I get so frustrated with Sheeple. You know who those people are.
They are the ones who buy outfits directly from the storefront window, exactly as they see them, because they don't have the creativity or guts to put together an original outfit.
They are the ones, who put their children in activities or sports at the age of three, just because so-and-so is doing it, without really considering the needs of their child.
They are the ones who end up being just like every other person, because it's easy, accessible, and requires no thinking on their part.
They are the ones who think, if it's good enough for my friend, it's good enough for me.
They are the ones who are content with the status quo, because to change something or to be different "just isn't done".
I don't want to offend, but I get so tired of these kinds of people. And yes, you may be one of them.
You may say, "but I like the comfort of my life, the predictability and ease in which I live". Good for you; to each their own. This post is to encourage those who are not content with just "being", not to belittle those who are.
I greatly admire those who aren't afraid to be themselves. I am lucky enough to know a couple of people who have the courage and fortitude to say, "I like myself just how I am, and poo on you if you don't feel the same way".
Brava, Angela Smith. A great mother, wife, sister, daughter, cousin. She is not afraid to be herself, even though she is "different" by society's standards. She is definitely NOT sheeple, and the world is better for it.
Bravo Ryan Redcorn. Most of you don't know him, and I myself have never had the opportunity to meet him yet, but he is a brilliant mind who believes in the Native American cause, even though it is not the most popular viewpoint in the country. He doesn't care about his popularity, but desperately seeks to change the minds of the uneducated and misinformed, to tell the world about his people and the suffering they have endured, which is covered up in a sugar coated, government issued education.
Bravo Mike Henson. I may be biased, but this man to me is the most special of them all. He struggles to bridge the gap between his Native Cherokees and the white worlds he was raised in. He is torn up inside on a daily basis with the knowledge that his children will never hear the language spoken fluently as he did, growing up around a full blood, traditional family. His heart aches because he is only able to teach his children what little he knows, which to me is quite a bit, but to him is barely scraping the edges. But does he give up? Does he say there is nothing I can do, it is the way it must be? Absolutely not. He practices his alphabet, written by Sequoyah himself. He learns hymns sung in the Cherokee language, then teaches them to our children. He attends storytellings, and singings that are conducted completely in Cherokee, and soaks up every second so that he can learn enough to bring home and keep the Cherokee ways alive, for our family but also for the sustainability of the Nation itself. I am proud of you.
Each person, each tribe, each nationality, each family, each individual has the responsibility to step up and make a difference whether it be small or large. I am proud to know a few people (and even more than I've listed) that do this on a daily basis in MANY different areas, and I just wanted to let them know how important they are.
If you know someone who isn't afraid, encourage them. Let them know how important their fortitude is for our collective future.
Be who you are, don't be afraid to stand out. You may be someone's inspiration; don't let them down.
Love, T.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, July 6, 2009
Long time, no see.
Yep, it's been awhile. It seems I am only good at keeping up with one social networking site at a time, and because I've been spending more time on Facebook, I haven't had the time to blog. Not that I haven't been busy lately; with two vacations, a bi-state move, and a death in the family, I haven't even gotten around to hanging all my wall photos yet.
I am now living in Leesville, Louisiana. It's the town where Ft. Polk is located, but other than the base and a Walmart, we are isolated. No museums, zoo, really ANYTHING to do around here, I am sane only because our neighborhood just opened an awesome new pool just steps from our front door. It's perfect for Roman because it has this shallow platform area in the water for him to play in without having to wear floaties. He has NO fear of the water, so I've been trying to give him a small dose of what the water can do by letting him go under. The first couple of times, he was surprised, but after a few days, he loves going underwater! I was the same way, always loved the water. My grandma put me in swimming lessons at our local Red Cross when I was little; at the same neighborhood pool where she and the Baxters still live. :) Mrs. Stanley was my teacher, all Liberty kids and parents know that huge family...in fact, a couple of her kids were in my same swim class.
Anyway, this post was totally random, but I'll get back into the swing of things soon! I have a lot of random thoughts to share, and Roman's birthday party is this weekend, so I'll be posting about that also! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
Love, T.
