The Tragic Death of Cheslie

Following the tragic death of former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, many people around the world were left wondering, “Why?” What would drive someone like this to commit suicide? She had already accomplished a great deal in her life by the time she was thirty. She was beautiful, well-educated, and a lawyer, and she was widely regarded as the most beautiful girl in the United States. What kind of life could be anything but fulfilling in such circumstances? To put it another way, she was a success. Hers is the kind of life many young women can only dream of having.

As a result, it is puzzling why someone with such a background would commit suicide. But, according to reports, Chelsie Kryst posted a message on her Instagram page just before jumping, saying, “May this day bring you rest and peace.”

Why would someone who has lived a life that many people only dream about still be on the lookout for tranquility? Perhaps the only explanation is that she suffered from a mental health problem that only a few people knew about. As a result, anyone looking in would have the impression that Cheslie Kryst had a perfect life, that she was in control of everything, and that she was in complete control of her emotions and thoughts.

It is clear that mental health problems are often not visible, and those who do have them are difficult to identify. So many people who appear to be normal may be dealing with mental health issues, while the rest of the world is unaware of what is going on in their lives.

Chelsie Kryst tragic death serves as a reminder that not all that glitters is gold and that a beautiful body does not always imply a healthy, happy soul.

The very notions of beauty pageants and competition are being questioned once more in this case. After all, why would someone be rewarded or celebrated for a beautiful body they did not create, that they had not worked hard to acquire but was instead bestowed upon them by nature? Much unlike an athlete who trains for months or even years to achieve the level of physical fitness that will allow them to win a gold medal at the Olympics, hence we rightly celebrate their accomplishments because they had put in the necessary effort. To be sure, most athletes who achieve great success do so because, in addition to their rigorous training, they possess some inherent ability that provides them with the initial momentum, drive, or recognition that allows them to progress to the level of professional athletes. Perhaps they were already the best runner in their school, the best gymnast in their class, or the local hero on the school football team when they were in their early teens. This natural ability then serves as a motivator, propelling them to more excellent hard work and effort until they win a gold medal.

Physical beauty, on the other hand, is unmeritorious. In addition, it is transient because it frequently fades away over time, and its appeal dwindles, more importantly, beauty is not achieved through effort but is often provided directly by nature, as a gift. After all, no matter how hard or fast an ugly woman works out, she will never be considered beautiful because she lacks the natural attributes of beauty. But, on the other hand, a naturally beautiful woman attracts attention even when she isn’t trying. So what exactly is the point of that?

I realize I risk coming across as insensitive, but this could happen to anyone. Mental health issues have nothing to do with physical beauty, talent, or celebrity; they could happen to anyone.

While there is much to be learned from this, I believe there are a few lessons here for young people in this era of so much confusion: it is possible to be extremely beautiful while also being extremely unhappy, thus putting the lie to the popular belief that once you have beauty and power, you have it all.

Chelsie Kryst had it, but she was so dissatisfied that she destroyed it by hauling herself 20 stories down and smashing herself to pieces. That being said, we pray for the eternal repose of the soul of Chelsie Kryst and for God to grant her family and loved ones the strength to bear the loss.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

How to shine as a Parent

Shine

Parenting is not an easy task, sometimes it requires more courage and right thinking than any other endeavor thus little wonder that many people shy away from having children.

In the film Shine, child piano prodigy David Helfgott has a father, Peter Helfgott, who is overbearing and turns their little family of four into a tense and anxious place rather than a house of peace.  Peter Helfgott’s anger stems from his difficult childhood as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor and having to struggle against great odds to fend for himself; thus, he never fails to remind David how lucky he is, often asking him to repeat the words, “I am a very lucky boy.”. Furthermore, he pushed the boy to win at all costs, would shout and hit the table with his fists if he didn’t, and even asked his tutor to teach the boy to play Rachmaninoff, a complicated piece of music way above his age, yet would not permit him to accept a scholarship to the London School of Music.  Consequently, the adolescent David rebelled and went off to London on scholarship, prompting his father to repudiate him and break all ties with him. Nevertheless, at the London school, he finally leans enough to play the Rachmaninoff in an orchestra, a monumental effort that triggers his psychosis. The entire plot of the movie leaves very little doubt that Peter Helfgott’s parenting style is not the right way to be a good parent.

The most important lesson to be drawn from the Helfgott family’s tragic history is that parental authority is not all about imposing your will on your children or a kind of obedience at-all-costs attitude in which children obey because they are terrified of the consequences of not doing so. David’s father threw the weight of his authority around every decision he made about David, would not broach a no for an answer, and hardly bothered to ask David’s opinion. For instance, when David got the scholarship, despite his misgivings, he should have sat down with his son to discuss the pros and cons and listen to his opinion.

