FOUR LADIES

 LADY #1 is Najla Mahmoud, the wife of Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi.  She is a cousin to Dr. Morsi and was 17 when they married.

President Morsi came to America in the 80's to get his Phd in engineering.  Two of their five children are American citizens because they were born in California.

In her first interview, Mrs. Morsi has said she rejects the title "first lady" and believes the president's wife should not meddle in politics.  That statement would seem at odds with her activities (explained below).

 LADY #2 is Saleha Abedin, a Pakistani widow and sociology professor who lives/teaches in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Abedin works with The Global Peace Initiative of Women, studying social/cultural issues and how they interface with gender/religious identity.  She is a specialist in Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries and was once listed as representing the Muslim World League (a Saudi charity with terrorist ties that promotes Sharia law).

What do LADIES #1 and 2 have in common besides women's issues and their Muslim faith?  They are reported to be two of the 63 leaders in the female division of the Muslim Brotherhood; together they serve on the Guidance Bureau.

LADY #3 is Huma Abedin, the daughter of LADY #2.  She was born in Michigan and raised in Saudi Arabia and speaks fluent Arabic, Urdu (Pakistani), and English.

An actively practicing Muslim, Huma Abedin is also the wife of the Jewish Democratic former Congressman, Anthony Weiner, who resigned last June in disgrace.

Huma Abedin has served in our government for the past sixteen years.

 LADY #4 is our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

What do LADIES #3 and 4 have in common?  Huma Abedin is Chief-of-Staff for our Secretary of State.

An intersection of worldviews now causes concern:

if one of the stated missions for the Muslim Brotherhood is to "destroy Western Civilization from within"...

 ...then how did the Secretary of State's chief-of-staff (with access to state secrets) get security clearance?  Is is reasonable to wonder how someone with close familial ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (both Huma's mother and brother are active) was hired?

It seems that while America has gotten squishy about what we believe (while trying to tolerate and believe everything), other cultures are quite sure of their goals.

Ridiculous and conspiratorial?  It WOULD be if we didn't have examples of our naive tolerance biting us in the buttocks.

Didn't political correctness run amuck when we ignored the threat of the Fort Hood shooter? Then, incredibly...the government later redefined the incident to be "workplace violence".  Workplace violence and radical Islamization are two very different things.

These concerns have now been translated into a letter sent June 13, 2012 to the Inspector General in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence by five sitting members of Congress....Louie Gohmert, Trent Franks, Thomas Rooney, Lynn Westmoreland, and Michelle Bachmann.  link

In our culture we exalt power and beauty and this article in Vogue magazine is quite glamorous.  Huma Abedin (Weiner) may be truly serving out of a heart for America.  I hope she is.  But "Muruna" exists.  You might want to google it.

We Americans like to puff out our chest about how diverse and tolerant and open-minded we are.  This is just a call to be wise in a dangerous world.  And to put "feet" to that call, I'd like to pray regularly for Huma.  Would you consider doing the same?

REPUBLICANS AND RACE

Jack Nicholson grew up thinking his mother was his sister and his grandparents were his parents.  When Jack was 37, he heard the truth from an investigative reporter and it shook his foundations.  What disorienting news!

Here's something else that would be disorienting.

What if you went into the voting booth and set race above all other issues...voting en masse ( 95%)...for one party.  Then one day you found the party you supported had worked AGAINST your defining issue.  Wouldn't that rattle your timbers as well?

There is a lot of hot air these days about racist Republicans.  Here's a little history that would explain why Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. was a lifelong Republican.

1854

To stop the spread of slavery, the Republican Party is formed.  The other party is pro-slavery.

1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (authored by a Democrat, Stephen Douglas) is written to spread slavery; the Republican Party opposes the act.

1861

President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was elected and most states controlled by Democrats seceded from the Union in protest.

1863

Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves; the Democrats continue to support slavery.

1864

The Republican Party platform calls for complete abolition of slavery.  

1865

The 13th Amendment passes and abolishes slavery forever.  Republican support is 100% and Democratic support is 23%.

