Obedience

I almost didn't get this post written.  it's 12:56am, and I almost didn't do it.  Why?  I knew I was supposed to - been thinking about it for the last 2 hours.  So why didn't I?  Simply put, because I was lazy and because I was afraid.

Lazy is easy enough to address - quit being lazy.  Sloth is one of the 7 deadly sins.  Don't do it.

Afraid - that one took a bit more.  Why was I afraid to write this, you wonder?  Glad you asked.  Because it's going to be an overtly spiritually-themed post.  If you don't like some of the spiritual undertones of my blog, you'll hate this post.  But then, I write here in part to share in your life and in part to process my own life and perhaps this post will do us both good.

This post is about one simple word: obey.  Why don't I do it?  Seriously.  I'm 28 years old - you'd think I'd know by now to obey for Heaven's sake!  I don't know about you, but I actually find it easier to obey in the big things rather than in the little things.  When God asked us to move 1/2 way across the country to a place that was too expensive, where we didn't know a soul, where we had no jobs, and where He would work in us and through us - that was easy.  Deleting some TV shows that I really like off of my DVR - that was hard.

THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!!  Why do I do that?

Over the last couple of days I knew what I needed to do.  It was that little voice I pretended wasn't there.  I acted like everything was fine, as if I had no idea what was affecting my family.  I brushed little Jiminy Cricket off my shoulder again and again.  Rather than run from what I knew God didn't want me doing, I turned directly to it.  It was silly.  They were TV shows.  They were a waste of time.  They were pointless.  ...But they were soooooooooo enticing.

They weren't "bad" shows per-se.  You may have seen them or you may not have.  If you watch them on a regular basis, I won't think any less of you.  I don't necessarily think they're a bad thing to watch.  But they were bad for me to watch, because God had asked me not to.  I'm not trying to get overly "spiritual" or "religious" or "charismatic" here - there wasn't some bombing voice from Heaven or anything like that.  I'm just telling you what I knew, deep down, to be true.

It took someone else asking if our family was ok for me to confront my disobedience.  And it was affecting each of my family members.  It's a little overwhelming to look around you and realize that some tiny, stupid, seemingly-pointless choice has had a negative affect on the people you love most.  I work hard to be a faithful wife, a good mom, a blessing to my family, a Proverbs 31 woman.  And I totally missed the boat on this one.

I'm not trying to wallow in self-pity here - that in itself would be another sin because it's something that doesn't honor and please the Lord.  But I share this little incident in my life as a reminder to my future self that obedience, even in the tiniest detail is damaging.  Luke 16:10 reminds us that those who are faithful with little will be faithful with much.  I saw what impact my little disobedience had.  I don't want to think of what impact much disobedience would bring.

So I now have a few less shows on my DVR, but my family is back in right relationship with each other and with our Lord.

So why was I afraid to write this blog post again?  The message is pretty straight forward - don't disobey.  I was afraid because I didn't want you to think less of me.

If you're a like-minded Christian, I didn't want you to think less of me because I knowingly disobeyed.

And I was even more afraid of you if you're not a Christian and you're reading this.  What will they think of me?  I'll have a greater impact, God, if you let me just keep having spiritual undertones on my blog rather than being so overt.  You use my life to witness to others overtly, not my blog.  That's what I was thinking.

And then.  And then I climbed into bed and started reading what I should have read over a week ago (but didn't because I was busy watching shows that are no longer recording on my DVR).  I read the first few verses of Philippians (aaaaaand now all of my Bible study girlfriends know how far behind I am...).  Do you know what's happening in the first part of that book?  Paul and Timothy are imprisoned, and Paul is writing this letter from prison.  You know what he says?  He says that his imprisonment has promoted the Gospel because now everyone at the palace, where he's incarcerated, knows he's there because of the Gospel of Christ.  AND (and this is the one that got me) it's promoted the Gospel, because the Christians who aren't in jail who hear about Paul are braver in sharing the Gospel because they know about him.

Do you know how that made me feel?  Paul and Timothy are sitting in jail because they obeyed God.  Their Christian friends were made more bold at sharing their faith because of Paul and Timothy being in jail.  Imagine that thought process:  Well, what's the worst that could happen?  Jail?  Paul and Timmy are doing ok there and find joy despite jail.  Plus, God's telling me I'd better share.  Time to share.

