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Making Friends with a Great Hero

7/31/2012

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Summer is a wonderful time to spend quality time talking to your kids about the things that matter to you!  

Do they know your feelings about America?  

Have you introduced them to any of your favorite heroes?  

Do your children know they can make friends with the great heroes of America?

George Washington is a wonderful one to start with!  

And Glenn Beck's book, Being George Washington, is a valuable resource.  Understanding how Washington grew into the challenges he faced can help us, and our children, rise to the difficult challenges of our day.  President Washington can become our hero and friend as we study his life and try to follow in his footsteps.

Other wonderful books include:
  • The Real George Washington by Parry, Allison, and Skousen
  • George Washington's Sacred Fire by Peter A. Lillback
  • Founding Fathers Uncommon Heroes  by Steven W. Allen
  • 1776 by David McCullough

Here are some great free resources, activities, and ideas to get started...

1)  Learn about Washington.  
  • Look at a timeline of his life.  
  • Read a short biography for children.  
  • Invite family members to tell a story or give a report about what made Washington great. 

Watch historical videos about President Washington's life.  (These last about 12 minutes each.)      
     George Washington - Part 1: The Early Years      
     George Washington - Part 2: The Military Commander      
     George Washington - Part 3: Guiding the New Nation

Watch as Arnold Friberg shows how he painted the masterpiece "The Prayer at Valley Forge and tells what he learned about General Washington.

2)  As a young man, George Washington worked as a surveyor and map maker.  This experience helped him when he was a general fighting in unfamiliar territory.  If you have young children, you might want to teach them some simple map skills.  

Or you could talk about the importance of learning geography and sing "Fifty Nifty United States."  

3)  Washington's work required that he be an excellent horseman.  If you have access to horses, it might be fun to go horseback riding. 
 
You could also discuss how the talents and skills we learn as young people can help prepare us for our life's work.  The Mapmaker of Mount Vernon explains how important Washington's experiences were to his success.

4)  You could tell the story about how General Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River, and take your family on a boat ride.  

Or you could watch this video about what it was like to cross the icy Delaware river at night in a snow storm when many soldiers lacked coats, and even shoes.

Discuss the great sacrifices George Washington and his men made.  Talk about the sacrifices we can make today.

5)  Washington was a competent marksman and a courageous leader.  You could have a friendly target shooting activity with whatever toys you might have.  Over the years we've used toy guns, BB guns, squirt guns, slingshots, bows and arrows, darts, horseshoes, balls of all shapes and sizes, etc.  (Be sure to talk about any safety rules that apply.)

You could tell the story of when George Washington was colonel of the Virginia Militia and fought in the French and Indian War.  After one battle was over, it was discovered he had four bullet holes in his jacket.  He later gratefully acknowledged: "By the all powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation."  You could tell times when you have felt God  has protected or prepared you.

6)  George Washington was a gentleman farmer.  He loved his home life at Mount Vernon and he enjoyed cultivating the land.  You could take a virtual tour of Mount Vernon.  Or you could plant an indoor herb garden or prepare a small outdoor garden.

7)  George Washington faced much adversity in his life.  It strengthened his faith, helped him develop wisdom and endurance, and prepared him other ways.  

For example, when Washington was 19, he went with his brother Lawrence to the island of Barbados to help Lawrence recover from a serious case of tuberculosis.  While there, George became very ill with smallpox.  It must have been a trial at the time, and left George with unsightly scars on his face.  But later, when he was General of the colonial army, George and his men were exposed to smallpox.  Many became very sick and were unable to perform their duties.  Due to his prior exposure, George was immune and was able to carry out his heavy responsibilities as usual. 

Talking about George Washington's trials could be an opportunity to talk about any difficult experiences your family may have had, and to discuss how trials can be blessings in disguise.

8)  Explain to your children that George Washington was not always a great leader.  He was once a kid, not too different from other kids.  But he prepared himself, did his best when he was faced with new challenges and opportunities, and relied on God to help him.  Remind your children that they can prepare themselves, do their best, and rely on God too.

Have fun!  I hope the friendship you cultivate with this wonderful patriot and hero lasts a lifetime!




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Free to Choose, a National Survival Kit

7/31/2012

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How would you like to find a survival kit for freedom?  

What would you give for such a valuable kit?

