GOD has Already Prepared the Way

I positively LOVE this! My dear friend, author Paula Scott Bicknell, posted this meme yesterday, and when I read it, the truth of it hit me like a heavy rain shower, washing away all the doubt and fear that was building up inside me. See, I'd received two emails shortly before reading this meme. One held good news. The other, not so much. Neither are life-altering, but they're about something I've been praying about for several months. Something I really, really want to happen, yet have absolutely no control over.

Have you ever felt that? Fear and doubt about the future? I'm sure you have! Let me share six words of truth that will alleviate it.

GOD HAS ALREADY PREPARED THE WAY!

Here's a little example of that:

Two years ago we knew our job in Texas was coming to an end. We were looking for a new position, but nothing opened up before we found ourselves unemployed for eight weeks. But you know what?

GOD HAD ALREADY PREPARED THE WAY!

Walking at our boss's lake house in Kentucky, basking in
God's goodness to us. This is where He reminded me that He
prepared this place for me long before I arrived!

While we waited in Texas to see where God would take us, He was working here in Tennessee, clearing the way for us. It's amazing to look back and see how he arranged people and situations, almost like a giant chess board, throwing open the doors for us to live and work in the most wonderful place, for the most wonderful employers.

How do I know God worked out all the details? There is absolutely no way it could have simply been coincidence. The job we ended up getting--working as a couple on a large property--wasn't the job that was advertised. They originally were only looking to hire my husband. But we trusted God would provide a job for me too, and continued through the interview process. And you know what?

GOD HAD ALREADY PREPARED THE WAY!

The property owner wanted to meet me too since I'd be living on the property. After Skyping with them a couple times, they liked me so much they offered me a job!

YES, GOD HAD ALREADY PREPARED THE WAY!

I can look back through so many situations in my life and see that even when I thought things were at their worst, when I'd lost all hope, GOD HAD ALREADY PREPARED THE WAY!

My prayer is this truth will resonate with you today and bring you hope that you are never alone, you are never forgotten, and you are always loved by our Heavenly Father! This song by Casting Crowns speaks to this in such a beautiful way! Enjoy!

Blessings,

~Michelle

Valleys and Mountaintops

I've been reading in Psalm 23 lately. It's such a short little psalm, and yet it packs so many powerful truths.

Hubby and I are in Colorado this week. We traveled here with our sweet boss to visit her brother. His estate is absolutely gorgeous, and admittedly we are being spoiled rotten. We have our own private suite overlooking the Rocky Mountains, with snow-covered pine trees right out my window. We've enjoyed seeing the deer, snow falling, and gorgeous sunsets.

As I read through Psalm 23 yesterday morning, I realized I would not be here in this beautiful place with these people I've come to love had I not walked through "a valley of the shadow of death" back in 2017. In August of that year, we lost our job working as caretakers of a large ranch in Texas. We trusted God had plans for us, but those eight weeks we waited to discover his plans were some of the longest of our lives.

Now as I look back on those days, I'm so incredibly thankful for them! I'm so thankful God heard my cry and removed us from a situation that wasn't good for us anymore. I was emotionally exhausted and hubby was physically exhausted, so it was definitely time to move on.

Every day we thank God for bringing us to Tennessee to work for the most wonderful, funny, and generous boss. We are blessed beyond measure. As King David said in Psalm 23, the cup the LORD prepared for us truly is overflowing, and we are basking in his goodness and mercy. Valleys are part of life, but so are mountaintops. And my mountaintop is currently snow-covered and glorious.

If you are walking through a dark valley, hang in there! God's ways are not our ways, but his plans are always, always good!! Your mountaintop is just ahead!

Blessings,

~Michelle


Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Who's Hand Are You Holding?

One of my earliest memories of my Daddy is of his hands. I remember being in our small Nazarene church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sitting on the pew between him and Mom. At some point during the preaching, I took Daddy's big hand in my tiny ones and played with his fingers. I remember turning his hand over and studying the lines there, bending fingers back and forth, and basically entertaining myself. Daddy was an Engineer for the highway department by day, but on the weekends he used his hands to build a beautiful Santa Fe-style adobe home our family lived in for 55 years. His hands were not soft and smooth, but had calluses and strength. Daddy wasn't showy with his affections, but those hands comforted me and told me I could trust him to take care of me. He never let me down.

