tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094040177098345412024-03-14T01:09:07.435-04:00A Courageous Heart"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-88358821304615620352019-01-15T20:58:00.001-05:002019-01-15T20:58:05.714-05:00Why I March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdH528MBk8s7ozqyRWlfHORQHmGwnCmLGSPg1u6Eq5ajsL_r3nMTedjaHcTTffp-YS2OnkIXve3NUjAEyfD5xz1qm5-34SW1uhxEspaH-QLLN1CUpe0r0utQYU0mbwQ4Dzs9ue69YhAke/s1600/March+for+Life+Banner+2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="960" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdH528MBk8s7ozqyRWlfHORQHmGwnCmLGSPg1u6Eq5ajsL_r3nMTedjaHcTTffp-YS2OnkIXve3NUjAEyfD5xz1qm5-34SW1uhxEspaH-QLLN1CUpe0r0utQYU0mbwQ4Dzs9ue69YhAke/s400/March+for+Life+Banner+2019.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">On Friday, I'm planning to go into Washington, DC for the March for Life 2019.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>I'm marching because I regret my abortions.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The first when I was just 17 years old, alone, afraid and ashamed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The second when I was 22 years old, selfish, prideful and stubborn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My story is an ugly, complicated mess. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I'm not proud of who I was, where I've been, or what I did.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-fe596fb7-7fff-a7bf-813e-356b13728ffe"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But I'm here today </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>ONLY</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> because of the absolute undeserved and unmerited grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">He alone turned my mess into a masterpiece of redemption. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Ephesians 2:10 says </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I regret my abortions</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, but I don't regret the road that Jesus allowed me to travel afterwards. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A road that led me to his grace and love. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Because of Jesus, I am made new. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Because he's forgiven me, he no longer sees who I was and what I did - he only sees me through eyes of love. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Some of you may wonder why I am so open about the truly horrific choices I made all those years ago. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The answer is simple: </span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>t freed me</i></span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For years I'd walked around in fear - fear that someone, anyone would discover my secrets. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And that when they did, I knew I'd be rejected. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I was such a good, fake Christian. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I was at church 3 times a week. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I sang in the choir. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I even worked in the church office. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But one night, the truth caught up to me when God whispered in my ear - </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>'Stop running. Stop hiding. Come to me. All will be well, just give it all to me.' </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It was a voice I couldn't ignore any longer and when I asked him to forgive me and change me and free me - </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">he did. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>In an instant. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I was breathing in the clean, fresh air of grace for the first time ever, and I knew I was different. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Changed. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forgiven. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Free.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you've been so radically forgiven by the God of the universe, you can't help but tell others about it. </span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And through the years of sharing my story, I've discovered something - </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">t</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">here are so many more of you out there - Just. Like. Me.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You've come to me with whispered thank you's, saying 'Me too.'</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You've asked me to pray for you - for courage to come out into the light of freedom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You've sent me cards and letters, sharing your story, baring your soul to me - because you know that I'll never reject you or condemn you. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>We are kindred, you and I.</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I'm here to tell you that you, sweet sister, are not alone in your fear and shame.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are not alone in your story, in your past or your present. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The enemy wants you to believe you're alone because he knows that when you come into the light of forgiveness and truth - you are freed from his lies that isolate you and hold you captive. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 8:1 says this, </span><b style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>"So now there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has FREED you from the power of sin that leads to death."</i></b></div>
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<b style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trusting Jesus can break every chain that holds you down and can allow you to live in freedom from your past. Sweet friend, I regret my abortions and there will always be a hurt place in my heart for those innocent lives I so callously disregarded. But the enemy cannot use those choices as a weapon against me anymore because of Jesus. Jesus has taken my broken mess of a life and is using my story to help others just like me - just like you - to find freedom and forgiveness at his feet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 8:28 says this, <b><i>"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose."</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">God has an amazing purpose and plan for you - believe it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never thought he could use someone like me - the worst of the worst. A nothing. A cold-hearted, selfish nobody. If Jesus could change me, could give me a life of light and freedom and forgiveness, then he most assuredly can change you too and give you the same and more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 5:1-2 says this, <b><i>"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of UNDESERVED PRIVILEGE where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." </i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We can never deserve the privilege of Jesus' love for us, but we have it if we want it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll be praying for you. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For courage, for peace, for freedom. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I'll be marching on Friday for those who cannot.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-74008446690933922672018-07-30T22:14:00.000-04:002018-07-31T17:03:09.021-04:00A Social Life<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid”</i></b> - John 14:27</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I sat hunched over in the chair, elbows on my knees, iPhone in my hands.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a tightness in my chest and a slight sick feeling in my stomach.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">As my right thumb hovered over the Facebook icon, I was at the same time anticipating and dreading opening the app.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Not because I was fearful of what I would see or read or hear, but rather, I was fearful of opening Pandora’s Box once again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">For two weeks, I had completely stepped away from social media.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I was taking a long needed vacation with my family to my happiest place, the Coast of Maine, and I decided I wanted to totally disconnect from all the noise in my everyday world, s</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">o much of which comes from my social media accounts.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">While I was away, I had decided to check out, take a break, step away, shut down for maintenance, tune out….all of the above.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Most importantly, I was giving my heart and soul and mind a rest.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve been so tired, weary actually, and I was welcoming peace back into my overwhelmed days. Not only had my daily life been unusually full of activity, my online life had seemed to suck up my ‘free’ minutes more and more as I escaped into the lives of other people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Those minutes quickly became crowded with news and videos and stories and updates and photos and LIFE!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">All of which was being shared in seemingly rapid-fire succession by friends and strangers alike.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Most times I would click into the app and immediately get sucked into the scroll. Like some perverted machine gun of information, my Facebook feed would shoot out all the life happenings of everyone I’m ‘friends’ with on that little screen. And the physical world around me became dimmer as I grew oblivious to the flesh and blood people near me and instead, entranced with the happenings of people that I couldn’t touch or see or hear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And it just felt wrong.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">My self-imposed hiatus from social media was surprisingly, completely freeing. I’d been nervous about how I would handle being off the grid for such a long time and happily, it enabled me to right the ship so to speak.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">While on vacation, I didn’t miss my accounts one iota. Instead, I was able to be fully present with my family; fully present in the moments both shared and solitary. I felt no pull towards the scroll, no ‘need’ to share the minutiae of my day for perhaps the first time in years.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I had given myself permission to become private again. Simply enjoying my hours free of the need for shares and likes and comments. I loved it, and that shocked me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And it bothers me that I’m so shocked by the peace I found.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Some of my Facebook ‘friends’ are truly that, people I have a deep and abiding friendship and connection with, and I LOVE keeping up with their lives.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Some ‘friends’ are family members who live far away, but we can stay connected easily with a touch of that blue icon.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m grateful for that on so many levels.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But in all honesty, most of my ‘friends’ I only know through social media because of our shared interests. And usually it’s only one interest.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s these one-dimensional connections that I struggle with the most.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m asking myself “Has my world grown too large?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">By having so many ‘friends’ have I given too much permission for others to have a piece of my life? </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s so much pressure to perform when you’re active on social media. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Pressure to post, to like, to comment, to share. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Pressure to live up to others expectations of you, pressure to participate, to join, to contribute.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But what if I can’t or perhaps, simply don’t want to participate all the time?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I feel as if it’s almost a social affront to not be active on social media to some degree. If you don’t see a certain post you’re suddenly out of the loop and others are surprised. If you miss a birthday or an illness or a surgery or a passing of a loved one, it’s a social offense. I’ve heard “Well, I posted it on Facebook….” so many times.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And yes, I’ve felt guilty for missing what was clearly important to that person.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">We can claim to be victims of an algorithm but the reality is we’ve created and unknowingly bought into this false expectation that if we’re ‘friends’ on social media then we must certainly be aware of all that’s being posted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">This is tough place. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And the truth is, we don’t want to feel guilty any more than we want to feel imposed upon. But it’s a feeling based on the same principle as returning a text, an email or a phone message.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s an expectation of a response when you didn’t even invite the contact. And simply being on social media or accepting a friend request shouldn’t mean your door is always open to the world at large.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">My world used to be small enough to keep up with my friends.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">To really be a friend to my friends.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I had time and energy and desire to participate in their lives and it brought me joy. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Relationships are how we survive as humans - God created us for relationship with each other. And while it’s true that social media allows us a greater and more simplified ability to connect with each other, it’s also allowed us to become what we aren’t meant to be - exhausted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Because I love my friends and love being in relationship with them, I feel this emotional pressure keenly, but the truth is that no one can be all things to all people. That’s the job of our Creator and even though we are to work to be like Him, we cannot and will never be Him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The week I stayed off social media turned into two and the peace I felt from that decision only grew stronger each day. I was more mentally and emotionally rested than I had been in ages and I had more meaningful conversations with people I value. I wasn’t tempted to constantly check my phone for notifications because I hadn’t posted anything.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And because I wasn’t checking my phone, I was fully involved in each moment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That little box in my hand wasn’t controlling me, I was controlling it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And it felt good. Very, very good.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">You may wonder, so what now?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, I’m wondering the same.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">To be honest, I’m not sure where I go from here, but I do know that I’m not letting go of my newfound peace easily. I like being in control of how I spend my online minutes and I also recognize that I’m not willing to give up what’s good about being on social media.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m going to start with giving myself permission to not always respond to the posts of others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s not an indication of a lack of caring for others, it’s an indication that I respect myself and my time and I don’t tacitly accept the expectations of others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Secondly, I’m going to try and stop concerning myself with the likes and comments and shares my posts receive. If I’m truly posting because I want to, because I see value in it or want to share a moment then it simply should be that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Because I want to.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And if others see value in it and want to like, comment or share, then that’s a lovely thing. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t believe social media should be a popularity contest - it’s turned into one for many, but I don’t want to be caught in that comparison trap any longer. It’s exhausting and brings with it a whole host of other problems. I’m saying ‘no more’ and I encourage you to do the same. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Our worth and value comes from our identity in Christ Jesus and it will never be found in the approval of others. Especially in the form of thumbs up or little hearts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">So, giving myself permission to not always respond means that I have to remove my expectation that others will always respond to me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Respond to my posts because it touches you or makes you feel happy or thoughtful or if it brings you joy - but I’ll no longer assume it doesn’t because you don’t.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A response shouldn’t be a duty, but because you genuinely want to. And I know you know the difference.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, this is only a small start. A drop in the proverbial bucket.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But perhaps changing our expectations of each other will go a long way towards bringing some peace and control into our online lives.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps not, but it’s so worth trying.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">If you’re like me, you want real; you need real.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">In person, face to face; a phone call, voice to voice; a handwritten word in the mailbox can touch the heart in a way that communicating over social media cannot.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I challenge you to step away too for a set time - on your terms, certainly, but give enough separation that you can feel the distance and find the peace that comes with it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">If you do, message me, let me know and I’ll pray for you during your hiatus.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Are you up for it?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">If you’re my friend, I know you are.</span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-24753341430118073522018-06-21T12:42:00.001-04:002018-06-21T12:42:36.805-04:00We Start With Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNxf1yS-yAe3hHNW_EWLSUmqyAinVVdPzb48JyV-yNWxSW-ET5RersG6UnClsYunCxoRRmqHGz5nbrOv6x1iifJz9yp0YeGjGnkUEAZmrJxjK7MOF55OzdRIuBNbCxpmE5FN7JG3i-UpP/s1600/35644378_1761527093942301_3130772820796112896_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="635" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNxf1yS-yAe3hHNW_EWLSUmqyAinVVdPzb48JyV-yNWxSW-ET5RersG6UnClsYunCxoRRmqHGz5nbrOv6x1iifJz9yp0YeGjGnkUEAZmrJxjK7MOF55OzdRIuBNbCxpmE5FN7JG3i-UpP/s200/35644378_1761527093942301_3130772820796112896_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444;">I am so tired today. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">No, not tired actually. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’m bone-deep, dog-tired weary. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My head hurts and my heart hurts and I just want to scream - “STOP IT!”</span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2589272c-2327-c7fd-03cf-33f613d50ca8" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Like so many of you, everywhere I turn on tv, print media or social media these past </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">few days, </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">I’ve been bombarded with the immigration story. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">It dominates everyone’s news feed and virtually </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">no one lacks an opinion. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444;">And I’ve been taken aback by how hateful and judgmental and </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">disrespectful </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">people have been to each other because they don’t agree. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">I’m not sure, </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">but I feel like this is worse </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">than it was during the election cycle of 2016. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Over the past few days as the vitriol gets louder and is spewed higher and farther, </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve read so many </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">barbed comments and un-loving words shared in the interest of </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444;">“educating” or “providing insight”. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And I’m not talking about celebrities or the pundits and talking heads. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I could care less what they think most days - their words don’t have the power to </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">affect my life in the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">slightest. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It’s the Pastors and leaders in the faith that I look up to, the people I call friends, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the people whose opinion I value - most of them fellow Christians - that have surprised </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and dismayed </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">me most. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve read that you can’t be a “Christian” if you hate “what’s happening” yet still want to </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">see the law </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">upheld. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve read that the Bible is being misused, misconstrued and misrepresented by Christians who </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">simply don’t understand it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve read that you can’t be a “Christian” if you identify with a political party (either side). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve read that if you support the government you are like a nazi.</span></div>
