This post started out as a weekend recap and after a few days and trying to finish it, I had to turn it into a weekend/week recap. Although we enjoyed every minute of it, this weekend/week was very busy and went by faster than we would have liked. Friday Zak got off work at a good time and once he came home we decided for a cozy night in. We had dinner, rented a movie, and just laid around until almost midnight. We tried watching Godzilla, but the baby had other plans. Zaylen is cutting one of his top teeth right now and he is not having a fun time with it.

Do you ever watch the news and get so depressed you have to turn it off? I was watching the news a few days ago and my heart broke. My heart just broke! A ten year old boy beat a 90 year old woman to death because she "yelled" at him. A school system is making teachers start calling their students "purple penguins" instead of 'boys and girls' because they want gender equality. A high school girl accidental left a small pocket knife in her bag when she went to a football game, and now they suspended her for the rest of the year. The Houston mayor wants all pastors to turn in any messages they have that include anything about homosexuality. I mean really, what is our society doing?! What are we thinking?! What went wrong?!

America has had a moral decay for many decades. Some people blame it on the 60's; sex, rock and roll, and drugs. Yeah, I can see that. Others blame it on the baby boomers; they are the ones who redefined traditional values. I can see that also. Some give blame to my generation; after all, we like rap music and play those awful video games. Eh, I can see how that could be taken, but I do have a question, who raised us? There are fingers pointing everywhere and no one wants to take the blame. I've been on a quest to figure out what happened, why we are headed South instead of North, and what we can do to fix it. I haven't gotten a solid answer, but I have several theories of my own, if you have anything to add please contact me, I would love to hear what others think!

A moral is defined as being, "concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character." How are morals defined? I personally believe we are born with a basic moral code, this would be moral universalism, meaning every single person has the same group of morals no matter what. My son is 7 months old and already understands yes and no, well as good as a 7 month old can. He shoots for Izzys food/water bowls a lot when he is in the kitchen, I will stand in front of him and tell him "no" and for the most part he knows that means he needs to change directions. From an early age we know right and wrong. I can't put my finger on the exact age, but I do believe around a year we know right from wrong. Have you ever noticed how a small child will wait to get their parents attention before touching something they aren't supposed to? It's because they know it's wrong and they are seeking that attention or seeing how far they can push to get their way.

I attribute moral universalism to just being human, however I also agree that things in our lives can build up or tear down that main line. Culture has an influence. Where we are in the world and who we come from definitely count as something. The Korowai tribe in New Guinea are part of a culture that practices cannibalism, and they think it's the right thing to do. The American culture has never accepted that to be okay. How we are raised has an influence on our moral compass as well. A child from a family of drug users and alcoholics will see that lifestyle and think it's okay because their family says it is. Where as a child from a family that doesn't drink or entertain drugs will know that those things are bad for you and are wrong. And last, our experiences can direct our moral code. A young boy who joins a gang and sees killing innocent people being justified will start to think that murder is fine, there's nothing wrong about it. But a young boy who is active in church will learn the Ten Commandments and know that murder is wrong and shouldn't be done. Ultimately we have a standard of morals, I like to call this our conscience, but I do think different things can heavily influence that.

So why is America in a state of moral decay? It started when personal feelings became more important than common sense and good behavior. I love the saying, "common sense ain't so common anymore." We let feelings override right and wrong. It's okay to slander someone because they hurt me first. It's fine to lie to my husband about what I was doing because I feel like it. It was okay for that 10 year old boy to murder the 90 year old lady because she yelled at him and it hurt his feelings. How ridiculous?!? Once we allowed feelings to become our first priority it was easy to throw out all morality.