The above picture not only brings back that sweet memory, but it also reminds me that my "Daddy" in heaven wants to take me by the hand. His scars are available for me to touch, to run my fingers over, and to know the love that spilled out of him for me as he hung on that cross.

"But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them--sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute." Isaiah 42:16 The Message

As I'm preparing to attend the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference next week, I'm thankful for these words. God has all my tomorrows in his hands. He knows the roads I need to take and the roads I need to avoid. He already knows the books I'll write and the book ideas that might not ever make it into print. I trust him to open doors that will lead to new opportunities and close doors that should remain closed for my good even if I don't understand. His plans and purposes for me have been in place since before I was born. The work he has for me to do is already prepared. I don't have to do anything more than take his hand and walk into them. Isn't that great news?! No struggles! No forcing my way onto a road I wasn't supposed to be on. No fear and no regrets. Just peace, joy, and fulfillment, knowing I'm exactly where God wants me to be, doing exactly what God wants me to do.

Have you fallen into a ditch because you weren't holding fast to Abba's hand? I've been there too, friend. Thankfully he doesn't leave us there to wallow in the mud and muck. He'll offer his hand over and over, until we finally understand that holding onto his hand is the ONLY way to travel through life.

Tomorrow is unknown to every single one of us. Like the passage above says, it's "unknown country." When we travel to places we've never been, it's so much better when we have a knowledgeable guide who knows the area, the attractions, the sketchy and dangerous places where we shouldn't go. That's exactly what our Father is offering. He'll show us the roads to take, and he'll protect us along the way. 

All we have to do is take our Father's hand!

Who's hand are you holding?

Blessings,

Michelle

Rocks, Words, and a New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Wow! What an amazing year we've had! I look back and see God's fingerprints all over it, and that truly makes me smile! We went through some rough waters and made some major changes, but God was with us through every minute and every mile, and folks ... it doesn't get any better than that!

Last year I decided to join the "word picker crowd." You know, the people who choose a word to sort of represent the year ahead. Of course, it shouldn't just be any ol' word, but rather a word that is impressed upon you by the Lord through prayer and Bible study. A meaningful word just for you. As I thought about what my word would be in the days leading up to the new year, "Trust" kept coming to mind. I trusted the Lord, but I sensed He wanted to take me deeper. As the old hymn says, "Oh for grace to trust him more." Psalm 34:8 was perfect to go along with my word: "O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him." On New Year's Day I found a rock and wrote my word and my verse on it. I've kept that rock where I can see it every day of 2017. It serves as a reminder that my trust is in the Rock. When our jobs ended in August and we were unemployed for eight weeks, we trusted God had a plan. When that plan was revealed, we knew we could trust it. I never dreamed I'd be writing a blog on January 1, 2018 from a cozy little farm house in Tennessee, but here we are and we love it! Trust took on a whole new meaning for me the past year, and I'm ever so grateful for the faithful lessons God is teaching me.


A new year means a new word, and I'm already ahead of the game. Back in November I was reading in Hebrews 4 out of The Message Bible. The word "rest" is all over that chapter. I felt the Spirit telling me that was my word for 2018: Rest. So despite the frigid temperatures outside yesterday -- 17 degrees with a nippy wind! -- hubby and I set out to climb the hill behind our house and find a new rock for a new year.

Hubby searching for his rock

Although I don't necessarily make resolutions each year, I'm determined to keep the word rest as part of my daily existence.  Hebrews 4 reminds us that God gave the Israelites the promise of rest, but they didn't accept it. They constantly disobeyed God, so he basically said, "Exasperated, I vowed, 'They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest.'" (v. 6) I don't want that to be me! I absolutely want to get where God is taking me, do the things he has planned for me, and be the woman he wants me to be.

In this new year, I am going to rest in God's ...

• Power
• Peace
• Presence
• Provision
• Protection
• Possibilities
• Purposes
• Plans
• Promises
• Partnership
• Grace
• Mercy
• Love
• Salvation
• Discipline
• Instruction
• Word
• Strength
• Healing
• Help
• Holiness

Truthfully, the list is as endless as God's love, but you get the idea. Rest. It doesn't mean I get to be lazy and lay around for a year. I've got a job, a husband, responsibilities, and two new books releasing in February that all need my attention. But I will rest in knowing my Lord and my God has things under control.

