Teach your children well......

My first job.
Yes, that is me in the Easter Bunny suit.

I have been amazed in the last couple of weeks at all of the things the GOVERNMENT has to say about raising our children.  First, Newt says we should allow our 13 year old children to be janitors in our schools and pay them for their work.  I can say Newt is not my favorite person but I totally agree that it never hurts to teach your child the value of work at an early age.  Before anyone writes me to say it is breaking child labor laws, let me say perhaps you should be looking at the “seasoned” people in your family and ask them about their first job and how it benefited them.  I began working on a special work permit when I was 14 as the Easter Bunny in a department store in my town.  I was the bunny for 2 years - 1964 and 1965.  Since my father died when I was 11 years old, I considered this job a means to purchase some items I would like to have, which helped our family budget.  My Mom had 4 daughters at home and Social Security benefits from my father’s passing was the same amount for 2 children as for 4 children.  Can you imagine the government feeling you could raise 4 for the price of 2?  We didn’t get Medicaid or Aid to Dependent Children.  We didn’t even receive Food Stamps.  She only got Social Security.  It’s the truth.  So having that information, I knew I could help myself and my Mother.  Having that special work permit also allowed me to work during the summer and holidays plus weekends.  Had I earned money before?  You bet.   At that time there wasn’t a kid who hadn’t been taken to the blueberry patch in the summer to pick blueberries for money.  Fast forward to 2012 and how many Americans would take their children to the blueberry patch to pick blueberries for money to buy their own school clothes? 

My husband was from a family of 8 kids and he not only pick blueberries for money but also deliver newspapers door to door – every day – 7 days a week – 365 days a year!  We both lived in Muskegon, Michigan – the snow capital of Michigan.  Then to make things worse, he had to go back to every home he delivered a paper to and collect money for their subscription.  Imagine that! 

Neither Mike nor I feel we were abused.  We feel fortunate that we had a way to earn our own money as young people. It gave us the feeling of accomplishment when we received our money.  It taught us how to tithe, how to manage our money.  We had to learn to decide if one item we wanted to purchase was more important than another. We learned we couldn’t spend more than we had in our pocket.  My Mom always said you can’t spend money more than one time!  Stop and think about that statement.  WE DIDN’T USE CREDIT CARDS!!  We saved for our first cars because – shock of shocks as I say this – parents did not give their children cars, we had to buy them ourselves.  Cars were not an automatic present when you turned 16.  We drove our parent’s cars, which made us very aware we needed to drive conscientiously because none of us wanted to have the dreaded talk to tell the parents we wrecked their car.  At that time families had only one car so if you had an accident, you took the FAMILY car out of commission.  It was not a constitutional right to own a car, or a cell phone either, for that matter.  My daughter, Holly, and I were talking as I was preparing to write this article.  She reminded me that she wanted KEDS sneakers.  The white ones, the actual KEDS with the blue tag on the back, not the knock offs for $5.00 a pair.  We told her that if she wanted KEDS she would need to earn the money and purchase them herself.  She bought several pair over the next few years.  She took such good care of them, kept them white as long as she could and then washed them and made them white again.  When you invest your own money in something, you take care of it better than if you are given something just because you want it.

Grandma and Greg

When I was going through my Mothers things after she passed away, I found a newspaper article in her Bible.  It was written about her grandson, Greg.  The article was written when Greg was about 16 years old.  He had started his small business at a much earlier age with one lawnmower.  He cut grass in the warm weather and shoveled snow in the winter.  He had grown his business by the time he was 16 to having employees, scheduling appointments and was paying taxes.  He is amazing today in everything he does,   He has drive – he has focus – he likes having a paycheck.  It was instilled in him as a young man.  His Grandmother was so proud of him.  When he was about 12 years old Grandma had a small accident with her car.  Greg was certain he could bump out the dent and repair the damage.  At 12 years old he had confidence because someone was willing to let him try.  He did a great job, by the way.  It wasn’t perfect but it was done well.  As parents and grandparents we need to start listening to God instead of a psychologist who thinks we should not have expectations of our children.  Expectation develops drive and focus.  Yes, I know you can go overboard but I believe that we can, with God’s help, bring out the best in our kids.

When you think about what I have written, you have to ask yourself, where did we go wrong?  Can we make a change back to a simpler time when we only spent what we made?  Sure we can.  Currently 40% of Americans live above what they earn. There are programs like Financial Peace University that teach you how to live within your means.  It isn’t easy if you are already upside down but it can be fixed honorably.  You can also begin to teach your child the value of money.  Mom was right.  You can only spend money – whether a penny, a dollar or a hundred dollar bill – one time!  Money doesn't grow on trees, either, much to my dismay.  In 1 Kings chapter 1 it talks about Adonija, son of King David, and says in verse 6 that his father never asked why he behaved the way he did.  He was an arrogant young man who thought he should be King.  Today our kids think everything should be handed them on a silver platter.  David didn’t teach him the value of anything.  When we understand what it takes to work for something, we appreciate it far more.  Give some consideration to teaching your child or grandchild, niece, or nephew the value of working at an early age.

