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12月11日 Santa ClausI know that it's not politically correct to blog about faith, especially the Christian faith as apparently to some we are all mindless, lockstepping, warmongers because Bush is President, but this has been on my mind for a few days and I need to write about it. To add insult to injury, what I'm writing about isn't a real popular topic with a lot of Christians either. You see, in recent years, along with not saying the word "Halloween", there is another word a lot of Christians are no longer mentioning. Santa, it seems, has become a taboo topic in many Christian circles. Now, the Halloween thing, I'll give them. I've never really liked the holiday. I'm not real into horror movies and I'll take a harvest party any day over Halloween. The thing is, I believe in Santa Claus.
Yes, at 45 years of age, I still believe in that fat little man with the white beard. As a child, I used to be trecked down to the local A&P to have my picture taken with him every year. I used to receive the traditional Santa letter too. I kind of questioned his intent the year he got my sisters and I all fishtanks, but I still have a thing for newts to this day, all because of that year. As a young wife and mother, I met Santa in the marketplatz's of Germany. He still had the beard there, but unlike the plump American Santa, the German one is more of a skinny beggar who wanders around the market squares handing out toys to children from his raggedy sack. I think it was in Germany that I began to really develop an interest in Santa's attire in different lands. However he is dressed, though, Santa has an affinity with children wherever people believe in him.
So why would Christian woman of my age not want to condemn Santa to the over commercialization of Christmas and "put Christ back in Christmas"? Well, because in his truest sense, to me, Santa is about Christ. To me, Santa represents Christ in a way that children around the world understand and gives them a sense of someone really big who love them just as they are. He is the personification of concepts like "goodwill" and "kindness" that perhaps this world needs to look a little closer at. For a young child, he is someone who will listen and care and is perhaps the first real mental image of someone who cares beyond the hurts and sorrows they feel. That's what he was for me as a child, and I hope was for my children as well.
So yes, I still believe in Santa Claus. I believe that goodwill and kindness can exist. I believe that there is a love that transends the natural laws of the universe and doesn't always make sense, just like sleighs being drawn through the air by flying reindeer. For a time as a young child, I couldn't understand that kind of love and came to seriously doubt it after the fishtanks. In doubting, I learned to look beyond the jolly belly and glitzy suit to the heart of who this North Pole guy was. In that heart, I found Jesus and that is why I still believe.
Merry Christmas and God bless!
A Mom in America 11月8日 Prayer Request from Vicky
11月7日 The Links......First of all... HI KIDS!!!! I'LL BE AROUND IN A FEW! WORK DAY TODAY!
Now onto the topic of the day. As some of my readers and most of the kids know, a while back, I began getting hit rather heavily by internet "trolls". At one point it became necessary to lock down my comments due to the problems that were there. It also became necessary to take the kids off my site and all of my links because I really didn't want them being hit by the same stuff.
In the process of working this site, some of those links, and one in particular, I really regret having removed. I put it there, not so much for myself, but more for you kids. As most of you know, I'm married to OIFVet. He did a tour in Iraq during OIF I. We know what deployment is like and can do to you, as both a soldier and a spouse. It literally rocks everything in your life. Some things that worked for you before, don't once you're deployed. My church was an example. Tom's "church" was affected too. The thing is, if we hadn't had our faith, we would not have made it through that experience.
I was reminded about that yesterday at church. I'm not exactly sure why. The sermon was certainly not about the war or even evangelism. But as Pastor was preaching, I sat there and knew that something had to be done here to fill that need that both my husband and I felt so deeply during his deployment. My first thought was to start posting scripture here everyday. I talked about it with my friend, who happens to be my boss as well, this morning. I'm also going to be discussing it with my Pastor tomorrow, but after praying about it, I don't think that would be the right thing to do. I don't think you want me to be quoting scripture to you. I also don't want to do anything that could be twisted here into anyone thinking that I think this is a "holy war" or that it is about God. My thought is and always has been that it's about terrorism.
I do, however, see a need that I, as a Christian, should be addressing. The spiritual hunger experienced by our troops and their families needs to be met. To ignore that would be wrong, so what's the answer? In looking back, I saw it. I had a church linked here before. I put it here for a reason. I felt that if you kids and families had nothing else, you could go to this place, leave your prayers and requests, read a good sermon and get some spiritual food and stregnth to face these days you are enduring. I'm not forcing it on you, but I know the hunger of not getting what you need spiritually. I know the hunger my husband faced in Iraq. No, this won't fill all of it, but at the very least, being able to be a part of an online church might help in those times when you feel so very alone. So today, my link is going back up for "A Worshipper's Place". If you feel you need to go hear some Christian music, read scripture, leave a prayer or request, get fed, I encourage you to go there. Kids, I can't give you a whole lot while you are there, but this I can make available to you, so I am. You don't need me to preach to you, but you do need to know that no matter where you are, God still is and He still loves you with everything He is. It may not feel like that where you are, but it is true.
