Last week Paxton brought home a stomach flu. He had a mild case of it. And then it took Rory out. And then Ladger was down for the count. That was Friday night and I was supposed to be going to a practice late Saturday afternoon and playing a number Sunday morning. All day Saturday I felt queasy and finally phoned to say I might not make it. But an hour later I was still feeling OK so I decided to go for it. And I felt better than I had all day. And I felt great Sunday morning too. By Sunday night I was out of commission and all day yesterday I as dragging my butt and not really feeling well until the evening. So finally I think we're all on the mend. But all is not so bad. I didn't have to cancel out on the music and I got to read a novel yesterday without feeling one twinge of guilt. Today I'll have to go into overdrive to get the house cleaned up. But I'm so thankful to be finally feeling normal that I'm eager to get at it.

Shift 'er into Neutral, boys!

I mentioned in a comment below that Paxton was sick last evening (he was fine all day today though). This morning Rory said he was "in sick gear". I wondered what on earth he meant by that. Apparently that was his way of saying that he was looking after his little sick brother. He even tried to put his socks on him this morning as we were heading off to MOPS. Somehow Paxton didn't quite enjoy the extra attention.

But the whole thing warmed my heart. And no doubt I should remember that Rory gets 'vehicle' talk and it might be a creative way to communicate. How about this? When I'm desperate for some peace and quiet I should say "Shift 'er into neutral, would ya?" instead of the usual "Guys, you just have to be quiet for awhile" ('so your Mother won't go insane' speech).

Tomorrow's the big day!

Today is the eve of our election. And by this time tomorrow night I'm hoping Ladger and I will be dancing a little jig as hopes of a new Conservative government become a reality. I feel like we're standing on the brink of some very positive change for Canada. It's exciting! Harper is no longer leading a pre-dominantly western party but one that has drawn support from Quebec, Maritimers and Ontario as well. And just maybe he'll have enough to form a majority government so that he can get right to work tackling the priorities he's laid out these past weeks. Go Harper! Go!

Thinking of Canadian politics in light of "Total Truth"

PM Martin loves to talk about the difference in values between himself and Harper. He must be wondering why Harper is doing so well when Martin feels so sure that he is representing the values of most Canadians.

Notice what Nancy Pearcey write about values in our society: we are “convinced that science constitutes facts while morality is about values”. Values are completely relative and morality is not based on any truth in popular philosophy so how can any leader claim to represent “Canadian” values (by implication, other leaders’ values must be therefore unCanadian)? Clearly Paul Martin is out of touch with the values of a majority of Canadians if one goes by the results of the polls.

But can a leader represent the values of all people? A Christian politician has an advantage in that area. When a person believes that we were designed and thus created by an intelligent being, than we have a basis for believing that there is truth in morality and common values intrinsic to all of us. It is Christianity that has values that correspond with our reality (which evolution cannot explain). There is a reason that we respect integrity, honesty, good and wise stewardship with our money , human freedom and dignity and the highest ideals. There is an understanding of the importance of community and it’s most basic nucleus, the family. Evolution only leads to a “radical individualism” and the paradox is that “a philosophy of radical individualism …leads to a radical statism” explains Pearcey. She goes on to explain that “one of the best ways to protect individual rights is by protecting the rights of groups such as families, churches, schools, businesses, and voluntary associations. Strong, independent social groupings actually help to limit the state because each claims its own sphere of responsibility and jurisdiction, thus preventing the state from controlling every aspect of life.”

One good example of that is an issue in the election campaign and that is the issue of childcare. Liberals believe that children have the best advantage in life by being enrolled in quality government designed day-care programs from a very early age….no doubt, the earlier the better. A Christian politician will encourage parents to make their own decisions that are best for their own family. Daycare is not the answer for all parents (and maybe not the best solution for any if many studies done can be believed) and so it’s exciting to see a basic commitment to support families in whatever decisions they make in regards to how they care for their children.

Another example is the environment. Kyoto has become a hot topic but most of us do not really understand all of what that means. But one thing I do know is that Kyoto is addressing global warming through CO2 and not pollution itself. I listened to one discussion last night between a science professor from the U of Ottawa and a representative from the Sierra Club of Canada. I would have liked to hear far more from the professor of Earth Sciences ...the scientist and far less from the environmentalist. The professor applauded Harper's intention to release Canada from the Kyoto agreement because it does not address the reality for most Canadians who are concerned primariy with the quality of our air and water in this country. Paying another country a billion dollars to reduce CO2 emission on our behalf does not address real needs in this country and lacks integrity to the core.