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</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Can we just stop?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What part of “they’ll know we are Christians by our love” don’t we understand? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What happened to “Love God, love people”? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Or do we now only love ‘those’ people? (whoever that might be but it’s definitely </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">not your fellow </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">Christian you’re ‘calling out’)</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">You know, I get it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I really do. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">You’re upset and disturbed and heart-broken by the seemingly endless news-cycles </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">piling on and on </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">and on - story after story, photo after gut-wrenching photo. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We’re all upset by it. To not be upset by it would indicate that we don’t have a heart. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">That’s another accusation Christians have been slinging around lately.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Really?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Shouldn’t we be better than this? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We Christians should be the last ones to ‘assume’ anything about each other. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The one thing we all have in common (Christian and non-Christian alike) is sin. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The one thing all Christians have in common is Jesus. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We will never all agree on anything except that. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Jesus, and our faith in him, is The ONE thing that should unify us. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And he is THE most important thing. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">So, isn’t it time that we put aside our ugly words and hateful, condescending hearts and </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">judgmental </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">thoughts and remember to first LOVE each other? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">All of this shade we’re throwing at each other is exactly what the enemy wants us to </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">be doing and </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">he’s pretty darn happy with his work right now. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">That’s nothing for us to be proud of - in fact, we need to be running from it as far and as </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">fast as we can. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I personally don’t care what your opinion is of this issue; </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">what your opinion of me and </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">my opinion is; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444;">or what you know or don’t know about what’s going on. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What I do care passionately about is Christians showing love and grace to other Christians </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">- even </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">when we disagree. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: #444444;">Because if the Church, who is dearly loved and called to purpose by Jesus, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">can’t love each other and show that to the world, </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">how are we ever to expect the world to be changed </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">and saved by him? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Let’s not let the enemy win this one Christians. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">He doesn’t define us, but our love for each other most certainly does. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-91220416391349874832017-10-17T21:59:00.000-04:002017-10-17T22:18:07.123-04:00#metoo - What I'm Thinking<div class="p1">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgQPySYaSRM4RuSTEHwlprAt17gCqjYXnr4FdoaekFLXnKQtFu_nxk4zldionfU9x6DNT9hsUEmI8Pzd-iSKDYJHR8X5hy-fGViunoxAA_eDx2flQVqN8GTYkiQN44qYDVF_lgGmoPtmA/s1600/metoo-hashtag.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="735" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgQPySYaSRM4RuSTEHwlprAt17gCqjYXnr4FdoaekFLXnKQtFu_nxk4zldionfU9x6DNT9hsUEmI8Pzd-iSKDYJHR8X5hy-fGViunoxAA_eDx2flQVqN8GTYkiQN44qYDVF_lgGmoPtmA/s320/metoo-hashtag.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">It’s on every social media site these past few days.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">6 keyboard characters that have created a public firestorm out of our private hells.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And in case you’re wondering, yes,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><i>#metoo</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">As I scroll through my account feeds, time and again I see these words posted by friend after friend after friend. </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I want to reach through the screen and hug them tight.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I want to tell them that what happened to them before doesn’t have to define them now.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I want to tell them that they are loved and valued and cherished and they are absolutely NOT what someone in their past tried to make them into.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And for every #metoo I see, I wonder how many more are out there, unseen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Their pain and their shame and their fear holding them hostage to a past they don’t know how to escape no matter how much they try. My heart breaks for them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I have a lot of thoughts about all of this painful pot-stirring.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">A lot of random thoughts, but the one that’s most insistent in my mind is this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I may be #metoo but I am not a victim.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I am a victor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">The uninvited touching and harassments I experienced as early as elementary school are things that happened TO me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Those events caused me fear and shattered my trust in some people and institutions that I’d been taught to respect.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Those events, in some ways, changed how I viewed the world around me and the men in my life as I grew into adulthood.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">But those men aren’t every man and they don’t represent the men in my life who have loved me and cherished me and valued me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Just as those events that happened TO me, in no way, shape or form define me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I am not a victim and those events don’t define me because I’ve made a choice.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">A few choices actually.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Choices that wouldn’t be possible in my strength alone.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><i>I’ve chosen to look forward instead of behind me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">My life is in front of me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Living in shame and fear and pain only hurts me - and those I love. It has no effect on the ones who caused me pain. </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Their power over me was in the pain they inflicted and I have chosen to not allow them that power by letting them take up space in my head.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I’d much rather fill that space with joy and grace and peace.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Characteristics my abusers will likely never understand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><i>I’ve chosen to use what happened to me to educate my daughter.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">To teach her that she is loved and cherished and valued, no matter what.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I’m not naive by any means, I know that she has been and will be objectified, demeaned and yes, she may yet be abused - God forbid.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">But by teaching her and showing her how to embrace the truth of who she is, and how deeply she is loved, it lessens any power that someone’s evil intentions or actions might have on her.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><i>I’ve chosen to forgive.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">As someone who has been forgiven so much in my life, I cannot hold back forgiveness for someone else.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I serve a Jesus who gave up his life so that all could be forgiven for their sins and their shame.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><b>All.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">It’s a hard truth, but Jesus died for my abusers on the same cross that he died on for me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And if I’m being honest, sometimes I hate that truth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">But I love my Jesus.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And it’s he who has healed me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">He who has made me clean and whole and new again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">He tells me to trust him, to follow him and leave the pain and shame in the past where it belongs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">My life is in him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">His grace defines me and he has forgiven me my sin.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And He calls me to hard things like forgiveness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Very hard things like praying for those who have hurt me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Praying that they find peace and healing freedom in him as well.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Forgiveness doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve justice - on the contrary.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">We serve a just God who will call all of us to account for what we’ve done.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">But forgiveness releases <b>me</b> from the past.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">And because Jesus did the hardest thing for me, I choose to forgive in order to honor him. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-64512913700997304302017-01-26T12:43:00.000-05:002017-01-26T12:43:16.980-05:00#WhyIMarch <span style="font-size: large;">Tomorrow will be a first for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'll be attending the March for Life in Washington, DC. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvfEXVTFD4uzp_FDVLAypaSvvlpwFBM4DvwfS2ag-GPCbvl5hYjwYXk5tE23gvsEGm8ImwsXaywOTPSIqsNp22kHxoLFh5jFLvUpe3DOuCWibqLZ7jkyzbTO1dpY1oIhA-zCtiFaw1wfF/s1600/March+for+Life+Graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvfEXVTFD4uzp_FDVLAypaSvvlpwFBM4DvwfS2ag-GPCbvl5hYjwYXk5tE23gvsEGm8ImwsXaywOTPSIqsNp22kHxoLFh5jFLvUpe3DOuCWibqLZ7jkyzbTO1dpY1oIhA-zCtiFaw1wfF/s320/March+for+Life+Graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my entire life, I have never attended any political rally, speech, march, demonstration, protest, sit-in, sing-in or love-in. Maybe I'd have gone if it were an 'eat chocolate, drink coffee and talk about it-in', but I'm not sure that's a thing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In any event, I've always been the armchair commentator. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You know, the one to talks back to the tv news or scrunches up their face at the newspaper article? Yeah, that's been me - knowing what I think and believe, but never daring to step out and speak up or be seen, with the exception of what I write and share on social media. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's really easy to hide behind a computer screen - we see a lot of that every day, don't we? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Some may say that because I write about my pro-life views, because I post, tweet and share my support for all life from conception to grave that I'm not hiding. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But in my heart, I know it's exactly what I've been doing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And it stops tomorrow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Truthfully, I suppose that when tomorrow is done, I still won't have attended a political function. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To me, the March For Life represents at it's core, a HEART issue, not a political one. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's a march for the hearts of our nation. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The March For Life is necessary because collectively and individually, our hearts have turned to stone. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We have become consumed by our selfishness and pride as we say "ME first!" "MY choice!" "MY life!"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We refuse to recognize that the LIFE we are foolishly idolizing is a gift to us. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We are not guaranteed our next breath, yet we demand to inhale and exhale by standards we've chosen. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We forget that our lives have a purpose and meaning beyond our own selfish desires. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And in doing so, we ignore the truth that our calling is to love.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To Love God and love people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And because we ignore our calling, the only life we value is our own.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In our society, many would consider my views to be radical. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And I will agree in part because of this fact: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">18 years ago, my heart was radically changed by Jesus Christ. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus, the life-giver, turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh and gave me back my life from the pit I had drug it into. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A life that I now willingly choose to live for him. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Doesn't it strike you as odd that living life as a Christ-follower is considered RADICAL? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Having a belief that all LIFE is sacred is RADICAL?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I confess, I can't fully comprehend that thinking. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not anymore anyway. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Many of you have read my story, you know about the abortion choices I made a lifetime ago, and I pray every day that you now see Christ in me instead of the broken and lost soul I was before. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm here to tell you that if Jesus chose to love ME, chose to die for ME, chose to rescue ME - with my past and my foolish, selfish choices and my shame, then he surely wants to do the same for you. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To change your heart and allow it to beat again. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In October of 2016, I was given the privilege of sharing my story with my church family. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've attached the recording for you here:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://impactchurchnova.com/?sermons=threads-the-gospel-and-abortion"><b><span style="font-size: large;">http://impactchurchnova.com/?sermons=threads-the-gospel-and-abortion</span></b></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Listen to it and see the reality of how God can work miracles in even the hardest and most broken hearts. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Share it with someone who may need to hear it. I have no secrets anymore - there is great freedom in that. We all know someone who needs to be free today. Let what God did in my life speak truth into theirs - and yours. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Abortion is wrong. It is a great evil lie that we as a society have chosen to believe is a right. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's the defining tragedy of our time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But the greatest tragedy of all are the hearts who choose to refuse the truth of the God who created them. Who refuse to embrace the love and forgiveness he so freely offers. Who choose their heart of stone instead of the heart that beats full from the life-giver, Jesus.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is #WhyIMarch tomorrow - praying that you will exchange your hearts of stone for ones that beat for LIFE. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you are in the Washington, DC area tomorrow and would like to join the <a href="http://marchforlife.org/" target="_blank">March For Life</a>, here is a link to their website for all the official information. </span></div>
