Six Wasn't Enough

The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week has six other children and never expected to have eight more when she took fertility treatment, her mother said. Angela Suleman said her daughter expects a big challenge raising 14 children. The good news, she said, is all the babies appear healthy.

Suleman’s daughter who gave birth to the octuplets Monday has requested that doctors keep her name confidential. Media knew little about the woman until a family acquaintance told CBS’ “The Early Show” on Thursday that the mother is “fairly young” and lives with her parents and her six children.

Within hours, media had camped out at the family’s home in Whittier, where the babies’ grandfather pulled up in a minivan in the evening and briefly spoke to The Associated Press. Beside him were two children—a 7-year-old and 6-year-old—who said they were excited to have eight new siblings. But the grandfather warned that media may have a tougher time finding the family after the babies are released from the hospital.

The mother also has two children, ages 5 and 3, and 2-year-old twins, neighbors told the Times.
Suleman said her daughter had embryos implanted last year, and after finding out she was pregnant with multiple babies was given the option by doctors of selectively reducing the number of embryos. The woman declined.

What do you suggest she should have done? She refused to have them killed,” Suleman told the Times.

I have so many questions about this. First of all, this mother is young? What does that mean? How young? She has six other children—do the math, it takes a few years to have that many, with only one multiple birth. And, why is she living at home with her parents? Also, where is the father? Was a father involved in the conception of the babies or did the embryos come from a donor? And, with six children already, why was she going through embryos being implanted? Knowing how expensive that is, who paid for that?

I don’t mean to sound judgmental and I realize I probably do. But, 14 children! Is 14 enough? Too many? Is she going to want more?

I pray that God will bless those precious little babies and all of the people who will provide care to them. Especially those who have to change that many diapers!

Gay Pride or Hate Crime

A woman, holding a cross, recently attended a gay marriage protest to voice her support of the California ban against same sex marriage. While at the protest rally, the older woman was attacked by gay marriage supporters.

Phyllis Burgess showed up at the rally last week carrying a large, Styrofoam cross. She was there to show her belief in traditional marriage.

Within minutes, however, angry protesters swarmed around the Palm Springs resident, yanked the cross from her hands and trampled on it.

Palm Springs police have made no arrests yet, but said they spent time trying to convince Burgess to file charges against some of the demonstrators.

What do you think? Was her freedom of speech trampled upon as well as her cross? Was this a hate crime against her?

Now, if the situation was reversed, and she had trampled upon a gay pride flag, would the national media be casting her action as a hate crime? Where is the national media on this story? Have you even heard about it until now?

Interesting how these stories get buried, isn’t it?

Monday's A+ Award of the Day

Today’s A+ Award goes to Mrs. Jana Trabert. I rather doubt that you’ve ever heard her name, but after reading this story, I hope you will not soon forget her name.

Here’s the story.

It’s not every day that a happily married woman slips off her wedding ring, once-and- for-all, grinning from ear to ear. But for an Orange Country resident, Jana Trabert, taking off her ring this past spring was a joyous moment.

And, her husband didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, her husband, who is still very much in love with her, is thrilled with Jana’s new found freedom. And he completely supported her decision!

Keep reading. You don’t have a clue what the rest of the story is yet. Jana said, “I’ve always said to myself that I didn’t want to be ordinary. Yet here I am the most ordinary housewife in Orange County, in the middle of something extraordinary.”

You see, Jana sold her wedding ring and donated the proceeds to a charity, With This Ring, to help drill wells in Africa. But Jana isn’t stopping there. Since that momentous day when Jana took off her ring, the Traberts no longer feel bound to their possessions—as a matter of fact, they are selling their house and simplifying their lifestyle so that they can help even more.The Traberts say that Orange County, California, is roughly the same size as Yendi, a region in Ghana stricken with disease due to lack of clean drinking water. “Orange County Gives Back is our chance to give from all we have, to share with our brothers and sisters in Yendi. It’s a reminder that we have more wealth on one finger than most of the world’s residents see their entire lives,” says Ali Eastburn, founder of With This Ring. “Orange County Gives Back is a collaboration of local businesses and individuals to raise the $160,000 needed to drill 20 wells in Yendi.Eastburn founded With This Ring in 2007 after she sold her own wedding ring. She now encourages other women to do the same. To date, 50 women have donated their rings, resulting in two completed well projects this year.Eastburn emphasizes that a donated ring not only brings clean water to Africans, it changes the giver. That is clearly evident in Jana Trabert. Eastburn says of Trabert, “To see Jana now, you would think that she has always been a world changer. It is only when you hear her story you learn that the change has been recent.”I’m not sure I want to recommend to my wife to donate her wedding ring or engagement ring. However, I greatly admire the Trabert’s commitment to helping others around the world.

I’ve been in one worship service where people felt led to give personal items to help others. After the 2005 Tsunami, our church committed to rebuilding homes in Thailand. The pastor challenged us to give to help. In less than a day, we raised over $125,000! Yes, you read that right! Sure, some people gave large amounts of money. However, we witnessed women giving their wedding rings and men donating watches. We saw families giving their automobile to the church, to be sold and the money going to help rebuild homes. That was a moving service and powerful testimonies of what God was doing came out of that service and the services to come. Several hundred homes were ultimately build because of the sacrificial giving of so many in our church.

