Christian Halloween?

Google never ceases to amaze me. I'm a bit older than most on the mom squad panel and there's a lot I'm still learning.

I'm not against allowing children to dress up for Halloween. After all, I grew up at a time when Halloween was innocent and fun. I can understand why so many parents avoid Halloween. It's become both physically dangerous as well as promoting unchristian images that we might not want our children to see.

So...I googled "Christian Halloween". Google brought up over 4 million suggestions. WOW!

I clicked on a particularly interesting site. http://annieshomepage.com/alternative.html

Annie not only posted some cool facts, but she also gave ideas like...

Find a local Church that is having an alternative celebration and attend.

Some Churches have a Bible Character Dress Up Contest.

Wanda shared some of the costume ideas she has used for her daughter. "My Church has gone to a "Fall Festival" theme and my children dress in "Christian" costumes. And oh how they enjoy trying to be creative. Here are some of their past ideas.....the parable of the woman who lost one piece of silver. (my daughter had a long dress on, broom, candle, and coin purse). Another was Sarah when she was old and pregnant. (she had gray hair, a big belly). Pharaoh's Daughter (dressed in purple, with lots of shine, she had a basket with a baby, and lots of make-up). These are some of the ones I can remember."

Why not start a NEW family tradition for October 31st in your family? You can have a family meeting and make the plans for the special evening. Choose some FUN & CREATIVE things to do as a family. Maybe even have a Board Game Marathon. Give each member of the family a special responsibility. Each one of you can do something to plan, prepare and take part in, for your special evening. Family times are too often rare or non existent. Bake some cookies and make some popcorn the old fashioned way. Have some FAMILY FUN. Next year you can have the 2nd Annual Family Fun Night. You can't have the "first annual" because if you think about it, it really has to be the second time to be "annual".

Have a celebration with a theme. How about Christian Heroes and Martyrs? It was on October 31, 1517 that young Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church and lit the fire of the Reformation. How about a Bible Quiz or charades game. Or bring out the Bible Board games like a Bible Trivia game.

How about a missionary evening? Choose the country where you have a Missionary that your church supports. Then use the country to help you choose the food you make and the decorations. You can even have people wear clothing or a hat to go with your theme. Why not make it a potluck dinner? You make the entree and others can bring dessert and side dishes. You are only limited by your own imagination. Why not contact the missionaries by email? Ask them to send you some information or links.

Here is a current email about what one Christian Family is doing:"Annie, I happened across your page while doing research for our annual "Jesus is Lord of Halloween too" party...we are a family who celebrated Halloween for many years until God changed our lives. For the past 3 years we have chosen to celebrate Jesus instead. I would like to share with you some of the things we do at our "party". The children spend the afternoon attaching candy to tracts or bookmarks (whatever we can afford that year) to hand out the trick or treaters. After the tracts are done, we carve pumpkins with crosses or the name of Jesus or any other Christian symbol. We do dunk for apples, we also play all sorts of silly games, some include "finish the bible verse" and "bible trivia." My kids have told me that they have more fun praising Jesus on that night than they ever had "trick or treating" God bless you and your pages! Mrs. F"

From a recent visitor: Our church, East Brent Baptist (not that it matters because there are NO denominations in Heaven), in Pensacola, with about 5,000+ members, has Judgment House for the two weekends around Halloween. That is where Tour guides (me!) and a group of people (usually limited to 15-18) move from room to room where, in each room, actors/actresses stay and reenact the same scene for each group. There is always a message about choices and their consequences and there is always a message about Jesus and loving Him. We always end up in Heaven with Jesus delivering His message through the actor. Isn't it nice to be able to go to "heaven" so many times during the season??!! We have a ball! My whole family is involved in some way. Our sons are actors and my husband is in technical, and we thoroughly enjoy participating. It's amazing what can come from a Judgment House because just recently, some people made it their business to "find" me to tell me that (not really) because of me taking them through, not once but twice, TWO years ago, they came to East Brent because it was a "walking" church, not just a "talking" church and they were saved! Praise GOD! Of course, it was NOT me, but the Lord at work in their hearts! I was just the instrument.

I have other suggestions about how to bring the Bible into this holiday. There are many stories about how Jesus raised the dead and casts out evil spirits and these aren't scary stories with blood and gore! I also try to tell my kids that there is one Spirit, that is not a spook or floating apparition, like in many tales and movies. It's the Holy Spirit! God sends his Holy Spirit to us, as a Comforter, (John 14:26), which is very comforting to know! We can see that in the final days, the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and no longer be able to deceive the world, (Rev. 20:10).

