A COMMENTARY FROM THE HEART

https://youtu.be/mDThDZMcOMM

My heart is broken concerning America’s views on life in general.

What you are will show in what you do.  – Thomas Edison

Dr. Carson offers common sense in the midst of insanity in America.  Can we just back the truck up for a minute and take a close look at something?  Just humor me…  k?

We see videos of dissected babies (it’s a baby – that is what I believe).  They are after certain parts to sell for profit.  They justify it by saying they will be saving another life with the poor life that was aborted (which I believe is murder).

I’m tired of the left saying that Dr. Carson is a hypocrite.  He never had anything to do with killing babies.  He is a Christian and totally pro-life!  He sees abortion for what it is – murder.

Jen Gunter, an obstetrician-gynecologist, wrote on her blog that in 1992 Carson co-authored an academic paper published in Hum Pathol, in which he described using material “from two fetuses aborted in the ninth and 17th week of gestation.”  OK, but anyone who wants to be a doctor has to deal with the dead – of all ages.  That’s how doctors practice before they move on to the living.  It’s called practicing medicine.

You have to look at the intent.  To willfully ignore evidence that you have for some ideological reason is wrong. If you’re killing babies and taking the tissue, that’s a very different thing than taking a dead specimen and keeping a record of it.  – Dr. Ben Carson

Get real, people!  The man’s a doctor – he had to deal with dead specimens of all ages to get through medical school…  good grief!  The deal is – babies should not be killed for the specific purpose of selling body parts for profit – which, by the way, is still illegal!!!  It may not remain illegal, but for today, it is.  It makes me angry that my tax dollars are going to Planned Parenthood.  If they insist on doing their evil procedures and selling the parts of babies they are “going to abort anyway” – at the very least they should be privately funded!!!

We see black people with signs that say BLACK LIVES MATTER.  I’m not disputing that fact, but it’s as though no other lives matter.  I thought every person born into this world was here to get along with every other person born into this world.  I mean, feel free to correct me if you think I’m wrong.  I’d like to know why most abortions take place in the black community.  Don’t the unborn black lives matter?

Maybe it’s a matter of how we view ourselves.  Are we color first in our own mind, or are we more?  For example, I see myself as a Christian first (my value system), a woman (my sex), then white (the color of my skin).  At times we place too much importance on the wrong characteristic about ourselves.

Every white person in the world is not under the impression that they are “better” than every black person.  If that is the mindset of black people, it’s incorrect.  My grandpa Frank used to say, “Folks are folks no matter where you go.”  That’s been my motto through life.  It’s true.  Regardless of the color of one’s skin, there are good folks and bad folks everywhere.

Life…  we are born how we are born.  I did not have a choice and neither did you.  If you are white and wish you were black – too bad.  If you are black and wish you were white – again, too bad.

Funny story…  the other day I was standing in line at the grocery store, behind an African-American woman with beautiful curly hair.  I instinctively reached up to “fluff” my own stringy-straight mane, thinking, “Oh, I wish I had hair like hers!”   Yes, there are days I’d like to be someone else – LOL!  I guess the secret is to be the best me I can be regardless of the DNA cards I’m dealt.

What does God say about us?  What does His Word say about how we are to treat one another?  If ever there was a time we need to embrace God’s Holy Word and live like we mean it – it is now!

God loves us – ALL OF US.  He does not have favorites and He does not see skin color, however, He most definitely sees our motives and our character.  He knows who loves Him and who does not.  If we claim the name of Christ in our lives, we have no excuse to insist that one life matters more than another.

It’s also my belief that we have no right to play God and decide to abort what God saw fit to create.  Babies are miracles – every one of them!  People may think they make babies.  I’ve got news for you…  if God was not a part of that process – you’d not make squat.  WORD.

PROTECT THE UNBORN.  RESPECT PEOPLE.  RESPECT LIFE.  LOVE EVERYONE.  🙂

A COMMENTARY FROM THE HEART

Every right-wing, conservative, Christian in America is praying for hope and change in 2016.  No, not the fundamental transformation of the United States, but a return to the laws already in place that have not been enforced.  What a difference it would make if they would be.