What's my thought process, you're wondering?  I'm sitting here in my king sized bed, in my flannel sheets (I *love* my flannel sheets!), in my warm home, in my conservative state, in my free country, where I can say whatever I want with no fear of jail, I have a platform from which to speak (my blog), and God's asking me to write a blog post.  Really?  I'm afraid to write a dinky little post?  Jiminy Cricket, come back here and make yourself at home on my shoulder!  Time to obey.

Yes, Lord.  I will.  Lesson learned.

Why the Electoral College?

I have been asked recently by a number of friends the reason for the Electoral College in the upcoming Presidential election.  Considering that I have both undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Politics, one would assume I’d be a good person to ask.  And while it’s true that a few years ago I had a ready answer at the tip of my tongue, motherhood, moving, and life put that portion of my brain into hibernation. 

In an effort to wake up my poor, neglected political mind and to answer my friends’ question, I went to the only place one can go in order to properly answer the question:  The Federalist Papers and Madison’s own notes from The Constitutional Convention.  How blessed we are to still have the resources at our fingertips!  (It was pure pleasure to go downstairs to my bookshelves and dust off these trusty volumes.)

We’re smart today.  We’ve learned from the past, and even if we don’t know the answer, we can get the answer to any question via Wikipedia or Google (God bless them!).  But sometimes we forget.  Technology doesn’t change human nature, and since human nature is what the Founders wrestled with while writing our Constitution, it makes sense to go back and review their own arguments in favor (and some against) the Electoral College.

Madison records that on Thursday, July the 26, 1787, Colonel Mason recounted the various suggestions for appointing the Executive (i.e. the President – they hadn’t yet settled on a title for the chief executive).  They were:

1. Election by the “people at large” or what we call a popular election.  Those against it pointed to the fact that the people at large were very unlikely to understand the qualifications necessary for an individual to be President, and even if they did understand the weighty requirements of the Oval Office, the people at large were unlikely to really know if an individual candidate had the qualifications to adequately carry out the job.  To quote Mr. Gerry, “The people are uniformed, and would be misled by a few designing men.”  The biggest argument against popular election, however, remains today, and that is, essentially, majority tyranny over the minority – that a few areas of high population would control who is elected President, and that areas of lower population not be represented at all.  In some ways, the Electoral College serves a similar purpose in Presidential elections as the Senate serves in the legislative branch – it equalizes representation among the states.  If you have a problem with the Electoral College, you ought also to have a problem with the Senate as it is wholly "unequal" representation based on population.
2. Election by state legislatures.  Those against this pointed to the fact that if state legislatures elected the President, then the President would be likely to cater to the state legislatures’ whims.  The office of the President as they envisioned it, was to be a sort of check against state legislatures (and the federal legislature for that matter) running wild, and how could a President be elected by the very group he was to later hold accountable.  To put it briefly, the Founders saw this as a conflict of interests.  (Remember, too, that at this point, Federal Senators were elected by state legislatures, not by popular election.  If the President was elected by state legislatures as well, that could have given them power of election in two branches of the federal government.)
3. Election by the Executives (i.e. Governors) of the states.  This was seen as a dangerous option because the President could easily become subservient to the governors.  State governors, “being standing bodies, they could and would be courted, and intrigued with by the Candidates, by their partisans, and by the ministers of foreign powers.” (Wed. July 25, 1787)  So the President would cater to whatever Governors would garner the most votes.  
4. Election by electors chosen specifically and only for the task of electing the President. (This is what we now know as the Electoral College.  I address problems with this in a bit.)  
5. Each citizen eligible to vote would be required vote for more than one candidate for President, among which at least one vote had to be cast for someone not from the citizen’s home state.  (This was proposed by Mr. Williamson.)  The problems with this were rife, including how would individuals know candidates outside their states (before the invention of radio or TV), and how would the logistics of this be enforced, and what real benefit was it over a general popular election?  These were all questions that kept this option from moving forward.
6. Mr. Dickenson even proposed that every citizen not “popular within his own state” would not be permitted to vote.  In Madison’s notes from July 26^th, he states that even Mr. Dickenson who proposed the idea recognized the inconvenience and logistical difficulties with this and rejected it himself.
7. A lottery to select electors from Congress.  Madison records that this suggestion elicited the response, “We ought to be governed by reason, not by chance.”

