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July 21, 2016

Family

Just been pondering some things since the message at church last night. Bob has begun a series in Colossians on Wednesday nights called "Complete in Christ". It is a series of lessons that delves into alot of doctrine and good meat for grounded Christians but also eases in the milk of the Word for new babes in Christ. My life's verse is in Colossians. ...1:10. Anyhow, 2:2 speaks of "being knit together in love. " Something struck me about that phrase last night and that it was possibly a good topic to blog about. It is speaking of those who are connected to Christ because of salvation. I had planned to blog about that and wrote the verse down so i wouldn't forget. I will address that part later in this post but today on the four hour drive to my daughter's house, I was pondering over how I wanted to approach the subject in my blog and all of a sudden my cousins came to mind. Memories flooded my thoughts. So, I started considering my family and extended family and how the verse can apply to them. 

See, my very first and best friends growing up were my cousins! ---on both sides of my family. Actually, I had sort of a strange family compared to most. My mom's family and my dad's family all knew each other growing up. After my mom and dad were married, our families often mingled. Several parties and get togethers had both sides present and getting along. I had three cousins start kindergarten with me and go all the way to graduation at the same school. I had another cousin on my mom's side also do that but in a different school. So four of us girls graduated high school the same year. We spent lots of time together and at one anothers' homes. But even those who were older and younger spent time together. We just were very close. We all played hard together and fought hard too. One thing is for certain though, my family members may fight amongst themselves, but if an outsider runs their mouth or causes harm we have each other's backs and WE WILL TAKE THAT PERSON'S HEAD OFF! I tell people that I may look like a small, sweet Christian lady who only wears skirts but when I get riled I make Rambo look like Little Mary Sunshine. Mostly that only comes out when protecting my family. I don't see my cousins often anymore but I have absolutely no doubt if I was in need that i could make a phone call and they would be there for me. I also am very certain that if someone were to harm me that they would show up ready for retaliation. I'm so confident in this that I have more than once told someone who was being somewhat threatening towards me that "if you do anything to hurt me, my family will come out of the wood work and hunt you down like a dog on a coon and the depths of hell won't keep you from them so you best think long and hard about it"! 

Our hearts are knit together in love. ---Because we are family. Because we were taught and shown the value of family. Because we've been through the ups and downs of life together.  Because we have a connection and memories and laughter and tears and that binds us. 

It is amazing to me how many families out there don't share this.  There is disfunctional chaos and fighting and not speaking and trying to harm one another within their own family. I don't understand this really but I've seen it. 

Now, church family should be the same way. Even if there is disagreement or arguing, when push comes to shove or an outsider tries to do harm, we should have each other's backs. BECAUSE we are family....knit together in love by Jesus Christ. We have that common bond. We work together in the church, we serve together, we sing, praise, pray, study God's Word and learn together. We laugh and cry together too. The Bible says to share one another's burdens and joys. 

Things in common do bond people together. What do you think support groups are all about?! Tragedies bond people. Illnesses bond. Even happy times bond people. Why can't this country have one another's backs as a whole? We are so divided. How about the common bond of United States of America? For a short time we united after 9-11. ---because the outsiders and enemies came in and attacked. Tragedy struck. Suddenly we needed to bond and huddle together and mourn and regroup and circle the wagons and be on the defensive first and then the offensive to make sure it never happened again. Now, that bond seems broken and we are self-destructing from within. More and more division lines are being drawn. You know that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. How about the HUMAN race instead of all the different ones being named. By the way, muslim is not a race it's a religion! How about LIFE! All this figthing amongst ourselves to the point we are at, makes us weak to our enemies. It seems it is not like the family unit I know....that even though there is fighting among us, outsiders still better beware cuz we will still fight against you for the whole. No. Everyone is too worried about their individual rights and their causes and their wants. It just keeps up the separation and fighting and unity matters not at all. I wonder what God will need to do next. Will He bring another whole country tragedy or maybe He will just allow the USA to self destruct on the course it's on. 

I'm here to say ALL lives matter. All murder is a hate crime. I have blood family. I have church family and I also have American family. If an outsider wants to harm....I'm going to fight for them. Figuring out who the outsiders and enemies are is becoming increasingly harder but I still think you have your family's back. 

I hope this post made some sense. 

July 20, 2016

Considering Trump

Been rolling some thoughts around in my head the past week or so. Thought I'd share some. With the biased media coverage and this political era completely going bonkers this past year, at times it is hard to keep facts straight and not get caught up in the distractions and rhetoric. 

Now, let me say right here that Trump is not my first choice candidate...that would have been Ted Cruz. As a matter of fact, I'm a little concerned that Trump until now, has always heavily supported Hillary Clinton and other democratic candidates. Ever since he threw his hat in the ring and began running his mouth, I said that we don't need another dictator, we already have one; even though he may be saying some things I like and that are more in line with my way of thinking. Talk is cheap as we learn when every election time comes around! As the old country song says, "When a president goes to the White House doors and does what he says he'll do. We'll all be drinking that free bubble ub and eating that rainbow stew."!!! In reality until lately anyhow, the president's power is limited and we are really run by congress. However, until congress gets a back bone and stops allowing illegal and unconstitutional things to take place, nothing will change. It will also not change as long as it's a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" system and worrying about the next election time. I do believe that after this election, no matter who is elected in November, come four years from then, if the Lord tarries, the good old USA will be tired of a two-party system and open to much more. I'd love to see the electoral college gone and the president elected by popular vote across the land. No state should be more powerful than another! It is one country. 

