I so wish that I could have been in Washington DC for the 9/12 March yesterday. In fact just last Sunday I was looking at airline tickets and trying to figure out a way to come up with the money to fly out there. In case you are unaware of what the 9/12 March was…let me give you the 411. The march yesterday which drew tens of thousands of people (some estimate 2 million) from all across America was a gathering of people from every walk of life, every race, every creed, every political and non political party who wanted to express their desire to see America return to 9 basic principles and 12 values.
Here are the 9 principles:
- America is good
- I believe in God and He is the center of my life
“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington´s first Inaugural address. - I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
“I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington - The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
“It is in the love of one´s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson - If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
“I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson - I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
“Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson - I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
“It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington - It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
“In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington - The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
“I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
Here are the 12 values:
- Honesty
- Reverence
- Hope
- Thrift
- Humility
- Charity
- Sincerity
- Moderation
- Hard Work
- Courage
- Personal Responsibility
- Gratitude
And yes they were there to protest – the current healthcare reform, the increase in government spending and trillion dollar deficit, tax increases, wealth redistribution to name a few. Here is a great slide show from a blogger friend of mine was there so you can see it for yourself –http://picasaweb.google.com/BarbarasMommyLife/912MarchOnWashingtonDC?feat=embedwebsite#
These values & principles as well as protests combined with my pro-life/anti-abortion (let me be clear with the facts of science – abortion is the killing of a baby and should not happen in any society – there is an answer to unwanted babies it is called adoption) passion is what I am (or striving to be as I certainly have not arrived in several of these areas).
During the past several months many of our leaders and media have classified people like me who have attended marches, tea parties, town hall meetings or protests in very unbecoming and untrue way.
I am not:
- a Nazi — I have never been nor will ever embrace socialism, white supremacy, anti-Semitism or fascism
- a racist — I do not see color or race but rather as Martin Luther King hoped for, I judge people on the content of their character. I have very close friends of most every race – African American, Filipino, Mexican, South American, Korean. Oh and did I mention I have a precious & perfect baby girl who happens to be black that we adopted here in the USA?
- un American — I am a proud & patriotic American, raised in a third generation military family with both of my grandfathers serving in WWII (and one giving his life there). I have voted in every election since I turned 18, proudly fly the American flag daily and participated in the celebration of our country, our national holidays and the democratic process my entire life.
- astroturf – this new name given to those protesting who are supposedly being paid to go protest by some big organization or corporation. Ummmm…no one has paid this lady a dime, nor recruited me let alone even talked to me. And FYI…I do not watch Fox news (have only had television reception since last Thursday), have never listened to Glen Beck (although I would love to) and catch perhaps a grand total of 1 hour per week of conservative talk radio while I am in the car driving my kids to all their actvities.
- a homeland terrorist – I have never ever been involved in acts of violence or coercion against America or anyone for that matter and just because I am pro life, against illegal immigration, believe in state & local authority and am conservative I am going to be labeled a terrorist?
- “fishy” – simply by having legitimate concerns about the current healthcare reform bill and sharing those concerns with others makes me suspicious…hmmmm.
- a “tea bagger” – I am too classy to even respond to this base name calling by our media
- a moron – some refered to yesterdays demonstration as the “Million Moron March” So now I am being called a moron. (I was there in spirit if not in flesh) I do not claim to be the brightest individual in the world but I am not stupid (the technical definition is an adult with the mental age of 8-12) and in fact graduated in the top 12 of my high school class (albeit in the California public schools), scored a 1200 on my SAT’s and earned a college degree from UOP.
Ok, I just thought I’d clear that up for everyone..although I doubt that the people who called me those names are reading my blog! I will be at the next march and despite my very full life (ummm….8 children, homeschooling Mom, Director of Development for JECHS, Creative Memories Consultant and trying to do something to promote adoption) I will be campaigning for new congressmen & new senators that reflect what I am.
Today I will celebrate my life! My God given life – my abundantly blessed life – my 47 years on this earth – my health – my family & friends – my faith – my future!
![Holding_dad's_hand[1]](https://bethlambdin.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/holding_dads_hand12.jpg?w=300&h=200 "Holding_dad's_hand[1]")
(if you have ever camped in South Lake Tahoe…you know exactly what I am talking about if not – see photo to the left of Daniel’s dirty face while camping this past week!), my bathroom turned into the most desired room in our house! As we unpacked the car, began the mountain of laundry, cleaned all the camping gear, restocked & put it away for the next adventure all I could think about was getting into that bathroom. It became the center of my focus and I wasn’t thinking about all its flaws…I was only thinking that it was my bathroom(complete with my germs & mold…which somehow seem cleaner than in public bathrooms). I looked forward with joy to getting into that small shower and just standing there letting the steaming hot water pour over my entire body. I relished the thought of every part of my bathroom experience! It became my oasis!
Daniel meets his new baby sister! (Who he has claimed as “mine”)
Joy is going to be a fabulous big sister!
Our dear friends Kelly Hale & her Daddy “Grandpa Jim” meet the baby girl
Tiffana stops by to meet our newest addition
Cousin Janessa adores her baby girl cousin
Auntie Jennae chats with her sweet new niece
Daniel helps feed his baby sister – what a great big brother he is already becoming!
Sooooooooooo sweet!
Nothing better than a sleeping baby to take a nap with!
We decided to visit the capitol building in Nashville while we were there – partly because we wanted photos of Christiana in her birth state Capitol and partly because I had one of my homeschooling daughters with me (Rebekah who is the 13 year old “rich” babysitting daughter & paid her own way to be there for the adoption of her little sister) and after all “life is school”. When we arrived in the building there was a lot of commotion going on. We asked the security guard what was happening and he shared that they were about to start a legislative session. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to see government in action, we headed towards the balcony seating to watch a few votes. To our surprise we ran into Karen & Sue at the bottom of the steps – the Life Choices Executive Director & Board President. They were as surprised as we were and asked if we were there for “the vote”. 
Not having any idea what they were talking about it was quickly shared that the strongest pro life legislation in Tennessee was up for a vote that very afternoon and was expected to pass – giving a great victory to the pro life movement. They began introducing us to the multitudes of pro lifers that were there and were showing off our sweet Christiana to all, as a testimony to the option of adoption over abortion. I can’t begin to explain to you what this all meant to me – a lifelong passionate pro lifer. Wow! God is amazing!
We met the staff and toured their impressive facility which offers a full range of services for women experiencing crisis pregnancies – everything from ultrasounds, counseling, prenatal and parenting classes to adoption services, financial, clothing and housing assistance for both women and men who are walking through an unexpected or crisis pregnancy. 
It stirred up a passion that has long lived in my heart to see this type of organization exist in my own hometown. Nothing about our entire three day in Tennessee was “accidental” but merely the providence of God bringing together our passion for life into our pursuit of adoption. There are so many things I could share and hopefully will have time soon to do that.
We the drove over to the home of the family that has been lovingly caring for Christiana for her first six weeks. We were joined there by several staff and board members of Life Choices as well as the cradle care family. We had a time of scripture reading –
Inspire Ministries 