The Right Side of Eternity: A Biblical View of Marriage

The issue of same-sex marriage has brought us to a watershed moment in the life of our nation.  In past decades, when faced with equally important decisions, we have taken the supposedly more "progressive" and "evolved" path.  In 1962, prayer was removed from public schools, and in 1973, abortion was legalized.  Both of these Supreme Court decisions have had huge repercussions - tragic repercussions - that still continue today.  In 2013, once again, nine justices made some vital and far-reaching decisions for the entire country concerning same-sex marriage, and there are more cases to come.  There are very strong feelings on both sides of this issue, and it is a difficult one!  But it is an extremely important issue, and Christians simply must speak the truth in love.

The world frames, or characterizes, the debate in the context of marriage equality. They say there should be an equal access to marriage, no matter the sex of the couple - or trio, or group - or even whether they are humans, animals, or other sort of living, or non-living things.  You see, you can't stop with two women or two men - if you destroy what marriage is, and was created to be - a union between one man and one woman - then there are no boundaries at all.  It can be whatever anyone wants it to be.  And that's the debate that the Christian must defend.  Marriage is not a right that gays, lesbians, and all other possibilities are denied. Marriage is an institution ordained by God.  By it's definition, it is the union of one man and one woman, and it cannot, and should not, be altered.  There is a God in heaven.  And like it or not, He has given us boundaries within which to live. We are blessed if we live within them.  This is not hate - this is love.  God loves each and every one of us, the whole world over (read John 3:16!).  In fact, God is love.

Many people try to defend homosexuality and same-sex marriage using the Bible, itself.  President Obama is a case in point.  He has cited both the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount, in general (there are no verses specific to the topic of homosexuality in either one), as a Biblical support for gay marriage.  He also dismissed the passage in Romans that does mention homosexuality, as "obscure". Well, there are no verses in the Bible that are obscure or unimportant.  Jesus Himself said - in the Sermon on the Mount, no less - "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18)

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, a long time defender of traditional marriage, changed his position after his son, Will, revealed to his parents that he was a homosexual.  In 2013, Senator Portman made this statement:

I wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister. Ultimately, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.

The problem with these arguments and many others like them, is that they aren't taking the whole counsel of God into consideration.  You can't pick and choose which verses to apply to your life, and throw out the others.  You have to submit to the authority of God in all of His word.  You can't add your own beliefs to what the Bible has already said.  You take it all in, and let Scripture interpret Scripture, and you don't take away, or add, even the dot of an "i".

The Bible is clear on homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, fornication, bestiality, etc...anything outside the bounds of Biblical matrimony is sin.  The Bible is also clear on marriage.  It was ordained by God, and it is to be between one man and one woman.  To speak up and say such a thing in the public square is not hateful; it's not pointing fingers and feeling superior to someone else.  Christians, of all people, realize the sinful nature that we all share.  We are all fallen sinners.  But gay activists are a small group of people, in relation to our entire population, trying to make same-sex marriage - what the Bible calls sin - the law of the land and force everyone in this country to agree with them that it is okay.  Speaking the truth is becoming discrimination and hate-speech.  Children in the public schools are being taught that homosexuality is okay, and an acceptable lifestyle - no matter what their parents believe.  To say that same-sex marriage is not okay; to make a judgment call on a moral issue based upon the Bible is perfectly acceptable, and absolutely essential.  If not, then our right to free speech is gone. 

What does the Bible say about all of this?  A whole lot - but I'll just point out a few things, and I'm going to start at the beginning.  In Genesis 1:27-28, it says:

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

He made two people: one male and one female, and He blessed them.  He told them to be fruitful and multiply.  Only a male and a female could obey that command.

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18)

Adam was with God, Himself, but yet God said it wasn't good for him to be alone - he needed someone "suitable", someone like him!  But God didn't make another man...

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:21-22)

She was made differently.  Adam was formed from the dust of the ground; Eve was fashioned from Adam's own body.  He made her for Adam, and He gave her to the man.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

And there it is - marriage - originated, ordained and blessed by God.  And just to point out the obvious, it says "a man shall leave his father and his mother" (not his father and his other father; not his mother and his other mother), "and be joined to his wife" (not his husband).

God couldn't be clearer.  This is what marriage is - anything else is not marriage.

All the other verses are based in this! You must take in the whole counsel of the Bible - interpret the Bible in light of the whole Bible.

It is argued that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. Well, the Old Testament says that homosexuality is a sin.  And Jesus never, ever, contradicted or dismissed the Old Testament Scriptures. He affirmed them over and over.  He said (again, in the Sermon on the Mount), "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill."  He quoted Old Testament Scripture, and never changed or altered it.  Furthermore, Jesus may not have uttered the word "homosexuality" (as far as what is recorded in the Gospels), but He did talk about marriage:

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?' So the are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." (Matthew 19:3-6)

Jesus affirms everything about marriage that was written in Genesis.  He affirms that marriage is one man and one woman, whom God joins together.

Finally, a passage written by Paul, (the author of that "obscure" book of Romans - which is so important, it is considered the constitution of our faith), from another letter of his, to the church at Corinth:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

That whole list starting with fornicators all the way through swindlers comes under the umbrella of "the unrighteous", which means the unbeliever, the unjust, sinful person. And that's what we all are, until we come to Jesus - and trust in Him and the price that He paid for our sins on the cross, to wash all those sins away, and be clothed in His righteousness.  Let's take a look at what those words mean (going back to the original Greek words):

• fornicators (original Greek word is "pornos"): sexually immoral person; a man who prostitutes his body to another's lust for hire, a male prostitute, a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse
• idolater ("eidololatres"): worshipper of idols; used of anyone even Christian, participant in any way in the worship of the heathen....; a covetous man as a worshipper of Mammon
• adulterer ("moichos"): an adulterer (self-explanatory); metaphorically, one who is faithless toward God, ungodly
• effeminate ("malakos"): soft, soft to the touch; homosexual, passive partner in male-to-male sex act, catamite, a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man, a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness, a male prostitute
• homosexuals ("arsenokoites"): male homosexual, one who takes the active male role in homosexual intercourse, one who lies with a male as with a female
• thieves ("kleptes"): one who steals; the name is transferred to false teachers, who do not care to instruct men, but abuse their confidence for their own gain
• covetous ("pleonektes"): greedy; one eager to have more, esp. what belongs to others; greedy of gain
• drunkards ("methysos"): drunken, intoxicated
• revilers ("loidoros"): slanderer, verbal abuser, railer
• swindlers ("harpax"): vicious, violently greedy, destructively ferocious, ravenous, rapacious, like a robber, a violent swindler, extortioner

It is clear - the Bible names homosexuality a sin along with the others; and the Bible defines marriage as one man and one woman, whom God joins together.  The good news, for all of us, comes in the very next verse:

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

That is the hope that Jesus gives to the world.

Are we, as a nation, going to turn our back on the God who our founders called out to when they were building this "great experiment"?  Are we, as a nation, going to declare "good", what God has declared "evil"?  Listen to the words of the "father of our country", George Washington, in his inaugural address on April 30, 1789:

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system  of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with a humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.

He is so humbly thankful to God for His hand in establishing this great nation.  And he also gives us a warning:

...the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained...

He ends his speech with this benediction:

Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I  shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication, that since He has been pleased to favor the American people, with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government, for the security of their union, and the advancement of their happiness; so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend.

Constitutionally, if the Supreme Court makes same-sex marriage the law of the land, those nine justices will have fundamentally changed something that existed long before the United States of America began. And millions of citizens will be forced to choose between following their conscience and obeying the law - the exact thing our founders fought so hard against!