Do you choose a word each year? I'd love for you to share it.

2017 was a year of Trust. 2018 will be a year of Rest!

I pray 2018 is a year full of God's presence and blessings in your life! I'm excited to see what the new year holds!

~Michelle

In the Beginning...

February is known as the Month of Love. I've been loved my whole life. My parents loved me. Family and friends love me. Twenty-nine years ago this April I married the love of my life, the bestest hubby in the world! When I gave birth to two amazing little boys, my understanding of human and God-love grew exponentially!

But let me tell you about a different kind of love affair...

I love my Bible. I mean, I love my Bible. I love my Bible!

Get it?

God's written word has become like breath to me. I can't live without it. I can't function without the life-giving nourishment it gives my soul. If I try to begin my day without getting into the Word, I get the feeling something important is missing. And more often than not, I'll have a really icky day. Not because of the things that happen necessarily, but  because of my own attitude and thought process toward whatever comes my way. It's just so much better to start out the day with a word from the Lord, ya know?

I didn't always feel this way. Growing up in a Christian home, we had plenty of Bibles around. I often saw my Mom reading her Bible, and when my Grandma moved in with us my Senior year, I found comfort in passing her open door to see her sitting in her Lazy-Boy recliner reading the Word. But very seldom did I pick up my own Bible to read. Very seldom did I turn to God's word for answers to life's problems. I was a married woman with children before I fully understood the powerful resource I had within my grasp. Now I cherish God's word! Like many of you, I have an abundance of Bibles to choose from:

• A white-covered King James version given to me by "Mother and Daddy" on June 30, 1971
• A Children's edition of the Living Bible given to me by our church Christmas 1973
• The Living Bible given to me by "Mom and Dad" Christmas 1980. I would graduate from high school and head off to college a few months later. I'm sure my parents hoped the Word of God would go with me!
• For Christmas 2001, my sweet husband bought me the New International Version Bible. Funny, he accidentally bought a Large Print, but I'm so glad! My eyes ain't what they used to be, so the larger print is awesome! This is the Bible I read every morning. I have so many, many scriptures highlighted or underlined, with notes written off to the side, some with meaningful dates. If our house ever caught fire (Lord, never!), that Bible would be the first thing I'd grab! It is literally my life. 
• In 2003, hubby gave me The Message Bible, which is a way-cool version. Makes things so, so clear sometimes. 

Every Bible, no matter the version, is God's word to us. It's a story of His great love for mankind. So many, many lessons are within those pages. So many, many lives touched by God's amazing grace. I honestly don't think I will ever tire of reading my Bible. Seriously. I learn something new every single time I open it!

But I came to an interesting conclusion while reading in the Book of John. Despite the fact that the Bible contains 66 books with 1,189 chapters and somewhere around 31,000 verses....

...there are only TWO verses that really, truly matter when it comes to our faith. Twenty-seven words, to be exact:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

Those two verses sum up everything we need to know about God. In fact, you can whittle those sentences down even further:

"In the beginning GOD!"

"In the beginning was the WORD!"

God is the Creator of everything. He has always been and will always be. And John 1:1 makes it abundantly clear that Jesus--the Word--is God. John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Those two truths -- God is the Creator and Jesus is God -- are the very foundation of our faith. They are what we build everything else upon. Without those two principals firmly rooted in your heart, the rest of the Bible probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense. 

If you aren't a regular Bible reader, I encourage you to become one. God speaks through His word. Let Him speak to you today!

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This week's Shout-Out countries are:

USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Georgia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Africa, Slovenia

Why I Believe in God and Christmas

I woke up this morning with a grateful heart. Grateful that I know the true reason for Christmas. Grateful that I know the God who came down from heaven to dwell among men. Grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Why all this gratitude?

Yesterday while I was reading news clips on CNN's website, I came across an article entitled Seeking the Truth About Jesus. Always curious what "the world" has to say about my Savior, I clicked on it. The article itself was okay. I disagreed with the author on some major points, but what struck me more were the comments that followed. So many were negative. Some were downright rude and ugly. The majority of posters, it seemed, had no belief in Jesus Christ or the Christmas story at all.

But one comment in particular grabbed my attention.

