Governor Sanford listened to the wrong voice...

Cal Thomas hits the nail on the head:

The Voice Claims Another Victim
By Cal Thomas
Tribune Media Services

The first thing that should be acknowledged about South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s admission to an extramarital affair is that it could happen to any of us. That is not an excuse (and no, it has not happened to me, or to my wife). Every married person has heard the voice; the one that says you deserve something “better.”

Gov. Sanford should have been familiar with the voice because of the Bible studies he attended. The voice began seducing humanity a long time ago. It told our first parents that they needed more than the perfection of Eden. The voice told them that God knew that if they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would be like God. But they already were like God, because they were made in His image.

Stick with me you secularists and non-literalists, because there is a point to be made for you, too.
Psychiatrists explain that married people tire of one another after 10 or 20 years (it used to be seven years, as in that Marilyn Monroe/Tom Ewell film “The Seven Year Itch.” Must be inflation.). Good marriages are the result of hard work. Forsaking all others is more than a wedding promise. It is a daily denial of one’s lower instincts. Temptation is everywhere. The key to overcoming it is to realize you are fighting an adversarial force that wants to destroy you, embarrass you and cause ridicule to be heaped on the God you claim to worship.

One can make excuses about power and loneliness and starting out as a friendship that develops into something else, as Gov. Sanford rambled on about, but one can’t explain adultery. It is what it is and the person who commits it should be calling on God for mercy, not the voters for understanding.

I once asked evangelist Billy Graham if he experienced temptations of the flesh when he was young. He said, “of course.” How did he deal with them? With passion he responded, “I asked God to strike me dead before He ever allowed me to dishonor Him in that way.” That is the kind of seriousness one needs to overcome the temptations of a corrupt culture in which shameful behavior is too often paraded in the streets.

There was a time when a divorce would disqualify someone from public office. Now people admit affairs and expect to stay in office. “It’s just sex,” said defenders of Bill Clinton. One might as well say, “it was just a gun” that killed my spouse. Adultery wounds in ways a bullet cannot. One can potentially heal from a bullet wound, but a shot to the soul and to the trust that must be central to any marriage is nearly impossible to repair. The wounded spouse always wonders, “Will he/she do it again?”

A relationship most promise to venerate “until death us do part” is damaged by adultery, whether it’s a TV evangelist, a politician or a regular Joe who violates the marriage bed. In fact, we rarely even use the word “adultery” anymore because it sounds so, uh, biblical, and those teachings and commands long ago fell out of fashion, though they work for those who embrace them.

Any man who claims never to have had thoughts of straying is a liar. Any man who has sought the help of God and other men in helping him to honor his marriage promises to his wife and children is a hero, especially in today’s morally exhausted culture.

I miss Paul Harvey and his acknowledgement of those who had been married 50, 60, even 70 years. Those people are my role models. I’m sure they heard the voice, too, but they told it to get lost and it did. Pushing against weights builds up the body, pushing against the voice builds up the soul and improves a marriage. You can never take a marriage — or the voice — for granted; it’s always on the prowl looking for new people to destroy.

Tea Party

So I spent the evening with the...
We went to the tea party and it was nice. This was when it began- it filled up as the evening went on. We stayed to watch fireworks, which scared Sissy to death. The speakers were okay- I think they missed an opportunity to really educate voters. But it is good to see more and more people keeping up with what's going on in Washington. One interesting thing is that I did try to find more funny bumper stickers in the parking lot to amuse you and I couldn't find any. Row after row of cars and no bumper stickers and Marc said, "these are just normal folks". And it's true- they are not "extremists" at all- they are just tired of being robbed of their money and their liberties. Can you blame them?

Our Fourth of July

Happy Birthday USA! We went to our church's annual 4th of July festival today. We had a great time in spite of the ridiculous heat and we were so surprised at how content and happy Tucker was in the stroller- I think it was the heat stroke. :)

The kids played a bunch of carnival games and won a bunch of junk like necklaces and frog tatoos- you know, patriotic stuff like that. Here's Julia with a lizard she won and is now taking a nap with.

We had lots of BBQ from the Knights of Columbus and then cupcakes and snowcones! It was all capped off with some bad karaoke. Ninety-nine degrees outside- and sober people are doing the electric slide while tone-challeneged teens sing "summer lovin"...I love that kind of stuff- true Americana.

Now all the babies are sleeping off their fun day and we are trying to decide whether to go to the 'tea party' tonight. Happy Fourth to you and yours!

Let freedom ring! Happy 4th Everyone!

July 1st ya'll.....

