Joanna Gaines clings to her son Drake as they say goodbye, telling others, ‘It doesn't get any easier.' It's Drake's second year of college,, and it's the same for many parents. Some are even sending their child to kindergarten for the first time. For me, I'm sending my middle child off to college for the first time. Even though I knew what to expect after sending my firstborn off to college, I know how Joanna feels–man, it is so hard to let go! RELATED: Chip and Joanna Gaines Defend Their Rule About No Social Media for Their Kids Until Age 18 Joanna Gaines Says Goodbye to Son Drake As He Heads Back to College The beloved designer and mother of five recently shared an emotional moment that resonated with parents everywhere. As her oldest son, Drake, headed back to college, Joanna opened up about the heart-wrenching reality of watching him grow up and the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye. In a heartfelt post, Joanna expressed what so many parents feel but often struggle to put into words. The transition from seeing your child every day to only catching glimpses of their life from afar is anything but easy. No matter how many times you go through it, it doesn't seem to get any easier. Joanna wrote, “Second year in college... saying goodbye doesn't get easier. Lots of love to all the parents sending their kids off to school this season," and I don't know about you, but I felt that deep in my heart. RELATED: Joanna Gaines Gets Brutally Honest About Motherhood Joanna is Experiencing Mixed Emotions Like many parents, Joanna is experiencing mixed emotions during this stage of life. She is proud of seeing Drake pursue his dreams and excited about the adventures he's embarking on, but she also feels a deep sense of loss of the way life used to be–all of her little ones at home. The daily routines that once included his laughter, presence, and the simple joys of being together are now moments she must cherish from a distance. This isn't the first time Joanna has opened up about her experiences as a mother. She has always been candid about the joys and challenges of raising her children. But this goodbye felt particularly poignant. As a mother, watching your child grow up is both a privilege and a heartache. It's a journey filled with countless moments of letting go, each one a reminder of the passage of time and the ever-changing nature of life. Joanna's honesty about her feelings serves as a reminder that it's okay to feel the weight of these transitions. It's okay to cry, to miss them, and to wish they were still at home, even as you cheer them on from afar. Parenting is a delicate balance of holding on and letting go, and every goodbye is a testament to the love that makes those moments so hard. RELATED: Joanna Gaines on Today Show Opens up About ‘Being Different' and Dealing with Insecurity Joanna is Drake’s Biggest Supporter As Drake settles into his college life, Joanna will undoubtedly continue to be his biggest supporter, offering encouragement and love from home. And while the goodbyes may never get easier, they are a beautiful reflection of the deep bond they share-a bond that distance and time will never diminish. In moments like these, we're reminded of the words from Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Joanna and Drake are entering a new season, one that will bring new challenges and joys, but through it all, the love of a mother remains a constant, unshakable force. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Joanna Gaines' Daughter Reminds Her What Childlike Faith Looks Like Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joanna Gaines (@joannagaines) WATCH: Caleb & John | ‘Somebody Like Me’ (acoustic) Caleb & John | ‘Somebody Like Me’ (acoustic) from CCM Magazine on GodTube. LISTEN: Chip and Joanna Gaines On No Social Media for Their Kids | Homeless Angel Saves The Day After Grandpa Ditches Grandkid h/t: For Every Mom Featured Image Credit: Instagram/joannagaines The post Joanna Gaines Clings to Son As They Say Goodbye, Tells Others ‘It Doesn’t Get Any Easier’ appeared first on GodUpdates.