1866

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 passed to protect the rights of newly-freed slaves.  The act had passed the prior year, but Democratic President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill.  Republicans vigorously presented it again and got it through Congress.  President Johnson vetoes it again and was later impeached by the House, but acquitted in the Senate.

1868

The 14th Amendment passes and recognizes newly freed slaves as U.S. citizens.  Republicans support it 94%, Democratic support is 0%.

1870

The 15th Amendment passes and makes secure the right to vote to newly-freed slaves.  Republicans support the amendment 100%, and Democratic support is 0%.

1871

The Civil Rights Act of 1871 (the anti-KKK Act) is passed by Republicans.  The KKK was begun two years earlier as the "terrorist arm" of the Democratic Party.

1875

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 passed and is the first anti-discrimination law in America.  Republicans supported it 99% and Democratic support was 0%.

1884

A Republican former slave and African-American Congressman, John Lynch, chaired the 1884 Republican National Convention.  Teddy Roosevelt seconded his nomination.

1914

President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, segregates the Federal government and U.S. military, reversing 50 years of previous integration.

1915

The first movie was shown in the White House.  Democratic President Woodrow Wilson shows "Birth of a Nation", which portrays the KKK heroically.

1922

Republican Leonidas Dyer passes the first "anti-lynching" law through the House of Representatives.  Of the 119 members who voted AGAINST the bill, 103 were Democrats.

1957

Republican President Dwight Eisenhower passes the first Civil Rights law in 82 years and the Democratic Party filibusters the bill. Republican support is 92% and Democratic support is 54%.

1960

Republican President Dwight Eisenhower passes the Civil Rights Act of 1960.  The Democratic party filibusters the bill.  Republicans support it 93% and Democrats support is 68%.

1964 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, due largely to Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (who helped write/push the bill through a Democratic filibuster).  Republicans support the bill 80% and Democratic support was 63%.  




Please tell me...how in the WORLD have we come from such emperical evidence...to today?  Facts cannot massage the truth.  Surely irony is pushed over the edge to see Democrats use race against Republicans.


It's true that in 1964, it was Democrats JFK and LBJ who called for civil rights and were the faces that rightly received credit (while Arkansas' Democratic Senator Fulbright teamed up with other Democratic Southern Senators like Al Gore, Sr. and Robert Byrd to personally filibuster AGAINST the bill for 14 hours straight and a total 83 days).  So we give credit where credit is due.  


But if it seems courageous to call for civil rights in the 1960's, can we just imagine what it was like to make the call in the 1860's?   Republicans know what that was like.


Our President campaigned behind a podium with letters that said TURNING THE PAGE ON RACE.  Everyone wanted that!  He promised to unite us and bring people together, but today all we hear is division and rancor; race is a LOT more polarizing than it was four years ago.  And somewhere along the way, the tags were switched on which party supports which issue.  

Can we even imagine this racist poster from the 1800's that was designed to help Democrats?  Not so pretty, is it?  But it made the clear distinction between party platforms.


History stands. Republicans have consistently been an advocate for civil rights from the very beginning.  They stood for right when it was hard to stand.  All the reparations in the world do not change that fact. 

So as we move through these next 115 days before the election, be prepared for charges of racism to fly. 


But please call truth to mind. 

COOL REFLECTIONS ON THE FOURTH

Mike and I stayed in on the Fourth this year and rested.

That seemed wise since we are in the second week of triple digit temps that have made it so dry that a burn ban is in effect.  In fact, all individual fireworks have been shut down.

It's sad to drive by all the fireworks stands and not see ONE customer.  Some folks are taking a huge hit to the wallet this Fourth of July.

With time to look out the windows, we were entertained by some new backyard visuals.

 NATGEO VISITORS
In the morning, we noticed a brown streak and realized it was two spotted fawns that were dropped in June.  They were zipping around as if it were spring and then they settled down to enjoy the shade.

It's fun to see their Mama just appear magically out of the woods to check on them.  She's never far.

This fellow lit on our arbor in the afternoon.  I'm no raptor expert, but after googling "hawks", I've learned there are tons of varieties.

Perhaps this guy is a Rough-Legged Hawk.  He's only about two feet long, but has an impressive four foot wingspread.