Although David True’s siblings has refuted the claims made in the film,  arguing that their father was not like that and that he was mischaracterized in the movie for commercial gains, it is still a pertinent warning for other parents who perhaps may have toe that line

On the opposite extreme of Peter Helfgott are parents who cave into every demand of their children; we can call this defect permissive parenting, where the parents feel the need to cater to every whim and caprice of the child.  This is because, according to this article, ~ “parents fear disciplining their children due to some negative consequences they have suffered because their own parents imposed things on them. Yet, to give to a child everything it wants is to lie to that child. Hence, as a result, we could conclude that the virtue of a good parent lies in the middle of both extremes. It is a balance between allowing them to act freely and teaching them how to take responsibility for their actions because freedom and responsibility are inseparable. Furthermore, exercising authority comes from offering children the knowledge and tools they need to grow into responsible adults and this lies precisely in giving them a good example which they can emulate since children generally observe and learn from what they see their parents and other adults do.  This website has videos explaining the common problem that often arise when bringing up children and it might be worth watching.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

Editor of AuthorsChoice

Molokia: True story of courageous Priest and Queen working in Leper’s colony

“I see another law in my member warring against the law of my mind, for when I wish to do go, I find that evil lies at hand.” These words of St. Paul are ever relevant in the life of all men no matter where they find themselves to be. Even in the leper’s colony of Molokia, among the lepers, the law of sin still holds sways, and men still hunger for sex amidst the flies and decaying flesh, as Fr. Damien would find out.

The movie Molokai (1999) is a true story of a young priest, Fr. Damien who volunteers to minister to the leper’s colony off the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He gets there to find not only decay and abandonment, but, worse, sex brothels! Men and women with half rotten limbs, soaking themselves in alcohol and sexually cavort with each other even though they are unsure that they would live to see another day. Fr .Damian instantly sets about rebuilding the broken Church and cleaning up to celebrate the Eucharist, and despite, his bishop’s repeated warning not to touch the lepers,  he warmly shakes the hands of a young boy who came to offer himself as his as altar boy.

As soon as he gets the chance, Fr. Damian rushes into the sex brothels and rescue the children among the inmates and starts a small clinic, and with some other healthier women volunteers, begin taken care of the sick and dying, but more important, he reawakens the love of God in the hearts of the inhabitants of the colony, most of whom have fallen into the despair, tormented with enormous doubt of the existence of God. Fr. Damien reminded them that, He, Jesus, who died on the Cross, bears their pain and isolation and suffering, reminded them that they should unite their torments with His, as atonement for the sin of the world. In short order, joy and singing could be heard in the community and people who have long given up all basic instincts of human decency begin to pick themselves up and clean up and sing. Though there was no cure for their illness, Fr. Damien’s love and compassion helped bring the light of God’ love piecing through the darkness and gloom in their hearts.

News of the revival at the camp soon reach the all Hawaii and the Governor and bishop are full of praises for Fr. Damien, yet when he began making demands for better housing, clothes and most important,  Christian nuns to come to the colony, he was met with severe opposition from the greedy Governor who was unwilling to lose his sources income he usually diverted for personal use, to the lepers colonies, and using the pretext of quarantine and  preventing infections, he bans  Fr. Damien from ever leaving the lepers island, such that he could not even come to make his confessions, and his bishop had to hear his  confession at sea.

When news of this incident reached the crown queen of Hawaii, Queen Liliʻuokalani, her heart was rent with sorrow, and in a magnificent display of love, she decides to visit the leper’s colony herself. It was the high point of the movie, a rare and almost unbelievable scene, and like, Theresa of Calcutta, this queen not only came to the leper’s colony, but picked up and hugged and kissed leper children, children with rotten limbs. Having seen for herself the good work that Fr. Damien was doing, she becomes his advocate and with her help and support he begin receiving more support from the governor and even from the ecclesiastical authorities.

Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaii

But the devil had more in stock for the young priest as he finds himself the object of intense sexual attention of one a young woman, Malulani who had been helping him with care for the others. One day, unable to control her passion, she bursts into his dormitory  pretending he seemed sad and dejected and she wished to comfort him cuddled up to him, but Fr. Damien, emphatically, ordered her to leave, saying to her, “You wish to destroy my life’s work?”  For a plate of beans, I would add.

How does the devil offer so little in exchange for Eternal life? For the undoing of  happiness of paradise, for which Fr. Damien  worked all his life,  the cleaning, scrubbing, smell and flies, he had endured for years, all that would have gone up in smoke in minutes for a few minutes of canal pleasure with a half dressed young woman. Yet countless men and women would take that deal. They give up the happiness of paradise, in marital fidelity for the passing pleasure of adultery, and extramarital sex. Innumerable priests and nuns abandon the prize of heaven for passion and license. Countless youth, toss unending happiness out the window at the behest of sex. Yet as Dr Peter Kreeft puts it, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot long keep for what he can never lose.” Many of the patients in that colony knew that they had but a short time before the disease consumed them, and that the time they had was a gift, a chance to get well prepared to pass the entrance exams of into life that never ends which for them was sure to come so soon. Yet even this imminence was insufficient and many still chose to hang on to whatever they could get from fleshy pleasures. Thanks to the courage and perseverance, by the time he lay dying of the leprosy he cleaned up in others, of Fr. Damien’s Molokai leper’s colony was blessed with a community of nuns to care for the sick and continue his life works. He died in 1936 and went like St. Paul to receive his rewards in paradise having fought the good fight and kept the faith.