It was written by a man named Ed. Ed's very lengthy post declared that God does not exist and that he can prove it. Reading on, I found that Ed had no such proof to backup his claim. What he did have, however, broke my heart. Ed said he had searched for God, begging God to reveal himself to Ed, for ten years. At the end of those ten years, God still had not revealed himself to Ed. Therefore, Ed's conclusion is that God must not exist.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Ed, like many, many others out there, wanted solid, tangible proof that God exists. What exactly he wanted, I don't know. Did he expect God to appear right before his eyes? Did he think heaven should open up so he could see the throne with God seated on it? Sure, those very things happened to different people in the Bible, but very few people out of all the people that have ever walked this earth have had encounters with God like those.

So, if God doesn't reveal himself to us in order for us to believe in him, why do so many people believe anyway, myself included?

One simple word answers that question: Faith.

The disciple named Thomas didn't have enough faith to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead. He wanted proof, much like Ed. Only after he touched Jesus' hands and feet did he declare, "My Lord and my God." (John 20:28) But it's Jesus' words that are very telling, and very hopeful to me. They are words I wish people like Ed would take to heart: "Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The apostle Paul wrote that, "We live by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

The author of Hebrews wrote, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

I wish I could talk to Ed and share with him my "proof" that God does exist. I'd take him to a mirror and let him behold the wonder of the human body. I'd show him pictures of the two amazing creatures that grew inside my womb and who are now these incredible young men. I'd drive him to a mountaintop or to the beach and let him "see" God in the wondrous beauty. Id' take him to a zoo to see the vast number of different creatures, and then I'd buy him lunch at the supermarket where an abundance of vegetables, fruits, nuts and meats give evidence of a Creator who put thought into each item.

Paul wrote it plain and simply in Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

The pure and simple truth is, I believe in God. Not because I have seen Him, but because I see EVIDENCE of Him all around me! I don't need to be convinced of his existence. The proof is everywhere I look! I believe He came to earth in the form of a baby, born to a virgin. I believe he lived and died and lives again.

My heart is full this morning. Of truth. Of gratitude. Of peace and joy.

Merry Christmas, One and All!

Christian Persecution: How the Early Disciples Died

Hostile.

That's about the only word that adequately describes how the vast majority of the worlds non-Christians feel about Christians these days. I see it every single day in the media. I mean, literally... Every. Single. Day. From news stories and the comments that follow, to sitcoms and late-night jokers. We are labeled ignorant, fools, idiots, bigots, intolerant and hate-mongers, just to name a few. I can't include a lot of other things we're called because the words are not ones I would ever type let alone say. Mr. Cathy of Chick-fil-a recently experienced an outpouring of hate because he expressed his biblically based beliefs regarding marriage. The Family Research Council headquarters in Washington DC was attacked by a gunman and a guard was shot, all because the shooter didn't agree with what the FRC stands for. Just this week the FRC put out a report called the "Study of Religious Hostility in America" illustrating over 600 examples of what it characterized as "religious animosity shown by judges, government bureaucrats, schools and secular groups" toward Christians.

But we American Christians have it easy as far as persecution goes. Our rights are being attacked every day to be sure, but we still have the freedom to worship in our churches, carry a Bible in public, have Christian radio stations, etc. etc., where as Christians in other parts of the world can't. They could face prison or even death if they are caught with a Bible or meeting together.

Is any of this new? Of course not. Jesus Christ himself was persecuted until death, and he made it clear that we, his followers, would be too. So, lest we begin to feel sorry for ourselves because of what is going on in the world, here is a reminder of what our forefathers -- the very first Christians -- went through for the sake of Christ:

Peter: He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

James: The brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple, over 100 feet down, when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.

James the Great: The brother of John, was beheaded at Jerusalem. His amazing faith in the end so impressed his Roman guard that the man, overcome with conviction, declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Mark: Died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

John: Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of oil in Rome. Miraculously delivered from death, John went to prison on the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. After his release, he died an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

Paul: After suffering years of torture and imprisonment, Paul was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Nero.

Luke: The physician, author of Luke and Acts, and travel companion of Paul, was hanged in Greece.

Andrew: Peter's brother was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.

