A sad goodbye

 My Bible reading this morning was in 2 Corinthians. Near the end of the book, Paul states, "We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth."

 That was the confirmation I was needing to hear today.

 You see, for most of this country "The Truth" is debatable. Optional. Personal. Open to interpretation. But truth isn't any of those things. It is absolute. And one truth that many people like to ignore is that sin is sin.

 Unfortunately, (but at the same time, not!) God gave us brains that have the ability to reason. A favorite past-time is looking at the actions around us and making justification for them.

 In the old testament God set down laws to protect his people. Rules about cleanliness, and eating, marriage and worship. Lots and lots of rules. After Jesus came, died, rose and brought forgiveness his followers were unsure which of those rules still applied. They were trying to figure out how to wash their hands and what food was okay to eat. So God sent a vision to Peter: Animals of all kinds, and a voice commanding him to kill and eat. He resisted, of course, with many years of tradition ingrained in him, saying that he couldn't eat the "unclean". But the voice spoke again, "Do not call impure that which God has made clean." And just like that, many old testament laws were null and void.
 But not all of them.
 The letters of Paul, Peter and John all mention things that are impure and unacceptable. They all speak of the truth as an unshakable absolute.

 We have decided that we have to stand for the truth.

 Just a few weeks ago we joined a Cub Scout troop. We had talked about it for months, and finally got around to finding a local troop and getting involved.
 Then the Boy Scouts of America, or BSA, had to get political. Sex, which has nothing to do with being a scout, was brought front and center. Sexual orientation, which isn't even something a 15 year old needs to be thinking about, was made an open subject.

 It was decided that being openly homosexual was perfectly fine.

 And I just can't agree with that.

Scout Oath (or Promise)

On my honor I will do my best 

To do my duty to God and my country 

and to obey the Scout Law; 

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong, 

mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, 

courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,

brave, clean, and reverent.

I really don't see anything in here about sex. Or sexual orientation. But there is a promise to obey God. And the Bible I read, which I believe to be the word of God, clearly says that homosexuality is a sin. It doesn't say hate, or even "stay away from", people who choose to sin. It says we are to love everyone. "If anyone says, 'I love God', yet hates his brother, he is a liar." 1 John 4:20
 Because everyone sins. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8
 There are so many sins that most of the populations watches occur every day and doesn't even blink. If I am understanding the statistics right, half of all marriages end in divorce. More then half of the population engages in premarital sex. People swear, in the name of God and celebrate when the cashier mistakenly hands them a $10 instead of a $5. (which is stealing!) Sin, which is what all of those things are, isn't even noticed.
 It is not my place to judge others. James 4:11-12 clearly states that only God has the right to judge. But I have to stand up for truth.

 1 Peter 5:8-9 says "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith."      

 Sin is sin.

 Working to justify it in your own mind doesn't change it.

 I know.

 When I was 18, and had my first serious boyfriend, I spent a lot of time talking to God trying to justify the relationship. You see, this boy didn't love Jesus. He was a pretty good kid. He had goals for his life, good manners, was super smart and was a great soccer player. But in his mind my BEST FRIEND, Jesus, was simply an idea that had become tradition.
 So I reminded God that "How will he hear the truth if I don't tell him?" choosing to ignore the very clear scripture that says, "Don't be unequally yoked".
 Eventually, the scriptures (and God) reigned in my life. But my trying to work around them let me get attached, and then heartbroken when I broke up with him. All because I tried to pretend that sin wasn't sin.

 I want to do my best to teach my children the truth - that sin is sin no matter how you try to justify it.

 BSA chose to say that God's word doesn't matter. That popular opinion and peer pressure are more important. That sin isn't sin.

 They have taken a stand, and I have to do the same. Even if it hurts.

 "For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth".  2 Cor 13:8                

Blessings my friends, 

If you want to read more about standing up for truth check out OnMyHonor.

My birthday repost

It has become a bit of a tradition for me to repost this for my birthday. It was originally written May 31, 2009.

A post from the road

We are somewhere in Louisianna, at a Comfort Inn. My parents and children are in the room next door. Two of my sisters and a friend are in the beds behind me. I should be sleeping, and preparing for another day on the road tomorrow.
But right this minute I am just so very full. Full of Joy. Full of Faith. Full of Hope.
I have to let some of it out before I can attempt to sleep.

