What do I think: One Last Time

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From the mailbox:

I'm sure you've heard the news that Palin's daughter is pregnant.  I amterribly sad ... I still believe that McCain's election is necessary in order to put at least one more justice on the Supreme Court in order to reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore save millions of lives (versus Obama who has stated that his first act as president will be to sign an executive order reversing all the anti-abortion legislation), and I believe her daughter's pregnancy can also be a witness to a culture of life (versus Obama's culture of death statement months ago that if his daughters "made a mistake," he wouldn't want them to be "punished with a baby").  However, it unfortunately is also a witness to our culture of immorality (her daughter is already being compared to Britany Spears), it feeds into the arguments of those moms who believe she should be home raising her children (and I have to admit, that is one argument I am now pondering ... would this pregnancy have happened if her mother had been more present?), it buttresses the arguments of those who are against abstinence only education, and it serves as a distraction to this campaign.

I am also sad for me and my own little children, I saw her as a great role model, and now I'm feeling like the tide of our immoral/promiscuous culture is so great that I will never be able to bring them up purely.  I am wondering if it is wrong for me to feel so sad.  I am wondering how you are feeling about it (or how does Mary [Beth Bonacci] feels about the news?

Well, I'm quite sure this wouldn't have happened if her mother had been in the room with her. Beyond that, do teenaged daughters of mothers at home sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. Furthermore, do teenaged children from homeschooled families sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. And while it might bring to mind Britney Spears, unwed pregnancy is not limited to this generation of our culture. We have been fallen creatures since Adam and Eve and fallen creatures are prone to committing sins. Teenagers are particularly prone to sins of the flesh--even teenagers from good, Christian families. The beautiful thing about this particular sin is that God can bring great good out of a bad situation and He can prove again and again that babies are only and always blessings.

I still see Sarah Palin as a role model. Furthermore, I see her daughter Bristol as a role model. There is nothing rock-star glamorous about this time in their lives and my children know that very well. They also know the enormous love and sacrifice that come with deciding to carry, bear, and raise a child when one is seventeen-years-old. They've lived with that example in their own home for the last four years. For my children, the pro-life movement is much more personal than marching with signs and putting bumper stickers on the great, big van. Did we have to explain a few things I'd rather not have discussed so early? Absolutely. But I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that all of  my children are secure in the knowledge that if they make a mistake and find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, we will not consider that a punishment. We will consider "that"  as part of the family. And we will come together as a family once again with unconditional love and support to nurture both the baby and the young parents in whatever way God shows us.

Since Senator McCain has said that he knew that Bristol Palin was pregnant before he named his nominee, I'm quite sure that Governor Palin knew as well. And now more than ever, it is not my place to offer opinions about another woman's conversations with her God.

Novena for the Election

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It's nine weeks until Election Day. Please join us for the Novena for the Election.

O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.

We thank you for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.

We thank you for your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.

We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation,
Their response to you requires that they be politically active.

Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.

Awaken your people to a commitment to justice
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin,
And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.

May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In Her Own Words

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Here is a snippet of an interview Sarah Palin did with Time magazine on April 29, 2008. The entire interview is worth reading, but this part directly answers some concerns expressed by women:

Where do you see yourself going? Staying on in Alaska. Washington?

You know, I don't know. I knew early on that the smartest thing for me to do was to work hard, do the best that I can, make wise decisions based on good information in front of me. And then put my life, get myself on a path that could be dedicated to God and ask Him what I should next. That will be the position I will be in as long as I'm on earth — that is, seeking the right path that God would have laid out for me.

Please pray for the Palin family today.

So, what do I think?

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SpominbuscrimebillsigningI don't blog politics.

OK, maybe sometimes I do. Maybe just this once.

I've already written about how powerful Sarah Palin is. And I've said how much I love politics. Today's events appear to be pure political genius, perfectly executed. My friend Molly was here this morning, helping me dig out of the mess created in my house. We cranked up the TV so we could hear over our cleaning and chatting. My children were very interested in watching the events unfold. In all honesty, I was positively giddy all day long.

In the afternoon, I had a long chat with another mom of many, who balances writing and homeschooling and carefully nurturing a marriage. She was as tickled as I was. Can Sarah Palin appeal to traditional moms at home who are raising their children? Oh, yes, she can! Every home is different and every woman has a different way of expressing the fullness of her femininity. Some of us balance homemaking and childrearing with some kind of work at home, whether that is freelance writing or in-home childcare for children not our own. Some of us take on the formidable task of working alongside our husbands to farm the land and care for livestock. And some dedicated mothers discern to work outside their homes, while Dad takes on a greater share of child care. I know what works for my family and I think Sarah Palin and her husband know what works for hers. She's a prayerful woman. I am certain they've taken the matter to prayer at every turn.I'm not the slightest bit interested in Governor Palin's intimate conversations with her maker about how to live the calling she hears. She says she asked God and that sounds good to me. Goes back to that whole what works best for your family thing...

I've heard it said a million times over the last nine months. Every-feminist-body and her sister has held Hillary Clinton up as the ideal role model for our daughters. See? She proves that women can do anything. Be anything.

I don't think so.Hillary doesn't inspire me one bit.

Sarah Palin began her speech today by honoring the man who is her husband and introducing those five precious blessings.She began with those closest to her heart and then unpeeled the rest of the layers of who she is for us to begin to get to know. She's a complex, full woman, who is clearly confident in her varied roles. She's a nursing mom in her forties who wears her baby to public speaking engagements. Her family looks very much like the big families I know. It was obvious just in the short time we saw them how they are all interconnected to meet each others' needs.  My daughters recognized themselves in the teenaged daughter cradling the baby. And though I have no aspirations to ever be in politics, I could identify with this woman and her abundant life.

It was my sixteen-year-old son who pointed out just how much I could take from Sarah Palin's example. I was sitting in the kitchen watching Molly scrub the stove and bemoaning the fact that I can get so little done lately. I attributed my sluggishness to "advanced maternal age" (that despised term of obstetricians) and the busy-ness of life with a gaggle of children who span the ages.

"You know," said Christian from the other room, seemingly oblivious to the conversation in progress, "I think the question of her experience can be answered really easily. Just make a list of everything Sarah Palin has done during her short term as governor. Compare that to Barack Obama's accomplishments during his short time in the Senate. She looks great."

And then he looked pointedly at me. "Oh, and she was pregnant for nine months of that time. She's 44."

I'm such a slacker.

Babywearing photo credit: http://bp3.blogger.com/_eeBrCFDUUOc/SEnh6tjqHRI/AAAAAAAAAoY/rCVlMkh3yPY/s320/SPOminbusCrimeBillSigning.jpg

Followup post here.