The face of America: Why Gosnell is the honest face of pro- choice

There’s an African proverb that says that if you want to eat a toad, you should look for a fat and juicy one, so that if anyone calls you a toad eater you would answer to who you are.
Recently, I summoned up the courage to watch the 2018 Gosnell movie, the trial of American biggest serial killer, which is simply the story of physician who runs a filthy hospital in Philadelphia, filled with aborted body parts, who was arrested in 2011. Fainthearted, I opened all the windows, and sat trembling before the movie started, unsure of what I was about to witness. In the end I was glad I watched it, the movie was cleverly done, without traces of gore and more importantly, it answered the question I have been waiting to ask:
“What is the difference between Gosnell and the others abortion providers? The simple answer is none. Rather, he is more honest, because he embodies the American dream of effective and efficient service delivery. In 1972, he had experimented with inserting electric powered spinning knife blender into women’s womb and crushing babies like pawpaw juice, but it didn’t work and some many women died.
But America wants abortion and that is what Kermit Gosnell is all about. He is ready to deliver, fast and cheap, and good businesses, to compete, cut cost. Kermit Gosnell is a good business man, who knows that it is faster and safer to induce delivery and then kill the child rather than go inside a woman’s womb to kill a child. That’s the efficient way, the American way. Like he said those who made these laws are rambling idiot “I have no respect for any of them” and rightly so.
Gosnell lawyers put it more succinctly to the neatly dressed woman ( perhaps from Planned Parenthood) who testified during the trial that she has done more than 30000 abortions but never had to snipped the spine of “a born alive child” with a scissors.
“What would you do if you have a born alive?” The lawyer asked.
“We never have any,” the woman replied.
“That’s because you inject potassium chloride in to the womb to kill the baby, but hypothetically, what would you do if you have a “born alive?”
“We would make sure it is comfortable and allow it to die.”
“Wouldn’t it be more merciful to just snip its spine.” The lawyer asked the hypocritical jury. There was silence.

However, there are plenty of lessons in this movie for women who ask for abortion. The moment they take that decision they should not blame Kermit Gosnell for what happens next. It’s their call, their choice, their body. Similarly, the state of Philadelphia is saying to them, “Though it is your right to get rid of your baby, nevertheless, once you seek out people like Gosnell and place yourself in their hands, accept the consequences, don’t expect the state to interfere, inspect, or inquire.
America is likewise saying to them, “You want abortion; you get it, with all that comes with it. Don’t expect the press to report what happened, they aren’t going to do that because you won, women have won the right to do as they please with their bodies and we will let them.”
And why shouldn’t Gosnell’s clinic or any other abortion clinic for that matter, smell? Are killing fields expected to smell like roses? During the French Revolution, it was said that the fetid odor from the guillotine could be perceived from miles away. Likewise the grisly death camps of Auschwitz II-Birkenau did not smell of jasmine. What’s more, the child whose life is snuffed out garners no advantage even if the place was as exquisite as Buckingham palace.
Perhaps, the filthy smell and grime should have flagged the unfortunate women of the fowl thing they had embarked on. The filth should have brought them to their senses, to run away and put their trust in God who can unlock possibilities. Every abortion is a fitly act.
I would argue that Gosnell is the most honest face of American pro- choice or more accurately, pro-death movement. The filth and smell they decry are tangible manifestation of the final consequences of pro-death. Gosnell’s calloused indifference and self confidence mirrors the swaggering pro-choice America, champion of freedom, yet killers innocents. It’s the face of a legal system that protects dogs but permits egregious violence on the unborn. Gosnell calls out many Americans who, like ostrich, bury their heads in the sand rather than face what they know in conscience is evil and wrong.

In truth, the real hero of the movie is the relentless blogger who without pay and against the denigrating attitude of smug lawyers and police officers, managed to bring the trail to the world, thwarting the mainstream mafia code of silence. She deserves credit and she demonstrates that truth can no longer be gagged by money and politics. She stands as model of how social media could be used for good as opposed to frivolity or worse, evil.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

Inspiring Story of “Iron Lady” Muniba Mazari

Muniba Masari

Sometimes just existing is an act of bravery. Muniba Masari, 20, was involved in a car crash when her husband, who was driving, fell asleep and the car crashed into a ditch. Though he was able to jump out and save himself, she suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured wrist, collar bone, and rib cage; the rib cage injury severely injured her lungs and liver. She couldn’t breathe, and she’d lost control of her urine and bowels. In addition, her backbone was completely crushed. For the rest of her life, she was paralyzed.

