SmellingCoffee

What an amazing experience we had last night at our area’s Tax Day Tea Party! In our little city outside of Nashville, it was reported that we had 2500 people in attendance! 10,000 were said to have gathered at the State Capitol rally yesterday. This was definitely a bigger movement than our main stream media wants to acknowledge!

The people we stood with were “normal”, hard working, middle class people who care a great deal about our country and the turn that it’s taking. There was no hatred or violence spewed, but only a sense of camaraderie, community, and concern. The people gathered at our rally were not what the liberal media is calling “right-wing extremest”. They were friends, neighbors, and community leaders who came to express their love of God and country. We were proud to stand among them.

As our children were making their signs Tuesday night, I couldn’t help but wonder to myself: What are we doing? What are we teaching our children? And more importantly, WHY are we doing what we are doing as a family? (Besides participating in this rally, we seem to find ourselves also participating in a boycott of Pepsi, and refraining from spending any more money in Kohls until they become more “family friendly” again. And I’m not even mentioning the other thing we’re involved in right now!)

Then it hit me… First of all, we’re doing all of this because we feel that it is what God has called the Walker family to do. Secondly, we are living this way because the values we hold so dear are slipping away right in front of our eyes – and and in front of the eyes of our children. And the third reason we are taking these stands and making our voices heard is because our children need to see and hear us do this. They need to learn how to “not be silent”.

We’ve all been silent long enough! We’ve been “too busy to get involved” long enough! We’ve been too absorbed in the “now” of life to invest in the future. And, we’ve been too afraid of being “politically incorrect” and hurting feelings – so we’ve willingly “stuck our heads in the sand” hoping things would change and go back to the way they used to be.

Now, we are finding that our silence, busy-ness, and our desire to “not make waves” is costing every one of us way more than we were prepared to pay. (Not only in the expenditure of money, but in the loss of freedoms, morals, and values we never dreamed would disappear in our lifetimes!)

That’s why the Walker family made posters and stood several hours in the cold last night with 2500 other neighbors. We can be silent no longer.

Here are some pictures of the making of our signs. Before we started, we talked to our children about what we were doing, and about some key words they would be hearing/seeing on other posters. We let them choose what they wanted to put on their posters out of a list of slogans – making sure that what we carried was not hateful or derogatory in any way.

We also made sure they understood and could have a conversation with someone explaining their slogan and its importance.

We wanted our posters to be able to stand up, so we cut up a cardboard box and taped the cardboard on the inside of the folded poster board. We didn’t have extra yard sticks, so we used our crab nets from our trip to Florida. We taped the stick down to the cardboard. (It worked great, btw!)

And here are the results:

And this one seemed to be the “big hit” of the evening~ It was even acknowledged from a platform speaker as one of the best signs seen all day. I bet I had my picture made holding this sign 50 times! It reminded me of all the photographs I posed for when I dressed like Sarah Palin last Halloween!

One last thing~ Because of the talk about “pork”, we were all asked to bring cans of “Pork and Beans” to the rally to be donated to the Mt. Juliet Help Center.

And they were to be placed in these “pork barrels”. 😉

It was a great evening. Unless you watch or listen to a conservative news broadcast, you’ll probably never hear about it. But don’t be fooled… The “Silent Majority” is rising up again! PTL!

If you went to a tea party, please do tell… we’d love to have a taste of your T.E.A., too!

No… not this kind… (Although I do love dressing up and playing “Tea Party!”)

I’m thinking more along the lines of this kind…

On Wednesday, April 15th, we’ll be heading to the one in Mt. Juliet at Charlie Daniels Park.

If you want to attend one, you can find your Tax Day Tea Parties in TN at this address http://taxdayteaparty.com/teaparty/tennessee/

Outside of TN – To find one near you http://www.teapartyday.com/Locations.aspx

And on a side note, please be praying for Mel (from A Voice for Moms). She’s organizing the Raleigh, NC Tax Day Tea Party herself! Way to go, Mel! We’re praying for you, and for everyone who is getting out there and making our voices heard!

If you’re planning on attending a Tea Party, here are some ideas for slogans for your signs.

* Remember~ We can speak out and stand up and still do it in a way that honors our Lord. If we really want to make our voices heard, let’s make sure we do it in a way that brings Him and His name glory – not shame! Sometimes, it’s the very ones trying to speak out for God, but who use voices that are hate-filled and unkind, that do more damage than good for the cause they’re trying to fight for. LOVE is the standard! We can’t help how others act and react, but you and I can choose to always act and react in love!

“Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love for us). ” 1 Corinthians 16:14 (Amp)

(O.K. … I’m hopping down from my soap box now. grin.)

Love to you… maybe I’ll see you at TEA.