A few days ago I was reading a devotional about Nehemiah. They basis of the reading was pointing out in the second chapter when the king asks him why he is sad, Nehemiah is terrified but his first reaction is to pray.
My absolute first thought when reading this was, "well duh!"

After reading through the encouraging devotional concerning this subject I was actually in some ways disheartened. I was so saddened by the thought that there are some people, God fearing Christian people who love Jesus with their whole heart, who would not have their first reaction be prayer. What a sad, sad, thing to focus on fear, or any emotion really. How very blessed I am that I was taught from my earliest memories to place absolutely everything at the feet of God.

So, I have been thinking about this scripture, and prayer, and my amazing family a lot over the last couple of days.
After spending a lot of hours in the van with my parents and Kelsey driving to TX, I have had plenty of opportunity to NOT like my family. But none of those little nitpicky things matter. Honestly, it may drive me a little batty the way my dad drives, or they way my mom fusses at the way he drives, but those things don't change what really matters.
We were raised right. That is just a wonderful thing to have!

Now, on the way back to GA, we have Mary and her roommate Lindsay with us, and a second car. The van is loaded down with all the girls stuff, my parents, and my kids. The car has the four of us girls. As we were driving down the road this evening a song came on about God being our healer, and our portion, and something about trust. For some reason I just lost it. I was suddenly tired of being sick, tired of asking for healing. Tired of waiting for my sister to be well, and have a baby. For most of my life my parents have taken me to healing services, had me prayed over by anyone with that gift, asked repeatedly for God to step in.

The answer has always been Not right now.

The healing has always been for my heart, and my attitude, and my ability to cheerfully be diabetic, willingly use my disease as a ministry. I have had plenty of healing, and I wouldn't trade it for physical healing - not for a minute.

But for some reason this new disorder, these blackouts, or atypical migraines, or whatever they are - they are sapping my ability to cheerfully "deal". Added to that my unbelievable hurt for my little sister's physical and emotional pain, and the fact that my hubby is gone and our adoption is still delayed...
I guess I was a walking timebomb full of tears.

But here is the amazing part. Kelsey reached over and grabbed one hand. Mary reached up from the back seat for another hand. And we poured out our tears to our Father. Fears and hurt. Hopes and dreams. Old and new. As a family, automatically.
We were missing one sister, but she was definitely included, and prayed for.

I am so very thankful for my family. I am so glad that our automatic response, to pain or joy, is to take it to Jesus.
Faith. Joy. Hope. Truth. That is what we have, as well as who we are.

 See those beautiful baby bumps? Direct answer to prayer. 

More beautiful then I could have even imagined 4 years ago. 

 And this day of joy... Mary's wedding. I had no idea that God was going to bring another red-head into the family. (and since one of those baby bumps turned out to be a red-head too, well, excitement all around!)

Emilee and I

Then Kelsey came along.

Mary was a bit of a surprise, but a great one! 

Oh, I love these women!

Quite a bit has changed in our lives since I first wrote this post. New family members. Changes in location, and job, and health for all of us. 

But many things remain the same also. Most importantly, we have faith in our Savior, and an unbreakable love for each other. 

I am eager to see what another year brings (even if I am not too excited to be getting another year older)! 

Blessings,  

The First Decade

 Canaan is 10 now.
 An entire decade old.
 Where did the time go?
 Wasn't it just yesterday when he was this size?

His "Birth" day.

Matching daddy, back when Andy had glasses, and fewer tattoos! 

 Before I knew it, his first birthday came...

and he was a curly headed little mess monster! 

 Then, one more blink, and he was turning five!

Sixth birthday was army. 

Seventh was last minute.

 At 8 he got to fly a plane.

 Last year we didn't have a party, but the theme of the birthday was still easy to spot...

LEGO! 

 This year, we had a blast of a birthday party.
 If you know my kids, you can guess what the theme was.

 LEGO... of course.

 Andy made a fabulous cake. I swear, that man has more talents then I can keep up with. 

 We played soccer. 

Daisy was included quite nicely.

 We built race cars.

 Had races.

 Played dress-up... 

although, only the 2 year old guest participated in that activity! 

 Ate pizza, 

and of course, cake.

Yum yum!

It has been an entire week, and I have adjusted to calling him 10. But still, it doesn't quite seem real. Before I know it he will be driving! 

