Patriot Post

Tuesday, 4 November 2008, is a date which will live in infamy. While most presidential elections are followed with calls for unity by both candidates, Barack Obama issued no such call in his speech last night, with the possible exception of his observation, "I may not have won your vote tonight, but ... I will be your president, too."
Of course, none was expected -- liberals have elected a Socialist with deep ties to cultural and ethnocentric radicalism, and his executive and legislative agenda poses a greater threat to American liberty than that of any president in the history of our great republic.
Obama has twice taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." He has never honored that oath, and, based on his policy proposals and objectives, he has no intention to honor it after again reciting that oath on 20 January 2009. Obama seeks to, in his own words, "break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution."
For that reason, this morning, the symbol of our national heritage of liberty, the American flag atop the 35-foot mast at our editorial offices, was respectfully lowered, inverted, and raised to full mast as a sign of national distress. It will remain inverted until next Tuesday, when we right it in honor of Veterans Day.
Today, at least 55,805,197 Americans are concerned for the future of our nation's great tradition of liberty. Some 63,007,791 Americans have been lulled, under the aegis of "hope and change," into a state of what is best described as "cult worship" and all its attendant deception.
One of our editors, a Marine now working in the private sector, summed up our circumstances with this situation report. It aptly captured the sentiments around our office: "It's been tough, fellow Patriots; tough to stomach the idea that more than half of my fellow citizens who vote, have booted a genuine American hero to the curb for a rudderless charlatan. What a sad indictment on our citizenry that some are so eager to overlook his myriad flaws -- his radical roots, his extreme liberalism, his utter lack of experience or achievement. Barack Obama is the antithesis of King's dream: He's a man judged by the color of his skin rather than the content of his character. If it's God's will that Barack Obama is our next president, then so be it. We Patriots will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and wade back to the war front, intent on liberty or death."
This battle is lost, but the war is not. Let's roll.
Mark Alexander,
Publisher, Patriot Post

Election

I am so disappointed about the turn out of the elections. These are a few of the thoughts I have been processing over the last 12 hours.

Very excited that a black person has been elected into the President's office.

Wishes that Obama was not the man elected.

Glad that a person who has taking care of the earth on the top of his to do list.

Wishes that someone who has actually served in the military was elected during a time of war.

Concerned that $$$ for the families of the troops will decrease as they did when the last democrat was in office. Do you know many military families were on WIC while the last democrat was president?

Thankful that so many people voted and participated in the election process.

Glad to see so many people coming together to celebrate the history made in our election last night.

Wishes that a person who has actually made good on their promises had been elected. A person who has acted to make change rather than someone who just talks about change.

Glad that a person who has worked with and for the poor and will work to take care of the poor was elected.

Frustrated about the coming tax increases.

Hopes that Obama can surround himself with intelligent and WISE people in his cabinet.

Hopes that our nation will go to God. Will pray and turn to God. Hopes that our nation will bring God back into our every day lives while respecting the rights of all men who are created equal.

So thankful that Hilary Clinton is not in office!

I have read one of Obama's books and was not impressed. What has he really done?

Thrilled that little black girls across the country get to see other little black girls in the White House.

I also think that Obama has the chance to do some great things if he follows the will of the people...not the will of high up Democrats.

Thinks that Obama has some good ideas on funding higher education for college students.

Glad that Obama has priorities on Early Education. This is a way to make the future better for all people...provide Early Education for children who are the future.

Hopes that Obama uses many of McCain's ideas to make this country better.

Will pray for the potential unity our country can experience.

Will pray for our President Elect.

Hopes that good things will come for our country.

Wishes people realized that the economic problems we are experiencing date back to changes Clinton make in office.

I am thankful to live in a free country.

I am thankful that if Obama does not live up to what he has promised, we can vote him out!

L had fun helping to pass out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters. In our house, we love Halloween and dressing up. Hope you had fun too! Check out out website for more pics. It is linked on the side of my blog under "Our Pics". Go to Lexi 11 to see how adorable she is.

Crawler

Last night, on November 1, L became a mobile child. She is crawling all over the place. For several weeks she has been rocking on all 4's and scooting. She started crawling while we had company over. I realized that our company was very excited for her. I was smiling but I wasn't joyful, I was relieved. Before reading more, you need to realize that I am a Special Ed. teacher by training. My specialty is working with kids from birth to 5 who have disabilities, and I especially LOVE working with kids who have Autism. Now that I have my own child, I am very aware of what kids should be doing and comparing L to what she should or should not be doing. So far in L's life, I have not felt joyful each time she hits a milestone. I feel relieved. I have seen first hand the struggles and joys of parents with kids who have disabilities. Every step is a hard-fought milestone with the whole team working with the child to get him/her where we wanted them to be. So when L develops a new skill, I am so relieved that she reached it on her own, developing the way you would expect typical kids to develop. I am so grateful that she is on target for her skills, but I think I might continue to feel relieved until about 18 months when we know we are free and clear of Autism. The children who have Autism are my FAVORITE kids to work with. But every skill is worked on over and over and over. It once took me 4 and 1/2 months to teach a child to point! TO POINT! 4 1/2 months to POINT! Every skill was a battle in patience and repetition for that little one. That was the first time I was frustrated in what I was accomplishing with that little child. I was not frustrated with the child, but with my inability to get him to catch on more quickly. I am glad that L is crawling and I am so grateful that she has a spark in her eyes. She is curious and busy. She is ready for visitors and wants to go places. I am so thankful that she is doing well. I know how hard it can be to be the mom of a child with learning differences....these moms are saints. They have been chosen by God to take care of and provide for a child that no one else would be able care for-- the way that child needs to be cared for. I truly believe that God picks each mom for the child who have severe differences. I am not sure I am up for the job 24/7 as these moms are dedicated to doing. I am thankful for my little girl and need to enjoy that she is developing on track rather than just being relieved. She needs me to celebrate with her. So my goal to celebrate and just enjoy the new development! Smile and cheer and relish in the fact that she has got a new skill to add to the list.

