Ungrateful Americans

Danielle sent this to me this week and I thought it needed to be shared.

Have a great week

Newsweek alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

What we are so unhappy about?

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. Yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country, instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts.. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations.

Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

Worldly heart

Having decided to go to marriage counseling with my husband after he had an affair was literally one of the hardest decisions that I have had to make. It seems like a simple yes or no answer, and as a Christian woman the right one. But it's not as easy as that. I never realized how much of the world I let creep into my head. I have a constant battle in my head over a godly or a worldly view. It was easier to make the decision to marry my husband than to choose to save it

The world tells me I am weak, and I am letting my husband walk all over me. The world tells me that my children deserve better, and to see me as a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man who treats me this way. The world tells me that it would be braver to step out on my own than stay with a man so he can help support me and my children.

A song that I sing every day when it comes on the radio tells me that a man who cheats deserve what ever they have coming to them

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seat...
I took a louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl,
cause the next time that he cheats..
oh you know it won't be on me!
no.. not on me..

Why do I feel so low when I am not the one who had an affair? Man, no wonder half of our marriages in the US end up in Divorce.

I have to keep telling myself that I am not letting him off the hook, we are going to work on this and that this is what is best for my children to have a full time mother and father. And to have us both committed.

So some changes in the Yager houshold.

Chris is going to be coming to Church on Sundays. Fot those who do not know Chris he is very shy, and very timid when it comes to big crowds and meeting new people. So keeping that in mind I am going to be taking a "time out" from the children’s ministry for the time being.

I don't know how I feel about that because the kids are my break from the real world every week, but I know it is what is best. It will just take some getting used to.

I want to thank all of you for your love and support. I love you all and I will keep you updated as to how we are doing.

Love,

Steph

What do I do

I am so confused. I don't know who to think of in my situation. Without getting into too many specifics my husband hurt me. To the point of me packing my bags for my kids and myself. I am more concerned for his stability than I am my own hurt though. I realize now that I don't love my husband, nit a way that a wife would and I don't think that I ever will be able to give him what he needs. He is very unhappy. I am past the caring part and I am to the point where I say screw it all. Why try. Why care with a husbannd that would do domething to me that he knows is going to ruin our marraige. And then after that he realizes he makes  mistake comes pleeding to me and I am jst supposed to take him back and accept it. I don't want to be one of those bitter women who hold their mistakes over their husbands head because they don't feel vindicated.

Now in the midst of all this mess between me and my husband I have these two precious little innocent children who have no clue as to the turmoil that is surrounding their lives.

MANNN!!! what do I do. Stay in a marraige where I am not comfortable with my husbands mental stability, with a man who I know doesn't love me he just loves that I take care of him,

Or do I try to make a better life for me and my boys by getting them out of the toxic environment that they live in at this point?

I am torn. I am hurting and I am frustrated that if it wasnt for the constant fear of disapointing those who love me that I would be gone allready.

I am frustrated by the facts that I keep making excusives to make myself feel better about leaving the boys father.

I want so bad to leave.. That is what my hearts is screaming at me.

I dread staying in a home with a man that I don't know I will every feel the same for.

I dread going to counciling because I am afraid it is going to reveal that the path to my husbands infidelity all stems at me.

I am scared that if I do leave my chldren will hate me whenthey get older.

I am scared that My heavenly father will be disapointed in me.

Wat do I do? I am broken and can't think.

Currently Listening The Joshua Tree By U2 see related

New years resolutions

Hope everyone had a good New Year. I was half asleep last night and I was thinking about music that makes me happy and music that makes me think of when I was a kid. I think anytime I hear u2, the cranberries, or blind melon It brings me back to a time when things were so different. Not necessarily better, but still happy times.

Sometimes I just like to reminisce.

When you hear those songs and think of those happy times who’s the first person that pops in your head?

For me it's Jason. My oldest friend. We met in fourth grade and have been like brother and sister since. When I think of my childhood every good memory I have has him in it.

Even though we are not as close as we used to be, we still try to get together often and talk at least once a week on the phone. Friends like that don't come around every day. When’s the last time you called an old friend.

What is one of your happy songs? One that makes you think of your childhood and reminds you of one of those true friends that have stuck around through the years.

at a time of reflection I am making one of my resolutions to hold tighter to those around me that I love and that love me. Jason being one of them. I am going to work harder at making my relationships with my friends and family stronger.

Pray for the mothers

Ok so it has been a really long time but I just feel like I haven't had much to say. I have really been just going on with my life happily nothing special just going on with my day to day life. I think I got my self in a rut. Just living not feeling.

Then last week I heard about Aaron. He was a little boy who I saw on the news. He was missing. A little autistic boy who was missing. The first thing that popped into my head was his mother. So I said a quick prayer just because that is what I trained myself to do. You know the dear God please bring him home safe. ect..... but I don't really think that I felt it. It was a trained reaction.

Then I found more out. When I got to work my co worker told me that this was her close friends son. All of a sudden this was personal. I had a friend that was hurting and she knew someone that was going through hell. I think that I tend to see these things on the news and I become desensitized.

So the rest of the day I am checking the news every 10 minutes And praying just as often. I just kept thinking about the little boy out there all alone. Scared. He was petrified of the dark petrified of being alone and couldn't call out to anyone to save him. I couldn't concentrate. I just kept hurting for this mother and her little boy.

Then I got the news that the little boy's body was found in the lake. It was like a ton of bricks. And I kept thinking of his mother who now lost her little boy.

His funeral was this weekend. The mother is hurting. And I know alot of other people around her that don't know how to help her. She is a strong woman. Strong in her faith and strong in spirit. But she needs our prayers. Send them out to God tonight. and pray that they reach her heart.

One of the children wrote her a card that they read at the funeral (notice the misspelling)

Dear Ms. Steele (her name is Juliette)

I am sorry about your sun. But He is in heaven now with God and he is happy. I hope your heart feels better.

We can take away from this the prayer of thanks that this little boy is living in heaven with his godly father (because his worldly one wanted nothing to do with him when he found out he had autism) and that he can do all the things that he couldn't do here on earth like singing and playing and having fun with other children and being able to communicate without any barriers.

And pray for his mothers heart. Keep her safe lord and help all of us mothers to hold our children a little closer and a little tighter tonight.