Up a Tree - why I am NOT voting my conscious in November

Good Golly Miss Molly

is growing like the proverbial weed. As she should be because she refuses, as in turns up her pert little nose, at any and everything unless it's warmed milk with goat kid formula mixed in. Pure fat! The globules are thick, yellow and the resulting mixture is high in fat and calories; an excellent choice for kittens as well as for any little thing that needs to be grown without Mama.

In the past, I've used kitten formula, designed especially for kittens which is reflected in the enormous cost. I don't mind giving kittens a good start; what I mind is when they refuse to take the next step...as in eating kitten kibble. Not Miss Molly! She's approximately 12 to 15 weeks old and still refuses to take the next step! Someone said, "Don't feed her formula; she'l eat when she gets hungry." Ummm. Yeah, she will but I don't have the heart to do that and assume (dangerous, I know) she'll eat kibble when she's ready. After all, she knows more about being a kitten than I know. Right?

The Very Expensive kitten formula has given way to kid formula...as in baby goat formula. It's expensive but pales in comparison to kitten formula so what Miss Molly doesn't eat drink, I pass along to Moonbeam (about six weeks old and eating kitten kibble!) and her Mother, Girly. Yes, another kitten. SIGH I believe in, and practice with the religious intensity of the newly converted, spaying (or as they say around here...spayeded) and neutering. Especially neutering as it's less expensive, less invasive, less hard on the male than spaying on the female. (No matter what males would have females believe.)

~ Girly and Moonbeam ~

I'm always dealing with feral cats and have shed copious amounts of blood, spent copious amounts of money and time taking care of them. Should that national association call wanting money for their non-profit, I advise I'll send them money just as soon as they send me money. During the 1/3 of my life here, I've had rescued goats, sheep, alpacas, horses, guineas, dogs and cats. I don't waste time considering how much money I've spent on animals, four and two legged, that have come to Thistle Cove Farm for food, shelter, medicine and succor. I figure if God sends them, He'll send the means to take care of them; He has not failed me, or them, nor will He.

Recently, a deer (I'm hoping not the mother of the twin fawns in the upper pasture) was found dead in the neighboring pasture. I don't know if she died from a coyote attack or some jackass killed her with a shot from the road. One recent morning I watched as juvenile eagles tore at the carcass while a black crow tormented them. Every now and again, the young eagles would give way to a mature eagle, bowing to his claim, knowing s/he'd give them a rip if they didn't.

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Almost dead center, the adult eagle comes in to the carcass, knowing it will become available before s/he even arrives.

In every wee bit of Thistle Cove Farm Life, I can find similarities for my Christian crawl, walk, run life. Watching the eagles and crow, then vultures as the days passed, makes me think of this country and the way we're settling into a lower common denominator. People on all sides cry foul, believe themselves to be a victim (not a victor!), think their opinion is the One True Opinion (and you know what is said about opinions), distort facts (if indeed, they bother to give facts...most don't) and, in general, show a determined disdain for any who believe otherwise. I'm probably as guilty as the next so am giving my facts and figures to support why I will NOT vote my conscious this November.

I used to meet with a group of lovely women to quilt; they taught me a lot, started me out on a Turning Twenty quilt and certainly put my feet on the path to making quilts. The love of quilting was already there, inbred, a racial memory as I'd watched Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Esther make quilts for decades. Anyway, one evening we were discussing Presidents we've loved and hated I mentioned what a statesman Ronald Reagan was and how I believed he and Margaret Thatcher brought the world through an extremely tumultuous time. One woman snorted and exclaimed, "I hated Reagan; he was an awful President!" I asked, "Why?" She replied, "I don't know, I just hated him." I looked at her. "Yes, I get you didn't like him but what specifically didn't you like? Was it his foreign policy, his economic policy, his environmental policy...what didn't you like?" She looked at me and shrugged. "I just didn't like him and don't have to give a reason why."

All righty then. That makes NO sense to me whatsoever. I don't like Obama and can give facts and figures to support my extreme dislike of his Presidency; same with Clinton and, truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Trump.

~ fighting over the carcass ~

Obama promised to change America and he has in such a dramatic way the Founding Father's wouldn't recognize this government. The USA, as it's now called, was founded on Judeo-Christian principals and values (but not denomination) as evidenced by original and early State Charters and, contrary to popular opinion, is NOT a democracy. We are a Republic and quickly losing it (apologies to Ben Franklin).