My Lunch with Ronald Reagan

I have a friend who has encouraged me to write.  I must say, when this topic was chosen, having lunch with someone in history, it was a little disconcerting for me.  I had no idea how I would accomplish it.  I went through several people, including my grandparents, before I decided on my person to interview.  I looked at it as a time to really learn about a man I have long admired but really didn’t know much about.  I only knew he was a great president who came in and helped bring the country out of a modern day depression.

I felt in order to really do justice to the man, I needed to study about him.  I bought the book “God and Ronald Reagan, a Spiritual Life” by Paul Kengor and a new book that was released last year called “Ronald Reagan The Notes”  I didn’t use anything from “The Notes” in this article but wanted to give you a brief description of how the book came about.  Last year the Ronald Reagan Library was undergoing renovations.  They really wanted to have some NEW things to put on display and sent people to go through the hundreds of boxes of Reagan information.  In the basement of the library a box was found that said RR Desk. They found a wooden box of 4x6 cards with quotes and jokes written on them.  From a very early age, Ronald Reagan began keeping 4 x 6 cards in his pocket.  When he would hear a joke or a quote he would write it down on a card, including the person’s name who said it.  Many of the cards contents are in this book, but not all of them.  I understand that if he used a joke from the card, or a quote, and it bombed, he threw it away, never to repeat that bomb.

I loved doing this piece.  It gave me a great education and was truly fun putting it together.  Remember, Ronald Reagan is dead so he couldn’t give these answers.  The bolded writing are actual quotes by Ronald Reagan from books or from the internet, I then posed the questions that fit the quote.  I make no apologies that he agreed with me in everything.  These are really personal questions and answers which are my beliefs expressed in a unique way.  I hope you enjoy reading it.  Before you write and ask - yes, I did make Nancy Reagan's Macaroni and Cheese for my family when my girls were young.  They still love it today.

Julie

My Lunch with Ronald Reagan

JJ -“Mr. President, I am really thrilled that you accepted my invitation to lunch at the Columbia Restaurant in St Petersburg on the Pier.  Not only is the Spanish food excellent but the view is fabulous.  I highly recommend the Mahi Mahi, a favorite of mine. Although Macaroni and Cheese isn’t served here, one of my family favorites is Nancy Reagan’s recipe that was published when you were Governor of California.  That was years ago but we served it all the time at our dinner table while our girls were growing up.  We must have some favorite foods in common.”

RR - “How wonderful of you to remember that I too love Nancy’s Macaroni and Cheese.  I have always said that all great change in America begins at the dinner table.”

Actual view from
Columbia Restaurant,
St Petersburg Pier

JJ – “Mr. President, you and I agree on so many things.  I think that at the time you were in office my biggest concern as a Mother to small children was abortion.  I believe it is a woman’s right to choose – by that I mean it is a woman’s right to choose to have sex or not, after that, we are dealing with consequences of your actions.  It is too easy to wipe away the consequences.  We are now reaping the consequences of it being so common place in society.  In any event, there are thousands of children dying in our country because we no longer value life. A song by Annie Herring says it so well – "My God, they’re killing thousands, killing thousands without blinking and eye – believing a lie.”

RR – “I agree.  Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.  Once the Supreme Court decided to rewrite the constitution, we ourselves, as a nation, became the consequences of this ruling.  My desire would be to go back to valuing life. 

Terrorism is at the forefront of people’s mind now and we just celebrated the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 so for a few months people will remember the devastation brought upon us by outsiders who hate America.  Abortion, however, is brought about by American’s killing American’s, many times every day, and our nation sits back and closes its eyes.  Their view is the Supreme Court said it is okay so why should I feel guilty.  There are many men and women who have taken this view; aborted a baby; and are now living with the consequences of their actions.  A very wonderful woman, Pat Layton, has begun a ministry to those who have this secret that they need to surrender.  They need to tell someone so they can gain their freedom back. Pat Layton is actually from Tampa.”

