It is our privilege as homeschooling parents to instill into our children the true meaning of holidays and celebrations.  While I take great joy in seeing the faces of our children light up at the sight of fireworks, I also want them to recognize the names Hancock and Adams -- not as movies and TV shows -- but as individuals of extraordinary courage who stood up against tyranny, who pledged their own lives, fortunes, and honor so that others might live free.

For many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence would forfeit their lives and fortunes, but their honor will be secure as long as free men breath on this earth.

I can think of no better way to celebrate and acknowledge the 4th of July than with the recitation and discussion of the Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

I didn't forget; I just didn't have time to memorial it here yesterday.  But, yesterday was the anniversary of The Forgotten War or The Unknown War or Korean Conflict, in which millions lost their lives, including 36,516 American soldiers, marines, airman, and sailors.

Thank you for your sacrifice and valiant fight against Communism.

I have been struck lately by the overwhelming human effort that is required by litigation.  This month alone, Kathy and I have written over 340 pages of legal pleadings and declarations.  We have compiled over 4,000 pages of discovery.  Yet, despite the three years of pain our pursurers have brought upon our family with their lawyers and false claims, it cannot compare with the human struggle witnessed during those three long years of war between June 25, 1950 and July 27, 1953.

South Korea:
58,127 Dead
175,743 Wounded
80,000 MIA or POW

United States:
36,516 Dead
92,134 Wounded
8,176 MIA
7,245 POW

United Kingdom:
1,109 Dead
2,674 Wounded
1,060 MIA or POW

Turkey:
721 Dead
2,111 Wounded
168 MIA
216 POW

Canada:
516 Dead
1,042 Wounded

Australia:
339 Dead
1,200 Wounded

France:
300 KIA or MIA

Philippines:
112 KIA

South Africa:
28 KIA and 8 MIA

North Korean and Chinese:
1,577,000 Dead or Wounded

Civilians: 
Unknown number dead or wounded, perhaps millions.

Perspective helps, as Jesus says:

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Today the Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 split vote, that the death penalty for raping a child was cruel and unusual punishment.  Justice Anthony Kennedy said "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child".  He's right in a way, only the certain eternity of burning in a lake of fire is a proportional punishment for harming a child.

Jesus says in Matthew 18:7-8:

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!"

But are we to wait around, feeding, housing, and clothing the man for thirty years until the woe of the Lord comes?  Are there men whose acts are so heinous that we should immediately serve them up to the Lord for his ultimate judgment?  Here is an excerpt from the court case against child rapist Patrick Kennedy, convicted for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter:

"It was not disputed that the victim was brutally raped.  On the morning of March 2, 1998, the victim was transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital where she was examined in the emergency room.  The victim’s predominate injury was vaginal with profuse bleeding.  Her entire perineum was torn and her rectum protruded into her vagina.  Dr. Scott Benton of Children’s Hospital testified as an expert in pediatric forensic medicine that the victim’s injuries were the most serious he had seen, within his four years of practice, that resulted from a sexual assault.  A pediatric surgeon was called in to repair the damage, which was repaired successfully."

(Here I will say that, if you are not weeping for this child after reading that account, I care not for your opinions concerning the death penalty.)

Today the Supreme Court of the United States thwarted the will of the people of the State of Louisiana. It was the will of the people that such horrendously violent and evil acts should be punished in the severest way possible, death.  "Woe to that man by whom the offense comes!"

No one is saying that the death penalty should be applied in all cases of rape; Louisiana has only sentenced two such child rapists to death.  But, even those who are opposed to the death penalty generally will agree that it is warranted in extreme cases. 

The next President will certainly get an opportunity to appoint one or more Supreme Court Justices.  This brings us to presidential candidate Barack Obama, a man that voted in support of partial birth abortion.  On that basis alone, we can see the agenda of the radical left will trump any sympathy he might have for protecting children.

But what kind of Supreme Court Justice would Barack Obama appoint?  Barack Obama has already praised Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David H. Souter -- all of whom just voted to protect child rapists from cruel and unusual punishment.

So what can Christians do to stop Barack Obama?  First, let's get John McCain to select a devout believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as his Vice President, such as Mike Huckabee. 

Then, let's get McCain/Huckabee elected in a way that only the community of believers can do it -- by organizing our churches to support, campaign for, and vote for McCain/Huckabee en mass.  This, I believe, is the only way that Barack Obama will be stopped.  And, by flexing the power of the community of believers we will ensure that no more mistakes are made by Republican Presidents in appointing Supreme Court Justices

You have worked hard to raise-up your children and teach them the admonitions of the Lord.  Perhaps you have even raised-up a future Legislator, Governor, or Senator.  Do you really want your children ruled over by the judicial tyranny of leftist old men on a Supreme Court appointed by Barack Obama?

If you really want change, let's change the Supreme Court.  Hopefully the likes of Ruth Bader Ginsburg will repent and come to the Lord (or more likely she will continue to wither and die as it appears God has hardened her heart).  Until then, we must do everything we can to prevent anymore Ginsburgs from being appointed; our children and the will of the people need protection, not child rapists.

