Homeschooling mom of three, someday author of historical fiction (when I have five minutes out of every couple thousand to sit down and type a word or two), married to "lighting guy," an almost never poster, for 15 years.

Isaiah 41:8-14, "But you, Israel, my servant; Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendants of Abraham my friend, I have taken you from the ends of the earth, summoned you from its most distant parts and said to you, 'You are my servant' — I have chosen you, not rejected you. Don't be afraid, for I am with you; don't be distressed, for I am your God. I give you strength, I give you help, I support you with my victorious right hand. All those who were angry with you will be disgraced, put to shame; those who fought against you will be destroyed, brought to nothing. You will seek them but not find them, those who contended with you; yes, those who made war with you will be brought to nothing, nothing at all. For I, Adonai, your God, say to you, as I hold your right hand, 'Have no fear; I will help you. Have no fear, Jacob, you worm, you men of Israel!' I will help you," says Adonai; "Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.”

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been two hundred years.

"These nations have progressed through this sequence. From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back into bondage." -- Alexander Tytler (maybe)