Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Boys and men, don't watch too much football and help with the dishes! Girls and women, make them help with dinner! If they don't, have them make Christmas dinner.
Thanks-
Marie

A Tale of Two Current Events

There are two major political current events in the U.S. right now: Occupy Wall Street and a possible verdict that President Obama's heath care is unconstitutional.
On the latter subject, while Gen J is neutral on most things, we do have some principals in Gen J. And forcing people to get something that will cost us thousands, perhaps millions, of unnecessary dollars, does not comply with our principals. But what will the Supreme Court decide? Will we be forced to pay our hard-earned money to a program that does not even comply with our principals, or with the constitution?
On the Occupy Wall Street protests, they are unlawful. They are unsanitary, sometimes violent, and they disturb the peace. The protesters are well-off people, and what they are doing is a rebellion against the government. And Obama, who is the president, the highest office in our government, seems to support them. There is a problem here. There is a thick line between a peaceful protest and an outright rebellion. As I mentioned before, the protesters are well-off people, more so then many of the people who are against the protests. Also, many of the protesters are drug abusers who overdose on drugs. Not unusual. How ever, in a crowded camp... I think you get the picture of the unsanitary conditions. They probably also influence others to take drugs, too, before they take just too many pills. Concerning the violence, while I haven't heard of any fatalities, these protesters are dangerously brutal. Aside from attacking police officers while resisting arrest, however, there is none. But attacking any one is illegal, and police officers... well, I'll just say that these people are either brave or foolish, probably the latter. Gen J does support protests, but only non-disruptive, non-violent ones. Occupy Wall Street does not fall into those categories, to say the least. Gen J supports changing the government by campaigning, not by camping out and being stubborn, while blocking access to public places. Thus I can say that Gen J does not support Occupy Wall Street.

Always Do Your Best! Yes, This Means You!

Some people call the people who want to get somewhere in life "over achievers." But think about it. It's not us who want to go somewhere, do something, and help lots of people who have a problem. It's those who don't want to who have a problem.
For everyone, "over achievers" or not, I want to challenge you to something. Do more or better with something. Here are some examples:
You can do 30 push-ups. Try to do 50. (Do this over a perod of 2 or 3 weeks, otherwise you'll strain yourself.
You just can't finish a book. It's great, but just too long. Finish it.
Your grades average around Bs and Cs. Strive for As and A+s. (Homeschoolers, you too. I know that homeschoolers sometimes don't do much with grades because, on average, the grades are As, but there are still those harder subjects that you can probably work on some. Strive for 100%, everyone.)
Everything comes easly to you: school work, sports, dance, gym, making friends, carrying on a conversion. You hardly ever need to work hard. Change that. It might take a little while for an oppertunity to arise, but once an oppertunity does come, take it, unless it's something that you don't want to do for any reason other then pure laziness or fear. If everything comes everything comes easely to you, then you're not even working, really.
Your conversations center around jokes. You have great grades, you're athletic, you're scholarly, you are in 3 clubs, and you're popular. But your conversations have more laughing then talking, more joking then seriousness. You are not a joker, but you're not serious, either. Improve that. Teenagers are not at an age were they can play too much, teenagers are adults in training. You know this, but don't put it into practice. You laugh at things that aren't funny, which puts everyone into a silly mood. There goes a productive conversation. Change that behavior. I don't talk like that, I don't want to. If you stop, then you will find that you are glad that you changed your behavior, so change it!
These are just a few of the many things that you can improve/change. Work on these things, and then comment on your success. By the end of January, I want at least 30 people to comment on their success. But you need to keep these traits up, even after you report your success. I know that 30 people is a big goal, so tell your friends about this. I had it bigger, but I didn't seem to be getting any comments except my own. PLEASE comment on your sucess! I know that people CAN do better at things, but they don't seem willing to do so! If you CAN do better at some good quality, (and I know that EVERYONE can do better at good things) then PLEASE, PLEASE DO SO!! I even had to give an extra month for people to improve in! I shouldn't need to do that! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE IMPROVE!! Please, even after the new year, keep commenting on your success. Keep the comments going, and strive for excellence!

Thanks for your co-operation!-
Marie

Holidays, Holidays

Thanksgiving. Christmas. Easter. The three most celebrated holidays in the U.S.A. Of course, they are true "Holidays," since the the word "Holiday" comes from the words "Holy Day." However, many people have no idea that Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving are Christian holidays. If they do know it, then they don't show it.
For everyone who is a Christian, we know what the holidays are about: Thanksgiving for thanking God for our many, many blessings, Christmas for celebrating the coming to earth of out Savior, Jesus Christ, and Easter for rejoicing the resurrection of Jesus and the ultimate victory over evil. But how much do we include the true reasons in our celebrations of the holidays? Is football intruding too much on Thanksgiving? The merriness and presents too much on Christmas? The egg hunts and candy intrude too much on Easter? How much are you letting those things upset your worship and praise? I'm not saying that football is bad, I think that it's rather pointless, but I have nothing against it. Presents, egg hunts, and candy aren't necessarily bad; they can be bad if you let them get in the way. Being merry isn't bad, but shouldn't we be joyful on Christmas?
I want people to comment, telling how much they really think about the real reason for the holidays. You might be surprised at how little that we think about the true meanings of the holidays, and that's something that we need to change.
Thanks-Marie

Election Day 2011

Election day 2011. There are no big elections this year, but there are still local elections. Here are some things that you always should consider before you vote:
Who is the most pro-life?
Who is the most pro-family?
Who values marriege as a commitment between one man and one woman?
Who is the most honest, and has the best record?
Who will control taxes the best?
Who has the most qualifications?
Who does not build themselves up only by tearing down their opponents, often with half-truths?
Who will be affected by any laws that they will propose/pass/support?
Who has a similar belief structure to yours?
Who values integrity above money or power, and who doesn't?
Who has prior experence with leading?
Keep in mind that there are other things to consider, too, this is just a base to branch off of.
Thanks-Marie