I've heard the question asked - who has the right to tell people whom they can and cannot love (meaning have sex with, and marry)?  I don't.  No human being does.  But God does - and God did.

A gay activist once said of Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania - who, like Senator Portman, changed his mind to support gay marriage - that his new position "puts him squarely on the right side of history".  I completely disagree with that assessment.  But more importantly, the real question is not what side of history you're on, but what side of eternity. 

Do not be deceived! The Bible does not condone homosexuality or same-sex marriage, no matter how many ways the politicians and the activists try to spin it.

We are to be salt and light in our nation and in our world.  America is getting darker and darker - it's time for a revival in the Church, His body...and it's time to let it shine.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. (Galatians 6:7-9)

Benghazi Stonewalling (written early May, 2013)

Benghazi.  I had to look it up on the map - I'd never heard of it before 9/11/2012.  As the details began emerging, including the reports that things were not as they were being portrayed by the Administration, I really started paying attention.  Selfishly, I suddenly cared much more about the military and our foreign policy and about the President's job as Commander in Chief, because my son and my nephews were talking about joining the military.  I cared a whole lot!  I should have cared more before, because every person in the military is someone's son or daughter, but I've got lots of growing to do yet.

There were so many unanswered questions, so many real concerns about what had happened, and the President's actions, or non-actions, the night of the attack, I really didn't expect Obama to be re-elected.  Someone asked me right before the election, "If Obama is re-elected, do you think he will be impeached over Benghazi?"  I said, emphatically, "Yes!"  In the months following his re-election, I kind of lost hope that we would ever know the truth until many years down the road.  But now, maybe this Wednesday at the Congressional hearings, we'll start hearing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for the first time.  There are three "whistle-blowers" who have the courage and the character to stand up to this Administration, and tell the truth.  There are other whistle-blowers who want to testify, but have not committed to that yet, because they're being intimidated, by...the Administration.

Even the so-called "Accountability Review Board" that "investigated" the State Department's culpability in what happened in Benghazi is now being investigated itself, because they have participated in the cover-up!  These very same witnesses, who will testify on Wednesday, wanted to testify to the Accountability Review Board, and were denied!  Unbelievable!

Even more unbelievable is the stonewalling that is still going on.  Here are some examples -

• Hillary Clinton, in her testimony at the Congressional hearing: "With all due respect, the fact is we have four dead Americans.  Whether it was because of a protest or because guys outside for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans.  What difference at this point does it make?"

It makes a whole lot of difference, because it wasn't either of those things.  It wasn't a protest and it wasn't random.  It was a terrorist attack, something that the Administration wanted to hide, long enough for Obama to be re-elected anyway.  And it's much more than lying to the American people over what kind of attack it was.  It's much more than not defending the Americans adequately in the months preceding the attack.  What bothers me the most, is that when they were attacked, we didn't help them.  And that is Obama's fault.  He's the Commander in Chief, and he left his men on their own, and they died.  The only reason more didn't die, was because of the bravery of the men that were there.

• Jay Carney, press secretary, when asked about the reports of potential "whistle-blowers" being gagged, or intimidated: "Benghazi happened a long time ago."  "We are unaware of any agency blocking an employee who would like to appear before Congress to provide information related to Benghazi."

For months, the answers were, "We'll find out eventually, we'll find out what happened."  Now, almost seven months later, they still haven't answered the questions, and suddenly, it's too late.  "That happened a long time ago - who cares anymore?  What difference at this point does it make?"  They've stonewalled as long as they can, and now they want to just move on. 

• President Obama, when asked just this past week about the intimidation of potential witnesses: "Ed, I'm not familiar with this notion that anybody's been blocked from testifying.  So what I'll do is I will find out what exactly you're referring to.  What I've been very clear about from the start is that our job with respect to Benghazi has been to find out exactly what happened, to make sure that U.S. embassies not just in the Middle East but around the world are safe and secure and to bring those who carried it out to justice.  But I'll find out what exactly you're referring to."

Yes, he's been very clear about that from the beginning, because that's all he ever says!  I'm so tired of hearing those words!  Seven months later, and he's still saying our job is to find out exactly what happened!  It's like pulling a string on a toy, and it says the same thing over and over.  Evidently, he didn't get the memo from Hillary and his press secretary. The line now is - "Oh, it's been so long, what difference does it make, anyway?"

"Get serious, get out of the bar, and get down to the border."

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Busy day for leader of the free world:

Israel responds to rocket attacks by Hamas:

link

ISIS continues its rampage across Iraq:

link

Veterans still wait and wait for healthcare, and for some, it comes too late:

link

Illegal immigrants are still crossing the border - children, families, gang members, criminals, drug dealers, etc:

link

President Obama was in Texas to attend Democratic fundraisers, some of which cost up to $32,000 to attend. Governor Perry asked the President to go to the border with him - to see what's going on, to understand better what needs to be done. Obama refused.  He said he was not looking for photo ops. 

link

Here's what he did instead:

link

link

link

Daniel Bongino, a former Secret Service Agent who is now running for Congress in Maryland, posted these remarks on his facebook page:

About 14 years ago I was assigned to a protection operation in Toronto in support of a visit by Vice-President Cheney. We didn't have a lot of down-time between the travel/walk-thru day and the visit and, as a result, I was extremely exhausted when the Vice-President arrived the next day. 

Approximately 8 hours in to my 16-hour-plus day, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer I was working with, seeing that I was tired, offered me a chair to sit in. I thanked him but turned down the chair and stood for the rest of the shift. 

I didn't turn down the chair because I didn't want it, I turned down the chair because it looked bad. I was a Secret Service Agent and I wasn't going to give off the impression of weakness to our cordial RCMP counterparts. I was proud of our agency and, although I have long since departed the Secret Service, I still am. 

Relatively minor acts like this are repeated all over the world, every day, by men and women in our military, law enforcement and diplomatic corps who proudly wrap themselves in our flag and conduct our country's business with dignity and honor. 

I write this because our President could learn something from these men and women. Golfing every weekend, taking multiple, extended vacations, attending fundraisers the day following our Ambassador's murder in Benghazi, and fooling around in bars in Colorado taking pictures, such as the one attached, while our border is collapsing, Iraq is falling, our IRS is targeting innocent citizens, and our vets are dying on VA waiting lists, is an embarrassment to our county and to the citizens looking for answers to the tidal wave of crises going on right now. 

It's long past the time to lead and the President has nearly impeached himself. We do not have 2 more years to wait for him to take this job seriously. The people of the United Stated deserve better. Get serious, get out of the bar, and get down to the border.

President Obama had better get a lot done in the next month. He goes on a 15-day vacation in August...at Martha's Vineyard.  

link

It's Time to Take Our Country Back

There is massive corruption in our government, and we're on the brink of losing it all - our freedoms, our lives as we know it, and the chance for our children and grandchildren to live and breath in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

It's time to be brave. It's time to stop saying with a defeated sigh, "so sad, but true" to every news story that comes out. It's time to stop letting the enemies of freedom shut us up by belittling, mocking, and claiming we're making things up. It's time to expose the evil, the lies, the corruption that runs rampant through our government - and get those godless people out of Washington D.C. and every state capital in the union.

It's time to get down on our knees and pray to God above to forgive us for our sins, and for out complacency, and our laziness in letting our country go to the wolves, and humbly ask Him to heal our land - and then get UP off our knees, praise Him and get busy fighting for truth, fighting for Him, fighting for our country.

