No MORE Facebook?

I have taken a 40 day break from Facebook...
which has been very challenging.


Seriously, challenging.


I am spending this time to focus on God.
And pray.


So...here I am if you want to talk!!!!

LOVE

Love your enemies?


We first need to recognize who we consider an enemy?  Really, who are our enemies?  If we are at war than it is easier to see an understand an "enemy" but when one is not fighting do enemies still exist?


I know people who, even though they profess to be Christians, have anger towards Muslims.  It is true that radical Muslims have attacked us as a country, but not all Muslims are radical and God calls us to love our enemies.  If we do not love them, are we sinning?


What about homosexuals?  God speaks of their abomination in the Old Testament.  Look at Sodom & Gomorrah.  In fact, wouldn't it be easier to let them just go die in a hole somewhere?  Are they the enemy?  Do you not know that they are also sons and daughters of men and women?  Do you not know that their heavenly Father loves them just as much as he loves you?  


They are worthy of God's love.
They are worthy of your love.


What about the parent who was not a good parent.  You were hungry for affection from a father that only cared for his bottle of booze.  Or maybe he was a workaholic?  Maybe your mother loved your sister more than you...

Who is your enemy?


Is it your neighbor that you have argued with continually?  Is it the turd at the grocery store that looks at you funny?  Is it the person who has offended your spirit?  Maybe it is that girl from high school that really cut you deeply with her words or actions...or that ex-boyfriend who told you - you were not good enough.  


They are out there.
Who are they?
People that believe a lie.


And now...so do you.

* A great stroy from Bart Campolo that he picked up on a visit to Philadelphia last week, which was first told to psychologist Jack Kornfield by the director of a nearby rehabilitation program for violent juvenile offenders:

One 14-year-old boy in the program had shot and killed an innocent teenager to prove himself to his gang.  At the trial, the victim’s mother sat impassively silent until the end, when the youth was convicted of the killing.  After the verdict was announced, she stood up slowly and stared directly at him and stated, “I’m going to kill you.”  Then the youth was taken away to serve several years in the juvenile facility.

After the first half-year the mother of the slain child went to visit his killer.  He had been living on the streets before the killing, and she was the only visitor (in jail) he’d had.  For a time they talked, and when she left she gave him some money for cigarettes.  Then she started step-by-step to visit him more regularly, bringing food and small gifts.

Near the end of his three-year sentence, she asked him what he would be doing when he got out.  He was confused and very uncertain, so she offered to help set him up with a job at a friend’s company.  Then she inquired about where he would live, and since he had no family to return to, she offered him temporary use of the spare room in her home.  For eight months he lived there, ate her food, and worked at the job.

Then one evening she called him into the living room to talk.  She sat down opposite him and waited.  Then she started, “Do you remember in the courtroom when I said I was going to kill you?”  “I sure do,” he replied.  “I’ll never forget that moment.”  “Well, I did it,” she went on.  “I did not want the boy who could kill my son for no reason to remain alive on this earth.  I wanted him to die.  That’s why I started to visit you and bring you things.  That’s why I got you the job and let you live here in my house.  That’s how I set about changing you.  And that old boy, he’s gone. So now I want to ask you, since my son is gone, and that killer is gone, if you’ll stay here. I’ve got room and I’d like to adopt you if you let me.”  And she became the mother he never had.

I don't know if this woman is a follower of Jesus but she sure challenges me to live like her - with grace and mercy! Her response to the murderer of her son, having him live under her same roof, providing for his needs and eventually adopting him, is astounding. Her idea of killing people is profound - kill off their old hardened, hurting, self through unconditional love - is exactly what Jesus wants us to do.

Another form of love your enemies?

Do you remember the story of the Amish schoolhouse?  In October 2006 Charles Robert IV went into a school house in Lancaster, PA and shot 10 girls (6-13), killing 5, and committed suicide.  


"Roberts and the boys carried lumber, a shotgun, a stun-gun, wires, chains, nails, tools and a small bag. Also brought into the classroom was a length of wooden board with multiple sets of metal eye-hooks. The contents of the bag included a change of clothes, toilet paper, candles, and flexible plastic ties. Using wooden boards, Roberts barricaded the front door."     


"Shortly before Roberts opened fire, two sisters, Marian and Barbie Fisher, 13 and 11, requested that they be shot first that the others might be spared. Barbie was wounded, while her older sister was killed.  A child's loud screaming was heard from within the school."  


