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I Didn’t Vote, and Neither Did You

Not every American is eligible to vote, yet they are all governed by the elected. Less than half of eligible voters actually do so during midterm elections. Even during record turnout years for presidential elections, fewer than 3/4 of the voting population goes to the polls.

The winner of any given election is chosen by a minority of the people who will be governed.

Where voter turnout exceeded 2018 highs

The elected are not legitimate. They are chosen by the few to govern the many. We were sold a myth of American Democracy in school, it has never been true.

Join the majority of Americans and escape the elite illusion. I was once a proud and frequent voter and like a series of other bad habits, there was a last time I acted on it. Let your last time be your last time.

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“You’re an idiot…”

“…and that’s just my personal opinion not my religious opinion…”

Christians have a problem. How can one’s opinion of another human be devoid of religion? Is religion not the lense through which we determine good and evil in the world? Is it not how we mitigate emotional judgment? Is judgment not reserved for God? How can we speak to each other in insults?

“Don’t bring my religion into it…”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don’t put your confidence in your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

What ever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
-Colossians 3:17

I am often wrong. I often act out of anger and ignorance. I often fail to give thanks to God for all that I have. I often fall short of thinking of Him in all that I do.

I am not judging the self-proclaimed Christian who insulted me on a public forum and doubled down when given the oppotunity to retract. I believe I can use this moment to remind myself and others that the world is watching us and that, whether we like it or not, we are always Christians and always judged as such.

I can only speculate that this insult was inspired by a differing political opinion. Politics robs us of spirituality. It is entirely worldly. Politicians seek material wealth and oppressive power over others, no political career is driven by spiritual riches.

I pray that Christians can be released from the political trap set by the world’s elite to pit us against each other. We must rise above power grabbing and begin to love one other.

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365 Devotionals: God’s Work

Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ. For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.
-Colossians 1:28-29 RSV

I stay humble, but unafraid, in sharing my relationship with Christ. I try not to preach, but I also don’t let too much conversation pass before making my faith in God known.

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Dangerous Practice

Big mixed emotions after training last night.

Westen is a tiny kid. At 13, he’s eligible for the adult class, but he doesn’t always look like he belongs. Last night he was partnered with another young practitioner and they were being a little silly during drills. I don’t sweat it too much because they are both serious when it comes to resistance training.

With each round of resistance training, we switch partners. Westen asked the biggest guy in the room for a match. He was at least 200 pounds and over six feet tall. He was also a brand new student and I sensed that he thought it was an odd request.

At some point in the next few minutes, Westen executed a clockwork choke from the back and the new student didn’t tap in time. He lost conciousness and it was a dramatic, and frankly scary, scene of snoring, shaking, and sputtering. He came to quickly, but was clearly dazed and shaken.

Westen was shaken too. He didn’t know how much power he had in his scrawny arms. I’ve never seen him lose his cool or roll with any intention to hurt anyone. He took on all the responsibility for this unfortunate event. He was close to tears.

Although he will learn from this and potentially let up sooner in the future, the responsibility lays on the individual getting choked. This is difficult for a new student who doesn’t think he can be choked out by a child. It is, however, critical in understanding how dangerous this practice is.

Everyone in the room was reminded of the stakes of what we are doing.

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Illegal in Delaware

I could live without milk, but my boys love it. I’ve had trouble digesting pasteurized milk for a long time and it didn’t seem like the best choice for our family, then I started learning about A2/A2 and raw milk.

UPDATE: After reading about federal laws concerning raw milk, I don’t want to get any of our sources in trouble. I have removed all links to my resources, but encourage you to seek out information about A2/A2 and raw milk.

Raw milk is illegal for human consumption in Delaware. Considering how many toxic ingredients are approved by FDA, banning the sale of this natural source of nutrition is absurd.

We are loving the flavor of raw milk. It’s easier on my gut and retains the nutrients cooked out in the pasturization process.

I’ve been wrestling with a type of eczema for over two years and it has cleared up inconjunction with my switch to raw A2/A2 milk products and morning shot of apple cider vinegar. As I’m always trying to improve my habits, it’s hard to say the direct cause of my healthier skin.

I wish I could shoutout our suppliers, but we’re not supposed to be drinking this delicious stuff, nor transporting it across state lines.

Without a doubt, this rule breaking enhances the pleasure of the experience.

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Unschool Field Trip

After I posted about Corning Museum of Glass Hot Shop coming to The Delaware Contemporary, a friend organized a field trip to see a demonstration.

Home education involves a lot of do-it-yourself initiative. When we see a possible learning opportunity, we know that the responsibility of making it happen falls on us. Most home educators will end up planning and hosting a trip for other families in their time as educational facilitators. Some of us make a habit of it.

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Homemade Halloween

My favorite Halloween as a kid was when my mom made me a Wolverine costume. No one knew who that was in 1988 and I loved it.

I don’t have half the tailoring skills my mom does, but I can’t resist indulging my sons’ unusual ideas.

Westen chose to be a retro Daredevil in yellow and red. He pieced together the whole costume and figured out the horns with my girlfriend, Kristen. I had a lot of fun figuring out how to make his batons functional.

Isaac wanted to be Crossbones from Captain America: Civil War. We had a lot of trouble with the movie version of the gauntlets, so decided to go with the comic book look.

Kristen put together a last-minute Velma and pulled it off beautifully. I went with a shoeless Punisher and grappled with one of my favorite rival heroes.