I used to be a know-nothing American. Then I was a know-a-few-things American. Around the time of Benghazi, when Brendan was contemplating joining the service, I became an I-want-to-know-what's-going-on mom. Brendan has not joined the service since then - he may yet, I don't know - but I'm ashamed to say, I was selfish enough to be happy about that. I didn't want him to be in the service with Obama as commander in chief. Obama does not like the military, and he does not take care of them. He makes policy decisions that put the military in danger - over and over again.

Do you know what's going on in our country? Do you know that there is an IRS scandal and cover-up going on that puts Watergate to shame - and the only reason it has not been on the front pages of every newspaper is because the mainstream press is on the side of the enemies of freedom? Do you know that the FBI, the Department of Justice, even Congressmen, have colluded with this miscarriage of justice and are complicit w/ it?

Do you know what is going on on our southern border? That massive numbers of immigrants are coming across and NOT being deported? That there are facilities holding them by the thousands, and that they are being shipped all over this United States - with just a promise to show up at their hearing - which may take place years later? A promise that 80% will not keep? Do you know the kind of diseases these people are bringing with them - swine flu, tuberculosis, lice, scabies, leprosy, and more? Do you know that the children will be placed in public schools in a few months, under threat of prosecution by the federal government if they're turned away? Get ready for the epidemics, because they're coming. Do you know that we, the taxpayers, are paying for all of this - their provision right now, they're transportation - on public buses and planes - their education, their medical care, their food (through food stamps) because these are mainly moms with young kids, etc...? Do you know this was at the least, known of and not stopped by our government, and probably, orchestrated by them?

Do you know that the reason for the Benghazi cover-up is because the U.S. was illegally supplying arms to known terrorists, in Libya and Syria? Do you know that ISIS, which is a terrorist group so radical that al Qaeda kicked them out and is now ravaging Iraq, has been partly trained and armed by the United States? Did you know that the White House was warned about them long before they began their horror in Iraq?

And there is more - oh, so much more. Everyday, I see more, and everyday, I get almost dizzy and sick to my stomach when I see how deep the corruption is. But a fire is starting to grow in my belly, and it is time to fight.

I love America. I love all she stands for. I love God and His goodness to us. I love Jesus Christ, our Savior - and I don't think for a minute, that being a Christian means we turn a blind eye to our country and stay out of the messiness of politics. America is a gift of freedom, a gift of God, to the world - where most of all, the gospel of Jesus Christ can be freely proclaimed - and we are to be stewards of that freedom.

The wolves have taken over - it's time to take it back.

"Fix the train wreck. Stop the nightmare."

Last evening, I tuned into Senator Ted Cruz's quasi-filibuster (for some reason, it wasn't technically a filibuster, it just sounded and looked like one), and could not draw myself away.  As I write this, at 5:30 am, he's still speaking (he started at 2-something yesterday afternoon).  He sounds as if he just started!

Senator Cruz wasn't the only speaker.  He had some help from a few other Republicans, and some push-back from a few Democrats.  But as the night wore on, it was mostly Senator Cruz with a good bit of help from Senator Mike Lee.  They were eloquent, at times brilliant, and very engaging.  There were no teleprompters.  They definitely had a plan, but their words were extemporaneous, and they so beautifully expressed why America truly is exceptional.  Senator Lee gave an outstanding lecture on the Constitution (that I need to listen to again!) and most of all, they methodically, clearly - almost gently - explained how dangerous Obamacare is to all of us.  I heard Senator Lee say that he was a God-fearing man, and I believe, from their words and from their hearts, that indeed, they both are.

By no means boring, there were many light moments.  Senator Cruz read a Bible passage and "Green Eggs and Ham" to his daughters for their bedtime story.  He also read some words of wisdom from the Duck Dynasty family members.  There were some apparently silly questions and answers between the two Senators, but they had an extremely important point:

• What color is a purple finch?  "red"
• What animal was the Canary Islands named for?  "a dog"
• What is a camel-hair brush made out of?  "squirrel's hair"
• What color is an airplane's black box?  "orange"

The point?  Sometimes things aren't as they seem.

Those in Congress who supported Obamacare from the beginning avowed that the law did not include a tax.  There was a penalty, but not a tax.  President Obama said directly to the American people - Obamacare is NOT a tax.  Attorney General Eric Holder, defending the constitutionality of Obamacare before the Supreme Court, argued that it was a tax - and therefore, constitutional.

Smoke and mirrors.  Slight of hand.  Deceit.  Lies.

Now this is the one we need to pay attention to.  This is the one you need to tell everyone you know, about what is going on.  Because the Republicans (leadership and those who agree with them) are going to try to trick us again - but we have a heads up, and we don't have to fall for it.  This is complicated, and I don't completely understand it, but I'm going to put down the highlights as best I can:

• There will be a cloture vote which would break up the (quasi) filibuster
• A vote of 60 is necessary for that to pass
• There are 54 Democratic votes for cloture in the bag
• If 6 Republicans vote for cloture, it will pass

The Republicans that would vote for cloture will say it's because they support the bill (which gives the go-ahead on funding everything in the government EXCEPT Obamacare).  Hang with me, now...   Usually, a filibuster is done in order to delay a vote on a bill that you don't want to pass.  So why is Senator Cruz filibustering a bill that he wants to pass?  Because Majority Leader Harry Reid is up to dirty tricks. 

What Reid will try to do is get a cloture vote (with Republican help), strip the bill of the Obamacare portion (which will keep Obamacare funded and active), and refuse to let any other amendments be added.  Then, for some reason I don't yet get, they would only need a majority (51 votes) to pass the bill.  Obviously, the Democrats can do that without any help from the Republicans.

So, when Republicans vote for cloture, saying they're voting FOR the bill to defund Obamacare, they do so knowing that the Obamacare portion of the bill will be taken out by Reid, and the vote for the stripped bill will not need their votes, so they can vote against the stripped bill, but it will still pass because only 51 votes are needed then.

So, they're going to say I'm voting for defunding Obamacare, when they're really doing the opposite.  If they really want to defund Obamacare, they need to vote NO to cloture, until that vote has the assurance that they'll be able to debate and vote on amendments, or they'll vote on it as it is - defunding Obamacare.

Purple finch is really red.
Obamacare is not a tax, yet is a tax.
I'm voting for defunding, but not really.

Smoke and mirrors.  Slight of hand.  Deceit.  Lies.

Keeping all of that in mind, here's what Senator Mitch McConnell (Minority Leader) said yesterday:

"I think we'd all be hard-pressed to explain why we were opposed to a bill that we're in favor of," McConnell told reporters Tuesday. "And invoking cloture on a bill that defunds Obamacare ... strikes me as a no-brainer."

The Republican leadership is furious with Senator Cruz and the handful of Senators that agree with him.  They're not playing the political games that everyone is used to playing.  They're bypassing all of that mess, and going straight to the people - to us.  That's what the filibuster was for - so they could have TIME.  Time to speak and clearly communicate all that needed to be said.  And that's what they did.  And many, many people listened - all night long.  Now, it's up to us - the American people.  We have got to flood DC with our voices - through the phone, email, twitter, whatever way possible.  And it has to be big.  That's what Sen. Cruz said - the Democrats are so entrenched in this.  He said, "The only way to move the battleship of the state is to make it more politically risky to do the wrong thing than to do the right thing."   In other words, they'll have to have so much pressure from their constituents that they'll vote to keep their seats in the Senate - instead of voting to keep on the "party line". 

The majority of Americans do not want Obamacare.  The only way we can keep it from being imposed on us is to let our Senators (and Representatives) know it - in a very big way. 