July 1st....Canada Day...and Mama's B'day. I'm 29 again! I decided last year at my 30th that I would no longer age forward, but would instead do a pivot step and head back towards 25. It's great- I already feel younger. I'm sad to say that I woke up grumpy. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and had the blues this morning, which is unusual. I was short with my kids and feeling trapped at home. And then as I'm stomping around changing diapers I hear a knock at the door and a good friend was standing there with flowers from her yard. It was a complete and precious surprise and began to turn my day around. I had talked to Shana on the phone and she quickly came over (doing an intervention) and gave me my birthday gift- tickets to a Taylor Swift concert! Then we decided totally on a whim to go to the "beach", a.k.a. the sandbar on the lake at Oak Mountain. We ran through Subway and got sandwhiches and packed up the car with towels, sand toys and the umbrella and hit the road. We stayed all afternoon and it was awesome. It felt like I was at the 'real' beach. The kids played in the shallow water and Tucker even took a nap in his stroller under the umbrella. Shana even surprised me by bringing Milk Duds and Twizzlers. My bad mood was completely gone. She totally salvaged what could have been a pity party birthday. I also got to talk to several of my closest friends on the phone (or answering machine) and am just so grateful for all the wonderful relationships in my life. What would we do without girlfriends? Life is so so busy now and it's hard to keep up with people, but I love all the women I've known past and present and I thank you thank you for loving me and being there at different times in different ways. I hope I can encourage you like you've encouraged me. And let me say about being 29- it's good to be back!

P.S. Marc and I did get a sitter and do dinner and a movie- so I had a perfect day!

Ramblings...

Okay- does anybody know why my pictures did this? Never typed over here before. Weird.
So- Markyboy ended up on the All-
Star team for T-ball totally out of nowhere. Each team pics 4 players or something like that. Anyway the all-star team plays the best overall team at the championship game. And the all-star team won! Little guy didn't care about all that, but he is IN LOVE with his trophy and slept with it. (He had already been keeping his Daddy's old trophies in his room- he just loves them). He is in the red-striped socks- not sure why I'm the only mom who bought those. I think the are precious.
This picture above is of him tonight right before his haircut (think he needed one?). We are having so much fun this summer. He is my big helper and loves spending time with me. Today when Tucker and Julia went down for naps I said, "I think you need to have a little quiet time in your room- you don't have to take a nap- just be really quiet." And he said, "Can I color in my room?" And I said sure- so grateful there was no struggle and as I began to lay down with a book he said, "Great- do you want to come watch me color in my room?" Um...quiet time is about us having time to ourselves. Bless his heart- he just likes an audience.

Little Bit finished ballet with finesse and her best tutu. She came home with a new bracelet, tiara and princess wand. She cracks me up everyday. The other day at Publix she wouldn't get out of her seat and I said, "if we go inside you can have a cookie" and "little-Donna" got a move on. Once inside I realized they didn't have any out- only these tiny samples of banana pudding. So I said, "here you go- these are cookies"

Sissy crying "No dis not- cookies is bwown- dose not cookies"

Me: "They are white cookies"

Sissy: "Day are white cookies- not bwown cookies?"

Me: "Yes"

Sissy (eating a bite and starts crying LOUDLY) "NO DIS NOT WHITE COOKIE- DIS A BAMANA!" (tears)

And it was a "bamana". Sorry princess- Mommy underestimated your discernment of sweets.

In sad news (to me) Marc's college roommate (best man at our wedding) came in town this weekend and I (ONCE AGAIN) tried to play matchmaker with one of my close friends. Many folks know I am obsessed with matchmaking. I am ALWAYS looking for a match- every Sunday I scan for people "really" praying and check for wedding bands. I can't help myself. I just long to be the person who facilitates a real love connection. So far I've NEVER been successful and let me tell you I've tried a TON! I should give up because it NEVER EVER works and is embarrassing to everybody involved- but I can't. I love being in love and I want all my friends to have it. So I press on- creating awkward dinners and playing awkward board games (to encourage chit chat). To those who have suffered through this (C.R.C., S.N.B., S.E.M., K.C., etc.) I"m sorry- and I'll keep looking! ;)

to heck in a handbasket

Did anyone get irate about the cap and trade bill passed yesterday that (if it passes in the Senate) will raise energy costs so dramatically that you won't know what hit you?! AND IT'S ALL BASED ON JUNK SCIENCE! (It's like passing a law to ensure the world 'stays flat'). It's crazy. And they wouldn't even let the Congressmen read the bill they were voting on. They added 309 pages the night before. How can we be voting on 1500 page bills that nobody has read? Some say this is the epitome of taxation without representation. On a radio show yesterday I heard a guy say, "the House is about to pass the most extreme, burdensome, regressive tax hike in the history of the Republic, they are slaughtering folks fighting for Democracy in Iran, and the cable news is covering the death of a bankrupt pop singer and there is a a luau at the White House. I can't write this stuff folks."