I loved this idea from Kraftykid.com

Halloween Pumpkin Christian Craft

Supplies:1 - sheet of orange construction paper (or white paper colored orange)hole punch, scissors, markers (green, brown, black, orange).

Instructions:1. Draw a circle on the orange construction paper (this makes the pumpkin head)2. Color a stem on top green or brown.3. Write any bible verse on the back of the pumpkin.4. On the stem write: "You picked a sweet treat from my bowl, so here's a sweet treat for your soul." 5. Cut it out, punch a hole at the top of the stem, and tie it to a Halloween treat.

How will you celebrate Halloween?

God loves you,

Debbie

Don't tell me you can't do it!

This video makes me cry because I'm so proud of this young man.

This video makes me cry because I'm so proud of the father.

This video also makes me angry.  I'm angry because of all the times I've heard excuses and whinning.  "I can't do this.  It's too hard.  I'm too tired."

Shame on you.

Healthcare.....Right?

I like this congressman.....he gets it!





If you live in Michigan....vote him back in!

God loves you,


Debbie

You can smell a skunk even before you see them

We live on the edge of our city.  We aren't considered country and yet, there are plenty of animals around.  There's a farm a few blocks away and a section of woods in another direction.  There's plenty of neighborhoods all around.  Even with all the traffic we have a large share of groundhogs, squirrels, deer and pesky skunks. 

The road to our subdivision is about a mile long.  When we turn off the four lane and start to our house we can tell for quite a distance that some skunk has met his maker.  The foul odor of skunk road kill can be smelled way before we arrive at his carcus.  And....passing over it even for just a second can leave it's horrible stench on the car for days. 

I believe during the 2008 elections I smelled a skunk.  Today with all that's going on I'm positive that the odor originates in the White House and permeates through the entire system.  It's as if the foul odor of putting down the "stupid" masses has become the calling card of this administration. 

The White House is bent on a far left adgenda and encourages it's administration to not only promote that agenda but to push it even if they have to break the law. This administration's justice department has demanded that an entire town void a new law that was overwhelmingly passed. 

What could possibly be so horrible that it would attact the attention of the Federal Justice Administration.  Did they approve mass looting?  Maybe they voted for criminals to be set free?  What horrible crime did they approve? 

Busy with the economy, two wars and all the other messes going on across the country - this administration is fired up because a small town, Kingston, North Carolina wants to eliminate the party affiliations on the ballot.  What?

Apparently Mr. Obama is trying to prove that every thing he promised in his campaign was a blatent lie.  He promised transparency and then meets behind closed doors, hides information and shuts down websites.  He promised he would reach across party lines and yet has demanded that the healthcare plan no one wants is rushed through congress without bi-partisan support. 

Now he's insisting that no black person is smart enough to pick a candidate unless he knows the candidate is a democrat.  Mr. Obama's administration believes that it's not about what a candidate stands for, but rather the party he stands for.  He also believes that his own race isn't smart enough to research the issues and pick a candidate without his help.   

 In an article posted by The Loft, Bobby Eberle wrote.... The Loft

Justice Dept: Blacks MUST Have Democrat Label to Know How to Vote:  
There have been some crazy actions to come from Obama and his advisors regarding race. Remember when, not knowing ANY of the facts regarding an incident between a white police officer and a black professor, Obama said on national television that the officer acted "stupidly?" Or how about Obama's 20-year affiliation with a pastor who blasts America and advocates racial division?

Well, now I think I've seen it all. Obama's Justice Department has ruled against the actions of the town of Kinston, North Carolina. What did this town do that was so terrible? The residents voted overwhelmingly to eliminate partisan elections for mayor and city council members. The Justice Department stepped in and said, "Whoa! Wait just a second!" According to the Justice Department, blacks in Kinston must have the Democrat Party in order to elect their "candidate of choice." How insulting! Basically, what Obama's team is saying is that blacks will only vote for Democrats, and without the party label, blacks can't figure out for themselves which candidate will get their vote. This is not only a slap in the face of the voters, but it continues Obama's efforts to divide people along racial lines rather than bring them together.

The Washington Times has an excellent accounting of what is happening in this small North Carolina city. Following a city vote to do away with partisan elections for city offices, the Justice Department blocked the action:

The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black. The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters' right to elect the candidates they want.

