On The Nightstand..."Do Hard Things"

Lately, I've been wondering where is America's GUMPTION? (Is that an old-school word, or what? My mom said it a lot.) Where's the BACKBONE? Where's the DETERMINATION? Where's the COURAGE? To put it bluntly, where's the GRIT, the GUTS this nation once had? (The word GRIT always brings to mind George Washington and that army of revolutionaries that would not leave even though they had no food or didn't have shoes for their feet...that was grit.) Those descriptive words are the kind of mindset it took to make this great country what it has been. Until recently. I believe the founding fathers would weep if they could see it now.

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Are we so soft we can't pull the reins on Congress and their games that they play with our money, our lives, and with our national security?

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Well, this little book on my nightstand may help give you some hope. It's called "DO HARD THINGS: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations." (Click on the link to see a complete review and more information about this book.) It's not a hefty book, but it's good reading and it would be good to read yourself and then share with a teen that you may know or any youth group or home school group.

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There are plenty of teens that need to know that courage is something they're definitely going to need to get through what's ahead in this road....the mess that this group of so-called "leaders" in Congress and the White House is leaving for them will take some DOING, some AMBITION, COURAGE, GUMPTION, BACKBONE, and DETERMINATION.

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The home schooled teen brothers (Alex and Brett Harris) who wrote this book are trying to start a "REBELUTION" (click the link for the author's website) in this country against LOW EXPECTATIONS that our teens seem to get saddled with. For our country to rise above its malaise, we are going to need some leaders, and those leaders are being formed now. After having been a part of the home school community, I have to say I am hopeful for the future leadership of this country. (Can I get an "Amen!"?)

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There are millions of courageous and hard-working home schooling parents across the country raising their children in the fear of the Lord (the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or wisdom). They and a lot of Christian schools are still doing it the old-fashioned way...lots of time in the "Three R's", and teaching their children about world history, the founding fathers, the history of how the pilgrims came to be here, and about the constitution: and after years and years of intensive learning at home, I daresay they'll more history at sixteen than some contemporary college graduates could ever hope to know.

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The way to a better future and better government is by knowing about the past. I am confident that there are leaders in waiting and the authors of this book would be two of them.