Obamacare is an awful law:

• It will ruin our healthcare system - doctors are already retiring and advising young people not to go into medicine; it's going to require so much documentation and red tape from doctors, they're not sure they'll have time to treat patients the way they want to; it will be more expensive all around; we won't be able to keep our insurance or doctor or even the closest hospital necessarily  
• it will hurt our economy further (if not ruin that as well) - the ripples that will spread from this monstrosity are unknown, but unstoppable once the law goes into full effect 
• it further entrenches those on government assistance
• it puts the IRS in charge of the administration of our healthcare!
• it's not ready to be implemented and there are real security risks with our private information
• Obama has delayed the employer mandate, but not the employee's; IRS employees don't want it and are trying to get out of it; unions are the same; even Congress has gotten themselves out of it, but we have to live with it
• when it inevitably collapses, Obama will push towards a one party provider system - socialized healthcare.  Harry Reid stated as much in a televised interview. 
• Is there ANYTHING that the government has taken over that has worked out well?  Do we really want our healthcare in the hands of the IRS and federal government?

You won't hear any of this in the mainstream media.  I've already seen some headlines that I cannot believe.  They're the total opposite of the truth.  I'm sure the whole filibuster will be available on the internet. I encourage you to listen to some of it.  Don't just listen to the 5:00 news.  Listen to these men.

Senator Cruz's words were - "Fix the train wreck.  Stop the nightmare." He challenged the Democrats and other Republicans, to go against their leadership.  With a slight grin, he said, "It's survivable."

But they won't do it, unless they feel a lot of pressure from the people that vote for them.  Let's do this - for our country, for our kids, for the children yet to be born.

"(If) my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 

2 Chronicles 7:14

In Memoriam

In Memory...

Of a person I never met,

In honor of a life barely lived,

May we never forget

The value of forty-five minutes.

He was born alive, despite all efforts to accomplish the opposite. He was breathing, but only for a very short time. He was a fighter, but there was just too much for him to overcome. I did not know him. His own parents did not know him. No one knew him, except for one woman, a nurse, who made sure that for those precious forty-five minutes, he was not alone. I learned about him while reading an article about Barack Obama’s complete and unwavering support for abortion—any and all abortions. Within the article was that nurse’s testimony of one abortion that did not quite go as expected, and it had a profound effect on me that I was not expecting. In fact, when I came across this one short phrase, I started crying:

“…an aborted Down Syndrome baby…”

I can picture in my mind many sweet, precious faces – some I know personally, some I’ve seen in magazines and on TV – sweet, precious people, who happen to have Down Syndrome.  They smile, they laugh, they love – and they bring joy to everyone around them.

Why was this baby, who happened to have Down Syndrome, not given a chance to live? For several reasons. First of all, pre-natal testing can tell expectant parents that their baby might have Down Syndrome, and for some people, a Down Syndrome baby is an “unwanted” baby. Secondly, our country has taken away any legal restraint to protect the lives of the “unwanted’s”. Therefore, those who do not realize that all life is valuable and sacred - even when it is not exactly what we had expected; those who consider a precious child with Down Syndrome something to be thrown out with the trash—well, they are free to end the lives of their very own children.

This Down Syndrome baby, had he been given the chance to live, would have smiled, laughed, loved, and brought such joy to his parents. But instead, he was pulled prematurely from the womb with the intent to end his life.  And when he survived that horrible process, his parents rejected him again – they would not even hold him.  Without the compassion of that nurse, he would have been left to die alone – in what sounded to me like the equivalent of a dirty laundry hamper.

But he did die – he was “an aborted Down Syndrome baby”.  How many Down Syndrome babies have been aborted?  I can hardly bear to think about it. And it will not stop there. As the pre-natal testing gets more and more sophisticated, how many babies with other handicaps or diseases will be aborted?  How many babies with a gene that pre-disposes them to a certain kind of disease will be aborted?  How many brown-eyed babies will be aborted, because the parents are just desperate for a blue-eyed child?

The proponents of abortion want it to be safe, legal, and rare.  Well, it is legal all right – but safe?  For the tiny lives being destroyed – it is anything but safe.  For the women going through the abortion – they claim it is safe, but is that true?  What is the truth about the long-term physical and emotional, not to mention spiritual effects, of abortion on women?  If anyone knows, they are certainly not telling. And has making it legal made it rare?  Absolutely not – the numbers of lives lost through abortion is astounding, and scientific advances are making it possible to label more and more pre-born babies “unwanted”.  And since killing “unwanted” babies is legal – killing “unwanted” babies is done.

“…an aborted Down Syndrome baby…”

I do not know who he was.  I do not know who he would have been.  But I know where he is now.  He is in the kingdom of heaven, and he is with Jesus. His short, forty-five minute life has touched my heart - so much so that I want to speak out against the society that allowed him to be so terribly mistreated, so cruelly destroyed.  And I want to speak up in his defense, to say that he did not deserve what he received. No one deserves that.

I will not forget him.  For me, he will represent all of the millions of lives that have been lost through this horrible procedure.  Sometimes, the numbers are just so huge that you can only look at the problem from a distance, without it reaching your heart.  Sometimes, you need to hear just one person’s story.  Sometimes, your heart needs to hear something like...

“…an aborted Down Syndrome baby…”

I do not think I have ever cried over abortion before.

I am ashamed that it has taken me this long.



To that unnamed little boy, that “...aborted Down Syndrome baby…”:

You may have only lived for forty-five minutes, and your life was not valued or protected by those who were supposed to take care of you—but that forty-five minutes has had a profound effect on me, and many others, I’m sure. Oh, yes indeed, little boy—your time here on earth, as short as it was, had much value. You have completely changed my heart about abortion—it used to be just an issue, now it is about you. And the love, grief, sorrow, and loss that I feel for you needs to be multiplied by the millions—and if that happens, I will be a little bit closer to understanding the heart of God and how much it must grieve Him to see what we have allowed to be done to you and all the others, and how much He must abhor this scourge, this evil, this atrocity that we dare to call a “right” - abortion.

Thank you, little boy. You rest now. Your work is done. It is time for those of us still here—to get busy.

Blue Jays and Benghazi

Just playing around with some pictures - love the blue jays!  It's very good for the soul to "create" with these pictures of God's creation...very healing, very soothing.

Benghazi "whistleblowers" hearings today - watched the whole thing, with some of the kids.  Extremely interesting, and so good to finally hear from someone who was there, but is it enough?  They're going to just sweep it under the rug again...are there others who could come forward, and tell the truth?  Just so tired of lies. 

I keep going back to Psalm 37 ---

"Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday."

Father, help me not to fret.  Remind me not to fret, but to trust in You.  I pray for truth, for justice, and that You would bring forth righteousness as the light, and judgment as the noonday.  Father, may Your righteousness be known, and Your glory be revealed in this land.  In Jesus precious' name I pray, Amen.

----------------------------------------
I wrote the above just a few hours ago.  In the meantime, someone asked me this question - "What "truth" do you think hasn't been told (about Benghazi)?"  This is how I responded, and it's messy cause I did it quick, but I wanted to list it all out here, too.  There's a lot of truth that needs to be told.

Here's my list -

1. Why did the State Dept. deny requests for more security? Why did they, in fact, take away from what they had, which was not enough in the first place? Is it truly funding? Ms. Lamb testified earlier that money was not the issue, and Hillary C. had discretion about where she appropriated her funds. Something else could have been cut, something less deadly. It doesn't add up. Why did the State Dept. deny requests for more security?