In thinking back over the Electoral College discussions I’ve been a part of throughout my education, the discussion is often approached in the wrong vein.  It’s approached by first establishing what’s terrible about the Electoral College and then supposing that a better option exists. 

I don’t think the Founders felt that way when they wrote the Electoral College into the Constitution.  Instead, (and from reading between the lines a bit in Madison’s notes from the Constitutional Convention) the Founders seemed to think the Electoral College wasn’t a perfect method of electing a President at all.  It caused representation issues (citizens who lived in states with higher populations actually had “less of an individual vote” because of the number of electoral votes per state), logistical issues (the Electoral College met once for one purpose – why not use a body that already existed like the legislature?), consistency issues (states got to choose how to elect their Electoral College representatives, and they got to determine by what criteria the electors would vote), etc. It was actually a really bad method of electing a President.

Although the Electoral College was far from a perfect method of electing a president, it was determined, after days of debate, sending the issue back to committee, and again debating it with the whole Continental Congress, that it was still the best (most agreeable) option for electing the President.  It was the worst option except for all the others that had been suggested.

I like to consider myself intelligent.  I have a BA from Hillsdale and an MA from Georgetown, and I’ve studied and gotten very good grades under some very strict/difficult instructors.  But I do not fancy myself in any way more intelligent or to have a better understanding of human nature and government that the men who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor in order to separate from England.  And it was many of the same men (who did the aforementioned in the Declaration of Independence) who then gathered to birth our nation through the writing and eventual adoption of the Constitution. 

I’m not smarter than them.  I don’t have better arguments than they do.  I haven’t observed human nature and understood it in the tense contexts that they had seen.  If I were to stand against the Electoral College it would be to stand against Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and the whole Continental Congress.  It’s not that there aren’t other ways the President could be elected – it’s just that they deemed the Electoral College the most favorable option.  And they left behind their reasons for that belief. 

For myself, I am in favor of the Electoral College.  And I hope after reading this you have a more informed opinion, whatever yours may be.

Photo Memories

I'm so thankful for pictures.  I have lots of memories of growing up, but the ones that are sharpest, the ones that are clearest, the ones that I remember best are memorialized forever in photographs.  Next to our bed, I have one of my very favorite pictures - it's the first family picture we ever took after Lily was born.  And it's priceless.  Even the thought of losing it makes me teary!  

My recent posts haven't had many pictures, so I'm making up for that with this little photo journal of our recent vacation.  It all began with Lily's first flight...

(Yes, I was really exhausted when we left.  I didn't realize how much you could see that on my face until I saw this picture!)  We flew to Orlando where we stayed a night in a hotel and then took a shuttle to our cruise ship.  When I read online that the room would be 120 square feet, I wasn't really understanding how small that was...

There was just enough room for Lily to practice her walking and throw the ball with her daddy.

We did sleep in two separate beds just like Dick Van Dyke and his wife did back in the day.  We put the two beds together initially, but there wasn't room for the Pack n Play, so we ended up separating them.  It worked out ok, because we only spent 1 night on the ship anyway.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, we disembarked the ship the next day in order to spend a couple of days in Orlando.  We had to wait quite a while for our shuttle to pick us up...

My Mom took us on the trip along with my brother and his wife and my sister.  Below is a picture of our ship, the Monarch of the Seas.  We joked that it was more like the Monarch of the Port.

We had a whole day in Orlando with nothing planned so we went to Universal Studio's Island of Adventure where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was opened a couple of years ago.  And it was AWESOME!

Above is my sister-in-law and below is my sister.  We had Pasties and Butter Beer in the Three Broomsticks, we rode the rides, we drank Pumpkin Juice and got Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  We even bought two wands!