Now, back to Trump....Let's sort out some of the junk. Conservatives think he's not conservative enough. I've wondered that myself in some aspects of his life, considering his past choices. I think "his change of mind" is yet to be seen and it is a wait and see game if he's elected. All I do know is (and I'm still scratching my head over it) that he beat out 16 other candidates to get to this point. Some of those were very good, strong candidates! When I scratch my head I remind myself that God has a plan. (that's what I had to do the last two elections...sometimes nations face the wrath of God for turning from Him as a whole, hmmm something to ponder!) Anyhoo, Christians question his morals based on his casinos and divorces. Hmm...I can understand that to a point. However, none of us knows the ins and outs of the marriages and divorces. Many of the former presidents had affairs (some had many!) while in the White House (literally!) Including everyone's precious JFK! When Bill Clinton did it...no one cared! All everyone said is "it's not that he did it. It's that he lied about it". Just because Trump got divorced doesn't mean he was not a good father. Obviously, his children seem to love and respect him. They have been taught to be successful in things they pursue. I don't know personally (though I may not be up on it) of any scandals concerning his kids. I'm pretty positive that there are some former presidents and vice presidents that cannot be said of them! I'm going to leave the casino thing alone. Not my thing but I'm pretty sure that many current and past politicians in every area have made money in other less than desirable ways. That doesn't make it right but I'm just saying. We all draw our lines somewhere. Some may question him becoming rich because of someone else's addictions. There are times when I question someone becoming rich from running a funeral home so....

Some question him having no political background. (though I'm pretty sure he's been in the circles for years) I'm also pretty sure that's why he's the nominee --people are sick and tired of politicians. They no longer trust them. Besides, that's what good advisers are for! Hopefully, he won't have czars! lol 

Now, let's look at some positives about him. He absolutely knows how to run a company. He is an extremely successful business man. And here, he will be conservative because a person that builds an empire business is not all willy nilly about his finances. He won't be successful that way. So, maybe he will be the one to rein in the out of control spending in America. 

I believe whole heartily that he will rebuild a strong military and maybe even steer us clear of some of the foreign junk going on. I am hoping he will help to make us a powerful and fierce nation that the rest of the world fears enough to leave alone. Trying to appease every other nation is absolutely ridiculous! I guarantee that other nations do not allow outsiders to come to their nation and make demands and cater to them. If you want to be a part of this nation then come be a part ... LEGALLY!... and blend in...don't demand it be the way the country you left was!!!! (that was a free rant)

Now, to the most important reason to back Trump....supreme court judges! The next president will get to appoint possibly up to five! For the past several years we have had our liberties stripped and unconstitutional junk crammed down our throats due to unchecked liberal judges rewriting laws instead of interpreting them. One can only hope that Trump's choices would lean more conservative cuz God help this country if he doesn't! I'm absolutely for term limits on every level of politics!!! Even if you have a good one. I think that there is too much possibility of corruption sneaking in to even the best politician's character. 

Well, I reckon that's all I have to say about that. Just some thoughts to consider---not that I reach many but hey sometimes it's little by little. 



July 15, 2016

She Broke the Box!

Giving our all to God.
Mark 14:3

First, I'd like to point out that Mary didn't remove the lid or cork & pour the ointment out. 
--if she had she might have been tempted to keep some of it for herself to use or sell

Sometimes we hold back giving something to God or someone else because we will have to give up something---time, money, possessions

---we say, "if I give to this offering, I can't go to the movies, or out to dinner, or buy this certain item"
--we say, "If I drive a bus route or visit a bus route, I have to get up early on Sundays, eat later than normal for lunch, and/or give up time on Saturdays"
--we say, "If I drive that person to the doctor or store, I won't have gas for my own trip somewhere or I don't feel like doing that, I want to do something else"

Let's look at two areas in our lives where we can give all to God...
In Giving & Offerings
---Widow's 2 mites - Luke 21:1-4
--Ex. 36:5 - And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

-- people gave so much willingly for the building of the sanctuary that Moses had to stop them from bringing any more
--1 Chron. 29:3 

--If we set our affection on the house of God, we will want to give - it is hard to invest time and money in something when our heart isn't in it - Matt. 6:21 
--Fireproof movie -- dare challenge

In Our Care of Others
 - story of man with palsy - Mark 2:1-5

friends or family cared so much that they took much effort and time to get the mad to Jesus
--Jesus saw their faith

--story of Good Samaritan - Luke 10:30-35
He showed compassion, - it cost him time and money 
--caring for someone's injuries is also kind of gross, but he did it.

Mary broke the box...she held nothing back...she gave it all to Jesus

We sing the song "All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give."
What we should sing is "Some to Jesus I surrender. Some to Him I grudgingly give."