If You Don't Work, You Don't Eat

I am a firm believer in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution as well as a strong supporter of capitalism. However, the other day I was chatting with a friend in the UK, we had quite the debate about free governments like the US versus socialistic governments like the UK. This discussion caused him to write a blog post about it and challenged me to write a rebuttal of sorts. (You can view his post here.)

While I agree with his point of everyone sharing for the common good of man, I also strongly disagree. Let me explain, as a Christian I agree, we should be doing our best to look out for and take care of others. Jesus Himself said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Luke 6:38). However, I feel like I should be the one to choose how, where, and the amount that I give to others and whether that be a gift of money, time or both. I do not think that the government should be doing this for me, for many reasons, but from strictly a Christians view point, it is because my government does not always support causes and charities that I agree with. They support gay rights, abortion clinics, embryonic stem cell research and on the list could go. If I can help it, I don't want my money going to those things.

I think in its purest form communism is the best economic structure (and yes, I do know that Sam said he didn't believe in communism, I'm just using this for my point), but sadly it is terribly tainted by sin. Socialism is a weaker form of communism, and capitalism is its exact opposite. Capitalism gives people the ability to move from the bottom to the top if they are willing to work. Capitalism encourages growth and work. It gives rewards for effort and punishment for laziness. It applies a very biblical principle, that of, "if you don't work you don't eat." (II Thessalonians 3:10) Pretty much, if you want something you've got to work for it, the government isn't going to give you anything. I'm not against homeless shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens, etc., but only if they are privatized and run by individuals, churches, or companies, NOT the government.

The best American example of failure that I can think of in the regard is that of the welfare system. My tax dollars go to support people, most of whom are perfectly capable, yet too lazy to get a job. So while I'm out working two jobs trying to pay my way through school, others are sitting at home watching TV while being paid by me. Yes, I understand, some people really do need the welfare, but not most, and those who do need it could get help from other organizations than the government if they needed to. Most people simply need to get out and try to work.

While I'm all for sharing, I'm also all against the spreading of wealth and most socialist ideals. Most people are wealthy for a reason -- they actually worked hard and spend years earning it. The people who are receiving government help are usually too lazy to try, and because they've been given everything all their lives they expect to get it for the rest of their life. "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich." ~Proverbs 10:4