Candidate of choice? Basically they are saying that blacks will ONLY vote for Democrats, and if there is no party label, they won't know what to do. Obama's team also continues to take steps backward in race relations. Saying that whites will only vote for a black if there is a party label attached smacks of blatant bigotry. Furthermore, to say that blacks can't figure out who their "candidate of choice" is without a party label, Justice Department officials are making a huge assumption about the intelligence of black voters.

First of all, if a person is running for office, and that person is the "candidate of choice" for a voter or group of voters, it doesn't matter if that candidate has a party label attached or not. Shouldn't the electoral process be a process where voters actually pay attention to issues, do a little research, and then make an informed decision? What the Obama folks are saying is, "Forget all that! We just want them to vote for the Democrat."

Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar denied that the decision was intended to help the Democratic Party. He said the ruling was based on "what the facts are in a particular jurisdiction" and how it affects blacks' ability to elect the candidates they favor. "The determination of who is a 'candidate of choice' for any group of voters in a given jurisdiction is based on an analysis of the electoral behavior of those voters within a particular jurisdiction," he said. Critics on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights are not so sure. "The Voting Rights Act is supposed to protect against situations when black voters are locked out because of racism," said Abigail Thernstrom, a Republican appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. "There is no entitlement to elect a candidate they prefer on the assumption that all black voters prefer Democratic candidates."

Keep in mind that according to the news story, this city votes Democrat overwhelmingly... both blacks and whites. Kinston "voted by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 to eliminate partisan elections in the city."

The news story gets ridiculous when one reads the quotes from Loretta King, "who at the time was the acting head of the Justice Department's civil rights division."

"Removing the partisan cue in municipal elections will, in all likelihood, eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to be elected to office," she said.

Ms. King is the same official who put a stop to the New Black Panther Party case. In that case, the Justice Department filed a civil complaint in Philadelphia after two members of the black revolutionary group dressed in quasi-military garb stood outside a polling place on election last year and purportedly intimidated voters with racial insults, slurs and a nightstick.

Through King's efforts, the charges against all but one of the Black Panthers were dropped.

The Justice Department's actions are not only racial, but overtly political. As noted by Hans A. von Spakovsky at National Review Online:

The attorneys in the Voting Section also increasingly use the Voting Rights Act as primarily a political bludgeon to protect and enhance the electoral successes of the Democratic Party. Thus, in the Kinston objection letter, the Department stated that “it is the partisan makeup of the general electorate” that allows the winner of the Democratic primary to win in the general election. But of course, the VRA is supposed to protect voters, not majority parties. The fact that blacks are a controlling majority in the city is essentially deemed irrelevant.

This is yet another example of Obama's advisors showing that they are not ready for their duty to represent the entire country. They are partisans, and they are ideological radicals.

I hope you are praying for this country.  And if you want to put some legs on those prayers, get involved!

God loves you,

Debbie

What a fun Video!

It is important that we take time away from everything and concentrate on a little fun.  It's also a little distrubing how much our human mind depends on "fun" to make good decisions. 

Volkswagen wanted to see how much of a difference "fun" would make.  While I do think we need to be careful that not all of our actions are based on "fun", this video is a great illustration of how parents can use "fun" to produce behavioral changes in their family.
The Volkswagen site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it's change for the better.

TRUTH is everything....Never sacrifice TRUTH

Recently I was trying to make a point to an apathetic young adult.  In exasperation he commented,

"Don't get your feathers in a dither.  It doesn't really matter.  Nothing really matters.  Just do what I do and live your life and let the chips fall where they may."

I bit my tongue very hard, smiled and tried to make a dent in his thick skull.  I'm afraid it was a lost cause.  I walked away deeply saddened.  What this young man can't grasp is simple basic math.

Math?  How did math get in here?

I remember when I was just learning math and I had a two or three step problem.  I'd work until the eraser had made a hole in the paper.  Frustrated I took the paper to the teacher and whined, "I can't do it."  I still remember the times she would shake her head and point to the first problem.  "Debbie, you must remember that if the first step is wrong all the other steps will be wrong too.  Go back and rework the first step."

TRUTH is everything in this life.  We must make sure that we have the TRUTH or we won't be able to solve any problem out there. TRUTH is always the first step.

For example, if the real TRUTH is that Mr. Obama doesn't care diddly about healthcare for the average Joe, then we have a serious problem.  If his only concern about healthcare is that it's a way to secure votes or it's a way to gain control of an industry that's making money, or if it's a step to socialism.....then nothing we say in response is going to work.  He can stand behind the podium and spout any lie and it will work because we don't have the first step right. 

If the real TRUTH is that the Czars are put in place to help turn this nation into a socialist nation - then their qualifications really don't matter.  They can be bums from a flop house and it wouldn't make any difference.