 President Ronald Reagan has one for you.  It's called "Free to Choose" by Milton Friedman. 

In the video below President Reagan praises Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman, and the principles he teaches.  

President Reagan said that Milton Friedman's work is "of rare importance,"  and his lecture series, "Free to Choose," teaches concepts that “led to our prosperity and have given us our freedom.”   

In fact, Reagan calls "Free to Choose" a "survival kit for you, for our nation, and for freedom."       The videos were made decades ago, but they are more relevant today than ever!

Below are all 10 "Free to Choose" lectures. Each video title is linked to the transcript for that video.

The videos and transcripts are a goldmine of valuable principles.  They are shared in honor of Milton Friedman's 100th birthday.  I hope you enjoy them! 

Note:  Links to Milton Friedman's autobiography, and other great resources, are included after the "Free to Choose" videos.








                                   Overview of Free to Choose
                              1-  The Power of the Market
                              2-  The Tyranny of Control
                              3-  The Anatomy of a Crisis
                              4-  From the Cradle to the Grave
                              5-  Created Equal
                              6-  What’s Wrong with Our Schools
                              7-  Who Protects the Consumer?
                              8-  Who Protects the Worker?
                              9-  How to Cure Inflation
                             10- How to Stay Free




1-  The Power of the Market



(If you can't see all 10 videos, click the tiny red "Read More" link below.)



Read More
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Mitt Romney's Speech Supports Israel

7/31/2012

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"To step foot into Israel is to step foot into a nation that began with an ancient promise made in this land. The Jewish people persisted through one of the most monstrous crimes in human history, and now this nation has come to take its place among the most impressive democracies on earth. Israel’s achievements are a wonder of the modern world.

"These achievements are a tribute to the resilience of the Israeli people. You have managed, against all odds, time and again throughout your history, to persevere, to rise up, and to emerge stronger.

"The historian Paul Johnson, writing on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state, said that over the course of Israel’s life, 100 completely new independent states had come into existence. 'Israel is the only one whose creation can fairly be called a miracle,' Johnson wrote.

"It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

"Our two nations are separated by more than 5,000 miles. But for an American abroad, you can’t get much closer to the ideals and convictions of my own country than you do in Israel. We’re part of the great fellowship of democracies. We speak the same language of freedom and justice, and the right of every person to live in peace. We serve the same cause and provoke the same hatreds in the same enemies of civilization."      Read More:  Text of Mitt Romney's Speech in Israel









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The Power of a Bold, Conservative Vision

7/30/2012

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The Real Legacy of Margaret Thatcher
By Brandon Stewart   From Heritage.org

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"Like President Ronald Reagan, her political soulmate, Margaret Thatcher came to power at a desperate time in her country's history, when real leadership and bold ideas were most needed. 

"By applying conservative principles to the challenges she faced, she was able to achieve real and lasting success. 

"Then, as today, she faced an extraordinary set of challenges and a chorus of voices saying her country's best days were behind it. 

"Thatcher's successes are a comforting reminder of the power of a bold, conservative vision."






"If the state wishes to spend more, it can do so only by borrowing your savings or taxing you more. And it's no good thinking someone else will pay, that someone else is you."  ~Margaret Thatcher


Learn More about Margaret Thatcher

Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

Happy Birthday Margaret Thatcher



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Can Obama Seduce Young Voters While Robbing Them Blind? Again?

7/30/2012

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By: Shawn Mitchell     From: Townhall Finance

Note: This article by my brother, Shawn, has an important message 
our young voters should understand before they vote in November.

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Hey students! Youth voters! Are you up for Hope and Change 2012? Here’s the deal!  In just four years President Obama ran your personal share of the US debt from $30,000 to $50,000!! ...and still rocketing up!! 

Plus! You get to graduate from college with massive debt, and half of you will be underemployed or unemployed!! Plus! He character-assaults anyone who wants to reform entitlements to slow down the massive wealth transfer from poorer you to richer old geezers!! Plus! He promises you free stuff…then just puts it onyour overcharged US credit card!! Plus! Some of us are closer to the end of our earning and tax-paying years than others.We aren’t gonna pay no stinking $50,000! Guess you’ll have to cover us!! Better get busy, suckers!! Hope and Change 2012…Tell a friend!!!” 
Enthusiastic Facebookers know the angst of reconsidering impulsive rants. So, after reflection, I regret that my effort above—my “status” as the socially networked call it--from a few months back is so benign and understated.
 