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<a href="http://marchforlife.org/"><b><span style="font-size: large;">http://marchforlife.org/</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was just announced this morning that our new Vice-President, Mike Pence, will be addressing the marchers - the first time ever for our nation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Come out and join me, join us. If you cannot, then pray. Pray that God will heal our hearts and that he will heal our land. </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-43955138959770776992017-01-23T16:05:00.001-05:002017-01-23T18:39:29.285-05:00Be Right, or Be Kind?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”</i></b> - Ephesians 4:29</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”</i></b> - Ephesians 4:32-33</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These verses from the Bible are challenging me lately. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And whether you are a Christ-follower or not, I need you to understand why. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve sat back over these past months, weeks and days and read the online postings of friends tearing down friends. Pointed quotes and snarky memes, directed at friends, designed to wound, posted in the name of ‘being heard’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blocking, unfriending, banning. Friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve seen strangers lashing out at other strangers. Over a perceived belief or a poorly worded phrase. Because the screen affords anonymity. Sometimes. But sometimes it goes viral - spreading harsh vitriol that uplifts no one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve seen media outlets of all descriptions and all sides fostering distrust and suspicion regarding anyone who doesn't agree with their viewpoint. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve read words shared in anger, hurt, pride, defense, outrage, fear, gloating, pain, self-righteousness and condescension….</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And before you say - “Well, it’s a social media problem. You should avoid social media if you don’t want to be affected by it.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just stop. Slam the brakes on that thought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s not a social media problem. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s a heart problem. </span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our hearts are the source of the conflict. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Social media, heck - any media - is simply a Roman coliseum experience on steroids where the war is played out for everyone to see. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because everyone loves a trainwreck, right? Even as we claim to be shocked by it, we all love to witness the horrific spectacle, moving in for the kill, the fight to the death…..of what? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kindness? Civility? Empathy? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Friendship?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Love?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At what expense?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And for what purpose? </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we can be right?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being right will be a cold comfort on the day you realize you are standing completely alone on the mountain you built of your pride and arrogance.</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What I have to say here is for everyone - Christian, non-Christian, everyone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christians haven’t cornered the market on kindness, grace and love - these are principles that all of humankind need to live by. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But because I am a Christ-follower, a Christian, I write, think and feel from that perspective. I use scripture as my guide and I depend on prayer to God to focus and ground me. I daresay if I were Atheist, you would expect that I’d write, think and feel from that perspective, would you not? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course you would. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And just as many of you would find points of disagreement with the Christian me as you would an Atheist me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And there would likely be many points of agreement as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our problem lies in choosing to focus on the conflicts - because we have the ability to do so. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But does that make it the right thing to do? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sure, we have the ability to be hateful with our words and actions, the ability to slander and bully and berate those who disagree with us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But does that make us better people?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It may make us feel better in the moment, but what about when that victory you feel dissipates? When the triumphant brow-beating you delivered fades away? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isn’t that a hollow victory when the greater purpose served was in tearing down a friend? In putting a stranger in their place? In teaching them a ‘lesson’?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what is that lesson exactly? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">How to hate? How to divide? How to destroy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We humans don’t need that lesson taught to us - sadly, it’s innate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kindness, grace and humility are the hard lessons to learn. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because they require putting the interests of others before our own. Putting the feelings of others before our own. They require caring about the collateral effect of our words on others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kindness, grace and humility do not require that I agree with all the beliefs and life choices of others - agreement shouldn’t be a relationship definer. But when you can enjoy community and relationships defined by an unselfish attitude you can exist in peace even when your beliefs are as wide as the Grand Canyon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”</i></b> - Philippians 2:3-4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes, that’s from the Bible too, as I said earlier, scripture directs me. But for those of you who may not read or believe the Bible - how can you say that it’s bad advice? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Choosing to live your life as described here doesn’t make you a Christ-follower, but it sure can go a long way towards making you a better person. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If each of us going forward makes the choice to think before we speak; to stop before we hit ‘send’; to think about how we would want to be spoken to and treated, we can help reverse the hateful path we’ve started down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember I said at the beginning of this post that the verses from Ephesians were challenging me lately? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s because everything I’ve talked about here has been a struggle for me too. I’m not pointing any fingers without including myself in the mix. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just because I follow Christ and try earnestly to live a life that imitates him, doesn’t mean I don’t wrestle with the desire to ‘be heard’. To bite back when I feel attacked. To write snarky, pointed and yes, mean comments and posts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I thank God that most of the time he prevents me from causing pain to others by acting on what I want and feel. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you aren’t a Christ-follower, I cannot and should not hold you to a Christ-like standard, and I won’t. But I do hold you to a standard of common decency and respect for your fellow man. I believe it’s what you would expect to receive for yourself and you would not be wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christian friends, hear me on this - Jesus clearly tells us that we are to <b><i>Love God </i></b>and <b><i>love people.</i></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In that order. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you claim to love God yet you are being unloving or unkind or ungraceful or proud or arrogant or boastful or rude - you are not living out your calling. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Period. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So stop it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember who you are and <b>WHOSE</b> you are. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are maligned and mistrusted because we don’t live consistently with what we say is the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">truth of who Jesus is. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we are called to speak that truth in <b><i>love</i></b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To tell others about the truth of Christ’s birth, life, death, burial and resurrection and that he did it for ALL of us. <i><b>Everyone</b></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just because people don’t agree with or understand our convictions doesn't mean that our calling is any less - the very people who hate us are the ones who need the love of Christ so desperately. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our timidity has made us vulnerable and weak - if the world around us is unafraid to be bold about what they believe, why are we afraid to be bold about the love of Christ? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kindness, grace, humility. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Living by those attributes will allow you the space to be bold because it will provide a foundation of trust. The world esteems those who stand firmly within their convictions - even if they don’t share them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The loudest and harshest voices in the room hold the attention for a while, but its the soft, beckoning voice of grace that draws the hurting and wounded heart. The hearts that only Jesus can heal. </span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t be intimidated in any way…..” </span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">- Philippians 1:27-28a</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-86112925389309164962016-07-08T12:53:00.001-04:002016-07-08T12:53:45.144-04:00Hate Never Heals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrk64wM_mB3puN1QHeEw1MLx2fb4vQMzjzDCzOKn8msEAYbc83ukXqHeuqXXfyitQ60Tz3z4P8miqHPNxoXU-pwTRZu1FidAmlpu5x2H-M2wnfslqo3uiTzML9832BmkaYocv4W_YHogJk/s1600/IMG_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrk64wM_mB3puN1QHeEw1MLx2fb4vQMzjzDCzOKn8msEAYbc83ukXqHeuqXXfyitQ60Tz3z4P8miqHPNxoXU-pwTRZu1FidAmlpu5x2H-M2wnfslqo3uiTzML9832BmkaYocv4W_YHogJk/s320/IMG_0001.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a scene that was repeated in neighborhoods all across America this morning. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Husband or Wife, Dad or Mom, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister, Partner, Friend - standing by their mobile office, preparing for another workday in a world where they are both loved and reviled simply because of the shirt on their backs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our neighborhood may be similar to yours - quiet tree-lined streets where children ride their bikes and neighbors wave as they pass each other walking the dog or taking their morning run. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or it could be very different - urban, rural, condos, farmhouses - it really doesn’t matter, every neighborhood across America is full of people that my husband and people like him have sworn to protect with their lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">At our July 4th block party, our neighbors told us they would miss seeing the police car in front of our house at the end of the month. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It won’t be there anymore because after 27 years in that uniform, driving that car, my husband is retiring. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I only have to witness this necessary ritual 20 more days. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, it seems like an eternity away.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our neighbors told me that they’ll miss my husband’s police car parked there because it made them feel safe. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Protected. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sheltered from the random and mostly petty crimes that occur in every neighborhood. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And while that may be true - <i>it certainly slows people down</i> - I won’t miss it at all. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because when he turns that car in and takes off his uniform and vest for the last time, the targets they create will be gone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And I will be able to breathe freely once more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In all honesty, it’s only been the past few years that I’ve felt a heightened sense of concern for my husband and his peers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">You see, they are/were my peers too. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Having done the job myself, walked in those boots, dealing with the sometimes unspeakable events in our society, I was comfortable in the knowledge that it was simply his job. Because it had been mine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">No different than the doctor, lawyer, cook or bricklayer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A chosen profession like any other. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But one in which it’s professionals are well-educated, well-trained, well-armed against 99.9% of the circumstances and threats they are faced with every day. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>I can remember telling my Mother - who worried and prayed for me every day - that I was in no more danger than anyone else simply walking out their front door. And I was more highly trained. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Only part of that statement is true today as the tone and tenor in our nation has changed dramatically.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">My years in patrol had me working through a huge sea-change in policing in our country. I watched the LA riots with the rest of my peers and was on duty the night the Rodney King verdict was announced. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a palpable shift in the atmosphere that night and in the days following - shattered trust on both sides of the badge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The same type of shattered trust that happens every time we allow others to drive a narrative when they don’t have or even care to know all the facts. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Human nature dictates that we selfishly cling to our own version of truth. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But a personal truth without facts always leads to disaster. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many years have passed since I hung up my badge and gun belt, and in those years, the era of personal truth has largely replaced the era of personal responsibility. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The everyday demons we face in our nation today have been born of the idea that one truth, one set of ideals, one set of ‘rights’ is greater than another. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We regularly assert our rights and cry foul and lob insults and spew hatred largely protected by the anonymity of a computer screen. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In most cases, a device that protects the sender from the physical reality of the chaos their words create. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because words always spur action. Somewhere in someone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“…the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” </i></b><i>- James 3:5b-6</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And when the words are hate-filled, fact-empty vitriol against what many don’t choose to even try to understand, it creates hate-filled sometimes violent action against those like my husband who have sworn to serve and protect us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>I know.</i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes those who wear the badge dishonor the badge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And it’s shameful and tragic.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyone who wears the badge in honor and pride wants nothing more than to see justice done and the dishonorable punished. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>And I know.</i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are groups of people in our nation who even today in many places are treated as less than; unworthy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And it’s shameful and tragic. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyone who truly loves their neighbor should want nothing more than to see the injustice of it end. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And because it’s easy - and comfortable - we lay blame at the feet of anyone who represents our version of the ‘enemy’. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One group feels no protection from the police car parked on the quiet tree-lined street. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One group feels no understanding from the people who are seeking justice at any cost. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the answer we seek is largely rejected by all because it requires a heart change. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because we are all a hopelessly selfish and entitled people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: Courier; line-height: normal;"><b><i> </i></b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>and desperately wicked.</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: Courier; line-height: normal;"><b><i> </i></b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Who really knows how bad it is?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">But I, the Lord, search all hearts</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: Courier; line-height: normal;"><b><i> </i></b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>and examine secret motives…” </i></b><i>- Jeremiah 17:9-10a</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The divide that’s happened in our country can’t be legislated away, because no law can rule the human heart. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The hate that is pervasive in the air is born of both the worst type of selfishness and the deepest kind of self-loathing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We would rather point the finger and place the blame anywhere but at ourselves. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We rail at our leaders and blame inanimate objects when the real enemy is within. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a nation we collectively need to take responsibility for our individual thoughts and actions. But when we truly look inside ourselves, we don’t always like what we see. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s just easier not to acknowledge it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And ignoring it will never heal us, not individually, not as a nation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Change will come when we set aside our pride and our demands and our ‘rights’ and begin to really see others as they are - uniquely created by God in his image. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>We all are.</i></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">You may not share my Christian beliefs, and that’s your choice, but I can’t see how anyone who truly wants to witness a different sea-change in our nation today would refuse to step away from their prideful circle long enough to esteem others as they deserve, and <i>listen</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And <i>love them in their humanity</i> even if you don’t agree with them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can rage against the divide, the anger, the hate that pervades our world with intense energy, but if we are choosing not to show love and respect and kindness to others, then we are choosing to remain in that pit and we are the problem.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For me personally, 20 days stands between me and an exhale. Our active law enforcement days will be behind us, individually and as a family. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">While my heart will always bleed blue for my brothers and sisters still in the work, deeper still runs a hope for healing and for a new beginning in our nation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hate will never heal, but Love surely can.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-45931084043503016602016-06-28T18:42:00.001-04:002016-06-28T21:12:33.622-04:00She Gets It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large; text-align: center;">It was one of those phone calls that every Jesus-loving Mama wants to get from their child - a happy and rambling to almost babbling tumble of words because she’s <i>so</i> excited to tell you what just happened. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“Mom! </span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">We got to meet a bunch of people from different Student Organizations tonight and I talked to 4 churches!”</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">(<i>That’s great honey...…wait, what?</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“I was trying to get information from them so I just asked the people at each booth what the Gospel meant to them. I mean, I know what it means to me and I wanted to see if their answers were Biblical before I even bothered to ask anything else.”</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sweet Lord…she really has been paying attention all these years. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have to come clean - I almost dropped the phone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh my word, it shouldn’t have taken me by surprise at <i>ALL</i>, but it <i>SO</i> did. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because even after all the years spent in our home church and all the time discipling her and taking her along on the journey to help plant a church, I never quite knew that she really <i>‘got it’</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because it’s impossible to truly know the heart of another - even your own child.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Please tell me I’m not alone in this, my Mama friends. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know you’ve felt it too; wondered too - if the day in, day out ebb and flow of everyday faith, everyday trust and a common hope punctuated by <i>every possible church service</i> because it’s just. what. you. <i>DO.</i> really has any lasting effect on these little 'curious georges' we’ve been trusted to raise.