What if we choose love?

What if we each individually took responsibility for our own choices?

 What if we each purposed to control myself, without regard for the circumstances or how others treat me?

 What if we lived with the understanding that every choice I make every day has good and or bad consequences which ripple from now into eternity?

 What if everday each one of us chooses to listen, to seek to understand, to love everyone and to respect & honor everyone?

 Overcome evil with good! Let's change our spheres for the good everyday. You have influence. Weild it with care.





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Theme Song Thursday -- The Sovereign LORD Reigns!

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Driving a Stake in the Ground

Edited 06.27.15

I am saddened, but not surprised at the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same sex "marriage."

Rudderless, the majority justices continue to sail the USA toward rocky shores.

Perhaps I am painting a target on myself, but I feel compelled to post a statement of my faith and beliefs here today.

I do not hate anyone.  Because I follow Jesus Christ, because He loves and forgives me, and because His love compels me, I love everyone, though I do so imperfectly as an imperfect human being.

"Love your neighbor.  Do good to those who do evil against you.  Overcome evil with good."

Those some are my foundational motivations and guiding commands.

Below is a more formal belief statement, the wording of which I borrowed and tweaked from an Alliance Defense Fund pdf.

"I believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, evidenced biologically at birth. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.)  ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity, which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God.’

"I believe that the term 'marriage' has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen 2:18-25.) I believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.) I believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

"I believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10.)

"I believe that God freely offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11.)

"I believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or with how Jesus treated people while He walked the earth."

I understand that our government has approved and legalized relationships and actions that are in opposition to my beliefs.

I do not believe that those who have made these decisions hate me.

I am not your judge.  (Matt. 7:1, John 5: 26-27, John 12: 47-48.)

These beliefs guide my relationship with God and with man.  A desire of my heart is to grow in loving relationship with God and with all of humanity every day.

If you disagree with my beliefs, I respect you and love you anyway.  I think all of you are amazing creations of Father God who carry unique and needed gifts into our world.

Can we focus on the things we agree upon and work together to build a promising and bountiful future for us and for the generations to come?

Have mercy on us, oh God!

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Father's Fingerprint

 I am a disappointment to myself often.  Today we had agreed to specific plans for taxiing our young people places, and then is started to snow and to collect on the roads. . .When is it wisdom and when is it wimping out?

Right Writing

Most of my kiddos write as a hobby alongside of writing required for school; journaling, blogging, participating in NaNoWriMo, creative writing for fun and probably in other ways of which I am unaware -- they write and write and write.  I admire them.  They make me long to write more consistently.  Generally I do journal every day in some form, which is a good thing.  Then there's this forsaken blog.  I also bought some books about writing to fuel my passion and have read some of the chapters, feeling excited and inspired while reading them -- then running out of time to immediately write from the inspiration of the reading.  And then I sleep, and I forget. 

Theme Song Thursday

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Back in School

It happened with out aplomb, acclamation or absurdity.

School, Ivy Tech, Purdue, IWU, Hope Church, HUSTL Soccer, life.

Lessons abounding and growth accelerating.

In the quiet, in the secret places.

Unprayed prayers answered.

Stabbing pain reduced to triumphant joy.

And we wade forward, faces aglow, hearts aflutter.

Believing is to be living in the Kingdom now.

On earth as it is in Heaven.


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Theme Song Thursday

For the Sake of the World

I'm laying down my life

I'm giving up control

I'm never looking back     

I surrender all

I'm living for Your glory on the earth

This passion in my heart             

This stirring in my soul          

To see the nations bow             

For all the world to know

I'm living for Your glory on the earth

Chorus:  

For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me

Light a flame in my soul for every eye to see

For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me

Bridge:

For every knee to bow down            

For every heart to believe             

For every voice to cry out             

Burn like a fire in me             

For every tongue to confess          

You alone are the King              

You are the hope of the earth            

Burn like a fire in me

 



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Change is Good and Hard

 BLEH -- Ok, now that that's out of the way, I can agree with my title.

 Love it that the weather has warmed and the snow pack is melting.  Love it that I can change the background of my blog and feel the freshness of spring.  Love it that God is always at work, doing new things, making all things new and providing us with new opportunities.

