Twenty-One Months Old

I can hardly believe that Cooper is now twenty-one months old.  Besides our trip to the aquarium, the month was also highlighted by a visit from Uncle Andy and Aunt Lissa (my brother and sister-in-law) and his cousins, who are now living in Boone, NC.  We hadn't seen them in a while, so it was fun for all of us.

The whole family, including my mom and dad, got together for the 4th of July.  Cooper got to participate in a tradition that has been in our family for about 35 years: homemade Butterfinger ice cream.  Yum!  He seemed to enjoy it immensely, especially since he hasn't ever had too many sweets.

We haven't been able to play outside too much.  Record hot temperatures, as high as 109 degrees, for a week or more were followed by lots and lots of rain.  Now things have gotten back to normal, but it's still pretty hot.  We try to get outside when we can and usually take a family walk in the evenings just before it gets dark. 

I have planted a small garden this year, which Cooper is fascinated by.  He's gotten to pick and eat a couple of cherry tomatoes, and we've gotten a few green beans.  Hopefully we'll have some cucumbers and peppers soon.  He likes to smell my herbs too, especially the rosemary.

Admittedly, I've been a little bored and am ready for some of our weekly activities to start back up in the fall, but it won't be too long now.  All in all, it's been a good month.

So what IS the problem?

Another shooting has occurred, a tragic cutting off of lives by someone who had no right to do so.

They seem to be happening more and more frequently, and always afterward, as we watch the news in fear and anger, one of the main thoughts that goes through people's heads is, "Why?"

There are many who are quick to blame guns.  If only we could control the use of firearms, things like this wouldn't happen.  I absolutely, completely disagree with this theory.  As the old saying goes, "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."  Crime will most likely INCREASE rather than decrease, because a law like this would basically just affect those who would never use their guns any way except defensively.  Those who would use them offensively, such as the shooter in this incident, are not going to suddenly decide they need to follow the law and turn in their guns.

So what IS the problem?  I can pinpoint several things that are going on in our society that I believe are leading to the increasing number of incidents like this.

1) The teaching of evolution.  Rather than teaching our children that man is a unique being, created in the image of God and distinctly set apart from the animals, we teach them that we are merely a slightly more highly evolved form of life, really no different from the spiders we step on because we don't want them in our house, or the dogs we euthanize because they don't have a home.  This has also led to freely and legally taking the human lives of "unwanted" unborn children.  Why not?  If one believes in evolution, is it really any different from swatting a fly?  So why shouldn't we be surprised when someone decides to rid the world of a few people of his choosing?

2) No standard of right and wrong.  We teach our children that killing is wrong, but many of us are missing an important point.  How can we teach them that something is wrong if we don't tell them why?  If there is no consequence if they disobey?  By taking God out of our schools and trying to force our society to pretend He doesn't exist, we are losing another important factor: His word, the word which tells us, "thou shalt not kill."  The word which tells us that, without salvation through Christ, the consequence of sin is hell.  If we are taught that after life comes nothingness, then why not just do whatever we feel like doing, regardless of how it may affect someone else?

I would also cite the media as a problem, which plays up stories like this and gives them lots of press coverage, likely making this man feel very important and, even worse, giving ideas to other people.

This is a horrible, tragic thing that has happened.  And it will likely happen again.  We can tighten security in movie theaters, schools and more.  We can attempt to keep guns out of people's hands, but the truth is, neither of these things is going to solve the problem.  We can never completely rid the world of evil, but unless we turn back to God as a country, I firmly believe these incidents will continue to increase.

Tennessee Aquarium

Don took a couple of days off this week, and on Tuesday we took a day trip to Chattanooga and visited the Tennessee Aquarium.  We had a blast!

I had been before, but it has been years and a lot has changed.  My favorite part this time was getting to see Cooper enjoy it all. 

They had everything from penguins to otters, snakes, turtles, ducks, butterflies, seahorses, sharks, sting rays, jellyfish and more.

The sting rays were touchable, but Cooper wasn't quite ready to take that on.

You could even see some of the fish tanks from the inside.

Admission is a little pricey ($24.95 for adults), but we were able to get a $2.00 discount with our Nashville Zoo passes.  Children under 3 are free.  Parking is also a consideration (we paid $9.00).

It was a really fun day, though, educational for all of us and something I would recommend for both children and adults.