Tag Archive | Life

Life is Precious, Life is Sweet

Apr17

life

“Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate.”

― Albert Einstein

When life isn’t held sacred, as Einstein says, we really shouldn’t be surprised when it is taken so casually. Bombs, abortions, mass shootings, stabbings and the like. My soul is weary of the turmoil it encounters every day. But we don’t consider life sacred in this country. When people get too old to be “useful,” we forget them in nursing homes. When someone is severely handicapped, we speak of euthanasia. If a child is unwanted by its mother, we do away with it.

I, along with many, have been appalled at the revelations coming out of the Kermit Gosnell case in Philadelphia. It’s horrific. And on top of that, we struggle to understand the motivations of those who would plant bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Did you know that a group of families from Newtown, Conn., all touched by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, was there participating? Thank God they had all finished the race, and their families were out of the grandstands and back at their hotel, before the bombs went off. I can’t even imagine what was going through their minds.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

— Jesus of Nazareth (as recorded in the Gospel of John, chap. 10, verse 10).

Satan is a thief, and a liar. He steals everything that is of value to us, and the chief of that is life.

Outlawing guns won’t help. Tighter controls on abortion clinics won’t help. The Boston bomber used pressure cookers, for crying out loud! Only Jesus will cause all things to be new. Only Jesus will turn hearts from evil.

My heart is heavy for those who lost loved ones, limbs and eventually, if we keep going the way we are, their liberty.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:35-37).

My prayers go out to all those affected by tragedies, conspiracies, the hand of evil and the acts of someone else’s will. That covers just about everyone, doesn’t it?

What Yard Work Taught Me About Sin

Jun4

If you don’t have borders, even good things can turn bad.

Sin is attractive sometimes. Knowing the roots and fruit are essential to telling the difference between the real beauty and the junk.

If you try to root out all the sin in one day, you’ll get discouraged and never want to tackle it again.

Sometimes you find sin in unexpected places, even in the middle of something that’s good.

Work with another person to control the sin in your life–it’s so much more fun.

It doesn’t work to just cover up sin, the roots are still there and eventually, the truth will come out.

Some roots go a lot deeper than you think, and sometimes you just need professional help.

Sin never, ever totally goes away. We are never free from it and it’s a constant battle to keep it at bay.

Life is messy and hard and it hurts, but it’s worth it for the beauty in the end.

 

 

 

Thankful today for:

345. Flowers

346. the first full day of summer break

347. photographs

 

Who Am I?

Nov2

Justin, Morgan, Nathan

After spending much of the last two days doing things with and for the kids that I didn’t really want to be doing myself, and feeling like a selfish PIG because of it, I’m trying to find out who I am again. What is it that I really enjoy doing? How do I spend time with my kids without feeling like I’m not getting any enjoyment out of it? What’s the matter with me? Who am I anymore?

I know I don’t like standing in lines. I know I don’t like amusement park rides. I know I get really tired of noise ALL the TIME. I don’t like being pulled around, clung to, whined at, argued with. I know I don’t like playing games that degenerate into bickering and crying when one loses or doesn’t get ones way.

The problem is, it’s not all about me. And I want it to be. Except that I’m a mature adult and know better than to act like that. But it’s how I want to act. I want it to be all about me. What if I don’t want to spend the day at Wet ‘n’ Wild? What if I don’t want to walk around for hours at a Fall Festival, then wait in line for more than an hour at the rock wall, only to have the child insisting I stay there with her give up after getting only three feet off the ground?

As was so plainly pointed out to me when I mentioned my feelings, I do many things that don’t involve the kids and that take a chunk of my time: I watch baseball, I read, I am on the worship team at church, I’m the copy editor of Worldwide Challenge magazine. We host a small group in our home every week.

All of that’s true, I am involved in those things and they aren’t kid-driven, but somehow all that seems more for survival than fun. And they’re things I mostly do alone. Nobody really enjoys watching baseball with me. I read by myself. I work from home as a copy editor by myself. The only things I do with other people are lead worship at church and host our small group. But those aren’t leisure-time activities that I find “fun.” They may be what God’s calling me to do right now, and they may be fulfilling, but they don’t bring me lighthearted joy.

I want to feel light hearted.

But if I’m not feeling that way, I don’t think it’s my activities that are the problem. Ouch. Don’t really want to have to face the condition of my heavy heart right now. Takes too much work. And I’m tired.

Tired of laundry and grocery lists and cooking. Tired of correcting homework and having frustrations taken out on me. Even vacations aren’t really vacations when disputes still have to be settled, cooking still has to be done, laundry doesn’t stop. I think I need a week at a spa.

And whether it’s my own vain imaginations or not, when I think of wanting to do something for myself, I feel guilty for wanting it. When I do sit down to read and my daughter comes to me wanting me to play with her, I feel very guilty for not really wanting to do that. It is all about the kids during these years, right? But what’s that the airlines say? Put the oxygen mask on yourself before you try to assist someone else.

I feel like I can’t breathe. And nobody in this house understands that. I really want them to understand. I want someone to ask me what it is that I want to do. But first I have to figure out what that something would be.