Thomas: The doubter who ultimately claimed Jesus as "my Lord and my God" was stabbed with a spear in Madras, the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Barthalomew: Also known as Nathaniel, was a missionary to Asia and present day Turkey. He was flayed to death by a whip for preaching in Armenia.

Jude: Also one of Jesus' brothers, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

Matthias: The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas, was stoned and then beheaded.

These men never gave up. They never denied Christ. They didn't give in to those who opposed them.

We can do no less.
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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Russia, United Arab Emirates

When "Religion" Gets in the Way

Have you ever witnessed a miraculous healing? I mean the type that happens right before your eyes. One minute a person is a certain way, the next that person is healed and whole. I haven't been privileged to witness anything like this...yet...but I know some folks who have. On mission trips in Mexico, friends of ours saw some miraculous healings take place. I've also heard pastors, missionaries, etc. tell amazing stories of blind people seeing, visible tumors disappearing, and on and on.  Really cool stuff that shows us God is still in the business of miracles!

Lately I've been reading in the Gospels. I especially love reading about the sick, blind and crippled people coming to Jesus to be healed. His compassion is so beautiful. One of my favorite stories is found in Luke 5:17-27. It's about a paralytic who is brought to Jesus by some of his friends. The crowd gathered around the house was so thick and large, these men couldn't even get close to the door let alone get their friend inside so Jesus could heal him. What to do, what to do?? These awesome friends didn't give up. They didn't say, "Sorry, dude, but we can't do anything else." They came up with a plan.

"When they could not find a way to [get inside] because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus." (Luke 5:19)

That is faith!! That is true friendship! Don't ever give up on your friends and loved ones who need to be healed -- whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually -- by Jesus!

Today, however, I read about a miracle that really made me sad. Not because of the person who was healed, but because of the reaction of those who witnessed it.

In John 9 we find a man who has been blind since birth. Back in those days, people figured the parents had been terrible sinners in order to have a child born without sight. But Jesus told his disciples that was not true. In fact, he says "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (v. 3)

Lesson for us: God always has a plan, even for the "bad" things in our life!

Jesus goes on to heal this man's blindness. Can you imagine being able to see for the first time in your life!? Wow! Unspeakable joy must have filled this man's heart.

But the Pharisees didn't see it that way. They didn't see a man filled with joy. They didn't see a man blind from birth seeing the world around him for the very first time. They didn't rejoice that God had done something amazing! What they saw instead was religion. Why? Because this wonderful miracle took place on the Sabbath. And according to their very skewed understanding of the Law of Moses, they believed Jesus was breaking the law by performing miracles on the Sabbath.

"This man [Jesus] is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." (v. 16)

UNBELIEVABLE!!

A man has just been healed of life-long blindness and all they can do is grumble. This isn't the first time they reacted to a miracle this way. In Matthew 12:9-13 Jesus heals a man's shriveled hand on the Sabbath and the Pharisees have a fit. That, my friend, is Religion. When you are so set on keeping laws and rules and finding fault with every good thing going on around you, you are the one who is blind.

"For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will be blind." ~Jesus in John 9:29

God absolutely gave us laws to abide by. Jesus himself said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) But when those laws become greater than God, that's when we have a big ol' problem. That's when we can't see what God is doing right in front of our eyes. That's when the religiousness of being a Christian becomes greater than Christ himself.

Yikes!

I don't want to be blind. What about you?

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Today's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Russia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa, Slovenia, Ukraine, Israel, Latvia, Australia

The Edge of His Cloak

A number of years ago I read a phrase in a Bible story that grabbed hold of me and has never let go. It's found in the New Testament story of the woman with the bleeding issue. She'd had this terrible medical issue for twelve long years. She'd sought help from doctors and healers and had spent all her money trying to get well. Nothing worked.

But one day the most wonderful event happened. JESUS came to town! Large crowds followed him. People with every disease and deformity hurried to him to be healed. This woman, however, didn't have the courage to approach Jesus directly. I imagine she was ashamed of her illness. Maybe she'd been told her sin or those of her parents was the cause of it. Yet despite her lack of boldness and maybe even her shame, she knew Jesus could heal her and she wasn't about to let anything stop her from receiving it.

"Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, 'If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Matthew 9:20-21

Or in Luke 8:42-44: "As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped."

That is faith in action, folks!

She wasn't bold, but she was determined.
She wasn't pushy, but she had a mission to accomplish.
She didn't doubt but trusted in the power of God.