If the real TRUTH is that my friend is lazy and just doesn't want to take the time to get involved and make a difference in this country....there's nothing I can say to change his mind.  The first step solution is to conquer his laziness not to try to be more logical.

TRUTH IS EVERYTHING.  No matter what you are trying to do, strive to find the TRUTH first.  Once that is in place everything else will be easy.

Know the truth and the truth will set you free.  John 8:32

God loves you,

Debbie

Mommy Patriots

I am thrilled by the response of Moms all across this country.  We are finding our voice and we are ready to provide a brighter America for our children.  I've written a new booklet titled  Mommy Patriots, The New Revolution.  You are welcome to download the entire 20 page booklet and make copies to pass out to your political groups, church groups or tea parties.  You can find a full description of this booklet at The Store

Barbara Curtis, a dear friend and one of moms featured on the Glenn Beck show.  She has 12 children and is a popular author.  She is a devout Christian.  She read the Mommy Patriot booklet and loved it.  We both are committed to being an encouraging voice for all moms.  I loved the post she put on her blog today.  The following is from Barbara....

"It seems like everywhere I go these days, I'm meeting and hearing from moms who are waking up to the fact that they need to DO SOMETHING to stop the madness going on in our country and in our schools.

I'm finding that mothers who thought they were alone in their conservative values - who've been successfully intimidated by the liberal minority and the Tired Old Media (Uncle TOM) for years - are becoming willing to risk everything to make their voices heard.

Like the mom I met on the phone yesterday who'd invited one of my kids to a birthday party, or the new woman who joined the CCWL (Conservative Catholic Women of Loudoun) for our monthly lunch who'd moved to Leesburg some years ago and never connected with a like-minded mom. It was so touching to see how much it meant to her to find fellowship on every level as we shared for three hours.

In a moment of deja vu, I remembered the same sort of thing 40 - yes, 40! - years ago when I was part of the grassroots bubbling up of the Second Wave of feminism. (I have written in Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You about the good accomplished by this movement, which quickly lost its vision as it was co-opted by the Sexual Revolution.)

As we were talking about the current administration's nonstop attacks on our country's traditions and values, one mom said, "It makes me mad because I have had to become an expert on everything. I can't rest!"
And that's the truth, we can't. Our children's future is at stake.

And another mother said, "What should we do?"

And that's when I had this deja vu and realized we are all doing exactly what we need to be doing right now. We are talking. We are gathering. We are learning we're not alone.

Just as the Second Wave of feminism began with consciousness-raising groups where women met informally to share their experiences and their research - through this uniquely feminine and personal approach to encouragement and confidence-building - we are in the beginning stages of a revolution which Glenn Beck alluded to - which will be carried forward by the mothers of this country who have finally had enough.

As our numbers build, we will begin to feel less hopeless and more and more empowered. Just as in the homeschool movement, where through women's devotion to and sacrifice for their families their own individual potentials were released - resulting in the writing of books and creation of curriculum - individual women will be moved to write, to sing, to organize and to plan.

In this movement there is no room for or need for superstars. This is a movement where the good of all must triumph over any particular woman's selfishness or territorialism. As I noted on the Glenn Beck Show, we can use the analogy of the geese to chher (honk) each other on.

One part of that analogy - as a viewer reminded me afterwards - was that the responsibility for being the Lead Goose shifts from time to time. This is so important, for when one individual covets the spotlight when it's time for another to speak, the entire group suffers. Be wary of leaders who seem territorial or in this only for themselves. Look for leaders who are willing to share and cooperate with others.

As mothers, our times for involvement will be cyclical, based on our families' needs. For followers of Jesus, they will also shift from time to time as we are guided by the Holy Spirit (I feel a shift myself right now, which I will be writing about soon.)

If you are a mom who is feeling a call to become more serious and purposeful about your family's future, I urge you to pray and be open to all the opportunities which will be presenting themselves to you each day to become more informed, more involved with your community and more willing to reveal who you really are to the other moms with whom you come in contact.

I will try to write encouragement to you each day and to recommend worthwhile resources as I come across them. I have started a Category Mommy Patriots where you will be able to find everything I write on this part of our lives. This is not about a particular politician, but about us and what we need to do to take back our country.

I want to urge you to try each day to become the best you can be. As Elisabeth Elliot has suggested we make a daily practice: Take one thing you should be doing and start doing it. Take one thing you shouldn't be doing and stop doing it.

