Month: August 2022

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WANT TO SHOW YOUR FAITH? PLANT A TREE

As a Christian I try to make sure my faith is reflected in what I do and how I respond to situations. Trust me when I say that I don’t always win that battle, especially the part, of responding to situations, but I am a work in progress.

I have asked numerous Christians how they show their faith and the answers were interesting. Several people said they tithe. Some then went on to mention other things they did but I found it interesting that their first response was about money. One person stopped and that was all that she mentioned. Now, don’t get me wrong, tithing is important. God not only mentions it in the Bible numerous times but it is the only test he gives his people (Malachi 3:10). However, in my opinion, it is a more personal manifestation of a person’s faith and doesn’t usually impact other people on a personal level.

Many people mentioned supporting charities. Others mentioned their work at their church such as teaching the youth or working with the teens. Others mentioned other volunteer work they did at their church.

Some people mentioned missionary work out of the area they live in. Some had gone away for as long as a year and others each year for a week or two. People talked about teaching other people about Christ or building homes and churches.

Others explained how they worked in prison ministries. They said that although the numbers they saw accepting Christ were often low they still feel that the ones they saved were worth their effort. The people who work with girls who have been victims of human trafficking explained that even though it broke their hearts when they heard the girls’ stories they still felt it was the best way for them to show and act on their faith.

Several women mentioned making meals for people when they have had some tragedy befall them. This one especially touches my heart as I have always told my girls that if you want to show people you care: bring food. A few mentioned organizing a meal train. I have to say that organizing a meal train can be a real hassle. Lots of people will give you the most ridiculous reasons why they would like to help but can’t. Then you will have the people who confirmed for a certain day and then forget or just let you know last minute that they can’t. On those days I would give a big salute to God for the creation of places like KFC where I would be running last minute to fill that days dinner.

I have known women who rocked AIDS babies or who volunteer in hospitals to rock babies abandoned by family. They read or play with children who again have no one visiting them. I am reminded of Jesus’s words regarding children. Matthew 18:5 “He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

I have a friend who was a wonderful prayer warrior for me and my daughter when my daughter was in Intensive Care for a couple of weeks. A year later she was diagnosed with cancer but that didn’t stop her. Even when she was in a hospital bed in her living room she kept in touch with the people who sent her prayer requests. She is doing much better as the Lord has worked on healing her and her prayer work is still going strong. Praying for others is something any of us can do and we should remember that praying for each other is what we are supposed to do as a Christian. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” One of the good things about social media is that you can get a prayer chain going quickly. I depend on my prayer warriors often and I love the privilege of praying for others.

There are many ways to show your faith. Your faith is reflected in the jokes you tell, the TV shows and movies you watch and the music you listen to. Faith should come down to the simple fact of you wanting to show God that you are doing your part to help others get to know Him. If you are listening to music with filthy lyrics or shows that glorify Satan then why would you expect anyone to want to follow your God? It isn’t complicated. However, if you want an easy way to show your faith, plant a tree. Plant a tree even though you know you will never sit under its branches. Now that’s faith!!

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WHO DO WE ALLOW INTO OUR HOUSES EVERY DAY?

I bet if I asked any of my friends if they would allow a vulgar drug addict or a girl dressed like a hooker who wanted to twerk in their living room to spend a couple of hours in their house or maybe even babysit their impressionable children they would look at me in shock.  Maybe a mentally disturbed alcoholic who likes to defecate wherever they are, or a young person who wants to sing vulgar songs? Would they allow that person inside to spend time with their children? I bet whoever I asked would give me a look of astonishment mixed with terror. They would then go into a tirade on how someone like that would never be allowed in their house. Good grief, alarm systems are almost a given today when you buy a house. None of us want the riff raff to come into our homes. Those are not the kind of people we want to be exposed to and we surely don’t want those people anywhere near our children. And yet, they are in our homes every day. If you have a TV, I guarantee you those people are flapping their jaws inside of your house. Except for “Blue Bloods” I can’t think of a TV show that doesn’t portray the father or husband as a fool who constantly needs to be rescued by his wife or the women in his life. What happened to strong male figures? Why is that offensive today? TV shows are notorious for having the children talk to their parents rudely and disrespectfully as the parents laugh. Then parents wonder why their children try it at home.  If  you think I am exaggerating just turn on Nickelodeon, You Tube or even Disney and pick any show with children in it.  One example is the movie Red Panda which was put out by Disney.  It has a 13 year old girl yelling at her mother that she is 13 now and can do what she wants.  I raised five daughters and I assure you that would not have gone over well with me. It isn’t just the shows anymore. It is the commercials. I bet there are people reading this who have had their children ask why there is a crooked carrot being discussed on TV. Or why there is special medicine for something call HIV that two men kissing need to buy? Feminine products aimed at any and all issues a woman might ever need to address are discussed in the most specific details imaginable. The advertisers don’t seem to understand that women know the issues they need to address, and they don’t need a graphic commercial to guide them and they don’t need their young children asking them questions about these commercials. If you are like most people, you have a plethora of channels to choose from and trust me the teens know how to find the ones you least want them to watch. They are inundated with music and videos using all kinds of vile and filthy words. Lyrics that degrade females and use an assortment of crude words to identify the women as well as their intimate parts are played on numerous channels. The promotion of drugs is done in a subtle manner that should make anyone’s skin crawl. So much of what is out there is insidious and it is all aimed at our young people. This is going on under your roof as you are trying to teach your children manners, class and respect. If the TV isn’t enough to worry about there are the smart phones and computers that nearly every teen or pre-teen has access to and which can give them a window to all the issues I mentioned above. To make it even more frightening there is the issue of Human Trafficking and the predators who know how to use the numerous sites that are popular with teens and pre-teens today in an attempt to suck them into their sordid world. There are people like my daughter who are qualified to discuss these issues and what to look for so that parents can be alert. She gives these presentations to schools, civic organizations and churches. You can call your local police department to make arrangements. It is not easy today to be a parent and parents must always be diligent. Even though everyone is busy; parents must find a few minutes each day to see what their children are accessing on their devices. Too many parents don’t want to offend their children and have them think they don’t trust them. Trust me they will get over feeling you don’t trust them. Bottom line: don’t over trust your child. Stay on top of what they are viewing and accessing.  Take time to watch one of the shows they like with them and if it isn’t acceptable explain to them why not.  Get engaged with your children.  This reminds them that you care; even if they say they wish you would leave them alone. As so many parents have jobs, and need to depend on sitters, they must make sure they know the person who will have access to their child for many hours a day. You can never let your guard down, as there are people out there ready to pounce and drag your child down a path you would never choose for them nor would they ever choose for themselves.
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WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES

One of my favorite songs is “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” by Elvis. One of the stanzas is: “And before you accuse, criticize and abuse; just walk a mile in my shoes.” I think how true those words are and I can’t help but think that maybe things would be smoother in this country if we all followed the premise of that song.

It is easy to take a stand on a social issue that you aren’t personally affected by and of all the social issues today I don’t believe any is as polarizing as abortion.

Years ago I worked for a doctor who performed abortions. I was a counselor and every woman who came in had to meet with me for a bit and I explained the alternatives to abortion with them. I would say about 5% would reconsider. I considered that a win. If I hadn’t been there, I believe that those women would have had an abortion they really didn’t want. However, those that opted to get the abortion were treated with respect. Some of the stories I heard were horrifying. I also talked to women who didn’t give abortion the same attention they gave to picking out the color of polish for their pedicure. They were equally horrifying to me but in a different way.

The people outside protesting made me angry. Some of those people even went so far as to follow the girls home and knock on their door and tell who lived there where they had been! The majority of the protestors will tell you they are out because God wants them to be and I want to say that I doubt that is the case. I believe this because not one of those women and it was mostly women, ever offered to take a pregnant teen in to their home and help them. Not one offered to buy them a crib or offer any type of financial aid. Not one offered to babysit so the girl could finish school. When I asked one group of women if they had ever offered one of these young women any of the previously mentioned services ; one women looked at me askance and said she would never have one of “those” girls in her house. I don’t think any of those people heard the song because they were very good at accusing, criticizing and abusing.

I lost track of the number of girls that were brought in by their mothers because their mothers said they had to have an abortion. These same women had spent their entire time raising their daughters telling them about the evil of abortion. Now that their daughter was pregnant they were concerned about what the people in their family, at church, and in their neighborhood etc. would think about their daughter being pregnant. They would get furious when I told them that if their daughter didn’t want the abortion she couldn’t make her have it. Several threatened to leave their daughters with me and I would explain that we would find someone loving to assist them. Only two actually did that and family came and got them.

Now. let us look at the protestors who are furious because Roe was over turned on a federal level. These people are blind to states rights issues and that is unfortunate because we live in a country that is built on the principle of Federalism. What is sad in my view is that they are making time to harass the Supreme Court Judges who voted to over turn and to harass and even damage services that assist pregnant women who want to keep their child. It is almost as though they believe everyone should want to have an abortion and anyone who doesn’t want to is in need of help. Obviously, these people show no desire to assist a pregnant woman and don’t even respect the fact that there are people and organizations that want to help pregnant women. It is perfectly legal for this group to try to change the laws regarding abortion in their state but what good does it do anyone when they use their hatred to destroy property and threaten judges? I used the word hatred because I truly believe the extreme radicals on the left are powered by a hatred that borders on demonic at times.

One side spews too much hatred and the other side too much self-righteousness. Both sides need to listen to the song and let the words, “and before you accuse, criticize and abuse; just walk a mile in my shoes” resonate in their hearts.

Abortion will always to a part of life. There is recorded evidence of abortions from 1550 BCE found in Egyptian Ebers Papyrus. I would like to think everyone would like to see less of them in this country.

We don’t know what another person’s battles are and we need to be compassionate. Abortion is the most emotion laden issue in this country. Sadly, the issue has become the pro-choice group v the anti-abortion group. Lost in all of this is the baby whose life was ended before it started and the female who is facing the most difficult decision of her life. She is lost in all the protesting.