Imagine what would happen if more people simply reached out to touch the edge of Jesus' cloak!

I would have thought the woman would be filled with joy once she knew she'd been healed, but Mark 5:33 tells us that "knowing what had happened to her, [the woman] came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the truth."

I'm guessing the poor woman suddenly thought she'd taken something from God without asking. But Jesus didn't see it that way.

"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." v. 34

I love, love, love that Jesus referred to her as 'daughter.' And I love, love, love that I am his daughter too! I can reach out and 'touch his cloak' any time I want. And believe me, I have!

If you need healing in any area of your life, I encourage you to reach out to Jesus! Don't let shame or fear keep you away. He promises peace and freedom if you will put your faith in him!

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Spain, Brazil, India, Kuwait, Russia, Slovenia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Colombia, Germany

Birthday Joy vs. Abortion Sorrow

Today is my oldest son's 21st birthday! What an amazing journey it's been watching him go from a tiny 5 lb. 15 oz. helpless little creature to a handsome, smart, funny, independent young man. To say I'm a Proud Mama doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about being his mother. Proud. Humbled. Joy-filled. Awed. The list could go on and on. Being "Mom" to the two most wonderful young men God ever created is one of the greatest blessings I will ever receive in this lifetime. Only my salvation through Jesus Christ and my marriage to my best friend top being a mother.

Because of how passionate I am about the lives I've been privileged to create within my own body, I simply cannot even begin to fathom how a woman could possibly choose abortion. I don't say that with any judgement or condemnation. I say that with true, inexplicable bewilderment. As women, we've been given the amazing ability to carry life inside our wombs. I will never, ever forget the day we heard Taylor's heartbeat for the first time. I was barely 6 weeks pregnant. It would be months before I felt him move, found out he was a he, and finally saw him in person. But none of that changed the fact that his tiny, microscopic, wonderfully formed heart was wildly beating. The very same heart that still beats within his chest today. It's bigger because he is bigger, but it's the same heart I heard on a monitor when he was the size of a sesame seed.

Yesterday I heard a current celebrity interviewed on the Rosie O'Donnell show. I won't give her name because I'm not writing this in judgement of her but rather to use it as an example of a mindset I simply cannot relate to. This celebrity admitted to Rosie that she had an abortion when she was 16 years old. She wanted to keep the baby, but her parents intervened. They told her having a baby now would "ruin her life" and that they certainly would not raise it. The teenage girl finally agreed and had an abortion. Today she says it was the "right choice" because she would not have been a good mother. Rosie finished the conversation by saying abortion isn't always "a life-defining negative thing."

Wow. I was...and still sort of am...speechless at those comments. Why? I'll tell you.

•  This girl and her parents--the baby's own grandparents--decided the baby was a disposable object. An object. Not a life, but an object with no value of any kind. In fact, the presence of the object, still hidden inside the womb, was the worst thing they could possibly imagine. It would "ruin" this future star's oh-so-perfect life and future. Apparently none of them gave consideration to the baby's oh-so-perfect life and future. I don't know at what stage of pregnancy she had the abortion, but I can tell you for a fact that baby's heart was already beating. Blood was already being pumped throughout its tiny body. Body parts were forming, DNA was already in place. People try to make themselves feel better by calling it a fetus and saying it's not a baby. Seriously?? A beating heart means nothing to you???
• This celebrity said she wouldn't have been a good mother. Sadly, I agree. She proved that by killing her baby. A good mother loves and protects her children. She'd give her own life in order to keep them safe. I remember each time I carried a life in my womb. I loved knowing my baby was safe while he was inside my body. The world and all its evils couldn't get to my baby. I remember cradling my belly, knowing no harm would come to the precious life inside me. A woman who choses abortion does the ultimate harm to her child. She kills it. Only a forgiving Father can remove the guilt-stain abortion leaves behind and make that woman a "good mother" to future children.
• Rosie and this celebrity believe abortion is not a "life-defining negative thing." That comment simply blows me away. All I can say is, IT SHOULD BE! It should be a life-defining negative thing! How can it not be?! How can a woman--even a teenager--not be changed by having an abortion? My only guess is that they suffer from "me" syndrome. Everything is about Me. Me is most important. Me is all that matters. My happiness. My life. My wants. My desires. Me, me, me. That killing a life is not life-defining or negative tells me there is something very wrong in that person's mind and heart. 