I post this with the hope that it helps and a prayer that for the one person who needs it, it's here!
God bless!
A Mom in America 10月14日 Prayer request!Please pray for the people of Iraq, for safety in their effort to vote and that God will guide them. Also pray for our soldiers over there, for safety and endurance!
God bless!
A Mom in America 10月3日 Miracles can happen....Ah, Ramadan! Thank you for reminding me, Mac. A beautiful season of the Muslim faith. It really is! A time of visiting and feasting by night, contemplation of faith by day. I am reminded that this begins the holiday season of the three major faiths, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Each celebrating a time of peace in a world that seems to keep exploding all around us.
As Iraq seems to pause for a breath of peace before this season begins, I pray that a breath will turn to a rythmn that continues to grow there. I pray that al-Qaida will lay down arms and that peace will come, that they will actually practice what they profess to believe. It is my hope that this comes to pass, for the people of Iraq, for our soldiers and their families, and for our nation too. So to my Muslim friends, I wish you a blessed and peaceful Ramadan.
May it last and grow!
A Mom in America
9月11日 Sometimes....Sometimes, when we lose someone, the hardest thing to do is remember who they were and what they were about. Sometimes, in the confusion of pain and sorrow, we forget who we are too. Don't forget, Michael, and once you pass through these days, realize that the friendship you shared will call you to do things you would never have dreamed of. Let it happen because in that you will find the beauty of knowing your friend.
God bless!
A Mom in America SundayYou know what? It's Sunday and I'm going to finally be able to go back to church today. It's been a very long summer without seeing and being with my friends and now it's time to go back. I'm feeling pretty good today and I think the time has come. Hope you all have a wonderful morning. I'm going to be busy.
God bless!
A Mom in America 8月10日 MisconceptionsLate night, but after this day, I have to post this. There are several misconceptions floating around the internet about Christianity. First, the only requirements for being a Christian are that you believe in God, that you believe Jesus is His son and that Jesus died and rose again for the redemption of your personal sin. Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about the Pope or belonging to any specific denomination.
Next, somewhere along the way, people got the idea that being a Christian means that we have to lay down and take whatever anyone wants to dish out our way whether or not it is right. Jesus didn't do that. When he saw something wrong, He corrected it. The temple is an example of that, and the fig tree.
This is why, as a Christian, when I see things that are clearly against the God I believe in like food programs for the starving that are created for the purpose of filling greedy pockets instead of empty stomachs, or His name being attatched to things like suicide bombing, I stand and call it what it is, abomination. If that offends you or doesn't conform to your idea of what a Christian should be, I'm sorry, but I am convicted by my faith to do this. In sitting down and hiding, I become guilty of that same thing because I saw what it was and let it happen anyway.
As I assess the situations of this day, of all that has been said and done, I see thinly veiled parallels that have been poorly set up and ill concieved logic that is all too familiar to me. I ask again, why you are not looking at the UN and the Oil for Food program and also why it upsets you so much when I mention this. Why does it upset you when I say "No?" Why do you call me a hypocrite when I stand for what I believe? Why is it so threatening when I say that Christian, Muslim and Jew need to stand together to fight terrorism for the abomination it is? Could it be that this is because these things are true or is it because you can't see the vision of mankind living the life we were created for?
Kind of makes you wonder, huh?
-A Mom in America 8月8日 To MikeTo Mike.
First of all, in the United States, it is "MOM" not "MUM." I make no bones about my being from the United States of America. I use the language of my country when I write. If you take offense to that, get off my site because I have better things to do here than argue about that.
Second, I agree with you to a degree about "religion." Religion is a series of institutions developed by mankind to give a semblance of order to his relationship with God. As such, it is flawed. This is why, if you check my categories, you will find there is not one for religion but there is one for "faith." I believe faith is not of man. I believe it is a gift of God.
Third, you will never convince me that God does not exist. I look at this universe and I see Him everywhere, from the smallest atom to solar systems and galaxies, God's thumbprints are everywhere. Have you ever noticed that an atom, for example is a little round ball with a bunch of smaller round balls circling it? Have you looked at our solar system lately? Have you noticed it's a round ball with a bunch of smaller balls circling it...and our galaxy? That isn't an accident, it's the thumbprint of our Creator. There are no accidents. There are no coincidences. Coincidence is a word made up by people who are too stubborn to accept the fact that there is a Living God who wants to be intimately involved in every detail of their lives.
I believe in that God and I know that He hears me. I believe that Jesus Christ is His son, that He died for my sins, rose from the dead and went to heaven. If you don't believe that, in this country, you have that right. I respect that right. However, there are places all over this planet where people don't even have the right to chose. I don't respect that.