Mrs. Jana Trabert is great example of sacrificial giving. Way to go! Mrs. Trabert, you definitely deserve the A+ Award of the Day! I admire your commitment to this cause! I admire your husband’s support. A+ may not be enough to recognize what you’ve done! Well done!

Monday's A+ Award of the Day

Many people with money like to let everyone know that they have money. They often like to be flashy, brazen, and sometimes obnoxious. The majority of these people have never read the Millionare Next Door book.

Now, compare those traits to a quiet philanthropist who stood recently beside the movie-star governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrate the Bernard Osher Foundation’s unprecedented $70 million donation to California community college students.

Have you ever heard of Mr. Osher? Probably not. But, he's worth getting to know.

Bernard Osher, 80, was too modest to address the crowd gathered in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Capitol office for a donation ceremony. He remained calm and respectful, always standing to the side of the podium. But as students snapped pictures of Schwarzenegger afterward, Osher beamed about how his latest education gift could help generations of students.

The San Francisco-based Osher Foundation has committed $50 million toward an endowment to pay for scholarships for the state’s poorest community college students starting in 2009. That money will pay for $1,000 awards to defray the costs of textbooks, lab fees, and other items beyond registration fees. An additional $20 million gift is dedicated toward scholarships for students who transfer to four-year California schools.

Osher grew up in Biddeford, Maine, as the son of working-class immigrants from Russia and Lithuania. His parents owned a hardware and plumbing store, where he worked with his siblings before attending Maine’s prestigious Bowdoin College.

He then co-founded Golden West Financial Corp., parent company of World Savings Bank, which was sold to Wachovia Bank in 2006 for $24 billion. An avid collector of American art whose collection includes works by Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, Osher bought the San Francisco-based auction house Butterfield & Butterfield in 1970. He sold it to eBay in 1999 for $260 million.

Business Week last year named Osher the 11th most generous philanthropist in the world. The magazine estimated his lifetime giving at $805 million.

Osher Foundation President Mary Bitterman said that Osher “does not like to speak or to be recognized,” but that he tells her every day that the foundation needs to “focus, focus, focus.”

What a great story! What a positive witness! Our world definitely needs more men (and women) like Mr. Osher. Way to go!

Friday's A+ Award of the Day

Today’s A+ Award goes to Tian Harter from California. Many ideas out of the West Coast are too radical for my tastes, but this story is definitely one worthy of repeating—especially with the state of the economy and gas prices today.

Tian Harter started a campaign titled: “Don’t be Fuelish.” The campaign was a way to promote bicycle commuting. He never dreamed of how successful it would become.

Tian said, “I just wouldn’t have predicted a few years ago when I started producing my bumper stickers that I’d be seeing $4/gallon gas so soon.”

He soon formed an allegiance with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition as a way to promote “Bike to Work Day”. Together, this group of bike afficianados set up close to 50 stations (called “Energizer Stations”) which provides the bicycling commuters refreshments, giveaways, and just plain old encouragement.

Tian’s philosophy is to make everyone who breaks free from the fuel trap feel special and noticed on a community level. Local businesses are happy to donate as well, so the prizes these bicyclists receive are often quite substantial, like a free dinner or discounted sports equipment. In addition, Tian and friends work with local heavyweights like Google and Yahoo as well as major government and community agencies, whom also help foster a “commuter bike approach” with their employees.

“Bike to Work Day,” which started 14 years ago in San Francisco, has now spread nationwide. Bicycle friendly cities from across the U.S. participate, increasing the public awareness and importance of moving away from fuel-reliance.

I live six miles from my office. Unfortunately, in my community there are no safe routes for me to take to get to work. The only road that leads to my office is a 4–6 lane highway, with the speed limit of 55 miles per hour on most of it. So, while I would love to take a bicycle to work, I just don’t see it happening any time soon. And, when I mention buying a motorcycle to commute to work, my wife reminds me that I take our son to daycare each morning and pick him up in the afternoon! Not sure they make helmets for an eight-month-old!

Anyway, Mr. Harter has a great idea! He deserves an A+ Award for the day. Way to go! Way to go!

Ever Get Tired Just Thinking About Something?

The following story makes me tired. Literally, it does.

A Vermont man who is planning to ride in a 508-mile bicycle race in California is taking the long way to the starting line. He’s riding his bicycle to California. From Vermont. I told you, I’m tired after reading those words. How about you?

Joe Desena, 39, left Monday from Vermont on his 3,000-mile trip west, which is expected to take about two weeks. His goal is to be in the field on October 4 for the Furnace Creek 508, which goes from Santa Clarita, California., to Twentynine Palms. Desena, who has participated in dozens of adventure races, triathlons, and ultramarathons, says there’s no better way to get in shape for the race than to bike across country.

Wow! I’m impressed with his training. I’m not sure he needs to get into much better shape, but then again, I’m not a cyclist. I’m sure my blogger buddy Bill can weigh in on the discussion. But, if it takes him 14 days to ride from Vermont to California, that will be an average of 214 miles a day. Folks, that’s a long ways to drive a day, much less pedal a bicycle.

Do you ever see yourself setting out on an adventure such as this?