Barbara Curtis's Blog, page 194

Giant Wooden Xylophone

森の木琴

Amazing that this turns out to be a commercial. The following video shows the excruciating care with which it was executed:

Making of the Touch Wood commercial - 森の木琴

Who Is Rick Perry?

This does not mean I am endorsing Rick Perry. I haven't yet decided whom I will be supporting.

Just want to give you some clear background - passed on to me by my friend Ann:

Who Is Rick Perry?

He is a fifth generation Texan, the son of hardscrabble west Texas tenant farmers - Democrats but conservatives through and through. He grew up in a farm town too small to be on the state map. Life was so hard that he was six years old before his house had indoor plumbing. His mother sewed his clothes, including the underwear he wore to college.

He is an Eagle Scout. After Paint Creek High School , he attended Texas A&M, graduated, and was commissioned into the Air Force where he became a C-130 pilot.

Now 61 years old, he has won nine elections to four different offices in Texas state government. In the first three elections he ran as a Democrat then switched to the Republican Party. He is currently the 47th governor of Texas - a position he has held for 11 years, the longest tenure of any governor in the nation.

He has never lost an election.

Rick Perry was the Lieutenant Governor to whom Governor George Bush handed over the office after winning the 2000 Presidential election. Since then, Perry won gubernatorial elections in 2002, 2004, and 2010, the last time by 55% against a field consisting of a Democrat, a Libertarian, a Green Party, and an Independent.

Since he became its Governor, Texas - a right to work state that taxes neither personal income nor capital gains - has added more jobs than the other 49 states combined. In the last two years, low taxes and little regulation led his state to create 47% of all jobs created in the entire nation. Five of the top ten cities with the highest job growth in the nation are in Texas . People follow jobs, so in the last four years for which data are available, Texas led every state in net interstate migration growth.

Perry signed ground-breaking "loser pays" tort reform and medical litigation rules that caused malpractice insurance rates to fall. Some 20,000 doctors have since moved to Texas .

Texas boasts 58 of the Fortune 500 companies - more than any other state. Since May 2011 Texas resumed its pre-recession employment levels. Only two other states and the District of Columbia have done that.

Texas ships 16% of the nation's export value. California trails at 11%. Of the 70 companies that have fled California so far in 2011, 14 relocated in Texas .

In this year's Texas legislative season, Perry got most of what he wanted. With no new taxes, a fiscally lean state budget was passed leaving $6 billion in a rainy day fund even as other states around the country struggled to balance budgets and avoid more deficit borrowing. A voter ID bill passed that was designed to prevent ballot box fraud and illegal

voting. A bill passed that makes plaintiffs pay court costs and attorney fees if their suits are deemed frivolous.

Perry scored points even in his legislative failures. He failed to get sanctuary cities banned - Texas towns in which police cannot question detainees about their immigration status. The blame fell on the legislature. Perry also failed to get a so-called "anti-groping" bill passed that would put Transportation Security Administration agents in prison if they touch the genitals, anus, or breasts of passengers in a pat down. Federal

officials threatened to halt all flights out of Texas airports and the bill died in special session. That endeared Texans even more to TSA employees living in Texas .

Perry jogs daily in the morning. He has no bodyguard with him, but his daughter's dog runs by his side and he carries a laser-guided automatic pistol in his belt. Last year while jogging in an undeveloped area, a coyote paralleled his jogging route, eyeing his dog. He drew his pistol and killed the animal with one shot, leaving it where it fell. "He became mulch," Perry said. Animal rights groups protested, but Perry shrugged it off. "Don't come after my dog," he warned them.

Recently, Obama asked Perry to delay the July 7 execution of Humberto Leal in order to comply with the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Perry refused. Therefore Obama asked the US Supreme Court to delay the execution because it would damage US foreign relations. The Court refused 5-4 and Perry ordered the execution to go forward as scheduled. Over the howls of diplomats, politicians, and the UN, Leal was administered a lethal injection at 6:20 p.m. Before he died, he admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness.