After two and a half months in the hospital and multiple surgeries, the doctor told her she would never be able to walk or have a child again.

“Why me?” she asked her mother, devastated. “Why am I still alive?”

“This, too, shall pass,” her mother assured her. I’m not sure what God’s plan is for you.”

Those enchanted words lit Muniba’s heart on fire. She had always wanted to be an artist, and even though the doctors said she couldn’t use her hands, she asked her brothers to bring her canvas. When they did, she did her first painting inside the hospital, which started her recovery.

Her doctors advised her to lie down straight on her bed for two years after she was discharged.

“That’s when I realized how fortunate people were to be able to walk around, go outside, and not even realize it,” she explained. She resolved to help others realize how fortunate they were.

Her first step was to break free from her fears. So she took out a piece of paper and jotted down all of her fears.

Her greatest fear was losing her husband through a divorce. She married the man her father chose when she was 18 years old. It was never a happy union. Her husband had survived the accident unscathed, despised her for her condition, and was having an affair with another woman.

“I was clinging to this person who didn’t want me,” Muniba explained, “and from that day forward, I resolved to liberate him, to set him free.”

“In fact,” Muniba continued, “I was so free that when I found out he was getting married again, I texted him and said congratulations. I am happy for you, and he knows I am praying for him today.”

Muniba had unknowingly followed Jesus’ teaching, which stated, “You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be called children of God. He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. What is the reward for loving those who love you? Aren’t the tax collectors doing the same thing? And what are you doing more than others if you only greet your people? Do pagans not do the same? Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:43-48) 

Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:43-48) Her fear of never having her own child vanished when she realized thousands of children in Pakistan had no one to love them. So she decided to assist them by adopting one, and a cool stream of happiness returned to her bruised heart. Muniba now has a healthy young son whom she adores and who adores her. She also travels around, giving talks and encouraging people to see the bright side of life and appreciate what they have.

Every great athlete will tell you that they are at their best when they are not self-conscious or self-focused, but focused on the outside, on the game. Similarly, people who have suffered a disaster are best able to overcome it when they resist the urge to bitter self-pity and instead focus on helping others.

Muniba’s pain and suffering opened her eyes and made her more understanding of other people’s sufferings, making her a better person.

“There are incidents that happen that deform you, but they mold you into the best version of yourself,” Muniba said, confirming the truth that, behind the dark clouds of pain, lies the silver lining of realizing a better, more beautiful version of ourselves like gold purified by fire or a rough diamond made valuable by knocks and chisel blows.

God’s Understanding

“God has a purpose for you,” her mother had told her, and those magical words had set her heart on a search, looking outside of herself. It piqued her interest in learning what she could do to help others because suffering is something that can happen to anyone, but knowing how to endure it belongs to great souls—souls who have loved deeply.

Most people understandably avoid suffering like a bat avoids fire, but if suffering is inevitable, rejection would be futile and harmful because the hand of the clock, no matter how much we wish, cannot be turned back.

Acceptance is the prudent course of action. Making the most of a bad situation

This is why the Christian message is so powerful and why it is referred to as the good news. God emptied himself, became man, and humbled himself to die on the cross so that people like Muniba could know that God loved them because he chose to suffer similar affliction, not just for her but for all men and women throughout history.

Suffering was unbearable before Jesus’ message, and those who suffered had no hope. Back then, material wealth and power were everything, and a man’s worth was largely based on his possessions.

Christ turned everything on its head. He was born in a manger, the dwelling place of animals, lived poor, and preached that the poor are blessed and that all the things that men cringe and flee from are the true treasures: hunger, thirst for righteousness, and meekness. Furthermore, He not only preached, but His death and resurrection validated His teachings as genuine and divine.

Though Muniba is not a Christian, she has grasped the tenets of Christianity, and just as the Cross ceased to be a symbol of punishment and instead became a symbol of victory in the Passion, Muniba’s wheel cheer and urine bag are a symbol of hope and victory for all. She has received numerous international awards as an artist, motivational speaker, activist, TV host, and Pakistan’s first Goodwill Ambassador to UNWomen Pakistan at the age of 42.

“I always go around with a big smile on my face,” Muniba, an ironwoman whose example is urging everyone to make up their minds to follow the way of self-surrender even when the Cross is on their shoulders, says.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

Big Brother Naija Trojan horse

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

They came in 2006 selling the story of a talent hunt but sold Nigerians a Trojan horse.

