Scriptures to get me through

Proverbs 31:25  She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Psalm 32:1  How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.

Ruth 1:16   But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Politics

I have very few followers and I just might lose them all after publishing this. I found this article and would like to shake the writer's hand. I think it sheds like on America's current welfare state. We are living in a place where a sense of entitlement, "you owe me" attitude, and lack of responsibility is running rampant. There are far too many people oblivious to this trend and I'm afraid that soon it will be too late.  Eventually we will be populated by less people willing to work and more people who don't work continuing to procreate. But, I digress.

Here is what I want you all read and think long and hard about what might happen if we continue down our current path and reward such thinking...

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

• The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
• The fifth would pay $1.
• The sixth would pay $3.
• The seventh would pay $7.
• The eighth would pay $12.
• The ninth would pay $18.
• The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers”, he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20”. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:

• The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings).
• The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
• The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
• The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
• The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
• The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

I love books

A Song of Ice and Fire series
The Glass Castle
Eat, Love, Pray
The Door to December
Velocity
Intensity
Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood (wonderful book)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Flowers for Algernon

30 Day Blog Challenge?

I've had this blog for several months, but its been only for the purpose of reading others. 
I am suddenly interested in making my plot on the web somewhat more interesting, if I have it in me..
But where should I start?
I found a gaggle of these 30 day blog challenges, but none completely suit me.
I mean...I'm 31..I don't have a crush on anyone.
So, maybe I'll write my own challenge. 
At any rate, I think it only natural to start with a picture since my name is in the blog title. 
Alrighty now.

Me, Shelley

      

TEN BLOGS I ENJOY READING

The Weigand's

In Honor of Design

Kendi Everyday

Beck Valley Books

Shannon Hearts

Start Thinking Right

Pastor Matt

Across the Pond

I believe in Unicorns

Lulu and Sweet Pea

There are plenty that I like to read but these have inspired me the most lately. Thanks bloggers

Ten Songs

Murder in the City by The Avett Brothers

A Closer Walk with Thee by the Avett Brothers

Little Steps by Rob Drabkin

Empty by Ray LaMontagne

Wedding Song by Matthew Brookshire

Simple as it Should Be by Tristan Prettyman

Duet by Rachael Yamagata and Ray LaMontagne

Mighty Leviathan of Old by Vandaveer

Sinning Hands by Iron and Wine

I Love the Rain the Most by Joe Purdy

I think of these things

Time--and how there's never enough

Politics--I worry, and I lean

Music-and it's beauty

Religion-what it means to me, what it should

Spirituality-how I can be moved

Art-paint and wonder

Love-all the people I love..The little ones and the big ones

Movies I want to watch again

Songs that I'll never hear though I would have loved

People I'll never see again-though we shared so much

What my next step should be

My endless to do list

Times I can't go back to, times I wish I'd seen, times I wish I hadn't

Humor

Happiness

Fashion