I am not Believing This

I just read this news update and couldn't let it pass without a comment:

"Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have called off their second engagement after he told her he may have fathered a baby with another girl. The other girl was not identified, but a pregnant ex-girlfriend of Johnston has publicly denied he is the father."

Apparently Bristol learned about this turn of events the same day they announced their engagement - July 14th - but didn't act on it until now. According to the news story, she decided to call off the engagement in part because obviously Levi does not know how to keep his pants zipped. But the primary reason cited was because he lied recently about going on a hunting trip. Instead he went to California to be in a music video that made fun of her family. 

Okay, I can barely suppress a laugh here. Are not all these stories about their on-again off-again relationship and all the reasons why just a tad embarrassing?

I think our society is more than a little skewed when one can become a celebrity by making all the wrong decisions in life and airing the dirty family laundry.

Someone to look up to

Young people can look up to Caron Butler for a lot of reasons. He is 6-feet-7, so one would have to look up to see his face. He is a star basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks. He has been on Oprah's show and the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He is a true celebrity.

But what Caron wants young people to know about him isn't related to his celebrity status. He wants young people to know that he once was in prison. He was arrested numerous times before he was 15. His life was spiraling downward until Jameel Ghauri, executive director of the George Bray Neighborhood Center in Racine Wisconsin stepped into Caron's life.

Ghauri stood by the young boy as he served various sentences and then helped him get out of the criminal element altogether. He also introduced the boy to serious basketball, and soon recognized a special talent.

Now Caron is at the peak of success professionally and personally. He is married and is determined to be an active participant in his children's lives, unlike his own father who abandoned the family.

Caron speaks to young people about his past and encourages them to take a different road in their lives. He is also a volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. He conducts Youth Clinics and bicycle, coat, and school supply drives.

In a recent interview in the Dallas Morning News Caron had this to say, "I get paid millions of dollars doing something that I love. Whenever I get the opportunity to share my story and influence others, be a pillar in the community, I embrace it."

I would like to embrace Caron for becoming a man of such character and integrity. That is something that the young people can really look up to him for.