There are a cast of thousands with their respective hats in the ring.  I’m not here to tell anyone who to vote for (like you’d listen if I tried), but I’m going to try to point one blatantly obvious fact out for you, just in case you missed it.

I hope Trump will continue to run under the Republican ticket.  If he runs under a 3rd party it will divide Republicans – split the party wide open!  This not only makes me nervous going forward, but it assures that we will lose the 2016 election.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.  Split the Republican party?  Yep – and it would leave the Democrats laughing at us…  saying, “divide and conquer!”  It’d be awful if the Republicans were divided.  We need to remain united.  I pray we do.

In a prideful and arrogant tone, he says he does not pray to God for guidance.  He speaks with great candor which is refreshing, however, he lacks any sort of filter (certainly not a Holy Ghost brand of filter), and that concerns me greatly.

Why does it matter?  It matters because no man should consider himself more intelligent than his maker.  If he does not seek advice from a higher power, then he obviously thinks he IS the higher power and knows all.

He’s mistaken.  I’m not trying to be ugly.  Actually I’m being just as tactful as I can be…  but the fact is, he is mistaken.  We need God in America again…  and in order to get God and His principles back in America, it would make perfect sense in my brain that a Christian should hold the office of president.  Ya think???

Regardless of his economic status, perhaps he does not realize the true scope of the problem.  No one should go around putting down their competition, boasting about how much better they are.  The last time I saw that kind of campaign, I was in elementary school.  I was running for a seat on safety patrol and my competitor told everyone that I stole Twinkies from the coat room from other lunch boxes during lunch hour.

That was totally bogus…  my mom always packed a great lunch with my own Twinkie!  It was immature, but we were kids, so…  And yeah – I lost.  LOL.  I survived.

If he really cared about the Republican party, he’d back off and cool it.  Will he run under a new ticket?  If that happens – we’re sunk.  Honestly, our party needs to get its collective act together.  I’m both mad and sad…

I have no other candidate to endorse at this point, but…  there are some fine Christian Republican candidates running…  ones who would lean on God for guidance.

As you contemplate the candidates, always remember that this is all God’s perfect timing, not ours.  In His time all things will be made known.  In His time we will be taken to heaven.  Remember to always keep Christ before you.

I want to encourage you not to choose a candidate to back with feelings of frustration alone.    Please pray about who you will vote for – I mean really pray about it.  Our country is at a crossroads – we need to get this RIGHT!  May God help each one of us as we do our part to regain what dignity for America we can.  🙂

 

A COMMENTARY FROM THE HEART

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!  – Mark 3:24-26

Join me in prayer for our country.  My spirit is heavy and I’m so weary of the widening chasm which is leading to hate and division in America!  I just want to scream – STOP IT!!!  Enough already.  Am I the only one?

These tragedies are happening much too often.  What fuels the fire of hate that leads to this end?  What is the answer for the United States?  What will it take to keep the United States…  well – united?

I believe with my whole heart that Carman sang about the only hope to solve America’s problems nearly 20 years ago.

 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and 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.  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.  – 2 Chronicles 7:13-15

When will we listen?  When will America humble itself as a nation before God?

The fact that this shooting happened makes me so sad, but that it happened in a church – a place that should have been safe…  well, I can hardly wrap my mind around it!

Do I have the answers?  No, but it’s my hope that America will seek God with a humble heart and ask Him to please heal our sick, immoral, divided, irreverent land.  The Bible is not just a book – it’s the Word of God.

B.I.B.L.E. = BASIC INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE LEAVING EARTH.

Let’s continue to read the instruction Book, pray and seek God together…  🙂

 

 

THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence is such a buzz word in our society.  There is violence all around us.  Times are tough right now.  People don’t have jobs (or more than likely they have a couple of part-time jobs and still can’t skate by).  The stresses of life can build up and if you don’t have an outlet (the gym or some other release), you might strike out at the ones you supposedly love the most.  But abuse is NEVER right – NEVER. 