Michigan Trip

My friend LeAnne, who I haven't seen since 8th grade, is visiting friends in Michigan this week and I was given the opportunity to go see her. I left Sunday afternoon and stopped in Angola, IN and went to Faith Baptist Church for the Sunday night service. I went to school last year with 2 kids from that church. Unfortunately Matt was sick, but Brandi was there and we sat next to each other and then went out for ice cream afterwards!! :) YUM! I continued on to Michigan and got to the Campbell's home around 10:00. Mr. Campbell had gone to pick LeAnne up from the airport, and they weren't home yet, so Mrs. C and I were able chat a little bit! :) Around 10:30 LeAnne and Mr. C got home and we began catching up on our lives. Finally about 12:30 we went to bed!! On Monday I woke up kinda early, about 8, I know, it really wasn't that early, but for vacation, it's early! I got up and read my devotions and did my regular morning stuff and then went downstairs and ate breakfast. After breakfast Mr. C went somewhere, I don't know where, and the 3 girls watch "A Hazard of Hearts," lets just say that it was an incredibly dumb movie, along the lines of Jane Austen! UGH! I'm not a Jane Austen lover, quite the opposite actually. While we were watching the movie a chipmunk came up to the sliding door and started to beg for Mrs. C to give him food! It was sooooo cute! Mrs. C was supposed to have a therapy session at 2:00 but for some reason her therapist called and rescheduled it for Tuesday. So, instead of therapy she decided to take LeAnne and I shopping...UGH! I HATE shopping! Anyways, she took us to Kohl's and made us shop for clothes for school. We spent 2 hours finding clothes, trying on clothes, and by the time we were done I was wiped out! We got back around 7 or 7:30 and threw our supper in the oven. Then I grabbed a book and read for about an hour until it was time to eat. Over supper we talked and goofed off. Mr. C was once again gone, he was playing golf with some buddies of his....I personally think he was just escaping from all the females that had invaded his home! :) Around 9:30 Mr. C came home, he did win the game of golf!! I guess that's good...I've never really been into golf! We watched a movie about Jacob and Joseph, which I found rather humorous because of the way that the story was protraide. It was kinda corny. I guess I fell asleep during the movie and slept for like 45 minutes....that's what shopping does to me! :) We went to bed about 12:30 and I didn't wake up until 10! It was WONDERFUL! Mrs. C had her therapy at 1:00, so Mr. C took her to that. While they were gone LeAnne and I went to Wal-Mart cuz I needed to get allergy medicine cuz my allergies started acting up, BIG time! Then we came home and went outside and took a gazillion pictures of the BEAUTIFUL flower gardens that the Campbell's have. I took almost 250 pictures before my camera card was full...I could have taken a million more! I was hoping to leave at 5. We were supposed to eat at 4, but umm, that didn't happen! We didn't eat until 5 and I didn't get outta there until almost 6! lol! We had a good meal, and then it was times for good-byes...that's always a sad thing! I finally got on the road...YAY! I stopped about 30 miles down the highway at a Dunkin Donuts and got a latte! :) That was GOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!! I went through a little bit of bad weather, but for the most part the weather wasn't too bad! :) I got home about 9:30! YAY! Overall it was a good trip and I enjoyed having a few days off to do absolutely NOTHING!! :)

*************

****Flowers*****

*****LeAnne*****

*****Mr. and Mrs. C, LeAnne, and Me*****

*****Me and LeAnne*****

Nothin too exciting

Not a whole lot of excitement has been going on in my life. I guess that is probably why I haven't really been posting much about my life lately.
The other day I did sell a vacuum, that was exciting! I can't wait to get my check from that! :)
Friday my aunt Beth came from Mishawaka with her son, Jayde. We all went to the jail Bible study and then went to the fireworks! They really weren't all that good this year! It was kinda sad cuz normally we have AMAZING fireworks, especially for a small town. I did get some good pictures though! :)
Saturday I slept in! It was WONDERFUL! I really felt like doing absolutely NOTHING so that's what I did! I didn't wake up until after 9 and didn't really start moving until 10! It was amazing! :D We went to a friends for a cookout, and had some SERIOUS ribs!! Then we went on a boat ride! It was a LOT of fun, but too short! ...sigh...
That evening we went to a patriotic concert! It happens every year, and is usually outdoors with about 5,000 people in attendance! Well, it was raining this year, so we packed into an auditorium that seats about 1,500 people! There weren't 5,000 people, but there were at least 2,000 and probably more! Standing room only! People were standing in the back, up against the walls, and even sitting on the floor in the isles! It was crazy! The concert was AWESOME though! As a tradition 2 verses of "The Star Spangled Banner" are sung. If you've ever heard several thousand people sing the national anthem, you will understand why I got a major case of goosebumps! It was INCREDIBLE! The orchestra played "Stars and Stripes" which is COOL with an entire orchestra, and not just brass. The WWII veterans were recognized, there were about5 or 6 in attendance! Then they did an armed forces medley, recognizing each branch of the military separately, then all together! That was COOL as well! There were also some Broadway songs, and "God Bless America," then as a tradition, they closed with "The 1812 Overture" that is always SOOOO cool, cuz they use canons, (or at least canon sounds) and make it loud and bangy! :)
I didn't go to jail on Sunday, instead I went to my church.
Monday I was convinced to work at the county fair for Rainbow! That stank! I was there for 5 hours! I will be there for the same amount on Thursday, and Friday I'm working for the National Right to Life booth at the fair! I'm a glutton for punishment