2. Where was President Obama when all of this was happening? He's the Commander in Chief - what was he doing, how was he carrying out that duty that night? Sec of Def (at that time) Panetta testified that after he spoke to Pres Obama (at a previously scheduled meeting) at the beginning of the attack, that the Pres never spoke to him again during that whole night! Why? Why didn't Pres Obama attend his Presidential Daily Briefing the morning after the attacks? And the next morning? No one knew whether or not more violence was on the horizon. And I know they say he reads them - but that's not the same as talking to the people who are experts, asking questions, making sure you understand. And why did he go to a fund raiser hours after those men were killed? If he really was sincere about finding out what happened, and protecting our country and our people from further attacks, why didn't he stay at the White House and do his job? Where was he when those men were dying?

3. This one is my most important - after all the excuses, all the explanations, all the condescending oh you just don't understand the military or the situation...I don't buy it. Why did we not send help?! SecDef Panetta's 1st excuse - too dangerous, not enough info or intel. Hogwash! That's what the military does! Here is what he said in an Oct 26, 2012 report from ABC "Panetta said the US military had responded quickly by deploying forces to the region. “We had FAST platoons in the region. We had ships that we had deployed off of Libya. And we were prepared to respond to any contingency. And certainly had forces in place to do that.” But Panetta said the “basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on; without having some real-time information about what’s taking place.”

His next excuse - there just wasn't time to get troops there. That contradicts the first excuse, and it doesn't even make sense! In real time, they didn't know how long it was going to last, they didn't know anything, according to his first excuse, so how could they possibly know if they could get there "in time"? In time for what? They didn't know when it would end! I just saw a CBS report about this subject, and they interviewed Mr. Panetta. Incredible. He said the nearest help would have come from Italy, but they didn't have tankers in the area to fuel the planes. Why? They played a tape of him testifying that there was no imminent threat at that time. Hogwash again! The consulate had been attacked already, there was a hole in the wall! The British and the Red Cross had already packed up and left because of the danger. And it was the anniversary of 9/11! What do they want - an announcement in the mail? The statement was also made that the two attacks were separated by 6 hours, and if they had known another attack was coming, they would have acted differently. What?! That's the point - they didn't know - so why didn't they send the military in there so they would be prepared for anything?! It just doesn't make sense!

3a. Why in the world did they not mobilize the FEST response team? Mr. Thompson testified today that he was told it wasn't the "right time" for that. FEST - "The United States Foreign Emergency Support Team (FEST) is a rapid-response unit designed to respond to terrorist attacks against U.S. interests overseas." It was exactly what was needed!! How could it possibly not be the right time?!

3b. Why was Lt. Colonel Gibson told not to board the C-130 that he was about to get on and go help in Benghazi? Mr. Hicks testified that they had every reason to believe that US personnel were still in danger at that time. Mr. Hicks then realized, they were on their own. Who gave that order, and why? Why were military not even authorized to help rescue and evacuate all the Americans? Why did the diplomatic personnel have to do that on their own? Shameful!

3c. Mr. Hicks spoke of the 6-man team that drove off 60 attackers in the first wave - saving many lives. That team included Tyrone Woods. It was reported back in the fall that he also was told to "stand down" when the cried for help came from the mission. There's a pattern here.

Why did we not respond with military help? Why were they left on their own? Why?

4. It's clear as day - there was no protest over a video. No one from Libya reported a protest over a video. It was a terrorist attack and everybody knew it. Why did the administration lie? Was it just to win the election? Or was another reason? Why?

These are all truths that have not been told.

If enough people ask, they're going to have to start talking.

A Foundation of Lies

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  (John 8:31-32)

When President Obama was asked about the Gosnell abortion trial, he declined to comment specifically, but he did say he agreed with former President Bill Clinton that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.

In America, since the legalization of abortion in 1973 until 2011, there have been 54,559,615 abortions.  Let that sink in a minute.  There have been over 54 million abortions.  Over 54 million people (American people) are not here on this earth that should have been.  Legalizing abortion didn't make it rare - it opened the floodgates!  These numbers could actually be even higher, because there is no law or regulation that compels abortion clinics to report their statistics.  It's completely voluntary.  But according to the data available, 22% of all US pregnancies end in abortion.  One in every five babies are killed.  Abortion is not rare.

A safe abortion is an oxymoron, an impossibility.  Abortion is a procedure that by its very nature is "un-safe" for babies.  At the beginning of the procedure there are two lives; at the end, there is only one.  And that one, that woman who may have believed the lie that "it's just a clump of tissue", will for the rest of her life have to deal with the scars and the consequences, physical, emotional and spiritual, of her "choice".  Abortion is not safe.

When I first started reading about the Gosnell case, I was, like everyone else, appalled and sickened by what went on in that "clinic".  I still am.  But what I'm coming to see, as I keep reading, is that this is not an aberration at all.  This kind of stuff goes on all the time, and it has got to stop!  Thank God, the authorities raided that clinic for illegal use of prescription drugs, because that is how the despicable abortion mill that he was running came to light.  We've got to keep the light on it, and bring to light all the others out there, the whole abortion industry, in fact.  Because they claim to be all about women's health, and say they are on the woman's side, but they're not.  They're all about the money.  They don't care about women - they use women, for profit. 

There is so much deception surrounding abortion. There's no doubt but the father of lies, Satan, is behind this heinous practice. In fact, legalized abortion in America was "birthed" through lies and deceit. We know this because of the incredible life of Dr. Bernard Nathanson.

In the 1960's and early 1970's, Dr. Nathanson was an ardent, zealous, advocate of legalized abortion.  He became an abortionist himself, and was responsible for over 75,000 abortions - over 5,000 with his own hands (one of which was his own child), the others he presided over as an instructor, or as the Director of the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health.  He was one of the founders of NARAL, which at first stood for National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. (Later it was changed to National Abortion Rights Action League, and is now NARAL Pro-Choice America.) He worked tirelessly to make abortion legal in the United States.

Once Roe v Wade was the law of the land, though, he began to have doubts about all that he had believed about abortion. When ultrasound technology became available, the image of the baby in the womb  reinforced his change of heart, and he became an ardent advocate - for life! He wrote about all of this in his autobiography, The Hand of God. He also made the film "The Silent Scream" which showed the abortion of a baby at 12 weeks gestation. President Ronald Reagan, himself a convert from pro-abortion to pro-life, showed that video at the White House. Dr. Nathanson was very upfront about his former actions in support of abortion, and in an article he wrote that is included in a collection of works about abortion, he detailed the strategy he and his co-laborers had used to convince the country that abortion needed to be legal. Bottom line - they lied!

The first thing they did was get the media on their side.  They convinced the media that abortion was forward-thinking, progressive, enlightened; that abortion was good for women, and necessary for the health of women.  They turned the perception of pregnancy from a beautiful, natural part of a woman's life...to a disease.  They knew full well that the majority of Americans opposed abortion.  So they lied.  They told the media that they had polled the American people, and 60% of Americans supported legalized abortion.  They just completely made it up.  The media took it and ran with it.  Americans heard that 60% of their fellow citizens supported abortion, so if they opposed it, they were in the minority.

At that time, late 60's/early 70's, the number of illegal abortions performed in America per year averaged about 98,000.  They told the media, who dutifully reported it, that the annual average of illegal abortions in America was 1,000,000 - over 10 times the actual amount.  The average amount of deaths from illegal abortions per year was 200-250.  They said it was 10,000.  Although over 90% of illegal abortions were performed by doctors, the perception was given that they were mostly done by back-alley abortionists.  They grossly inflated the numbers to achieve their desired ends.  They just kept repeating these lies, until everyone accepted them as truth. They also fabricated the idea that legalizing abortion would merely give those women who were already having illegal abortions a safe way to do so. In other words, legalizing abortion wouldn't increase the numbers of women having them.

