It was October 1977, I was a Senior in High School, I was on the Drill Team, had lots of friends, life was good. I remember the night my niece was born, it was our homecoming game and I was excited for the game and for the Drill Team Half Time Show. We got the call that my sister in law was in labor, so I was going to stop by the Hospital quickly on my way to the game. I got there just after she had my niece and they were taking them to the recovery room. I got a quick glance of my niece and off they went and off I went to the game. To me everything seemed great, what I didn't know was that not everything was ok, you see my niece's skin color had a bluish tint. Something was wrong.
The next night instead of going to my Homecoming Dance, my date and I babysat my nephew while everyone went to the hospital for my niece's first open heart surgery.
The doctors did what they could to try and repair my niece's heart, but there is only so much they could do. She had to stay in the hospital. She was in the hospital through Halloween, through Thanksgiving and then sometime in the beginning of December the doctors took my niece into the operating room again. This time however, they discovered that there was nothing they could do, the doctors couldn't fix her and they sewed her back up.
The doctors came to my brother and sister in law and told them, my niece would be dead by Christmas. They left my brother and sister in law with no hope of ever taking their daughter home. After much consideration, my brother and sister in law decided to go ahead and have the doctors inject my niece with a drug that would stop her heartbeat and let het die. How could they do this, we'll they had never brought my niece home, she was not a viable human being, and since they were told that she would be dead by Christmas, why wait, what an inconvenience to have to have a funeral so close to Christmas?
Does this shock your conscience, are you appalled by their actions? Do you think that this was murder? Are you shouting at the computer right now, "what if the doctor is wrong?"
Well I hope that this does shock you, but you see these are some of the excuses that are given by mothers wanting to abort their babies. Even by people who believe abortion is wrong, will make the exception if the doctor has said that the baby won't make, or won't have any kind of quality of life. Then there is the inconvenience of having a baby right now would be. "I want to finish school", "We can't afford a baby right now", "I'm getting my career started", etc. etc. But no matter what the reason a baby even one in the womb will be dead.
I write this, because I want you to think next time you are defending your stance on abortion.
Back to my niece, yes the doctors did tell us that she would not live til Christmas, but no the idea of killing her was never discussed and I am happy to say she is now 35 years old. So even if the doctors tell you that a baby will not make, they can be wrong. There are many stories, where a mother was told to abort a baby, only to have the baby to be born healthy.
God Bless
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
By the way it's not going to work
What would you say if you went to the doctor because you were sick, he told you what to do to take of yourself and then said oh and by the way it's not going to work? Or let's say you just came home with a new piece of furniture, you get the instructions out, start following the instructions and then get to the end and read "by the way it's not going to work"? Would you be mad, think somebody must have lost their minds, throw your hands up and ask why bother if it's not going to work.
Well that is essentially what we find as we read the story of Moses in the Bible. First Moses has started over with his new life in the dessert, has a wife, place to life, things are going ok for Moses. Then he encounters a burning bush, no big deal except the fire is not consuming the bush and the Moses hears the voice of God, coming out of the bush. So that in and of itself, may have freaked me out a bit, but then God tells Moses to go back to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh and to tell Pharaoh to let God's people go. Well Moses first tries to argue with God, telling God that he doesn't speak we'll, wouldn't know what to say etc. after God tells Moses that his brother can go with him, Moses agrees. God then tells him, go to Pharaoh perform a couple of miracles, so he knows you are sent by God and tell Pharaoh to let God's people go. Then God tells Moses do all these things that I tell you to do and "oh by the way, it's not going to work". Not only is Pharaoh not to let my people go, God says I'm going to harden his heart.
Wow, really God, you want me to go to the most powerful man in the known world, knowing full well that I have problems speaking as it is and then you are going to make sure that Pharaoh doesn't listen to me?
What would you have done? Would it have been easier or harder if God had not told Moses the outcome a head of time?
Think about your own life, did you get married thinking it was going to be happy ever after, you did everything you knew to do, followed Proverbs 31 to a tee, only to have your husband leave you for another woman? Did you pray and pray to have a child, went to the doctors, did everything you were told to do only still couldn't get pregnant? Maybe you worked hard on your job, did you job as unto The Lord only to be fired after 25 years?