Running Around

Yesterday morning I decided to surprise Daddy with breakfast. :) I got up at 5:30 and cooked up a breakfast that I had pre-planned the night before. I fried a potato, and once it was done I sprinkled shredded cheese on it, scrambled eggs with cheese and diced ham, and made him toast. To drink he requested vanilla chai. After his food was all done I went back to bed, LOL! I was planning on sleeping for a little while, like maybe until 8 or 8:30, 9 at the latest. I woke up at 10:45!!! WOW!! Mom said that she had thought about waking me up, but decided to let me sleep. It was nice!
I went to Columbia City, which is a town about 15 or 20 miles from Warsaw, to search for a job. I picked up four applications, 2 from motels, and 2 from other stores. Columbia City just recently opened a Dunkin Donuts and right now their large coffee is 99 cents!! I got one of my favorite mixes: french vanilla and hazelnut! YUM!
I had a 1:30 interview with Diamond Air, a company that sells air purification systems. I was hired!! YAY!! A job! Training starts on Monday and runs through Thursday. I will be selling air purification systems. I will be making "house calls" by appointment only, so it is pretty much up to my schedule, so if I can find another job I can work two jobs! That would be WONDERFUL and a MAJOR BLESSING!! If I do well with selling the air purification systems, I should be able to make some pretty decent money with that job alone! PTL!! There is also the possibility of transferring to Louisville next school year!
Following the interview I had a chiropractor appointment. Dr. Sarah was showing me my x-rays when all of a sudden I got started seeing black spots, got really shaky, and REALLY hot (I am normally freezing)! I told Dr. Sarah that I was about to black out, so she immediately had me sit down and called to one of the girls to get some apple juice for me....however, for once they were out of juice!!! One of the office girls had Pepsi in her car, so she got me a can....I drank that, and started "reviving!!" LOL! My blood sugar had completely bottomed out. Yippee!!
So, back to my x-rays....my neck did not properly heal from when I had whip lash almost a year in a half ago, so its a MESS!! Not only do I have whip last, but also stage 1 arthritis in my neck! UGH! I also have arthritis in my hips and other joints, which I already knew! Dr. Sarah said that for an 18 year old I'm a mess, such comfort!! LOL! She is pretty sure that they will be able to correct the problems and have me doing pretty well before I go to college in August. :)
Last night I decided to make buck-eyes which are peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate! They are really good, but very time consuming! It was fun....I haven't made them in ages and since we are having a church carry-in dinner on Sunday I thought they would be something different to bring. :)
Today I did NOT get up at 5:30, nor did I sleep until 10:45! I actually woke up around 6:30, but didn't get out of bed until 8! I LOVE having the ability to sleep in! I'm NOT a morning person AT ALL!!
I went to Columbia City to drop off the applications, went to quite a few other companies, only finding one that said that they were possibly hiring. :( I went to Dunkin Donuts again, this time I just went with a plain coffee.
This afternoon I went to the GI specialist for results on my tests. Pretty much nothing turned up. So he thinks that I have a MAJOR vitamin D deficiency, as well as possibly irritable bowl. So I'm supposed to go take vitamin D and see him in a month. WOO HOO!! WHATEVER!!
Mom and I went to the Dunkin Donuts up there in Goshen cuz the small lattes are still 99 cents. I got my usual with whipped cream (of course)! It was good.
On our way home we stopped at Wal-Mart and got some groceries and vitamin D! LOL!
I'm really not feeling too well tonight, so I stayed home while my family went to church. :( Hopefully I start feeling better soon......