BBNnaija 2019 audition venue was like a scene from world war Z. Crowds of indigent youths thronged the venue pleading and wailing, crushed against iron railings, some broke their legs, and all were desperate to get in. They clawed their way coveting the $100k prize money, a ticket out of poverty worth dying for. Yet the big brother show is a rip off.

The show is about 12 contestants living in an isolated house for 90 days, competing for a winner takes-it-all star prize by avoiding eviction. To please viewer to vote “stay” they must shed all dignity, self-respect and modesty, even engaging in explicit sex while the camera rolls.

Sex sells

With big colored eye on profit, the producers encourage sexual experimentation among the housemates on every episode, often plying them alcohol to loosen things up, and supplying cartons of condoms. BBNaija portrays sex as casual and consequence-free to minors who watch these episodes.

“Just as we read specific books and show educational movies to our children in hopes that they learn lessons from the characters, teens are more likely to have sex after being exposed to sexual content in the media,” says Dr. Carolyn Ross on Psychology Today

Parents who allow their teens to watch BBNaija shouldn’t be surprised if they begin having sex, and perhaps even high-risk sex and catching sexually transmitted diseases and becoming pregnant. They may even become sex addicts.

Early exposure to pornography (or explicit sexual content on television), says Dr. Ross, is a risk factor for sex addictions and other intimacy disorders. In one study of 932 sex addicts, 90 percent of men and 77 percent of women reported that pornography was a factor in their addiction.

In 2018, having interviewed Christians and Muslims, the Nigerian Vanguard wrote a good piece of the harmful effect of the show, denouncing it’s deviation to open immorality. Yet, the show goes on, and so many poor young people across the nation besieged the audition venues seeking last month, while families’ lap up episode after episode.

Follow the money.

The money comes from the evictions.  Every week when different housemate are placed on eviction, and the public use their money to vote them back in.  The votes come in millions. During one of recent BBNaija finale, it was reported that 170 Million votes were cast via text messages that cost N30. If you do the math, that is approximately $14M earned by the organizers.  

Gifty Brian Ajumobi ex-house mate

Since it is winner take all, all but the one winner gets paid while others walk away, broken, sold and scared and some never manage to pick up the broken pieces. (There are many unwed mothers’ among the ex-housemates.) Many of the used young ladies can’t find husbands, some like ex-house mate, Gift Brian Ajumobi, has multiple sex partners and children out of wedlock and is presently embroiled in paternity suites.

All in the name of entertainment

Whatever happened to the Nigerian family sense of modesty so admired by the world a few years ago? Now we pay to watch our youths feed, play and copulate. How diabolically naive we have become. Are we waiting for same-sex fornications and bestiality to add to the fun?

Parents and families should wake up and throw out this Trojan horse in their midst. A society willing to compromise its value and honor is a society without value and honor.

 It’s unfortunate that Atiku Abubaker who recently lost the presidential election, in a bid to garner popularity among the young, tweeted a congratulatory message to last year’s BBNaija winner.

Educators, writers, politicians and legislators must keep in mind that a great part of social and even personal problems has its roots in the failure or the collapse of family life. To fight against juvenile delinquency or against the prostitution of women and at the same time to favor the discrediting or deterioration of the institution of the family is both senseless and contradictory.

In spite of the obvious and genuine harm done by this show, we see no protests, families carrying placard and politicians debating on how to proscribe the show or prosecute their promoters, rather viewing statistics are spiking and more and more young people turn up each year for auditions.

It must be understood that the role of parents and families in social and political life cannot be merely passive. They themselves must be ‘the first to take steps to see that the laws and institutions of the State, films and reality TV’s do not offend, but support and positively enhance family life and welfare of minors

Nigerians should reject this show, looking for disruptive ways to ensure that those who insist on promoting this heist stop making money. They should also besiege the news media with the reports of the negative influences on children, calling out the promoters and exposing their true agenda.

On the other hand, families should support and promote family friendly TV shows that teach skills, virtues and discipline to children.

Grandpa Paid to Abort Pretty Girl: Brooke Shields

In a world gone mad, it’s not uncommon for parents to pay for their children to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The recent revelation by superstar, Brooke Shields that her grandfather paid her mom to terminate her is insane.

According to Life news.com, Shields writes in her book that, when her mother became pregnant, her boyfriend did not appear ready to assume the role of father. He told his own Dad, who in turn, decided to convince her mother to “terminate the pregnancy.” Her grandfather explained to her mother how an out-of-wedlock birth could jeopardize her father’s standing on the “Social Registry.” Her granddad even went so far as to give her mother money for the abortion (This was pre-Roe v. Wade).
Instead of visiting an abortionist, her mother went to an antique store and used the money to buy a coffee table.

Shields remarks that the table ironically became a favorite of hers, which she used to pull herself up from the floor as a toddler.

She writes, “The table saved my life and helped me to stand.”