First, there are hardly any families left that have moral guidelines in the home. Traditional family is a long forgotten way of life. Our children are put in front of screens to learn about right and wrong. I hate to tell you, but Showtime and MTV don't have a clue what right and wrong are. Parents aren't setting rules or carrying out consequences and this is harming our children a heck of a lot more than a spanking every will. We are told to let our children express their feelings, not to spank them because their feelings are valid and spanking will emotionally damage them. I was spanked more than you would believe as a child and you know what, the only damaged part of me was my hind end. I am very blessed to come from a discipling home, I would be a troubled person if I were just allowed to express my feelings. Now please don't get me wrong, feelings are extremely important! But we can't go off feelings all the time. We are emotional creatures and what we feel isn't always the right thing. Children today run the home and are never wrong. I can't stand when I see families who worship their children. Their children come before faith, family, work, home, even the other spouse. No wonder we have such a high divorce rate. Our kids are being raised in single parent homes, in homes that fight, in homes with no respect for each other, and in homes that don't show hard work or responsibility. We send our children to school to learn about life and send them to church to learn about God. Faith and life should be taught inside the home first, school and church should just be added learning tools. Parents, raise your children or the world will, and that's not something to compete against.

We have no moral guidelines in our school systems. Prayer has been removed, The Pledge of Allegiance has been taken away, boys and girls can't be addressed by their gender because it's unfair, we are teaching about safe sex (not abstinence) at a young age, kids are not punished for their behavior because schools are afraid of lawsuits, and we wonder why there are so many hurting kids?! No one sees that this young generation is begging for attention and love! A lot of children don't get what they need from home so they act out in school. If the parents can't hold the kids accountable, how are teachers and administrators supossed to? Teachers are greatly affected by kids who aren't being taught basic values at home, and there's only so much they can actually do about it. It isn't their job to teach our children not to lie or steal, or how to be respectful and obedient, that learning should be from the home.

There are no forms of morality being shown in the media, at all. TV shows, movies, commercials, billboards, advertisements, they are so far removed from any good value system. A white lie won't hurt and it's okay to do harm to those who have done harm to you...these are the lies we are being exposed to. There is an unfathomable amount of wrongdoing and violence in our entertainment industry. Watch any video game and you'll be able to see that. It seems that sex is the center for everything now. Going topless for the cover of a magazine is normal, fully exposing yourself for a movie role is fine, even television shows are showing nudity. Have you seen Dating Naked? It's a show where two people meet for the first time, completely naked, and they try to find true love. And the sad thing is, there are several shows like this, completely naked. How is this okay?!? We should not allow this on our screens, but we do because it's normal now and everybody is doing it. Our media is completely uncensored now. I remember being younger and hearing a bad word in a movie and thinking that was the worse thing in the world. Now movies are filled with naked people and curse words are being used every sentence, and yet we allow it into our hearts and our homes. Shows and movies are great at sending messages under the radar. The next show we watch, let's stop and think about what type of messages they are trying to send us, what lies we are being told, and then decide if this is something we should continue to feed on.

The moral decay of our country has a lot to do with Christians. Yes, Christians. We don't set a good example. I think everyone is born with a basic set of morals, but we as Christians have a very real list of what is right and wrong. The Ten Commandments are written in black and white. It's the first thing we learn in Bible School and most of us have a copy hanging up in our homes, so why don't we follow it? I'll be the first to say, it's hard sometimes. For me personally, at times it has been hard to put God first. I have put people and things in front of Him many times. I have said Gods name in vain, been disrespectful to my parents, lied, I even stole something one time and partied on a Sunday before. I have broke about all of them. Wow...it really humbles you when you think of it like that. We all fall short, but that's the amazing thing about grace, God picks you up exactly where you are no matter what you've done, and sets you on His path, exactly where you need to be. Back to being bad examples...look at the amount of pastors/priests involved in scandals. There seems to be a new one about every week or so. We claim to love God, but yet hate abortions and homosexuals...that's not loving God. We should be reaching out to the mothers who feel like they don't have another option. We should be reaching out towards homosexuals instead of turning them away. I believe in standing up for what is right, the Bible says marriage between a man and a woman is the right thing, but I also believe in grace and acceptance. In my opinion, standing up for what is right doesn't mean holding up posters filled with hateful words and sitting outside of a courthouse trying to stop two people from getting married. It doesn't mean chanting harmful phrases to a woman going into an abortion clinic in hopes she will turn around. There are more important things to spend time on than abortions and homosexuality. I don't know why the church grabbed a hold on these two things and label these people as the sinners. We don't label our brother who has been divorced three times or our sister who has children out of wedlock as sinners, but as long as we get the other people we are doing good...we are so wrong, so so wrong. But that's just my opinion. On Sundays we post Bible verses on facebook and on Fridays we post drunk pictures. We say one thing and do the opposite. I mean, come on! How is society supossed to have values when most Christians don't? We have a set list of guidelines and we can't even follow those.

