Algebra For Parenting A guest post by Taylor Buzzard:
Your children are your dependents for 18 years. Yes, in some cases children try to remain dependents indefinitely. But, our task is to prepare them for life on their own, and 18 years is the amount of time they are our legal dependents, so 18 is the number we will work with.
Our algebra equation for the day is as follows:
x / 18 = y
“x” is your child’s age.
18 is the number of years your child is your dependent.
“y” is the percentage of time that has passed.
My firstborn is a mere 2.25 years old. He’s so young that I catch myself calling him my baby from time to time. Yet, mathematics tells me a sad truth.
2.25 /18 = 0.125 0.125 = 12.5%
12.5% of my time with him as my dependent is GONE. DONE. OVER. When I first did this calculation, I thought I had set up the equation wrong. It couldn’t be true, there had to be a mistake somewhere. I redid the math, I checked the equation, and had to face the dark reality. Over 10% of my time is done. And he’s still in diapers!
Algebra can help with parenting.
If you’ve had a challenging day with a know-it-all teenager, a pre-pubescent tween, a non-stop question asking child, or a shrieking infant, do the math and watch your heart soften. Our time with our children is fleeting. Be intentional. Seize every moment by the horns. And do the math again, every now and then, to remind yourself of how fast their childhood is going to whiz by.
Please, do the math. The math will help you love your children better today. The math will make you take a giant step backwards, away from the difficulties of parenting, to better see the privilege and delight of parenting. Take your child’s age, divide it by 18. Take the resulting number and move the decimal point over 2 places to the right, and that is the percentage of time that has passed. Leave a comment if the result leaves you a bit shocked.
So then I did my math
Seth is four so, 4/18=.22=22%
Selah is two so, 2/18=.11=11%
Sydney is one so, 1/18=.05=5%
Can someone tell me it isn't true and that my math is wrong. Time is slipping right by. It's true what everyone says, "They grow up so fast!"
May I make every day and every minute count for the glory of Christ that my children be drawn to their Maker and glorify Him forever!
Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day, With little time to stop and pray, For life's been anything but calm, Since You called me to be a mom...
Running errands, matching socks, Building dreams with matching blocks, Cooking, cleaning and finding shoes, And all those things that young ones lose...
Fitting lids on bottled bugs, Wiping tears and giving hugs, A stack of last week's mail to read... So where's the quiet time I need?
Yet as I go to bed each night, My heart is filled with true love's light, As I take one last peek, I see, This treasure you have given me, God's own sweet blessing sleeping there, The answer to a Mother's Prayer.
Like Hillary Rodham Clinton, and one of her heroines Margaret Sanger I have a deep concern for women, children, and the future of the world in general. But after concern, we part company. I am at odds and opposition to the message of these women
Mrs. Clinton received the Margaret Sanger Award. The bold print is what grieves me and fills me with a (mostly) righteous indignation.
Now, I have to tell you that it was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award. I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision. Another of my great friends, Ellen Chesler, is here, who wrote a magnificent biography of Margaret Sanger called Woman of Valor. And when I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I am really in awe of her.
If you do not know who this "great hero" Margaret Sanger is you do not have to go pick up this "magnificent biography." Instead you can watch the video I've posted about her or click here to read more. I am very sarcastic when I say "great hero" as Margaret Sanger was a supporter of eugenics, birth control, uninhibited sex, pro-abortion, and founder of Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider).
And there are a lot of lessons that we can learn from her life and from the cause she launched and fought for and sacrificed so bravely. One in particular, though, has always stood out for me almost a hundred years later. It’s the lesson that women’s empowerment is always, always about more than bettering the lives of individual women. It is part of a movement. It’s about economic and political progress for all women and girls. It’s about making sure that every woman and girl everywhere has the opportunities that she deserves to fulfill her potential, a potential as a mother, as a worker, as a human being.
While Hillary Clinton is a great speaker I have to admit women empowerment sounds great and all, I have a very different world view. You see I find my fulfillment in living a life that honors Christ. If Christ wants me to have five children and be a stay-at-home mom, that is what I want to be. I don't think that the teaching of sexual education by Planned Parenthood improves my chances of self-fullfillment and empowerment. I don't think that birth control pills and abortion offer me more opportunities I deserve to fulfill my potential as a human being. Wow thanks a lot Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood for looking out for me but No Thanks.
The overarching mission of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the cause of reproductive freedomthat you continue to advance today is as relevant in our world now as it was a hundred years ago. (Applause.) So I thank you.
The 20th century reproductive rights movement, really embodied in the life and leadership of Margaret Sanger, was one of the most transformational in the entire history of the human race. It has changed the lives of tens of millions of women. It has changed attitudes and perceptions about women and our roles in society. It ushered in demographic and social changes that have brought us closer to gender equality than at any time.
I don't think there is anything to praise about our perceptions and attitudes that have changed. The value of marriage has decreased, sex outside of marriage is the norm, abortion has increased, child-abuse has not decreased since abortion became legal (as some said it would) but increased. Pornography is everywhere and the view as women as sex-symbols has increased. Yeah, Thanks! Woo Hoo! I am woman hear me roar!
