Patriot Days at the Capitol
You’re Invited to Patriot Days at the Capitol February 15th & 16th - note you must go to the website to register- this is not a 912 sponsored event. We are providing round-trip buses from various locations around the state- click here for details and to register today! Kicking off on the steps of the Historic Old Capitol at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15th with “The Rally in Tally” A coalition of Tea Party and... [Read More...]
The Question: Who am I voting for ?
I have been getting asked to endorse candidates this week and I keep getting asked who am I voting for. Here are some of my thoughts inregards to this. No thank you... I am however, very happy with every one really getting involved and vetting these candidates.Standing behind the candidates they believe in. My personal opinion is as a leader is to lead people to the core values and principles our movement believes in. Then to let them, the... [Read More...]
South Florida 912 Volunteer Sign Up and End of Year Celebration
When: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7 PM Where: The Original Pancake House 4364 Northlake Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens, FL ( Note: kids eat free!!! Under 12 with a paying adult :) ) 2012 is looming around the corner. Please come and let's gather together to shore up old friendships and make new ones. In celebration of our group and preparing for the upcoming year, we are looking for new leaders and new volunteers. We are preparing for our... [Read More...]
Moderation, the last Value
Moderation:
1. the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance.
2. the act of moderating.
in moderation, without excess; moderately; temperately: to drink in moderation.
In this journey throughout the year of reviewing the 12 values that our group is based on, we are hoping to better ourselves in the process as well as to find quality people to represent us that also adhere to the values of South Florida 912.
Moderation, as the last of the Values, is a really tough one. To live temperately is a very hard task for most; to spend moderately or eat moderately or even drink moderately, may be a very difficult task. I personally have been working this year on spending moderately: Learning to save, pay off debts and recover from many past bad financial decisions. It has been one journey of epic proportions to say the least,and may possibly be fodder for a book some day. However my family and I took this challenge on at the beginning of the year and as the end of the year approaches, we still have so much farther to go. But we are living moderation every day in order to make the changes needed.
We need moderation by our Congress and Tallahassee and our County Commission. They need moderation in spending of our money; and at times they need to be able to choose to not spend it at all.
Moderation in behavior, for example, how a person dresses or how a person acts, represents them and their family at all times. I talk to my children about this all the time: when they leave the house, even if electronically (e.g. Facebook etc…) they represent our family. It is a quality that is important when trying to find someone to represent us in the political realm as well.
Moderation in the use of electronics and watching TV is important too. We must during this Christmas season be careful to use moderation with our purchases and to be sure to spend quality time with our families, such as playing games, playing catch, going on hikes or sitting by a campfire or just talking. We can get consumed without moderation by the electronics, the spending, the drinking, the socializing and not be focused on what is truly important: our family, our friends, and our relationship with God. Once these are focused and in line, then we can then be sure to help out and volunteer in our community as well as monitor the news and participate as much as we can.
We need representatives who use moderation in their personal and physical behaviours, however not necessarily, in their politics. We seek a true conservative to lead us in 2012. It is true that our choices for 2012 may not be what we had originally hoped for, however we need to seek the best candidate that is a true conservative and lives by the values of our group.
Merry Christmas and be safe and well.
God Bless You,
The Armstrong Family
Feeling Thankful
In the the past few years I have found miracles all around me. It began with finding out that “we surround them” at a meeting with approximately 350 strangers. That meeting changed my life. It changed my family’s life. We made new friends. We found that we were not alone. Not alone in our concerns, not alone in our desire to understand what was going on in our government, not alone in our determination to become self reliant, not alone in our quest to be more responsible for our community and in the outcome of legislation and elections. We could look around and see that we were NOT ALONE at all.
My first memory of the inaugural 912 meeting was looking across the room and meeting Dmitry – the most outspoken Russian I had ever met. Today he is a dear friend. On that day I met a man sitting at a crowded table with people he never met, all of them laughing and sharing chicken wings. Today Ed Fulop and his family are not only great friends but Ed is a terrific leader in our 912 group. Roberto, a new face to me then is now like a family friend and terrific bus trip organizer and leader in our group. Roberto’s story about becoming an American would make any one have watery eyes. I spoke for hours with the Rogers family and the Moffit family, sharing my worries and excitement before our first “meetup”. They will always be very dear to me. I met a mom with strong faith in God and great ideas, she also was creative and she shared in her talents. Michelle was a leader of our group, then spring boarded her experience to where she organized Teens In Action, and Lower Taxes Now here in Palm Beach County and now works for BIZ PAC. Lynne Sherrer, who I just respect and care so much about. Jason Shields who at that first meeting I knew really only from Church and now he and his family are our best friends. I have met so many amazing people back at that first group meeting. I met Daria who is a great inspiration, author and a “Conservative Diva”. Ellen a great photographer and “Diva”, Ray Hite, Lori Perry, Melissa Andrews. Mike Lamayer, Alison Rampersad, Lori and Mark Parris, Irene, Frank and Donna, Wayne and Tina, Matthew and Christy, Jim, Terry, Darlene, Jessica, Tim, Ed, Nancy, Helen and Debye and so many others I cannot name.
