Hiking for perspective

This weekend I had the opportunity to take a little hike up, Lilly mountain, a small mountain in Kentucky. As I am not in the greatest shape, and was very unprepared for a hike in the woods, it definately offered some renewed perspectives,(besides the fact that I need to get back on my treadmill):

• I couldn't imagine the imense fear of the being among the first settlers here in America.
• They could not have survived without the Hand of God.
• We Americans revolted, standing up for what we truly Believed. We would have faced certain death if we had failed.
• Our country was built on the foundation of belief in Christ alone, no other gods.

I topped off my weekend with a rainy day read of The Frontiersmen, by Allen Eckert, a historical narrative of early settlers in the Cumberland Valley, and some genealogy research, as my family was of the first settlers in that area, and I still don't know how they survived.
And as usual this type of thing leads me to think of the current state of demise that our country is in, and the reason we had to come home early is because I had another endorsement meeting for the Republican Party.
During my drive home, I began to think about the candidates I had met and which ones I should endorse, and how could I really know if they believed what they said they believed.

In Psalm 11:3, the Bible gives to us a most vital message for the times in which we live. In this Psalm, David says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
Then in Luke 6:47-49, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of two men who set out to build two houses. The first man digs deep and lays his foundation upon a rock, but the second man carelessly builds his house upon the earth, without digging and laying a sure foundation. Then when the storm came, the first house stood strong, "for it was founded upon a rock." However, the second house immediately fell, "and the ruin of that house was great."
The forefathers of our nation were well aware of this profound truth. Unlike most of the current leaders of our country, the men who established our Bill of Rights were, for the most part, men who BELIEVED in something and STOOD FOR IT. These men lived in a time when people still had RESPECT for good moral standards and godly living. They weren't all Christians, but there was still a reverence for God and the Bible. This was a time when Americans had a FEAR OF GOD before their eyes, and sin was kept down to a minimum. This was a time when God the Holy Spirit could move about and find some men to get a job done. Friend, this was a time when some SOLID FOUNDATIONS could be laid for our nation.
So they were laid. One only has to read Benjamin Franklin's appeal to President Washington for a National Day of Prayer to realize the truth in the above statements. Franklin's appeal reads in part:"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine Protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard -- and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. . . . And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need its assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow can not fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have also been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.' (Psalm 127:1) I firmly believe this, and I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. . ."
Our nation was built by men who knew that an empire without a solid foundation could not stand. Our nation was built by men who knew that we needed God's help if we were going to become a strong nation. In 1789, both Houses of Congress requested that President Washington recommend to the American people a day of public THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, and he did so. Washington himself, from the very start, knew that our young country must have the blessing of God for survival. After placing his hand on a Bible (not the Koran) and taking the oath of office on April 30,1789, President Washington made his views very clear concerning the source of authority:
"It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this official act, my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being, Who rules over the universe, who presides in the council of nations, and whose providential aid can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States. . . Every step by which they have advanced seems to have been distinguished by some providential agency. . . . we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained."
Good foundations were laid. Our liberties were built upon basic Bible principals, and it is for this very reason that we have become the great nation that we are today. However, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Help renew our foundations:
www.mikehuckabee.com

Quote from George Washington

In case you haven't noticed, my standard of a politician is George Washington. Obviously, finding someone like him is not likely to happen. But a person can dream.

"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them.
The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore to resolve to conquer or die."

I can't help but study GW during political campaigns.

Inspired his countrymen - George Washington

To clue you in to where my thoughts are coming from tonight, I have to give you a bit of background. . . .

Over the summer we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Washington D.C. It was one of the most educational experiences of my life. That may sound sad to some, but, that was my first visit to D.C.!
What made the experience even greater was the fact that this was our first year homeschooling. So, as my children are still young, we thought it was a good opportunity to study the founding of America.
Armed with hundreds of hours of audio books, several atlases, a book entitled, "The Footsteps of George Washington" we packed the van so full, I couldn't fit our stroller for our 2month old. Ahhh . . . who's gonna need a stroller for a newborn? ;) Did I mention I have a total of five kids?

After a grueling 8.5 hr drive we arrived. Pee breaks and all. My husband was working in Columbia, MD so we didn't stay right in D.C. In which I am grateful, I enjoyed visiting all the surrounding areas as well.

Tonight my focus of thought turned to George Washington, yet again. I had an endorsement meeting this evening, that has all but caused my brain to shut down.

This past week I was trying to re-acquaint myself with the political processes, local politics and such. It was hard to do because we are studying Ancient Egypt, Biology and Math, Math, Math. I try not to get on the American History kick, because I could dive into that topic and never come back up for air. There is so much information about the founding of America that I was never taught as a student, that I just can't get enough of it. Sounds ridiculous I'm sure, but hey, it's my blog, stop reading it if you want.

See, I wasn't taught American History from original sources, I was taught from a predigested, politically correct textbook. Sorry to say, but it's the truth. I know it's the truth, because I made a visit to George Washington's House. I saw one of the Bibles that belonged to George Washington. I read letters written by GW himself about many issues and the fact that he prayed, yes prayed! Now since prayer isn't in style right now, it's not in the textbooks. I got to visit churches that GW attended. I have never seen so many Biblical quotes within a 50 mile radius as their are in the D.C. area. It seems strange for a country that wasn't founded on Christianity to have so many scriptural quotes in every fiber of it's being.