What's a 16-year-old public school girl supposed to do to find love?  That's right, get a 24-year-old homeless guy to impregnate you.  Well, everyone is doing it!

Evidently, everyone is doing it at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts.  Sixteen girls have confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and succeeded.

The local liberals want to distribute contraceptives at the high school without parental consent, to stem the tide of the four fold increase in teen pregnancy.  This is a ridiculous reaction, of course, considering the nature of the increase.

One teen parent put it succinctly, "they're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally."

Does anyone really think this type of nonsense would occur if these girls had been loved enough by their parents?  Seen the gospel of Jesus Christ lived out in the lives of the adults around them?  Protected from the absurdities of popular culture driven peer group influences by being homeschooled?

Here is the article from Time:

As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies—more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing young unwed mothers. But principal Joseph Sullivan knows at least part of the reason there's been such a spike in teen pregnancies in this Massachusetts fishing town. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, "some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Sullivan says. All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.

The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006—the first increase in 15 years—Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. In any case, many residents worry that the problem goes much deeper. The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city (pop. 30,000). In Gloucester, perched on scenic Cape Ann, the economy has always depended on a strong fishing industry. But in recent years, such jobs have all but disappeared overseas, and with them much of the community's wherewithal. "Families are broken," says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."

The girls who made the pregnancy pact—some of whom, according to Sullivan, reacted to the news that they were expecting with high fives and plans for baby showers—declined to be interviewed. So did their parents. But Amanda Ireland, who graduated from Gloucester High on June 8, thinks she knows why these girls wanted to get pregnant. Ireland, 18, gave birth her freshman year and says some of her now pregnant schoolmates regularly approached her in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby. "They're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally," Ireland says. "I try to explain it's hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m."

The high school has done perhaps too good a job of embracing young mothers. Sex-ed classes end freshman year at Gloucester, where teen parents are encouraged to take their children to a free on-site day-care center. Strollers mingle seamlessly in school hallways among cheerleaders and junior ROTC. "We're proud to help the mothers stay in school," says Sue Todd, CEO of Pathways for Children, which runs the day-care center.

But by May, after nurse practitioner Kim Daly had administered some 150 pregnancy tests at Gloucester High's student clinic, she and the clinic's medical director, Dr. Brian Orr, a local pediatrician, began to advocate prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts. Currently Gloucester teens must travel about 20 miles (30 km) to reach the nearest women's health clinic; younger girls have to get a ride or take the train and walk. But the notion of a school handing out birth control pills has met with hostility. Says Mayor Carolyn Kirk: "Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children." The pair resigned in protest on May 30.

Gloucester's elected school committee plans to vote later this summer on whether to provide contraceptives. But that won't do much to solve the issue of teens wanting to get pregnant. Says rising junior Kacia Lowe, who is a classmate of the pactmakers': "No one's offered them a better option." And better options may be a tall order in a city so uncertain of its future.

On this day 64 years ago, 156,000 allied American, British, and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France.  In the subsequent days and weeks their numbers would swell to nearly a million, supported by 6,900 ships and landing craft, 12,000 aircraft, 148,000 vehicles, 10,000 tons of bombs, and 570,000 tons of supplies.

Over 10,000 of these allied soldiers, sailors, and airman would lose their lives or be wounded.  But, their sacrifice doomed the Nazis stranglehold on Europe.  Their sacrifice gave millions a chance to live and to live free.

When I think of the individual men and their families, I weep for their sacrifice.  When I think of the nobleness of the cause that could move men on such a grand scale, I weep for the sacrifice of their generation. 

War is terrible.  I hope that my sons and daughters never see battle or wear its scars.  But I know that as long as sin abounds in this world, there will be war. 

So, as a homeschool father, I hope to teach my children two overriding principles concerning war.  The first is to know history.  To understand the history of war and warfare is to recognize inevitable approaching conflicts. 

It is no coincidence the Winston Churchill was the earliest and loudest siren against the rise of Nazism in Germany (for which he was ridiculed), he homeschooled himself in history and warfare from a very early age.  It is also no coincidence the Churchill was the best equipped to lead England as she stood alone against the German war machine.

The second principle I want my children to learn is to confront evil whenever and wherever they find it.  Tyrants grow from petty, selfish people.  Greed is something inherent to a child.  Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the ability and authority to overcome sin. 

We can go back to the "liberation" of Europe and see that the Soviets replaced the evil doctrines of Hitler with the evil doctrines of Marx and Lenin, and the people suffered for forty more years.  Only in the west did the Christian liberators bring liberty and self-determination to the people.

by Dr. Brian D. Ray

General Facts and Trends

Homeschooling may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States (at 7% to 12% per year). Home-based education is also growing around the world in many nations.

There are about 2 million homeschool students in the United States. There were an estimated 1.9 to 2.4 million children (in grades K to 12) home educated during 2005-2006 in the United States.

Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their children's education. The finances associated with their homeschooling likely represent over $16 billion that taxpayers do not have to spend since these children are not in public schools.

Homeschooling is quickly growing in popularity among minorities. About 15% of homeschool families are non-white/non-Hispanic (i.e., not white/Anglo).

