FOCA - My Letter to My Senators

Here's a letter I sent to my Senators regarding the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Feel free to use any or all of it in your communications with your Senators and other Representatives.

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Dear Senator,

I am writing you to urge you to vote AGAINST the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). For me FOCA has three important problems.

1) Our founding fathers stated clearly that we are guaranteed Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Notice that Life comes first and to make the destroying of Life a right is in direct conflict with the founding principles of this country.

2) FOCA strips away the state’s ability to govern itself. It silences and disenfranchises the unique democratic voices of the people in each state to determine how they want their local and state governments to approach such a sensitive issue.

3) Most importantly, enacting the FOCA will leave the Catholic Church with no choice but to close ALL of its Hospitals nationwide, as providing abortions is in direct conflict with its moral teachings.

Besides the catastrophic economic impact such closures would obviously create, there is a more important concern you should consider.

In a time where health care of your constituents is so problematic, are you willing to vote for FOCA at the expense of the health and well-being of your own people? Could a vote for FOCA be in the best interest of your people knowing that such a vote would eliminate multiple, critical non-abortion health care options made available at Catholic hospitals in your state?

Polls show your people, the people who put you into office, do not subscribe to the wide reaching and relatively unfettered abortion that FOCA would federally mandate.

Voting for FOCA is not only in direct opposition to the will of your constituents, but in direct opposition to their well being and critical health care options.

Please reply to my request with the statement that you will vote AGAINST FOCA.

Thank you for your service and for your time on this matter.

Sincerely,

Pete Bauer

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Don't know if it will make a difference, but I have to try.

Overcome (2007)

Part of the role as owner of Sonlight Pictures is to watch the competition and gauge the current state of production in Christian films. This means I watch a LOT of Christian movies... as many as I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, most of the films have been lacking in some key areas. Even though I look forward to watching Christian films, it is often prefaced with a tangible sense of apprehension.

My daughter, who considers herself the unofficial co-owner of Sonlight Pictures, watches these films with me. When I told her we were going to watch a film called Overcome about Christian teenagers, her initial, unsolicited response was a worried groan.

Having watched so many bad films with her, I knew where she was coming from. However, it's part of the job.

As with any film, the first 10 minutes are critical and at 30 minutes, something interesting should propel me into watching the rest of the story. With this in mind, we give each film at least 1/2 hour before we decide whether or not we will continue.

So, we plopped in a film called Overcome which is directed by B. J. Alexander and created by a production company called WisenQuest. The story based loosely on the conversion of Paul.

In Overcome, Aaron U. Brown plays the rebellious Colton... one of the popular, yet mean kids at the local high school. He often crosses paths with an up and coming school tennis star named Sara, played by Jaycee Lynn. After a near tragic car accident, Colton is left re-evaluating his life and begins an uphill battle for forgiveness and redemption.

The film is well done. The acting from the leads is very solid, especially Jaycee Lynn. Some of the secondary characters are weak, but not enough to distract from the overall charm of the film.

The film crew had access to a lot of great locations, including a high school, a hospital, tennis courts, ambulances and numerous other locations. This really added to the realism and scope of the project.

As far as Christian films go, this is definitely a notch above. Overcome is worthy checking out.

I look forward to future films by these talented filmmakers.

The First Annual Charlie Bauer Memorial New Years Day Sag Nads Competition

Last year, after my father passed away, Brian and Katie pulled out their Georgia Bulldog version of lawn golf, also affectionately known as Sag Nads. Our game last year in North Carolina was a welcomed diversion from the sadness and stress we had been dealing with up to that point.

We laughed quite a bit as we came up with terms for various Sag Nad scores, such as the Young Lad, the Old Man, the Louganis, the Eunuch, the Monastery, the Turkish Prison, the Bath House and the Woody Woodpecker.


About a week before this year's Christmas we were surprised to find in the mail the delivery of our very own Sag Nad game set, courtesy of Brian and Katie.

After Christmas they came down for a visit and we decided to institute an Annual Sag Nads competition to be held on New Years Day in honor of my father... trust me, if you knew my father, he'd love the gesture.


The competition was hot and heavy for a while. Gabe started out strong, but Brian, overcoming the distraction of the Georgia Bulldog bowl game, made it close.


However, the official winner of the first annual event was Gabe Bauer, with a 4-1 record.

The Winner!

Congrats Gabe! May your Nads be forever wrapped around a bar for the winning score!

SISS Vol 2 Available

For those of you who are gluttons for the ultimate punishment, Surviving in Safety Harbor Volume 2 which covers Jan - May 2006 is now available at Cafe Press.


Check it out if you're completely insane.