A man outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago was spotted on Monday waving the flag of Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Fox News reporter Mike Tobin asked the man if he supported Hamas, to which the man responded: “Every Palestinian supports Hamas. Not just me. Every Palestinian supports Hamas.” When the man was asked if he supported Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, the man responded: “October 7? Yes, I do.” “What’s wrong with October 7th?” the man asked. “You tell me.” Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. When confronted with the war crimes that Hamas inflicted on thousands of innocent people that day, the man yelled: “What is this bulls***?” Hamas killed more than 1,200 people on October 7 — including the elderly, women, children, and babies — wounded more than 5,000, took hundreds hostage, and inflicted a campaign of rape and torture on Jews in the most violent day the Jewish people have faced since the Holocaust. WATCH: Voices from outside the DNC: “I support Hamas, like every Palestinian, and I support October 7.” pic.twitter.com/bXUClPj9Fe — Eli Kowaz – איליי קואז (@elikowaz) August 20, 2024 Field reporter Cam Higby confronted the man and asked him why he supported Hamas. “Because I am Hamas,” the man responded. “Every Palestinian is Hamas.” When asked if he supported Hamas one hundred percent, the man responded: “A million percent.” The man grew angry when again confronted about the war crimes Hamas committed that day. “Where do you come up with this bulls**t?” the man lashed out. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI When Higby said that he saw it — Hamas recorded their criminal and terroristic acts that day and posted their videos on social media — the man lashed out: “You see it? Go f*** yourself because you’re a f***ing liar.” ?I asked a DNC protestor why he supports Hamas. “I am Hamas, I support them one million percent” pic.twitter.com/MmCLz4TAhz — Cam Higby ?? (@camhigby) August 19, 2024

During his late-night address to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday night, President Joe Biden blamed former President Donald Trump and Republicans for the record-breaking crisis at the southern border. The president also claimed the border is now more secure under the Biden-Harris regime than it was under Trump, due to Biden’s executive actions.  The claims do not align with the facts, however. Here’s what you need to know: What President Biden said during his DNC address   When Biden took office, he immediately worked to undo effective Trump-era border measures, spurring the biggest border crisis in American history. Still, on Monday night, Biden blamed Trump for the crisis for not supporting widely criticized border legislation. “Trump continues to lie about the border,” Biden said Monday night. “Here’s what he won’t tell you: Trump killed the strongest bipartisan border deal in the history of the United States.” Biden also claimed credit for a recent dip in border encounter numbers, which do not include some migrant children and the Biden parole program. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “Then I had to take executive action,” Biden said. “The result of the executive action I took, border encounters have dropped over 50%. In fact, there are fewer border crossings today than when Donald Trump left office.” Fact-Check: Illegal immigration has hit record numbers under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Under Biden and Harris, border apprehensions have hit an all-time high, averaging around 2 million per year. Further, that estimate does not include “gotaways” – the illegal immigrants who are seen crossing the border but never apprehended – or the more than 1 million parole migrants. Last year, the number of observed “gotaways” under Biden and Harris was estimated at 1.7 million, and is certainly higher now. For perspective, the 1.7 million figure is higher than the number of “gotaways” recorded in an entire decade, from 2010 to 2020.  The total number of encounters under the Biden-Harris administration is expected to reach 10 million by the end of this fiscal year.  Notably, at least 372 individuals caught crossing the border illegally have been identified to be on the terror watch list.  There is also the issue of fentanyl illegally pouring into the U.S. Just last year, nearly 75,000 Americans died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the CDC.  Critics say Biden’s recent executive action is not the reason for the recent dip in border encounters U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced in July that encounters were 32% lower than they were in June 2024, and were the “lowest monthly total along the southwest border since September 2020.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has claimed credit for the recent improvement at the border. Abbott was forced into launching Operation Lone Star after he said Biden refused to enforce immigration law. Notably, Biden is fighting Abbott in court for working to secure the border. Panel installation on the Texas border wall continues in Starr County. Texas won’t back down from the fight to keep America safe from the border crisis Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created. We will add even MORE miles of border wall. pic.twitter.com/FDPPDfYtnZ — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 19, 2024 The president of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, recently spoke about the numbers, saying they have more to do with Mexico stemming the tide than the Biden orders. He notably criticized the feds for their lack of support. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “They see the same thing all the time,” Sheriff Rhodes said. “You know, a complete lack of resources on the border, a lack of federal resources, a lack of federal involvement. The sheriffs don’t believe that the executive orders are the reason for this drop off in numbers.” “The idea that those executive orders are issued and then, you know, within a matter of weeks, the numbers are or are down without any intervention from the country of Mexico, is highly implausible and improbable,” the sheriff added. “We’re hoping that that cooperation extends beyond the general election in November.” Republicans have blocked the Democrat-led ‘border bill’ – but because they said the bill ‘codifies’ Biden’s ‘open border’ policies.  