A demographically wide variety of people homeschool – these are atheists, Christians, and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians, and liberals; low-, middle-, and high-income families; black, Hispanic, and white; parents with Ph.D.s, GEDs, and no high-school diplomas.

Reasons for Home Educating

Most parents and youth decide to homeschool for more than one reason.

The most common reasons given for homeschooling are the following: teach a particular set of values, beliefs, and worldview, accomplish more academically than in schools, customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child, use pedagogical approaches other than those typical in institutional schools, enhance family relationships between children and parents and among siblings, provide guided and reasoned social interactions with youthful peers and adults, and provide a safer environment for children and youth, because of physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, and improper and unhealthy sexuality.

Academic Performance

The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.

Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents' level of formal education or their family's household income.

Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their children's academic achievement.

Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.

Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.

Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.

Social, Emotional, and Psychological Development
 
The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.

Homeschool students are regularly engaged in social and educational activities outside their homes and with people other than their nuclear-family members. They are commonly involved in activities such as field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work.

Success in the "Real World" of Adulthood

The research base on adults who were home educated is growing; thus far it indicates that they:

participate in local community service more frequently than does the general population, vote and attend public meetings more frequently than the general population, and go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.

General Interpretation of Research on Homeschool Success or Failure

It is possible that homeschooling causes the positive traits reported above. However, the research designs to date do not conclusively "prove" that homeschooling causes these things. At the same time, there is no evidence that homeschooling causes negative things compared to institutional schooling. Future research may better answer the question of causation.

Sources

The above findings are extensively documented in one or more of the following sources, all (except one) of which are available from NHERI:

A Homeschool Research Story, Brian. D. Ray, 2005, in Homeschooling in Full View: A Reader.

Home Educated and Now Adults: Their Community and Civic Involvement, Views About Homeschooling, and Other Traits, Brian D. Ray, 2004.

Home schooling: The Ameliorator of Negative Influences on Learning, Brian D. Ray, Peabody Journal of Education, 2000, v. 75 no. 1 & 2, pp. 71-106.

Homeschoolers on to College: What Research Shows Us, by Brian D. Ray, Journal of College Admission, 2004, No. 185, 5-11.

National Education Association. (2005). Rankings and estimates: A Report of School Statistics Update. Retrieved 7/10/06 online.

Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling, Brian D. Ray, 2005.

About the Author

Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. is an internationally known researcher, educator, speaker, and expert witness, and serves as president of the nonprofit National Home Education Research Institute. He has taught as a certified teacher in public and private schools and served as a professor at the graduate and undergraduate levels. His Ph.D. is in science education from Oregon State University. Dr. Ray has been studying the homeschool movement for about 22 years.

For more homeschool research and more in-depth interpretation of research, please contact: NHERI

Copyright 2006 by Brian D. Ray

I felt the proverbial “butterflies in the stomach” this week as I thought of how I had agreed to play guitar and sing in public with my son.  At first, I had used my gift of persuasion to convince him that he would do much better alone in a solo than in a duet.  I was sure I had succeeded in getting out of any participation in performing in front of a crowd, but for that crestfallen look in my nine year old’s eyes... 

I enjoy public speaking.  In fact, I used to teach Public Speaking, among other subjects, back when I was a college instructor. I have been in front of plenty of crowds in the past for ministry, church, teaching and business.  But, singing is quite another story; people expect you to actually sound good.

One of the wonderful side benefits of homeschooling is that we as parents get to “learn along with our children.”  My husband and I want our children to be good musicians to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. So, not too long ago, I decided to take up the guitar, not just to learn to play an instrument, but to be right in the midst of what our children are doing.  

By learning an instrument, too, I am in the same boat as they are when it comes to the rigors of daily practice. I am convinced our children’s abilities in music have increased because they see me trying hard to learn a piece, not just telling them to do so. But, I did not expect I would have to go beyond my comfort zone.

Well, I looked into my son’s eyes and realized that while the duet represented an uncomfortable experience to me, it represented a special time with Mom to him.  We may never have such a chance again, and would God want me to forfeit it to fear?   One thing God has so impressed upon my heart lately is that our children are little such a short time, and we need not take any minute for granted. So, I agreed to the duet.  

We decided to sing and strum one of our favorite songs, I Will Call Upon the Lord by Michael O’Shields, which comes from a psalm David wrote after God delivered him from Saul and the Philistines.

No one threw rotten tomatoes, so I breathed a sigh of relief and my son was beaming. I am so motivated to practice and do better next time, because I realize that having many children means there will likely be a few more “next times” in which I am asked be the other half in a duet (unless I can persuade my husband to take up the guitar...)

I Will Call Upon the Lord
By Michael O’Shields

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised.

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock,

And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock,

And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Heroes that have served and fallen in Iraq & Afghanistan:

Teach your children about their sacrifice. Honor them by fighting evil wherever you find it.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

- Galatians 6:7-10

I just had to post this... funny, but scary.

Warning: This is a funny parody, but it looks like most of the other content on "ucb comedy" is offensive... so beware.