It was SO cool and SO much fun!  I totally recommend it!  :)

The Island of Adventure also had lots of other attractions.  If you ever visit there, you MUST go on the Spider Man ride - it's VERY cool.  The Dr. Seuss area was also really fun, and a great area for smaller kids.  Lily was maybe a little too small for it.  She did ride one ride there, but she was NOT fond of the Cat in the Hat, as you can see in the picture below...

There's an area in Seussland themed after Gerald McGrew, the boy who imagined how he would run the zoo if he could.  Lily really enjoyed that area, especially since she's put that crawling business behind her and has joined the world of the walkers!

At the entrance of Universal Studios, there was a tiger that Lily growled at every time we walked by.  So on the way out, we stopped to pet it.  :)

By the end of the trip, Lilers was totally conked out.  She slept for 2 hours on one of our flights back to Nebraska.  Thank Heavens, because this mommy needed the 2 hours of sleep on the plane too!

She woke up for about the last 30 minutes of the flight and because it wasn't a full flight, she got to sit in her own seat.  (What a big girl!)

And those, my friends, are a number of the moments from our trip that were captured forever in photographs.  And I'm SO grateful to have them!

Porting

We were supposed to go on a cruise this weekend.  It was a small family cruise with my mom, sister, brother, sister-in-law, husband, and daughter.  We were supposed to leave out of Florida and go to the Bahamas.  As you might have guessed from the tense of the first few sentences, these things that were supposed to happen, did not, in fact, happen at all.

Here's what really happened.  We left on Thursday morning and were over 1/2 way to the airport (quite a trek in our neck of the woods), when I realized that I'd ruined the cruise before it had even started:  I left our cruise tickets sitting on the floor next to our bed.  Visions of my mother handing me the neatly organized "AAA" packet including the tickets and saying, "Just be sure to pack this!" flashed through my mind.

We called our friendly and supremely helpful AAA travel agent who assured us (after making a quick phone call to the cruise line) that it was no big deal.  We could still get on the ship as long as we had our birth certificates, which we did.  *Whew!*  Crisis averted.

We flew to Florida on two very uneventful flights (Lily was the best baby on the plane - napped in the Moby on the layover, played adorably on the flights).  We spent the night in a nice hotel, ate breakfast and boarded the shuttle to the ship.  This is when the story gets interesting again.

Enter Tropical Storm Sandy.  Why did she have to come?  *Sigh*  When we got off the shuttle at the cruise line's terminal, we were pelted with warm rain at 40 miles an hour.  Lily's nap in her Ergo ended quickly thanks to Sandy's blustery breath.  We raced into the terminal and avoided getting totally soaked.  We checked in and boarded the The Monarch of the Seas.

Once everyone was boarded and mostly unpacked, the captain came on the speakers and announced that thanks to Sandy-dear making 30-foot waves, we would not be leaving port until at least morning and that docking at Nassau and CocoaCay were out.  They were looking into other itineraries.  Boo Sandy.  We still enjoyed a delicious supper and a restful night's sleep.

At 8 this morning our friendly Norwegian captain came back on the speaker to announce that we would not be leaving port until at least tonight and if we left port tonight, we would have nowhere to dock tomorrow because we couldn't get anywhere.  He finished his explanation by making it perfectly clear: "So, we will go out and do our best to find the smoothest waters possible, but it will be a cruise to nowhere."

Our waiter at lunch today told us this never happens.  The captain offered us a small on ship credit (which couldn't be used in the casinos or any of the duty free shops because the ship couldn't open them until it was 1/4 mile off shore...) OR a voucher for a cruise of equal value at a later date.

Given the options, you can imagine which one we chose.  After 1/2 an hour on the phone with the travel insurance to confirm that the insurance would pick up the cost of a hotel for 2 nights until our flights home, and 1 1/2 hours on the phone with our new best friend "Tripple A Thomas," we hopped a shuttle to a lovely hotel.  We ate complimentary dinner served by the hotel, sat in the hot tub, showered, and are now enjoying the Husker game.

We have plans to entertain ourselves tomorrow at Universal's Island of Adventure - specifically at the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter!  My only regret is that I didn't know we were coming here so I didn't bring my wand.  :(  A small price to pay, I suppose.