"Reports stated that most of the girls were shot "execution-style" in the back of the head."  "Inside the school, Ballenger said, "there was not one desk, not one chair, in the whole schoolroom that was not splattered with either blood or glass. There were bullet holes everywhere, everywhere."  


"On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man." Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God." 


"A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims."


You see - these men and women knew what it took to love your enemy.  Do you?


It's easy.
Forgive.
Understand.
Walk a mile.
Relate.
Forgive.
Pray.
Trust the Lord.
He is Righteous.
He is the Judge.
Love.
Love.
Love.


You see, those that we create hate for are those that believed a lie.  We have all been deceived but as Christ-followers it is our job to open our eyes and distinguish the truth from the lies.  


Every thought.
What we listen to.
What we say.  
What we feel.


2 Corinthians 3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."




Pray for our enemies.  Pray that how we think and feel about those people soften so that we can LOVE them.  


"Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us."  Matthew 6:12

GBE: Do-Overs

As I look in the mirror, at the reflection of myself, and I see all the lines around my eyes I begin to look past myself and into my past.  As I go back in time my heart breaks with all the mistakes that I have made along the way.  In that moment as pain pierces my heart I cry out to God, "I'm so sorry."


What if I could do it all over again?
Would it make a difference?


My thoughts bring me back to the beginning.  The beginning of all the mistakes and wrong thinking and poor decisions.  I take a glance at all the things that were around me that made me choose those things.  I looked at my "mentors."  If somehow someone had entered my life and affected me to the core, I would not have started drinking and partying - and I would have valued myself because I could have seen myself through God's eyes, and not my own.  


My self worth would have been known.
I would not have lost my virginity.
I would have gotten better grades in school.
I would have attended college.
I would have waited for God to bring that special someone.


I sit down now.  A wave of what-if's gives to a wave of nausea.  It's quite possible that if I change just the first part of my life story and do it all over again that I will miss out on the most intricate part of my life story.

which translates to this...

He knew my future before I ever experienced my past.  He knew I was going to make those choices and who would not step-up to mentor me in a good way.  He knew that I would be easily deceived and that in due time I would cry out for him!  He knew that my experience would help him to save many.

You see, even though it was a broken road

It was also blessed with God's mercy and miracles.

My husband at the age of 20.

My children.

I cannot imagine my life without all of those things, and my experience made them happen.  I no longer carry guilt or resentment for my past - because my faith has healed me.  I have to take those experiences and find God's purpose in my life.

My Purpose Defined

I cannot continue to look back into my past and want to change it.  Instead I need to look into the NOW which will lead to my future - and help those that have had MY EXPERIENCE and help others have an easier road.  My job now is to LOVE and to FORGIVE.

Would you change yours???

Ramblings.

Lately I have been having nightmares at night.  The kind that bolt you upright into bed and you scream.  The kind that every time you close your eyes you are a little bit scared.


The kind that make me feel like a little kid all over again.


So I continue to pray that these nightmares vanish.  I am a child of God so I cannot be scared of the dark!  It all seems so rational until I go to sleep!


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Tomorrow I am going to lunch with my friends to celebrate my neighbors birthday.  There will only be a few of us and I have a little gift certificate that I'm using.  After that I'm headed to try and give blood again.  I attempted two weeks ago and was denied due to low iron levels...I figure after eating lunch AND taking my multi-vitamin I should be good to go!


AND I will earn a new gift certificate AND a movie ticket!


Here's to date nights!


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This week I have two projects.  My first project is to make homemade jelly out of a bunch of frozen fruit I was given a few months ago.  I really don't know what I'm doing or how to do it - but I need to free up some freezer space so here's to figuring it all out.  Anyone know how to do it?  I figure if I can can venison, surely I can do this, right????


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I'm up to getting THREE people to make their own laundry detergent.  Do you know how much this excites me?  Seriously, it does.  Why?  Well, because as a society we are told how much we need this product and that product and they make the prices outrageous and we have FORGOTTEN how things are made.  Our parents and our grandparents KNOW HOW, they just chose to buy.  In these days, with tight budgets and trying to get debt under control making little changes can add up.  I'm excited that OTHERS want to do a simple thing that can save them money too!


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Ministries.  I have a question for you - is there something that you feel passionate about?  Something that you do at your church?  Something that, even if you are not a christian you do that helps out in the community?  Do you feed the hungry?  I don't know - what do you DO?






