Riots in London- Could it happen here?

Last night as I watched news footage of the riots in London with my husband, I thought, could that happen here, in my neighborhood?  How frightening it must have been for so many to see gangs of young people take to the streets smashing windows, looting, burning, and defying any sort of authority. Over and over again, commentators and police stated that the average age of the offenders were between 12 - 15 years. That struck me sharply to the heart.  I think what brought it all home was one woman's comment,

"Where are the parents?"

What are we parents doing? How are we raising our children? When I look around at the decay of the American Family, I see many children left to raise themselves. We have allowed our nation to twist and turn the importance and definition of what a family is so that it no longer even has meaning. At the founding of America, we had a common understanding of what a family was, and the knowledge that it was the backbone of the strength of our society. Now, if you ask 10 different people what a family is and its importance to society, you will likely get 10 different answers.

It takes one man and one woman to create a child. That's how our bodies are made. That is how we are designed. It's a very simple concept to grasp and it doesn't take a bunch of weird tangents if you follow how we are made. Sometimes there are problems when spouses can't have children, but the basic family unit is still one man and one woman because that is what fits together. We are also created to bond together over a lifetime. We used to just believe this as truth, but as our divorce rates have soared, we now see the damage broken marriages do between two spouses.

And what of our children, how do we treat them differently? I listen to my parents talk of when they were children. My mother-in-law was brought up in England, she was a young child during WWII. She remembers the rules of "don't speak unless spoken to"  "children are to be seen and not heard", it was "strict" but she has a great deal of love and respect for her parents and family. She remembers that courtesy was very important, manners were everyday stuff. My parents are the same. You were expected to obey your parents, you were spanked when you disobeyed, but that was not often, and it was not abuse. Respect and manners were very important.

What about me? My parents were very firm. I was expected to obey them. I remember not being able to get away with anything in the neighborhood because by the time I got home, the mom down the street had already called my mom. I gave my mom a really rough time during my teenage years, I still thank her for never giving up on me. There were times that our family needed extra money for things, so my mom picked up jobs here and there, and they always seemed to involve us kids. She was very wise. In our teen years, she began to work at a local trophy shop, she got jobs for my older brother and I there, which left my younger brother to take care of the house and cooking all alone. She had us all too busy to get into trouble. Many of the kids in my generation still had two parents at home, about half of my friends still had moms at home. This is not true of my kids' generation.

I see most kids now being raised by daycare, schools, and the streets; not the parents who bore them.  Since the end of WWII, we have done a great job of belittling the woman who chooses to raise her own family's children. We told her that she was wasting her time and her talents. As I look at all the troubled kids around me, I think we wasted all these women's time and talents in the workforce. We could have invested in two lost generations of kids. Day cares are trying to fill a need, but they just can't replace a nurturing mother. The schools have ejected values, discipline and they are focused on teaching to the lowest common denominator. They have so many social teachings that once belonged to the parents, that actual academics are crippled. That leaves our streets. We don't have parents at home when their children are home. We don't have parents that are connected to their kids. As a result, neighborhoods and cities are seeing a rise in gang activity all across the country, and it is not limited to large cities. They are found in small cities and even in rural communities.

So, back to the question, could it happen here? I think the truth is that it can and it probably will if we continue on the course we have chosen as a country. I'm not saying that everyone is on this course. I have a group of friends around me that is committed to doing life differently. Many others are also involved in this battle. It's hard to set standards within your family and stick with it when others don't seem to care. It's hard to make it on one income in California. But it is beautiful to see your children grow into responsible adults who care about each other and about the world around them.

Finding Osama Bin Laden

So, they finally found Osama, and whatever the correct story of how it happened, he is dead.


I had mixed emotions as I heard the President relay the news to the American people. I was relieved that he was finally found, but was also numb. I was grateful that justice was brought to a man responsible for the deaths of so many people, but I was ashamed to see some of my fellow countrymen rejoice in a way that we considered barbaric just 9 1/2 years ago as some around the world rejoiced at our 9/11 tragedy.