And where are we now, forty years later?  We've gone from 98,000 abortions per year when it was illegal, to over 1,000,000 abortions per year - over 54,559,615 abortions since legalization.  We bought the lies, and the lies became the truth.

Why do women have abortions today?  Well over 75% have abortions for one of these reasons:

• a baby would interfere with work, school, or other responsibilities
• cannot afford a baby
• don't want to be a single parent, or trouble in the relationship with the father

The percentage of women who have abortion for health reasons (and there's a very broad definition of "health" - we're not talking about the life of the mother being in danger) is 12%.  And the percentage of those who have abortions because of rape or incest is less than 2%.  Abortion is clearly being used as birth control, and it has increased exponentially over these past 40 years.

Women are herded through these abortion clinics like they're on an assembly line.  They are given a gown, given some medicine, told to lay down on the table, their baby is sucked out of them with a high-powered vacuum that tears the tiny thing into pieces...the doctor may chit chat with the nurse as all of this happens...it's all done very quickly...then he's gone on to the next "patient".  You get dressed, and you go home.  Empty - in more ways than one.

The lies have to be exposed.  We have to speak the truth in love, speak up for the babies, and speak up for women.  Dr. Nathanson said it was truth that finally got his attention - the truth that from conception on, there is life.  Life worthy of protection, life worthy of living.



Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.
(Proverbs 31:8-9)

Exposed by the Light

"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." (Ephesians 5:11-13)

The trial of a Philadelphia abortionist, Mr. (I refuse to use the title of "Dr." for this man) Gosnell, who could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering (at the very least) one woman and three babies, has been very, very disturbing.  But a lot of people in America don't know about it.  It's not on the major network news programs too much, if at all.  It's a huge story, but they're not covering it.  They don't want to air this particular "news".  Maybe they're afraid that if they expose Mr. Gosnell's deeds, some of that light might spill out onto abortion itself.  Because you can't look at this case and not see that there's very little difference in what Mr. Gosnell has done, and what many other "physicians" do under the protection of the law. 

This article explains it very well - http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/why-dr-kermit-gosnells-trial-should-be-a-front-page-story/274944/ - it is graphic (there's a picture of an aborted baby), it's hard to read, it'll upset you, but it needs to be read.  And we need to be upset about it - because the more voices that are saying, "Enough is enough!" the better.  This man has operated this "clinic" since 1979, and despite complaint after complaint, no one ever stopped him!  And there are more out there.  (That topic in another post)

During the trial, when Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron was arguing in support of the abuse of corpse charges, he made this statement: "Once fetuses leave the mother, they are then due the respect that would be given any human being."  That's a profound statement.  Mr. Cameron was urging the judge to uphold the law, as any lawyer would.  But do we hear what he's saying?  Our law dictates that babies are not due the respect that would be given any human being, until they leave their mother.  Yes, that's the law of the land.  That's Roe v Wade. 

While a baby is in the womb, which should be the safest place on earth - you can use a high powered vacuum which tears the tiny baby and the placenta to pieces and then suctions them out; you can use a knife to cut them in pieces and scrape them out; you can use forceps to twist and tear the bones apart until the baby is totally dismembered and removed; you can inject saline solution into the womb, which poisons the baby and also burns off the outer layer of skin; you can give the mother chemicals which make the uterus contract much more violently than normal, often killing the baby in the process; you can have an operation, very similar to a C-section, except the cord is cut while the baby's still in the womb which causes him to suffocate, or if he's born alive, you can just discard him - he'll die eventually, of exposure and neglect. Or, you can grab the baby by the leg, pull the body out of the womb until only the head is still in, and stab that head with scissors, create a hole big enough for a suction catheter to be inserted and suction the brains out.  Now that he/she is dead, you can remove that baby's body from his mother.  You see, all of that is legal.  (Believe it or not, I didn't put everything in here - here's the link if you'd like to check it out for yourself: http://www.lifesitenews.com/abortiontypes/)

What Mr. Gosnell did was not legal, because the baby somehow managed to survive the abortion procedure, was born alive, (more to post about babies "born alive") and Mr. Gosnell "snipped" the back of his/her head with scissors, severing the spinal cord, and killing the baby.  Because he did it outside the womb, after the baby was no longer in the mother's body - it's considered murder.  If the baby is inside the womb, even if just the head is inside the womb - a matter of inches - it's legal.  No matter what it's called or labeled, no matter what the Supreme Court or Planned Parenthood or anyone else says - it's murder all around.  It's just common sense.

Cheryl Sullenger from Operation Rescue has been reporting from the trial.  This is her report from the prosecution's final, and certainly most damning, witness.  Again - not an easy read, and there is a picture of the baby boy that Mr. Gosnell tossed into a shoe box.  A picture does indeed say a thousand words...and this one is burned in my mind forever, I think.  But we have to look at it, expose it, and rebuke it.
http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/powerful-testimony-of-horrific-abortion-abuses-ends-prosecution-case-in-gosnell-murder-trial/

There's so much more...

That's it for now, though - that's enough, for now.



"Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy."
Proverbs 31:8-9

Spittin' Watermelon Seeds

"...since we ought to be no less persuaded, that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained..."  George Washington, Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

Almost 224 years since George Washington gave that speech, and it seems as if America is spinning out of control.  I wonder what the men and women who worked so hard, and sacrificed so much to create this great nation would think of us today.  Financially, on the brink of disaster; morally, on the brink of bankruptcy; politically, it seems the "land of the free" is slipping through our fingers.  What kind of America are we leaving for our children?  Will our grandchildren even have an America?

As a Christian, I know that this world is not my home.  My citizenship is in heaven, and that's where I have my eyes set.  But there's a reason to be passing through this world, and that's to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus, and glorify my Father in heaven.   And what better place to do so, than in America!  I'm so thankful to be an American!  We have been given such a blessing to be born here, and to grow up in freedom.  We have such an opportunity to do so much for His kingdom because of this great country.  But freedom isn't free.  We have to be diligent; we have to guard what we have been given; we have to keep the flame burning; we have to be good stewards of the gift.

In November, 2012, our pastor preached a series of sermons on America.  In "America's Answer" (http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=11812184010), he said that the greatest threat to the Christian church, and to morality and ethics today is...apathy.  He said that every Christian should be involved in the goings-on of this country.  We should have a newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other.  I totally agree.  I just want to add one more - the U.S. Constitution.  We need to know our history!  We need to know the framework that our government was built on.  We need to know what's going on in our world politically (the newspaper), and look at it Biblically (the Bible) and historically (starting with the Constitution), and act accordingly.  We are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  I am one of those "people" and I haven't been doing my job! 

And I'm not the only one.  Little by little, this country has been steered away from God.  Inch by inch, decision by decision, we have turned our back on God and said, "We don't need You.  We don't want You.  We don't even believe in You."  That is not the way this country was founded, and we're going down the wrong road now, and it's going to get uglier and uglier, unless we turn back.  And I don't think the country can turn back, until the church in America, Jesus' church, turns back...on our knees...to God.

Something has changed inside of me this week.  I think the Gosnell trial was the last straw.  I can't be silent anymore, I can't be "busy" about my own life anymore, I can't ignore the horror of abortion anymore.  It's got to stop.  Abortion, same-sex marriage, separation of church and state - I'm educating myself about these vital issues - been doing a lot of reading, writing, thinking, and praying.  Now I'm going to start spitting some watermelon seeds.  (If you listen to the sermon, you'll know what I'm talking about).  I'm going to post about what I've learned - and I have absolutely no idea if anyone will read it, or if it will have any effect at all - I just know I have to try.  And maybe, just maybe - a couple of those seeds will take root - and make some kind of difference.  That's up to God - I just have to do what He's put on my heart to do, and leave the results to Him.