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And I KNOW you wonder - because I have done - what do they understand about this faith of ours. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What do they see? <i>Really</i> see?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They witness all the meals cooked and delivered; </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">hospital rooms visited; </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">prayers prayed in desperation for others and tears shed on bended knee with clasped hands; Bible pages folded, quoted and highlighted and marked; </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">people gathered around the kitchen table time after time, piled up together on floor cushions and deck chairs and indian style as stories and laughter and weeping and loss and grief and joy upon joy upon joy are shared and moments are treasured among kindred hearts - <b><i>all </i></b>are experienced by those questioning eyes and seeking minds. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Always watching us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And seeing us at our worst sometimes - anything but grace-filled or mercy-giving - but forgiven just the same. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Thank you God for that mountainous miracle over and over again</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They see the times we are barely holding on to our own faith by a thread - angry and weeping and broken and confused because WE don’t understand - how could they possibly?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They feel the shockwave of us <i>losing our sanity</i> over the endless legos and polly pockets and cd’s and hair clips and ice skates and video games left in the middle of the floor once again and just as quick as they take their next breath, they feel us wrap our arms around them with love and I’m sorrys and sweet kisses on their hair.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And they decide that their Mama is crazy, but Jesus loves her anyway and if <i>He</i> does then they should too - and again, <i>Thank you God for the miracle of that love</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And sometimes, we get to see them decide that this Jesus who loves their crazy Mama must love them too - so VERY much - and they choose to love him back and try to follow him with the special faith and beautiful trust that comes from knowing He is the essence of love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And we think they ‘<i>get it’</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For a while. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are forced to watch them stumble and fall and pick themselves back up again and trip and stumble and fall again in a gut-wrenching cycle of stretching the rope, being jerked back and stretching it out again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">We watch them doubt and question and struggle and fear and lose their <i>ever lovin’ minds</i> and thumb their nose at the truth they </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><i>know</i></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><i>….</i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">and we pray - </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, how we pray…..</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We trust. We hope. We pray some more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then, in what seems like a blink of an eye, we’re driving them to college orientation and sitting in our hotel room and get the phone call that reminds us that Jesus has had them all along. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“Mom, one of them is a church plant, like us! And they believe like we do. They’re sharing Jesus, and I could serve there - isn't that awesome?”</i></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It sure is baby girl. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It sure is. </span></span></div>
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(Photo Credit - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bethannerunyan/" target="_blank">Bethanne Runyan Photography</a>)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-1023338269914713502016-06-17T22:20:00.000-04:002016-06-28T17:45:36.335-04:00A Time to Listen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>(This is a repost of an essay I posted on my Facebook Page.)</i></div>
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On my heart tonight - </div>
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We as a nation have been dealing with a lot of bad news lately. In just the past week, our country has had a front row seat to some awful tragedies.<br />
The murder of a young, popular singer outside her concert venue. The evil terror attack on an LGBT nightclub that left 49 innocent people dead and many more wounded. Then the unfathomable death of a toddler at ‘the happiest place on earth’. </div>
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Like most of you, I suspect, I watched the images and stories on our tv and read about them online and the words “Not again…” crossed my mind over and over again. Once more I felt the all too familiar grief grip my heart as our human community experienced the sadness of senseless loss of life.<br />
Everyone’s hearts are broken in some way by tragedy.<br />
And for a time, it binds us together.<br />
Until we begin to ‘share’ our views. </div>
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I watch the television news each day - primarily for the weather - but at times to get a glimpse of what others are seeing and hearing. For a while now, I’ve chosen to get my national and local news online, from a variety of sources because I want to always attempt to understand differing viewpoints. I’ve always believed that the first steps to understanding the heart and mind of another is to consider their words and actions in context of their culture.<br />
Where they come from.<br />
Their community, their people.<br />
Their family.<br />
Their beliefs, values and traditions.<br />
The events that have shaped them.<br />
And you have to WANT to understand them.<br />
It’s impossible to know these things about others when you only talk at someone, not with them.<br />
When you base your opinion of others on a what you think you know without truly understanding their heart, without caring about their cultural viewpoint, you allow misunderstanding, miscommunication and distrust to fester and grow.<br />
I don’t always agree with these different viewpoints - truth be told, it’s not often I’m swayed from what I believe to be true.<br />
But I’d be the worst kind of fool to not listen and try to understand. </div>
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If you pay attention to ANY media source, there is no way you can avoid the typical armchair analysis of your social media ‘friends’ and the expert pontificating of the paid tv ‘pundits’. Everyone has an opinion and they’re not shy about sharing it. And we, probably most of us, often read or hear some things you agree with, some that you don’t. Some ideas reverberate within you and some bounce off your own teflon opinions. </div>
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This happens every time we as a nation or a community experience tragedy.<br />
And as much as I hate when we collectively experience tragic events, it has in the past, provided us as Americans - as humans - an opportunity for discourse.<br />
Much needed discourse if we are to continue to understand the heart motivations of our friends and neighbors.<br />
Unfortunately, it’s not always civil discourse and it’s here I stop in my tracks to ask where it’s all leading. </div>
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Because lately, it feels so different. All semblance of civility has seemingly disappeared.</div>
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Words are being slung around like arrows simply to wound in the name of speaking a perceived ‘truth’.<br />
Deliberate words.<br />
Desperate words.<br />
Cynical words.<br />
Disillusioned words.<br />
Personal words.</div>
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We’ve become so accustomed to arguing our point, angry that we’re not being ‘heard’ that we’ve stepped away from the shouting match into an all out street fight.<br />
Pushing, shoving, spitting, pinching, biting, kicking, punching….<br />
It’s an escalation scale I don’t even want to consider that’s now looming on our collective horizon. </div>
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And to what end?<br />
At what point do we stop throwing stones at each other?<br />
When do we stop shouting at each other long enough to recognize that our chosen opponents are our friends, our neighbors, our family? We’ve become a people so obsessed with getting our own way that we have lost all sense of the humanity of others.<br />
And in doing so we are losing ours. </div>
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Those who know me - even peripherally - know that I’m a Christ-follower. Which, among other things, means I am called to LOVE others. It’s impossible to love others if we aren’t willing to set aside our pride and opinions and bullying tactics long enough to understand them.<br />
To show love and kindness.<br />
And don’t you want the same in return?</div>
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You don’t have to be a Christ-follower to show love to others or even to appreciate these words:</div>
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<b><i>“Love is patient and kind.<br />Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.<br />It does not demand its own way.<br />It is not irritable,<br />and it keeps no record of being wronged.<br />It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.<br />Love never gives up,<br />never loses faith,<br />is always hopeful,<br />and endures through every circumstance.”</i></b></div>
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Yes, that’s from the Bible, <b>1 Corinthians 13:4-7</b> to be exact.<br />
But even if you don’t believe the Bible, how can you argue with living a life that exudes these qualities? Because the further down the degradation scale we fall, the further we get from basic human decency, respect and kindness that we all deserve. </div>
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Hear my heart on this - we are choosing to live this way - and we can just as easily choose to not.<br />
You don’t have to respond to anger and bitterness and insults and accusations with more of the same.<br />
You can choose to respond out of a heart that wants to see a change, to make a difference for good.<br />
But here’s the thing - you have to make that choice and follow through.<br />
Saying the words, resolving to be different, determining to make a change is meaningless until you put that resolve into action.<br />
Love in action.<br />
Kindness in action.</div>
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Jesus gave us two commandments - superseding all others.<br />
He said we are to Love God with all our hearts.<br />
And He said we are to Love others in the same way we love ourselves. </div>
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We begin to love others when we drop our fists and stones and arrows and words in order to listen.<br />
It really is that simple.</div>
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With a Courageous Heart,<br />
Robin</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-3027139983300452392016-05-03T12:53:00.002-04:002016-05-03T12:53:53.328-04:00True Rest - Learning the Lesson<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”” </i></b>- Matthew 11:28-30 </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtg8NB-wLl-ss5OSyjzfUcBRCkiHV4v1cI5_oxY2n2ovp6k_aYx4tu4AyYzPhOeBHobujlPYJtU0Bz8ZL8mlEI5y2zkUcXbtYWaGu37iF_98XY05qpVOiJuRVO1Ft-ALRY0Rv6RU1xIKm/s1600/FullSizeRender+221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtg8NB-wLl-ss5OSyjzfUcBRCkiHV4v1cI5_oxY2n2ovp6k_aYx4tu4AyYzPhOeBHobujlPYJtU0Bz8ZL8mlEI5y2zkUcXbtYWaGu37iF_98XY05qpVOiJuRVO1Ft-ALRY0Rv6RU1xIKm/s320/FullSizeRender+221.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Like just about everyone else I know, my family and I are struggling with some pretty heavy stuff these days; some life altering decisions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And that’s no exaggeration. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">To say that we are all a little on edge, burdened down and anxious is kind of an understatement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, when my friend Shannon posted her monthly Scripture Writing Plan for May (click <a href="http://www.swtblessings.com/2016/04/may-scripture-writing-plan-2016.html#.VyjSVGMm_FI" target="_blank">HERE</a> to download it) the fact that she was feeling impressed to focus on verses that deal with anxiety and fear was a light bulb moment for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Really, it shouldn’t have been, isn’t the answer always found in the directions? The instruction manual? My light bulb should be a big flashing neon sign pointing straight to my Bible…. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, bottom line is that it’s time for me to get my act together and really lean in to scripture once again. It's hard to hear from God if I’m not reading his word. Or talking to him. And you can't either.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The verses I shared at the beginning of this post are ones I’ve read more times than I can count over the years I’ve been walking with Jesus. So much so, that in my first reading today, I was like, “Ok, yeah, know that, get that, you take my burdens, you give me rest, blah, blah, blah.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sigh.
Nothing new to see here….or was there? </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">When I began to actually write the verses on the page of my journal (it’s a scripture <b><i>WRITING</i></b> plan for a reason), I changed the phrasing, and copied them down like this: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then Jesus said, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Come to me, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> all of you who are weary </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> and carry heavy burdens, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> and I will give you rest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Take my yoke upon you. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Let me teach you, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> because I am humble </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> and gentle at heart, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> and you will find rest </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> for your souls. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For my yoke is easy to bear, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> and the burden I give you </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> is light.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love that the physical act of writing out scripture causes you to SLOW DOWN and really SEE it, to soak it in. Because honestly, if I hadn’t, I would have missed the most important words in these verses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“Let me teach you…” </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus knows all about a crazy, stress-filled life. He knows about life altering decisions and he knows about our trust issues. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Boy, does he ever know about our trust issues….. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He knows because he’s walked this earth, he lived life among us and even though it was a long time ago, do you really think the people of his day were any less stressed and complicated than we are? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I think no……they may not have had smart phones and Facebook, but they had their own problems that make me thankful for running water and the miracle of a flushing toilet….just sayin’. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, point is, he gets it. Gets US. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And what he knows about us is that we don’t often have a teachable attitude, a heart that wants to learn and live what really matters in this life. What it’s truly all about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">What we are is prideful. And stubborn. And unteachable at times because of it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because well, we are. Admit it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We run and run and run and go and go and go and push and push and push and work and work and work and we. get. weary. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And we carry. heavy. burdens. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We worship the busy and idolize the work and look for satisfaction in the accomplishments. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And because it’s not Jesus we are worshipping, it makes us tired to the bone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then we read these verses and think </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Ok, Jesus, I get it. Take this burden from me, give me rest, trade my yoke for yours (whatever a yoke is), give me the light one. <i>So I can recover and do it all over again.” </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yeah. We do. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because we forget once again that it’s not all about us. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s about him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We as Christ-followers are supposed to be learning to be more like Christ, to reflect his character instead of our own. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And he is “humble and gentle at heart”. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In him we “will find rest for *our souls”. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus loves us SO MUCH! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And he wants to <b><i>teach us</i></b> to breathe - to walk in humility; to reflect a gentle spirit, a kind heart; to receive true rest for our self-complicated lives. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But we have to LET HIM. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The true rest for our souls that he promises is found when we lay aside our pride and willfulness and the idol of our busy life and let him be our God again. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because if anything or anyone other than Jesus is sitting on the throne of your life, you will never find rest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Or peace. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Or light. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And don't be confused - He doesn’t want us to stop using our gifts and talents. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He doesn’t want us to stop doing work we love or caring for people we love or even doing the work of living. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But he does call us to put HIM first. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">To let him teach us that when we do - everything else will fall into it’s proper place. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And our burdens won’t be burdens at all - they will be joy. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And our souls won’t be weary - they will be at rest. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-74771168047353148372016-04-14T12:10:00.001-04:002016-04-14T12:10:29.555-04:00A Place to Belong <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I visited the Farmer's Market in Old Town this morning. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My senses breathed in the fresh colors of Spring, and I couldn't help but feel the newness around me, an awakening, a promise in the air. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My hometown was coming to life and the sound of it filled my ears with a tune born of sameness and comfort. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Home. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ever the same, ever changing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Seasons and Years come and they go...and as much as this place I love is as familiar as the well-worn Nikes on my feet, it's also growing and blooming and reinventing itself. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Always full of things to discover. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Even if its as simple as finding the beauty in the purple redbud tree against the red of a vintage train caboose. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrys5ka0j-osDkKbcHG6reZIuKGReFWifq9b5ii0yxKZRSMc6kcTb366lnQXhyphenhyphen9_1SQOOwsLz77iOE3IUBwEYbJZoSqGFOgDqTIsm1WZh8Mzh1TE7NomIQc8aniOqQcNqWxoX4j59fLYA0/s1600/FullSizeRender+211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrys5ka0j-osDkKbcHG6reZIuKGReFWifq9b5ii0yxKZRSMc6kcTb366lnQXhyphenhyphen9_1SQOOwsLz77iOE3IUBwEYbJZoSqGFOgDqTIsm1WZh8Mzh1TE7NomIQc8aniOqQcNqWxoX4j59fLYA0/s400/FullSizeRender+211.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spring, as always, never fails to delight my eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I made my few purchases of baby leaf lettuce, some wildflower honey and a loaf of fresh cheddar bread and found my way over to the gazebo to sit and finish my coffee and enjoy the sights and sounds of a new day. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYKSbTRQXHUzaLturguOOPJrczuciLsHZd33SyhYppX5iNwX3b6Gg2aJUIVv7XDULGDkrZvMw3-Vntjq3Tm_h_A5kWJZNFzbt4KKBH5bRCqEaMXGJuD9mYuwH4PMlMe7a6o0F_e2eUTjm/s1600/FullSizeRender+209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYKSbTRQXHUzaLturguOOPJrczuciLsHZd33SyhYppX5iNwX3b6Gg2aJUIVv7XDULGDkrZvMw3-Vntjq3Tm_h_A5kWJZNFzbt4KKBH5bRCqEaMXGJuD9mYuwH4PMlMe7a6o0F_e2eUTjm/s400/FullSizeRender+209.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The tidal wave of nostalgia washed over me unexpectedly, forcefully, and I didn't quite know what to do with it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Silly me, I should have seen it coming. My heart was already full to bursting this morning. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">God knows that these past weeks have been full of head-on collision, knock me off my feet moments. Every time I turn around there's another 'last' to contend with, another reminder that this 18 year chapter in our family book is about to close.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We've come to another pivot point in our lives. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One that reorders the days and hours of our routine (such as it is...). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One that provides fresh challenge and purpose for my husband.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>One that will carry our girl 11 hours away.</i></b> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV5y1FnAQq9Sj1SiQFoieTSWyxMvdK4imjaMhtr7Kl_j2uwQXMpalmx2RHjzX6zTBOUBRVVbHSIoVl6zNtJCCWH27J4ZC0N8XTW57CizGZtIukzaGiHAAxM87ieWldI1aspv0R4g8JE4k/s1600/FullSizeRender+215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV5y1FnAQq9Sj1SiQFoieTSWyxMvdK4imjaMhtr7Kl_j2uwQXMpalmx2RHjzX6zTBOUBRVVbHSIoVl6zNtJCCWH27J4ZC0N8XTW57CizGZtIukzaGiHAAxM87ieWldI1aspv0R4g8JE4k/s320/FullSizeRender+215.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Away to a new state, a new city, a new place to call home for the next <i>4 years</i>... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And sitting there with my thoughts and my warm cup of comfort, I couldn't help but wonder if it will give her the same sense of place, of belonging, of home that she's known her whole life thus far. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispazIufFEg0PX1BplsJN4uMo-aT7X3ennEBmUla4hqzC-EyuPAYkvEyIYE-LCtdJp8MAzHL7VWjTS8rbaOYDZHRvWDiVgOyYX_N6D8FvBnPQqqLyH_wUv1bFLFk0pGs-IjLPNL9MlzyAW/s1600/FullSizeRender+212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispazIufFEg0PX1BplsJN4uMo-aT7X3ennEBmUla4hqzC-EyuPAYkvEyIYE-LCtdJp8MAzHL7VWjTS8rbaOYDZHRvWDiVgOyYX_N6D8FvBnPQqqLyH_wUv1bFLFk0pGs-IjLPNL9MlzyAW/s400/FullSizeRender+212.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I can't relate to a change like that. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In a world where people change places all the time, I've never lived further than 15 miles from this place I was born and raised. The concept is foreign to me, the idea of leaving a place that's as much a part of me as the breath in my lungs. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And truthfully, I pray that I never have to learn it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In talking with my sweet girl, who admittedly is sometimes unrecognizable in her overnight maturity, I know that she feels it. Feels the strain of her roots pulling on her heart as she knows she has to leave this place to pursue her passion, her dream. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpiJcm8BQPRlYl2uMZz-sj5PD3wp3qMtDTj43of1BuHnC7RNBEiw5wS8zmaf9Pfjxu9YuKmCyILI45TAjY3oC4rT0X1fGfWI84MeR94_8dNpLNQiOWE5cIxrHEu8Hjf3pecQ1XgVvy7Yl/s1600/Emma+Senior+Skate-Emma-0073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpiJcm8BQPRlYl2uMZz-sj5PD3wp3qMtDTj43of1BuHnC7RNBEiw5wS8zmaf9Pfjxu9YuKmCyILI45TAjY3oC4rT0X1fGfWI84MeR94_8dNpLNQiOWE5cIxrHEu8Hjf3pecQ1XgVvy7Yl/s400/Emma+Senior+Skate-Emma-0073.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">She said to me "Mom, if I could take everything about where I'm going and move it all here, I'd have everything I want. But I can't do that and I know I have to go."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I blinked and she grew up. Just like that. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No way I was that mature at 18. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But she is a different girl and she knows who she is and what she wants and accepts what she has to do to attain it. With a grace and a resignation that's far beyond my understanding. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XizP93sF4MhfgPnL6eqQuj05Asmje5mVqTatH0QuiLGU_Hix2Cg_S6SFZGyoVt32QmDYegdTzV8Gs5Q2FPYeIaLrPFIQq6jOtGmdIyMOue-7mv1IdRV-8ezrihKhFzREF7rNzZJp0uS_/s1600/Emma+Senior+Skate-Emma-0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XizP93sF4MhfgPnL6eqQuj05Asmje5mVqTatH0QuiLGU_Hix2Cg_S6SFZGyoVt32QmDYegdTzV8Gs5Q2FPYeIaLrPFIQq6jOtGmdIyMOue-7mv1IdRV-8ezrihKhFzREF7rNzZJp0uS_/s320/Emma+Senior+Skate-Emma-0083.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And the difference between us at 18, is that she has placed her trust and hope and future into the hands that made her. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I could regret that I didn't do the same at her age, but I'll choose to be grateful instead. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Grateful to our God, who in his abundant grace, taught me what I needed to learn in order to guide her. To direct her towards Him.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Our world will shift and change all the time. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes it keeps you in a 15 mile radius. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes it sends you 623 miles away. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But when God <i><b>is</b></i> our life, He is our home.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Our place to belong.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Col-2-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;">"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;"> </span><span class="text Col-2-7" id="en-ESV-29485" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;">rooted and <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-29485M" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-29485M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>built up in him and <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-29485N" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-29485N" title="See cross-reference N">N</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>established in the faith, just <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-29485O" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-29485O" title="See cross-reference O">O</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>as you were taught, abounding <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-29485P" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-29485P" title="See cross-reference P">P</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>in thanksgiving." </span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: start;">- Colossians 2:6-7</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-6990735761974075822016-03-30T10:25:00.000-04:002016-03-30T10:25:00.400-04:00They Are My Tribe<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span class="chapter-2" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="text Prov-15-1" id="en-NLT-16785" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: helvetica neue, verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"A gentle answer deflects anger,</span><span style="font-family: monospace;"> </span></span></span></i></b><span class="indent-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="text Prov-15-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><b><i>but harsh words make tempers flare." </i></b>- Proverbs 15:1</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="indent-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="text Prov-15-1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've been struggling lately with what to write, what to share. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Some days, there is so much in my head and on my heart, I truly don't know where to begin - so I don't. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Other days, well, there's nothing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">At least, it seems that way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A few months ago, my daughter told me to just write about what's going on in our life - in the wisdom of her 18 years, she figures that someone out there can relate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So today, I figure, why not? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To be honest, things have been pretty volatile in our home lately. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We're all on edge quite a bit, and conversations take on the appearance of soldiers avoiding land mines.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It shows itself in the simplest, most benign times - like packing a lunch for school or making breakfast or folding laundry or _______________. (Fill in the blank. I'm sure you've got some too.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's the stress of an almost ready to graduate senior in high school - and all that comes with it, good and bad. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's the stress of a Husband ready to retire, looking for his next career, finding the right fit, the cycle of resume and hope. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's the stress of a Mom seeing her main job of the past 18 years about to change dramatically, leaving her wondering where her place is gonna be in this world now. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm pretty sure it's the combination of all of the above and then some. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Throw in a little 'outside influence' and some 'whoa, I didn't see that coming' and it's the perfect storm of crazy and hurt feelings and disappointment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I really don't have the ultimate answers and I don't know very much, but what I do know is this: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the days that I don't like my family very much (or myself for that matter), </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I <b><i>LOVE</i></b> them fiercely. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They are my tribe, my mess, my pain in the rear, my attitude adjustment and my greatest treasure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And I know that without question, God has a plan and a purpose in all of this mess. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">All of this change, all of this pulling away and pushing back, all of this crazy deadline-filled emotionally charged stress is shaping us for what's to come - and He's right there with us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So on the days - like today - that I want to scream and hold on to my anger and be the queen of passive-aggressive, I remember that God's got us and I run to him. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My Abba-Father loves me and holds me and whispers in my ear that it's all gonna be ok - just trust him. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And I do.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Can you relate?</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-53782581629047048662016-03-10T08:56:00.003-05:002016-03-10T08:56:58.805-05:00The Power of Our Pride<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span class="text Prov-13-10" id="en-NLT-16734" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; position: relative;">"Pride leads to conflict...</span></i></b><span class="indent-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="text Prov-13-10" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><b><i>"</i></b> - Proverbs 13:10a</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span class="text Jas-1-19" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span class="text Jas-1-20" id="en-NLT-30247" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Human anger</span></i></b><span class="text Jas-1-20" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><i> does not produce the righteousness God desires."</i></b> - James 1:19-20</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVT5s9TZaxRXoJCdBjHyX3JMUUM4aN9cQ_lIA76J9biS0EDgMBShEV6GDKNC-6SAxA33DiDmVXsqpHVcZeO3DSBgyVHNHAi8zRE8J5zAbe5ldE9f3B6PJ8S9FluGPigJl00lBaOnP39zl/s1600/562a7e633c434937e14e211a8c4a4716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVT5s9TZaxRXoJCdBjHyX3JMUUM4aN9cQ_lIA76J9biS0EDgMBShEV6GDKNC-6SAxA33DiDmVXsqpHVcZeO3DSBgyVHNHAi8zRE8J5zAbe5ldE9f3B6PJ8S9FluGPigJl00lBaOnP39zl/s320/562a7e633c434937e14e211a8c4a4716.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was reminded recently of how quickly a conversation can turn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One wrong word, one misinterpreted phrase, one negative assumption - all combine with lightning speed to create the perfect storm of anger and indignation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It comes out of nowhere - one minute you’re smiling and laughing and enjoying the moment with your loved one and the next - BOOM! You’re feeling like you’ve been punched in the gut, laid out on the floor, wounded and bleeding, because of one thing interpreted the wrong way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s the power of the tongue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But that’s also the power of our pride. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And while I think the potential for a wounded heart is great when we consider how powerful our words can be - <i>the Book of James has a lot to say about this</i> - oftentimes, it’s our pride that causes the greatest hurt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And why is that? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe it’s because we spend too much time wrapped up in our own ideas of who we think we should be and not enough time resting in the truth of who God has created us to be. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A heart that’s easily wounded by a poorly phrased statement from a loved one, is a heart that’s not fully trusting in the reality that they are greatly loved by the Creator of the universe. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s huge. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it’s exactly what the Enemy wants us to believe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He’s a master at driving a wedge right through the heart of our relationships. The Enemy knows that if he can cause us to doubt the love of those we hold dear, he can cause us to doubt the unconditional love of the Father for us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For those of us whose identity is in Christ, that doubt chips away at our very foundation. The rock solid truth of the One in whom we’ve placed our faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we doubt our faith, when we don’t trust His love for us, we are completely ineffective in sharing that love with others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which plays right into the Enemy’s hands. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, what can we do to guard against the sneak attacks of our pride? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, a couple of things actually: </span></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: normal;"></span><b><i>We can remember to always give the benefit of the doubt.</i></b> To trust that if you’re hearing from someone who loves you, that you have a relationship with, that their intent is to be loving - even if their words ring awkwardly wrong to our ears. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: normal;"></span><b><i>We can read truth from God’s word.</i></b> The Bible is full of reassurances that we are precious and greatly loved by God. The more we soak in those truths, the more we find our confidence in his love for us and we depend less and less on the opinions of the world. Resting our hearts in his truth helps us not misinterpret the words of others.</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: normal;"></span><b><i>We can pray.</i></b> Actually, this is the BEST thing we can do. Before we spin out of control, before we get carried away by our harrumphs and our pride, we can ask God to step in and direct our thoughts, our hearts and our words. Because in truth, when God directs our conversations, we are most effective at living out his purpose and plan for us. To love him, and to love others. It’s that simple. </span></li>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-34441673486930751172016-03-08T08:39:00.002-05:002016-03-08T08:39:19.624-05:00Don't Touch and It Won't Break<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i><b>“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”</b></i> - 2 Corinthians 4:7</div>
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When my daughter was around 4 years old, she knocked a clay pot off a shelf in a craft store, shattering it in a hundred little pieces. She was mortified - well, as mortified as a 4 year old can be. The deer in the headlights look on her face told that story.</div>
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I remember that she didn’t quite understand what was going on when we had her tell the store clerk what happened and offer to pay for the broken pot. But she remember that moment even now, 14 years later. She remembers how upset and embarrassed she was, the fear of being punished, that she had to help clean up the pieces. </div>
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It wasn’t a priceless heirloom, so it was a little easier to use it as an object lesson for her - ‘don’t touch and it won’t break’. </div>
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And isn’t that true of us every day?</div>
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<i>Don’t touch and it won’t break.</i></div>
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2 Corinthians 4:7 makes it clear that we are like “fragile clay jars”. And inside of us we have the “great treasure” of God’s love, his “light shining in our hearts”. </div>
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But the light can’t shine for others until our hearts are broken for them. </div>
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There is so much brokenness in our world today. And it’s so easy to close ourselves off from it, to turn away from what we see of the pain and suffering of others - but as Christ followers especially, aren’t we supposed to see that? To be moved by it?</div>
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To let it break our hearts? </div>
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Instead, so many times, we don’t let it touch us - we turn off the tv because the story is too sad - and in our 24 hour news cycle, it’s too much. And it invades our illusion of our safe little bubble. </div>
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We close our hearts to the pain of others because it requires so much of us to absorb it; to feel it and be broken by it. </div>
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<i>Don’t touch and it won’t break.</i></div>
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Somehow, I don’t think that’s how Christ wants us to live - to keep his light and love locked up in our fragile clay hearts. Protected by the bubble wrap of our safe lives. </div>
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We are called to touch others with his love, his hope, his grace, kindness and mercy. </div>
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With his story of redemption and forgiveness. </div>
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Our purpose here is to let our hearts break for the ones he himself was broken (and bled and died) for. </div>
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You may not be called to a far away place to share his love, but there’s someone in your own backyard who is desperate for it today. </div>