I love Casting Crowns! They have a beautiful song called Slow Fade, I encourage you to listen to it when you get a chance and really take in the lyrics. This song talks about the slow fade our lives take when we allow sin in. This song is very interchangable, I love to listen to it and think of my life, but also think about the church and our country.

"It's a slow fade when you give yourself away, it's a slow fade when black and white turn to gray and thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away, people never crumble in a day, it's a slow fade"...

Honesty, loyalty, and responsibility didn't all go out the window over night, it was a very slow fade. Black and white really started to turn to gray when we let personal feelings get in the way. Nothing is right or wrong anymore, we allow wrong to be right for anyone who wants it that way. No one answers to anyone or has a set rulebook to base their beliefs and values off of. Even though our moral compass isn't pointing North, we have the power to change that, we have the power to re-direct ourselves, our families, and even our country.

Could you imagine how incredible our society would be if we weren't after instant gratification or we put others before what pleased us? What about a community where everyone genuinely cared about other people, obeyed the law, and took responsibility for their actions? I would love to live in a place with a low crime rate, honest politicians, and respectful youth. Over a few decades we have allowed ourselves to get to this point, so I'm assuming it could take a while to get ourselves back to a life with standard morality, but the wait is more than worth it. Let's all take time to think about the gray areas in our values and turn those back into black and white, right and wrong, and work on ourselves. It's amazing how others will be able to pick up positive energy from our lives and once they experience that they will want to change their value system in their own lives, and that will start something. Things like this need to start in personal lives, households, and in communities before we can ever expect things to change in the White House or congress. America was founded on traditional values and strong morals, our Founding Fathers knew those would build a great country. Straying away does not mean staying away, we can get back there. Let's all take a pledge today to fix our lives and our homes and to point our moral compass North again!

xoxo
Cursty

I promised a post a few days ago and I finally have a little time to write it, so it will be the usual weekend overlook plus a few days added. I am exhausted! This weekend was busy and this week so far has only been busier, when are things going to slow down?

In the midst of a terrible storm Friday evening, we somehow made it to the Andrews football game. It poured down on the way there...I'm talking about wipers full blast with the hazard lights on going 25 mph on the highway, poured. We got there and it decided to lightly rain a few times, but we were covered and had an umbrella so we stuck it out. In the last 2 minutes of the game the rain came down! This was our signal to leave, we grabbed a snack on the way home and spent the rest of the night playing and snuggling.





Sunday turned out to be a good day, we went to church and then stayed at home for the rest of the day. One of Zacharys friends from college stopped by after lunch for a visit. He was in High Point for the weekend and came to see Zak on his way home. They had a nice time together catching up on old and new times. Zak wasn't feeling well Sunday, he had the chills and ran a little fever, so I made him lay down all day, drink plenty of fluids, and catch up on rest. I gave him some ginger and garlic to fight off whatever he had, made some tea, and some juice. Zaylen slept most of the evening so with both of my boys down I was able to get some serious work down around the house. When it came time for bed, Zak stayed on the couch and Zaylen and I hung out in the bedroom until we went to sleep.Thankfully Zachary broke his fever early in the night and was able to get some much needed rest.