Republicans have twice blocked a supposed border security bill that they argue helps to cement Biden’s border policies, which are causing the issues at the border in the first place. For example, the bill expands work authorizations for illegal immigrants, includes language tantamount to the widely criticized “catch and release” policy, and doesn’t address Biden’s unprecedented expansion of the migrant parole program.  In a joint statement, top Republicans said the bill fails to include “critical asylum reforms” and allows “illegals to be ‘released from physical custody.’”  “The so-called ‘shutdown’ authority in the bill is anything but, riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,” the statement continued. “The bill also fails to adequately stop the President’s abuse of parole authority and provides for taxpayer funds to fly and house illegal immigrants in hotels through the FEMA Shelter and Services Program.” Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, urged Republicans to block the bill, highlighting that the legislation was tied to foreign aid and only gives “border emergency authority” after there have been thousands of encounters per day.  “Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5,000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done,” Trump posted to Truth Social.  “This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,” he continued. “It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.” “Don’t be STUPID!!!” Trump wrote. “We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form! The Democrats broke Immigration and the Border. They should fix it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! What Trump and Republicans want passed/implemented to stem the tide of illegals  Republicans have urged Democrats to pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which would, in part, implement Trump-era policy to help secure the border. For example, H.R. 2 would increase the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents, reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and resume the construction of the physical border wall.  Below are highlights of the bill:  requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume activities to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; provides statutory authorization for Operation Stonegarden, which provides grants to law enforcement agencies for certain border security operations; prohibits DHS from processing the entry of non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) arriving between ports of entry; limits asylum eligibility to non-U.S. nationals who arrive in the United States at a port of entry; authorizes the removal of a non-U.S. national to a country other than that individual’s country of nationality or last lawful habitual residence, whereas currently this type of removal may only be to a country that has an agreement with the United States for such removal; expands the types of crimes that may make an individual ineligible for asylum, such as a conviction for driving while intoxicated causing another person’s serious bodily injury or death; authorizes DHS to suspend the introduction of certain non-U.S. nationals at an international border if DHS determines that the suspension is necessary to achieve operational control of that border; prohibits states from imposing licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities used to detain minors; authorizes immigration officers to permit an unaccompanied alien child to withdraw their application for admission into the United States even if the child is unable to make an independent decision to withdraw the application; imposes additional penalties for overstaying a visa; and requires DHS to create an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after the E-Verify system and requires all employers to use the system.

The Daily Wire has an exclusive first look at the trailer for “Average Joe,” the story of a high school football coach who took his fight for the right to pray on the field all the way to the Supreme Court — and won. WATCH: Exclusive first look at “Average Joe,” the true story of how coach Joe Kennedy won at the Supreme Court after he was fired for praying at games. In theaters October 11: pic.twitter.com/CYsfq2AFvV — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 20, 2024 Directed by award-winner Harold Cronk, (“God’s Not Dead,” “Unbroken: Path to Redemption”), the film stars Eric Close (“Nashville,” “American Sniper”) as Joseph Kennedy, assistant football coach of Bremerton High School in Washington. After seven years on the job, school officials asked Kennedy to stop praying with players on field after games. Kennedy refused, saying he had the right to pray quietly in public. The school placed him on administrative leave in 2015, and later fired him for his refusal to stop praying. Kennedy sued the school on religious freedom grounds, and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in a 6-3 decision that Kennedy’s rights had been infringed upon. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “I’ve been fighting my whole life,” Kennedy says in the trailer, over a montage of him getting in scrapes and serving as a Marine. “So, if you told me that saying a prayer on the 50-yard line was a thing that was going to get me in the biggest fight of my life, you can not tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor.” In addition to recounting Kennedy’s battle, “Average Joe” also pulls back the curtain on its subject’s life, giving viewers a glimpse at private moments between Kennedy and his wife, Denise, played by Amy Acker (“Person of Interest,” “Alias”).   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Average Joe (@averagejoemovie) “I made a promise to God. I can’t let him down,” Kennedy tells Denise, who responds, “God doesn’t need you to defend him.” “I’m not defending God. I’m defending the people of this country,” Kennedy says., Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority ruling in Kennedy’s case in June 2023, seven years after the coach began his fight to pray on the field. “Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech,” Gorsuch wrote. “The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.” “Average Joe” hits theaters nationwide on October 11. Related: Fired Football Coach To Be Reinstated After Supreme Court Win