The case has special implications for Perry, who is considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Even his critics resent federal interference in a Texas execution, which is related to a state, not a federal, crime - an alcohol and drug-fueled rape and murder 17 years ago by an illegal whose family brought him into the country 35 years ago as a child. The interference hinges not on the man's guilt, which Leal's advocates acknowledged, but on a technicality - failure to inform Leal that he could have gotten legal representation from the Mexican consulate in lieu of the court-appointed attorneys who represented him. Independent Texans saw Obama's interference as another intrusion of federal power into the affairs of a state, which could cost Obama support in other states.

Needless to say, Perry is a hard-edged conservative and a ferocious defender of 10th Amendments rights ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.") - an explicit restriction of the federal government to only those powers granted in the Constitution. Perry accuses the federal government, especially the Obama administration, of illegal overreach.

Perry said "no thanks" to the feds whose stimulus offered taxpayer dollars for education and unemployment assistance. The strings on "free money" from Washington , he said, would restrict Texas in managing its own affairs. Perry even depleted all state funds to fight recent wildfires before asking Washington for disaster relief. His request has been ignored, which comes across as an unvarnished federal power play, further pitting Perry and Texans against the federal government.

Raising our Ebeneezer on Josh's Birthday

I mentioned I would share the story of why Tripp and I call Joshua - our first child - the Cornerstone of our family. Here is an excerpt from Dirty Dancing at the Prom and Other Challenges Christian Teens Face: How Parents Can Help:

Our family's favorite hymn is "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". My favorite verse is the second:

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Hither by thy help I've come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood

Ebenezer, which means "stone of help," comes from Samuel 7, when the Israelites cried out to God and were saved from the Philistines. "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the Lord helped us.'"

We have those dramatic moments in our lives too - as individuals and as families. Times when things could have gone one way, but God turned them around for good. Sometimes those moments are based on mistakes we've made, mistakes which the enemy would like to use to silence and shame us.

I say turn the tables. Raise your Ebenezers and teach your kids to raise their own wherever there's been a spiritual turning point in their lives. Take mistakes out of the enemy's arsenal and let God use them for good, to make them stronger.

I mentioned earlier that I was pregnant when Tripp married me. After becoming Christians, rather than feeling ashamed and hiding that from our kids, we raised it as an Ebenezer. The fact was, at the time it happened Tripp and I did not have the character to make the right decision. We know that God - though we didn't yet know him - must have intervened to choose to have the baby and to get married, moving us that much farther along in his plan for our lives.

The fact is that if there hadn't been Joshua, there probably wouldn't have been the rest of the Curtis family. Each year before we light the candles for his birthday, we tell the story of how God used Joshua to nudge us into a commitment we might not have otherwise made. Josh is the cornerstone on which God began to build and continues to build a strong Christian family.

As Zan Tyler has written, "God doesn't have to have a lot to work with in order to do great things in our lives, or in the lives of our children." Learning to make the most of mistakes just speeds up the process.

And this chapter from The Mommy Manual expands on this idea:

Written In Our Hearts

Every family has a story. Ask God to show you HisStory - His perspective on yours. And begin early to share it with your kids. If your background was rough like ours, even if you made mistakes, don't be afraid to share in ways that reveal the difference God can make in our lives.



This year Joshua will be 21. Each year on his birthday, we tell the story of how God used that illegitimate pregnancy to begin building a faithful Christian family - though we wouldn't find out the truth about God until four years later. We say God used Josh as the cornerstone on which to build a new legacy in the Curtis family.

Your family's cornerstone may have been set many generations ago. And you will have your own stories to tell. Try to learn as much as you can from those in your family who remained faithful through the years. What mistakes did they make and what did they learn? What were their greatest accomplishments in God's eyes? If there are written records, gather copies. If there are not and you are given to writing, begin collecting and writing the stories. Your children need to hear them.

But most importantly, it is their own family's story kids need to hear, so learn to perceive it and tell it emphasizing how God was working out His purposes even when you weren't aware.

You might explain how things might have been different had you responded in different ways to life events. Our choices can make us bitter or better.

I've often wondered how two people from the same home can turn out so differently - not all my siblings fared so well coming from our background. I recently came across a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1897) which, though titled "Fate," really emphasizes our personal responsibility in how we deal with the stuff of which our lives are made:

One ship drives east and another drives west

With the self same winds that blow.