So what went wrong, why didn't things work out the way would expect them to? Did we miss something? Did we do something wrong? I think that is the reason we have the story of Moses in the Bible, yes we can do everything that God tells us to do, and things still don't go according to plan, but this does not catch God off guard. He knows the beginning from the end and he has a perfect plan.
Let's go back to Moses for you see eventually after a few plagues and the death of the first born sons of the Egyptians, Pharaoh does finally let the people go, so why did it have to be so hard? I think part of the reasons it needed to be hard was to help build the faith of God's people. You see as you read through the Bible, you will find reference after reference of the people of God being reminded to remember how God brought them out of Egypt. If Pharaoh would have let the people go after the first time he was asked, there wouldn't be a whole lot to remember, also there may have been the tendency to say that Moses was the one who got Pharaoh to let them go. But this way, there would be no doubt that is was God that did a miracle and the people were let go. Now that's something to remember, something that faith can be built on.
So what about us, yes we may think that there is an easier way to do something, and why doesn't God just answer right a way, but maybe, just maybe God is doing something greater in your life, something you will be able to share with your kids and grandkids about how God did a miracle in your life.
I pray that this will cause you to praise God in the midst, while waiting for his full blessings to be poured out on you.
Well that is essentially what we find as we read the story of Moses in the Bible. First Moses has started over with his new life in the dessert, has a wife, place to life, things are going ok for Moses. Then he encounters a burning bush, no big deal except the fire is not consuming the bush and the Moses hears the voice of God, coming out of the bush. So that in and of itself, may have freaked me out a bit, but then God tells Moses to go back to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh and to tell Pharaoh to let God's people go. Well Moses first tries to argue with God, telling God that he doesn't speak we'll, wouldn't know what to say etc. after God tells Moses that his brother can go with him, Moses agrees. God then tells him, go to Pharaoh perform a couple of miracles, so he knows you are sent by God and tell Pharaoh to let God's people go. Then God tells Moses do all these things that I tell you to do and "oh by the way, it's not going to work". Not only is Pharaoh not to let my people go, God says I'm going to harden his heart.
Wow, really God, you want me to go to the most powerful man in the known world, knowing full well that I have problems speaking as it is and then you are going to make sure that Pharaoh doesn't listen to me?
What would you have done? Would it have been easier or harder if God had not told Moses the outcome a head of time?
Think about your own life, did you get married thinking it was going to be happy ever after, you did everything you knew to do, followed Proverbs 31 to a tee, only to have your husband leave you for another woman? Did you pray and pray to have a child, went to the doctors, did everything you were told to do only still couldn't get pregnant? Maybe you worked hard on your job, did you job as unto The Lord only to be fired after 25 years?
So what went wrong, why didn't things work out the way would expect them to? Did we miss something? Did we do something wrong? I think that is the reason we have the story of Moses in the Bible, yes we can do everything that God tells us to do, and things still don't go according to plan, but this does not catch God off guard. He knows the beginning from the end and he has a perfect plan.
Let's go back to Moses for you see eventually after a few plagues and the death of the first born sons of the Egyptians, Pharaoh does finally let the people go, so why did it have to be so hard? I think part of the reasons it needed to be hard was to help build the faith of God's people. You see as you read through the Bible, you will find reference after reference of the people of God being reminded to remember how God brought them out of Egypt. If Pharaoh would have let the people go after the first time he was asked, there wouldn't be a whole lot to remember, also there may have been the tendency to say that Moses was the one who got Pharaoh to let them go. But this way, there would be no doubt that is was God that did a miracle and the people were let go. Now that's something to remember, something that faith can be built on.
So what about us, yes we may think that there is an easier way to do something, and why doesn't God just answer right a way, but maybe, just maybe God is doing something greater in your life, something you will be able to share with your kids and grandkids about how God did a miracle in your life.
I pray that this will cause you to praise God in the midst, while waiting for his full blessings to be poured out on you.