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Maybe it’s time to touch…and break…and shine the light of Christ into their dark place. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-20437052999862579612015-12-14T10:35:00.000-05:002015-12-14T10:35:28.611-05:00You're 18 Today...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emma, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You're 18 today...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not sure how I thought today was so far away, it's always seemed to be off in the distance somewhere. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe because I'm not ready for you to be grown. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone says time goes fast, but dear God, it really does. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And nothing has really prepared me to see you fly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I look at your beautiful face, I still see this face sometimes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's always in my mind's eye - the precious, sweet smelling bundle of you curled up so tight into my chest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I can still feel the weight of you in my arms, your tiny hand holding my finger and your eyes locked onto mine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've never loved someone so fiercely in my life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Your Dad and I had no idea how much you would change our lives; would expand our knowledge of love and life and faith and grace in abundance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But you have. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You are the best thing we ever did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You made us a family. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not just because of your presence, but because of YOU. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We've watched you grow, and in truth, we've grown alongside you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In trying to make your world a better place, you've taught us that it already is - because you're in it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We had a life before you joined us here, but honestly, it's hard to remember those years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were missing you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I wish for today that you could truly see yourself through our eyes, through the eyes of all who know and love you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Whatever words I write here will never be able to tell the story of how you make everything better in the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But I will try...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In short, you are <b><i>JOY</i></b> personified. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You carry light and breath and warmth with you wherever you go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And yes, you make <u><i>everything fun</i></u>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You are the light in the center of the room that draws everyone in, knowing they will be loved and warmed and accepted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Your compassionate heart and fierce loyalty set you apart from the crowd and you've never, ever known a stranger. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Em, you have a passion for life and a desire to make the world around you joyful and grace-filled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You are kind and caring and strong and funny and wise and have a sense of justice that simply floors me at times. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You have a way of seeing the truth in someone's eyes and a heart big enough and wide enough to embrace them in their pain or distress or lostness and give them a place of peace. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Your friends feel safe with you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Loved by you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">No judgment from you, just safe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Even those who don't share your faith or value system know that they can trust you, can count on you, feel at home with you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Because Em, you know who you are and you know WHO you belong to and you are firm in your convictions and you don't back down when you are challenged. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's not enough of that in this world and you have it in spades. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And you have the respect and love of your peers for it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Never change that my sweet girl. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I think about these 18 years, the memories flood my heart and it's just overwhelming, this love I feel for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You know, I've been winging it all these years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You didn't come with that handbook everyone talks about so your Dad and I have been kinda making it up as we went along. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But we watched you, and learned you and loved you every day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And we prayed for you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Every. Day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We still do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Because it's how we can love you best. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To pray to the God who loves you more than anyone else ever can or will be able to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To pray that you love Him with all your heart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To pray that He gives you direction and purpose and meaning and ability and a heart that longs to serve Him with whatever you choose to do in life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We pray for your friendships, that they will be strong and lasting and real. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We pray for the man who will eventually be your husband. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That he will love Jesus more than anything and that he will love you with every fiber of his being and that he will always be true to you. (Find someone like your Dad - if he's 1/2 the man your Father is, you'll have a keeper.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emma my love, today is your day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Embrace this moment as you do all others in your life - with passion, with courage and with <b><i>JOY</i></b>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You are our greatest joy and most precious treasure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And I love you baby girl. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I simply love you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mom</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1f81jin57-E?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-85647074143150712792015-08-07T09:23:00.001-04:002015-08-07T09:23:55.936-04:00The Words in the Middle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've been reading in Galatians 5 this week - if you've been a Christ-follower for longer than 10 minutes, you know this as one of the 'Fruits of the Spirit' passages, or the 'impossible to live up to' passages.<br />And as much as I've been convicted by those wonderful Christ-like traits, I was more convicted today by a few words we easily (and conveniently) skip over because they are buried in the middle of another verse. </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> be jealous of one another." Galatians 5:26</span></span></i></b></div>
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Conceited, check. </div>
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Jealous, check. </div>
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Both are bad behaviors and most of us work hard at keeping them at bay.<br /></div>
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But look at the three little words in the middle - "provoke one another". </div>
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"Provoke one another".<br />I have to confess that as much as I don't like arguments or confrontation and the unpleasantness that comes along with them, I don't shy away either. In fact, for me, I'd much rather confront the elephant in the room than ignore it. The way I process my feelings, good, bad or indifferent, is to DEAL with them.<br />Get them out in the open so I can examine them and work through them and learn the lesson and move on.<br />But for those I love, my dealing with things becomes their dealing with things when their personalities are exactly the opposite of mine.<br /></div>
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So what do I do when I'm bubbling up inside? When I'm spilling over the edge with unresolved emotion? </div>
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I pick a fight.<br />I provoke my others in to engaging with me so I can work through whatever is crushing me at the moment.<br />In other words, I become the selfish, prideful bully that demands her own way (1 Corinthians 13:5 anyone?) and steamrolls her way into 'getting it off my chest'.<br />Not very Christ-like is it?<br />Not much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness there is it?<br />Definitely no self-control.<br /></div>
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That's a big "Fruit of the Spirit" FAIL. </div>
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And usually the biggest reason for my failure is that I didn't run to the One who can heal my hurt and my heart and redirect my anger and pain over whatever the situation may be.<br />Thank goodness my sweet family loves me in spite of myself, but the One who loves me most is the only One that can carry my burden for me. And He can handle my anger and self-righteous indignation and pride.<br />After all, He nailed it to the cross and died for it.<br />For me. </div>
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Dear Jesus,<br />Let me remember to always bring my hurt, pain, anger and tears to YOU. You are the only one who can calm my unsettled heart and wipe my cheeks dry and comfort me in my distress.<br />Remind me that instead of provoking my loved ones to join me in my anger, to pray for peace in my relationships. To hold my tongue until sweet, encouraging words can roll off it. To love them as you have loved me.<br />Amen.</div>
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With a Courageous Heart, </div>
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~~Robin</div>
</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-81473485011054035462015-07-02T08:52:00.002-04:002015-12-16T12:15:36.574-05:00God is Never Late<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2DxWyCZaBKEe2F0Huv1RqyH2tjXw2Q8FHufMXnpIjJan8a1K9RMH_NWGVgoEB_xlqWFwDgQKy-rr11LUNcO_u0Ozfy-ZM4XGYYz7Zqc1Z00W7eGRH-PPuyXklYPQL0B9MEbzAbmVsaLm/s1600/4a67bd95f924ee1dc5c82d776aa055b2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2DxWyCZaBKEe2F0Huv1RqyH2tjXw2Q8FHufMXnpIjJan8a1K9RMH_NWGVgoEB_xlqWFwDgQKy-rr11LUNcO_u0Ozfy-ZM4XGYYz7Zqc1Z00W7eGRH-PPuyXklYPQL0B9MEbzAbmVsaLm/s320/4a67bd95f924ee1dc5c82d776aa055b2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Somedays I live in 'late'. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Always trying to squeeze out one more minute of getting something done before I have to run to the next task or event or meal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a house to manage, a business to run and a family to care for - I am a BUSY woman! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Time is of the essence people!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Needless to say, all this running and squeezing creates a less than peaceful <i>Robin</i> for my family and friends. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Heck, it's not so great for me either!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My heart and my body long for a slow-down, a respite, a breath as I trap myself in a world of 'what's next'. Living in 'late' has fed into my life of worry and anxiety and my tendency to charge ahead and get it done without waiting on the Lord to lead the way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Busy-ness</i></b> is one of my biggest struggles and because of it, sometimes I miss what my precious Father God is trying to say to me as I urgently whiz past Him, running on to the next thing on my agenda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Late yet again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can I get an 'Amen'?! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(I don't like this word usually because it tends to negate whatever came before it, however this time, it <i>belongs</i> here), </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">BUT, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">GOD is never late. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know you've heard it before, just let it sink in this time: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">GOD is never late. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He knows our need and He knows our hearts and He continues to wave his arms about, trying to flag us down and get our attention. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I for one am oh, so grateful that He loves me that much. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It takes a lot to slow me down some days. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last night, oddly enough, it was a video game. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ha! No, I wasn't playing, but Emma and I were sitting together watching Mark play Xbox - getting great enjoyment from his angst as he "died" many times over. (I really should video tape it sometime - it's pretty funny stuff. But I digress.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was working on posting yesterday's blog post on Facebook when I ran across my friend <a href="http://www.swtblessings.com/2015/07/july-scripture-writing-plan.html#.VZUtimCM7FJ" target="_blank">Shannon Long's Scripture Writing Plan for July.</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'd seen it before and fleetingly thought "Oh, I should do that." and then went on to 'what's next'.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But last night, God said, "No, not this time. Stop. And breathe. And DO this."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, I'm listening. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And Oh, what a sweet release it was to me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day one spoke right to my heart. Right when I needed it most. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's allowing me to breathe today and feel peace in the crazy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read this now my friends. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let it's truth wash over you and bring peace to your heart. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know God is right on time for some of you reading this today - I'm praying for you!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Philippians 4:4-9</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-4" id="en-NLT-29407" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Always</u></b> be full of joy in the Lord. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text Phil-4-4" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">I say it again—<b><u>rejoice</u></b>!</span> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-5" id="en-NLT-29408" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Remember, the Lord is coming soon.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-6" id="en-NLT-29409" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Don’t worry</b></u> about <u>anything</u>; instead, <u><b>pray</b></u> about <u>everything</u>. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text Phil-4-6" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><b><u>Tell God</u></b> what you need, and <b><u>thank him</u></b> for all he has done.</span> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-7" id="en-NLT-29410" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Then</u></b> you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-7" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.</span></i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" id="en-NLT-29411" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Fix your thoughts</u></b> </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">on what is true, </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and honorable, </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and right, </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and pure, </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and lovely, </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and admirable. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text Phil-4-8" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><u><b>Think about things</b></u> that are excellent and <u>worthy</u> of praise.</span> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-9" id="en-NLT-29412" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Keep <b><u>putting into practice</u></b> all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Then</u></b> the God of peace will be with you.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span class="text Phil-4-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span class="text Phil-4-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With a Courageous Heart, </span></span></div>
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<span class="text Phil-4-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">~~Robin</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span class="text Phil-4-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(Be sure to visit <a href="http://www.swtblessings.com/2015/07/july-scripture-writing-plan.html#.VZUtimCM7FJ" target="_blank">Shannon's Blog</a> and download or print out the July Scripture Writing Plan. I'll be doing it every day this month and I challenge you to join me!)</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-44024089276972364972015-07-01T21:47:00.000-04:002015-07-01T21:47:33.612-04:00The Gospel - From the Beginning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2LbnBKQW5WenQiIqKwOjqH7RhGzr_h-4mIOca8YL6VtnDjxGGdjT4JYCJh-29cBaoxR6JHIbmCQb_MTbiFo7dnRmaXmBeiuJQXkeoq66adbN9yH1U4groIXaECNa_rblHV99SPO-PNPJ/s1600/aee7fea3dffa80d0080e38a252180898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2LbnBKQW5WenQiIqKwOjqH7RhGzr_h-4mIOca8YL6VtnDjxGGdjT4JYCJh-29cBaoxR6JHIbmCQb_MTbiFo7dnRmaXmBeiuJQXkeoq66adbN9yH1U4groIXaECNa_rblHV99SPO-PNPJ/s320/aee7fea3dffa80d0080e38a252180898.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">My dear readers, </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i>
<i>There's been a lot going on in my life since I last posted here, but mainly, God has been working in many ways, both large and small. </i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">It's been challenging and overwhelming at times, all shaping me more into who He's called me to be and to do what He's called me to do. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i>
<i>Recently I've been privileged to co-lead a new Bible Study as we begin an official Women's Ministry in our church. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i>
<i>#RealWomen #RealImpact came about from a simple 'meet for coffee' with two other women I am blessed to serve with at <a href="http://impactchurchnova.com/" target="_blank">Impact Church NOVA</a>. As we met that morning, it very quickly became abundantly clear that the Holy Spirit was working specifically in each of us three, speaking to us and prompting us to begin our Women's Ministry in earnest. </i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">3 hours passed and we left that Starbucks with a full 6 week outline in hand including lesson topics, breakout group activities, retreat plans and committed dates on our calendars. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i>
<i>We began to meet the first Saturday in June and we've seen God do some wonderful things in the hearts and lives of the women we're meeting with - in short, He is amazing! </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i>
