Beyond Politics Inspiration & Family Talk Part II

Four reporters from different parts of the county gathered information and compiled it to write quite the background piece on the latest to put his hat into our country’s Presidential race. If we can get past any political bias or partisan message (which there was very little in the piece), we might find a few gusts to fill our sails as we navigate the waters of parenting away from entitlement and toward independence and American Dreaming.

Here’s just a snippet about Paul Ryan and how a kid who lost his dad at 16 could make it to the cusp of one of the most powerful spots in the world. “The Long Run: Family, Faith & Politics Describe Life of Paul Ryan” (NYT 8/13/12)

Representative Paul D. Ryan’s childhood home here was not overtly partisan. His parents were enthusiastic supporters of Representative Les Aspin, a Democrat, yet adored President Ronald Reagan from their glimpses of him on the evening news. But the death of his father when Mr. Ryan was only 16 punctured his life of math tests and bike riding, and in that fissure, the seeds of his worldview were planted.

“Paul went to work at McDonald’s and began to pull his own weight, and becomes class president the same year,” said his brother Tobin. “It is remarkable that he chose a path of individual responsibility and maturity rather than letting grief take a different course.” He added: “Some of his political views did begin to coalesce around the time of my father’s passing.”

His self-reliance followed him to summer camp, where as a counselor he canoed and hiked, and into young adulthood, where he took up deer hunting, a fact noted in his engagement notice in 2000 in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “Ryan is an avid hunter and fisherman,” the paper reported, “who does his own skinning and butchering and makes his own Polish sausage and bratwurst.”

It followed him into college, where he immediately took a passionate interest in the canon of conservative economic theorists and writers — Ayn Rand and Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises — who inspired the up-and-coming generation of libertarian-minded activists and lawmakers.

It followed him to Congress, where his brand of conservative economics, honed in Washington’s conservative policy and research groups, eventually inspired the Tea Party freshmen in the House for whom Mr. Ryan has served as seer, cheerleader and workout buddy.

And, finally, it captured the imagination of Mitt Romney, who named Mr. Ryan as the Republicans’ presumptive vice-presidential nominee on Saturday.

“He chose a path of individual responsibility and maturity…” Those two traits buttress genuine opportunity and success – not in the financial, political, social sense, but in being and doing all the Lord prepared in advance for us to do. A thought worth considering as we equip, rather than enable, our kiddos.

And on that note, here’s a link to Day 2 with Dr. Dobson. If you’re in Dallas, tune into KCBI 90.9 at 11:00 to listen on the radio. If you’re outside of the DFW area and want to tune in, click here to find a station in your area: Find a Station Then remember the outlet and time and tune in daily. We’re so fortunate to have great folks like Dr. Dobson encouraging us along the way.