I am now living in Leesville, Louisiana. It's the town where Ft. Polk is located, but other than the base and a Walmart, we are isolated. No museums, zoo, really ANYTHING to do around here, I am sane only because our neighborhood just opened an awesome new pool just steps from our front door. It's perfect for Roman because it has this shallow platform area in the water for him to play in without having to wear floaties. He has NO fear of the water, so I've been trying to give him a small dose of what the water can do by letting him go under. The first couple of times, he was surprised, but after a few days, he loves going underwater! I was the same way, always loved the water. My grandma put me in swimming lessons at our local Red Cross when I was little; at the same neighborhood pool where she and the Baxters still live. :) Mrs. Stanley was my teacher, all Liberty kids and parents know that huge family...in fact, a couple of her kids were in my same swim class.
Anyway, this post was totally random, but I'll get back into the swing of things soon! I have a lot of random thoughts to share, and Roman's birthday party is this weekend, so I'll be posting about that also! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
Love, T.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Blogging on my Mom's Day Out!
Hello, my wonderful readers! I would like to tell both of you Happy Thursday!
It's fairly obvious that I'm a Democrat; in fact, I'm pretty sure I've pretty much told anyone who's ever asked. But there's a Republican woman at whom I would LOVE to throw staplers, or anything else made of metal; Ann Coulter. This woman is the most inflammatory, offensive person I think I have ever seen...and I've been to OU/Texas! I obviously disagree with her on a policy level, but oh man, if she is supposed to be the spokesperson for the Christian right? That is TERRIFYING. Many videos of her exist online, but this is the most recent that I've seen, mostly because I avoid Fox News. She goes on The View to promote her latest liberal hate crime, and the best part is at the end when Whoopi gets her!
Okay, on to things that hopefully won't offend... My husband and I are looking for a new bed. I have major back problems (three surgeries in three years), and my bed just isn't working for me anymore. We've gone to the Sleep Number Bed store and tried it, and I think it will work, but $2500 for a bed is so expensive! Does anyone know of a bed you've tried that you think would work for someone with back issues? I like a semi-firm mattress, but it has to be soft at the same time, to keep the pressure points at a minimum.
So, we are getting down to the wire with Mike's job, which is scheduled to be completed on Febuary 21st. We still have NO idea where we will be going next; we've heard Georgia, South Carolina, and possibly Florida. But the one that scares us the most is Louisiana! We both have NO interest in living there, but unfortunately, we may not have a choice. We tried to find a job here in Little Rock, so we could stay, but so far, no luck. It's getting scarier by the day, but we are trusting in God to put us in the place He wants us.
That's it for now...I have to go work on Roman's Valentines for his class party, and get ready to pick him up from school at 2. Hope everyone is having a great day! It's almost the weekend!
Love, T.
It's fairly obvious that I'm a Democrat; in fact, I'm pretty sure I've pretty much told anyone who's ever asked. But there's a Republican woman at whom I would LOVE to throw staplers, or anything else made of metal; Ann Coulter. This woman is the most inflammatory, offensive person I think I have ever seen...and I've been to OU/Texas! I obviously disagree with her on a policy level, but oh man, if she is supposed to be the spokesperson for the Christian right? That is TERRIFYING. Many videos of her exist online, but this is the most recent that I've seen, mostly because I avoid Fox News. She goes on The View to promote her latest liberal hate crime, and the best part is at the end when Whoopi gets her!
Okay, on to things that hopefully won't offend... My husband and I are looking for a new bed. I have major back problems (three surgeries in three years), and my bed just isn't working for me anymore. We've gone to the Sleep Number Bed store and tried it, and I think it will work, but $2500 for a bed is so expensive! Does anyone know of a bed you've tried that you think would work for someone with back issues? I like a semi-firm mattress, but it has to be soft at the same time, to keep the pressure points at a minimum.
So, we are getting down to the wire with Mike's job, which is scheduled to be completed on Febuary 21st. We still have NO idea where we will be going next; we've heard Georgia, South Carolina, and possibly Florida. But the one that scares us the most is Louisiana! We both have NO interest in living there, but unfortunately, we may not have a choice. We tried to find a job here in Little Rock, so we could stay, but so far, no luck. It's getting scarier by the day, but we are trusting in God to put us in the place He wants us.