It is hard to imagine the pop culture landscape without Brooke Shields. To think someone of such beauty and grace could have had her life ended before birth is so mind-boggling. Shields is a mother herself, so an entire family could easily have been swept away if her mother had chosen to cave into pressure and abort.

How many stars have been lost to abortion? You might think it’s impossible to count, but actually the number is more than 56 million. For every child who is aborted is a star in God’s galaxy—every single life has value and dignity.

We now just have one more beautiful face to remember as we contemplate the thin line between life and death in our world today.

To every, parent or grandparent who has a granddaughter pregnant out of wedlock or a son who has got some girl pregnant out of wedlock: that, pregnancy… that child may be the greatest blessing and support in your old age. Help her keep it and find out.

Lessons from the Boy who died after swallowing a snail

To impress his mates, a young boy swallowed a garden snail and died.

According to Fox News, the teenager from Sydney’s upper north shore was having a laugh and some red wine with mates in the backyard, “trying to act like grown-ups”.

It was 2010 and it was a night that would change his life, and the lives of everybody around him, forever.

A slug crawled across the concrete patio and, teens being teens, a dare emerged for Sam to eat it.

One of his best friends, Jimmy Galvin, later described the moment.

“We were sitting over here having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown-ups and a slug came crawling across here,” he said.

“The conversation came up, you know. ‘Should I eat it?’ And off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”

He didn’t become sick immediately, but complained of serious pain in his legs in the days after.

He was worried it might’ve been a symptom of eating the slug, but his mother told him not to worry: “No one gets sick from that,” she said.

Sam was worried he might have developed multiple sclerosis, like his father, but that was ruled out.

Doctors later determined Sam was infected with rat lungworm.

The worm that infected Sam is usually found in rodents, but snails and slugs can also become infected when they eat rat feces.

Sam contracted eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis, which many people recover from. Sam didn’t.

He fell into a coma for 420 days and, when he woke, he had acquired a brain injury.

Last week, eight years after he fell ill, Sam died. “The Sunday Project’s” Lisa Wilkinson broke the news during a somber but brief segment.

“We have some sad news for you now. Earlier this year we brought you the story of Sam Ballard who, on a dare from his mates, ate a slug. He contracted rat lung disease with devastating effects,” Wilkinson said.

“His friends have stuck by him ever since. On Friday, Sam passed away surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates.

“His last words to his mom: ‘I love you’.”

Katie Ballard, Sam’s mother, described how hard life had been for Sam. He couldn’t eat for himself and needed help going to the bathroom.

While he was initially unable to move his limbs, the former Barker College student worked hard to regain some movement.

Katie had said “he understands” everything, and his mates know that was true.

Galvin said he apologized to Sam for not stopping him that night in 2010. When he did, the former rugby standout “just started bawling his eyes out”.

In a way, Sam’s story bears a sad similarity to the way sin acts in our lives. We often do what we know we ought not do because we want to be rich and famous or desire to stand out and have our way, pushing aside the laws of God and good sense, yet it ultimately leads to our death. Sam’ s reckless action, spurred by pride and vanity, kicking aside good sense of hygiene, took his his life. Yet, friends who challenged and cheered him on, were hopelessly unable to help as his life ebbed away. Sad for his parents, life has played a very dirty trick on them; a lesson for all about the dangers of pride and honor seeking, contrary to good sense.

Article by Chinwuba Iyizoba

Editor

Playground Inspiration

Mrs.  Rhonda is one of the 25,000 Weight Watchers

Jane Nidetch was a 214-pound housewife. She was desperate to lose weight. After two steady months of dieting, she was still 50 pounds overweight. So she invited six overweight friends to her house to share her diet and talk about how to stay on it.

Today, 28 years later, one million members attend 25,000 Weight Watchers’ meetings in 24 countries every week.

Mrs. Nidetch says she got her inspiration to help people take control of their lives, from a childhood incident. As a teenager she used to walk past a playground. Mothers brought kids there to play, and then they would get so deep in gossip that they completely forgot about the children. The toddlers sat on their swings, but no one was giving them a push start. So she gave each of them a push. And you know what happens after that: the swinger starts pumping and swinging by himself.

“That’s what my role in this weight watching has been,” says Mrs Nidetch, “I’m here to give others a push start.”

I gave up fighting those who gossip about me and became successful

*Worth Reading*

I once asked a very successful woman to share her secret with me. She smiled and said to me.. “I started succeeding when I started leaving small fights for small fighters. I stopped fighting those who gossiped about me…I stopped fighting with my in laws…I stopped fighting for attention…I stopped fighting to meet public expectation of me…I stopped fighting for my rights with stupid people..I left such fights for those who have nothing else to fight…And I started fighting for my vision, my dreams, my ideas and my destiny. The day I gave up on small fights is the day I started becoming successful.”

*Some fights are not worth your time.*
*Choose what you fight for wisely.*

Baby, We’ve Got Your Back!