'Tis the set of the sails,

And not the gales,

That tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate;

As we voyage along through life,

'Tis the set of a soul

That decides its goal,

And not the calm, or the strife.

When Tripp and I became Christians, it wasn't as though everything became perfect and we never made mistakes.

But it was as though our house was built on a solid rock and though hurricanes might threaten, it could not be stripped loose. Jonny - our son with Down syndrome - was born five years later. Did you know that a very high percentage of marriages end in divorce following the birth of a baby with a disability? Now I know why.

It's not that the unexpected event destroys the marriage, but it does expose every crack, every weakness. Then it's up to mommy and daddy to watch it crumble or work hard to rebuild and make it stronger.

Knowing how devastating divorce is for children, how could Tripp and I make any choice but to hang in there? I mention this because when something happens that makes you even consider for a second the option of divorce, I pray that you will look back on the HisStory God has already been writing through your marriage for your children and that you would stay to let Him finish writing to the end.

All of these things we did to build family unity, create traditions, celebrate holidays - we did them because we wanted to enjoy family life, but they have also enriched and strengthened our relationships and our trust in one another and our hope for a future that will always be about all of us.

Look for family touchstones - events, happy and sad, trials and triumphs which have drawn your family nearer to God and to each other. These are precious, and important for us to name and recall to each other again and again. They call to mind the second verse of the beautiful hymn we chose to be our family's "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing":

Here I raise mine Ebenezer

Hither by thy help I'm come

And I hope by thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger

Wandering from the folds of god

He to rescue me from danger

Interposed his precious blood



The reference to Ebenezer refers to something that happened after the Israelites had miraculously overcome the Philistines in battle.

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and

Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying 'Thus far has the Lord helped us.'" (1 Samuel 7:12)

Ebenezer means stone of help. Samuel placed the stone as a reminder to the Israelites of what had happened that day. I can imagine in generations to come that parents would point the stone out to their children and tell the story of how God intervened in the lives of His people that day and how Samuel thought to make sure it was remembered.

My family has Ebenezers - the birth of a child with Down syndrome, the time Jonny almost died from pneumonia and God saved him, the Matt and Josh used CPR to save Jesse from drowning, our cross-country move to bring our children to a better moral climate, times we've run out of money and God has provided.

Since we explained the meaning of Ebenezer it's no accident that "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" became by unanimous decision our family hymn (don't forget cyber hymnal to hear the tune or check out all the verses).

Your family has Ebenezers too. If you haven't thought about it in those terms, spend a family evening - I'm picturing winter, with mugs of hot chocolate around the fire, but it could just as well be cooling off with colas on the front porch - maybe learning and discussing the meaning of the hymn, then remembering all the places, objects, or songs that remind you,

"thus far has the Lord helped us."

And know deep down in your heart that God loves you and will never stop loving

you and caring for your family.

Josh is 28! Happy Birthday

I must admit I marvel at the combination of Tripp's and my genes - in the hands of God, the Greatest Artist:

Part of God's artistry involved marrying Josh to Hattie so his picture is now not complete without her - and we have another daughter to love. As my readers know, Hattie has been battling cancer for four years and actually is in the hospital now. They hope to bring her home again Monday:

We call Joshua the Cornerstone of our family, because it was on his new life - and our acceptance of it - that God was able to build our family. (I will explain this later today)

The most wonderful thing of all is that my oldest son is not only strong and handsome, but kind and compassionate - every bit the tender warrior we prayed to be able to raise.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Martin Luther King Memorial made in China - and looks it

On August 28, the new Martin Luther King Memorial - located between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington DC - will be dedicated and open to the public.

When I think of MLK, I think of devotion and courage - qualities I don't see reflected in the 30' - that's right, 30 foot! - statue designed by a Chinese artist, with stone quarried in China and only the finishing touches taking place in the USA.

I wrote about this May 11, 2008. Keep in mind that the artist is standing beside his model - the actual statue is 30' high:

Panel Criticizes MLK Statue Design

By STEPHEN MANNING,AP, May 11, 2008

WASHINGTON (May 10) - The centerpiece for the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall has drawn criticism from a federal arts panel, which says the proposed statue looks "confrontational" and resembles the head of a socialist state more than a civil rights leader. '

Full story with more pictures here.