The official campaign website for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz still does not have a policy platform or list of important issues even after the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention on Monday. KamalaHarris.com asks for supporters to “Join the Campaign” and “Chip in” a donation “to power our campaign,” but noticeably absent from the website is a page explaining what issues are most important to Vice President Harris. The campaign website only includes bios for Harris and Walz, a page where supporters can find campaign events near them, and a shop where supporters can purchase Harris gear. Harris has been criticized for staying quiet on many of her policy positions after becoming the de facto nominee nearly one month ago. POLITICO reported that some Democratic lawmakers want Harris to wait until after an election victory to roll out her policy agenda, which would be an unprecedented move from a presidential candidate. The vice president announced her first policy proposal, no tax on tips, on August 10 — two months after former President Donald Trump promised to eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers. Last week, Harris announced more policies to address rising food and housing costs and was slammed by critics who accused her of essentially proposing Soviet-style price controls on groceries. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “As president, I will take on the high costs that matter most to most Americans like the cost of food,” Harris said last Friday. “We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed, but our supply chains have now improved, and prices are still too high. A loaf of bread costs 50% more today than it did before the pandemic. Ground beef is up almost 50%.” “My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead,” she added. The Democratic nominee also promised that, if elected, she would give first-time homeowners $25,000 from the federal government for a down payment on a house. Those who are first-generation homeowners would get more assistance than other first-time homeowners, ABC News reporter Selina Wang wrote on X after getting details about the proposal from a Harris campaign official. The plan was ripped by conservatives, including Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who argued, “Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes. This will only further exacerbate the housing shortage in our country. It’s a disgrace. We should be making it easier and more affordable for American citizens to buy homes.” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI The DNC platform, which was approved by delegates on Monday, was also mocked for referring to President Joe Biden, not Harris, as the party’s nominee. “In the JUST RELEASED Democrat Platform, they mention Crooked Joe Biden’s ‘second Term’ over 20 times,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It shows that the Platform is not that important to them when they won’t even make the change.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said late Monday night that Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has declined to participate in the first proposed presidential debate next month with Fox News. “Comrade Kamala Harris has just informed us that she will NOT do the FoxNews Debate on September 4th,” Trump posted on social media. “I am not surprised by this development because I feel that she knows it is very difficult, at best, for her to defend her record setting Flip-Flopping on absolutely everything she once believed in, including her statements that THERE WILL BE NO FRACKING IN PENNSYLVANIA and her HORRIBLE Performance on the Border, our ‘Border Czar,’ where millions of criminals and people from mental institutions and terrorists, have been allowed to pour into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted.” “It’s called, and she LOVES IT, an OPEN BORDER!!!” he continued. “Rather than the debate on September 4th, I have agreed to do a Tele-Town Hall, anchored by Sean Hannity, for Fox. It will take place in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – Details to follow!” Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Harris and her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, would not agree to multiple proposed debates last week offered by former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH). “The debate about debates is over,” the Harris campaign said. “Donald Trump’s campaign accepted our proposal for three debates – two presidential and a vice presidential debate. Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October.” However, the statement from the Harris campaign was wildly misleading because the Trump campaign said there was “no proposal from a network for an October debate.” The Trump campaign accepted three presidential debates — Fox News on September 4, ABC News on September 10, and NBC News on September 25. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI The Trump campaign also accepted two vice presidential debates, CBS News on October 1 and CNN on September 18. The Trump campaign responded to the Harris campaign’s statement by saying it was obvious which campaign was afraid to debate. “President Trump challenged Kamala to three debates. She only accepted two,” the campaign said. “J.D. Vance challenged Freakish Timothy Walz to two debates. He only accepted one. Just so everyone is aware which campaign in this race is ‘too afraid’ to debate.”

The investigation is ongoing

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