... That marriage is a lifetime gig That it is up to us to take care of those in need, through families, churches, relationships, etc... That family is serious business, parenthood is a gift, a treasure, something to take dead dog serious. That I have a right, and a responsibility to protect my family and those who can't protect themselves, from would be criminals, and anyone else who is attempting to infringe on our rights as stated in our constitution. I believe that without faith in God, and a conscious decision to submit to him, people are lost in a pool of ever changing self centered nonsense, and are subject to what ever the politically correct, hip, educated mantra of the year is. Stuff is awesome, shiny cars, flashy jewels, exotic vacations, are all delightful--- for a little while--then when the shiny wears off, and the financial impact starts hurting--- the result is damage to the most important thing--- family, and submission to God. I bel...

I woke up this morning thinking about my Grandmother.  She has been gone a while now, but she is really present with me. I often find myself wondering what she would think, or what she would say, about my life.  This morning it occurred to me that she would tell me, "you can't help getting older Vic, but you can't just let yourself go!" I have been a touch obsessive lately about my aging skin, and have been beating myself up about my weight--but not doing anything about it. For some reason this morning I found myself thinking about my childhood with her. I didn't live with her, but spent a lot of time there.  I remember every detail of her home, and it makes me really sad, and sentimental.  I have such good memories of her house.  That led me to thinking about the fact that she raised three children in that house.  It was a neighborhood of brick row homes in Baltimore.  A nice house, but not huge, and not fancy.  It had a small living room, a di...

Soooo, my husband, my adorable, always freezing, husband, gets sent to teach class in Connecticut of all places. This week!!! Eye of the storm and all that.  He get's stuck in Philadelphia, flight is cancelled, can't get out.  Last train, leaves in 20 minutes.....so he rents a car and drives---- in the eye of the storm, from Philadelphia to Hartford CT.  I was nervous enough about him driving from the airport to the hotel once he got, to CT, but it wasn't meant to be that easy. To make matters worse, of course, .... his luggage won't catch up with him for a while...so after leaving our home at 3am, traveling coast to coast, dealing with the hoo ha of missed flights and unhelpful airline personnel, he then rents a car, drives 4+ hours, stops to shop, finally gets to his hotel..... and.... does he gripe? Nope does he whine? Nope does he snipe at me? Nope He was the picture of grace, this after having pre-made the family three dinners for this week...

What is the difference between those who DO hard things, and those who DREAM about doing hard things? Well, a lot of things.  Some might say...fearlessness, ambition, talent, drive. I think all of those qualities play a small part, but they certainly aren't the most important one. I believe the difference between doers and thinkers is effort. Being willing to try, and potentially fail. Being willing to try over and over. Showing up, giving a 100%, putting yourself out there.  Saying to the universe, that is something I would like to achieve, then daily taking steps toward it. We could easily get stone walled when we start to think to hard about "How" will I ever achieve that.  We can fool ourselves by focusing on the DREAM, and not taking any action that will lead us to achieving it. The answer is EFFORT.  One step at a time.  Consistently walking forward, chipping away, showing up. I am not making this stuff up. I am no wise woman.  This is time te...

How whack is it, that when I want to really punish my oldest son, I have to take away reading?????  I know it sounds absurd, but ever since about 6th grade, he has been an avid reader.  Good right?? I love that about him.  We even love the same kind of books.  We both love mythological stuff, and history, and biblical fiction.  He is so interesting to talk to, it is like having our own exclusive book club. My younger son Michael is developing this love of reading too, which is awesome!! So what is wrong with this picture?  When reading becomes as much of a diversion from doing what you are supposed to be doing (studying, homework, annotating,  copying notes), when wanting to get to your book makes you rush through a test, it becomes as bad as an iphone, or a video game or TV.  Messed up.  It feels completely counter intuitive to take it away, but we have to. We took away his kindle, he went to the library.  Even though our new agree...

I remember there being a time in high school, I don't remember if it was my junior or senior year. My best friend and I were walking on the wild side a bit.  We were going to parties, doing the bad stuff that teenagers do at parties.  Well, we made a really bad choice one time, got caught, and got in trouble at school for it.  It was internal suspension. I guess, because my parents both worked, real suspension would have been too easy.  I would have layed around watching TV all day.  Instead, internal suspension meant I had to sit all day at a desk near the counselors office-- for three days.  My teachers and counsellors cared about me.  I was a good kid making bad choices. So I was visited by teachers, friends (the ones who my teachers thought would be a good influence on me) throughout my punishment.  I don't think those visits could have made me feel any worse.  I realized how much I was letting people down.  ...

Do you know anyone who grew up in foster care? I bet you know a few people who were adopted, you may not even know it.  I like sharing my families story.  When I do, I am always so surprised at how others open up about their own adoption/foster experiences. It is really eye opening. I also hear from so many people how adoption or fostering is something they have always considered, but will likely never do. It is hard not to consider it if you think about the impact you could have on the course of another persons life right? So what stands between thinking about it, and doing it? A lot, I know.  There are a ton of considerations, financial, space, emotional bandwidth, parenting bandwidth, foster-parent stigma, car size, the list goes on.  What if...you focused for just a minute, and imagined the potential of a life changed by that one decision.  Imagine being used by God to take a child from a path of neglect, abuse,  drugs, and a likely incarceration to s...