One set for another

So I am beginning to feel that we have traded one set of struggles for another. However, I do not want to complain about how God has completely answered our prayers and completely is taking care of us! We are so thrilled with life over the last several weeks and so grateful to God! Matthew's birthday was this past week and when asked what he wanted, he said nothing. He was so happy with life, that there was nothing that could add to his joy! How great is that??!!?? Have you ever been so thrilled and so blessed that there was nothing you wanted?

We are truly excited about Matthew's promotion and the opportunities that are now before him in his career. We are more than ecstatic in the fact that he will no longer be recruiting. For me, the reality of what this means has started to set in. Matthew will be gone for a minimum of 6 months. So aside from having to struggle for money (which is a huge issue) single mom anyone? I am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of taking care of L for 6 months on my own. However, God has already started preparing me for this one. While Matthew was at home for 6 weeks with the broken foot, i had to be the sole caregiver. So I already have a taste of it and it is not awful. Just a little tiring.

God is already providing for this time without Matthew as well. We have the option to move back to Central Jersey, yes where we just moved her from in January. We would be near lots of family and our very very good friends Tom and Rebecca who have 2 boys 3 and 1/2 weeks younger than L. We could also save 500 bucks a month by going up there. If we stay in South Jersey, we have one of the most amazing church families you could ever desire! Love...they have it! Grace...they have it! Support...they have it! Servants....they are! So we would be just fine here too! We could be here and give back to our wonderful church family. God has also provided 3 homes for L and I to stay in while we visit Matthew in Quantico. Friends we've made over the seasons of our lives are living in the DC/Quantico area. They have all offered a room and they live right by where Matthew will be training. So how else could we be more blessed while having Matthew away for 6 months? Thank you God for your guidance and thank you for your blessings! Thank you for helping me adjust to the big changes we are about to experience!

THe next big thing I think about is our next duty station. We are very excited about the possibility of moving to Japan. Then I think of the moving...the flight with a baby to Japan, not having my household stuff for several months, living so far away, etc. But I think I will leave this one to God as well and get through the next 9 months first! You see, there are already blessings about moving to Japan. My brother will be stationed there as of Nov. 2 so we would be there together, we would be closer to Matthew's mom who lives in Australia, and the weather is so much warmer there than Jersey! So should I be overwhelmed by the changes or list the blessings. I think I will continue to list the blessings!

Water

Crying it out, part 2

So I never had to actually have L cry it out. You see, we cried it out one night and then she was sick. She had a cough, runny nose, stuffy nose, and couldn't sleep. She only slept for about a 1/2 hour to an hour at a time because she could not breathe. So we had a rough couple of weeks with little sleep. Between taking care of Matthew and Lexi, I was running on low. But of course we made it through as we always do. The first night that she was feeling all better, she slept on her own. She slept for 6 hours the first night and several nights after that. Then she started sleeping for up to 7 hours at at time. So she is sleeping! We are beyond 3 hours at a time and she did it on her own. We are a happy house. With Matthew's recovery going well, Lexi sleeping AND Matthew getting a huge promotion, what does this mama do with all her joy? Share with others of course. What joy do you have in your life right now?



We have new pics on our family page.

http://web.mac.com/collinsmt/Site/Lexi/Lexi.html

Go to 'Lexi 10' to see the beautiful baby.

Big News, NO MORE RECRUITING!

We are ready to share our great big news! Matthew has been selected to become a Warrant Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He will soon be considered an officer with the privileges and responsibility that come with that. This is a huge promotion for him. The most exciting part is that he will no longer be a recruiter as of Jan. 22, 2009. We will no longer have him working 6 days per week from 6:30 am until 8, 9, 10 or 11 p.m. He will be gone for about 6 months for officers' school. But we will be able to go and visit him and he might be able to visit us.

We are so excited about this amazing opportunity. This is such a wonderful gift from God. He has heard our cries over the last 9 months and pulled us out of recruiting duty. We are coming out of this with a stronger marriage and more love and respect for one another. Also, this is such a fabulous step for Matthew's career.

By God's grace, we will be a successful Marine Corps family. We will continue to love and honor God. We are so grateful for the new job and the big promotion!!!!

Awesome God

We will soon be sharing awesome ways God has blessed our lives! Just so excited how God works things out!

Praying

What are you praying today?