Isn't this the pits? Making our beloved Martin Luther King look like some kind of a Marxist icon?

First of all, they hired a Chinese sculptor best known for his statues of Mao Zedong. What's up with that? Second of all, they hired a Chinese sculptor best known for his states of Mao Zedong. Third of all, they hired a Chinese sculptor best known for .... well, you get the point.

Have you ever been to the National Mall - where all the memorials are? They're beautiful, serene, lovely, thought-provoking, reverent.

This jarring statue is planned to be 28 feet tall. That's right - 28 feet tall!!! Larger than the statue s of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. It is so out of keeping with the proportion of the other memorials on the Mall, it's alarming.

I love the idea of a memorial for Martin Luther King, but they need to go back to the drawing board on this one.

And hire an American - I don't care what color his skin is. But I support those who think a black artist would be best.

See also: Why Is MLK Statue Made in China?

Jonny minus the lump

This was the scene in the next room while I made dinner last night. Jonny had the surgery yesterday to remove the benign cyst from the back of his head. On the way to the surgery center - before the sun was even up - I was making a mental list of the surgeries I've been through with my husband and kids:

Josh, Ben and Zach - knee surgeries
Tripp - five or six knee surgeries, shoulder surgery
Samantha, Jasmine,Zach, Maddy, Jonny, Jesse, Daniel, Justin - tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy
Samantha - appendectomy
Jonny - eight sets of ear tubes, one foot surgery, numerous gastro-intestinal surgeries before he was two
Jesse - eye surgery (strabismus)
First seven kids - wisdom teeth removal (and Maddy will need that too)

You know, people wonder why I'm calm. It's just that the things that normally cause anxiety for moms have become so commonplace in my life. But I'm sure this is common for other megamoms too.

Anyway, Jonny went in like a champ, joking and laughing with the staff. Everything went smoothly, except for the first time he had a really dramatic reaction to the anesthetic and as he came too he was retching though there was nothing in his stomach to throw up. It was very disconcerting, especially when the medication they gave him didn't seem to be helping. I was praying like crazy because if they had to go to a heavier medication it would put him to sleep and we'd have to stay longer until he woke up again.

Anyway, the first med did finally kick in and I was able to bring him home, where Matt and Maddy had created a throne for him to watch movies from Redbox all day. He couldn't eat much and, as you can see, fell asleep pretty early.

Today he is back to normal and went with Matt and his brothers to see Cars 2.

Beyond Leftovers

In my ongoing effort to become a better steward, I've discovered that you can make masterpieces with leftovers just by starting with butter, onions and garlic.

Last night's creation was really gorgeous, so I had to take a picture. Started with the sauteed onion and garlic. Added chopped up steak, potatoes (white, blue and red gourmet mix from Costco), and spinach from the night before. Also added rice, black beans and broccoli from a couple nights before. And finally, some shredded carrots.

Ten ingredients - and check out the colors! And what do you think: is there anything butter, onions and garlic can't make taste great?

By the way - that's my favorite skillet, seasoned with 20 years of mega-meals.

Prayer to start the day

My daughter Samantha - mother of six - just sent this. Thought you would like it too:

Dear Lord, I thank You for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to You. I ask now for Your forgiveness.



Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.



Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.



And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.



Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak.. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who will delete this without sharing it with others. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank You that I believe.



I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.



I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly.



This is my prayer.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen.

Canon Powershot - 55% off at Amazon

Great camera at a great price. List $109, now 55% off now at Amazon in blue only:

I bought four of these for my sons with Down syndrome with plans to teach them how to shoot pictures, upload and print. Great way to stimulate communication and creativity.

So wonderful how we are able to give our kids these opportunities so much earlier because the technology has come down in price and because we're no longer paying to have every photo printed.

Maybe your child is ready for his/her own camera?

Yellow Balloons pro-life rosary takes to Chicago sky

The latest of a series of spontaneous acts of joy across the United States involving the yellow LIFE balloons:

Chicago's Rosary in the Sky
- Judi McLeod Monday, August 15, 2011

The courage of 20 elementary-school aged girls and their counselors participating in a summer camp endeavor at a Chicago Catholic Parish last Friday did not go without notice.