The word first implies that there are more… many many more. Since that FIRST meeting was just a beginning, and it was just that, a real beginning of something special. People have stepped up in leadership in the group, a few have run campaigns, and some have run for office. Some have started their own groups. There were and have been ups and downs. Some tears were shed and feelings were hurt. Thru it all the group grew and got stronger. The leaders faces changed and the group became more directed. My heart just pounds with gratitude and love for those leaders that surround me. Last week when I was at our monthly 912 meeting at Lantana Library, I looked around I could not help to think how much these people are like a family to me. Everyone sitting there really wants to make our community a better place to be. We all are a part of that. I looked around the room and I saw people who I have come to love these people, care about them, and their families. The 912 has become something so much more to me then just a place to find others who feel like I do. It has become a gathering of motivated people who are tied together thru a familial bond.
It may appear I am rambling and maybe I am… however in this month of Thanksgiving I cannot help but to remember the “first” meeting of our group and the bonds that have grown and the new friendships that have been made along the way. I am so grateful to our core leader group, My husband Doug, Fred and Iris, Jason, Linda, Dave, Kim, Boris, Jim H and Loreen, Jim B, Mickey and Mj, Ken and Jeane, and Ed. I am thankful for things that we have worked so hard on this past year. We have some success and failures and with each we have learned something. Only 2 years ago the “new website rolled out and look at how much has happened since. We have collected food for canned good drives, we helped with money and food for Haiti,. We have delivered Balloons to the hospital to deserving children, we laughed and smiled at welcome home parties and and hugged and cried at funerals for soldiers. The 912 has helped serve meals at Thanksgiving and will do it again this year. The 912 CV Super Seniors has grown and is now a hit nationwide, the Inspector General is now in place in our county and we still need to be vigilant on this issue. We have helped get elected conservative principled candidates. We are coalition members of TAB the Tax Payer Action Board. We are teaching people about county budgets and talking about the Constitution. Our language has changed. We are talking to our neighbors. I was able to present our Principles and values about the 912 to a high school civics class. We are going to church, reading our bible and studying our history. WE are growing in our individual strength and growing as a group of concerned citizens who are actively participating in the process. My children and my other 912ers children are being affected by this movement as well. I have taken my kids to DC, and Philadelphia, Jamestown, Gettysburg and Boston. We talk about the history of our great nation, we talk about the future. Thru my children eyes I have been able to see so much more, and appreciate so much more. Thank you for all of you who have ever attended a meeting, called your Representative, sent a fax, penned a letter to the editor, waved a sign or made phone calls. I am truly thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and God Bless
Shannon and Doug Armstrong and the Armstrong Family
November Value – Courage – Do you live it?
This months value is Courage.
In Joshua 1:9 it says … Be strong and courageous do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
It takes great courage to stand up for what you believe. Our value this month is Courage.
The definition from Websters Dictionary states courage as
: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
Examples of courage are all around me as a friend fights brain cancer, a friend recuperates from a bad car accident, people even in our own country struggle to speak the truth about their belief in God, and a belief that our country is being hijacked by a group of people who do not care about our country as we do. Children seek to pray at school before a football game or a school graduation and it takes such courage to stand up, speak out, and to be able to do these things.
My father taught me the value of courage by my observing his actions and listening to his story. As a young boy he joined the Marines before he was 18 years old and he graduated from boot camp on his 18th birthday. Later my dad worked construction on the side of the road while he put himself through college. To this day my dad has his construction helmet on display, not for any one else, but to remind himself where he came from. My husband suffered a horrible car accident when he was just a kid and his cousin a passenger died and my husband showed great courage in facing the memories of that horrible day, the circumstances and the fears. I felt courage as I faced an ambulance as it took my little baby away from me to a hospital far away. I knew that she was in God’s hands. My husband held my hand and as we traveled through that dark night and when I saw the glowing cross from a afar I felt Courage. I knew God was with us and her and that small seed of courage grew as we enter through those doors together. Courage is what Nana and Papa had when they traveled to the United States and later became US citizens.
Courage gets you up in the morning to face the day. Courage allows you when you make a mistake, to admit it. Courage allows you stand on truth and principle. Courage is a trait so few people who run our country have. To admit a mistake takes courage, to tell the truth even when it’s bad news takes courage. Our soldiers each and every day have courage, the loved ones left behind have courage.
Recently I saw an incredible movie called Courageous. It was an amazing movie and it called for people as a community to draw closer together, for parents to be courageous examples to their children, to have a resolution and then follow it through and live it out. Speak words of encouragement to each other and your family and friends. Praying for wisdom and strength to live a courageous life honors God. We must seek courageous people for our leaders, our role models, our heroes. Within ourselves, we must find the courage to be strong, and to be an example to our children, our family and our friends.
Serve the community with Turkeys, your time and your talent.
Last year a number of 912ers gathered together with a group of churches and the city of Greenacres where we helped serve up some yummy food for those in need at Thanksgiving time. We had a terrific time and would love to get even more people involved this year. Tami Donnally is our contact person and all the details are still being worked out as more info becomes available I will pass it on. We will need people to help cook the... [Read More...]
Project Holiday Charity Collection for November
South Florida 912 Supports Project Holiday In an effort to support deployed USA military members during the holiday season, the City of Delray Beach, "You Are Not Alone", the Church of the Palms Congregational and "One Soldier at a Time" have come together to support the 6th Annual Project Holiday. This important Project collects and ships desperately needed items to our military who will not be able to come home for the holidays. The community... [Read More...]