Here we are again.. approaching probably the most horrid months of television viewing ever in history. The months before a presidential election. So before it all starts, I want to personally address anyone that thinks they can be the next president of this great country (or what's left of it).
I, Michelle Schumacher, just a regular citizen - home schooling mom of 2, mom of a special needs child, wife of an over the road truck driver, full time college student - hereby, on this fifth day of September, 2011 duly challenge YOU (all those running for any office), to run a clean campaign.
What?!?! Really, how dare I ask? What is a clean campaign? Well, glad you asked - I'll be glad to fill you in.
I challenge YOU to tell me what YOU intend to do for our country. I challenge YOU to tell me what you've already done for your constituents. I challenge YOU to tell me why YOU deserve my vote. YOU have to earn it this year. Voting is a priveledge, not a right. So make my trip across town exciting.
I don't want to hear your ad's smearning your opponents. I don't care if they wrote a bad check in college. I don't care if they've had indescretions. Hey - who hasn't? I don't care if they said a bad word. If they are abusive, it will come out - but I don't want YOU to be the one paying millions upon millions of dollars creating a campaign around that!
I want YOU to spend MY money for good! Yes I said MY money. If we didn't pay taxes, you wouldn't have a salary. So I feel that I have a say on how you spend it! I don't want to dread turning on the televsion for 8 long months seeing your nasty words against your opponents. I won't vote for you if you do! Spend your time doing good for us. Show us that you will be a good president/congress person/senate person/state rep. Prove it to me.
If you choose to smear your running mates, I want you to PERSONALLY contact me and tell my why you chose to do that. Tell me why I should vote for you because you're being nasty and hurtful. Why would I want a person like that leading my future and the future of my children? Do you want your children/grand-children seeing that kind of message on the television or YouTube? Trust me, it WILL be there.
If you are challenged to a stand-off, do the right thing.
If you are a Christian - proclaim it! Don't be ashamed! Maybe He has a great plan for you to turn around this country. If you deny Him, then... hey, you made that bed!
Don't give in to pressures from the lobbyists - don't support something you truly don't believe in - no matter how much they give to your campaign. Follow your heart not your wallet.
I also challenge you to think about where you came from. Consider the little man, the backbone of this great nation. Why do you want to keep taking from us? Tell me that in your campaign speeches! Tell me why prices keep coming up and benefits and pay rates keep going down. Why the corporate monsters keep growning and growing? Why gas keeps going up? Why people keeps losing their homes and going hungry in the richest nation on the planet? Why those that make the laws keep getting richer?
If you can come to me and truthfully answer these questions - then we'll talk about you getting my vote.
Tell me, do YOU have the guts to step up and be a real candidate? Or are you going to be a chicken butt and hide behind slamming your opponents?
I look forward to hearing from YOU!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Best Friends Forever - A personal Conviction
I've been thinking alot lately about best friends. Where did you meet yours? Kindergarten? Kids in the same class, same ball team? Coffee shop? Church? College? Some weird website for moms?
What makes your best friend your best friend? Common interests? Been friends so long you don't remember? We just are, can't really explain it?
So, why have I been thinking about this particular subject? The past couple of months have been extremely emotional for me. First backing up to the Spring and finding out about my son's brain disorder, that I've suspected all along was real. Then finally, after 12 LONG years of seeking help, getting him accepted to a facilty that treats brain issues. And then, actually letting him go - to live - 3 hours from home. A tough decision for any parent, yes.. relief that the house is peaceful - absolutely!... missing him.. of course. Makes for an emotional me? You bet!
Not that my son's situation really has a direct affect on the topic for the day, but it puts some insight on my emotional state and what I've been pondering for quite some time.
Best friends.... my very first best friend - the girl I shared everything with - lockers, friends, secrets, McD's fries, bus seats, dorm room in Hawaii - you get the picture... well we became close in junior high.. and through the year and a half I was in high school. I found out I was moving to Texas and she stopped speaking to me. It wasn't until last year (27 years later) that we spoke again - not for lack of my efforts. We're not close like we were... it's more like we have always just been acquaintences. My next best friend I met in Texas. She was the first one to make me feel welcome at my new school. We stayed close for the years until I graduated. We shared a lot through those 3 years - the death of a good friend, boy-friend drama, band trips, endless sleepovers - she even went on a blind date so I could go out with my boyfriend.
