Do as I say not as I do. Really?

I think when we become parents, most of us try to do right by our kids. We take our experience as children, good and bad and incorporate it into our own parenting styles. Again most of us do our best not to damage our kids. I had tried very hard not to practice the ole "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality that I grew up with when my biological dad was 'raising' me. I have tried to bring my kids up with compassion for others, while instilling integrity in their lives. It helps that Jesus is present in our lives.

A couple of years ago, my youngest asked me if he could have a FB account. Several of his friends did. He is 11 now. When we went on to open an account, we found that you are suppose to be 13 to have an account. These guidelines are set up by The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and FB has adhered to this. I know that Zuckerberg want's it to change, but to me it is, what it is. To me it's no different than a Bar owner thinking it's ok to serve alcohol to minors, regardless if the law of the land is 21. So we did not open an account for him. No judgement if you have made a different decision for your kids on this. I just felt that if we said yes on this then the message I was sending to him was, "It's wrong to lie, except if you really want something." 

I said in the last blog that I would try to be transparent, so here it goes. For any of you that have not smelled me in the last few years, I am currently a smoker. There, I said it. I started during my prodigal walk, smoke for 18 years, made a deal with, God, and quit for 9 years. Three years ago, next month, my family and close friends suffered a tragedy that rocked us to the core. We will feel the loss forever. At the time, I felt I was drowning. I wanted so bad to fall into a bottle of whisky and never come out. That was not an option for me as I still had my family and 3 boys that counted on me. I swore I would not be the parent my biological father was to me. I picked up the smokes as a way to numb the pain. No excuses now. That's not why I still smoke. I am an addict. I will quit someday. The point of this confession is that, if I am on my kids backs about eating right, exercising, and leading a healthy lifestyle, I have lost all credibility every time I light a cancer stick. Right?
Kids get more from the way we live, then what we say.

My son who I love and respect more than he will ever know has inspired me to have the courage to write my thoughts down about this political season we are in. He feels that the Christians he knows, the ones that he has looked up to all his life, mentors if you will, are compromising their Christian values in supporting the candidate they have chosen. He feels that the integrity that he has seen in these people all his life, is fading.
I hadn't really shared my opinions with him about the election and he assumed; I too was supporting the pro life candidate. He was wrong.

Herman Cain was my first choice this time around. He had a Baptist background, but it was his 9-9-9 that convinced me. Level the field, without punishing those that work their butts off and actually succeeded. I don't know if those alligations against him were true or not , but I'm really wishing that men that put themselves in the public eye would keep their pants on. Just saying.

Next Rick Santorum. I think he would have been great. Unfortunately his little girls health took a turn for the worse, and like a good father should do, he had to step out of the race. To see and understand why I voted for him, see Election Day post, January 2012. Ron Paul. Well, I voted for Santorum last winter. If he had dropped out, before then, Paul would have had my vote. I don't have any idea what his belief system was/is, but he had alot of great ideas, and I'm pretty sure he is not in a cult. Harsh words. But its is what it is.

When it became apparent that Romney was the Republican choice, for us pro life Christians..I didn't jump on the bandwagon. For the first time in 16 years, there are no presidental campaign signs in my yard. I won't be standing holding signs on election day. If it weren't for the governors and other local races, I would just stay home.....continued soon.