That's it for now...I have to go work on Roman's Valentines for his class party, and get ready to pick him up from school at 2. Hope everyone is having a great day! It's almost the weekend!
Love, T.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Things I like and don't like today.
Today I found this letter, and started bawling my eyes out. It reminds me of what a wonderful father my husband is, but also makes me so grateful that I had such a great relationship with my father growing up. I was always a daddy's girl, and that will never change!
I love the Margaret and Helen blog; they are hilarious Democrat bloggers, but this entry just moved me!
Anyone else watching the Bachelor this season? I'm usually not a fan of The Bachelor, just the Bachelorette, but since Jason is a leftover from the previous Bachelorette, I'm all in! :-) My favorites actually so far have meshed with J's; I really like Jillian, Molly, and Naomi, but can't STAND Shannon. That chick is soooo crazy...major stalker material!
On to the scrapbooking...So, here are some of the Christmas layouts I've been working on. By far, these are some of my favorite layouts I've ever done. Love the paper, love the embellishments, love what I've been able to do since I got my Cricut machine.
This one is for Roman's book. It's about his favorite Christmas gifts.
This page is about how we made our Christmas ornaments because we couldn't make it to our storage unit in Oklahoma to get our stash. The second picture shows one of the picture frames that we made. We hung individual pictures of all our family and our best friends. This was probably Roman's favorite part of the Christmas tree...he loved pointing at a frame and making us say the person's name! I also made snowflakes, stars, and trees on my Cricut, punched holes in them and hung them as ornaments.
Here is the general Christmas layout with a overview of photos from all our family visits. This one is Mike's favorite.
If anyone wants to know what paper, accents, etc that I used, just ask! Thanks for reading my rambling post!
Love, T.
I love the Margaret and Helen blog; they are hilarious Democrat bloggers, but this entry just moved me!
Anyone else watching the Bachelor this season? I'm usually not a fan of The Bachelor, just the Bachelorette, but since Jason is a leftover from the previous Bachelorette, I'm all in! :-) My favorites actually so far have meshed with J's; I really like Jillian, Molly, and Naomi, but can't STAND Shannon. That chick is soooo crazy...major stalker material!
On to the scrapbooking...So, here are some of the Christmas layouts I've been working on. By far, these are some of my favorite layouts I've ever done. Love the paper, love the embellishments, love what I've been able to do since I got my Cricut machine.
This one is for Roman's book. It's about his favorite Christmas gifts.
This page is about how we made our Christmas ornaments because we couldn't make it to our storage unit in Oklahoma to get our stash. The second picture shows one of the picture frames that we made. We hung individual pictures of all our family and our best friends. This was probably Roman's favorite part of the Christmas tree...he loved pointing at a frame and making us say the person's name! I also made snowflakes, stars, and trees on my Cricut, punched holes in them and hung them as ornaments.
Here is the general Christmas layout with a overview of photos from all our family visits. This one is Mike's favorite.
If anyone wants to know what paper, accents, etc that I used, just ask! Thanks for reading my rambling post!
Love, T.
Presidential Inauguration, The Obamas, and other randomness
I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, but things have been busy around here. Roman came down with a virus that gave him a 104 degree fever, then once he was better, I came down with the same thing. I've also been trying to scrap all our Christmas photos, so I can start on Roman's Valentines. I'll post pictures of those later.
Like a lot of people, I've been watching all the Inaugural activities; the speeches, the parade, the interviews. But by far, my favorite interview was the one Barbara Walters did about a month ago with President Obama and Michelle. Both of the Obamas were so laid back, joking around with Barbara, and teasing each other. But the best part for me, was where they talked about parenting their children. They will still expect their girls to make their beds, do their chores, scoop their dog's poop, etc, even after moving into the White House, where typically they are waited on hand and foot. I loved how they talked about how they don't buy their children Christmas gifts, because they are so spoiled by the rest of the family, that they concentrate more on the actual meaning of Christmas, not on the secular aspect of "getting stuff". They discussed the fact that many of Obama's new staff had small children, so they were committed to making the White House a more "kid-friendly" place to be. It is obviously a work place, but for the Obamas and those who work 20 hour days, it is also home, and it is wonderful to see someone trying to make the best situation possible for their employees and their families.
