The Emancipation of Womanhood

Catherine Marshall author of "A Man Called Peter", in her inspiring personal story, "To Live Again" shares an excerpt from one of her famous husband's most popular sermons. Her husband was of course the late Peter Marshall, former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.


"The emancipation of womanhood began with Christianity and it ends with Christianity. . . .

When women in this country achieved equality with men it was accomplished only by stepping down from the pedestal on which Christianity, chivalry, and idealism had placed her. . . .

So she copied the vices of men---in the name of progress!
But it is not progress to go in a downward direction.
It is not progress to lower moral standards and to
lose ideals!
No woman ever became lovelier by losing her essential
femininity.

There is no substitute for goodness . . .
nothing can take the place of purity.
To be sweet is far better than to be sophisticated.

America needs young women who will build true homes, Whether they live in two rooms---or ten . . .
whether starched white organdy curtains hang at the windows---or silk damask.

We need homes where harassed husbands may find peace
understanding
refreshment of body and soul . . .
where children may find the warmth of love . . .
where friends may find hospitality
graciousness
and joy.

Only out of such homes will go men with strength and courage to help the United States build a new and a better world.

To make such homes is therefore, any woman's supreme contribution to her country and to her generation. . . . "

Classic Trends and Traps

An excerpt from one of the books I'm reading at present, Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

"...I'm referring to the classic trend we see in many middle-class families today: Mom serving as the taxi, and the kids being carted around from every official activity the family can afford, be it Boy Scouts, violin practice, Little League, or even a simple playdate. Kids in today's generation have nowhere near the amount of free time their parents and grandparents enjoyed in their childhood. Climbing trees, building forts, and lazy days reading a book have been replaced with improving talents for that lofty college application. I wonder what our children's memories will be when they reflect on their upbringing-an innocent time full of play and exploration, or the booster seat on the way to ballet practice?"

I wonder too. Lately my heart drops when I notice fellow homeschoolers and what all their schedules now entail, lesson upon lesson, class upon class. It seems Babylon has entered into the homeschool realm in many areas...

Beware of Busyness. So much of it is worn like a badge of honor. Perhaps a Badge of Babylon? What is this teaching our children?

The real goal should be that sweet contentment in Christ knowing our steps are gently ordered by Him. Wait and pray. Pray and wait for His answers. : ) Is our schedule His schedule? Or are we making our schedules and then asking God to bless them instead of asking God His plan first? Are our schedule books more important than our Bibles and prayer? Accolades of men or women? So many things come to play in the world of Babylon. Babylon can be anywhere, any town, any place, it could even be at church. It's a place of the heart.

May we be part of a higher, sweeter Kingdom of the Lord where our sweet Jesus reigns.

This song always puts things in perspective for me, enjoy and be blessed as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Feel free to mute the music at the bottom of the page.

Have You Heard of Baby Joseph?

Baby Joseph has captured the heart of millions



This is a case very similar to Terri Schiavo, the unbelievable murder in our own country several years ago.
(Please feel free to mute the music at the bottom of the page in order to hear video)

Has this culture of death sunk to such evil lows? Do doctors in the medical establishment think they should have this power, against the parent's wishes never the less? Can you imagine what the parents of Baby Joseph are going through? The mother of Baby Joseph recently said..

"I feel like they are taking my baby away from me."

I'm just not understanding the silence on this in the general media.

This scenario is coming to a hospital near you. It already has in our country. The shameful Terri Schiavo story. Every day babies are murdered in the womb. There are prolifers being squelched now. It's so true what Laura Ingraham said this morning on the radio in respect to the hypocrisy of liberals wanting prolife billboards shut down:

"Liberals are not very liberal."

Read more about Baby Joseph HERE on LifeSiteNews

Read more on how Fr. Pavone is trying to bring Baby Joseph to the US from Canada: HERE

For our family? In our area? We have not heard a thing about Baby Joseph. Just as we did not hear of the Gosnell report two entries down.

I'll be transparent, I have thought of taking the image of the poor little baby from my site on the Gosnell report entry. I thought maybe it's too much. But I thought "no!" If I do that I am no better than anyone else shelving anything uncomfortable just as the church did during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Just as the liberals are doing trying to shut down prolife billboards! My blog is God's blog and as long as He gives me strength to blog and the inspiration of what to share, I will blog what He would want me to blog. God made me who I am.

If that means an old black and white movie that touches the depth of my heart and speaks lessons from the Lord, so be it. If it means God's people from various Christian faiths are used to touch my heart as they serve for Christ, God bless them. God bless them. Being a Christian is a personal relationship with Christ, making Him Lord, not to mention the most loving Father ever.

Something to think about:

What will we tell our grandchildren when they ask what we did to stop the babies from being killed?

This age we are in is going to picture much like the Holocaust to future generations...People will ask how could that have happened?

That Was Then, It's Still Now, But So is Hope

Our family was so intrigued after once again watching this riveting Oscar winning movie from 1954. "On the Waterfront" We watched it closely and saw and felt so much...just so very much. So many life lessons. Some of them are heartbreaking, just the lesson of the companionship we keep. The lesson of so many people with beautiful gifts within them not being seen, some of the gifts have even been somehow squelched. The cruelty of exclusive groups, cliques, prejudices...Talk.

There are no curse words in this movie. It is rated PG for violence.

There is a kissing scene that was a bit intense for us, made us a bit uncomfortable and there is a morbid scene in the end, very typical of cruel organized crime but certainly no Godfather movie...but be ready for it. Our youngest is 17 but if we had little ones there are some things I would use caution about and save this for youth and adults. It would be a good idea to preview the movie privately simply because of some of the subject matter. I will say sin is portrayed for what it is, it certainly isn't glorified in this movie.

I grew up on the waterfront in a small town, and so much of the surroundings of the water, the seagulls, the shrimpers ring very familiar in the way of scenery and sounds of a shipyard, although our waterfront was much more picturesque and certainly not mob ruled, but entrepreneurial. There was no organized crime on our waterfront that I was ever aware of. Both my mother and father's families were waterfront business owners and workers, very, very hardworking people. Much of the clientele was that of other shrimpers, and on the weekends... city sailors who would come in and boat on their sailboats and luxury boats enjoying our family businesses. You may see a short light hearted bio of my family here in the middle of a blog on my thats-italian.blogspot. The waterfront makes for a special kind of people...Very real people, very non-materialistic people for the most-part, people who were just content with their gardens and businesses and corner grocery stores...They didn't need a movement to be that way, they just were. There was never talk of what kind of car or truck a person drove...Never talk of what jewelry a person owned. At least years ago that's the way it was in that little town... before the space program came in with liberal thinking in opposition to Christ that infiltrated our schools there. It was years before I saw the shallow side of materialism when I would delve into the city as an older youth. It was even more years later that I realized the foolishness, vanity and shallowness of many of those ways. Oh thank God I was delivered from that.

The following clip is so very powerful, we loved it, and I so pray we will also be Father Barrys in this life on earth.

"What you did for the least of these you have done unto Me..."
(Music may be muted at bottom of page for better listening of clips)


It may not be the love of money but sometimes it seems it's the love for accolades from men or women, for that grasping of acceptance that we see so many times. Whether it be for the love of money or pats on the back, or to be "well-liked" it equates so many if not all the times to a cowardice to stand for righteousness when things are sticky. I have a feeling many will understand exactly what I am saying.

Such a sad but powerful clip from "On the Waterfront" (1954)

At the end of the clip you will see this priest on the rise with the body of this man who would have testified the next day.

You will also see a lovely blond headed girl and her father, they recently lost their son- brother, Joey in the same fashion...Oh what chords this movie strikes.

The jacket presented to the girl in this clip? It was her brother's jacket. Her father had recently given the jacket to Duggan, the victim in this clip so he would have a nice jacket to wear.

This film has so much to chew and contemplate upon...

One of the most powerful and touching scenes is Marlon Brando telling his corrupted brother, "I could'a been somebody..."


It's many times the way people feel on this earth.

This very wayward unfair life on earth so many times...Times of misunderstandings, prejudices of many kinds and yes.... crucifixion. A crucifixion many times of character, it may be silent, it may be vocal...

What love is this?

I trust we will all love and speak the truth, standing for justice and the Lord's ways this week despite what others may think.

And if you feel as you've been sent to "Palookaville"? God has a plan for you...Yes He does. He can give you Beauty for Ashes. He is Faithful. It is never too late in life. The answer is Christ Jesus. The Cross. Victory at that Cross. Will you make Him Lord today?

Blessings to All...

Since You Went Away, 1943.

A new entry on the wonderful old movie, "Since You Went Away" (1943)

at thats-italian, my recipe and story blog.

Enjoy and God Bless.

Grand Jury Report on Kermit Gosnell, Abortionist-Murderer

The grand jury report on Kermit Gosnell is one of the most shocking and revolting abortion reads ever. http://bit.ly/fnxYJ0

It's interesting the response I've received, or should I say the disturbing lack of in my personal email inbox to this report. Reminds me of the stories I've heard from Nazi Germany as the church people sang their hymns all the louder as the trains full of Jewish people heading towards the death camps passed. The church people would sing all the louder to cover the sound of the screams.

Are people so very entrenched in their worlds, their church schedules, their circles of friends they so try to impress that they are not moved by the horrible deaths, murders of these little innocent ones?

Are people THAT hardened? Has our society and especially the church come to this point? Have we become that barbaric? I sent this out to personal contacts and received very little response as in ONE.

What a horrible apathetic attitude those silent adults are truly teaching their children and youth.

It. Is. Shameful.

Roe Vs. Wade, What Has Become of Us?

This is a re-run of an article I wrote for a dear friend's magazine last year. I present to you:
Roe Vs. Wade, What Has Become of Us?

(This article I have written here was recently published in an online publication, I was going to post in increments but decided to post it in entirity and simplify a bit.)



The year? 1967.


There she was, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Fischer. The typical 60s flip hair-do, orange dress with white polka-dots, matching shoes, a sunshine face was Mrs. Fischer. It was spelling test day and we first graders were attentively listening to each word as the sun streamed into the bright classroom, you could hear a pin drop.



The spelling word at that moment? "Baby".



She said the word, baby with a smile so radiant as she placed her hands upon her stomach, discreetly yes, but yet to me? A most sensitive and perceptive little first grade girl? I knew exactly what was up. Mrs. Fischer was going to have a baby. Yes! I just bet she's having a baby! Sure enough, the end of our first grade school year was ended rather tumultuously with one substitute teacher after another and I was never to see Mrs. Fischer again...she was home with her baby. She chose the best thing, to stay home with her baby. Even though it was hard for me as a little girl and I missed Mrs. Fischer greatly, I knew she was doing the right thing, enjoying motherhood and saying phooey with the rest.



The moral climate of those years were changing; just the year before, we Kindergartners all said our prayers with little bowed heads over saltine crackers and orange juice for snack time.



"God is great, God is good, thank you for our daily food. Amen."



I remember the children, us little girls in our sweet cotton dresses, I remember the little boys in their cotton button up shirts tucked in trousers with leather lace up shoes, hair parted on the side neatly. No matter what economic class we were from, we were neatly, modestly and sweetly dressed.



As that first grade year progressed, it was noticeable to me that the prayers over our food had mysteriously vanished. Time was changing and things seemed to be darkening to this little girl, I could feel it in my bones and most sadly in my innocent heart.



I remember sitting in front of my grandparents' home they ran their fishing business from, sitting upon the steps on a large, vast pier as the sailboats and shrimpboats would come in on the sparkling bay for the evening, In my little girl solitude, I would hear clanging at the shipyard not far away. My Italian grandma enjoyed reading and she usually had some Life and McCall's magazine around....Finding those Betsy McCall paper dolls in the McCall's magazine was a huge treat, kind of like finding a really good treasure in the bottom of a Cracker Jacks box....Every now and then I'd look over her Life magazines as I'd sip on my soda and quietly munch chips as my bare feet felt the texture of those wooden steps...There in those magazines I would see in living color the culture changing for the worst, the waif-look model, Twiggy, presented as the norm for body types, the brash fashions with go-go boots and fishnet stockings, me thinking my legs didn't look much like Twiggy's and where was Shirley Temple? Stories about members of that band called the Beatles...and I knew. I knew. I knew in my little girl's heart that things were going down fast and a darkness was coming over our country, and what was worse, this great country, America the Beautiful was letting the darkness pour in. This country of ours who had lent it's hand to my Italian and German immigrant grandparents who were now proud American citizens, my father and my uncle and great uncles who proudly served this country and made something of themselves. But Joltin' Joe had left and gone away, it was most apparent to me back then.



Years would go by and in the liturgical church our family attended I was surprised to see the new priest walking down the hall with a Hawaiian shirt on one Wednesday afternoon as I attended a catechism class...He was so different than the sweet priest who braided my long hair just the year before in his white collar whose resemblance and mannerisms were something of a Bing Crosby to me. Sadly, The Bing Crosby priest had left and gone away too. Now we had the mod guy with the long hair and the Hawaiian shirt. The same mod guy who had our church sing "Imagine" by John Lennon in a Sunday service. The song that starts with... Imagine there is no Heaven.


The years were eking by, man's knowledge was ignorantly being placed over any knowledge of the Lord in this new modern era this country seemed so proud of. The tower of Babel was once again being built it seemed.



The year. 1973.



Man had been on the moon, and I was sitting in classes with those very astronaut's kids, some of them later becoming friends of mine. Nixon was becoming president and our junior high looked like the gates of hell had been turned loose in it. Long gone were the sweet dresses and little boys with lace up shoes and neat hair. In place of it all were mostly hip-hugging jeans, guys with brushes stuffed in their back pockets to brush their long hair with and some dating at the age of 12 and all that went with that. I had found a small group of sweet girls to be friends with, we would spend our time drawing people, horses, animals and the like in our quiet world away from the hellish life we were surrounded by.



That year, 1973. There was no teacher saying the word, baby with such sunshine smiles. No. That was the year the country decided it would start seeing the babies as "choices". It was the year of Roe verses Wade. It was the year they turned the baby, the innocent child into a choice.


But where was the baby's choice in the matter?


Life went on and the hellish atmosphere didn't stop much, in fact, it intensified into high school, heavy kissing in the halls, smoking was fine and allowed as long as it was outdoors, you could smell an occasional whiff of marijuana in the breeze as you walked outdoors to class. And now it wasn't just the students who were in the mire but many of the teachers too as they tried to impose liberal beliefs on us in what most would think was a model high school. For many, those who had no Christian training at home, the liberal agenda quickly stuck and entrapped. For few of us, we fought it like mad trying our best to hold on to what was right and good. We tried so hard to hang on to the beliefs we were brought up with as contraception was brazenly taught to us in mixed coed classes adding to the confusion. Joltin' Joe had left and gone away. Where was the real choice? Where was my choice to live a Godly moral life free and with honor as these liberal ideas were being forced? How many little unborn babies were murdered at the core of this new "freedom" - on the altar of "choice"?



Those who were supposed to be open minded, were they really open to the choice of the baby? Are they now really open to Christian principles and moral absolutes? Perhaps the lack of absolutes is really an absolute they say they don't believe in?

Let's think...

At the very least, if prostitution is illegal, and that involves a person's body shouldn't that help us to see abortion for what it is, that there is another body involved? A most innocent body? If a pregnant woman is murdered and it's considered double homicide, shouldn't that help us to see what is transpiring here and the wickedness and cruel torture involved in these barbaric acts? As suspecting tests are administered as to the unborn baby's health, do we to play God and say who is worthy to live and who is not? Heaven forbid!


Where was the outcry then and now? Perhaps part of it was the fact some of us then were so embarrassed by what was going on we didn't tell our parents what was transpiring in the schools. Perhaps we noticed our parents on the passive side when Roe vs. Wade transpired and people seemed more interested in Watergate than living babies. Perhaps we were becoming some pretty mixed up kids. Who wouldn't be? Some of us were desperately trying to hold that rope while double standards were at play. Our relatives coming back from college never the same with lost convictions. Our teachers who we were taught to respect, shoving liberal ideas contrary to the Bible down at us.





What happened to me? By the time I graduated high school, of course I had been marred in various ways by it all, we can't place our kids in Alaska and expect to grow a palm tree. Please don't be deceived on that, be careful where you place your children and under whose authority whether it be the school or the church, be careful of the companionship that surrounds your children no matter what the age. I don't think the Bible is kidding when it reads, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20. Homeschooling is a wonderful option by the way, we've homeschooled for over 20 years and it has been a huge blessing to us.

A year or so after high school I was to meet my husband to-be at an Italian wedding, he had recently dedicated his life to the Lord. We've been married for almost 30 years now, serving the Lord together. We've been blessed with four lovely daughters.




The year. 2011.

What happened to "Jane Roe"? Her real name, Norma McCorvey; a Christian now, she is a vocal anti-abortion advocate. She never had the abortion fought for in Roe vs. Wade giving birth to a baby girl, giving the baby life choosing adoption.

She said:

"I think abortion is wrong. I think what I did with Roe vs. Wade was wrong, and I just have to take a pro-life position on [abortion]" ("World News Tonight," 8/10/95).

McCorvey was . . . haunted by simple things like empty swings in a playground. "They were swinging back and forth but they were all empty. And I just totally lost it, and I thought 'Oh my God. The swings are empty because there's no children, because they've all been aborted'" ("World News Tonight," 8/10/95).

~ "Jane Roe" Norma McCorvey





One thing I knew when I turned my life completely to Christ and started understanding scripture more; and that is that I wanted to be serious about my walk with Christ. God forbid that my children would see passivity or compromise in me, when it came to a loving Christian walk or when it came to our stand for the babies. The babies who have no choice.

Our kids know, I hope they know and see what is important by our actions by what we do. Do we stand for what is right? Or do we play it safe and not rock the boat forgetting that what we do for the least of these we have done it unto Him? Do we put them in the same environment some of us were placed in? ...God forbid.



What can we do? Be educated on the facts. When allowing a doctor or any medical professional whether it be a midwife, surgeon or nutritionist to attend to your needs ask them where they stand on abortion. This will reflect on their ethics in how they will treat you. It amazes me, the people who say they believe in what they call choice (the prodeath agenda), but fail to think about the end result of it when carried through. What they may perceive as inconvenience will affect them in old age. Just look at the people who were passive about the healthcare bill, ignoring the abortion portion of it but then suddenly when they noticed euthanasia in the bill, they became most concerned.



Prayerfully participate in the life marches. Vote prolife! Support prolife candidates! That is the very least we can do. Take that stand. There are simple things you can do such as display a life bandor wear a precious feet pin, committing to pray over the lives of these little unborn babies. If you are a stay at home mom, be the best stay at home mom and wife you can be. Put your all into your home and make that home a peaceful place where the Lord dwells, make your home a peaceful sanctuary and refuge. Give your children the real deal, not synthetic Christianity...If you give them the real deal they will recognize the counterfeit easily. As a stay at home mom you can also write letters, and have your children write letters on behalf of the unborn to the proper officials. Pray together daily as a family for the unborn that the scourge of abortion would end.

There are many prolife pregnancy centers that would greatly value your time depending on your season of life, there are many in need of counselors, people to organize their maternity and baby clothes rooms, just do simple cleaning. Most clinics will appreciate gently used maternity clothes or baby items. Perhaps monetary gifts to keep those clinics running with supplies etc. And remember, many lobbyists are fighting the fight, many organizations fund these lobbyists working hard for the rights of our unborn.



Commit to living a godly life. Shine light to others, don't marginalize the Christian walk with compromise allowing darkness in. Let's be found blameless as we stand for the unborn.

That way you will be able to determine what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. ~Philippians 1:10



As I trod this highway of life, our entire family has participated in prayerful pickets, counseling and general support of our unborn babies. Our daughters are active in prolife activities as well. My oldest daughter at 28 (age updated) is a counselor at a prolife clinic as she also shares a message on abstinence and the gospel of Christ to those who come into the clinic. She is well qualified to do so, a living testimony at 28, she's single, saving her first kiss for the altar. Parents, expect much! Pray hard, do hard things for Christ! He is Faithful!



Please remember. It is a Child not a Choice. I believe little unborn babies should also have the choice of what to do with their bodies. One day as you grow older there may be others who take your choice away. Remember, your thinking now, your stand now for the unborn and all innocent life, may affect you when you grow older. It may affect you in less than ideal situations.... Just ask Terri Schiavo's family. See her timeline here.

If only wombs had windows and we could hear the silent screams of the babies. Some are worried about torture when abortion is the ultimate torture, and to an innocent baby! Oh please don't be as the church once was in Nazi Germany as the schools changed and indoctrinated the students and most said nothing. Please don't be like the churches then as the boxcars with innocent Jewish grandparents, parents and children were on the way to the death camps screaming desperately for help, and the churches sang their hymns all the louder to cover what they perceived as uncomfortable noise. Please hear the screams of the unborn with your heart!



If you have been deceived and have been affected by this atrocity and holocaust this country calls choice, please know God will forgive a repentant heart and He is there arms open wide. He can make beauty out of ashes.


One day your little grandchildren or great grandchildren may ask:



"Where were you when they were killing the babies? Did you try to stop it?"



What will we say about the year 2011?


What will you say on judgement day as the Lord asks you what did you do to the least of these?



Hear are some facts and helpful links about the unborn:

Partial Birth Abortion

Diary of an Unborn Baby starting at Day 1.

National Right to Life (a wealth of information)

Who is Funding Abortion? Let's be aware of who we are giving God's money to.

Precious Feet

Do Precious Feet Save Lives? (very interesting testimonies)

Get the pin

Get a life band



Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

~Proverbs 24:11-12



Truly I say to you, In as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me. ~Matthew 25:40b


You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~Psalm 139