That's all I have right now.  The hubby is on his way back from RedBox returning our free rental and then it's time for bed.  What are YOU doing?


Did anyone tell you that tomorrow is MONDAY?  :)

Plastic wrap?

The past few years God has continued to change me and shape me into something that looks much different.  He's taken all the broken shattered pieces of my life and didn't just glue them back together, but he pressed them into purpose.  


I'm like the extreme OVERHAULIN.
Have you ever watched that show?


On that show they really take the car apart.  They give it new parts, new engines, remove all the rust, customizes new doors and windshields and even though you KNOW it's the same car - there is definitely a new look to it.  It has a "glow."


That's what he's done to me.
Not like PIMP MY RIDE...
Where they often leave the insides still in shambles but throw in a cool tv and stereo system, some bangin' new paint color and shazam...


No...God isn't like that.


He takes care of the details.  We were created correctly - to serve his purpose in our lives, but somewhere from our entrance into Earth and our part in the world we lost track of it, got all banged up, scratched at chipped our paint and even our FRAMES are rusting and falling apart.  One glance in the mirror and we can't even tell WHO we are.  That's when he asks - are you ready for me to clean you up and get you back onto the road?  


My road?


Seriously though, God does not miss even the trivial details that really could be easily overlooked.  My husband and I are currently waiting for God to open a door...THE DOOR.  He left his job due to the unethical, immoral and illegal doings of the company.  Now we are being denied unemployment - and this was the first time in our entire marriage that we have tried to get it - to cover the bills.  Prior to him resigning we were saving food in a twist of events that was also orchestrated by God.  So here we are...bills are being paid, not only do we have the food we save but food (fruits, vegetables, eggs and milk) has been making it's way to our home.  Our kitchen is more filled with food NOW then it has been in over a year.


Food is not trivial - but abundance of food?
You know something that is trivial?  
Plastic wrap.
Plastic wrap and foil.
Plastic wrap, foil and cooking spray.


You see yesterday I was just talking out loud to God.  Just mentioning some things to him that we need and how are we going to get them?  Things like plastic wrap and foil.  Cooking spray has been on the list for a week but I've just been using our abundance of vegetable oil.  Not the healthiest choice, but it works.


Yesterday evening my husband came home after working all day for our former church's thrift store.  He moved a someone's ENTIRE HOUSE.  Can you imagine what he had in his arms?


BAGS.
BAGS OF PANTRY ITEMS.


I bet you can guess what those items are?
Yep.  
That's right.
Plastic wrap, foil, and cooking spray.


Coincidentally (not really because this is God we are talking about) I was telling my husband that I told this to God today and my son said - mom...I just used the last of the foil and plastic wrap for my project!  


Really? 
Perfect timing.


You know what else?  I asked about the eggs.  Lord, how am I going to get eggs?  I went to my neighbors house and he asked if I had any empty egg cartons because his co-workers chickens had EXTRA EGGS and he'd like me to have them.


WHAT?


I know that many of you don't believe in God.  You believe the light that is within you.  You believe in karma.  You may believe in God but not the Son or the Holy Spirit...


I wish you knew me.
I wish you knew that if life was Karma - I'd be dead.
No amount of loving myself would get me to where I am now.


And God's love and mercy?
Oh is he merciful!


You may scoff at my little miracles, but I do not.  And if God can be faithful to my itty-bitty requests for plastic wrap and foil - I am pretty sure that I should trust him to provide for our bills as we wait for THE DOOR that God has promised us to open.


I have faith.
Do you?

My Purpose Statement.

My purpose is to FIGHT.

My purpose is to fight for those that may or may not KNOW that they need to be fought for.

My purpose is to empower, encourage and SHARE my story to help others that may be experiencing the same heart ache or loss of self.

My purpose is to give LOVE to those that need love.
You do not need to be "my child" to be my child.

My purpose is to help kids become adults who KNOW GOD and want a relationship with Him because he is the air that they breath.  Through that purpose I want to empower not only the CHILDREN but the parents who are TIRED and have given up on their own marriages.

My purpose is to encourage others.
My purpose is to help others.
My purpose is to open my home to whomever needs a safe haven.

FRIDAY!!!

Currently lost in a mountain of prayers as we go through more changes as a family.  I expect that the end of this road should show a lot of hope as to what we will do with our future.  


I will be back on Monday with a real write.


Have a GREAT Friday!