Beech Tree News Network

According to recent statistics I have seen, half of all children experience bullying while in school and 10% are bullied regularly. Child bullying has existed in neighborhoods and schools for centuries and was once thought to be just something everybody had to learn to deal with as part of growing up. Today it is a serious problem that marks many children’s school experience. Bullying can be harmful to children and may drastically affect their ability to progress academically, emotionally, and socially as well as damage their self-image in ways that negatively impact them for life.

Do you have critters around your house? In my experience, some critters are members of the family and some are simply onlookers. 

According to an Internet site (http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics.aspx), about 62 percent of all households in the United States have a pet. About 78.2 million dogs and about 86.4 million cats are owned in the United States.

My thoughts to you---another grab-bag of them if you don’t mind:  We’ve all heard that opinions are like noses, everybody’s got one… well almost everybody.  I once knew a couple of ole guys who didn’t; CANCER.  One guy missing his snozolla took it in stride though; he said every time he sneezed it blew his hat off.

My family and I are getting ready to move into a new house.  We are excited and stressed all at the same time.  We are all excited to have more space and my two older boys will finally have their own rooms.  The boys are stressed because they have had to start at new schools and make new friends.  My husband and I are stressed because of the bigger house payment that looms on the horizon.

My sister has a cup with a broken handle that she keeps on her kitchen windowsill.  She drinks from it occasionally to remind herself of its message.  I use the cup as my coffee cup when I visit her.  The bold letters on the cup state simply: Attitude Is Everything.  We both appreciate the message of a cup whose handle remains on the windowsill while it is in use.  We understand the cup and its message because we are the cup.  Despite the pieces of us that are broken and scattered, we remain useful and will not abandon our function.  Attitude really is everything.

With the weather breaking and the temps being bearable, we headed to the woods this weekend. Lost River Cave is a wonderful, close to home, place to hike. We visited the butterfly house of course and captured some nice shots. I don't know what it is about butterflies, but they are so peaceful to me. I guess it's just the way they soar with the wind.

Nature....get out and enjoy it!!!!!

Being in the audience during a taping of a television or radio show is pretty cool.  I’ve had the pleasure of being in the audience for Opry Live and part of filming for ABC’s CMA: Country’s Night to Rock, both of which are always cool. The difference in seeing a show live and watching/listening from your home is vast.  You get that feel of a live remote: people milling about, getting ready. You see the hosts’ notes on the table. The anticipation of the moments before going on-air is palpitating.  You always get a little spark of energy going live.

Like many of you, I love a good movie. I witnessed my youngest granddaughter watching a movie this week, and she was so involved in the story that she totally tuned everyone around her out, focusing only on the screen. Regardless of age, movies can be wonderfully entertaining.

In Jesus' day the movers and shakers were the Scribes and Pharisees, the Priests and the Levites (All Levites were not priests, but all priests were Levites), the tax collectors and the regional governors . . . the RULING CLASS. Today we would compare them to the bureaucracy of our federal and state governments. We have a democracy and a constitution, which if not guarded and monitored closely can be walked on (It has been in the past) and ignored. That's why Democracy is sort of like Faith, it must be tended to constantly. You can't put it on automatic pilot and forget it.

Jennifer is the name of the young woman who lives in Frankfort that sends me photographs of children waiting to be adopted.  Jennifer and I have never met but we do have a very important goal in common; we both want the children who are featured in weekly articles, to find their forever families.  One of the biggest needs right now is for families that are willing to adopt an older child and sibling groups.  It amazes me that some people consider children ages 7 and older as “too old to adopt”.  Older children, especially teens, are looked upon as trouble with a capital T, which is only one