I wanna cry
Maybe it’s because I’m in my thirties, and finally growing up.
Maybe it’s because I’m finally becoming who God intended me to be.
But more and more news stories today make me sad. And most of it surrounds news with kids in the headlines.
I don’t know how many more stories I can hear of people harming children. Kids aren’t safe anywhere these days. Not in school. Not in church. Not in the home. Not in the womb.
I just read the gruesome details of a woman in a neighborhood near mine. As the story goes, times were tough for her and her children. They didn’t have water. She was working at McDonalds to make money. She was afraid protective services were going to take her kids away.
And she snapped.
Apparently she told her sister she was going to the ends of hell, and she thinks she ate some people.
She went and got a knife and chased down her daughters. She killed the 8 year old first, and then her 2 year old. Then she stabbed the 3 family pets to death in their kennels, and finally the family pet mouse.
And she sat in the trailer with the bodies for a couple hours.
Her sister finally showed up concerned, found out what happened and called 911.
From the news report I saw, she was defending her sister at the police station. She was saying something to the effect of that not being her sister but some psycho woman.
I don’t care if she was psycho or not. Murder is murder. And children are the epitome of innocence. How can someone…..a mother….kill a child? This was her flesh and blood. How can she kill the pets who were sitting in their kennels?
Last night I saw a news report of children….young children being sold overseas as sex slaves. How twisted and evil can a human be? This was preceded by a report about online sex predators and the young teens and children they prey upon.
It makes me wanna cry.
Look at this world today. It’s scary. I want to have kids, but I will never be able to protect them from everything. Kids hardly have anytime to be kids anymore. We have to teach them not to talk to strangers. By age 5 we’re teaching them to not let an adult touch their private areas.
I have 4 nieces and 3 nephews, with one on the way. I love them with all my heart. And that same heart breaks when I hear news like the stories I mentioned earlier.
God has such a heart for children. Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me….” when people were trying to keep the children from him.
Psalms 127: 3 says Children are a gift from the Lord.
Have you ever had a little one fall asleep in your arms? Have you ever had a little on tell you they love you? Have you ever seen the bottom lip of a little on quiver, only to have the tears wiped away and smile take its place?
Taking the innocence and lives of children should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. No ifs, ands or buts. No plea bargaining. No deals. No insanity pleas. The act committed is the act that should be punished. It’s sad that our justice system is so flawed these days. We protect those who commit these acts.
They laugh in the face of our justice system. They mock the foundations of our society. They mock us and they mock God. They’ll pay for it some day.
But right now, only our kids are paying for it.
And that’s what makes me wanna cry.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
I don't get it
Time to vent a little.
It’s just a little thing, but something that got me going. I heard the other day that the Masterfoods company is going to stop marketing snack foods to kids 12 and under due to fear of government regulations.
Apparently there is a link between marketing food to kids under 12 and obesity.
What about this link?
Kids don’t do anything these days. They eat junk, not because it’s marketed to them, but because it’s given to them. And then they sit in front of the TV or computer and play games.
No exercise at all.
Yes, I’m speaking in generalizations. Not all kids are obese. But it is a growing problem (pardon the pun).
Now that I’m at the are where I have started saying, “I remember when……” I remember when I was young. I ate a lot of junk food, and have the cavities to show it. The thing is, it was monitored and I was going to exercise a lot of it off. We rarely got a candy bar to munch on, and snack time was portioned out and only after dinner.
When fruit snacks came out, we got a pack. Not packs. We couldn’t down pop at our leisure. Again, we got to drink it, but it was portioned out. As bad as my eating habits were, I learned how to handle my portions. Eat til your full, not til your uncomfortable.
When are we going to stop asking for government regulations on things, and start regulating ourselves? It’s insane that the government would even consider regulating food. It’s insane that people are asking the government to regulate food.
Another big thing is the ban of transfat in cities, due to health issues regarding too much transfat in our diet. Now, I agree it’s not best for us, but are you kidding me?! I can’t have a plate of fries or some potato chips because of the transfat? An occasional side of fries is not going to kill me.
I understand the smoking bans. It effects other people. I understand the alcohol and drug regulation. The overindulgence of alcohol can lead to drunk driving, bad behavior, unwise behavior, etc. It doesn’t have to, but it often does.