Simply stated, few presidents in US history oversaw such total devastation of the prospects of young Americans. None gained office on a wave of youthful enthusiasm and adulation. None depended so desperately for reelection on reenergizing that same youth demographic to its historic former frenzy. None had a record as wretched as Barrack Obama from which to fashion a campaign pitch. Ominously, none faced a youth cohort so disengaged, deceived, superficial, and susceptible to cultural atmospherics that it just might work.
 
President Obama’s designs on a second term depend on energizing the very Americans his policies have hurt the worst: young workers, students, and others who will soon enter the workforce.  His pitch seems to be: “I’m not the stiff, white businessman in a suit. I’m cool. I dig gay marriage (recently). I want to give you free stuff. Rock stars love me.”
 
The message tickles the hot spots of a generation raised on feelings, trophies for participation, and the preeminence of nice intentions. It is reinforced by a palace guard media that sees and reports no evil. But if more of those young voters would do something as boring and grown up as look realistically at a spreadsheet of their life’s challenges and opportunities, they might not willingly cast themselves as fodder for a conservative Thomas Franks to ponder: “What’s the Matter With Young Voters?”
 
The spreadsheet is grim, starting with prospects for the first job out of school. The official unemployment rate of 8.2% grossly understates the 15% or more who’ve been squeezed from employment. It’s reported half of graduates are failing to find work, or landing in low paying positions unrelated to their degree. The fiscal situation is further stressed by the record loans and debt weighing down about 60% of graduates—more than actually have good jobs.
 
Obama can declare “Mission Partially Accomplished” on a piece of his fundamental American transformation: Young adult living options are looking more European all the time, as scared fledglings flutter back to the security of the nest. That might account for Obamacare’s mandate that insurers cover children in family plans for several years longer: 26 is the new 18.
 
Of course, it’s only fair that mom and dad and their employer toss a little back to junior. He’s on the short end of the greatest, most perverse intergenerational wealth transfer in human history. Medicare and Social Security demonstrate government gets everything wrong. Those civically sacred entitlements play reverse Robin Hood, tapping deep into the earnings of the statistically poorest workers, the young, for the benefit of the statistically wealthiest Americans, households over 60.
 
Obama doesn’t just maintain this system. He blasts anyone who dares notice that bleeding fewer and fewer young workers to support more and more retirees is unsustainable. For proposing incremental entitlement reforms to restore fiscal stability and ease the surging burden on the young, Congressman Paul Ryan earned the presidential sobriquet “Social Darwinist.” It’s as if Ryan proposed something harsh like establishing utilization panels to decide which seniors deserve expensive treatment for serious health problems. But that would be extreme.
 
If  you’re under 35 and reading this article, I wish you’d stop already and get back to work. The national debt will pile up about $3.5 billion more today. I’m getting nervous about my Social Security. Chop chop.
 
And don’t forget to volunteer and spread the word for the coolest president in history! Did you catch him on the Daily show?!




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One More Day

7/29/2012

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You know how some songs reach out and touch your heart?    

"One More Day" is a song like that!  It's a beautiful and poignant reminder to treasure the moments we have with those we love.  

Although written a couple of years ago, it seems especially meaningful now.











One More Day

Sung by: Three2U
Written by:  Bobby Wayne Tomberlin and Steven Dale Jones


Last night I had a crazy dream
A wish was granted just for me
It could be for anything
I didn't ask for money
Or a mansion in Malibu
I simply wished, for one more day with you

One more day
One more time
One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied
But then again
I know what it would do
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you

First thing I'd do, is pray for time to crawl
Then I'd unplug the telephone
And keep the TV off
I'd hold you every second
Say a million I love you's
That's what I'd do, with one more day with you

One more day
One more time
One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied
But then again
I know what it would do
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you

Leave me wishing still, for one more day
Leave me wishing still, for one more day
 




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5 Ways to Win the Hearts of Your Children

7/29/2012

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By: Allison     From: Life as a Mother...of Many



Note to Patriotic Moms:  This is a power-packed article!  
Applying its principles can bring our families increased love, cooperation, and joy!


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On this mission of winning the hearts of my children, I have wondered:

How can I win their hearts?

What is it that causes them to trust me with their hearts?