The article says he likes mice and insects; Mike thinks he's eating our grasshoppers.  Good.

REMEMBERING
This July 4th is the second anniversary of Mike's father's death.  Mike gave Daddy Bert's caregiver and secretary a call.  They were so kind to Bert.

We've thought it pretty neat that Daddy Bert's last day was Independence Day.

BRANSON VACAY
We downloaded pictures from last week's trip when the Little Rock Cruses met the Saferites and F'ville Cruses up at Branson.

Branson is such a great place for families to play because of its wholesome atmosphere and friendly people.  A kid-friendly place is getting to be an endangered species.  Our friends the Nouguiers blessed us with two condos for the kids at Holiday Hills and that also included a spot for our motor home.

Silver Dollar City was Day One.  True, it was 103 degrees, but that thinned the crowds so that our crew didn't have to contend with lines at the rides.  And your blood runs cold when you ride the Plunge.  Look at that point man lean into it!  (click to enlarge...those faces are priceless)

Late in the afternoon when their faces were red, they ducked into an indoor bubble show.  The kids were very impressed and jabbered about how the Bubble Man could blow square bubbles.  My turn at being impressed was that Papa kept up with the crew all day in the heat.  Beth and Will and I had a leisurely time in the air-conditioned condo.

Joe's Crab Shack was a good rendezvous after a day in the park.  The cousins had such a good time with one another.

The next day was for Whitewater and Beth got to go along while Papa and I kept Will.

I've been around some happy babies, but I'll wager Will is the happiest and easiest to take places.  You grin at him and he grins at you.

Wait.  It may be a tie between Lily and Will for the title of happiest/easiest. 

One of Lily's favorite things to do is don jewelry from a box of old costume jewelry that her Grandmother Erma donated.  Wasn't that a brilliant gift?

All three girls love to garb up, but here's Lily in a nice pair of pearl earbobs.  

The Cruses @Whitewater...

...and after Whitewater.  You pay a place to take the starch right outta you.

The next morning Laura and Beth hit the outlet malls while Matt kept the baby all day and Brad took the other kids to see the animals @Bass Pro Shop and then to Sight and Sound Theatre to buy tickets to see "Joseph".  

This is the Sight and Sound Theatre which sits atop a tall hill in Branson.  "Joseph" was such a treat!  Mike and I went a day early so that we could see the play.  It really brought the Bible to life.  

The theatre has 30' props and side stages that make it "wraparound".  They use real animals (camels and sheep and horses) that come down the aisles.  The music was recorded by the Prague Orchestra.  It's first class.

We loved that the grands all knew the story of Joseph.  "Oh, we know that story" they all said, when asked.  I wasn't sure that they would recognize what the sheaves of wheat were in the play, so I asked if they knew what bowed down to Joseph in his dream.  Two kiddos said something about his brothers, but Hanna said "well, actually it was the bunches of wheat that bowed down".  Hanna doesn't miss a thing.  

Here's a link to the STORY and also a VIDEO.  If you're in the neighborhood, "Joseph" is a great investment of time and money.  It will be showing until the end of the year.

DOUBLY GRATEFUL

My husband is a dear man who is tenderhearted and likes to reflect.  Although I've accused him of playing "melancholy delight"...we both have played that game lately.  

One night at dinner in Branson, Mike looked down the "table for eleven" and kept shaking his head and saying..."I can't believe we have five grandchildren".  He wasn't marveling that we were old enough to have them; we're more than old enough.  We just marvel at God's goodness.

So for our time of life..and for our sovereign placement in a country which has afforded more liberty and comfort than we deserve...we thank our gracious Father in heaven.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed  is the one who takes shelter in him!" Psalm 34.8

HONORING OUR FATHER

God revealed Himself to us as our father.  Jesus said to pray "Our Father, which art in heaven...".

But when a child does not know his heavenly father (or even his earthly father), his belief system may easily be swayed.  That is true on an individual level as well as on the national level.  If we do not know what our founding fathers set out for us, we can drift from those moorings.

In a day of divergent cultural thought, one sweet spot of agreement is that fathers are key to healthy child development.  Both secular and faith-based leaders link arms in their high regard for fatherhood.

