an editorial on protecting our homes

warning: ranting ahead. also probably graphic or TMI. im sure i will offend half of you but i don't care.

the world is a crappy, scary, angering, EVIL place. why people would PURPOSEFULLY bring crap into their homes & marriages is BEYOND ME. it makes me angry & upset.

you know what i see around me? women who are more concerned with nails, how perfect their kids' hair and fashionable their clothes are. they sit around crying bc their life is SOOO HARD.

YES, DUH. LIFE IS HARD. was this a new revelation after you had children or got married?? i mean, you NEVER looked around and thought "this is not going to be a piece of cake." ??? did you REALLY think that to keep up your ridiculous lifestyle that your husband wouldn't have to WORK MORE? oh no, you are going to be one of 1 in a million who's husband works 4 hours a day and make bukoo bucks, right?
riiiiiight.

AND THEN to top it off, you cry about your testimony and your life and your relationship with your husband. you tell everyone details of your sex life. and then in the same sentence spouting off about how great Jesus is,  you also mention how great 50 shades of grey is.

you know what i think of you?

i think you don't know enough people whose homes and lives have been COMPLETELY RUINED by porn. i think you are an ignorant idiot. i can't believe that you think that bringing crap like that into your home is PREFERABLE.

i know TOO MANY people whose lives, homes, childhoods have been DAMAGED, most beyond repair, by people who thought it was "okay" to bring porn and ANY LEVEL of porn into their homes. it's damaging. it's sad. it's terrible. and it's what SATAN WANTS FOR YOU.

it's no big deal, my husband has a dallas cowboys cheerleader calendar. it's funny.
romance novels don't hurt anyone, they're just exciting.
sex in tv, movies, commercials isn't bad, it's just life, we all know about it.
the morals of that show are soo bad, but it's so funny.
my kid doesn't like kid movies, so they watch PG13/ R movies with us.
dirty jokes are the funniest.
if it's between me & my husband it's ok.

well let me tell you, I DISAGREE.
i'm currently watching at least 1 marriage fall apart RIGHT NOW bc someone thought it wasn't a big deal. she only got a boob job bc he wanted it. bc suddenly SHE WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH. and it only kept becoming more & more "not good enough."

i think the moment you allow and ENCOURAGE that crap in your home you have KISSED YOUR LIFE GOODBYE. and satan is doing a jig. you are endangering the spirit of your home, the futures of your precious innocent children. you are showing them what you REALLY think is most important.

that's what makes me the most sad & angry- your poor sweet children. in 10 years they will have divorced parents and think that only the most fashionable car & perfect body make them worth anything. and don't say i'm being too harsh or exaggerating- i'm not- this is REALITY. like i said, if you think i'm being too harsh- you don't know enough people who this has happened to.

i am just so irritated with people today. i feel sorry that they beds they are making today they will have to lie in later. it's going to be terrible to watch. and sad.

life is hard. it's full of disappointment, grief and hardships- WHY would you create more? how can buying into satan's CRAP make anything in life seem better? accuse me of being prude, close-minded, overprotective, but i don't let my husband stay up on the internet after i've gone to bed and i don't let faye watch TV unless its baby shows. i would rather be all those things than expose the people i love the most to temptations, content and challenges that are AVOIDABLE.

i'm glad i love my family enough to protect them vehemently. to tell satan to BACK OFF. to risk the disapproval of the world, and friends and do WHATEVER I CAN to protect my home and keep it as a safe place. to treat my relationship with my husband as sacred and NOT PUBLIC INFO. holy crap, people, keep it to yourself.

i've just been feeling so strongly about this lately, i figured i better say something. to write it down. to remember that people who are AGAINST the world also have a voice. that no matter the pressure to keep quiet, i shouldn't. i should share opinions that are different from the world. that's what wins the war against satan- those who are willing to step up and say- THIS IS NOT OKAY. so think what you will, but i'm speaking up.

Subway

turkey on wheat
extra lettuce, tomatoes
banana peppers, pickles
hot mustard
pepperjack cheese

heart burn? perhaps.
regrets? none.
delicious and relatively inexpensive? indubitably.

Cousins

This weekend Faye got to meet her Barttels cousins for the first time! Josh and Judy (and Jessica, Michael and Nathan) live in Virginia, so this is their first chance to see her! (Last time we saw them I was sick and pregnant!)
They have been so cute with her...seriously, I love it! Jessica is 14 tomorrow so she is a little mother, and I can't even believe how much Faye LOVES THE BOYS. They let her play leggos with them, follow them around, play outside, they fight over who gets to sit next to her in the car, and they have been taking turns pulling her in the wagon. If all the kids are outside, she just sits in the wagon until someone notices and pulls her around-it's adorable!!  All three have been so attentive and she just loves them back-it's like she knows by instinct they are her own. I need to take more pictures of them together-the only grandkids on this side so far.