NCLB gets suspended in 10 states

Here's an item that flew under the radar these past few weeks.

President Obama has released 10 states from the mandates of No Child Left Behind. One of those states is Georgia. If you recall Georgia - specifically the Atlanta Public School System, came under fire in the last few years for numerous cheating activities.

The climate of cheating was spurred on by the rigorous demands of NCLB. NCLB, which was instituted back in 2001, requires all government-run schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test (all students take the same test under the same conditions) annually to all students. The students' scores are used to determine whether the school has taught the students well. If the school's results are repeatedly poor, then a series of steps are taken to improve the school.

Here's the kicker to NCLB. Each year the schools must see significant improvement, or they run the risk of losing funding or at the worst, possibly being taken over by the state. The problem is, some of the school systems already max out their improvement. They're scoring well on the tests - but they aren't scoring well enough to show significant strides in improvement. This has cost districts significant resources!!!!

Back in July of 2011, I asked the question, is NCLB a factor in the rampant cheating scandal involving the Atlanta Public Schools. It seems as if some agree with me with this recent turn of events.

But the question now is, how will all this shakedown - and will we see more school systems across the country opt out of NCLB before long?

Straighten it our before you get married

A couple of weeks ago, I went over to an old college buddy's house, and found him playing a video game on his laptop. His wife came out and greeted him in loving manner and then went back upstairs to get some of her work done.

I was shocked. I was shocked because a lot of my friend's spouses aren't that receptive when it comes to them playing video games or having down time that doesn't totally involve the family.

So, I immediately asked my friend what the secret was, and his reply was golden.

"I got all that straightened out before I got married."

So simple, yet it makes sense.

How often do we "lie" or not fully tell the truth about ourselves when we're dating, and then when we get married our cover ups blow up in our face.

My buddy is a hardcore gamer and his wife knew the exact extent of his gaming prowess. Some gamers, like myself, never fully reveal the extent to which we will play video games, which can be quite troubling for our spouses.

What happens is, that we sacrifice something that is important to us - to keep the peace- but we grow resentful.

I think at some key, core level, we really don't want our spouse to see the side that might not be perceived as cool or interesting.

The Enemy

As I was walking into church on Sunday, a cold chill went up my spine.

You're going to die alone, a voice whispered to me. You won't have any friends or any family around and you're going to die alone.

As I got inside the church and looked at all the couples around, and people with their children, I felt like there was more validity to this than just a simple premonition.

I truly felt alone. I felt like my family was not going to be there anywhere close to me, and I felt like I would never truly bond with my daughter.

My doubts - my issues - all felt like they were bubbling to the surface, and that they would prevent me from having any type of happiness.

But the enemy often tries to use doubt and fear as paralyzing agents. He uses whatever weapon he can to separate you from God.

I always have to remember, life has a way of kicking you down; God has a way of keeping you up.