"(If) My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14

"Conflicts without, fears within"

Well, it's past 2:30 am, and I think I'm finally tired enough to go lay down, and try to sleep.  I'll sleep eventually, but for how long, how well or fitfully, how vivid and/or disturbing the dreams, and how much pain and/or discomfort I wake up in - I don't know.  In spite of that, I look forward to getting through the night, and starting a new day.  I love the mornings.  I love them even more now, because it means the night is over! :)  But I truly love the mornings.  I love the sound of the birds singing right before dawn, I love the first light of day as it chases the darkness away, I love the feel of the sun on my face when I go outside to take the dogs out, I love breathing in the fresh air, I love the promise of a new day, with every minute of it stretching out in front of me.  And I say, thank You, Father!

I'm actually feeling better during the days - new medicine (not a substitute, but an addition) - it's a patch that lasts for 24 hours, and it's extended release.  So there are several benefits - it's only once a day versus five times a day for the sinemet that I take; it's extended release, so it helps smooth out the ups and downs of pills that vary in their effectiveness; and it's a nifty patch, not another pill to swallow!  I was ready to get things rolling towards DBS surgery for the other side of my brain, but my doctor suggested trying this patch out first.  It really is helping - I actually have had several good days in a row and I feel so good about what I've been able to accomplish.  I have caught up with dishes, with laundry, with grocery shopping; I have cleaned off the kitchen and dining room tables; we've actually had dinner at the table two nights in a row...I don't know how long it'll stay this way, but right now, I'm delighted!  I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and get started on a new day, without being so terribly behind to begin with!

The surgery will still come - as my doctor puts it, unless I get run over by a truck, I'm going to need this surgery.  (He's very forthright, and often a little sarcastic, and we - Kenny and I - love it! We have a great time at my appointments!)  PD is progressive - and it is progressing.  While my right side has the benefit of DBS, my left side, which has acquired PD symptoms in the 4-5 years since the first surgery, does not.  My left side drives the medication, as my doc put it, and my right side gets more medication than it needs, which causes more problems.  I've been pretty miserable for awhile now.  I was truly ready to go for it (surgery).

But I'm pleasantly surprised at how much the patch is helping, and we'll put off the surgery for just a little bit longer.  I have learned, though, or been reminded, of how slowly and insiduously this disease progresses.  I didn't realize how bad I was feeling, how much I was struggling - until I felt better.  Funny, huh.  And, I didn't realize how much, how disparate (I think that's the word I want - going to have to look it up before posting this) the symptoms are, that are better when the meds are working.  In other words, I still don't realize how much is affected by PD.

There's a phrase that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 7:5 that has caught my attention - "conflicts without, fears within".  The entire verse says, "For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within."  He's speaking of one of his missionary journeys, and the persecution that he endured.  My situation is nothing like what Paul endured, and he suffered for Jesus' sake - something he regarded as a blessing and honor!  But I still can relate to it in a way - rest is very difficult to come by, and sometimes I feel like PD does afflict you "on every side" because it messes with so much.  There are certainly "conflicts without" that include physical, emotional, and cognitive difficulties.  And there are fears within that try - every day - to take hold. 

At my last appointment, a few things kind of hit me hard - when the doctor was showing me the literature for the new patch, he skipped right over the "early-stage PD" section, and went straight to "advanced-stage PD", where you start and end at a higher dose of the medicine. I've had PD for nine years - that shouldn't surprise me, but it bothered me.  He also said that we're getting to the point where we've kind of exhausted the possibilities of meds - there's still surgery of course, and/or botox shots for dystonia.  Yes, "botox". I'll explain that later. Yuck.  But when I think about how I feel without meds (I don't really know how I feel completely w/o meds - don't want to), and that while this disease progresses, the meds might not be able to keep up, and that there's no guarantee that the second surgery will be as successful as the first one was...well, the fears sure can start to overwhelm.

There's also the anxiety that hits if and when I start to go "off" - meaning my meds are tapering off, and I need another dose - usually happens at least once a day.  (It happened a lot more before the patch.)  I have absolutely no control over it - I'm just hit with this awful feeling that, thankfully, I can recognize as anxiety brought on by a dip in my meds - and I take it straight to the Lord.  I ask Him to help me through it, guide me through it - and He does.  And when the real fears start to sneak into my head, I remember to take them captive in obedience to Jesus, who said not to worry about anything.  I don't worry about tomorrow or any day after that.  This is the day the Lord has made.  This day.  I don't have to worry about anything past that.  I will rejoice, and be glad - in this day.  He'll take care of the rest.

You see, the verse after 2 Corinthians 7:5 starts with one of my favorite two words - "But God..."!  Verse 6 says, "But God, who comforts the depressed (or humble), comforted us..."  Jesus said, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1)  That's a command - do not let your heart be troubled.  We are to replace the fear with belief in Him. 

I believe Him.


"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning."  (Psalm 30:5)

 

"Look at the birds of the air..."

Okay, I admit it - I've gone a little bird crazy.

I grew up with a mom who loves birds.  She grew up on a dairy farm, one of twelve children - she spent lots of time outside.  I'm sure that has something to do with it.  She decorates her house with bird pictures, she has bird feeders all over her backyard, and she knows her birds! 

I married a man who read the encyclopedia for fun while growing up.  Seriously.  He also spent his childhood outside, exploring the woods for much of that time.  He knows trees, flowers, critters, bugs, and definitely, the birds. 

Somehow, I remained immune to all of that.

It's not that I disliked birds, not at all - I just simply had no interest in them.  Kenny would point one out to me and say, that's a "whatcha'ma call-it spotted jigama-thing" - at least that's how I heard it.  And I'd say, "Oh, that's nice."  I just wasn't into birds.

A few years ago, that started to change.

From February 5, 2010 -  

Heard a bird singing outside my window this morning, just as the light of day was beginning to dawn—going from dark night to early, early morning gray—and the bird started singing. Heralding the new day. Praising its Creator. Should I not do the same?

February 11, 2010 -

The song of the bird as the dawn breaks,
Is a call to worship, as the bird praises its Creator;
I have nothing to do with it;
The created praises its Creator;
But I get to hear the song.

February 14, 2010 - 

The bird calls to me, draws me in, makes me want to know why he’s singing, Who he’s singing to. 

I should praise my Creator and Savior—has nothing to do with anyone else—but others will hear the song—and want to know why I’m singing, and Who I’m singing to.

Birds -

• In the car, leaving for church—saw several birds fly up from our front yard—one of them was huge compared to the others—had snowy white tail feathers, I think it was an eagle
• During Sunday school, out the window, over the trees—huge brown bird, soaring—right in my line of sight

Just felt like gifts of God—gifts of His grace.

From that point on, I started paying attention to birds. 

June 15, 2010

What is going on with birds lately?

Sitting in dining room, saw something out on the porch (outside the screen) - it was blurry, didn’t have my glasses on—put them on—it was a big bird, a really big bird, perched on the railing of the outside porch—light-colored (Ben said light brown), big tail feathers—looked so out of place perched there on our porch. So wished I knew more about birds—again! Turned to get my camera—when I turned back around, it had flown off. We saw it flying from our yard to the neighbors, and back and forth—then disappeared. When Ben described it to Kenny—he said it sounded like a hawk. Really cool—thank you, Lord!

February 22, 2011

Yesterday—very, very difficult day—somewhere in the afternoon, kept saying, over and over…“I will not give up”, “I will not lose heart”.

Thought of verses…"do not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season you will reap if you do not grow weary…” “therefore, we do not lose heart, for though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day…” “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe in Me.”