I love that there will be small children in the White House again. I have to admit, it was always a fantasy of mine to be one of those kids who grew up there, even for a few years. Even if I had to make my own bed. :-)
Love, T.
Like a lot of people, I've been watching all the Inaugural activities; the speeches, the parade, the interviews. But by far, my favorite interview was the one Barbara Walters did about a month ago with President Obama and Michelle. Both of the Obamas were so laid back, joking around with Barbara, and teasing each other. But the best part for me, was where they talked about parenting their children. They will still expect their girls to make their beds, do their chores, scoop their dog's poop, etc, even after moving into the White House, where typically they are waited on hand and foot. I loved how they talked about how they don't buy their children Christmas gifts, because they are so spoiled by the rest of the family, that they concentrate more on the actual meaning of Christmas, not on the secular aspect of "getting stuff". They discussed the fact that many of Obama's new staff had small children, so they were committed to making the White House a more "kid-friendly" place to be. It is obviously a work place, but for the Obamas and those who work 20 hour days, it is also home, and it is wonderful to see someone trying to make the best situation possible for their employees and their families.
I love that there will be small children in the White House again. I have to admit, it was always a fantasy of mine to be one of those kids who grew up there, even for a few years. Even if I had to make my own bed. :-)
Love, T.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Blessings from above AND below!
I feel so completely blessed right now, and I HAVE to share my story.
We have been attending our church, First Assembly since December of last year. It was the first church that we visited, and the last. We fell in love with the church; the music, the nursery, the people were all so wonderful that we instantly fell in love. We went to First Look, which is a 15 minute or so meet and greet with Pastor Rod and Cindy, and Pastor Steve and Natalie, the same Natalie that you see all over my blog. :) A couple of months after we had been going there, we were invited to have Sunday lunch with the above Pastors, plus a few more staff members, like Ms. Pam, who we also adore. :) During that lunch Mike and Steve hit it off and Mike told Steve that he would come over and help him finish a bathroom remodel at their house...and that was how our friendship with Steve and Nat began. In the last 5 or 6 months or so, First Assembly has really become our home, the place we miss even if we are just traveling home for the weekend.
After Mom died, our Thanksgiving plans changed, since we were supposed to have Thanksgiving dinner with them here in Arkansas. Mike and I decided to go ahead and stay here for Thanksgiving, and we were planning on just having the holiday week to ourselves, but we were invited to have a Thanksgiving meal at P-Rod and Cindy's house with Steve and Nat, and several other friends and staff members from church. We had such a great time, and really felt at home there with everyone, and had a blast playing Rock Band 2...even Roman played the drums! (I will upload pics later...too cute!)
Cut to this weekend. This Sunday was Family Christmas at First Assembly, this being our first time to attend. There are three services, and we typically go to third service, but Steve told us that we definitely should try to attend as many services as we could, but definitely second service. He said he couldn't tell us why, but that we really should try to be there if possible. Later on, one of the children's pastors, Gary, told me that Steve didn't know it, but the church was going to honor him and Natalie, so to be sure and be there. I brought my camera and everything to take pictures of Steve and Nat, because I wanted to be sure to document this day for them. Well, they read the Christmas Story, and the next thing I hear is P-Rod saying that they would like Mike and Tara Henson to come up to the stage! I have NO idea what is going on, but we go up there and sit down on some comfy chairs onstage(the stage was decorated like a living room with couches, chairs, coffee table, etc.). P-Rod starts telling the story of Mom, how she thought she had laryngitis for a couple of weeks. She refused to go to the doctor, because they didn't have health insurance, but finally she was feeling so poorly that she went to the urgent care, where they diagnosed her with pneumonia. They gave her a steroid shot and some medication and sent her home, and she died in her sleep that night.
Then P-Rod started talking about how I was her only adult child, and how my only brother was autistic, and couldn't help with the funeral costs, so it fell to Mike and I. He also told how we had pulled Roman out of Mother's Day Out at church, because we were going to send that money to the funeral home; they were letting us make payments, or there would have been no way that we would have been able to even afford the funeral!
Then they proceeded to tell us that the church was donating a whole YEAR of free childcare for Roman, for both Tuesday AND Thursday (the only days they are open). He was only going one day a week because that was all we could really afford anyway. We were floored! What amazing generosity. Then, on top of that, they pull out this wicked cool 4Wheeler for Roman!
