Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A very good day


Recently my littlest baby had a fever. We had just watched the movie Anastasia, which in hindsight was a bit too scary for six year old eyes. After some Tylenol melt aways, in grape flavour of course, I tucked her beneath crisp white sheets, and fluffy comforters.

"I sure hope that movie doesn't give me bad dreams" she whispered softly.

"Try to think happy thoughts as you fall asleep" I coached, "then you will have happy dreams" I assured her. "Think of your favorite day ever" I coaxed, giving examples of what I knew were good memories...."How about Disney World, or your birthday" I reminded "jumping on the trampoline, or playing in the park?" I suggested as we embraced and kissed.

Her raspy cold induced voice croaked quietly " I think I will think about the day I was born".

"Can you remember that day?" I implored.

"NO" her voice drifted as she nestled deeper into the soft quilt, "but I am sure it was a very good day!"

A VERY GOOD day indeed!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Family



When I was in first grade I cut my hair short because I wanted to look just like my sister Angie. She was 9 years older then me, and I thought she hung the moon. The kids at school called me "The Fonz" after swimming class because it was all slicked back. Remember Happy Days, with Henry Winkler? After swimming each day we walked from the high school pool across the street, back to our elementary school room with wet hair. Did I mention I am from Michigan?

My big sis even let me dress like her. We had matching black Patent leather wedges with tear drop cut-outs and double buckle closures . The epitome of early seventies style. She was a high school senior, I was too young to even be considered a junior teenybopper, I loved those shoes!
Her best friend Loni, who always smelled like Johnson's baby powder, had the same shoes.
They were hip, I was by association also hip, well, as hip as a little girl with Fonzie hair, and two inch wedges could be.
I cried when I outgrew those shoes.

When I was in the fifth grade I wanted a certain kind of boots. There was a new girl at school named Beth James, and she had the boots, and so did Cindy Cleveland the "cool girl". Well, my mom wouldn't buy me those certain boots, because there were some very similar at Thrifty acres, with a much smaller price tag. I didn't want the knock offs, I wanted the real deal, and if I couldn't have the real deal boots, then gosh darn it, I would just wear my shoes. All year my Mom let me trudge through the snow (uphill both ways) in my less then water proof suede shoes, because I was too proud to wear "fake" boots. Did I mention that I am from Michigan? I was not a brat, I was just fashion conscious!

Family made me feel secure and loved, I remember, and I am so very thankful.

Back to my sister...
She let me sit between she and her boyfriend at church every week, which at the time I thought was totally justified, but now, I'm like, what was she thinking....she must have really loved me?! He was also pretty fond of me, he told me complete bedtime stories in a Donald Duck voice. She and that boy later became man and wife, and that man officiated my wedding years later.

Family made me feel secure and loved, I remember, and I am so very thankful.

Sunday, a week ago, our new pastor (new to us, because we just found this wonderful church family), honored two couples in the congregation that were celebrating their 50 year wedding anniversaries. They stood in front of the church, and we stood and clapped, and tears welled up as our pastor prayed a prayer of remembrance. It was a heart felt, soul filled, personal prayer, remembering all the Lord had brought he and his wife through.....in essence, all He has brought us all through. After, while the congregation sang, I watched as the two older couples tenderly walked back to their seats ...hand in hand. Pastor Greg slipped over to whisper a quick word to his wife seated on the front row, and he wiped her tears. I wondered what her tears were for, as my own sweet companion squeezed my hand, knowing the cause of mine.

Family makes me feel secure and loved, I remember, and I am so very thankful.

I read an article recently that was arguing for the nullification of marriage. Apparently, according to said article, young women today no longer see the need for marriage. "Gone are the days" it stated "when women need men." I beg to differ. I need my man, and frankly, he needs me. Could we function without one another? for sure (with God's help)! but, God ordained marriage, He invented it! Marriage is a beautiful thing, it is the beginning of family. He is the beginning of family.

Family makes me feel secure and loved, I remember, and I'm so very thankful.

Now ElizaJane my first grader often sits between her oldest brother and his bride. They are careful to welcome her when she slips behind her Daddy and I, while we stand to sing with the congregation. She slowly pops up between them, and they grin. Dakota lifts her gangely limbs into his safe arms so she can see over the crowd, and kisses her softly.

Family makes her feel secure and loved. One day she will remember, and be so very thankful.















Friday, July 2, 2010

intolerant commenter part 2




Be sure and read Intolerant blogger part 1, or this may not make much sense.

Ms. Intolerant stated that Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin were both Deists, and that there were also a few atheists thrown in.

We could argue about whether Thomas Jefferson was a Deist, or a Theist, but it wouldn't really be relevant in the discussion, as I think Ms. Intolerant was speaking in reference to the Constitution which Thomas Jefferson did not sign. As far as Ben Franklin is concerned, I agree that he was most likely not a Christian because he stated at one time that he didn't believe in Jesus' Deity, I hope his mind was changed before his death, however, I do know that just a few weeks before he died he wrote these words concerning Jesus.

"I think his system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see:"

One does not have to believe in Jesus, or his deity, to believe and understand that his principles, Christian principles, are good, and make a better world when they are followed!

Of the fifty-five men who met to write our constitution, fifty of them were unquestionably Christians, and possibly fifty-two. Of the fifty six who signed, definitely fifty, maybe fifty-two were Christians.