Everyone has had a lovely time despite Sandy's best efforts to thwart our fun.  It turns out she's helped us get a 2 for 1 on cruises.  We were debating earlier today if we will still be considered "virgin cruisers" when we come back to redeem our vouchers on a cruise at a later date.  We got on the cruise ship, stayed over night, but the ship never actually left port - did we cruise or not?

Chase put it quite well:  If a normal cruise is going all the way, and never cruising before means you're a cruise virgin, then we made it to third base.  Better luck next time!    


(If any of you got to this in search of reviews of the Monarch of the Seas, I thought it was a nice ship - a little worn in that I could tell it wasn't a new ship by the wear you could see on the carpet and such, but still nice.  I felt like we'd have had a great cruise with my 13 month old had we actually cruised.  The staff was patient, positive and generally fantastic in our unusual situation.  I felt bad for the Customer Service reps who got yelled at by various cruisers who picked CS as the target to express their anger at the real problem: Sandy.  When we settled our account right before we disembarked, we received a note stating that we would be mailed a voucher for the amount paid for our cruise to be used on a future RC cruise.  I thought they handled it and the 2,300 other guests as well as can be hoped.  We are still in FL waiting to fly home, so I'm not sure how that will all work out, but so far so good.)  

A brush with the law (a.k.a. "The Bike Story")

I like to write, and as it turns out the hobby runs in the family.  My mom's dad has written down a number of stories from his growing up years as well as his years working as a TV repairman.  These are some of my most prized possessions.  Seriously, they cannot be replaced!  

One of my favorite stories that Grandpa wrote about is the story about his bike.  As aforementioned, he wrote it and I post it here for your reading pleasure.  Just envision the Andy Griffith Era as you read...

One day the town cop had pasted hand-written notices around town stating that it was illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalks of Henderson.  This posed quite a problem for us, because the streets were either dirt or gravel and very hard to ride on, especially when it rained or snowed.

One day shortly thereafter, I was riding home from school on the sidewalk.  The cop, who was also the town maintenance man had a hole dug along side the sidewalk.  As I approached, he jumped out of that hole and grabbed my bike.  "You're under arrest!" he said.  Then he gave me a ticket to appear in court.  when I got home, I told what had happened.  Mas, my brother, said, "Yeah, he got me too."  

Max and I decided that if we had to go to court, then all the other boys in town should go to court with us.  We thought that if we got enough boys to go with us, they wouldn't do anything.

The time arrived to appear before the judge.  We had quite a bunch of boys with us as we entered the town hall.  John, the cop, read the charges and everybody plead guilty.  Now, Judge Frank read the charges in his low German accent.  "One dollar fine or tirty days in jail wit da bicycles."  Of course, none of us had a dollar.  (That was a day's wages for a man at the time.)

The next morning we all delivered our bikes to the town hall wehre teh cop wheeled them into the jail cell, slammed the door shut and locked it.  We were allowed to visit our bikes later, which we did.

Now Max came up with a great idea.  "We need to get us another bicycle," he said.  so we started scrounging parts from all over town.  Soon we had enough to build a bik.  It was a high wobbly thing, but it could be ridden if you didn't go too fast.  We made a few dry runs around the yard, then we led that bike close to where teh cop was working.  I held it while Max got on and slowly rode  on the street back and forth, making sure the cop got a good look.

A couple of days later, Donald, the neighbor kid, and I were walking to town.  We spotted a hole along the side of the road with the cop's tools and jacket lying there, but he wasn't anywhere in sight.  I stood watch while Donald nailed his jacket to a light pole.

On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa came over for a visitf.  Grandpa wondered why we weren't out riding our bicycles.  When Mom told him what had happened, he wanted to know who had done this to us.  When she told him it was Judge Frank, he became quite upset.  I don't think Grandpa like Judge Frank.

I don't quite know what Grandpa did to that judge, but I'm quite sure it wasn't nice.  Grandpa had these big strong arms and hands, and when he got someone by the throat, they usually did as he requested. 

We all went together and picked up our bicycles.  I don't think that sidewalk ordinance was ever enforced again in Henderson.