As soldiers go to boot camp to become capable of doing the job in front of them, so must we be willing to put ourselves through spiritual boot camp, humbling ourselves about the places where we need to improve as moms and working harder to help our children reach their potential.

And we must also try a little harder to find each other and to make time to sit down and talk. This is an important part of how women find their individual voices and their collective strength.

This is a revolution that will take a generation to accomplish. But it is through what we teach our children - and with God's help - that it will be accomplished.

Stay balanced. Stay true. Stand firm in your wisdom as a mother. "

 
Thanks Barbara for those wonderful words of encouragement.
 
God loves you,
 
Debbie

912 March on Washington

Look out America.  We are awake now!

God loves you,

Debbie

Glen Beck and Moms

I love the Glenn Beck show on Fox Cable News.  Last week he had a group of moms on his show and he talked about their concerns for their children and America.

Finally!  As many of you know, I teach a class on the Power of Parenting.  I believe that parents are the most powerful force in the World!  We can change anything if parents will unite and begin to instruct their children. 

But Debbie.....shouldn't parents change the world and simply hand it over to their children?

That sounds nice....but the world - America is always under attack.  It's an on-going process that must be shouldered by every generation.  Apathy is a killer! Controllers know that if they can create apathy - they have a clear path to dictatorship.   Anytime a generation becomes apathic and decides that they just want to live their life and forget about the world around them....we are doomed!  Our biggest hope is that parents will train their children to "keep the faith", "Continue the standard", "Protect our Freedoms"...and on and on. 

Abraham Lincoln said, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Ronald Regan said, "Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known."


He went on to say, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
 
There's a question for all of us that very few are asking and no one on television is promoting.....
 
How is a liberal activist made?  Where do their ideas start?  Why are they so bent on doing things that hurt the prosperity of this country?
 
They are made at the same place conservatives are made - in the home!  There are rules to parenting.  If you break those rules your child will have to suffer the consequences.  According to contemporary psychology you are supposed to let your child develop "naturally".  After all according to them, you have no power and no ability to change anything.
 
They are lying.  The only result you'll get from letting your child develop naturally is that you open the door as wide as possible and say to the world...."Come on in to my child's heart and do whatever you want!" 
 
If you've read my book you know that I don't advocate a dictator style of parenting.  I believe that our children learn about freedom and kindness and compassion from their parents first.  Only when we promote "true freedom" in the home will they be able to accept it in society.  True freedom isn't the ability to do anything you want.  True freedom is the knowledge that every action you take will impact the others in the home, your future and the future of society.  It's developing a world view that gives us true freedom.  And...we must also be on a quest for TRUTH.  Truth is huge in parenting.
 

Why is arguing with liberals so difficult?  If they haven't been exposed to a quest for truth in the home - they won't recognize it when they are adults.  I can't wait to read Beck's newest book - Aruging with idiots.  I've argued with some of those and there is a complete disconnect with reality.  Where did they learn that?  In the home!
 
That's the opposite of biblical principles that instruct us to "train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it."
 
I've talked to you many times about don't believe the lie....again....Don't believe the political and psychological lie that there's nothing you can do about the future and about your children.  YOU can raise mentally healthy, morally strong and intelligent children.  Teen rebellion doesn't have to happen.  The terrible twos is a myth.  Your children can have a wonderful homelife and a strong self-esteem.  
 
If you hate how liberals are changing history and the indoctrination that is happening in schools - you must pay attention to how liberals are setting the stage to take over your child's training by convincing you that Parents can't have influence over their children.
 
You must fight for your rights as parents and realize that the only way to truly save America is by accepting the power you have and working not only for a better America now - but insuring that it continues by placing your child in the fight for the future.
 
A precious newlywed friend of mine recently made the comment, "My husband and I have decided not to have a child.  The world is just too crazy and uncertain.  We don't want to bring a baby into this mess."
 
I'm sorry to say I whirled around and raised my voice.  "Are you crazy!  No.  You can't do that.  What if you are destined to raise the man that will be president 40 years from now and will stop WWIII?  What if your child will discover the cure for cancer and if you don't have her - the situation gets worse?  If all good people think like you, we are doomed.  The evil will continue to have babies and they will eventually take over.  The only hope we have is for you to raise strong capable children that will take on the evil of the future and fight for freedom. "
 
Glenn Beck, thank you for organizing good people.  But....MOMS and DADS - it's time to realize your full potential and raise some adults that will help us straighten out this mess.  Our future depends on you and your talent as a parent.  Don't know how to do it?  Send me an e-mail and let's get started!  You can do it!
 
God loves you,
 
Debbie