Global Warming vs. Snow Men

Ah, global warming!
Snow in November,
Snow in October,
Blizzards in April,
A cooler year now then a few years gone by.
Yes, indeed, global warming!
The world must be getting hot!
"'Tis a danger," some insist, but I say "'Tis not!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, we have had a blizzard in April, years ago, before I can remember, but other, older people do remember such a thing, and I think that it was around 15-25 years ago. Don't quote me on that, though.
Last year or the year before, we had enough snow on Thanksgiving to make a good-sized snow man. And right now, October 31, there is a lovely snowman in my yard. It was built on the 30th. There was around four inches of snow. Please keep in mind that Pennsylvania can be unpleasent because of humidity, not cold!
Yes, global warming is heating up the earth, is it not?
Thanks-Marie

Hi, Marie here, the new poster for this blog, since The Big One, GS is too old to participate in regular club activities and also too old too post on this blog, except for maintenance. Here is a video that I compiled from different pictures and parts of videos. I'm afraid that you might recognize the pictures, but the next video I do, I'll try to get original pictures.
Thanks-Marie

9/11 Ten Years Later ( a view from a 12 year old Gen J Club of the Lehigh Valley Member)

This is a write up from one of our members.

Ten years ago, on 9/11/01, terrorists hijacked airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. Many, many, many, people were killed. I just saw some footage of the first Fox News report of it. At first, for those who don't know, they were just having a casual report. Then, they got the shocking report that an airplane had just flown into the World Trade Center. They said that it was an accident. But then, several minutes later, when they were disusing what could have caused this tragic crash, but then they saw live footage of another airplane crashing into the second tower, the west tower. This was no accident. This was a deliberate attack, as they quickly agreed. They were calm and efficient, but I wonder how calm they would have been off of the camera. One thing is for sure, their calmness is probably what kept many people calm themselves.


It took my breath away when I watched the ten-year-old video, and I cannot imagine how I would have reacted if I did not know what was going to happen, and if I did not know that this happened ten years ago. I am glad that I wasn't nearby at the time. I have no idea what I would have done, as I'm sure is the case with most of America's population. Most people would have panicked because of fright, confusion, and terror. And it is just as horrifying now as it was ten years ago.

I was two years old when this tragedy hit, and I kind of --sort of-- remember it, but that doesn't make it any less horrifying when I see the videos. To talk about it is one thing, but to see it... it's awful. No, more then just awful... There is no word to describe this.

I saw the plane hit the tower, and I saw the towers starting to weaken. That was all that I needed to see. I have read the rest. I know what happened.

Soon after this tragedy, many people prayed. They helped with charities. They enlisted. Now, on this tenth anniversary of those horrible attacks, let us get involved in such things again. The Christians have not stopped praying. But what about the charities? And not all of the terrorists have been stopped. There are still attacks. We still need soldiers. We still need help.

Please, people, Pray. Volunteer. Enlist. Help. Remember.

Andy Harris SAT 2010

This is a report that one of our Gen J of the Lehigh Valley members wrote. We are hoping to get photos and video shortly.

If you're talking about three people who made over 1,000 phone calls each, in one day and thousands of other phone calls on the same day all by a small group of teenagers spread out in two nearby campaign offices, then you're probably talking about the Generation Joshua Student Action Team (SAT) for Andy Harris in the Maryland Congressional election of 2010. Yes, some east coast SAT records were set with that election.
(I'm saying east coast because there was also another record breaking SAT in Vancouver, Washington, bigger records, probably bigger team, more than likely faster phone systems, just-as-hard workers, and the possibility that they didn't do door-to-door campaign work, but I'm not writing about it because I wasn't there).

There was a Maryland SAT record set on the day before the election with over 700 phone calls for one particular person, non-constant phone calling; and, on election day, all or most personal records were broken by most-or-all-of-the-day-calling by each volunteer. Three people even broke one thousand phone calls on election day (now, if you live in Maryland congressional district one you know who to blame for the pestering, but effective, phone calls).

Oh, did I mention that on most or all of the days we did door-to-door campaign work, and on some of the days sign waving? Now, keep in mind that the oldest regular student and record holder for a one-phone-at-a-time basis of calling for the Maryland SAT is 19; the others are younger, and many of them had no prior experience with phone banking. Besides, the team had only thirty-some people on it, and the team had many first-time-members on the SAT.

Nevertheless, with the phone banking, door-to-door (people are the most polite there), and sign waving, Harris won the election. That's the important thing. As for me, I didn't break any records except my own, but I was the youngest on the SAT (it was my first SAT) and got some pretty strange (and very long) phone calls, as did several others.

We were trying to get people who normally didn't vote or had forgotten the election to vote for Harris. The volunteer work is important and must be done, no matter how pestering it may seem. We made sure people didn't forget the election.

Anyway, I noticed that in spite of the not-so-friendly people that we would get over the phone, or yelling out of their cars at sign wavers, everyone seemed to be having fun. The Fire Pelosi rally was one of the best parts of the SAT, despite the angry people who were driving past.

Also, I noticed that many of the people I was in contact with over the phone seemed to think that I am an adult, and asked me who I was voting for. They were surprised that I was too young to vote and one was shocked at my age. That means that not enough people know about Generation Joshua. But that will change.

Anyway, it's amazing what a group of kids can do, and have fun doing, isn't it?

Another Gen J club on the internet

I came across another gen j club online recently. Pact gen j out of Montana has a website and a blog.
Visit them at pactgenj.org

You can get to there blog and you tube page from the website.