Is there really hope for winning the hearts of all my children?

Then I began to think about those people in my life who have won my heart.  What is it that makes me willingly trust them with my heart?  It will be the same for my children regardless of personality. As I turned to scripture to develop a plan to win their hearts here is what I found.

"He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers,"  Malachi 4:6

It is not in my own strength that I can win the hearts of my children, but through the power of Christ working in their lives.   Through Christ alone, I can win the hearts of my children.


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So, here are five ways to win the hearts of your children.

1. Listen to your children.  This sounds simple enough, right?  But, what I am talking about is more than just that.  Listen to their lengthy, detailed, lengthy, dramatic, (did I mention lengthy?) explanation of the picture that they just drew, the dream that they had last night, or the conversation that they had with a friend.  Listening to the "little things" now not only wins their hearts, but it creates a bond that will cause them to trust you with the "big things" later.  Don't the people who listen to you win your heart?  The same is true for your kids.  Listen to them.  Listen with your eyes. Listen to as much as is possible and you will win their hearts.  "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

2. Serve your children with joy.  Early in my parenting, I found that I was serving my children all day, every day, but, I wasn't doing it with joy.  I would complain about the amount of work (or a sigh...that is a true measure for me) and that was causing my children to pull away from me.  Who wants to be around someone who resents the work you create for them?  It became a barrier to winning their hearts.  The Lord began to challenge me in this area.  I had no idea what my lack of joyful service was doing to my kids.  Now, I try to give the "Chick-fil-a" answer.  Have you been to Chick-fil-a?  Their employees always say "my pleasure".  It really is my pleasure to serve my children...even when they are grown.  I am training myself to say "I would be happy to...".  And, you know what?  This amazing attitude of joy is contagious.  Now instead of guilt, my children are giving me their hearts and serving alongside with...well, with more joy than before...haha.  Joyfully serving your children is serving the Lord.  Serve your children with JOY and you will win their hearts.

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3. Trust your children.  Doesn't it just do something to you when you know that someone truly trusts you?  So, trust your kids.  Sometimes it's painful and you may have to just turn your head and let them learn from their mistakes.  But, more often than not, they emerge triumphant, beaming with the joy of their new accomplishment.  And, you had complete confidence that they would triumph...well, in their eyes anyway:)  Trust your boys with appropriate risks.  God made them to be risk takers and they will take some risks. Each time that I trust my children, I win a little more of their hearts.  Trust your children in developmentally appropriate areas and you will win their hearts.

4. Respect your children's opinions.  Sometimes I disagree with my kids...big shock, I know.  But, respecting their (many times immature) opinions on issues and giving them a chance to stretch those wings builds their trust.  It may be as simple as what vegetable is gross or as complicated as which candidate gets the vote in the upcoming election.  But, in respecting their opinions, I am laying a foundation for future communication.  You don't have to agree with them or encourage them in immature opinions but respect them enough to let them have their own opinions.  Respect their opinions and you will win their hearts.

5. Smile at your children.  Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget to smile at your children.  A smile communicates love and adoration.  They will return that love with another piece of their hearts...and a smile too:)  This is another area that has taken training for me.  But, I am learning to give them a big smile each time I make eye contact with them.  It may make the older kids a little uncomfortable at first (it did one of mine...haha) but now that same child returns my smile (even though a little shy still) and it is a fantastic thing.  "They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.  When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.  I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;."  Job 29:24  Smile at your children and you will win their hearts. 

I am still in the midst of this heart-winning mission but, honestly, I expect it to be a life-long mission.  Never give up.  Keep winning their hearts!




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Amazing Music from Restoring Love

7/29/2012

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Glenn Beck enlisted the help of composer Clyde Bawden to create a beautiful song reflecting his love for America.  

This is what Clyde created.

Hope you enjoy the power and beauty in this amazing music as much as I do! 








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Meet the Romney Brothers

7/28/2012

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Mitt and Ann Romney have raised a wonderful family of five sons.  You can tell they are good people who love each other and enjoy being together.

This is a fun video with all five of them together.  




Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy





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Love for a Lifetime

7/28/2012

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Mitt and Ann Romney have been sweethearts for a long time.  You can tell they are in love, but it's more than that.  They are best friends, loyal supporters, and trusted advisors.

It's fun to watch them together.  In this interview, Piers Morgan talks to them about their relationship.









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