Some people have become so cynical that they believe voting means making a choice between evils. But for those who have long been under the repression of evolutionistic thinking that reduces all of us to a product of chance with no real reason to aspire to beauty, honesty and all the best in ideals in every area of life, I challenge you to consider voting for a Christian leader who has every reason to believe in honesty, integrity and the very best that politics has to offer and the very best Canada that we can be! Vote for Stephen Harper.

Note: All quotes taken from Nancy Pearcey's book, "Total Truth".

Are you Average and Ordinary?

Some of you who know me well may wonder why I haven't written about our upcoming Canadian election. It's because I care so much and am almost holding my breath hoping that Harper forms the new government....dare I hope for a majority government? I am longing for this country to make some positive changes and to halt our downward slide into lawlessness. If you think I'm overstating things, Paul Martin was speaking very highly of Chief Justice McLachlin the other day and just look what she's about.

Apparently she "believes the rule of law “requires” Justices to ignore the actual written law, as passed by democratic legislatures, in favour of unwritten ideological principles."

If that isn't scary I don't know what is. So our justices believe they are above the law?!! That's not a surprise, is it? I'm tired of leaders like Paul Martin (and other experts) that are trying so hard to reach the 'average and ordinary' Canadian while firmly believing that the 'average and ordinary' Canadian is not educated (politically correct, smart?) enough to make important moral and ethical choices. But their own moral and ethical choices are coming back to haunt them - it seems like they just can't hold their own corruption in check. It's exploding during this campaign..a scandal here and a scandal there.

But here's something that bothers me every time I hear a politician speak about ordinary, average Canadians. Isn't anyone else getting tired of being called ordinary and average? It's amazing that our leaders lump us all into one big stereotype and we're just happy to accept it. Maybe therein lies our problem. We have a collective negative image of ourselves. After all who can expect much from ordinary, average people? Maybe we're lucky to have such grand leadership as we have right now.

So I'm holding my breath that maybe, just this once, Canadians will rally because they want a different country than the one we're becoming. Can integrity and a change in direction really happen? I just have to believe that it can!

I've got "Total Truth" at last...

that's the name of one of two books that I've been planning on buying for some time now. It's written by Nancy Pearcey and I just loved her book "The Soul of Science" that I read years ago. So I can't wait to dive in.

The other book is "The Well-Trained Mind" by Bauer and Wise. I wasn't sure if I was ready to dive into classical homeschooling although there are some aspects that I love about it. I finally decided to make the plunge and invest in this book to give it some honest consideration as I do some research to get ready for Rory's grade 1. I want to have a good idea of what I want to do before I head to the Home Education conference in Saskatoon in a couple of months.

But for now, I'd better kick myself off the 'net and get some worship music picked out for this Sunday.

I could have been fired....

I thought I was going to have so much time over the holidays. Well, I could have guessed the reality would look a little different. Our farm's year end is Dec 31 and that has kept me busy these days (and nights). Last night I worked away until 1:30 am because I found a mistake that looked like our income was $32,000 more than I thought which will affect the tax bill significantly. But as I worked through it, the error was not as severe as I thought and brought that difference down to $5000....whew! I could just see the conversation this morning.

"Uh...Ladge, sweetie pie...you know how I was working so late last night? I...uh.. found out that I missed including some income in our reports and so now we're looking at a higher tax bill."

"What?!!!?!!!?!! That's it! You're fired!" (Yeah, we watch The Apprentice too much).

And just like that I'd be a part-time stay at home, home-schooling Mom and a part-time music teacher with nothing to do. *grin*

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But the best part of yesterday was getting a sanity phone call from my lifelong friend, Carol. I say sanity call because I was up to my eyeballs in accounting all day and it was just the break I needed. Plus, she had some great news to share which is always a lift to the day. And... some things she said was just what I needed to hear to reassure me that I was on a good path with our homeschooling adventure. Thanks, girl! :-)

Happy New Year!

Hello 2006! Today was a little busy as our worship team was on and it was not practical to have a practice last night due to the New Year's Eve celebrations. So Ladger had the boys to entertain for an hour and a half before church and then as there was no Sunday School, he stayed with Paxton in the nursery which meant Rory was on his own in the service when I was playing (which was a fair chunk of the time). He was behind me and perhaps that was for the best as I might have been very distracted otherwise. I did catch a glimpse of him dancing to the music that I'm sure amused some and distracted others. But we made it and had a nice quiet afternoon wth everyone catching up on a little sleep.

I trust that we're all optimistic about a good year ahead with God's blessings in our lives.