That is why it is curious that fathers are held up to ridicule in the media.  We used to have an electric friend to fathering when the television showed Andy Taylor mentoring Opie...or when Cliff Huxtable steered his crew.  Now the sitcoms characterize fathers as bumbling schlubs.

Today I was listening to Dr. Michael Youssef salute fathers.  He used the first chapter of Job to explain a father's high calling as "family priest".  Dr. Youssef says that of all the roles a father assumes, this one as family priest is the most important.

Imagine the societal salve if all men were aware of this potential!  If you have 25 minutes, click on this  LINK  to hear Dr. Youssef's great exortation.  

The three things I took away from his talk illustrate how Job understood his role as family priest:

COMMITMENT
Scripture says Job was a righteous man.  He had a holy fear of the Lord which was lived out in front of his family by a DAILY sacrifice offering for EACH of his ten children.  Job reasoned "perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts".

As the offering was consumed and the smoke rose to heaven, Job's hope was the burning sacrifice would assuage God's burning anger over sin.  Of course, Job was not "covering" his sons' sin, but showing his understanding of the human heart and calling his boys to examine themselves and seek forgiveness.  


Assuming the burnt offering cost Job ten of his flock each day, those kids waked each morning to observe their Dad's first activity of the day was to give up for them of his riches (flocks) because he trusted God to provide.  .Job was an intentional shepherd in his family's spiritual life.  

CARING
Scripture says Job was highly regarded in his family and his community.  Caring for others must have sifted down into the kids' lives because they demonstrated brotherly love.  Job 1:4 says that Job's sons used to go and hold a feast in each other's homes, and they included their sisters as well.

Their dad was a family priest who was a leader... generous, hospitable and engaged in his family.  The children followed his footsteps.

CONSISTENCY
Scripture says Job was steadfast.  He was not one way with others and different at home.

Who could doubt Job's consistency?  When God gave Satan permission to buffet Job, this dear man held fast.  In the face of alarming calamity, we can read his response in Job 1:20,21.  It says when the unspeakable happened, he WORSHIPPED, saying "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Surely that response was made possible by the Holy Spirit.   Job had a consistent walk with the Lord.


I'm just guessing that Job's report card must have had all "A's" in commitment and caring and consistency.  Does that seen unreachable?  Consistency is not perfection.  We know Jesus to be the only perfect One; the rest of us move forward as His enabling allows.  It is slack-cutting to realize that God equips and enables whatever He calls us to do.  


Today we no longer sacrifice animals, but we sacrifice time to model godly character...including "how to repent",  "how to put God first", and "how to give to the Lord".  AND we sacrifice in prayer.  Just as Job sacrificed an animal for each child, we pray daily for each child's individual needs.   


Women think they have a hard row to hoe because God calls them to submit.  But it's also hard work to achieve excellence as a family priest.  If your home has one, give thanks today.

LAUGHING OUT LOUD

The Doubletree B&B welcomed friends last week.  Our missionary friend Anna was on her way to a wedding and she brought a friend named Susan with her.  Susan is an intern who doesn't speak any English.  That set the stage for some serious serotonin downloads.

All four of us had terrific belly laughs because it took three of us and some charades to explain things that Susan saw in our house.  She went from one game head to another, pointing and clicking her camera and then excitedly speaking a stream of unknown words.

We loved hearing Anna's Chinese response!  She has gotten effortless as she gave the translation while Susan nodded and replied "ahh...ahh".  We were clueless.






  At one point Anna had to go get her iPhone to check the Chinese-English dictionary for "antelope".  Most of our animals are not found in China and that is why Susan was so fascinated with them; she stood and gazed a long time at the three species of mountain sheep.  Anna tried to explain that they lived in the mountain range that came down from Alaska through Canada, the U.S., and down into Mexico.  We looked up "Alaska" in Chinese and had another good laugh.  Susan was fascinated that the sheep had glass eyes.

When we got to the sunroom, Susan was delighted because she finally saw something familiar.  The Chinese ring-necked pheasant was imported to this country from Asia in 1857.  Mike was showing Susan the pheasant's origin on the computer.

