To Join the Debate or Not???

When I was in High School I begged my parents to join the debate team.  They said NO!  Seriously?  While some people are begging to go to late night parties, I am begging to join debate, I demanded a reason why! 

As I recall it, my mother said, "Kathryn, it will destroy your soul!"  She knew I would be GOOD and I knew I would have been GOOD....I have always been great at fighting (verbally and intellectually that is), but over the years I have tried my hardest to tame the inner need, and often I am reminded why!

Like today as I am driving to St. George, listening to Newt Gingrich's first "answer" of the night, and my heart starts pounding, my fists clench tightly around the steering wheel, and I start yelling at the radio (it made me feel better), but the more I yell, the more I become convinced that I have a POINT THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE, heard around the WORLD if possible.  So here I am 9:30 at night on the eve of the primary, blogging.  WORLD (nevadans, utahans, Idahoans, a few Washingtonians, Californians, 1 Nebraskan, and perhaps a Peruvian) Please hear what I have to say.

Know this first, I am not fighting for a candidate, I am fighting against a MAJOR OVERSIGHT!

Tonight I would like to give you my answer (in a round-about way) to the age old question of:  "Should Private Life be considered when electing a Public Official."

Perhaps I could start by asking another question. "What is it about our private life, that would prepare us for public office?" 

In our church, the kids sing a little song, which I adore, that talks about FAMILY.  One line ran through my mind, (okay actually I screamed it at the radio) as I listened to the debate today.  It goes as follows

God gave us FAMILIES to help us BECOME what HE wants us to be!

As Newt answered a question about his private life, I think this principal was lost in the dust of political savy. At one point after the "this is a despicable way to start a debate...." he said that this country has BIG problems and we have BIG ideas (I am quoting roughly, google is not cooperating right now).  

Once again I respond with a question:  Are there any LITTLE things that you learned in your personal life that could have benefited you while dealing with these BIG things?   



I am reminded of the boy that checked into my dad's Algebra 11 class and was checked out shortly thereafter when, his mother promised that he was ready, but he did not know his addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. 

I think in the end we are bound to realize that the LITTLE things that we learn on the stage of our own home are the real lessons of life, and the BIG things are just an implementation of things we learned during each of those LITTLE moments. 

 If you want to be successful in ANYTHING, be successful in the MOST IMPORTANT thing!  Be a dad, Be a mother, be a father, be a wife, be loyal, be kind, discern between right and wrong AND DO IT, always protect the people you have been given charge over, be a leader.....Does any of this sound like good credentials to put on a Presidential Portfolio?  Lots of people can Talk the Talk but all is lost in a game of fancy words unless we walk (in our own hallways, living rooms, and kitchens) the WALK!