I received this in an email. Please read:

Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.

They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women.. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun.. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,

Your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage,

You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,

And ask the question "Why?"

You regulate restrictive laws,

Through legislative creed.

And yet you fail to understand,

That God is what we need!

Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge..... Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

Pictures

So, here are the pictures from formal. Sorry they are a bit late!

YIPPEE!!!

So...grrreeaattt news! It is FINALLY spring here! Yay!! Annnddd....I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH MY 12 WEEK CLASSES!!!! That is the most exciting news of all... :) And, I figured out last night, that I don't have to sit in a class until the fall! How cool is that?? (I have an online class for the 3 week and the summer and I'm doing a field experience in May.)

Since I am done with my 12 week classes, that means I had finals, right? Yep. All 5 of 'em. I had one Tuesday morning at 8am, one Tuesday afternoon at 1:15pm, one Wednesday morning at 10:30am, one Wednesday afternoon at 1:15pm, and one Thursday morning at 8am. Whew! But they went well...the one Wednesday morning was for my night class. Since the school doesn't schedule finals for night classes and our class consisted of only 3 people, our prof just let us choose when we wanted to take it. She actually works down at the elementary school in town, so she told us that whenever we were ready, we could just come on down to the school to her room and take the test (she works in special education). So Angie and I went down at 10:30am (actually a little after), and I think we were back by 10:50am. It seriously took us 5 minutes to take the test...no joke. It was like maybe 15-20 multiple choice questions and 5 true/false questions. It was super easy...but that was nice because the rest of our finals weren't like that. But, like I said, they weren't bad, either. I feel confident about all of them. :)

Last night we had our formal dance for Sigma Kappa. It was amazing! I wore my maid-of-honor dress from my sister's wedding. The dance was actually held outside which was amazing because the weather had been pretty nasty up til yesterday. The place that it was at overlooked the Mississippi River, so the view was gorgeous! I will post pictures later...I didn't take any with my camera, so I have to wait for other people to get the pictures to me :).

Well, that's about it for now...oh except to say that today is Coleton's 2nd birthday!! Yay! (he's the boy I babysit) Happy Birthday Coleton!!

LOVE IT!!

I just heard the CUTEST sound in the world!!! A little boy, who is not quite 2, singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star all by himself! Sooo adorable! I recorded it on my phone, but I can't transfer it to here unfortunately...I wish you all could hear it!

Where does God fit?

Since when does it violate a person's consitutional rights to say marriage should only be between a man and a woman? ... Well, I guess since this country stopped following God's law and made our own.

It discourages me to think that people are still so desparately trying to get whatever they want whenever they want it. This country was founded on the basis of freedom, yes, but all too often we take that idea and stretch it to fit our own needs. Our founders wanted religious freedom, so no one is allowed to say anything about religion in any public place. Except doesn't that go against our freedom of speech?? Life in this country was supposed to be good and free and happy--and it is. People give up everything, even their lives, just for a chance to be in our country. But this country was also founded because the pilgrims did not like the government of England dictating their lives. Yet, our country is doing exactly that. Maybe not to the same extent as England, but times have changed. Nevertheless, our government believes it has a right, no a duty, to tell us what we can and cannot do. I'm not talking about laws such as the ones against murder and stealing and other various crimes. I'm not talking about traffic lights and stop signs and speed limits. Those laws are in place to protect us as citizens and I respect that. What I am talking about is our government saying kids can't pray in school, this school can have money but that one can't, etc.

Yet our government still doesn't even follow that. It seems to me our government can't decide whether it wants us to be free and do what we want or rule our lives. No one is allowed to murder anyone under any circumstance, oh, unless it is an unborn child. Then the mother has a right to murder her child. Say WHAT?? A mother has a RIGHT to murder her child? No religion is to be brought into the schools or workplace at all. However, if a company has people who practice anything other than Christianity, then they can take any days off that are for their religion. BUT, if those same people want to work on Christmas Day, then by all means, those who actually celebrate Christmas must work as well. Does that make any sense to anyone, really??

I realize running a government is a very difficult job to have. I'm not wanting to run for any office. However, I think it is high time that our government decide whether it wants us to be our own people or be puppets of the government. Honestly, I don't think it should be either. Those are the extremes. There should be laws and rules in place; they are necessary to protect us. I don't want everyone doing whatever they want; that's not the answer. Our world would be chaotic like that. But what happened to following God's law? When did it become okay to murder your own child if you felt it would cause problems?? When did it become okay to be intimate with someone of the same sex?? When did our world decide it had a better chance of happiness and success without God??

I am by no means saying that I know the right way or always do the right thing. Far from it. I mess up just as much as the next person and am constantly fighting my self. But I know and believe wholeheartedly that God does know the right way and God does know what is best for me and for you. I may not like where He takes me or how he gets me there, but in the end, it doesn't matter. God wants me, all of me. He created me. He knew who I was, what I was going to be like, how many hairs I would have on my head, before I even existed. What right have I to go against Him? What right have I to decide what should happen in my life, when my life wouldn't even exist without Him?

God is the Creator of this world and everything in it and the entire universe. You know, sometimes I think we forget that. We say, oh yeah, God created this world and everything in it. We may even say, yes, God created the stars and the moon and sun and planets. But it stops there. It stops with what we know and can see around us. But God didn't stop there. God created an entire universe full of things we can't ever hope to comprehend. Why must we always limit Him and His power? Why must we always think we can understand and comprehend God? We can't. Our minds are far too small and narrow to ever comprehend the smallest part of God. Yet, He wants to be a part of our lives. He wants to reveal Himself to us. So, where does God fit? God doesn't fit anywhere; you can't fit God into a box. But He can be a part of our lives, if we let Him. I want Him to be a part of my life...scratch that. I want Him to be my life. Do you?