As the years passed, our lives went in different directions and I ended up back in Illinois. We lost touch several times... we still speak - occassionally, but again, its just not the same.
There have been many times that I observe my female friends and their relationships with their friends and honestly, I'm jealous. I'm not saying I don't have good friends - but as the past few years have passed... I have become aware, convicted, and painfully reminded that I'm completely to blame for my lack of a BFF.
No - really, surely I don't really think that! Right?
Oh how sweet of you to think that! (insert Laugh out Loud).
I do have friends... gals, ladies, girls, etc... that I do talk to ~ occassionally.. not that I just call up and say hey what's up and talk for a while... I have friends that I see once a week on sunday morning... I have ladies that I guess I consider friends but would never call them to ask for advice, for a recipie, or even a cup of sugar... I do have people that I can call if I need someone to watch over my daughter in an emergency - but I feel a huge heap of guilt for asking but have no other choices... my daughter chastises me for not going to the ladies event at church - I don't fit in... I have tried on several occasions, but I just don't know how to belong. the ladies there have been friends for years - i just don't know how to go about fitting in... honestly I hvae tried... but........
I am not a good friend. I don't really think I know how to be. It's kind of like my parenting skills - quite rough. I am not the friend who just calls out of the blue to say hi.. nor am I the one who makes plans for whatever. The message from our sermons for the past three weeks has been from Romans 12. I've been convicted that I am quite self-serving, self-absorbed, you can fill in the blanks as it fits to how you perceive me... really - I won't be offended.
Maybe i'm too wrapped up in the problems with my son and protecting my daughter. Maybe I'm too focused on school work (ok, there can't be too much slacking in that area - I will be selfish there)... Maybe i'm not versed enough in the Bible - WOW! Poor excuse there... the only person to blame for my short-comings is me.
I want to be a good friend... I want to have a best friend that I can tell absolutely everything about anything and be accepted and vise-versa.
So a few weeks ago I was fixing my hair or something that required me to look in the mirror. I did not like what i saw. Not one bit. The expression on my face is hard - unfriendly. Geez I thought - I wouldn't want to be friends with that person. I could blame it on a rough childhood and young adult life. Ok, so I will lay some of the blame there - unhappyness kind of follows you if you don't cut the leash at some time.. or if you cut it but let it follow for so long - it just keeps following you.. (I just made that up)..
I know I have a strong personality - I mentioned that a while back in another post. It's been something I have been really, really, really working on. I am trying to not be so quick to judge. I have been trying to not have such a quick tongue (oh that one is killing me - as I've very (to the point of too much) fluent in sarcasm). When someone does something that I perceive as stupid - I say something. When someone hurts my child (which there is some of that going on right now with my daughter) I have found myself being not nice to that person and her family. I mean she's turned a couple of my daughter's long time friends against her.. but here, see, I'm not being nice by gossiping about how rotten I think it all is.
So as I have read back through this.. it's almost like a poor me post... not meant to be that way.. just observations about me. Sometimes I think it helps to write it down and reflect. Then after a time come back and see if I am allowing the Lord to work through me or if I am continuing to do it MY way.
Now, if you are reading this and I personally know you and I have not been the kind of friend I should be, could be, or you'd like me to be... pray with me, pray for me... I want to be a BFF and emphasize the last F. I don't mean that I need a million friends.. but you know.. I want to learn to be a friend - a friend and sister in Christ.. I want to lose my crassness and hardened edges and have His light shine through me...
Romans 12: 9-21
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
one last personal note to m. I am so blessed by your friendship and I do thank the Lord everyday for you!
What makes your best friend your best friend? Common interests? Been friends so long you don't remember? We just are, can't really explain it?
So, why have I been thinking about this particular subject? The past couple of months have been extremely emotional for me. First backing up to the Spring and finding out about my son's brain disorder, that I've suspected all along was real. Then finally, after 12 LONG years of seeking help, getting him accepted to a facilty that treats brain issues. And then, actually letting him go - to live - 3 hours from home. A tough decision for any parent, yes.. relief that the house is peaceful - absolutely!... missing him.. of course. Makes for an emotional me? You bet!
Not that my son's situation really has a direct affect on the topic for the day, but it puts some insight on my emotional state and what I've been pondering for quite some time.