Parenthood’s slightly despondent president, Cecile Richards, had a lot to think about when she learned that her gal Hillary suffered a defeating blow this week. What to do, she wondered? So she promptly sent out an e-mail to her supporters that told us a whole lot about her game going forward.

She articulated four words and told her donors to remember them well: “THESE DOORS STAY OPEN.”

We have heard these words before. These are the words Planned Parenthood used after the Colorado shooting spree by deranged killer Robert Dear . And these are the four words that title Planned Parenthood’s 2015 Annual Report .

But these words, written in the wake of the Clinton defeat, now represent something quite different. They are the vow of an irate woman and her Planned Parenthood adherents in all 50 states to keep the killing going, the maiming going, and the cash rolling in no matter what. Richards writes : “Planned Parenthood has been here for 100 years, and one thing is clear: We will never back down and we will never stop fighting to ensure that Planned Parenthood patients have access to the care they need, people who come from communities that need our continued support in this new reality – immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, people of faith, and more [sic]. Health care should not be political.”

We find these words ironic to say the least. First, Planned Parenthood’s very existence is a matter of political maneuvering – an arm-twisting to acquire its millions of taxpayer dollars and lobbying to make sure that the candidates are elected. But this time that failed!

Second, equating abortion and birth control with healthcare for everyone is like saying that using a lethal injection to treat a wart is healthcare. The patient is dead, but indeed the wart is gone!

Third and most important, Richards’ words provide those of us who affirm the lives of the preborn and who truly respect women – especially expectant mothers – just the recipe we need to ensure that someday very soon Planned Parenthood’s doors will close. The four words “These doors stay open” are a challenge, and, thanks be to God, we are up for it.

Planned Parenthood’s world is all about killing. Jim Sedlak has written about Richards’ double speak, saying, “Dangerous pills and chemicals are called ‘health products,’ ending the lives of innocent human beings is called ‘healthcare,’ and franchisees of death are now called ‘Planned Parenthood affiliates.'”

We must remember and have hope, for it was then-Congressman Mike Pence who worked in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood. His effort, the Pence Amendment, never made it to President Obama’s desk, but Pence hasn’t given up the fight. And now he is in a position, with both President-elect Trump and our hard work, to make the politically correct Planned Parenthood the subject of a total cutback in funding – an act that will hopefully lead to its demise.

Those doors will not stay open. We want to make America great again by shutting down Planned Parenthood once and for all. That is our goal, our promise, and our strategic plan. Building a culture of life begins with shutting those doors. Period.

To every preborn child at every stage of his biological development, we say today: “Baby, we’ve got your back!”

by Judie Brown

If you want to know how much money the abortion industries makes click here>

10 Lessons about Condoms You Need Before Losing Your Virginity By CARLA M.

Some girls believe it is safe to have sex if the guy is using a condom. They think it will keep them from getting pregnant or catching sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, genital warts, or herpes.  If you are one of such girls, do you know the whole story? Do you know that the claim that a condom is safe and can protect you from getting pregnant or being infected with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV is false?

When doctors work on someone with HIV, they put on two pairs of gloves, a full gown over their clothes, a mask, and goggles. Even then, they don’t feel completely “safe”. How then do you think having sex with a guy, exchanging bodily fluids, sweat, saliva, and a whole lot of other stuff, will protect you? Here are 10 hard facts about condoms you need to ponder before using them.

1. Every latex condom has intrinsic holes of about 5 microns in diameter; these holes enable it to stretch when pulled on. The HIV virus is about 0.1 microns and can pass through condoms like a house cat passes through a garage door. Never mind when they say that condoms are “waterproof”. The human skin is also waterproof. Does it mean our skin has no pores? We’d all die if our skin didn’t have sweat pores. The skin is waterproof and helps to conserve the water content of the body, but it also allows sweat to pass through the pores when we are hot.
2. During manufacture, some condoms get infected with defective holes of 50 microns in as much as 2.5 percent of each batch passed.
3. While putting on condoms, fingernails and rings can snag it and make it leak without the knowledge of the user

5. During sex, 13% of the time, condoms bust or break in action. 21% of the time, condoms slip down or off the penis, spilling all the sperm.
6. Condoms break during sex because of the five sets of stress acting on them, expanding the holes and weakening their membrane. These five sets of stress are:

• Uniform lateral stress from stretching
• Pressure stress perpendicular to the lateral stress
• Twisting and angular stress
• Friction stress from rubbing
• Stress  from the mixture of bodily fluids and lubricant of the condom and repeated, simultaneous application of mechanical stress

7. Most guys don’t even use condoms.

A guy explained why he did not use condoms with his girl: “Well, I had to convince and convince, and when she finally said yes, I could not risk going outside to buy condoms since she might change her mind before I came back.”