None of that really matters however in a discussion of our country, and if it was founded on Christian principles, because the ground work was laid far before that.

The Mayflower Compact was written by the first settlers of Plymouth as they sat in the Captains quarters on their ship before stepping on to the "New World". That document affirmed their intention when it states "for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith". You see, those pilgrims as they were named by Governor William Bradford, who derived the name right out of I Peter 2:11, were a single congregation, secretly formed in 1606 in Nottinghamshire England. They began their underground congregation by making a covenant, which became the Scrooby Covenant, pledging to "obey God, and His law, and to walk together in Christian fellowship". Because religious freedom was nonexistent in England, they left for the Netherlands. There they faced different hardships, and eventually planned to go to America. The first group arrived in America in 1620. The very group that penned the Mayflower compact.

The significance of the Mayflower Compact to our Constitution is ginormous, isn't that obvious?

After that initial group of pilgrims came, several more waves of Pilgrims came, then in 1628 the Puritans arrived. By 1700 the distinction of the two groups had been dissolved. Over the next 150 years, these dedicated Christians in New England, wrote up about 100 different compacts, covenants, and constitutions. They all reflect a Christian motivation.

No one can argue with the Character of these early settlers, and the hardships they endured, all in the name of religious freedom and the cause of Christ. However, instead of being grateful for the contributions that they made to our nation, and the wonderful Christian Heritage they left behind, the modern secularist holds them up merely as cartoon images to be dismissed and forgotten.

I could go on and on to prove that our country was founded on Christian principles. Why is that so hard for some to accept? It's just a fact, and just because you don't want to believe it, doesn't make it false. History is History, and nothing can change it. Our secular history books have more words dedicated to Marilyn Monroe then to the Puritans and the huge impact they had on our American way of life, because they don't want you to give God the glory for what he has done through those puritans.

So, Ms. Semantics, you can go on and pray to God when you need him for healing, but not acknowledge the work he has already done to make your life worth living in the first place. And, Ms. Intolerant, you can cheer on your favorite soccor team, all the while forgetting the price that was paid for your enjoyment. Ms. Oblivious, you can fail to stand for what is right, and let intolerant blogging commenters bully you into not using words like blessed, even when you know we all are, and Mr. Rude, you can hide behind silly immature tactics like making fun of people who know more about something that is important to them, and aren't afraid to speak it, all the while failing to speak yourself. Irrelevant, I guess you can keep spouting about the religious persecution you have never experienced, and the Indians that apparently you would have lived at peace with, while forgetting that free speech is just one more thing our Christian forefathers gifted us with. But none of you can change history, no matter how much you want to! This great United States of America was founded on Christian principles, and If I was the last person to believe it, and I can assure you I am not, it wouldn't make it any less true!

If you have made it to the end of this very long post, I commend you, and while I welcome your comments, please don't write about all the mistakes our forefathers made. I am well aware that the Indians were pushed out of this land unjustly, and that many of those Godly men I speak of also bought and sold slaves, among other atrocities. They made horrible, unimaginable mistakes, they were sinners in need of a Savior just like you and I, but that does not change the reality of our history!



Thursday, July 1, 2010

Intolerant commenter part 1


I recently commented on a blog, and got a bit beaten up for it.

I thought is was a harmless comment really, just stating the obvious I thought. I was actually addressing another commenter, lets call her Ms. Intolerant, just because I don't know her real name. You see, Ms. Intolerant had addressed a different commenter, lets call her Ms. Oblivious. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

The blogger I was reading is a fantastic writer. I have only read a few of her posts, but she is very funny, as well as insightful, and can make the most mundane of events interesting. This particular post was about a dream she had, and a phone call she was anticipating, and an interesting study she had come across. The study was about if you condensed all the people in the world down to 100, how many would be American,male, or wealthy, or educated....etc. You know the kind if study I'm talking about don't ya?? These studies are always enlightening, because what we always learn from them is, that as Americans we are extremely blessed.

Well Ms. Oblivious commented just that, something about being blessed as a nation, which would make her not oblivious at all, but rather right on the money, but like me, I don't think she saw the tornado of anger that would ensue. Ms. Intolerant took offense to her using that word, blessed. She chided Ms. Oblivious, and explained that the word "blessed" has a certain connotation to it, implying perhaps that God somehow loves us here in the US more then he loves other countries. She didn't want people to use the word blessed. She said she didn't think God noticed map boundaries.

Well, like I said I too commented.

I complimented the blogger, thanked her for her post, and then I stated,

hold on to your hats here,
this is really controversial,

I almost feel like I should whisper it, since it created such a fire storm last time.

I stated that "America is blessed, not because God loves us more, but because our country was founded on Christian principles. It is a cause and effect thing."

oooooooo doggies, another commenter Ms. Semantics I'll call her, did not like that, not one bit, and she let that be known! She argued that our country was founded on freedom, not Christianity! other commenters also joined the throng. Mr. Rude resorted to making fun of my name "a snip of goodness?" he wrote, not sure what that meant, but it was as if because he didn't like my name, then my comment was invalid. Then of course in these discussions there is always a Ms. Irrelevant, I didn't really get her point, first I was like huh? then I was like what? then I was kinda bored, something about Indians?

Because Ms oblivious used the word blessed, and I used the word Christianity, we were treated....well, lets just say, less then kindly.


let it be known, that the names have been changed to protect the unenlightened.

part 2 to come soon