Let me tell you about a woman who experiences violence behind closed doors.  Behind lead-glass French doors, I might add.

It’s the heaviest burden she will ever bear.  It’s the darkest secret she will ever hide.  She will go to great lengths to make it look as though everything is perfect to outsiders – neighbors and friends.  She will make every excuse in the book to “cover” for her abuser, saying, “He just had a bad day” – or “Wow am I stupid, why did I make him angry like that?”   She turns the fault on herself – every single time.

After a while, she begins to believe that lie.  She has internalized the blame for so long that eventually – everything that goes wrong is somehow her fault.  It doesn’t matter if it does not make logical sense – it is still her fault.  Her abuser has her right where he wants her…  frightened and vulnerable.  She’s afraid of her own shadow and unable to make simple decisions anymore.  She is completely paralyzed and spends time over thinking things that the rest of us don’t think twice about.  She questions her own sanity at times.

She’s lost every ounce of self-esteem and beats herself up and may even cut herself because she “deserves” nothing less in her mind.  Her abuser has convinced her that she is less than in every respect.  She is not as pretty, as smart, as skinny, as understanding, as – anything.  She thinks if only she was all those things, then finally she would be good enough and her abuser would stop verbally  and/or physically abusing her.

If she has children she feels especially trapped.  If she does not have children there is a chance she can get away, but she knows she needs a plan.  It’s frightening to plan her escape because up to this point she does not believe she has done one single thing right.  She asks herself why this plan would be any better than anything else she’s done.

She keeps replaying the conversation she had with her sister before the wedding.  Her sister expressed concern about specific times when his temper flared or he seemed too controlling.    The blushing bride patted her sister’s hand and assured her that it was nothing, but thanked her for being concerned.  She recalls quickly changing the subject at that point.

But now she knows her sister was right about him.  Those moments were red flags – signs.  She ignored them.  Why did she choose to ignore them?  She thought she loved him.  A nervous  laugh becomes audible as that thought passes through her mind.  She quietly said under her breath, ” What a cliche’!”  Now she knows that the only One who ever loved her gave His life for her.  Love was never a part of her marriage.  It’s always been about survival.

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She has a best friend who stays closer than a brother – His name is Jesus.  He knows her name – he knows what she is thinking and how she is feeling about herself.  He will help her through this.  She prays for her abuser as she scratches and claws her way out of this pit.  She listens to teaching that helps her hold on to threads of self-esteem.  She spends time alone with God to gain strength.  She found a loving circle of support from good Christian folks who  encourage her to take another step.  She just needs the courage to leave.  She needs a plan.  She prays that one in her circle can be trusted to help her.  She asks God who she should confide in and ask for help.

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If you are a man who abuses a woman – know this…  God is watching.  You may control your woman through violent behavior or verbal vomit, but when you have to stand before God one day (and oh yeah – you will) – you won’t have enough honey-covered words to get you out of that situation.  GET HELP – get it now.  Stopping is a process but it has to begin TODAY.  Find a good reputable Christian counselor and begin sessions.  Abusing a woman (or anyone else) does not make you more of a man.  If you have anger management issues – it is YOUR problem – don’t make it hers too. 

That woman you have – she is a bright, brilliant, fragile and loving soul that God entrusted you with!  Treat her with all the tenderness you possibly can.  If you will do that, you will be AMAZED at the love you receive in return!  Get on your knees and thank God for her every day.  Instead of belittling her, lift her up – it really does not take much to make a woman smile.  You know what, Mr. abuser?  God counts that woman’s tears – every one of them.  On judgment day He will show you that bottle of tears and ask for an explanation.  But the smiles you put on her face – now wouldn’t you rather see images of the smiles from God and hear the words WELL DONE, THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT…  ???  😀

 

 

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENCE

Nobody writes poetry from the heart like Lucinda Berry Hill. I’m blessed to call her my friend. God brought us together as writers and sisters in Christ. It was not until later in our friendship we discovered we have more in common. We both experienced abuse in past relationships. We want to come together today and not only tell our stories, but encourage those who are in an abusive relationship to get out of it. God loves you so much. You are important to Him. You are His precious child.

