***WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR TEEN SET ANOTHER ON FIRE? (DISTURBING CONTENT)

WARNING : VERY DISTURBING CONTENT, TEENS' VIOLENCE RESULT IN ONE 15 YEAR OLD BOY BEING BURNED OVER 65% OF HIS BODY. 
I've read a lot of articles lately regarding bullying, violence, and what teens are and are not capable of. I came across this story and there are 2 reasons to share it. It is about a 15 yr old who was set on fire by a group of his peers (a year younger than my teen)....but also it is a testament to human strength.

Obviously, as the story tells these particular teens were capable of cruel violence   (so read the link knowing it is disturbing...) , but in the same token this young man...burned horrifically is in good spirits and his mom says he is not giving up, even thru the pain. They were told it would take 5 months to move him to rehab, this young man has done it in 5 WEEKS.

PLEASE...
--Talk to your teens about this story,
--get their thoughts,
--ask how it makes them feel
--ask if they know of anyone capable of something like this.
**If nothing else you can have a few moments talking with your child, but at best you may learn some interesting info about the teens of today.
Monsters come in all ages, shapes and walks of life...and apparently now they can be kids too.
ASK YOURSELF!
If you were the mom of one of the teens who did this, what would you do /think/feel/etc?

Click below to read the full story....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091125/ap_on_re_us/us_teen_set_on_fire;_ylt=AosD0KPiqKZV.4_ikYZrAEMGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTM4NmZiNjB1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTI1L3VzX3RlZW5fc2V0X29uX2ZpcmUEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDbW9tb2Z0ZWVuc2V0

WOULD YOU KILL AND EAT A PREGNANT TURKEY?

The Tale of the Pregnant Turkey


One year at Thanksgiving, my brothers and I were invited to my sister Jenny's house for the traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, we decided to play a practical joke. My two brothers lured Jenny outside to check out some trees at the bottom of the garden.
As soon as Jenny left I took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, and replaced it with a partridge. Then I replaced the bird carefully in the oven.
Later, when the turkey was cooked my sister took the bird out of the oven and when it had rested she started to carve it. Then she decided to add the stuffing. Much to her amazement she found the partridge. At this point our mother piped up, "Jenny you've cooked a pregnant bird!" With this Jenny started to cry.
It took my brothers and I until early evening to convince Jenny that turkeys lay eggs, and don't give birth to live young.
author unknown

For Everything....There Is A Reason!

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October, excited about their opportunities When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

O n December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.
T he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. B y this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the centeraisle. Her face was like a sheet.. "Pastor,"she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria

T he woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria ... When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.

T he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church.The pastor insisted on driving her home, thatwas the least he could do.. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving.
The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.
H e told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between. T he pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

***Thanksgiving Without Prozac? yep, it's possible!!!

My Plans For A Stress-Free Thanksgiving...

We just finished signing up to volunteer at the Down Town Rescue Mission in Hville to help serve Thanksgiving lunch. My family will then have a small Thanksgiving dinner at home in the afternoon... then hit Toys- r- us , when they open at midnight (Yeah! HEEHEE)... from there we will drive to Nashville, Tenn. and be there when the malls open the day after Thanksgiving (Another , more sincere...YEAH!!!) to get some Christmas shopping done!!! (My FAVORITE part!) When the malls close..... we will all colapse into the car and head home.

I think, I finally managed to plan the perfect stress-free Thanksgiving this year, and I won't even have to stuff the Turkey with Prozac this year!!! YEAH!!!!

**TEACH THE CHILDREN - WHAT IS A CHRISTMAS TREE?

              TEACH THE CHILDREN

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired, but content, into my easy chair.
The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with itsdecorations, I couldn't help feeling that something important was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep. I don't know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus, himself, standing next to my Christmas tree.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed. And there were tears in his eyes.
"Santa, what's wrong?" I asked, "Why are you crying?" "It's the children,"
Santa replied sadly. "But Santa, the children love you," I said. "Oh, I know they love me, and they love the gifts I bring them," Santa said, "but the children of today seem to have somehow missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It's not their fault. It's just that the adults, many of them not having been taught themselves, have forgotten to teach the children." "Teach them what?" I asked. Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear, and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent." Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle.
the children the true meaning of Christmas.
"Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."
Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree. "The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him." "Red," said Santa, "is the first color of Christmas." "He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree. Red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave his life and shed his blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of that most wonderful gift."
Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep." Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one
tiny flame brightened the room. "The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's footsteps...to go about doing good.
Teach them to let their light shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what's symbolized when the twinkle lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright shining lights, each of them representing one of God's precious children's light shining for all to see."
Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. "The candy cane is a stick of hard white candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God's promises. The candy cane form's a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. It also represents the Good Shepherd's crook, which He uses to reach down into all ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life.
Teach these things to the children." Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow. "The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children."
I asked, "But where does that leave you Santa?"
The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why bless you, my dear," he laughed, "I'm only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I'll ever be forgotten."
"I think I'm beginning to understand."
"That's why I came," said Santa. "You're an adult. If youdon't teach the children these things, then who will?"

author unknown