Tuesday is almost too crazy to put into words. Every part of my body was sore at the end of the day. Zaylen has been teething pretty badly and last week I got hardly anything done due to holding him the entire day each day, he just wanted to be held and rocked. Don't get me wrong, I loved and cherished every minute of it, but my house got a little out of hand. I cleaned some Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday was a killer day! I cleaned the guest bedroom, both bathrooms from top to bottom, the kitchen, the living room, our bedroom, Zaylens bedroom, moved furniture, vacuumed, dusted, swept, wiped baseboards, cleaned the fridge, and some other little stuff. Zachary got home later than usual, our friends Victor and Annie came to stay with us for the week, and we had to be at another friends house at 6:30 for dinner. I was so tired last night! We went to bed at a good hour, but we were woken up by a screaming baby in the middle of the night. I am assuming it was a night terror, nothing would calm Zaylen down, I stood up with him, rocked him, talked to him, turned the light on, and nothing would help. The scariest moments I have encountered in motherhood are the ones where I have no idea what to do. His cries cut me straight to the core; I feel so helpless. Thankfully he finally cooled down after a few minutes of it, I rocked and fed him and he went back to sleep.

I hope you all had a wonderful start to the week and I hope you continue to be blessed throughout the remainder of it!

xoxo
Cursty

Excuse me for not posting in a few days, this week has been unreal. I'll post about our weekend tonight or tomorrow. This will be post number 2 in my little food series, I hope you enjoy!

Rice Casserole
This is a little spin on a plain rice casserole, I added some delicious veggies in the mix!

1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of soy milk (other forms of milk are cool, if you're into that)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked (follow packaging directions, should be around 4-5 cups once cooked)
1 cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Seasonings of your choice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Steam broccoli and carrots until tender, drain off excess moisture, and place into big bowl (This will be your mixing bowl)
3. Add butter to a saucepan, once melted add onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add flour to the saucepan and stir until it is golden brown, then slowly pour the milk in and whisk together. Whisk until the mixture is brought to a simmer, then let the sauce thicken some while whisking often. Once the sauce is thick remove in from the heat and whisk in 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper, and your desired seasoning. I used a little bit of old bay seasoning (because I didn't have paprika) and Richards seasoning.
4. Put the rice into the mixing bowl with the broccoli/carrots and pour the sauce on top. Stir around until all mixed and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spray a 9x13 pan with oil (I use olive oil), put mixture in the pan, spread out the other cup of cheese on top, and then sprinkle the bread crumbs on top of that. Spray the top of the casserole with oil, the place in the oven for 20 minutes. After baking, I like to broil the top just for 2 or 3 minutes to get a crispy topping. Let the casserole sit for a few minutes (If you can make it that long) and enjoy!!

I'm feeling extra lovey dovey these past few days! Yesterday my husband let me sleep in, of course I woke up a few minutes after he left though. And I woke up to little notes all around the house from him telling me how much he loves me. He does this pretty often and it is the sweetest thing! Last night we went on our first date night in two months, we always schedule in one night a month just for us two, but September was so busy that we didn't get our date night, so last night was extra special! Yesterday was an incredibly loving day so I thought it would be a great time to reflect on just how much I adore my man!

Ten Reasons Why I Love My Husband

1. Zak puts God before me
My husband has a strong, beautiful relationship with God! From day one he has always made me a second priority in his life, and I love that!! I'm sure you've seen the marriage triangle in which by man drawing towards God, and woman drawing towards God, they actually come closer with each other. This is so powerful and very accurate! Our worst times have been when we both backtracked, and our absolute best memories together are when we both are searching after God.

I have finally gotten around to posting Zaylens six month pictures! I've had them on my computer for almost a week now, but just haven't found the time to put them on the cloud and transfer them over and all that, so here they are! Our sweet friend Deanna Barber from church took these pictures and did an amazing job for such an awesome price, so if you are looking for great pictures for a good price I highly recommend booking her. She is such a sweet woman, very professional, and she's easy to work with, some photographers can be a pain, from my experience. We always try to get our pictures done through someone local or someone we know instead of going through a corporation, and after the many photographers I have done sessions with, Deanna is by far my favorite, and that's not just because we are friends, she really does an exceptional job!! Here are some pictures to prove it...























If you can't tell, we had a tired and hungry fox towards the end of the shoot. I am beyond excited to fill up another wall of the house with these precious pictures! If you are interested in having Deanna Barber Photography shoot your next photo session, please contact me and I will be more than happy to get you in touch with her!! Enjoy your Monday :)

xoxo
Cursty