Lucinda is speaking out. She begins by saying, “Lately there’s a lot of talk about domestic violence. Football players are being found out and female celebrities are sharing their stories.” She continues on a more personal note. “So let me say, I too have been subjected to domestic violence for 8 long years. I used to say I could write a Stephan King novel with all that has happened to me. But now I write about God’s mercy, power, and His love.”

Shine in the midst of your troubles, proclaiming that God is able. – Judy Janowski

Hey, it’s me – Linda. My questions are simple: Why do abusers feel no shame? Why does society not hold them accountable for what they’ve done? Where is the outrage? Did it take a video in an elevator to make everyone speak up?

You know, abuse comes in a lot of forms. We think of domestic violence right away, with scars on the outside, but there’s an abuse called mental cruelty. It made me afraid to speak because I knew I would be shot down. It gave me a knot so big and tight in the pit of my stomach, I thought I might die from it. I second-guessed every little thing I did because he will surely find fault with it if I didn’t. Even if I did double-check what I did, it would still be wrong. Then I decided to do nothing and be quiet. It made me feel lonely and hurt – and I cried – a lot. I continued to do nothing because it’s never good enough. I felt paralyzed and stayed hunkered down and quiet because I never said the right thing. Pretty soon you developed an attitude that said, “I don’t care anymore – he’s going to shoot down whatever I do or say anyway, so who cares?”

Deep down I did care – and I knew I did. I just didn’t know what to do about it. I just craved – and I do mean CRAVED (there’s just no other word for it) a compliment, a smile, a hug, some positive affirmation from him. It never happened, but I kept hoping it would. I told myself, “That’s just not the way he shows his love for me. He shows love in different ways.” That’s the lie that got me through the days, weeks, months, years. Some days it worked. Some days it didn’t work. Some days I played Bejeweled 2 just so I could hear the words GOOD and EXCELLENT – the strong, booming voice on the game told me I was doing well. At least I knew I was good at something. Sometimes that was the closest thing to a compliment I got all day.

If you are a man and you abuse a woman, know this: God sees what you do whether other people see it or not. He counts that woman’s tears and keeps them in a bottle. He cries with her and holds her in the palm of His mighty hand. He will always protect her and you, my friend, are in big trouble. Think before you tear a woman down mentally or abuse her physically. You will have God to reckon with! You’d better think about how you will justify that behavior with Him. He won’t believe just any excuse you come up with.

Today is INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENCE. It must stop. It needs to stop – now. ❤  If you abuse your significant other, be prepared to walk away, learn from your mistakes, get help, change your ways and start over.  No one will take you back having been abused by you.  If you get an opportunity to love again, make sure it is love.  Don’t mess it up.  A relationship is a precious gift from God.

If you are the victim of abuse, read this:

Become a Lake

An aging master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said the apprentice.…
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly,
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY

Today is WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY.  Christians are not immune from the feelings that everyone has.  We do have a friend to lean on – Jesus.  There are circumstances that seem overwhelming for all of us and everyone, even Christians, face challenges.  Jesus loves us so much.  Did you know He prays to the Father for us?  That’s huge!

Even though I’ve been a Christian for over 40 years, there are still some rough patches in life.  I can look back on those times and see how the Lord guided me through to the other side.  I don’t see how things will work out, but my Savior is already there and He knows how it will all resolve.

If you are considering ending your life, let me tell you – God sees your struggle and if you will pray to Him, He will help you through your situation, believe me!  God’s timing is not our timing.  His timing is perfect –  and we need to have faith and trust Him with our lives.  We are not our own, but belong to God.  It needs to be His decision to end our lives, not ours.