Finally, you are making the choice to come to this site. If it upsets you, why do you come back? You are making the choice to be offended and discuss it by coming here and trying to leave nasty comments. I think you need to ask yourself why you are doing that. Is there something working inside of you that is prompting you to do this? If so, I think you need to find out what that thing is and why you are acting on it. I'm not out there dragging you in here. You are chosing to come. Why?
A Mom in America 8月6日 A PrayerAs the events of this day draw to a close, I'm compelled to put out another prayer request. In my travels on the net from this stationary "place" I am encountering something that brings me a saddness I can't even express. I encounter all kinds of people at all places in their lives but the one that is most impressing me is the youth of this planet. Once, the term "angry young man" was an accepted expression for a youth between the ages of 18 and 22 who were challenging the establishment of this world. Now, we face a generation of "angry young men" who are lashing out at everything and everyone in as violent a way as they can. They don't want to change the world because they don't think they can. They don't want relationships because for them they don't work. They live in worlds of violent gaming where they just start a new game when everyone is dead. Nothing matters but the game because the game has never really hurt them and apparently people have.
I ask your prayers for these young men. That God will heal their hearts and minds, that the isolation they feel will be replaced by the filling of the Spirit and that they allow the Lord to walk beside them.
A Mom in America CheatingOne of those early mronings with Graves disease is upon me. I woke up before 5 and just can't get back to sleep. One of the reasons is because I found something here at msn last night that was incredible. It's called Worshipper's Place and it's in the favorite spaces of the week. I linked to it on my interactive list. So, I'm cheating. I hooked up to them for prayer requests and got "the kids" and this site covered in prayer.
Since treatment, I haven't really been able to get to church primarily because I haven't been feeling real great. I have been in contact with my Pastor and friends, but this is something that you really can't go through as a group. The mood swings and what this does to your head really don't make me want to be around others. So, we've chosen to be here. This site, Worshippers Place, is like a breath of fresh air for me though and I'm very thankful it's there. It was wonderful to find other Christians online and a place where the faith is active and alive. .. and I awoke expecting to be amazed today.
I have asked them to pray for "the kids", for this site and for an end to terrorism. I know I've written on this before, but if you've read the Bible, you know the abomination that terrorism is to God. I often think that it's things such as this that are why "Jesus wept." In a moment of anguish for a friend and his family, I think He also saw the horror that humanity without faith can become and felt the pain of our Creator at having His name linked to murder and human sacrifice. Whether it's from roadside bombs, suicide bombs or beheading, it's not something God condones. Mankind was created to walk freely on this planet. Fear was never part of God's plan for us.
So I'm hoping to have a good day today, and that all of you out there do too. Check out that site, and take time to pray in this day. The astronauts will be coming home soon. Please start covering them in your prayers as well.
A Mom in America
7月25日 Why I know what I know and do what I doThis is for the Christians out there who don't understand how I can call on everyone on the face of the planet, especially Christians with Jews and Muslims to pray equally and with one voice. Yes, I already know that a lot of you are going to say I can't do that and call myself a Christian, especially a "born again Christian." As a matter of fact, I can and am because it's Biblical.
I need to clarify a couple of things before I proceed. To me, the term "Born Again Christian" is redundant. By definition, all Christians are "born again" when they accept their faith in Christ. Doesn't matter if you're a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist...whatever. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Redeemer and Savior, you are "born again." Second, the only criterion for being a Christian is believing that Jesus is the Son of God and He died for your sin, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention denomination. It's about faith in the heart, not connections and associations.
These two things are why I simply call myself a Christian. Doesn't matter what church I'm in or even if I'm in a church or not. The only thing that matters is what is in my heart, and that's Jesus. I believe in "living" my faith not "practicing" my religion because that's what Jesus is about. In doing this, I find a freedom beyond comparison. In my faith, I know that I am the treasured child of the Living God who loves and adores me, listens to every thought I have, knows every desire of my heart and always acts in my best interest. Not a bad place to be...
So, many of you are probably thinking right now, "Yeah, but what about this Muslim and Jew thing? They don't believe in the real God. The're all going to go to hell, right?" Yes, I've had people say this type of thing to me. I tend to equate them to Adolf Hitler and his regime to their faces because what they are saying is so completely un-Biblical my heart can't even comprehend it.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that any man, or woman, can condemn another to hell. That's God's job. Plain and simple. Not mine. Not yours. Nobody else is allowed to do that. We can separate ourselves from people who are clearly living against the will of God, but we can't condemn them to hell.
What the Bible does say is that "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son; that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." Jn 3:16 He didn't say Catholics, didn't say Lutherans, didn't say Baptists, didn't even say Christians. He said world. That means the whole planet...all of humanity, all of everyone and everything. In short, He wants all of us. I know, that kind of blows the whole elitism thing, but it's the truth. I didn't make this stuff up.