Today, I’m still saying it… "I will not give up”, “I will not lose heart”.

Saw a flock of birds this morning, heading north I think—I guess it’s time for them to start heading north, but there’s snow on the ground. They don’t seem to care. Even though it’s still cold, they’re heading into where it’s even colder—because they know, instinctively, that spring is coming. There’s no sign of it, not today—yet they’re flying north. I think there’s a lesson there on faith.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds...look at the flowers of the field…”
God said to Abram, “Look at the stars…”

• We are to learn from creation
• Creation indeed tells of the Creator
• And yet, it is by faith (Hebrews 11:3)

December 21, 2011

There’s something about birds...there’s a connection there between me and God anymore…every time I see a bird fly by, like I did this morning...it seems as if it’s a message from God Himself. He controls His creatures...He reminds me of His love and care and steadfast love through them...He reminds me that He’s there...He’s watching...He’s taking care...

Christmas this year (2012) was a real turning point.  Kenny gave me a bird feeder, and hung it off of our side porch, right outside the kitchen window.  It has been amazing.  The amount and variety of birds that it has drawn are just amazing.  Every day is like a nature show right outside my kitchen window!  And this is where my new interest in birds "dovetailed" (sorry, couldn't help it) with my longtime interest in photography (that's another story - photography, tremor, and Deep Brain Stimulation)...and behold, a bird fanatic is born.

I'm learning so much about birds - identifying the ones that come to our feeder and all the trees surrounding it.  At first, it was very difficult - you have to pay attention to every tiny detail!  And to find the birds in the trees, to get a picture...you have to pay attention, look for movement...train the eyes to spot the birds, and pay attention to shape, colors, beaks, feet, how they fly, etc...

And now I find myself wondering what each bird sounds like.  It all started with the blue jay.  There are at least three blue jays that live in a huge tree on the other side of our neighbor's house.  I love them - they are so beautiful.  They've flown around in the trees in our yard before, but I couldn't wait to get a closer look at them, and pictures of them.  They're finally starting to come over more often, and the other day I heard a very distinctive bird call.  I looked out the window, and there was a blue jay on the porch roof!  (Our bedroom just happens to be right above the bird feeder.)

This morning, well, no need to reinvent the wheel - here's what I wrote in my Bird Journal this morning.  Yes, I'm such a bird geek now that I have a Bird Journal.

January 26, 2013

• upstairs in the bedroom this morning, reading the Bible (had already done a logic puzzle and crossword - reading the Bible involves more than just the brain - involves the heart, soul, and spirit!) - heard what I thought was the call of the blue jay - looked outside the window - at first, didn't see him, but then there he was on the edge of the roof - right above the bird feeder! I think I've got the blue jay sound down.
• Then there were two blue jays on the roof - and then, one more flew over from the crabapple tree...three blue jays! That's the most i've ever seen at one time.
• just beginning to learn the bird sounds, like the way they look - heard a bird sound up in the bedroom that was different - that stood out - wonder what kind of bird that was...learning to discriminate the sounds, discriminate the traits...training my eyes to see, training my ears to hear...changing, learning, growing...

There's another lesson there -

"And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 'Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;'...'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'"  (Mark 4:2-3,9)

"So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, 'Give glory to God; we know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner.'  He then answered, 'Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'"  (John 9:24-25) 

"But God..."

Today has been a great day.  And honestly, it is such a welcome change.  I still struggled during the "off" times (when the meds weren't working) with painful dystonia, tremor, slowness and stiffness, walking like...well, if you've ever seen the "Carol Burnett Show", Tim Conway had an old doctor character that hilariously "shuffled" across the room, pretty much blind and deaf, too old to do anything but make mistakes that would crack up Harvey Korman and make him laugh, laugh, laugh.  That shuffle is pretty much the PD walk, untreated.  With meds, and in my case, DBS (at least on one side of the brain), when I'm "on" (the meds are working at their best), I can walk normally, run, even play soccer with Pearl (wonderful mutt who loves to play fetch with a soccer ball, and she is fast!).  There are a lot of ups and downs everyday with PD.  You can look pretty normal (although it is never pre-PD normal) at one time, and a few hours later, you can have people asking you, with genuine concern, if you're okay.

Today has been an up and down day like all the rest.  Even now, late at night, my last dose of meds is rapidly wearing off, and just walking from room to room is painful.  My back, which was absolutely fine an hour ago, is now killing me when I stand too long.  Dystonia is painful.  I'm going to need an extra 1/2 a pill or 2 to get to sleep tonight.  (It's okay - my doc said I could do that. :))  Dystonia affects my feet and toes, legs, back, arms, neck...pretty much everything.  Sleeping can be quite a struggle.  Shoulders and hips hurt on both sides, sleeping on my stomach hurts my back too much, and sleeping on my back when I'm dystonic - the back of my neck feels like a 2x4 and I cannot relax, cannot get comfortable.  Add tremor to dystonia and you've got even more discomfort.  Dystonia is involuntary contraction of muscles.  The muscles contract, and contract, and contract - and don't let go.  Tremor is an involuntary shaking movement that involves muscle contraction and relaxation.  You wouldn't think the two could go together, but my left leg does them both all the time - I wouldn't recommend it. 

Honestly, I'm not trying to complain.  This is just how it is.

But today has been better, not necessarily because things have been better physically (although they are better than last week when I had a hard time with nausea from the meds, got behind on meds, therefore more PD symptoms...yada, yada, that's another story), but because I've had a lightness in my heart - I've felt full of joy and hope.  I've smiled a lot, I've enjoyed my kids so much.  I had a great lunch with hubby and one of our daughters.  I've accomplished quite a bit, and didn't get discouraged and depressed and anxious when the sun went down like so often happens.  PD is not just a movement disorder. 

It affects everything.

But God...

I love those two words put together.  I've started marking them very noticably whenever I see them in my Bible.  And they're there quite a bit.  For example:

When Joseph's brothers were fearful that he would exact vengeance for their hateful actions so many years earlier, Joseph said to them:

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Genesis 50:20)

When David had to run for his life from King Saul:

"...And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand." (1 Samuel 23:14)

From the Psalms:

"My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26)

From Peter's sermon at Pentecost (it's a bit long, but so good!):

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know - this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.  But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." (Acts 2:22-24)

And just a few more gems:

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:1-7)

Okay, that last one was really long - but I couldn't leave it out!  There are more - I had to pick and choose which ones to use.  Do you see how powerful those two "small" (as in only a few letters) words are? 

You see, God can do whatever He wants.  Nothing is too hard for Him, and no one can stand in His way.  Psalm 135:6 tells us "Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps."  No circumstance of life can defeat Him, or frustrate His plans, or threaten Him.  He has all the power.  And praise God, what He wants to do is help us!  He's already done so much for us - why would He abandon us now?  Like Paul said in Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"

Every day is a struggle - more of a struggle than I ever knew was coming.  But I'm learning, the harder the struggle, the more God will grow your faith, and when you're walking by faith, and relying on His strength, life gets more and more abundant. 

So what made today so much better?  I held on to these verses, and walked by faith:

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah." (Psalm 68:19)

"...casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

"In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch." (Psalm 5:3)

In the morning, give it all to Him.  Every day, give it all to Him.  He daily bears our burdens.  He'll take all the anxieties from us, because He cares about us!  Give it all to Him - and then eagerly watch for what He will do!  You never know what a day might bring!  Don't put God in a box!  Don't underestimate what He can do!  Give all your cares and worries to Him, trust in Him, make Him your refuge...and then eagerly watch, wait, hope...for Him.  He will not disappoint!