He rode it all over the stage for a minute or two, but then wanted Uncle Steve to help him off. We hugged everybody, said thank you, then were walking off the stage when P-Rod said, Mike, we also need to know what funeral home to make a check out to, because we are going to pay $2,000.00 towards the funeral costs. I started bawling all over again.
Can you believe how good God is to us when we are faithful? It's been such a struggle to pay our tithes, because we have needed every cent that we had, especially around the holidays. But we paid them anyway, and God rewarded us by being faithful to us. Isn't he amazing? I love my God and I love my church!
Love, T.
We have been attending our church, First Assembly since December of last year. It was the first church that we visited, and the last. We fell in love with the church; the music, the nursery, the people were all so wonderful that we instantly fell in love. We went to First Look, which is a 15 minute or so meet and greet with Pastor Rod and Cindy, and Pastor Steve and Natalie, the same Natalie that you see all over my blog. :) A couple of months after we had been going there, we were invited to have Sunday lunch with the above Pastors, plus a few more staff members, like Ms. Pam, who we also adore. :) During that lunch Mike and Steve hit it off and Mike told Steve that he would come over and help him finish a bathroom remodel at their house...and that was how our friendship with Steve and Nat began. In the last 5 or 6 months or so, First Assembly has really become our home, the place we miss even if we are just traveling home for the weekend.
After Mom died, our Thanksgiving plans changed, since we were supposed to have Thanksgiving dinner with them here in Arkansas. Mike and I decided to go ahead and stay here for Thanksgiving, and we were planning on just having the holiday week to ourselves, but we were invited to have a Thanksgiving meal at P-Rod and Cindy's house with Steve and Nat, and several other friends and staff members from church. We had such a great time, and really felt at home there with everyone, and had a blast playing Rock Band 2...even Roman played the drums! (I will upload pics later...too cute!)
Cut to this weekend. This Sunday was Family Christmas at First Assembly, this being our first time to attend. There are three services, and we typically go to third service, but Steve told us that we definitely should try to attend as many services as we could, but definitely second service. He said he couldn't tell us why, but that we really should try to be there if possible. Later on, one of the children's pastors, Gary, told me that Steve didn't know it, but the church was going to honor him and Natalie, so to be sure and be there. I brought my camera and everything to take pictures of Steve and Nat, because I wanted to be sure to document this day for them. Well, they read the Christmas Story, and the next thing I hear is P-Rod saying that they would like Mike and Tara Henson to come up to the stage! I have NO idea what is going on, but we go up there and sit down on some comfy chairs onstage(the stage was decorated like a living room with couches, chairs, coffee table, etc.). P-Rod starts telling the story of Mom, how she thought she had laryngitis for a couple of weeks. She refused to go to the doctor, because they didn't have health insurance, but finally she was feeling so poorly that she went to the urgent care, where they diagnosed her with pneumonia. They gave her a steroid shot and some medication and sent her home, and she died in her sleep that night.
Then P-Rod started talking about how I was her only adult child, and how my only brother was autistic, and couldn't help with the funeral costs, so it fell to Mike and I. He also told how we had pulled Roman out of Mother's Day Out at church, because we were going to send that money to the funeral home; they were letting us make payments, or there would have been no way that we would have been able to even afford the funeral!
Then they proceeded to tell us that the church was donating a whole YEAR of free childcare for Roman, for both Tuesday AND Thursday (the only days they are open). He was only going one day a week because that was all we could really afford anyway. We were floored! What amazing generosity. Then, on top of that, they pull out this wicked cool 4Wheeler for Roman!
He rode it all over the stage for a minute or two, but then wanted Uncle Steve to help him off. We hugged everybody, said thank you, then were walking off the stage when P-Rod said, Mike, we also need to know what funeral home to make a check out to, because we are going to pay $2,000.00 towards the funeral costs. I started bawling all over again.
Can you believe how good God is to us when we are faithful? It's been such a struggle to pay our tithes, because we have needed every cent that we had, especially around the holidays. But we paid them anyway, and God rewarded us by being faithful to us. Isn't he amazing? I love my God and I love my church!
Love, T.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)