JJ – “I remember when my husband and I were researching sex education in the schools in Michigan in the mid 70s.  There was a school system in Iowa that was selling to schools a K-12 curriculum for sex education saying it lowered the teen pregnancy rate.  When I called the health department in their city I found that since the program had been instituted, the teen pregnancy had actually sky rocketed. Our school system gave our group a copy of all of the textbooks they were going to use in grades K-12.  Mike and I read the one we were given to review and we had no problem with the book.  Our friends had been given the teachers text for the same book.  One of the questions in this first grade text book asked “How many sperm enter Mother’s body during intercourse?”  Planned Parenthood was proposing this program and yet, even at this early date, they were calling abortion Retroactive Birth Control.  Here we are about 35 years later and we wonder why teens are having sex and aborting babies.  They are babies themselves.  We are trying to teach adult behaviors to children who don’t have any understanding of right from wrong at this age.  They are desensitizing our children. These are facts and based on my experience.”

RR – “Don’t be afraid to see what you see.  Facts are stupid things.”

JJ – “To me, it just seems that people have changed values when it comes to home, children, family, love, commitment, even ethics.  I could go on but it is difficult to even put into words what I see happening in the world today.”

RR – “I know in my heart that man is good.  That what is right will always eventually triumph.  And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.”

JJ – “I agree.  I just don’t always see it.  I was raised by a Mother who believed in being truthful at all cost.  She was the most ethical person I have ever known.  She told me to always take responsibility for my actions.  It is what I have tried to do all of my life.  I believe people need to think about the other person rather than themselves.  After all, it isn’t all about ME.  It should always be about what I can do for someone else.  With things the way they are today, I feel like people are out to eat others alive just to put themselves at the top of the heap. ”

RR – “I understand.  To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.  We are in an age where people don’t value intelligence or learning.  We “dumb down” everything and eliminate teaching kids that competition is okay.  Schools don’t even have valedictorian’s any more.  They were eliminated to allow everyone to feel special.  I believe there are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.

I was also raised by a Mother, Nelle, who led me to love God.  She held prayer meetings and healing services in our home. When I was 10 or 11 years old my Mother gave me Harold Bell Wright’s book “That Printer of Udells” and I read it cover to cover. When I completed the book I went to my Mother and asked to be baptized.  My Mother spoke all over the state and our town in Kentucky.  If it hadn’t been the day and age it was, I am sure my Mother would have been an ordained minister. 

Nelle welcomed hitchhikers on long drives and ministered to prisoners in the jail in our town.  Some of those men were released from jail with no where to go so Mom would welcome them into our home.  Color of skin was never an issue in our home.  Prisoners weren’t the only ones Mom welcomed into our house.  Once we had a visiting basketball team and two of the players, both black, had no place to stay in town.  I brought them home to spend the night and have breakfast.  The two visitors stood hesitantly at the door, fearing what would happen when Mom opened the door; worried that Mom would change her mind when she saw their skin color.  When Mom saw the three of us at the door, she simply said “Come on in boys.”

JJ – “How can people today deny God when there is so much of prophecy being fulfilled in our present day?”

RR – “People today try to “reason” Christianity; looking for the things they can dispute but science really supports Jesus coming to earth.  Professor Peter Stoner authored a book called Science Speaks. The book was first published in 1958 and republished in 1976.  Dr. Stoner was chairman of the mathematics and astronomy departments at Pasadena City College until 1953 when he moved to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.  There he served as chairman of the science division.  At the time he wrote this book he was professor emeritus of science at Westmont.  The forward in the book was written by Dr. Harold Hartzler, an officer of the American Scientific Affiliation.  He wrote that the manuscript had been carefully reviewed by a committee of his organization and that “The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound.“  The book is written in three sections.  The first section gives several scriptures that prove things found in science centuries later.  For example, the shape of the earth is mentioned in Isaiah 40:22.  Gravity can be found in Job 26:7.  Ecclesiastes 1:8 mentions atmospheric circulation.  A reference to ocean currents can be found in Psalm 9:9, and the hydraulic cycle is described in Ecclesiastes 1:7 and Isaiah 55:10.  The second law of thermodynamics is outlined in Psalm 102: 25-27 and Romans 8:21.  And that is only a few examples of scientific truths written in Scriptures long before they were discovered by scientists.”

Professor Stoner also tells that the probability of just 8 prophecy’s concerning the birth of Jesus coming true in one person are 1x10²⁸.  Dividing this number by an estimate of the number of people who have lived since the time of these prophecies (88 billion when Stoner wrote about it) produces a probability of all 8 prophecies being fulfilled accidently in the life of one person.  That probability is 1 in 10¹⁷ or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.  That is one in one hundred quadrillion!  Stoner illustrated the meaning of this number.  He asked the reader to imagine filling the State of Texas knee deep in silver dollars.  Include in this huge number one silver dollars with a black check mark on it.  Then turn a blindfolded person loose in this sea of silver dollars.  The odds that the first coin he would pick up would be the one with the check mark are the same as 8 prophecies being fulfilled accidently in the life of Jesus.  Keep in mind Jesus didn’t fulfill just 8, he fulfilled 108.  The chance of fulfilling 48 prophecy’s in one person is is 1 in 10¹⁵⁷  Can you count that high?