Both women had many turkey questions and Mike had a lot of fun describing the habits of the wild turkey.  He demonstrated the mouth call and the box call and explained his goal was to sound seductive like a girl turkey.  Mr. Turkey responds by fanning his tail and "displaying" for his prospective love interest.  In the process, good sense is tossed to the wind and the hunter gets a chance to bag him.  Anna gave a giggle-translation for that story.  The hand motions were priceless.

Mike took down a piece of driftwood that held a pair of wood ducks.  They touched them and we talked about how the feathers were real, but the insides of the duck were gone.  Taxidermy must not be big in China.

Anna explained to Susan that in the old days, wooden ducks were carved and put in the water to attract ducks flying over.  Mike blew his duck call and then let Susan try.  Chinese people do not have the intonation that says "quack" through the nose.  Susan tried blowing the call and had a ball trying to get any sound out at all.  She has a great sense of humor and readily laughed at herself.

Mike's lanyard was interesting to Susan and she asked lots of questions about the duck bands.  Mike had Anna explain to Susan that the ducks are banded before leaving Canada.   Then they fly south for the winter, some stopping in our neighborhood and others going on down to South America before returning in the spring to their original area.  Susan wanted to know why one of the bands was worn smooth.  That was because the particular duck had worn it for 13 years.  She asked why there were several small bands and Mike said they were from a quail and dove.  That sent us back to the dictionary, which Anna found to be not particularly helpful.  The Chinese word for "dove" referred to the chocolate Dove candy.

As we headed upstairs, I heard Susan behind us asking Anna about another item.  Anna said..."she likes your picture of the American president, George Washington".

Anna must have been exhausted last night, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visitors.  We laughed a lot with two precious women that are our friends for life.  The night caused us think about how another culture perceives things that we never give a second thought.

We got new eyes from their visit...not glass ones, but new ones all the same.

UPRISING

When Katrina's waters rose, we were glued to the news and our collective compassion was rubbed raw because there seemed no way to help the trapped New Orleanians on rooftops.

Now it is Syria who has no help in sight.  Desperate Syrians are being bombed daily by their own government.  Their "uprising" began in March of 2011 and has resulted in thousands of deaths.

Diplomats and ambassadors have been kicked out of the country.  The UN sent Kofi Annan to broker a peace plan, but that got nowhere.  Our government sounds like a drippy faucet as we continue to repeat "you better not do that", speaking to ears who could care less.

Today Russia has sent attack copters to "aid" the government effort.  That will not be good news in Homs, where each day brings escalation and death.

So who is fighting who(m)...and why?

Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria.  He is a member of a small Shi'ite sect called Alawites which make up 15% of Syria's population.

The 75% Sunni majority are the people demanding freedom and being terrorized.  So the conflict is within Islam (Alawite Shia vs. Sunni).

Syrian intelligence and elite military units follow President Assad, but it is his shadowy "shabiha" (literally in Arabic, "ghosts") who are feared most.

These men in black t-shirts roam freely at night and are credited for the mass atrocities.  After the government shells an area, they go house to house, pulling out survivors to execute them.  Today's press reports say these ghosts of Syria are torturing children and using them as human shields.

The ghosts of Syria support the president, but no one seems to have any direct oversight over them.  What a lethal mix...currish thugs with no accountability.

The writing on this wall says "Assad or we will burn Syria".

America finds this killing repugnant, but what can we do? How do you give people an appreciation for the value of life?  Shall we kill more people to stop the killing?

Is it our responsibility to stand between Muslims who have no regard for the life of a brother?

Syrians are calling for freedom, but we know from other Arab springs that freedom is not the end product.
Christians in Syria have historically been free from harassment under the present government.  Would that change under new management?

What is America to do about this humanitarian disaster?

Reasonable people can meet in the intersection of several irrefutable truths:

LIFE IS A GIFT OF GOD 

AND HIS ALONE TO GIVE OR TAKE AWAY.

THOSE WHO MURDER WILL STAND BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY 

TO GIVE A DEFENSE.

OUR ENEMY COMES TO STEAL AND KILL.  