<i>Today, I'm sharing Week 1 of #RealWomen #RealImpact with you. </i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">It's a look at The Gospel from a different perspective. One that begins, well, at the beginning and leads us to The Word made flesh. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">My prayer is that it speaks to you and challenges you as you continue your adventure with Christ. </span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Gospel - From the Beginning</span></b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The Bible, as we know, is God’s story. It’s a compilation of His love letters to us in one book. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">This book has stood the tests of time and challenge. It’s a book that remains both a lighthouse and a lightning rod because of the truth it contains. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">All attempts to discredit its truth have failed because it is ultimate truth. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Infallible truth. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">And it’s pages are woven together with a singular thread - the blood of God’s son Jesus. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">All books have a beginning, a middle and an ending. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">And a compelling storyline to keep you engaged from cover to cover. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The Bible is a story of perfection and failure and restoration and failure and redemption that’s possible because it was written by a God who loves His creation and has a beautiful purpose and plan for the lives He’s created. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">No matter how many times His creation fails Him, God still loves, still pursues, still redeems. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">And there is no missing that storyline as we read of His love revealed in the pages of His word. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This video is a wonderful summation of His love for us: </i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/54499273" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/54499273">The Story of God</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/joshsliffe">Josh Sliffe</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">So, there you have it, our salvation, our restoration - </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">God’s perfect plan for us is reflected in the entirety of His story from beginning to end. </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i></i></b><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**Let's start at the BEGINNING and look at some scripture together. </span></i></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Genesis 1:26</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>“</b></span>Then God said, “Let <b>us</b> make human beings in our image, to be like <b><i>us</i></b>.”</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Colossians 1:15-17</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span><b>He existed before anything</b> was created and is supreme over all creation,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">for <b>through him God created everything</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>in the heavenly realms and on earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">He made the things we can see</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>and the things we can’t see—</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>Everything was created through him and for him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">He existed before anything else,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>and he holds all creation together.”</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>John 17:5</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Now, Father, bring me into the glory <b>we shared before the world began</b>.”</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>2 Timothy 1:9</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, <b>but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.</b>”</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>John 1:1-5</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“<b>In the beginning the Word already existed</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Word was with God,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">and the Word was God.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>He existed in the beginning with God</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">God created everything through him,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">and nothing was created except through him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Word gave life to everything that was created,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">and his life brought light to everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The light shines in the darkness,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">and the darkness can never extinguish it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**Scripture clearly shows us that Jesus - the Messiah, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Sacrifice; was, is and always will BE. He is one third of the Holy Trinity - God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">So, why did Jesus have to die? </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What is the purpose of his blood? </span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">To answer that - we need to look back at the Garden, back to Adam and Eve and the serpent. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">God, even though He created Adam and Eve to walk in perfect communion with Him, God created them with <b>FREE WILL</b>. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">They always had a choice between good and evil; obedience and disobedience. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Deuteronomy 11:26-28</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Look, <b>today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse</b>! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**God planted the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and told them it was the one tree they could not eat from.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 2:16-17</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.””</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**You would think being told you would <b>DIE</b> would be enough to keep you from doing the thing you’re not supposed to do. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Especially when the one telling you is the one who created you. Isn’t it reasonable to assume He knows more? But in our sin nature, our human nature, we don’t like being told what not to do, do we? </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>God also created the serpent and placed him in the garden:</i> </span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 3:1a</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**And as the story goes - his first victim was Eve: </span></i></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 3:1b - 6</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>**Once the serpent deceived Eve, tempted her to eat of the tree and she shared the fruit with Adam, we know what happens next - scripture tells us that</i> “their eyes were opened, and they felt shame at their nakedness.” (Genesis 3:7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**Sin never takes us unaware - built into each of us the choice to do good or do evil - FREE WILL - just like Adam and Eve discovered when they disobeyed the one command God had given them. And you have to wonder why? </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">They had it pretty good. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Perfection in their Garden home. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Communion with God. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The perfect man. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The perfect woman. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">How rough could it have been?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>But verse 6 tells us that Eve</i> “wanted the wisdom it (the fruit) would give her”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Aren’t we always tempted by what we don't have, by what we are told we can’t have? </span></i></b></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The serpent made it sound so good. His words offered her something new, something extra. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">We always do want more, don’t we?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">And when we give in to our temptation, we are left with the consequences. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">We end up asking ourselves the very pointed question -</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">“What have I done?” </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">And it’s followed by blame, regret, shame and fear. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Nothing good, ever. </span></i></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 3:13</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?””</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**Eve blames the serpent - “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">But Eve didn’t eat simply because the serpent deceived her, she ate because she wanted what he told her it would give her. Remember?</span></i></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 3:4-6</b></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and <b><u>she wanted the wisdom it would give her.</u></b>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">**Eve believed the serpents’ lies because they sounded good to her - enticing her with what he knew she wanted. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">With that single, simple act of disobedience, Eve set in motion our redemption story. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">When she went after what she wanted instead of obeying God, it resulted in drastic, life-altering (life-ending) circumstances. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">First, for the serpent: </span></i></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><i>Genesis 3:14-15</i></b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then the Lord God said to the serpent,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Because you have done this, you are cursed</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>more than all animals, domestic and wild.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">You will crawl on your belly,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>groveling in the dust as long as you live.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,</span></b></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span><b>and between your offspring and her offspring.</b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">He will strike your head,</span></b></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"><b> </b></span><b>and you will strike his heel.</b>”</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Next, for the woman (Eve):</span></i></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><i>Genesis 3:16</i></b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Then he said to the woman,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>and in pain you will give birth.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">And <b>you will desire to control your husband</b>,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>but he will rule over you.”</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>**It is so compelling that God directly addressed Eve’s desire for special wisdom, His curse was directed at the very heart attitude that caused the break in their intimacy with Him.</i> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lastly, for Adam:</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span>Genesis 3:17-19</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">“And to the man he said,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">the ground is cursed because of you.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">It will grow thorns and thistles for you,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>though you will eat of its grains.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">By the sweat of your brow</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>will you have food to eat</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">until you return to the ground</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>from which you were made.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;">For you were made from dust,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span>and to dust you will return.””</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">And without a perfect, sinless sacrifice we all face eternal separation from God.</span></i></b></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">So, the answer to our question - </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Why did Jesus have to die? </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">What makes Jesus this perfect sinless sacrifice?</span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus is fully God, yet fully man. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">He IS God. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus is living, eternal and holy. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">His death, and resurrection sets him apart from any other sacrifice that could be made. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">No one but God himself could make a way for us to return to Him. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus not only died for our sin - the sin that is unavoidable because of what took place in the Garden; Jesus - because He is God - raised himself from the dead and provides a hope that no other faith, sect or religion can boast. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Our salvation is in THE living Christ. THE Son of God. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">THE Word made flesh. </span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“The Word gave life to everything that was created,</span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"><b> </b></span><b>and his life brought light to everyone.” </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>- John 1:4</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 11px; min-height: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 11px; min-height: 12px;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">With a Courageous Heart, </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">~~Robin</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 11px; min-height: 12px;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-64179466131483090092015-02-13T10:27:00.001-05:002015-02-13T10:27:12.969-05:00No Fear in Love<i><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-13-4" id="en-NLT-28630" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="text 1Cor-13-5" id="en-NLT-28631" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="text 1Cor-13-6" id="en-NLT-28632" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="text 1Cor-13-7" id="en-NLT-28633" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7</span></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-13-7" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></b></i>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-13-7" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></b></i>
My cousin Tina and I were born on the same day, May 25, three years apart.<br />
<br />
Through our childhood, we were frequent companions, sharing birthday parties and being playmates and giggly girls, trying hard to be good for Grandma.<br />
The climbing tree in Grandma's backyard always beckoned us to sit in it's high branches and play 'house'. A trip to the store might mean an ice cold Coca-Cola in the bottle and a box of Barnum's Animal Crackers to share.<br />
All in all a life filled with the innocent fun of girls who were oblivious to ugliness and pain and abuse.<br />
<br />
Or so I thought.<br />
<br />
It was a visit to Tina's home when I was 13 that opened my eyes to the truth of her world.<br />
Her home was not the safe harbor that I knew and my most distinct memories of that visit are of fear and silence.<br />
She was 10 years old.<br />
<br />
Soon after, her sister Leasa was born.<br />
Barely surviving her birth, she was deprived of oxygen during the process, and a victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, her precious life was tragic from the start.<br />
<br />
Over the next several years Tina and I began to drift apart as we each grew into our own teenage lives. The Summer and Holiday visits were different now - we were different now, each of us shaped by our singular circumstances and personal choices.<br />
<br />
My path took me down a road where my heart was yearning to be loved and I lost my innocence in the process.<br />
<br />
Her path took her down a road of drugs and alcohol in an effort to escape the actions that were forced upon her. Her innocence long shattered.<br />
<br />
After high school, we as individuals seemed to find our inner strength and sense of purpose that compelled us to try and make something of our lives. To walk away from the former and leave the memories behind.<br />
I was entering the police academy as she graduated high school and began work in a dental office, eventually working her way up to a skilled dental hygenist.<br />
She moved away from home and seemed to be building a better life, with different friends and different goals.<br />
<br />
But as in so many cases of abuse victims, Tina met the man she would eventually marry and who would eventually be her complete undoing.<br />
<br />
April 1990.<br />
I made the two hour drive to Tina and Gregg's small apartment in Richmond, VA.<br />
It was a happy occasion, their wedding was in September and we had dress shopping to do. After spending the day among satin, lace and tulle, reminiscent of our girlhood trips to the dress section of my Grandma's favorite department store, I stayed overnight to extend our visit. It had been too long and I missed the close companionship we'd once had.<br />
<br />
The two of us stayed up long past midnight, talking and sharing memories when our conversation turned to her fiancé.<br />
What Tina shared with me that night - trusted me with that night - should have been enough for me to pack her up and get her far away from her nightmare life.<br />
Once again, the lies abuse victims tell themselves in order to survive won out as she assured me that he was different now. He had changed. He promised her that he'd never do those things again.<br />
Lie after lie after lie until she had me convinced to leave it alone. It was her life to live as she chose.<br />
<br />
I woke up the next morning to the stench of drug smoke and alcohol in the living room - where he had spent the night - and I cowardly made my exit.<br />
<br />
If this story had a happy ending, I'd take you there now.<br />
My heart hurts and my thoughts are dark as I unpack this tale for you here. It's almost too hard to tell it knowing now what I should have known then.<br />
<br />
But I never had to worry about having a Father that loved me.<br />
A Father that protected me.<br />
A Father who had control over himself and his actions.<br />
A Father that would have given his life to see mine preserved.<br />
I hadn't yet met my husband, but because my Father was the kind of man he was, he provided the blueprint for the man I needed to marry.<br />
<br />
Tina didn't have that privilege and it was never more evident than on her wedding day.<br />
As I look back, I can see her stuffed pain, her hidden tears, her wounded soul, her crushed heart. All pushed aside for her determination to make the most of her fairytale day.<br />
It was to be her only taste of any fairytale.<br />
<br />
Years later, Tina's sister Leasa graduated from her special high school.<br />
I drove my Mom and Grandma down for the ceremony and party afterwards.<br />
It was the first time I'd seen Tina face to face since my wedding day in December of 1991.<br />
<br />
She was a shell of her former self. Her face and body ravaged by years of alcohol and drug use and the suffering of unspeakable acts of violence.<br />
I couldn't even look at her husband.<br />
It was with a superhuman effort that I'd even agreed to make the trip and stand in their house to celebrate Leasa's accomplishment.<br />
<br />
You see, it was only a few years earlier that we learned through my Aunt, Tina's Mother, that Tina's husband was not only a drug abuser, but he was a sexual deviant.<br />
It was discovered that he had sexually abused Leasa multiple times in their home.<br />
Times when she would stay with them overnight to give my Aunt a break from her care.<br />
He was arrested and charged with the crimes, but because of reasons still unknown to me, he wasn't convicted of the crimes that should have put him away for life, but merely placed on short probation and allowed to go home.<br />
Apparently the testimony of a mentally challenged victim isn't enough. And her sister, a victim all her life, was unable to break free of her own cycle of abuse in order to speak out and change the outcome.<br />
<br />
So, as victims do, Tina chose to stay with him.<br />
And I couldn't comprehend it.<br />
Couldn't comprehend personally how that kind of fear rules your life and causes you to make choices that are appalling to most.<br />
<br />
Her life came to an unimaginably horrific end seven years ago.<br />
Tina's husband had kicked her out of their home and for over two years, she had been living either out of her car, or with another man who was prostituting her for drugs and money.<br />
She was found dead on the side of the road on a cold early spring day.<br />
The physical cause of her death is unknown to me, but in all honesty, I've often wondered if she was dead before she was even given a chance to live.<br />
<br />
I write this story today because as many of you know, the highly controversial movie "50 Shades of Grey" premieres this weekend.<br />
Valentine's weekend.<br />
A time when love is celebrated.<br />
<br />
50 Shades of Grey is not love.<br />
It portrays an outward personification of hurt and pain and fear.<br />
It is a portrait of dark desires and deviant actions that have been fed by fuel that should burn no one.<br />
It is not a love story.<br />
It is a fear story. It is a pain story. It preys on our emotions and the dark places in our hearts that we more often than not don't choose to explore.<br />
It is a story of desperation and sadness if you but choose to see it.<br />
<br />
Those who see Christian Grey as a romantic figure might do well to ask themselves what caused him to discover and then feed the deviance he embraces.<br />
Those who see Ana as the girl who saves him should perhaps ask why she is drawn to him at all.<br />
This is escapism some say. This isn't reality, it's harmless fun between two consenting adults.<br />
Perhaps.<br />
But the people who live these lives outside the pages of a book or the scenes in a movie might not be all that they seem. Some may be hiding pain and hurt and anger so deep inside that they either aren't aware of it or are unable to acknowledge it as they pursue anything to fill up the empty void in their lives.<br />
<br />
As a police officer I learned the importance of asking why. Of digging deeper into a situation until I found the underlying cause.<br />
Those whys take you to some very dark places.<br />
<br />
To this day, I wish I'd asked why more often for Tina's sake. And for Leasa's.<br />
I didn't, but it's made me more determined to pay attention to what's unsaid. To what's observed when it seems out of place. To persist even when assurances that all is well are present.<br />
It's that regret that brings me here today.<br />
To share their story to hopefully make you think about the dark places in our human hearts.<br />
<br />
We all have them, and in truth the only thing that can permanently break through that darkness is the One who is Himself light.<br />
<br />
There are no shades with Christ, only light.<br />
Truth and light and a love that never causes pain or fear.<br />
<br />
If you are reading 50 Shades of Grey, ask yourself why.<br />
If you are planning to view the movie, ask yourself why.<br />