Siblings and Spouses and Mom

As you get older you really learn to appreciate the value of time. It is so precious... probably the most valuable thing you have.

Over the years the Bauer clan has exploded exponentially. My brothers and sisters all had children and now their children are having children... the family dynamic went from being large, but manageable to outright genetic mayhem in a few short years.

Because of our increasing and deepening gene pool, the time with the immediate family has become more rare with each passing year. So, this holiday we decided to do something a little different. Dea and I invited all of the available Bauer siblings and their spouses to the house just to sit around and enjoy each others company. No kids, nieces, nephews, grand kids... just immediate family and spouses... oh, and Mom.

One of the greatest blessings bestowed on our family is the true joy we feel when we are together. I believe this stems directly from the infusion of the Holy Spirit into our family through the faith of my parents. There have been numerous times in my life where people, upon spending some quality time with my family, have commented to me just how special our relationships are with each other.

Before I just thought it was my family being my family. Now I realize it is a gift.

So, one by one, siblings and spouses (and Mom) arrived at the house, all bringing a few dishes to share. Unfortunately, Mary and Paul were not in town for Christmas, so they were unable to attend.

After everyone arrived, snacked a bit and indulged with some Johnston family wine, we all sat in an oval in our living room and just started chatting. Before long the laughter was loud and intense. I hadn't laughed that hard in a very long time. We talked about funny family stories, observations about life, the problems in the world, the challenges to our faith and how those challenges are reflected in our daily lives.

The entire event last about four hours and time just sped right by. It was so much fun! Words can scarcely express how wonderful that day was for me, together with my family.

We're all getting older... times like this will grow fewer and far between. The passing of my father last year is the first of an inevitable process of family decline. The more likely scenario is that such gatherings in the future will revolve around funerals.

However, for a single afternoon in Safety Harbor, we were able to fill our hearts with laughter and express our love through familial bonds. We were simply our family being a family.

It was a very special day to me... one that I will cherish for a very long time.

Conquering Fears

God sure has a lot of faith in my wife.

After the New Years haze of 2008 was over, my wife said to me and my daughter "I feel like the Lord is going to test me this year."

Boy was she right!

2008 was a tough one on the Mrs. Over the past 12 months the Lord has been doing some heavy work on my wife, forcing her to face fears, overcome lifelong challenges, accept things she doesn't want to accept and improve upon things she doesn't want to improve.

Case and point #1

Sonlight Pictures.

My wife is great with money. Great with it. She can convince a penny to live the life of a quarter. She's amazing.

When I felt called to start Sonlight Pictures, my wife was not really a happy camper. She knew that would put a financial strain on us. But, she faced her fears, put her stock in faith and by May of 08 we officially created Sonlight Pictures, LLC. With Club God and Purgatory, USA in the can, we can look back and see the leap of faith was worth the jump. But, it was not an easy decision to make.

Case and point #2.

Lifeteen Angst.

My wife had been struggling with her responsibilities with the Lifeteen Band. She had faced a few challenges that had effected her confidence within herself and, when performing, confidence is one of the most important tools in your toolbox. Without it, things can get rough in a hurry.

My wife was so upset about it all that she had even considered leaving the band. After an important and Holy Spirit inspired conversation with the band leader, Dea decided to stay with the band, but hoped to overcome these challeges slowly, over time.

The Lord, however, had different plans.

The Sunday after Christmas, about half the band was going to be unavailable. The band leader was going to be in Georgia with her family. Another singer, an avid Oakland Raider fan, was going to be at the Bucs/Oakland game. A few musicians were unavailable too.

The end result was that a 10 person band with five singers was supposed to be a six member band with three singers.

Then Dea found out the drummer/singer was in a minor motorcycle accident and wouldn't be able to go... so the remaining singer was going to have to play the drums. That left Dea all by herself, singing alone.

Yeah, when the Lord wants you to overcome something, He really makes you face it whether you like it or not.

So, we prayed and, as it turned out, things went very well. An ex-bandmate who was in town from college offered to sing with her and the replacement drummer was able to sing and play drums at the same time.

Still, Dea was forced to face her confidence issues head on and she did so with flying colors.

This is just one example of how the Lord has pushed Dea toward self evaluation and self improvement. It has not been a subtle experience, nor a pleasant one at times, but I'm certain it is necessary.

As I've said to my wife, this process is actually very exciting because the Lord must be demanding these changes because He has something very special in store for her.

I can't wait to see what the Big Guy has planned for my beloved.

Keep her in your prayers. The Lord may have even greater challenges in store for 2009.

Holiday Updates Soon...

Now that the busy holiday season is over, in the upcoming days I'll be posting some of my favorite times that occurred during the past few weeks.

So, keep checking back.