But how does junk food effect other people? What? They might overlap seats?
Come on!
You can’t legislate morality and you can’t legislate good decisions. This is not the government’s job. Really, all you can do is educate. If people knew what exactly it was doing to their bodies, they should not partake or at least partake less of it.
Why don’t they regulate caffeine? They aren’t making Coke sell only no caffeine Coke. They aren’t regulating Red Bull and energy drinks that have documented side effects.
Maybe I’m insensitive. I don’t know. But I should be able to determine what I want to eat. Don’t penalize me because a few lazy people out there don’t know how to use the off button on their appetite.
The companies that do this are only meeting the demand for their products. If people had healthier demands, the companies would adjust. They always do. They follow the money.
I offer a solution to the unhealthy world out there. Push away from the table. Limit your portions. How often do we say “I shouldn’t have another helping or another handful”, but do?
Bottom line is this gets down to thinking and acting responsibly. If we acted and ate more responsible instead of irresponsibly we’d be better off. Acting irresponsibly leads to problems and then to excuses.
If Americans were truly concerned about transfat and obesity, we’d watch what we eat. Instead we take it all in, get fat and unhealthy, blame the makers of it, and get the government involved.
Ah yes. The American way.
It’s just a little thing, but something that got me going. I heard the other day that the Masterfoods company is going to stop marketing snack foods to kids 12 and under due to fear of government regulations.
Apparently there is a link between marketing food to kids under 12 and obesity.
What about this link?
Kids don’t do anything these days. They eat junk, not because it’s marketed to them, but because it’s given to them. And then they sit in front of the TV or computer and play games.
No exercise at all.
Yes, I’m speaking in generalizations. Not all kids are obese. But it is a growing problem (pardon the pun).
Now that I’m at the are where I have started saying, “I remember when……” I remember when I was young. I ate a lot of junk food, and have the cavities to show it. The thing is, it was monitored and I was going to exercise a lot of it off. We rarely got a candy bar to munch on, and snack time was portioned out and only after dinner.
When fruit snacks came out, we got a pack. Not packs. We couldn’t down pop at our leisure. Again, we got to drink it, but it was portioned out. As bad as my eating habits were, I learned how to handle my portions. Eat til your full, not til your uncomfortable.
When are we going to stop asking for government regulations on things, and start regulating ourselves? It’s insane that the government would even consider regulating food. It’s insane that people are asking the government to regulate food.
Another big thing is the ban of transfat in cities, due to health issues regarding too much transfat in our diet. Now, I agree it’s not best for us, but are you kidding me?! I can’t have a plate of fries or some potato chips because of the transfat? An occasional side of fries is not going to kill me.
I understand the smoking bans. It effects other people. I understand the alcohol and drug regulation. The overindulgence of alcohol can lead to drunk driving, bad behavior, unwise behavior, etc. It doesn’t have to, but it often does.
But how does junk food effect other people? What? They might overlap seats?
Come on!
You can’t legislate morality and you can’t legislate good decisions. This is not the government’s job. Really, all you can do is educate. If people knew what exactly it was doing to their bodies, they should not partake or at least partake less of it.
Why don’t they regulate caffeine? They aren’t making Coke sell only no caffeine Coke. They aren’t regulating Red Bull and energy drinks that have documented side effects.
Maybe I’m insensitive. I don’t know. But I should be able to determine what I want to eat. Don’t penalize me because a few lazy people out there don’t know how to use the off button on their appetite.
The companies that do this are only meeting the demand for their products. If people had healthier demands, the companies would adjust. They always do. They follow the money.
I offer a solution to the unhealthy world out there. Push away from the table. Limit your portions. How often do we say “I shouldn’t have another helping or another handful”, but do?
Bottom line is this gets down to thinking and acting responsibly. If we acted and ate more responsible instead of irresponsibly we’d be better off. Acting irresponsibly leads to problems and then to excuses.
If Americans were truly concerned about transfat and obesity, we’d watch what we eat. Instead we take it all in, get fat and unhealthy, blame the makers of it, and get the government involved.
Ah yes. The American way.
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