 And yet, the "warmer" temperatures and melting snow pack bring severe weather and flooding.  Changing my blog's background looks great (in my opinion) with the recent posts that show on the home page, but is not as attractive on some of the older posts.  New things, renewed things and new opportunities free me from my ruts, but jolt me out of my comfort zone and cause me to have to make new decisions and take new action. 

 It's been a long, frustrating morning here in our home school; math, the usual suspect, has bruised us again.  Tears and frustrated words have flowed, and we have decisions to make that are difficult and grievous.  Yet once again I sing:

You can have it all, Lord, every part of my world.  Take this life and breathe on this heart that is now Yours!"

 What good/hard changes are happening in your world?

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Theme Song Thursday

For the Cross
 

The life You gave

Your body was broken                 

Your love poured out     

You bled and You died for me

There on that cross 

You breathed Your last as you were crucified

You gave it all for me

Hallelujah, what a Savior

Hallelujah, what a friend

Hallelujah, King forever

We thank You for the cross

There in the ground

Sealed in the darkness

Lifeless laid

The frame of the Father’s son    

In agony

He watched His only Son be sacrificed

He gave it all for me

But on that day

What seemed as the darkest hour                    

A violent hope

Broke through and shook the ground     

And as You rose

The Light of all the world was magnified

And You rose in victory

Hallelujah, it is finished

Hallelujah, it is done

Hallelujah King forever

We thank you for the cross

And though our sins are scarlet

You have made us white as snow

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Theme Song Thursday

God I Look To You Lyrics

God I look to You, I won’t be overwhelmed 
Give me vision to see things like You do 
God I look to You, You’re where my help comes from 
Give me wisdom; You know just what to do 

I will love You Lord my strength 

I will love You Lord my shield 
I will love You Lord my rock forever 
All my days I will love You God 

Hallelujah our God reigns 
Hallelujah our God reigns 
Hallelujah our God reigns forever 
All my days Hallelujah

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Theme Song Thursday

“So I will let You draw me out

Beyond the shore into your grace.

As Your love in wave after wave

Crashes over me, crashes over me.

You are for us,

You are not against us.

Champion of Heaven

You made a way for all to enter in!

You make me brave,

You make me brave,

You call me out beyond

The shore into the waves.

You make me brave,

You make me brave,

No fear can hinder now

The promises You’ve made.

We say no to fear

We say yes to love

We will go with You

Where You’re leading us.”

(not yet released)



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Beauty & Dancing

  I think it's about a hunger for beauty... because Heaven is invading earth and creating a desire for all things beautiful.  Without a Kingdom filter, sometimes that desire for beauty does not feel or look beautiful to us.  God is beauty, and all that He created is beautiful.

  And then there's dancing.  We were all made to dance, because God dances.  Somewhere, some time, someone lied to some of us about our personal dance.   And we stopped dancing.  Others dance still whether lied to or not.  God danced first and made us to dance.

  Take some time today to enjoy beauty, to create beauty, to be beautiful, and to dance. 

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Changes

   Soon I will be venturing out with one of our kiddos to feed animals and horses at a nearby YMCA camp.  Yesterday was a misadventure fraught with time deadlines and unforeseen challenges. What will today bring?  I find that while I feel resistant to change, it is invigorating all the same.

  What changes are you facing today?

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Recurrence, welcome and unwelcome

   This is my favorite season of the year, which leads into my two favorite holidays of the year. Although the harbinger of winter, I welcome autumn's arrival.  The colors, the scents, the traditions, the memories, the food, the fellowship, the fun...YES!  I embrace all.

Theme Song Thursday

Forever Reign

You are good, You are good

When there's nothing good in me

You are love, You are love

On display for all to see

You are light, You are light

When the darkness closes in

You are hope, You are hope

You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace

When my fear is crippling

You are true, You are true

Even in my wandering

You are joy, You are joy

You're the reason that I sing

You are life, You are life,

In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I'm running to Your arms,

I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love

Will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more

Than my words will ever say

You are Lord, You are Lord

All creation will proclaim

You are here, You are here

In Your presence I'm made whole

You are God, You are God

Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to Your arms

I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love

Will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing

no other Name

Jesus, Jesus

Oh, I'm running to Your arms

I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love

Will always be enough

Nothing compares to

Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

 

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