Finale

YAY!!! I have finished my freshman year of college! I can't believe that I am actually done, that I actually did it, and I'm no longer a freshman! It's crazy! OK, I'm excited! :)
Finals went well. I got an 83% on my English Grammar final, not sure yet what my overall grade on that class is, I think it will probably be a solid C, which is a VERY low grade for me, but for English it is a really nice grade!
English Composition final grade was an 87% with a 91% average grade! That's the highest grade I've ever gotten in an English class! PTL! I still have no idea what my Intro to Missions final grade was, or what the average grade of that class is, but I'm really not worried about it because it was an easy class and there really was no problem with it at all! In Christian Home I got a 100% on the final, no shock there, I would have a 100% average in that class except that I got like a 98% on one test! :( Very sad! I should still get a VERY high grade because my paper, book report, and notes all received 100%s.
I got a 95% on my Christian Womanhood final, with an average grade of 98%! :) I really enjoyed that class and learned a LOT! I know I will use the information that I learned in that class over and over and over again.
Those were all of my finals through Tuesday. Wednesday were my two hardest finals, and I stayed up until 1:30 Wednesday morning studying for them, and then got back up at 4:30! World History came first at 7:30. There were only four of us in that class, and two of them were Seniors, and both managed to get at least a B average in the class so they didn't have to take the final, lucky people. I think we all had at least a B average, which is good, but it is still a HARD class! I got a 95% on the final! How in the world that happened, I have NO idea!
My next final, and final final started at 8:55, it was in the class that I struggled with the most, New Testament Survey. All semester I have had a really hard time with the class, it was a LOT harder than Old Testament Survey was last semester. My study sheet for the final was seven pages long! I spent SO much time studying for it, and I know I bombed it BIG time! There were 100 questions on the exam, and I left 21 blank! I had a B average in the class, now I have NO idea what my average is, I only can hope that I will have at least a C so that it will transfer to Shawnee next school year! It was crazy! Nobody did well on that final, so I'm hoping that maybe there will be a grade curve!
Through all the finals I know God has been there helping me! All of the grades that I got (especially the good grades) are all because of HIM! If it weren't for Him, I know that I would have "epic failed!" PTL!
We had our final chapel yesterday, Grandpa preached. He gave his farewell address, since he will be moving on this summer.
After that we were free FOREVER, or at least for the summer, no more classes!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I did quite a bit of packing in the afternoon, had a voice lesson (my last one (sob)), and then left with the McMahon's for a softball game! It was a lot of fun, even though it was rather cold (because it was on the south shore, right by the ocean, so the breeze coming off the ocean was rather chilly!!) After the game we drove out to Fire Island. It was dark by then, but it was still nice, and at least I can say that I was out there! :)
At the dorm prayer meeting last night several people shared blessings from the year. It went pretty long, but it was worth it!
I was in bed before 11:00, and didn't wake up until after 7:00!! HOW WONDERFUL! I love it! I'm still in bed, I just don't feel like getting up! I have this lovely case of laziness right now! :) It's nice! :)

Sick!

I have been absolutely LOVING the last several days! Because I have been sick I have not gone to Brooklyn for ECBF. I have been staying in the dorms all by my lonesome, but let me tell you, it has been WONDERFUL! I LOVE silence and alone time, and I've sure gotten quite a bit of it lately! SOOO wonderful! Yesterday I woke up around 6:30 cuz there was a LOT of noise, but I didn't get up until after 8:00! I know, call me lazy if you want, but that is a VERY rare treat for me, I think the last time I did that was on Christmas break.
So, I did a whole bunch of laying around and relaxing. Believe me, I still don't feel good at all! It really stinks.
I got some homework done, and did some reading and instant messaged several people. One of whom is a friend of mine who I have mentioned before, his name is Ray and he is in the Army in Iraq. Please pray for his salvation!
I also filled out some more job applications and followed up on some other applications that I had already filled out. Please pray for my job situation for the summer, cuz it's not coming along very well. Basically, nobody is hiring pretty much because of the economy.
I went to bed pretty early and that was my day for the most part.
This morning was a repeat of yesterday, only I slept until after 7:00 and woke up cuz of noise, and then fell back asleep after everyone was gone, and didn't get up until after 8:00. SOOO nice! I got some more HW done, and did more reading, etc. I took an hour in a half nap, it was WONDERFUL! I'm such a lazy bum, but who cares? I don't!
I read "Tortured for His Faith" by Harlan Popov over the last several days. It is really good, and very eye opening. I finished that yesterday and today I started reading "God isn't in a Hurry" by Warren Wiersbe. It is very convicting, cuz I like things to happen NOW! I don't like to have patience.
P.S. Please pray for finals....they start on Friday.... :(