Friday, January 25, 2013
May I Say Something?
There I was, like I do every morning reading through my daily devotions. There are several daily devotions, Bible studies, and Bible reading plans that I receive via e-mail everyday, so I start my day at 4:30 and spend two hours a day with God. Or so I thought, I mean I'm sure He's been there every day, nd yes I've been reading His word and the devotionals, the problem was is that I have been reading them like I would read any of my e-mails, just getting through and moving onto the next without slowing down. Long enough to really listen to God.
This morning He reminded me about how frustrating talking to my husband can be. It seems that when My husband and talk about things he is more interested in saying everything that is on his mind, without really given me the chance to participate in the conversation and when I try, he will often interrupt me and when there is a moment to finally be heard in his mind he has already moved on to something new. So I am left frustrated, not really feeling like I was a part of the conversation.
Well this morning, as I was quickly moving from one e-mail to the next, I heard God asking me, if I really wanted to hear from Him, or was I just trying to get through my daily check off of e-mails, so that I could say I was done and move on with my day, "having spent time with God".
So, I am asking God to slow me down, and if I don't get through every e-mail, so be it, it is not always about quantity, as about quality.
What about you? Are you stopping long enough for God to participate? Invite Him to actively be a part of your devotional time, and then slow down enough to listen and hear what He has to say.
This morning He reminded me about how frustrating talking to my husband can be. It seems that when My husband and talk about things he is more interested in saying everything that is on his mind, without really given me the chance to participate in the conversation and when I try, he will often interrupt me and when there is a moment to finally be heard in his mind he has already moved on to something new. So I am left frustrated, not really feeling like I was a part of the conversation.
Well this morning, as I was quickly moving from one e-mail to the next, I heard God asking me, if I really wanted to hear from Him, or was I just trying to get through my daily check off of e-mails, so that I could say I was done and move on with my day, "having spent time with God".
So, I am asking God to slow me down, and if I don't get through every e-mail, so be it, it is not always about quantity, as about quality.
What about you? Are you stopping long enough for God to participate? Invite Him to actively be a part of your devotional time, and then slow down enough to listen and hear what He has to say.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Needed rest or excuse?
Now he arose from the Synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simoj's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made a request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
In Luke 4:38-39 we have the story of Jesus going to the house of Simon (Peter), where finds Peter's mother in law sick with a high fever. Jesus heals her and immediately she gets up and serves them. I have read this account before not only in the book of Luke, but also in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, but as was reading this week I was struck how Peter's mother in law responded after being healed. I then thought back on how I act after being sick. Many times I find myself taking time off not only when I'm sick but then needing a few days afterwards to recooperate, but we don't see that here. We are told immediately she got up and served them. I don't know about you, but I might have been inclined to say something like, "you know, I'm just getting over being sick, maybe I'll just rest and take it easy."
What about you, have you ever taken more time than was needed by telling yourself you needed to "rest"? I'm not saying that there are not times when we need to rest, but do we take advantage of the idea of resting, when we really should be up doing something?
Think about that this week, are you taking the appropriate time to rest and recooperate or are you using the excuse of needing to rest, when you really should be moving.
In Luke 4:38-39 we have the story of Jesus going to the house of Simon (Peter), where finds Peter's mother in law sick with a high fever. Jesus heals her and immediately she gets up and serves them. I have read this account before not only in the book of Luke, but also in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, but as was reading this week I was struck how Peter's mother in law responded after being healed. I then thought back on how I act after being sick. Many times I find myself taking time off not only when I'm sick but then needing a few days afterwards to recooperate, but we don't see that here. We are told immediately she got up and served them. I don't know about you, but I might have been inclined to say something like, "you know, I'm just getting over being sick, maybe I'll just rest and take it easy."
What about you, have you ever taken more time than was needed by telling yourself you needed to "rest"? I'm not saying that there are not times when we need to rest, but do we take advantage of the idea of resting, when we really should be up doing something?
Think about that this week, are you taking the appropriate time to rest and recooperate or are you using the excuse of needing to rest, when you really should be moving.
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