HE IS A MURDERER AND THE FATHER OF ALL LIES.

IT IS A PRIVILEGE/BLESSING TO LIVE UNDER THE RULE OF LAW.

BASE MEN PREY ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

King Solomon was reported to be the wisest man who ever lived.  Here's what he had to say about the coming day of accountability...  "Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether good or evil."  Ecclesiastes 12.14


The ghosts of Syria will not be the only ones looking for a rock to crawl under in that day.

FRUITFUL

Yes, that is all one family.  And they are special folks.

The Mama in the picture had a certain familiar third grade teacher who can remember when other kids wanted to grow up and be a fireman or a nurse...Amy wanted to grow up and be a Mama with lots of kids.

Amy is living her dream.

Meet Josh.  He's the fine man that has made Amy's dreams come true.

Josh gets a big hunka chunka respect.  That respect is not for picking Amy out of the crowd.  That would have been a no-brainer.  He gets respect for putting shoes on all of his crew...and for staying steady at the wheel.

Speaking of wheels, this is how Josh drives their big commercial van to the beach for vacation.  

.     

Can you just imagine the logistics of going out to eat, much less going to Florida?

Check out the van below.  Pretty orderly, eh?

Josh and Amy's relationship began through the eyegate.  Amy was thirteen and sitting in Sunday school when a new boy walked in.  Amy leaned over to her friend Kendall and whispered "he's CUTE!"  Their relationship grew stronger foundations, and they've been married 17 years this summer.  He's still pretty cute, don't you think?

For the last four years, their children have been homeschooled.  Josh believed they should at least see how that worked for their family.  Amy was overwhelmed with the idea at first.  Then as she says..."the Lord has a way of doing a 180 on your heart.  He impressed on me to listen to the desires of my husband's heart."  They tried home schooling, and it fit them.  Amy says she loves it because it gives them a chance to learn while they do life together and grow closer.  Plus they are first to the beach.

But of course when they go anywhere, people stare.  Some gapers are brassy enough to ask questions. Amy says the two most common queries are:

#FLABBERGASTED  "Are all those kids yours?"

Amy posted this quote to the left on Facebook to address that question.  Moms love the absurdity of the quote.

Once, as she drove through Mickey D's for ice cream, the lady at the window craned her head way out to check the multiple van riders.  Then her comment was "GIRL!  I hope they are paying you a LOT to take care of all those children."

Of course the paycheck comes in doing what Amy is wired to do.  Amy is flourishing as she serves her children.

#UPCLOSEANDPERSONAL  "Are you Catholic?"

Politely Amy explains that they are not Catholic, but just love children.  The skeptic, thinking no one loves children THAT much, wonders if they have an OctoMom need for attention.  Good grief!  There must be a gazillion easier ways to garner attention.

We were in Josh and Amy's church when we lived in Little Rock.  Believe it or not, they volunteer regularly @the Children's Ministry desk, checking in children.  I truly can't imagine how even the five girls get out the door with coordinated bows, much less the girls AND the boys AND the baby-of-the-day.  These are well-behaved kids who help each other.  How else would it work?

One of the sweetest stories I heard Amy tell was when about halfway through the birth order,  Josh announced to the children that Mama was having a baby.  A small voice piped up "didn't we just have one?"

In the olden days, people had multiples because the crops needed harvesting and it took many hands to get all the work done.  These days, many hands are considered work.

Josh and Amy say that of course their family takes intentional effort, but they also know that the Lord showers blessings through His gift of children.  They have been privileged to get to know and care for some brand new human beings.  And these kids will grow up knowing how to nurture others.  All the schools in the world can't teach that.

The bottom line for this couple?  They want to be open to what the Lord has for their family.  Their lives are fruitful as they introduce some of the next generation to the Savior.  What a grand statement they make for life!

P.S.

Have you counted heads in that first picture?  If so, you know that there were an odd number of kiddos (5 girls and 4 boys).  That picture was taken at Seaside, Florida LAST year.  And Amy was... yep... pregnant with the little boy she had six months ago.  You should know that now the boys and girls have evened out.

GREETINGS FROM SEASIDE 2012!