When social issues keep us from being UNITED

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Friends, my blogging has been hit and miss at best. Please forgive me. I needed a break, needed to slow down after the Daniel Fast in January. Then I had the most horrific issues with my blog and host server. A two week nightmare. Then, along came Norah Jayne. She is a huge distraction but one that I will take any day. On top of that, we are preparing to move south to be near that little bundle of joy. So, I admit I am distracted, which is what our post is about. I am thrilled to be writing and sharing today for #FiveMinuteFriday and I pray it is a blessing to you. Thank you for your patience, I will be back on track soon!

When social issues keep us from being UNITED.

I can’t think of a time in my 54 years that I have longed for a reprieve from the constant barrage of disagreement over social issues. Obviously, the flood of technology has made it so convenient to air one’s opinion that everyone and their little brother can join the bandwagon.

To make matters even more overwhelming, we are in the middle of a presidential election, the most divided one I can remember. It keeps us stirred up all day long, every day, if we allow it to.

Friends, this is just what the enemy had envisioned, what he works for!

He is jumping for joy over our fascination with bathrooms right now. Of course I think it is an important issue and we shouldn’t just give in. Let your voices be heard but please remember Who we represent! Threatening to beat up someone who walks into the restroom isn’t the answer. (This is an easy fix as most businesses already have FAMILY restrooms; a single bathroom that anyone can use. Problem solved. #mytwocents)

But the world isn’t looking for a solution…they are looking for division.

And dividing Christians among themselves, keeping us stirred up on social issues and distracting us from our real purpose is all in the plans of the enemy.

When things like this, agreeably important, sidetrack us from our actual mission, the reason we were put here on this earth, we are no longer united for the sake of the Gospel. Because of all of the social media tools and television, radio, etc., we are bombarded all day long with negativity and division, all the while forgetting we are living in the Last Days and the Lord will surely come soon.

when social issues keep us from being united

So, what should we do to UNITE? 

Pray! Okay, so that sounds too simple and maybe to some too hard but it is our first weapon of choice! The Bible says to,  “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11 ESV.

How can we be strong? Only by putting on the armor of God, which the chapter in Ephesians tells us is applying His Word to our hearts and minds. Read it!

Focus. The Lord told us in His Word that these things would come upon us before His return. Why are we surprised?! It’s going to happen and it’s going to get worse but we weren’t put here to walk the streets for social change. We’ve read the back of the Book, it’s not going to happen! Don’t get me wrong, as I said, we need to stand up for our rights especially to protect our children. But the bottom line is most of these things will continue and get worse as the persecution of Christians becomes more blatant and obvious.

Let us set our minds and efforts on telling others about the good things of God! Share your testimony of what He has done for you. Let them know about the wonderful services your church is having and how others are coming to Christ. Invite them to a home group Bible Study or to a church service…they just might come! Offer to pray for a specific need they might have and then actually take time to pray for them.

The millions of hungry souls out there do not really care what we think about separated bathrooms.

They want to know if there is any hope left in the world. YES! There is! Tell them Jesus died for them. Give them HOPE in a world full of hopelessness! 

They are watching you. The world is watching us. Many want to see The Church divided but that’s not what we were made to do.

Show the love of Christ, not the division of the Body.

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We are UNITED.

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:5, 6. ESV.

For the kingdom

 

So, the miracle has arrived.

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A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankrolls smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.

If you already follow me on social media, you have been overwhelmed with posts of our little miracle grand baby, Norah Jayne Elkins. If you are a new follower, you can read all about the ten year infertility struggle of my son and daughter-in-law here. Go ahead. I will wait for you!

The family headed to Tennessee, just south of Nashville, last Thursday afternoon. For some reason, two of our grown sons wanted to hitch a ride with Mom and Dad so of course we didn’t pass up that opportunity to be totally annoying for a five hour car ride.

My parents, the great-grands, also drove down and Friday morning we all met for breakfast at The Readyville Mill. (Formerly known as Goodness Gracious) We had the place to ourselves since we arrived so early, and had a scrumptious breakfast.

family

The plan was this: My sweet DIL was to go into the hospital on Friday night and then she would be induced early Saturday morning. Of course we had to have dinner first and Rachel had made reservations for us in Smyrna at La Tavola Restaurante Italiano. Another hit! I did not want to share my cannoli!

Kyle and Rachel, a.k.a. Mommy-and-Daddy-to-be, headed to the hospital to spend the night. The grandmothers (that’s me too!) were to show up to the hospital around 7 a.m. since we were invited to witness the birth. We would keep everyone else posted, figuring it to be a long, long day as it usually is for the first baby.

Unfortunately for the grandmothers, but so very fortunate for Mommy Rachel, Norah Jayne, this miracle from our God, decided to make things quick and easy. Even though I couldn’t sleep, got up at two a.m. and showered, dressed and was completely ready by 3:30…we still missed seeing her exciting arrival into the world.

Everything moved so fast that even the doctor was literally running down the hallway just in time to catch our miracle!

Norah Jayne was born on April 2, at 6:44 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds and one little bitty ounce. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Meet our miracle…

Norah Jayne

Meeting Mommy for the first time.

And Daddy’s turn.

miracle

With The Sweetheart, now lovingly referred to as Poppy!

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Though worn out from too many days without sleep, Mommy, Daddy and Norah pose for a picture as they arrive home for the first time as a Party of 3. We are forever grateful to the Lord Jesus for answering our prayer for this special gift. Our family promises to love her forever and raise her to love her Savior. Thank you all for your prayers of support. nana

Sharing with Faith Filled Friday, Home Matters , Coffee Shop Conversations

Zonk

When you can’t decide

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The last ten days have been a challenge for this little blog. We have been down for more than a week and the technicalities of getting back up and running were almost more than I wanted to tackle. I am thankful for my son, Korey, who spent countless hours on the technical side helping me fix everything and for The Sweetheart who finally made it go live again. I appreciate you both! Now on to #FiveMinuteFriday and DECIDE…

When I was little, I used to sing in the shower. Now, I make LIFE DECISIONS in there.

Door #1.

Door #2.

Door #3.

I can remember Monty Hall asking the contestant who had made it to the Big Deal of the Day, “Which door do you want?”

Monty Hall is long gone and replaced by Wayne Brady but the show lives on. Let’s Make a Deal is chock full of decision-making. Some of those decisions leave you with a super nice prize, maybe even a…wait for it…BRAND NEW CAR!

But sometimes, unfortunately, you could be left with what is infamously known as a ZONK. (For those that are not familiar with the game show, a ZONK is a not-so-nice prize and you never get to take it home.)

Zonk

Life is like Let’s Make a Deal in so many ways. We are bombarded with choices on a daily basis and some of them are just trivial things that we must do but others could be life-changing.

Joshua lays it out in the Old Testament, reminding the Israelites of where God had brought them from and then asks the important question, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 NLT.

As for me and my house

It had come down to just that. The Israelites were always waffling and forever going back to their idols of worship. But that day they made the right decision and put away their worthless idols to serve the One True God.

It comes down to just that for us today too. We have so many things facing us and so many things clamoring for our attention that it is easy to put God on the back burner. He becomes a choice, but a lesser choice; when nothing else is available or whenever we can fit Him in.

But He must be first. He always has been first and He forever will be whether we choose Him or not. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:7-8.

Let’s put Him in His rightful place today and not make Jesus a choice. Let Him be Lord of all and everything else fall in behind Him. Then the rest of our decisions will be easy ones to make.