The visit to Mt. Vernon was one of the highlights of the trip, I have such a love of the land and a deep sense of patriotism, I kept trying to imagine what GW was thinking during his lifetime. When he sat on his front porch, what thoughts were going through his head? The early years, the later years looking back. It was an indescribable gamut of thoughts and feelings.

When you first go thru the gates at Mt. Vernon they direct you to a theatre for an introduction. The neatest idea I have seen at any museum. It really set the stage and the tone for the rest of the visit. Even my toddler was completely engrossed in it.

In this video it depicts a George Washington that seemed so real, young and full of passion. Quite handsome, if I do say so. One of the major points that stuck out in my mind, was his passion for the land. They show a scene where the men are less than enthusiastic about the very apparent potential of being slaughtered by the British Military, and GW gives them a little pep talk.
In this talk he pretty much explains that at this point, we can die now, or keep fighting for our land, fight for the idea, the idea of real freedom and die later, but it would be for a good cause. Of course GW puts it into much more passionate wording.
But the general gist of it was, here we aren't fighting for some king, so he can have wealth, power, and more riches, what we are fighting for here is ours, this is our land. We settled it, it is our right to own it. That is the whole reason we came to this country.
Maybe I was suffering from post pardom, but I was almost in tears by the end of this 20 min introduction. I was truly moved by the amount of passion and determination these few men had. We have to remember they weren't a highly trained, armed military, they were a slapped together mismatched militia of all sorts. Many were wealthy wimps that died of pneumonia before they finished saddling their horse. The ones who survived did so, because they believed in something. They believed they had a right. They had a right to believe in God, they had a right to keep what they worked for, they had a right to own land, they had a right to pursue happiness.
I was so depressed to come back to reality. George Washington would be devastated to see what had become of the country that he gave his life for, gave all he had, and then some. I have to wonder why? Why did this country take the turn it took? I believe . . . I am willing to take responsibility for the rights that I have been afforded at the cost of the blood of others. Are there any other people out there that feel the same way? When I look back at what sacrifices these men, women and children gave to secure my right to believe, to hope, to strive for true freedom, I feel an obligation to at the very least exercise the rights they secured for me and hopefully continue to secure those rights for generations to come.
Our America turned out more voters for Dancing with the Stars than for a Presidential Election. Sad, to say the least. What did all those people fight for and die for? So we can sit by idly and let them slip away? God forbid.
I have to think that perhaps these last few generations have had things too easy, myself included. We have not had to suffer, go without, or fight for our rights. People have to go around door to door to try to convince people to even register to vote, when only three generations ago they had to kill or be killed to secure that very same right.

Part of our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Note: the original hand-written text ended on the phrase "the pursuit of property" rather than "the pursuit of Happiness" but the phrase was changed in subsequent copies in part because it was broader. The latter phrase is used today).
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.


"In January 1919, the bill passed the Senate, and on August 26, 1920, after two-thirds of the states had ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, women won the right to vote."

"President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law pledged the federal government to enforce equal access to the ballot in the South."


Only 64% of our citizen population voted in 2004. Another sad note is half of them don't fully understand what they are voting for or against.


It is getting difficult to maintain a good outlook on this subject. Part of me is still naive enough to believe things could change. Even worse, part of me is just plain ignorant enough to think I could make a difference. I keep thinking, maybe they don't realize how important this really is, they just don't know what it's all about, and that's why they don't care. And I keep thinking of ways to just get people interested in the issues and getting people registered to vote. Is there anything that would make a difference? Is there some way to inspire people to care about their own country?
To keep myself from going crazy with this issue, I am resigning to the fact that I can only do what I can do and I will have to pray for the rest.
I am going to do my research, find good candidates, promote the hell out of them and pray for the best. But, at least I'm not setting back in silence.

So each day or week or ever so often I will be updating my "Political Candidates" links at the top of my blog site. And at the bottom of the site I will be adding more information about the various government offices and what they do. This is a good time to teach the kids by example, don't exclude them from this uniquely American process, let them help you with the research, and choose candidates based on the right reasons and let people know about it. This can also be a great lesson on Truth in Media I believe Konos has a unit study that would work great for this topic.

Please don't sit idly by and watch what so many people worked so hard to accomplish slip away.

Words of Wisdom on Education

Noah Webster :
“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
[Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook in all fields.”
[Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5]


“Education is useless without the Bible”
[Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5 ]


Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. [Noah Webster, The History of the United States 1832, pp. 336-337, 49]


“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” [Noah Webster. History. p. 339]
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Benjamin Rush:
"Let the children who are sent to those schools be taught to read and write and above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”
Letters of Benjamin Rush, "To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools",
March 28, 1787
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Thomas Paine:
“ It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”

“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal.” “The Existence of God--1810”

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Jedediah Morse:
"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. . . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

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Samuel Johnston:
• “It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the
North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

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Thomas Jefferson:
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s
Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.

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Patrick Henry:
"This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

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John Jay:
“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John
Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed., (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393.

“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?"
2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.”
The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston