Here in Pearland, Texas bullying is alive and well in our community. Some would say that boys will be boys.  But I think that more talk about the Scout Law and how to incorporate it into our daily lives would do some good, especially if the adults practice setting a good example for the boys. Or maybe we could educate the boys about bullying. The US Department of Health and Human Resources has an excellent website dedicated to bullying http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp. So what is bullying? You might find that there are behaviors that you participate in that are actually considered bullying. According to the experts on this site:

"A lot of young people have a good idea of what bullying is because they see it every day! Bullying happens when someone hurts or scares another person on purpose and the person being bullied has a hard time defending himself or herself. Usually, bullying happens over and over.

• Punching, shoving and other acts that hurt people physically
• Spreading bad rumors about people
• Keeping certain people out of a "group"
• Teasing people in a mean way, or in a way that can be perceived as mean by the victim (their perception is their reality)
• Getting certain people to "gang up" on others

  Bullying also can happen on-line or electronically. cyber bullying is when children or teens bully each other using the Internet, mobile phones or other cyber technology. This can include:

• Sending mean text, e-mail, or instant messages;
• Posting nasty pictures or messages about others in blogs or on Web sites;
• Using someone else's user name to spread rumors or lies about someone.

  Take a look at webisode #5 to see an example of cyber bullying. There are many ways that young people bully each other, even if they don't realize it at the time.
  
  Unfortunately, not everyone takes bullying seriously, including adults. Which is one of the main reasons that the Youth Expert Panel has worked alongside the representatives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to develop the Take A Stand. Lend A Hand. Stop Bullying Now! campaign.
  
  Why do kids bully?
  Signs that you bully others
  Effects of bullying

The first time I heard the phrase "abstinence only" I was puzzled. I was wondering what we were abstaining from doing or perhaps saying. I never imagined that the phrase applied to a type of "non" educating sex education. The way this works is that you talk to teens about not having sex (in an ambiguous way that gives no hint of what sex really is), then you tell teenagers that sex is bad and that they should wait until marriage to have sex. So, these teenagers talk to other teens and learn all kinds of things some true, some untrue, they experiment, they kiss, they like it, it isn't bad and then they start experimenting and the biological drive to procreate takes over. Desire, sex and this biological drive take over and abstinence is out the window. The consequences are higher teen pregnancy rates, higher rates of STDs and breakdown in parental child communication. If you lied about sex being bad, then why would they listen to you about ANYTHING ever again?

I knew that would catch your eye. I was hoping it would. Earlier today I read a report on health in the Health Magazine from the Houston Chronicle. One sentence in particular caught my attention it claims that a losing 1 pound results in a fourfold reduction of strain on your knees. Since I have become obsessed with working out and bedroom antics, I decided that less strain on the joints has to be beneficial to accomplishing sex. So less joint strain along with the benefits of better sex that accompanies weight loss should inspire more people to lose weight. Extra fat and carrying extra weight are very unhealthy, most people would agree with that statement. What they don't realize is that the more fat that you carry the more likely you are to convert testosterone to estrogen and that suppresses the libido. More energy, less estrogen and less strain on your joints are all benefits of losing weight. They all result in better sex too! I am currently searching the medical literature for more information on weight loss and the libido. So far, everything supports my anecdotal first person experience. Leave a comment and let me know if you have lost weight recently are you experiencing better SEX? more SEX?

A few ramblings, a few rumblings, a few observations…from Pearland, Texas

At the gym…

• Note to self… do not ever buy white workout pants or shorts! You can see underwear right through the white material!
• I wonder? Tattoos stretch as you get bigger… what happens to the tattoos a large person gets and then they lose weight and become smaller?
• What is the purpose of a tattoo? So many people have them and I just can't figure it out!

From the Elliott Farm…

• The single file trails that cows leave all over the farm are very narrow. You can't really tell from the width of their trail how wide the cows actually might be!
• Cow's shit everywhere!
• What a great place the Elliott's have I hope that we get a chance to go back and camp.

Hungry…

• There is a rumbly in my tumbly…I seem to be hungry all the time!
• Soy products are great for gas production!
• I really like chocolate, I can eat it any time of the day

Grumblings or Rumblings

• Perhaps if the 20% of the people who do 80% of the work asked for help more often they would get it! AND lessen their work load!!!
• If people would give up one hour of television per day they would have time to walk 2 or 3 miles or workout at the gym!
• OR read a couple of chapters of a book… I recommend Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Scout Sunday yielded a good surprise. As many times as we have attended Scout Sundays at Pearland FUMC (9 years) we had never heard Associate Pastor Dariel Newman give a sermon. His sermon was based on a controversial passage out of the second chapter of James. You know the one about having faith and doing works. It was a very good sermon. He approached it from a very good perspective, it was unexpected and refreshing.

James ^2:17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. ^2:18Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ^2:19You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. ^2:26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

On the topic of knowing people by their works; I hope that others would know me by my deeds. I have been trying so hard to leave the sarcasm, gossip and rumor mongering to other people. I would hope that others see the kindness and friendliness that I am trying to imbue into my interactions with them. People should know by my acts of charity and volunteering what type of person I am. I hope that they see how hard I am trying to be a positive person. I refuse to stoop down to the level of others and spread gossip and rumor, to talk about other people behind their backs, or to even criticize them behind their backs is so very wrong.

I will take personal responsibility for my actions and deeds. I apologize to you for any hurts I have inflicted with words or by my actions. I have been working hard on forgiving myself and not blaming others for my choices. That is the hardest thing of all. It is much easier to live with yourself if you can blame others for the actions that you choose to do. I refuse to lay blame at someone else's door, and that is making living with myself a much more difficult proposition.

So back to faith with works, or works with faith; Pastor Newman was passionate and clear in his message. You can say you have faith in God and not act on it. A person is much better if he shows his faith in God by doing "works" of faith; these include good deeds, community service and other volunteering that benefits his fellow man.

Sometimes you don't really appreciate what you have. Like that song from Damn Yankees called "A Man Doesn't Know," I have found that I have a man a "real" man.

[Meg]

A woman doesn't know what she has
Until she loses it
When a woman has the love of a man
She abuses it
I didn't know what I had when I
Had my old love
I didn't know what I had 'til
I said, "Goodbye old love!"
Yes, a woman doesn't know what she has 'til it is
No longer around

[MEG & JOE]
But the happy thought is
Whatever it is that's lost
May some day once again
Be
Found!

My husband is not a macho man, not a manly man. He is a real man. My husband is a man with feelings, a man who can love with all his heart. He is a man that is man enough to give up something he wants, he would do this to try to do something for the common good. When others are looking for someone else to blame; someone else to take the fall he is trying to heal rifts that he didn't create. HE is a real man because he is willing to accept responsibility for his actions, and willing to stand by me no matter what I have done. I really admire his integrity, his honesty, strong sense of right. I have had a real man all along. AND he is so much better than any that I ever imagined.