Spring Break

Sadly, my spring break is now over! :( I am SO not ready to go back to school in the morning. UGH! The very thought makes me want to scream! At least I did have a good break, it just wasn't quite long enough to make me want to go back to school!
On Thursday I worked from 9-2 and then from 5-5:45. After church I went home with the Phillipses. I spent the night with them and then all day Friday! It was sooooo much fun! I love the entire Phillips family, they are soooo cool, and funny, and down to earth! They are AWESOME!! Best of all, they really have a heart for God.
Thursday night Mrs. Phillips and I sat up talking well after 11! It is so nice to talk to somebody about God. So often among Christians there is so little desire to discuss spiritual matters. It's really sad.

*****Nichole*****

Friday I didn't wake up until 7:45ish. I read my Bible and prayed, and didn't roll out of bed until between 8:15 and 8:30! It was WONDERFUL! :) We watched "Indescribable" and "How Great is Our God." I have seen those over and over and over, but every time I see them I get goose bumps! They are SOOOO good! After that we frosted the cake that I had baked at my grandparents. My problem was that I had baked the cake, and was planning on making a homemade mocha frosting, but I ran out of powdered sugar, so I took the cake and frosting with me and finished it there. It was a lot of fun! Nichole and Charlie LOVED licking the bowl, and spoon, and spatula! :) After finishing the cake

*****Devils Food cake with homemade mocha frosting*****

we ate lunch, that way could eat the cake. LOL! Mrs. Phillips had made a venison spaghetti sauce that she put over whole wheat noodles! MMMM.....soooo good, and VERY low fat! YAY! Something I can eat without it bothering me. :) Of course we ate the cake, not so low fat, but worth every bite! :)

After lunch we went outside. The weather was really beautiful. They have a trampoline that we jumped on for a LONG time. It was fun! :)
Later in the afternoon we watched "National Treasure." I had never seen it before, it was cool.

*****Sparky, the Phillips' pit bull puppy, is really sweet and CUTE!! *****

At 5 the McMahon's came over for dinner and a movie. We watched "Fireproof." That was the second time in a week that I've seen it! SOOOO good!
I didn't get home until 10:30! That was cool too! LOL!
Saturday I went soul winning. And then I worked until 6:30. After that i got my stuff from my grandparents, cuz they came back yesterday afternoon, and then talked to my family and friends on the phone, and then went to bed.
Today was a typical Sunday, bus route, church, and choir practice.

YAY!!! No more classes until Monday!!! I'm sooo happy!! This week was incredibly stressful! I am very glad that we had the revival meetings, I needed them, and God worked in my heart a LOT, but with church every night, classes as usual, work, and homework this week was a physical drag. Thankfully I don't have very much homework due Monday or Tuesday, so there isn't much for me to do this weekend. It will be so nice. I'm already getting into the swing of a lazy weekend, I've been in my jammies since 6:00, I've done most of my homework, and now I'm stretched out on my bed, underneath my warm blankets, texting and IMing with friends. ***sigh***
I only had one quiz today and I got 100% on it! :) Other than that classes weren't terribly exciting. Grandpa preached in chapel on how God prepared Elijah. It was a really good reminder to have faith in God, cuz He knows what He's doing.
I worked today, which is good I guess, although the four hours that I worked seemed to DRAG! I cleaned all of the bathrooms in the church building, administration building, and the girls dorm! It's a lot of toilets. Oh well, it pays my bill, that's all that matters. :)
Today is my roommates birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBEKAH!!! :)