But first, I get to have another birthday! 

34, here I come. 

Blessings, 

Yakkity yak

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just learn to use Facebook.
 Not that I don't know how. I just don't make it part of my daily life. I would have to learn to take the time to post as things happen. Today my life was just full of fun little moments that I have to share - and since I don't use Facebook, this is where my words end up.

 This morning Zion walked up to me, out of nowhere, and said, "Mommy, when I grow up I am going to save the Pandas".

 I nearly cried (while I laughed) at the pure zeal - and the absolute faith he has in his ability to solve the problems of an endangered species. There is still such easy faith at age 7.


 As I type, the toads are background noise. From all the way upstairs. With lots of enthusiasm.

 Andy discovered toad spawn the day before yesterday. They have obviously been very busy! We had eggs once before, but the grownups ate them. This time we removed them from the tank and gave them a little space of their own. You live and learn, right? The first tadpole hatched today- it has begun!
 Since we have 25-30 eggs in a tank, I figured I better educate myself. Canaan and I watched Youtube videos this afternoon, trying to prepare for what comes next. Looks like we are going to be busy for the next 4-6 weeks! Eggs hatching. Tadpoles swimming, changing, and growing. Lots of learning.
 And I will just let Canaan think that "frogs make a lot of noise when they lay eggs". Of course that is why they are loud!

 Canaan recently decided that he wanted to make a stuffed animal. He dug through my fabric stash, searched youtube for ideas, and had a pattern drawn up and started within an hour. I must admit that I ended up doing more of the sewing then I wanted - but he did more then I expected too. (Can you tell that I was not thinking positive when we started this project?)
 I think he turned out pretty good for a first try! He might need a little more stuffing though.

Just a quick pic on the phone, so don't judge too harshly!

 The big news around here is that I have another niece. My sister Kelsey had her daughter on Friday afternoon. She came home from the hospital on Sunday, but had to be readmitted tonight. Her bilirubin count is really high and she is having a hard time getting the hang of eating. Since she was only 5 1/2 lbs to start with, losing weight isn't a good thing! My big fat 9 lbs babies had some to spare!
 I haven't heard yet if I am allowed to post pictures online, so I won't. But if you want to see her, send me an E-mail. And please, if you could take a minute and pray for health, (and for peace too!) that would be so very appreciated.

 Blessings, 

Easter

As promised, Canaan's new and improved story. Improved, not perfect! (I am typing it with spelling and grammar errors included)

"Oh, no! The Easter Bunny slept late! Now he has to...
 ...hurry out of the hole and get in to his jet-bus and drive. Mrs. Bunny was in the pasenger seat and Jr. Bunny in one of the back seats and Bob Bunny in one of the other back seats and Hunny Bunny back there too.
 Then they stoppped at the first house and as fast as you can say "egg", poof! the Bunny family had alredy made it to house two thousand one hundred and fifty-nine. That is like the whole town of Adairsville. Very soon he was done and stopped at the toy store and got bob and Jr. action bunny figures and hunny a bunny doll. Next, off they went to bunnymart and got Mrs. bunny a new flowerpot, and went home. the end
 And the writer fell asleep zzzzz"

He needs to work on capitalization, and a few spelling errors, but we can fix that. I love that he felt the need to add the sleeping to the end. He had to tie the old story in with the new!

Zion wrote an Easter story too.

 "The Easter bunny brought me a chocolate egg. Right as I went to take a bite out of it....
... an alien popped out and flew to the Easter party and said, "My name is E.T. and I love Coke."

 Andy wants to know if it is Coca-cola or the other stuff. But he says that both our boys are aware that "crack is whack"!

 While speaking of Easter - we had some fun!

 Church party

 3rd Group Easter party

 Look at that jump! (and in cowboy boots too)

1st place in his age group for the obstacle course!

 Canaan got a pretty good jump in too, but Andy was running the camera at that time so there aren't as many pictures. He was running the camera because...

it was time for the 3 legged race- it's all about the teamwork, or if you are a big army dad, picking your kid up while you run! (see below)

 Canaan had to work with someone his own size - great way to get to know someone!

 Daddy's car, painted on their faces

 "Bethany - get that camera away from me!"

 Tug of war!

My prize winning boys- all worn out, but they had a blast. 

And we still had a fun ride home...

As Andy explains it, "The mistress is back!"