God says in His Word that we reap what we sow, and Osama Bin Laden certainly did that. But, it didn't have to be that way. Jesus is a loving, gracious God, if we turn from our sin and back to Him, He promises to cleanse us from ALL our unrighteousness and bring us back to Himself. Even the vilest of people.

God does not rejoice in the death of evildoers, but He neither will He leave them unpunished. He most desires their salvation.

Being a Jesus Follower in a Politically Correct World

Nowadays, everyone either believes in god or doesn't. But because of "political correctness" you are not supposed to define who "god" is. Well, I'm not very good at "political correctness" because it is a fancy name for telling lies designed to deceive people into feeling good about the wrong decisions they are making. PC says all religions are the same, and ultimately get to the same god. But don't accept that, take a close look for yourself and you will discover that it is not true. The problem is we have become lazy and we do not want to investigate for ourselves, we want others to tell us.

Only two religions share the same God, Judaism and Christianity. Jews follow all the laws set down by God's prophet, Moses, that was to foreshadow the coming of the Messiah. Many of them missed his coming and are still practicing those laws. Those who recognised Jesus when He came started what is known now as Christianity, but we have our roots in Judaism. We both follow the one true God.  The man Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is God in human flesh. He came to this earth in order to fullfil a promise He made back at the beginning of mankind, when we first turned our back on God. He had promised to make a way for the human race to be able to again be in a relationship with Him as He had created us to be. Jesus' coming and death on the cross, and rising from the dead, accomplished that promise. That is why the Jewish history is full of sacrifices. Those were the foreshadowing of what Jesus the Messiah was meant to do for us. Only the animals couldn't do it permanatly because they were not human. So God came as a human in the person of Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross was permanate.  As you can see, there are no animal sacrifices in Judaism today.

Unfortunatly, much of the "Christian Church" has also been corrupted in our day. Many churches do not follow the Bible. They do not follow the teachings of Jesus. Some even agree that they are just one of many paths to god. Many look like special clubs for rich people, or are there to help you "feel better" about your life. They want nothing to do with the broken, hurting people of the world who need a loving God.

So, I find myself shying away from the lable of "Christian" and not because it might cause me harm, but because it is becoming PC. I am a follower of Jesus. A Christ-Follower, the Only way to the One True God.

Japan's Woes

All the world has turned to Japan in the last couple of weeks, and rightly so, for the troubles that have overtaken them due to the 9.0 earthquake and following tsunami.  Our family can only sit and pray for them daily.  But we also have our own questions. We too live on the Pacific Ring of Fire, thus as New Zealand and Japan, we can expect that an earthquake can come at anytime. Are we prepared for that?

Some of the reports from Japan told of the many warning devices that the Japanese goverment had in place to warn of earthquakes and tsunamis, this gave many a chance to get to higher ground. We don't have much of a warning system here, so we had better get prepared on our own.

Our family's hobbies are built around "doing things the old-fashioned way." We like primitive camping trips, learning black-smithing, knitting, sewing, crocheting, candle making, canning, cooking & baking in cast-iron dutch ovens, chickens, gardening, and so many other things. But we need to turn those things into how to prepare for extended periods of power and water outages. Do we have adequate fuel storage? water? food?
How about a communication plan? How are we going to help our parents? our neighbors?

So, the kids are going to be getting a new course in school "Disaster Preparation." We have all passed basic first aid, but we have much more to do. My husband has his ham-radio licence. My oldest son and I will be taking a class soon to get ours and the rest of the kids soon after that. We are working on our plan, our checklist of improvements to the house, and getting our "to go" kits ready. I'll post more as we get them printed.

Sitting down for a cup of tea, or coffee

When I was a young wife, and a young mother, I loved being able to sit down and just chat with a lady who had been a little further down the road than I had been. Now I look around me and find that I am that person. I don't have all the answers, and I don't think those women before me did either, but they sat with me and talked and let me learn from them.

So, maybe, I have some things to say that will help a young wife or mother following the path behind me. Something to encourage her day.

I used to like to sit and chat over coffee, hence the name Java Jane's, but I've since changed to a nice cup of tea. But the atmosphere is the same, slowing down and chatting things through. So, if you like coffee, or tea, make a cup and sit down and rest awhile.