The first Virginia Charter (April 10, 1606) was granted by King James I (yes, he of the King James Version of the Bible) begins, "We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those Parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government. ..."

Hmmmm, mouth hanging open now? Yes, this country, from the very beginning, was founded on, with grateful recognition and prayers given, to Almighty God and this does make us different from other world nations.

Likewise, the Massachusetts Charter, March 4, 1629, granted by King Charles I reads, "...For the directing, ruling, and disposeing of all other Matters and Things, whereby our said People...maie be soe religiously, peaceable, and civilly governed, as their good life and orderlie Conversation, maie wynn and incite the Natives of the Country to the Knowledg and Obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of Mankinde, and the Christian Fayth, which, in our Royall intention, and the Adventurers free profession, is the principall Ende of this Plantation. ..."

Oh Goodness...I believe I hear the crumbling of fast held "truths" as propagated by liberal media. Early days America saw all 13 Colonies having some form of state supported religion which, in some cases lasted 200 or more years and didn't end totally until after the War Between the States! To further read how the Christian religion has changed America, click here.

Ted Cruz made a list of illegal  acts committed by President Obama (added note...Cruz went with Obama on Air Force One to the "interfaith ceremony for the fallen Dallas police officers...Cruz is now persona non grata with me) and this article has a list as well. My problem with Obama is how he has torn asunder the fabric of the County and Family by his support of LGBTQ's and their agenda of men in women's bathrooms, same sex marriages, etc. I am also bothered by his downsizing of our military (implications cause me to quiver), his refusal to acknowledge ISIS, terrorism or radical Islam (more quivering), the fact this nation is now a debtor nation to the tune of more than $19 TRILLION (actual trembling). The grandchildren of children born today will be born into a debtor nation unless something changes or Christ returns. Don't get me started on illegal immigrants! I believe in immigration but I do not believe in illegal immigration as do none of the legal immigrants with whom I've spoken. There are those whose opinions differ, crying "What about the children?!" Yes, a very excellent question...what about the children? Those children who are already here, legally and born here who go to bed hungry, who live under bridges, who are enslaved in human trafficking, who don't have shoes, the thousands of abortions on a daily basis...and the list goes on and on. Here, a list of changes since Obama was elected...unbelievable!

Another Clinton in the White House? Dear God, have mercy and save us! I don't care what Comey says...after all, wasn't it he who "investigated" Bill some twenty years ago? I'm wondering what political appointment he expects traded for?

As to Trump...he's brash, arrogant, mouthy, pushy, loud, generally what a lot of Southerners think of when they think "Yankee" (apologies to my Yankee friends and acquaintances)...in other words, not so different from a lot of Presidents. Trump isn't my first pick; my conscious dictates writing in/voting for Allen West, Condy Rice, Ted Cruz (see note above) or other Christian conservatives for the White House. My conscious dictates me vote for a other conservative other than Trump, yet, in defiance of my conscious, I'm voting for Trump. Yes, he's been married, several times, and should he choose Gingrich as his running mate, they'll have six (6) marriages between them. (Oh how the evangelicals are cringing...)

Let's see...how many marriages did David have? How many times did he commit adultery? How many concubines? And didn't he have someone murdered so he could marry that man's pregnant by David wife? How much of the Bible is comprised of fallen men and women (Rahab) and are even acknowledged in the lineage of Christ?

That's the takeaway: fallen men and women who, having fallen, return, time and time and time again, to God for salvation and God, in His extreme grace and mercy, welcomes them Home again. Is Trump a Christian? I don't know; God hasn't told me and I'm too busy working out my own salvation with fear and trembling. It's a safe bet Obama isn't; the proof is in the fruit of his words and actions.

Three of the current Supreme Court Justices are age 77 or older; the next President will have the privilege of putting (due to retirement, death or sleeping on the job) as many as four men or women on the bench and Trump has promised Conservative men and women, which will, for the rest of my lifetime and, probably, my sister's children's lifetime, make a huge difference in this country continuing on the path our Founding Father's placed us...a Christian path and not a Sharia path.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind; again, that's not my job, it's God's job to make us into men and women after His own heart. I'm explaining why I'm not voting my conscious and am voting for Trump. Another Clinton or Bernie in the White House will be the undoing of this country. We face both a challenge and crises; we're at yet another crossroads as we face another Presidential election but if God's people, who are called by His name, humble themselves and pray and seek after Him and turn from their wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land."

May it be so.

Ponder this ~ "Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person." ~ Mark Twain ~ (oh! how we fall short)