Best friends.... my very first best friend - the girl I shared everything with - lockers, friends, secrets, McD's fries, bus seats, dorm room in Hawaii - you get the picture... well we became close in junior high.. and through the year and a half I was in high school. I found out I was moving to Texas and she stopped speaking to me. It wasn't until last year (27 years later) that we spoke again - not for lack of my efforts. We're not close like we were... it's more like we have always just been acquaintences. My next best friend I met in Texas. She was the first one to make me feel welcome at my new school. We stayed close for the years until I graduated. We shared a lot through those 3 years - the death of a good friend, boy-friend drama, band trips, endless sleepovers - she even went on a blind date so I could go out with my boyfriend.
As the years passed, our lives went in different directions and I ended up back in Illinois. We lost touch several times... we still speak - occassionally, but again, its just not the same.
There have been many times that I observe my female friends and their relationships with their friends and honestly, I'm jealous. I'm not saying I don't have good friends - but as the past few years have passed... I have become aware, convicted, and painfully reminded that I'm completely to blame for my lack of a BFF.
No - really, surely I don't really think that! Right?
Oh how sweet of you to think that! (insert Laugh out Loud).
I do have friends... gals, ladies, girls, etc... that I do talk to ~ occassionally.. not that I just call up and say hey what's up and talk for a while... I have friends that I see once a week on sunday morning... I have ladies that I guess I consider friends but would never call them to ask for advice, for a recipie, or even a cup of sugar... I do have people that I can call if I need someone to watch over my daughter in an emergency - but I feel a huge heap of guilt for asking but have no other choices... my daughter chastises me for not going to the ladies event at church - I don't fit in... I have tried on several occasions, but I just don't know how to belong. the ladies there have been friends for years - i just don't know how to go about fitting in... honestly I hvae tried... but........
I am not a good friend. I don't really think I know how to be. It's kind of like my parenting skills - quite rough. I am not the friend who just calls out of the blue to say hi.. nor am I the one who makes plans for whatever. The message from our sermons for the past three weeks has been from Romans 12. I've been convicted that I am quite self-serving, self-absorbed, you can fill in the blanks as it fits to how you perceive me... really - I won't be offended.
Maybe i'm too wrapped up in the problems with my son and protecting my daughter. Maybe I'm too focused on school work (ok, there can't be too much slacking in that area - I will be selfish there)... Maybe i'm not versed enough in the Bible - WOW! Poor excuse there... the only person to blame for my short-comings is me.
I want to be a good friend... I want to have a best friend that I can tell absolutely everything about anything and be accepted and vise-versa.
So a few weeks ago I was fixing my hair or something that required me to look in the mirror. I did not like what i saw. Not one bit. The expression on my face is hard - unfriendly. Geez I thought - I wouldn't want to be friends with that person. I could blame it on a rough childhood and young adult life. Ok, so I will lay some of the blame there - unhappyness kind of follows you if you don't cut the leash at some time.. or if you cut it but let it follow for so long - it just keeps following you.. (I just made that up)..
I know I have a strong personality - I mentioned that a while back in another post. It's been something I have been really, really, really working on. I am trying to not be so quick to judge. I have been trying to not have such a quick tongue (oh that one is killing me - as I've very (to the point of too much) fluent in sarcasm). When someone does something that I perceive as stupid - I say something. When someone hurts my child (which there is some of that going on right now with my daughter) I have found myself being not nice to that person and her family. I mean she's turned a couple of my daughter's long time friends against her.. but here, see, I'm not being nice by gossiping about how rotten I think it all is.
So as I have read back through this.. it's almost like a poor me post... not meant to be that way.. just observations about me. Sometimes I think it helps to write it down and reflect. Then after a time come back and see if I am allowing the Lord to work through me or if I am continuing to do it MY way.
Now, if you are reading this and I personally know you and I have not been the kind of friend I should be, could be, or you'd like me to be... pray with me, pray for me... I want to be a BFF and emphasize the last F. I don't mean that I need a million friends.. but you know.. I want to learn to be a friend - a friend and sister in Christ.. I want to lose my crassness and hardened edges and have His light shine through me...
Romans 12: 9-21
Behave Like a Christian
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
one last personal note to m. I am so blessed by your friendship and I do thank the Lord everyday for you!
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