In launching their yellow balloon, 75-foot handmade rosary skyward from Chicago's Michigan Avenue bridge claiming the Magnificent Mile for Mary, they had to carry their rosary, cross-first, through downtown Chicago's peak traffic.

The little girls met with the same dignity the jeers along with the cheers of pedestrians and motorists watching their progress.

For the school girls, there were lessons to be learned in the response of onlookers like the homeless people who gave high fives, street preachers who burst into the singing of Gospel songs, and in the semi-truck drivers who shook the streets sounding their truck horns in approval.

"I was completely ecstatic the whole time. I loved seeing how many people on a random street corner were thrilled. It is a lot more than we tend to think," said one participant. (Sanctamissa.org, Aug. 14, 2011).

"A passerby tweeted, "A balloon rosary in the air. My faith confirmed:)", while another surprised Chicagoan wrote, "What the ...giant balloon rosary, with cross just floated heavenward from the Michigan Avenue bridge."

Was it the innocence of elementary-school aged children that made the 6-foot gold cross sparkle in the sunlight as it ever so slowly ascended between the Tribune tower and the Wrigley building?

To the delight of the girls and witnesses who spotted it, the 75-foot rosary of helium-filled yellow balloons bearing the word LIFE then floated down Michigan Avenue over the Hancock Tower and past North Ave Beach. Cameras and cellphones flew into action as people responded to the unexpected sight.

Trustingly the girls had first prayed the rosary in front of the Washington Blvd. Family Planning Associates, with all the fervour of school children, for an end to abortion.

Believers knew that the floating rosary happened just in time for the August 15 Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.

Brother Joshua Caswell described the rosary over Chicago as "the latest of a series of spontaneous acts of joy across the United States involving the yellow LIFE balloons."

"Sightings of LIFE balloons at prayer vigils, country fairs and flash mobs leave many wondering if the trend will impact this year's March for Life in Washington, DC."

Br. Joshua Caswell sent this article:

Giant LIFE Balloon Rosary seen by Thousands over Chicago's Downtown

CHICAGO (August 15, 2011) - Just in time for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, a 75-foot rosary floats skyward from Chicago's Michigan Avenue Bridge claiming the Magnificent Mile for Mary.

A giant rosary floated gracefully over Chicago's busy tourism district on Friday as thousands looked on. The six-foot gold cross hanging from the rosary sparkled in the sunlight as it very slowly ascended between the Tribune tower and the Wrigley building. The rosary of helium-filled yellow balloons bearing the word LIFE then floated down Michigan Avenue over the Hancock Tower and past North Ave Beach. Cameras and cellphones flew into action as people responded to the unexpected sight.

"There was an excitement all around us and there were people in tears at the sight of the rosary. I think we often take it for granted the power of a simple witness to the faith," said a camp counselor.

A passerby tweeted, "A balloon rosary in the air. My faith confirmed :)", while another surprised Chicagoan wrote, "what the... giant balloon rosary, with cross, just floated heavenward from the michigan avenue bridge."

The rosary was the craft of 20 imaginative elementary-school-aged girls and their counselors participating in a summer camp at a Chicago Catholic Parish. The girls prayed the rosary in front of the Washington Blvd. Family Planning Associates asking Our Lady for an end to abortion. They then carried the rosary, cross-first, through downtown Chicago's peak traffic to the cheers, and sometimes jeers, of pedestrians and motorists. Homeless people gave high fives, street preachers started singing Gospel songs, and semi-truck drivers shook the streets sounding their truck horns in approval. "I was completely ecstatic the whole time. I loved seeing how many people on a random street corner were thrilled. It is a lot more than we tend to think," said one participant.

One of the girls said, "It was the prettiest rosary I have ever seen. I liked how it would float up and sit and then float up and sit. It looked really pretty against the buildings and the sky." Another camper said, "The best way to describe it was 'beautiful'. I didn't see one frowning face. It evangelized everyone who saw it."

This is the latest of a series of spontaneous acts of joy across the United States involving the yellow LIFE balloons. Sightings of LIFE balloons at prayer vigils, county fairs and flash mobs leave many wondering if the trend will impact this year's March for Life in Washington DC.

See photo post at Picasa