Yet we know that Margaret Sanger’s work here in the United States and certainly across our globe is not done. Here at home, there are still too many women who are denied their rights because of income, because of opposition, because of attitudes that they harbor. But around the world, too many women are denied even the opportunity to know about how to plan and space their families. They’re denied the power to do anything about the most intimate of decisions.
You think so Hillary? Because the world needs eugenics, free sex, birthcontrol, and abortions. Lord forgive us. Here at home women are denied their rights to what? do you mean abortions... because what? 1. they can't afford it 2. because maybe their parents don't want them to 3. because maybe they once heard at church that God wrote with his finger "thou shalt not kill"
And the derivative inequities that result from all of that are evident in the fact that women and girls are still the majority of the world’s poor, unschooled, unhealthy, and underfed. This is and has been for many years a matter of personal and professional importance to me, and I want to assure you that reproductive rights and the umbrella issue of women’s rights and empowerment will be a key to the foreign policy of this Administration. (Applause.)
You see, I believe that women’s rights and empowerment is an indispensible ingredient of smart power and therefore is integrated into our renewed emphasis on diplomacy and development. This is especially important today, when poverty and the lack of healthcare and education, hunger and job loss, are amplified by the current economic crisis. And I was very proud when President Obama repealed the Mexico City policy. (Applause.) As a result, nongovernmental organizations overseas can once again use U.S. funding to provide the full range of family planning services so that women and their families can get access to the healthcare that they need.
As a person born in Mexico and with dual citizenship it grieves me that U.S. dollars and U.S. organizations have pressured and infiltrated the Mexican government to now, thanks to President Obama, legalized abortion-on-demand during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in Mexico City and the surrounding province paid with U.S taxpayer dollars. Is this really something to applaud for?!
I am also pleased to tell you that we announced that the United States will once again fund family planning through the United Nations. (Applause.) We are going to fund a contribution of $50 million this fiscal year. That’s a 130 percent increase over our last contribution, which was made in 2001. Congress has also approved the Administration’s request for $545 million in bilateral assistance for family planning and reproductive health programs this year. And this is a significant increase over last year. Because I and the Administration and not wavering in our commitments to development assistance even in these tough economic times. (Applause.)
....
Earlier this morning, and one of the reasons why I was so late getting to my first event, which was up in Dallas at the Women’s Museum, and then to come down here to Houston, is because I was at the White House with the President and our national security team announcing the results of our strategic review about Afghanistan and Pakistan. And as we went through this review over the last two months, one of the points that I and others made is that as we integrate our military and civilian aspects with a mission of disrupting and dismantling and defeating al-Qaida and their allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, we cannot lose sight of the fact that assisting women’s development in those two countries is part of America’s strategy to be successful in our mission. (Applause.)
A society that denies and demeans women’s roles and rights is a society that is more likely to engage in behavior that is negative, anti-democratic, and which often leads to violence and extremism. So the material building blocks of daily life are the most reliable aspects of building democracy, delivering on economic opportunity and adequate food supplies and clean water and a clean environment, and we know that access to family planning broadens the horizons and expands the vision of women everywhere. (Applause.)
Are you saying while there are economic problems the cause of Planned Parenthood will save the world and fix all our problems? I prefer to go with "Jesus is the answer for the world today". The last sentence in this quote really gets to me, its funny how she is listing necessities of life like, food, and clean water, and clean environment, and ...birth control (which now includes abortion). The new bare necessities of life.
The good news is there is a flip side. The presence of voluntary family planning programs and support for reproductive rights has tangible benefits. And that is why I strongly support Planned Parenthood, and organizations that are on the front lines around the world. (Applause.)
I’ve seen programs, as many of you have, that really speak to this. Now, the best way to ensure that women are not victimized by coercive government practices is to make sure that they have access to family planning. For those who care so deeply about reducing the abortion rate, the best way to make sure we reduce abortion is to provide access to safe family planning. (Applause.)
Are you talking to me? Oh thank you for making me feel better, you mean you found the answer? Nope. Birth control pills and condoms are not helping reduce abortion, or AIDS, or chlamydia, gonorrhea, or cervical cancer. But as you keep believing and spreading that lie I will speak truth to as many as I have contact with.
So it often is important to remember what is most basic in any of our lives. The ability to plan a family and to raise healthy children is certainly at the core of that. Ensuring that women have that freedom will be the policy of this Administration. (Applause.) And there isn’t any organization in the world with a reputation for caring so much and doing so much and being so courageous or truly being a valorous organization in the tradition as a woman of valor.
...
Well, thank you so much. It’s great to be back in Houston with so many friends and to have an opportunity to participate in the Planned Parenthood annual meeting....Planned Parenthood...will make sure that women’s health and women’s reproductive health is included in any deliberation concerning our — finally adopting — a healthcare system that takes care of all of our people.
I do think these women in their own way think they are doing women a favor. I think they are trying to care. Sadly these women are not looking to the Bible and to Christ for answers to life. They are lost and blind leading the blind. I pray for them and oppose their beliefs and policies knowing that the battle is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his lies. Beware of Hillary's last words pointing to Planned Parenthood's next goal to accomplish... FOCA.
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide.
FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.
Barack Obama believes this legislation will "end the culture wars." To him, "ending the culture wars" means eradicating every state and federal law on abortion — laws that the majority of Americans support.
Praying 2 Chronicles 7:14"If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