And that, my friends, is "the bike story."  Isn't it great?!  I love it!  My Grandpa is just that kind of a guy - a guy who knows how to tell a story.  I hope someday to be just like him.  :)

Hello Kitty and such

A little over a week ago I wrote a post about the importance of celebrating birthdays.  I posted pictures of Lily's modest party with just her Mommy and Daddy on the day of her birthday.  I said in that post that whatever your tradition, however you do it, celebrate.  Well, our tradition (at least what I think will be our tradition) is to celebrate with immediate family on the day of the birthday, then at some convenient time close to the actual birth date, have a slightly larger party with those who mean the most to the celebrant.  

So below, I give you the 1st birthday party of Liliana Jo Francl.  It was, as you can see, Hello Kitty themed (at her request.  She said, "Meow, meow," when we walked by the Hello Kitty party decor in Walmart.)  We had it in our garage:

The treats

Hello Kitty cupcakes

Hello Kitty layer cake (top layer funfetti, bottom layer chocolate, chocolate icing in between!)

Singing to the birthday girl

Since the party happened a little over a week after her birthday and we celebrated before, she was well versed with how to stuff frosted cake in her mouth.  She picked up the cupcake with both hands, shoved it in her mouth and kept shoving until nothing but crumbs remained.

She read all of her cards (she loves to read), and they all had cats on them so she meowed at them too.

This was a sound card that clapped when she opened it - thanks Grandpa Dave! 

She still claps every time she opens it.

She got a Hello Kitty stuffed animal that she absolutely LOVES.  She's sleeping with it as I type.

Great Grandma Dorothy gave her a ball and she played catch with cousin Ella.

Surveying all the loot.  Thanks to all who came and showered our girl with love and things she'll love!

The aftermath: Tired baby, tired mommy, tired Hello Kitty (that's the white thing in the foreground).  

Headed straight for the crib.

Hello Kitty felt decals: $5

Cake mixes to make cake and cupcakes: $3

Borrowed equipment to pull off the party: tables, chairs & heaters

Having friends and family to help us celebrate 1 year of Lily: Priceless

Wondering and coats

Today was the first cold day of fall.  I mean, it was the first really cold day of fall.  When I woke up, it was in the 30's, and as I ran out of the house in my sweatshirt a couple of hours later, it was obvious that I was under dressed   But I refused to grab my coat.  I am loving fall, but I don't want to break out my coat.  Or to be more accurate coatS.

And I love coats.  Seriously.  I have a problem.  (Aren't you proud, honey?  The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem!)  I have a Columbia coat; I have a red wool coat (that is beeeeautiful, by the way); I have a white wool coat; I have a black wool coat; I have a black and brown dress coat; I have a tan trench; I have a black trench; I have a white and blue plaid trench; I have a navy pull over jacket; and I haven't even mentioned blazers, hoodies, or zip up sweatshirts yet.  *sigh*  What is with my reticence to break out my beloved coats?

Are you struggling to pull your coat from the closet?  To break out the scarves and mittens?  Is it just me?  Is it that fall is so wonderful this year that I want time to stop and somehow by not wearing my coats, I'm holding onto the early fall season?

After dropping my daughter off at my grandparents' farm for the morning, I drove past a tractor pulling full wagons and a combine picking away in the field.  The air smelled of fall, and I thought of the apple cider I drank yesterday in homage to the season.  And I wondered, What will the winter hold?

Last year at this time, I was adjusting to mommyhood and watching my baby change day by day before my eyes.  This year, my baby is turning into a toddler.  When it snows, we'll romp in the white fluff.  When it blows, we'll bundle and snuggle.

Last year I had a clear picture of where we were headed as a family - jobs, finances, housing, growth, rest.  This fall - right now, today - I'm content, settled, happy.  But unsure.  I see snippets of the coming days, but not the full picture.  I'm a planner, and I feel like I've reached the end of the plan in some ways.  I feel like there may be a surprise lurking around the corner (And no.  I'm not pregnant.).  But what it is, I don't know.  I feel like I'm waiting for it to hit, whatever it is.

Is that weird?  Good or bad, come what may, I'll take the mantra of Job.  "Blessed be the name of the Lord," and grab your coat!