Another fact is that the Jews, Christians and Muslims all trace their spiritual descendancy to the God of Abraham. How we trace that descendancy is what determines how we see that God and worship Him. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of that God. I believe that the Bible is His Word to mankind. I believe that He was crucified, died and was burried and that on the third day from that death He rose again. I also believe that this faith gives me eternal life.
A fact that many Christians don't like to acknowledge is that there are places in this world where you can't be a Christian. There are places within the human condition where many cannot come to accept Christ. Someone who has been abused, in any way, has a real hard time accepting a God who would allow that abuse. Similarly, there are countries and places where you believe what you're told to and do what you're told to or you're dead. Iraq used to be one of those places. Terrorism is trying to keep it that way. Christianity was allowed there as long as it didn't interfere with genocide and the like. There are too many places where similar conditions still persist. Facts are sometimes ugly, but they're still facts...and on the streets of New York City, try telling the 14 year old runaway that's selling his body to anyone who will pay, that there is a God who loves him. It's not within that kid to believe a thing you're saying. He's too hungry right now to care. Don't try telling any of these people about hell right now either because they're living it 24/7 and, quite frankly could tell you things about it that you don't want to know. Conversion through fear of hell and damnation isn't conversion anyway, it's coercion. God doesn't want us that way.
So what does God do with people like this? Does He turn His back on them? Does He look that woman in the eye who spent her entire life in terror of being severely beaten if she mentioned the name of Jesus, and say "Into the Lake of Fire for you, kid."? A lot of Christians will shake their heads sadly and say "Yup."
I don't believe that. I don't think the final judgement is about condemnation, I think it's about last chances and I think that "Every knee shall bend and tongue confess" Is 45:23. I think the reason Jesus holds those books is because even in the last second, He can write in the names of those truly converted. Those who aren't, yes, will go to the lake of fire, but in that final time, I truly believe most will confess Christ as Lord. That's why, as a Christian, I can call upon Jew, Christian and Muslim to pray with one voice. I trace my spiritual lineage through Jesus Christ to the God of Abraham. I know that He is the only One capable of judging anyone. I also know that while we have our differences, we are faced with a situation that is an abomination to the God we all claim to be ours. In all three faiths, I believe it is our responsibility to call upon the God we lay claim to when we are convicted by another to do so in His name.
Therefore, I am convicting all of you, in the name of the God of Abraham, whom I lay claim to through my faith in Jesus Christ as my Redeemer and Savior, to pray that the abomination being perpetuated by the terrorists against the God of Abraham stop immediately and that the people of the nation of Iraq be granted the strength, courage and wisdom to form their government in peace.
I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying it has to be done.
God bless!
-A Mom in America 7月22日 Focus This...In my lifetime, there have been many amazing things that have happened. There is one I will never forget, though. It was when the astronauts got stuck in space. I remember being a young girl and seeing it on the television. These explorers of the universe who were heros to every kid my age, were stuck out in space and it really looked like they were going to die out there. They could talk to us through Houston Control and tell us what the problem was. They could try to fix it while being directed from the ground.... but if things didn't work out, they would never be able to get back, and even then, all of us knew that dying in space was probably one of the worst deaths a human could endure. It wasn't quick. There was no "sky" or trees or anything even remotely familiar to this planet out there. There was nothing. They would die alone in a way that no human ever had but all humanity would share in.
And the world stopped and prayed.
The reason why I remember this experience so vividly is not because of the talking heads on TV or the brilliance and bravery of the men involved, although what all of them were doing was remarkable. I remember it mostly because of the feeling that was sweeping this planet for the days, and it took several days, while this transpired. We really did all pray, and there was an energy in the air, like the atmosphere was charged, which still gives me goosebumps when I recall it.
It was interesting because people really weren't talking about what was happening, in fact they weren't talking much at all. You could feel the constant dialogue though, going on between God and every human around you. People were not reaching outward, but inward and communicating on a level that cannot even be described. And as a young child, I was a part of it. And the astronauts made it home.
I will always believe in the power of prayer.
As just one person on this planet, I have made a decision. I want terrorism to end. No more gunning people down, no more suicide bombings, no more kidnappings, no more. I want the Sunni to get responsible representation to the Iraqi government on Monday morning and Al Qaida , the Talliban and all of their sub-groups to lay down their arms and begin creating instead of destroying the world around them. Some people may think this is impossible. I've seen the impossible happen when the people of this planet pray with one voice.
So this weekend, I'm praying and I'm asking that you and those in your life pray with me too. Focus this prayer as we did when I was a child. Let this world speak again with one voice. You will feel it when you become a part of the dialogue, because it's happening already. Become a part of it!
Amazing things will happen.
-A Mom in America
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