Words of Truth

The contents of this bag are evil.

There is an attitude that I keep hearing in the media today: the government knows what is best for your kids and you don’t.  There are too many government officials, teachers, and administrators that think THEY are the ones who are ultimately responsible for your child’s welfare.

Get a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.  Ok, now, write this down, in big, block letters:  THE GOVERNMENT THINKS YOU ARE AN IDIOT.     Seriously, they think you are too dumb to know what your kid should be learning.  They think you are too dumb to pack a healthy lunch for your kid. The mother in this news story packed what most people would consider a healthy lunch:  a turkey sandwich, a banana, juice, and potato chips.  Is this a healthy lunch? That is a matter for debate.  I think the turkey and the banana are good, whereas the juice and chips are just empty carbs. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is this: who is responsible for this child’s lunch?

When you have a child, you become a parent.  As a parent, you are responsible to God for that child.  Now if you are abusing that child then the government (or concerned citizens, etc) needs to step in to prevent the abuse, but that’s not what we are talking about here.  If the parent is not providing ANY lunch for their kid, that’s an issue, but that’s not what we are talking about here.

When I was a kid, I used to babysit my younger siblings. It got to where I felt like I had a say in their upbringing, and I had to be corrected by my parents. They told me, “WE are their parents, NOT you. You have no intrinsic rights regarding these kids.  When you watch them for us, we are delegating OUR responsibility to you.”    That is exactly what happens with our schools today: the parent sends the kid to school and delegates their responsibility to the school teachers, etc.  If the school wants to do anything with or to the children (outside the bounds of “teach them math, etc), then they should have to obtain permission from the parents.

When I was in school, we had to get permission slips signed for field trips, special speakers in assembly, the “birds and bees” instruction/class., etc. But it seems that more and more, schools are starting to think like I did when I was a kid.  They have had so much responsibility delegated to them that they have begun to think they have just as much say in the child’s upbringing as the parents do. Newsflash:  they don’t!

But too many parents just go along with this idea, and they meekly allow the school to take over the job of parenting their children.  There are lots of examples from history when parents have given up their responsibility to the government, and I can’t think of any good examples:  they all ended badly. So parents, take back your kids, and don’t let the government take over your family!

My last post ended with me not knowing how or if God would provide the money I needed to pay off my school bill so I could get my tuition reimbursement. Well, He provided it through a family member who was willing to loan us the money. So I didn’t lose the reimbursement money, and I get to continue with my Bachelor’s in Nursing program. Thank You, God (and thank you, unnamed family member…I didn’t get permission to name names, so I won’t)!

A lot has changed since my last post. I was notified that I have been hired for a “PRN position” (PRN is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase “Pro Re Nata” which means “as the circumstances require” or “as needed.”). What does this mean? It means that I can work my scheduled shifts at my new job, and pick up all the overtime I could ever want at what is essentially “my old job.” And since both hospitals are owned by the same company, all the hours go together so I get overtime. They told me I could start picking up overtime again effective December 25th.

I started working OT again with a vengeance. That first week I worked 72.5 hours. Then last week I worked about 60 hours. With class starting again, that will limit me to only five days a week, which will be nice for my sanity. I am thankful that God has opened up this extra work for me. Sometimes God provides for our needs by providing work for us to do. Someone tweeted a few weeks ago, “opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

At Christmas Best Buy had a sale on a 40” 1080p Westinghouse TV, and I was able to use some Best Buy gift cards I had earned through work to pay for most of it. So now we have a bigger television, which is nice, since I’m getting older and my eyes are getting worse. Ha ha ha.

So then I called Direct TV and asked about getting high definition added to our package. The short version is that when I threatened to cancel my service and move to cable they gave me a HDTV package for less money than what I’m paying currently. After watching other people’s high definition for years, I finally have the opportunity to have it in my own house, and for less money. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

And then Best Buy had another sale where they had a “buy one get one free” for 32gb iPhone 4’s (not the newest model, but who really needs to pay extra to have some woman named Siri nag at you all day?). As my long-time readers know I have had multiple issues with Sprint and their phones, so I decided to switch to Verizon some months back. I sold my iPod on eBay for the same price as the two iPhones from Best Buy.

It’s really strange what a difference a few weeks made in my situation. I am planning on working as much as I can over the next several months so that we can catch up on our bills and then pay off our debts so that I don’t NEED to work overtime. May God give me the strength. Either that or send the prize patrol to my door. Either way, I will praise Him for His goodness.

I found this recently somewhere on the internet.  Given the arrogance of most cats I know, this hit my funny bone.  I hope this was a short drop.

I took three college classes towards my Bachelor of Science in Nursing this fall. The hospital where I work has a tuition reimbursement program. I finished my classes, getting A+’s in all three classes. I then filled out the paperwork for my employer, and turned it in. Here is what they said I needed to turn in:

1. The completed Tuition Reimbursement Form
2. A copy of my detailed account statement
3. My grades (C or better)
4. Supporting documentation of any financial aid I have received, if applicable.

I sent them: the completed form, a copy of my account statement showing the tuition that was charged to me, a copy of my grades, and a sheet stating I didn’t get any financial aid this semester. Then I sat back and waited for the money to appear in my checking account so I could pay my school bill and register for more classes for next semester.

I got a phone call yesterday from them saying they needed another piece of information. I called them this morning, and they said I need to get them a receipt from the university showing how I paid for the classes. I said, “I haven’t paid yet. I’m waiting for you to pay me so I can pay for these classes I’ve already taken.” She said, “Sir, it’s a tuition reimbursement, not a tuition advance.” I said, “Yes, but I am not asking for money before I take the classes, I am asking after I’ve taken the classes. I’m not asking for money to pay for classes I haven’t taken yet.”

I think I have the legal grounds to sue them to get the money, since the requirements for the program don’t say anything about providing proof of payment. I’ve literally given them every single thing the documentation says I need to, but they are assuming things based on the title of the program that aren’t required according to the documentation. She actually told me that “maybe we need to tweak the requirements to state that applicants need to show proof of payment.” I said, “If you need to tweak it, then you agree it doesn’t currently require it.” Nope. So yes, I could sue them for the $2000, but since I would be suing the place where I work, it would be like killing the golden goose.

So here I sit. Unless I get a check in the next three hours for $2000 from some unknown source, I will not get my “tuition reimbursement.’ Since I will not get that, I can’t pay for this semester. And since I cannot pay for this semester, I will not be able to register for classes next semester. Do you ever have that feeling where you can’t decide if you want to cry or throw something? What’s the margin between anger and sorrow? Isn’t it interesting how they are so closely connected? I guess God is going to have to provide some other way. Maybe He doesn’t want me to get my BSN? I don’t know.