Every life is precious to God – yours and mine are no exception.  If you need a friend today, please send me a friend request on facebook!  Don’t go this life alone – please.  Life is tough enough, but to cut yourself off from civilization is not the answer.  Friend me – I’m a good listener.

I had dreams for my life too – they didn’t work out like I planned, but life is worth fighting for!  Believe today that God has a plan for your life and trust Him to use it for His glory.  Our Father knows the desires of your heart – and mine.  He knows what we want, but more importantly, He knows what we need.

I pray that we will learn to listen more closely to His prompting as we go through life.  Sometimes we just have to exercise our faith until we finally get through the dark passages and see the light of a new day.  I am in the palm of God’s mighty hand – and so are you.  ❤

 

 

 

NATIONAL PINK DAY

 

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.   – Harvey Fierstein

I’ve tried to put myself in the mindset of a bully. I’ve tried to understand where they are coming from. I will never understand, no matter how long I live, how one human being can esteem themselves somehow BETTER or more entitled to something than another human being! We are ALL God’s children!!!

Bullying stems from a poor sense of self. If a person’s own self-esteem is shaky, they will do anything they can to intimidate someone else (or try to) to stroke their own precious ego and raise their self-esteem. What they do not realize; however, is that the attempt to hurt another person is not going to change their own perception of themselves – not one bit!!!

The road to change is never an external journey – it ALWAYS begins within. Don’t look to other people and try to change them to feel better about yourself! Work on you and leave others alone. I will work on me. I will not try to be better in any way than anyone – except myself.

We are all on different paths. Once we realize it’s not a race, we will begin to coexist in harmony. When I’m tempted to blow another person’s candle out to make mine shine brighter, I think of a saying I heard one time. When you blow someone’s candle out, it does not make yours shine brighter. To be a bully is to be a coward. Bullies lack the necessary tools to negotiate in a mature and civilized manner. They have a limited vocabulary and weak social skills. Bullies are losers.

I hope you will join me – wear PINK today on NATIONAL PINK DAY!!!

“Pretending and ignoring are two different things.”  I was 15 when I heard this, checked in to a stress center after swallowing a potentially lethal dose of sleeping pills.  I’d told my best friend I was born HIV positive.  Classmates called me names and left mean notes on my locker.  I was told to ignore my bullies, which I’d done.  But as one of the center’s counselors explained, sometimes you think you’re ignoring hurtful behavior when you’re just pretending.  “Were you hurt, Paige?” the counselor asked.  Yes.  I’d been hurt again and again.  It was terrifying to admit; would acknowledging that mean my bullies had won?  No.  It allowed me to move on.  Admitting I was hurt was the only thing that freed me from the pain.  – Paige Rawl

Bullying does happen – more than we know. Often times the victim has been so emotionally beaten down they are afraid to either fight back or tell anyone about what they are going through.

If you knew that someone was being bullied, would you help? What would you do? Be attune to the signs of abuse. Not all signs are physical. There are certain behaviors that are telltale signs that abuse is taking place. The ones being bullied are usually:

Isolated– Often one of the first signs that a person is being abused is isolation. Obviously if the abuse is physical, the person will not want to go out in public and certainly will not want to have to explain injuries to their friends. It’s just easier to be isolated from the world.

Withdrawn– Similar to isolation, but when a person withdraws they cease to have opinions or engage in intelligent conversation. They are in survival mode and “small talk” seems unimportant and trivial to them.

Emotional– This is like manic depression. Emotions seem to be all over the map. Because with verbal abuse in particular, a person can be brought from a normal mood into a deep depression in seconds with what has been said to them. Words hurt as much as hits do, and the scars run deep. If they are told that they are stupid or ugly or worthless after so long, they begin to buy into it. These little things affect their self-perception eventually. Sometimes when they are taken away from the abuser, they can actually feel a type of “high” and be over the top emotionally and almost giddy.

For the sake of awareness, let’s wear pink and support the effort to STOP BULLYING!!! ❤