The only path for the temporary high of a dark thrill is another dark thrill.<br />
And another.<br />
And another.<br />
Until you find yourself trapped in a world of darkness that causes pain and more darkness.<br />
<br />
I can only urge you to look to the light today. To find a place of freedom from whatever has you in chains today.<br />
Christ waits for you with open arms and a grace that allows no darkness to invade.<br />
No shades, just light.<br />
<br />
With a Courageous Heart,<br />
~~RobinAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-89168876755955820342015-02-03T13:40:00.002-05:002015-02-03T13:40:24.099-05:00I Feel His PleasureThere's that moment, in the middle of what to some would be a mundane task.<br />
The moment that you <i>know</i> you are right smack dab in the middle of God's purpose for your life.<br />
You know He's working out His plan and you feel His pleasure. <br />
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To others it's a motion that deserves no more than a passing thought.<br />
It's a stop in time that could, by many, be done on auto-pilot.<br />
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But not you.<br />
Your heart catches in your chest and you feel your eyes become wet with tears of joy and the only thing you can do is stop.<br />
You close your eyes, hold your hands up to the sky and tilt your head back and you can feel your Creator smiling right into your soul.<br />
He's singing His song over you and it rolls in waves over your heart.<br />
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And you just whisper "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."<br />
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The tears roll down your cheeks in the small miracle of that moment.<br />
When everything is at peace in your heart.<br />
When all is as it should be because you know you are where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to do and it is bringing Him glory.<br />
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My heart is bursting wide open today.<br />
I was just granted one of those moments of precious, joyful worship of the God who loves me more than anyone deserves to be loved.<br />
Because I know, <b><i>I know</i></b>, that I'm right where I'm supposed to be and He's working out His plan for my life.<br />
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I am reminded today of the Olympic runner Eric Liddell.<br />
He's probably most well known because of the movie about his life - Chariots of Fire.<br />
He knew he was called to the mission field in China, but God had also made him a gifted runner. And as he worked out his faith publicly - refusing to run the race he had trained for because it fell on the Sabbath - God honored his faithfulness and in an unforeseen turn of events, Eric Liddell ran an entirely different race.<br />
One he had not trained for.<br />
But he won Gold.<br />
And gave the glory to God.<br />
And the whole world witnessed it.<br />
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He is often quoted as telling his sister - whom he would eventually join on the mission field in China, <i>"I believe God made me for a purpose - for China. But he also made me fast. And <b>when I run, I feel His pleasure</b>. To give it up would be to hold Him in contempt. You were right, it's not just fun. To win is to honor Him."</i></div>
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Eric Liddell had felt the small miracle of his moment of worship as he used his talent for God's glory and he knew that the world could see Christ in him.<br />
Another quote says this -<br />
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<i>"We are all missionaries...Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ </i></div>
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<i>or we repel them from Christ."</i></div>
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And that's all I ever want anyone to see in me - Christ Jesus.<br />
Nothing I ever do is for me or my glory or fame or renown - but all to make Jesus famous.<br />
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With a Courageous Heart,<br />
~~RobinAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-20238928839405285922015-02-02T15:35:00.000-05:002015-02-02T15:35:01.451-05:00How We Live<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IG3QYLHsi3cb9UfPj1M-6mLQ2sgjDi2aAYUXzcn-vztLIJRZAppQSRReHySkXtld74MhOZpVrCQ1AY-5_lveoQ07WjJw_yZHAU6hxj22gvIeQl17ut2w2cGeppXAJkv_w9BoMUXew7te/s1600/ee8aa345b7ef5645dab7a0b65d718a02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IG3QYLHsi3cb9UfPj1M-6mLQ2sgjDi2aAYUXzcn-vztLIJRZAppQSRReHySkXtld74MhOZpVrCQ1AY-5_lveoQ07WjJw_yZHAU6hxj22gvIeQl17ut2w2cGeppXAJkv_w9BoMUXew7te/s1600/ee8aa345b7ef5645dab7a0b65d718a02.jpg" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">It's the greatest challenge for us to care more about how God wants us to live, than we do about how the world views us. </span><br style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Our lives are not meant to be lived out in a popularity contest, but in following the calling God has given each one o</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">f us.<br /><br />Humility.<br />Gentleness.<br />Patience.<br />Love.<br />Unity.<br />Peace.<br />This is how God says we are to live.<br /><br />The world says it's important to be proud, self-promoting, fame-seeking.<br />Humility is an invitation to be a doormat.<br /></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The world says it's important to speak your mind, be heard, be seen. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Gentleness is for wimps.<br /></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The world says life is short, make things happen now.<br />Patience is for the un-motivated.<br /></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The world says you need to love yourself first.<br />Loving others is futile.<br /></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The world says it's ok to be different unless you are different than they are.<br />Unity is for those without knowledge.<br /></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The world places inner peace above living peaceably with all.<br />Peace is for fools.<br /><br />Dear Jesus, if it serves you best; if it allows me to live out the calling You have on my life, allow me to be a doormat, a wimp, un-motivated, futile, un-educated, foolish.<br />I would rather be a fool in the eyes of the world than to live a life un-worthy of Your call. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Amen.</span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">With a Courageous Heart,</span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">~~Robin</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-41928280222604180072014-10-16T08:12:00.002-04:002014-10-16T08:12:49.395-04:00For A Moment <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Today I'm sharing a guest post by my friend Shelley Fisher. </i></b></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Shelley is a Wife, Mom to four boys (God </span>bless her)<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> and teaches in Christian Child Care. She has a heart for children and for sharing the love of Jesus with them whenever she can. I'm excited to share a bit of her heart with you here today. </span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>“We do not see through our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs. To put our beliefs on hold is to cease to exist as ourselves for a moment."</i></b></span><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-Lisa Delpit</i></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This quote rings especially true for me as a Christian believer and how my beliefs affect me as a teacher and as a parent. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My beliefs not only dictate how I behave personally, but how I interact with children overall. Teaching children is an extremely high calling and one God takes very seriously. He places a huge emphasis on this, as He himself said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He also states in Luke 17:2, “It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin.” In literal terms, this means to show children the love of Jesus, bring them to Him in the light of our own love and belief in Him, and do not harm them in any way that will cause them to sin. Sin, in this instance, means to cause them to <i>not </i>believe because our actions prove He is not who He says he is. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Unbelief is a sin in and of itself… blasphemy. This command is given to <i>every</i> “teacher” of children...any person who has ever encountered or engaged a child has the opportunity to positively or negatively impact their lives forever. That’s a long time. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I work in a Christian childcare center and so I am able to exercise my beliefs in an open environment. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’ve also worked in a secular childcare on many occasions where my beliefs are not openly accepted. To put my beliefs “on hold” is to deny my God and “cease to exist as ‘myself’”. Even “for a moment” can be life altering to a little one. I haven’t been allowed to pray during mealtimes with them, read bible stories to them, or, in most cases, even say “Jesus loves you.” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But…I can for myself. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> can bow my head and pray for my food quietly.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I can bring my bible and read during quiet time or lunch break.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I don’t have to push my beliefs on anyone.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I simply have to be myself and they will see Him in me. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Even still, I can show them His love for them through my love for them.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I can pray for them as I go through my day with each one.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I can look for those special moments as I sit and play or dine or even through toilet training, that I can smile, laugh, talk and just be completely devoted to them even if… “For a moment.”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A brief moment in time, that hopefully will plant a seed and they will remember me and see Him.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Because I wasn’t called to see through </span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">my</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> eyes or hear through </span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">my</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> ears, I’m called to see children through </span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">His</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> eyes and through </span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">His</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> ears.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And so here, I confess, I have blown it.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve blown it big time, both personally and professionally.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve had bad days.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve said things under my breath and out loud in the confines of my own home.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve “ceased to exist” around those who I love, who love me, and with the children God has entrusted to me.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Such a contradiction, isn’t it?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Here I say it’s unacceptable, yet I’ve done it on many occasions and even willingly in the heat of the moment. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But, I’m not perfect.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve never claimed to be. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’m a sinner, like anyone else.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So, how do I reconcile that?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Simple.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I understand and allow the children to see that part of me too. It’s not something I’m proud of or that I like about myself, but it is part of my nature and part of theirs, as well. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Because I do blow it, and so will they.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I do yell at times, and so will they.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I don’t want to share, or obey or honor my father and mother always, and neither will they.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I teach them by my imperfection, that to be human, is to be imperfect.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But, I’m also able to show them that adults act like fools sometimes, and that adults, too, need to be sorry and ask forgiveness… even by the little children. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> “For it is by Grace we are saved, through faith, and this is not of ourselves- but a gift from God” and it is by Grace that I intend to lead them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is by Grace I’ve been saved and it is by Grace that I lead them.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-67780708406267852172014-10-08T09:22:00.000-04:002014-10-08T09:22:45.157-04:00A Definition of You (and Me)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is it that defines you?<br /><br />Think about it. <br /><br />What do the lines that draw the box of your life say about you?<br /><br /><br />We all have them. <br /><br />These boxes. <br /><br />Our 'safe' zones.<br /><br />Imaginary lines that surround us in the comfort of our personal definitions. <br /><br />Because that's what they are - personal, imaginary, comforting............limiting.<br /><br /><br />Are you defined by your pants size?<br /><br />Your hair color?<br /><br />Your acne scars?<br /><br />Your waistline?<br /><br />Your height, weight, shoe size, curvy, short, tall, skinny, big nose, small ears, round belly, ripped abs?<br /><br /><br />Or maybe you are self-defined by your college degree, or lack thereof. <br /><br />Your salary?<br /><br />Your job title?<br /><br />Your office size, cubicle space, locker or desk drawers?<br /><br />Your bank balance, unpaid bills, new car, old clunker, 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and a white picket fence or your cardboard home under the bridge?<br /><br /><br />How about your kids?<br /><br />Your husband? Wife?<br /><br />Do their accomplishments or failures define you?<br /><br />Does their status or grades describe what makes you unique?<br /><br /><br />The truth is that none of these things, or any other labels we apply, define who we are. <br /><br /><br />We like to think they do and we've become very skilled at wrapping ourselves up in the pretty patterned paper or plain brown wrapper of perception.<br /><br /><br />The truth is that sometimes we cling to the comfort of our self-definition - even when it hurts - because it's easier and more familiar to us than the beauty and freedom offered by the definition of our Maker. <br /><br /><br />Our Creator. <br /><br />The one who spoke us into existence. <br /><br />God Almighty.<br /><br /><br />This is how He defines you (and me): <br /><br />we are <b><i>"...fearfully and wonderfully made."</i></b> Psalm 139:14<br /><br /><br />we are <b><i>"...created....in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."</i></b> Genesis 1:27<br /><br /><br />we are <b><i>"...God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved...."</i></b> Colossians 3:12<br /><br /><br />don't miss this <b><i>"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!..." </i></b>1 John 3:1<br /><br /><br />When I see how we are defined by God, when I read the love He has for us in the words He's spoken to us, I have to ask myself how much longer can I thumb my nose at Him and say:<br /><br /><br />"I don't believe you."<br /><br />"You're wrong."<br /><br />"I'm not good enough."<br /><br />"I'm not smart, pretty, funny, thin.......worthy."<br /><br /><br />I really don't want to be defined by the perceptions of the world around me anymore, I want to be defined by who God says I am - <br /><br />"fearfully and wonderfully made"<br /><br />"created...in His own image"<br /><br />"dearly loved"<br /><br />"child of God".<br /><br /><br />It's time to re-draw the lines of my box. <br /><br />Time to break out of the limits and barriers I've placed around myself and allow the story that God has written about me to be the truth that defines me. <br /><br />Psalm 45:11 says: <br /><br /><b><i>"Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord."</i></b><br /><br /><br />Define myself, or honor my Lord. <br /><br />What will be your choice?<br /><br /><br />With a Courageous Heart, <br /><br />~~Robin</span><br /><br /><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-64384778535546050092014-09-26T12:43:00.000-04:002014-09-26T12:44:27.796-04:00Because - A Five Minute Friday PostIt's been a while hasn't it?<br />
I've not met you here since the beginning of August and honestly, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find my voice again.<br />
But I'm back and I'm staying and it has made my heart infinitely happy today to write again.<br />
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Today I used the word prompt from the <a href="http://katemotaung.com/2014/09/25/five-minute-friday-because/" target="_blank">Five Minute Friday Blog</a>.<br />
It was perfect for what was tumbling around in my heart and my head this morning.<br />
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<i>I was chatting with a friend today about extending grace. </i><br />
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<i>Giving grace to someone when we don’t want to. </i><br />
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<i>And not just the ordinary don’t want to, but the digging in our heels, gritting our teeth, fighting with everything in us to not have to be the grace-giver. </i><br />
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<i>It’s hard isn’t it? </i><br />
<i>So very hard to be graceful to someone who has hurt you deeply. </i><br />
<i>Someone who continues to hurt you deeply even when they’ve beaten you up and left your heart in a broken, bloody mess on the ground. </i><br />
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<i>We may never know what drives someone to lash out in anger. </i><br />
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<i>To deliberately cause pain to another, especially those they claim to love. </i><br />
<i>To enjoy the power and control that their words and actions have over our hurting hearts. </i><br />
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<i>But as much as it hurts us, as much as it grieves our soul, Jesus says we are to extend grace. </i><br />
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<i>To forgive and continue forgiving. </i><br />
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<i>Why? </i><br />
<i>Why Lord would you want me to show grace to someone who has hurt me so deeply? </i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Because</b></span>, He says, you know what grace extended can do to change a life. </i><br />
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<i>It changed yours. </i><br />
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With a Courageous Heart,<br />
~~Robin Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00352802798978139594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209404017709834541.post-10856731164744319502014-08-08T09:01:00.001-04:002014-08-08T09:01:38.559-04:00Fill - A Five Minute Friday PostIt's a challenge to sit down and write. To create pictures in the mind from words on a page, from the heart. It's even more of a challenge to explain it all in just Five minutes.<br />
Once again I've stepped out of my comfort zone and written based on the word prompt from the <a href="http://katemotaung.com/2014/08/07/five-minute-friday-fill/" target="_blank">Five Minute Friday</a> Challenge. I invite you to walk with me today and see if you can envision what I'm seeing in my mind's eye.<br />
Soli Deo Gloria <br />
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I fill the hours of my days with tasks that carry me from place to place.<br />
In and out of doors.<br />
Up and down stairs and roads and emotions.<br />
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Each day starts with my mind filling up with ideas and plans and dreams, almost all to be left behind in the aftermath of my place to place.<br />
My in and out.<br />
My up and down. <br />
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I want to be filled with You, Lord.<br />
Filled to the brim with your grace.<br />
Your peace.<br />
Your purpose.<br />
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Too often I am filled with everything but....<br />
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Fill me up today Lord.<br />
Fill me with vision to see what you see.<br />
Fill me with heart to love what you love.<br />
Fill me with more of you Lord.<br />
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Empty me of......<br />
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With a Courageous Heart,<br />
~~Robin<br />
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<i><b>"For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things."</b> </i></div>
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- Psalm 107:9 (ESV)</div>
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