“Surveys and other research have been conducted to find out how often and how well condoms are used. The results vary from study to study. Findings, however, generally suggest that:

• Only about half of sexually active guys report using a condom the last time they had sex.
• When given a basic list of procedures for correct condom use, less than half of sexually active guys report using condoms correctly.
• The more sexually experienced people are (in terms of the number of lifetime partners), the less likely they are to use condoms consistently.
• In a study of couples who knew their partner was HIV positive, only about half used condoms consistently.

8. A study shows that “latex breaks down in the heat, yet condoms are transported in trucks that get so hot you can fry an egg!” They are also kept in glove compartments of cars or inside wallets
9. Many women whose husbands use only condoms as their means of preventing conception become pregnant within 12 months (pregnancy is possible only on a few days in the month when the woman is fertile), whereas HIV infection is possible every time an infected person has sex, and the human sperm is 500 times bigger than the HIV virus. Note also that women catch HIV five times faster than men.
10. Thus, it is safe to conclude that condoms provide less protection than most people think. The U.S. surgeon general says, “When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years. If anyone has been exposed to HIV, it’s been nice knowing you.”

And lastly, neither do condoms provide protection for the heart, mind, or emotions. Maybe waiting for that special lifetime partner is worth the investment; it’s certainly safer.

Source: Family Planning Perspective

10 Benefits of Remaining a Virgin till Marriage by Nancy Hanna

With so many sex movies and sexual images all around, girls are under pressure from their boyfriends to have sex. They can no longer wait until marriage. Are you pressed to have sex before you marry?  Here are 10 benefits of waiting until you marry to have sex:

1. Sex is a powerful force

It can destroy you if it is not used properly. Like atomic power, sex is the most powerful creative force given to man. When atomic power is used correctly, it can create boundless energy; when it is used in the wrong way, it destroys life. Sex is the same kind of powerful force. Sex is a gift from God to give us the greatest pleasure, to help in creating a deep companionship with one’s spouse, and for the procreation of the next generation. But if you play with this powerful force outside the bounds of marriage, it destroys you and those close to you.

2. Sexual activity arrests psychological, social, and academic development.

Studies show that when young people engage in premarital sex, their academic performance declines and their social relationships with family and friends deteriorate. This is because adolescents are too immature to deal with the explosive sex drive, which tends to dominate their lives.

3. Feeling of guilt

The majority of women cannot enjoy sex outside of the bonds of marriage. The development of a fulfilling sexual life needs the security and peace of the marriage bond. Premarital sex usually takes place by sneaking around in hidden places, dealing with the fear of being caught, the fear of pregnancy, and feelings of guilt. All these (worrisome) factors undermine pleasure in premarital sex, most especially for women.

4. Precious gift

Virginity is to be given to the most important person in your life—the person you committed yourself to stay with forever in marriage. Your virginity is the most precious thing you have to give to your spouse. Once you lose it, nothing in the world can bring it back. Don’t lose something so precious in a thoughtless way.

5. High risk of contracting a disease

Those who engage in premarital sex run a high risk of contracting one of the many venereal diseases rampant today, as well as losing their fertility. Not just AIDS, but other common disfiguring diseases like herpes have no cure.

6. Some venereal diseases have no symptoms and no cure.

So don’t bank on seeing tale-tale signs that might warn you. Many couples discover many years later that they are infertile because of these diseases. Infertility experts estimate that 80% of today’s infertility is due to venereal diseases contracted before marriage.

7. Waiting gives a 100% guarantee

The best and only method that guarantees 100% against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases is to wait for marriage to have sex and maintain fidelity in your marriage.

8. Premarital sex breaks the 10 Commandments given by God.

The 10 Commandments are given to man by God to make him happy. They are not outdated, and they are not restrictive. If we follow these laws, we can create happy and prosperous lives. If we don’t follow them, we will pay a heavy price in divorce, disease, abortions, illegitimate children, and loneliness. Modern men make a big mistake when they think that they can break these eternal laws and not suffer consequences.

9. Premarital sex runs the risk of conceiving illegitimate children.

Numerous scientific studies show that the children of single mothers suffer psychologically and are less successful socially and academically than children from intact families. Above all, children need both their father and their mother. It is wrong to risk having children who will never have their father’s love, protection, and care.

10. If you date and you don’t have sex, you can forget about that relationship when you stop dating.

But if you have sex with those you date and then break up, the nature of sexual involvement creates strong, often unpleasant, memories for your whole life. Every relationship you break up where you had intimate relations is like a mini-divorce. The psychological difficulties of these mini-divorces damage your character. Later, when you are married and go to bed with your beloved spouse, these unpleasant memories will accompany you.

True love waits. If a boy or girl truly loves you, they will want the best for you. They will not want you to suffer from fear of disease, unwanted pregnancy, or the psychological difficulties of premarital sex. They will want to experience love with you only in the very best place of all—the love nest of marriage.