Unwanted pregnancy is not something I've ever experienced. I desperately wanted both of my precious sons. I was ecstatic each time I found out I was pregnant. So I can't empathize with a woman who finds herself pregnant when she doesn't want to be. I feel for her though. I truly do. I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty. I've known teenagers who became pregnant and chose to keep the baby. It wasn't easy but it was right. I know many women who couldn't have children and were blessed to adopt babies who were given up by their mother's. I also know women who chose abortion and live with the guilt and regret. Terminating a baby doesn't make its existence disappear. It just makes it dead.

The abortion debate is not about a woman's choice. It's not even about how much power we give the government by allowing laws to dictate what a woman can and cannot do with her own body. It's about the tiny, microscopic person that can't speak for themselves yet. It's about life. And death. Pro-abortion folks say it should be up to the woman to decide if the baby lives or dies. Really??

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

God plans and creates each person. Never did He say it was our "choice."

I'm celebrating the life of my son today. I wonder how many children should be celebrating their birthday today but who were killed instead. I wonder how proud their mama's would be if only they'd made a different choice.

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out Countries are:

USA, United Kingdom, Latvia, Israel, Russia, Germany, India, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine, Panama, Romania

Faith: What's it all about

Merriam-Webster defines faith as a "firm belief in something for which there is no proof."

Obviously the faith I'm going to talk about today is the faith we have in God. Yet faith, in my opinion, is not just a religious word. I think we all practice faith, in one way or another, on a daily basis whether we believe in God or not. We put our faith in a lot of things, including people, money, jobs. A lot of non-religious people put their faith in science. When discussing evolution vs. Creationism with a non-believer I learned that they have just as much faith in their beliefs as I have in mine. They can't "prove" it anymore than I can, but they sure believe it.

Faith in God, however, is different. To have faith in God, you have to come to a place in your life where you accept certain things about yourself and about the world around you. Things that you will never, ever be able to fully understand but you believe them anyway. Take our human bodies, for instance. There is absolutely no way I can look at the complexity of my body---from my brown eyes that see in beautiful color to my ever-beating heart keeping me alive---and not fully and completely understand that there is no possible explanation for it other than a thoughtful, brilliant Creator. I can't go to the grocery store and see the mind-boggling variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, meats, fish, etc. and not wonder at the imagination of the One who created so many different kinds of yummy things to eat. I can't go to the zoo and look at all the crazy, beautiful, interesting animals and creatures and not know Someone had to have designed every single one of them. I look at the earth with so many kinds of trees and plants and rocks and minerals, fresh water lakes and salty oceans, breathtaking mountains and beautiful deserts.

Could all of that be here just by chance?!

The answer to that question lies in one word: Faith.

From the beginning of time there was a plan in place. Read Genesis 1 and you get a true vision of that plan. God created the earth and set it up with everything we could ever possibly need or want. In the same way an expectant mother prepares for her precious baby, God prepared the earth for us. When sin entered the world (Genesis 3), God once again had a plan.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Faith gives us the assurance that all of that is true. Hebrews 11:1 tells us exactly what faith is:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hope and certainty. I can't see God, but I can see his handiwork all around me. Does my lack of visual contact mean he doesn't exist? Absolutely not! It simply means my eyes have not been allowed to see him yet, but Revelation 21:3 tells me I will one day. That's hope. The evidence he gave us on earth of himself is certainty.

If you keep reading in Hebrews 11, you see example after example of men and women who lived out their faith. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham. Can you imagine the amount of faith Noah had to spend years and years building a huge ark when the only water he'd seen in his lifetime probably came from springs, rivers or wells? Noah had hope and certainty. Hope for his future and certainty that God had asked him to do a specific job.

Faith comes down to one simple question: Do you believe what God says or not?

Noah believed God. I do to. My faith is firmly planted in the Word of God. The Bible is God's communication with us. It tells us his story. It tells our story. Some people will call me foolish and ignorant because of my belief in what many refer to as an "ancient book of fairytales." Let them. Only one opinion matters:

God's.

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Russia, Germany, France, Indonesia, Italy, Romania, India, Japan, Honduras