When I gave the inaugural address when I became Governor of California I used the words of Benjamin Franklin “He who introduces into public office the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.”  In my second inauguration as President I declared that God is calling upon Americans to pass that dream of human freedom to a waiting and hopeful world.”  

JJ – “That is an amazing answer.  I can’t understand how people can decide they don’t need God in their life. They ignore prayer, or don’t feel the need for prayer.   Of course, prophecy tells us we are in the end times, and people are going to turn their back on God. Even some people who know God, can’t find time to give him an hour a week, willingly, much less study the Bible on their own. People don’t realize that the Bible is comprised of 66 Books written over a period of about 1,500 years by over 40 authors from all walks of life, with different kinds of personalities, and in all sorts of situations. It was written in three languages on three continents, and it covers hundreds of controversial subjects. Yet, it fits together into one cohesive story with an appropriate beginning, a logical ending, a central character, and a consistent theme.”

“Let’s go on to another topic.  I can’t help but ask.  You were a great football player who went on to become an equally great actor.  You had some pivotal roles.  Why did you leave acting to seek politics?  Did you have your eye on the White House from the beginning?  You weren’t a spring chicken when you entered politics and even older when you ran for president.” 

RR – “Thomas Jefferson once said ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works and ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”

JJ – “Seriously.  Why politics?”

RR – “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession.  I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. I really care about people that are why I went into politics.  I am not arrogant and think I know everything, which is why I surround myself with people smarter than I am.  I had people that knew government, economy, freedom, military.  No one person can be the government.  It takes the people to make the government.  We are the people.  Politics is not a bad profession.  If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”

JJ – “Let’s talk a little about the economy.  The United States is really struggling.   Individuals are struggling.  Businesses are struggling.  My friend and her husband own a glass company.  They are struggling.  They do perfect work, so perfect that they work on showers for large yachts but the yacht builders are struggling because they can’t sell high prices yachts, which means those that supply their needs are also struggling.  What words of wisdom do you have for them?”

RR – “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”

JJ – “I understand this concept but our current government is regulating everything from light bulbs to toilets to how old the car you drive should be, what you eat and what you feed your children.  They are attempting to take everything away from the individual parent and regulate parenting.  Hilary Clinton actually began this thought process when she wrote “It takes a Village.”  It only takes a village if you don’t want to really be a parent.”

RR – “I don’t believe in a government that protects us from ourselves”

JJ – “All of the regulations are cumbersome to business.”

RR – “The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:  If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

JJ – “I have heard that said before.”

RR – “Remember, the best minds are not in government.  If any were, business would hire them away.”

JJ – “Again, I agree.  Yet government says they know how to help us better than we know how to help ourselves.

RR.  - “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

JJ – “9/11 plunged us into a war.  We didn’t declare war, the group that crashed planes into three buildings and one field in Pennsylvania declared war on us.”

RR – “History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.  Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.  It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”

JJ – “You can’t make someone WANT freedom.  You can show it to them but you can’t make them desire it or even see it as obtainable for them.”

RR – “We live as examples to others of what a free country can do for them.  Our lives show them everything.  Coercion, after all, merely captures man.  Freedom captivates him”.

JJ – “As I said before, it feels like we are giving up so many of our own freedoms today.”

RR – “As I said earlier, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.”

JJ – “If asked, how would you describe freedom?”

RR – “Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.  No arsenal…is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

JJ – “What can we do?”

RR – “The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas – a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.”

JJ – “People are rising up today.  The TEA Party is trying to protect the economy and our freedoms.  They are asking the government to live within the money they are taking in, not more than they receive.  You would think this would resonate with the entire country since we all must live within our means. That, however, isn’t the case.  People like the government giving them something for nothing.  While I have never been to a meeting of the TEA Party, I really believe they have the best interest of the country at heart – for all Americans – without regard to race, creed or religion.”

RR – You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.  We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.  If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we are justified our brief moment here.  We did all that could be done.  If you’re afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside.  The people of this country are ready to move again.

JJ – Have you ever said anything you really didn’t mean to say?

RR – Once, during a microphone test, I said ‘My fellow American’s, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever.  The bombing begins in five minutes.’  Some people do not have a sense of humor.

JJ – My husband suggested I write about lunch with you.  This has been a great time and I really look forward to telling him about my visit with you.  Do you have anything to say to him?

RR – I am sure he is a nice person.  I always say you can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.  Have you seen him eat jellybeans?

JJ – I am sure that after reading this, he will let me know how he eats jellybeans but I am pretty sure his answer will be that he never eats jellybeans.