Black and White

(Was going to be a Facebook Post)

Lord, everyone is in pain. Heal this land Lord. Bring us back to our first Love. Break us if you have to. Stop the bashing on Facebook. People are so unkind even to those You send to share Your Truth. Remove the enemies schemes in twisting writings on here. Help us not to make presumptions! Help the believer to be protected as they share your true Love in a world of temporary insanity.

In a world and social media full of negativity and "don't judge me"..."don't read my post if you don't like it"..."this is the way I am"..."unfriending"...blaspheming the name of God all in the name of freedom...

I am going to say READ MY STATUS...COMMENT WHAT YOU WANT...I don't live by your rules. I don't even live by my own!!! If it were up to me I'd stay in sin, stay mad, stay bitter, say what I feel to those who have hurt me, and tell people they are stupid and shake them until they get it.

But lo' and behold....I have died to self. Everything with "me" on it is DEAD. It died on the cross....years and years ago.

So while you're reading this status of mine...I do have freedom of speech according to the world. But I do not live by the world...I live by the WORD! And it says I don't, because I should not turn from God, I should not deny Him, I should not stay in sin, I should not be hating, I should not disrespect others just because I'm hurt...it says I should forgive my brothers and sisters, it says to mind my own business so that my daily life may win the respect of my observers. It says...in BLACK and WHITE...what I should do...there are NO GRAY AREAS with God...it's follow or don't!

This is not about feelings...this isn't about judgement...this isn't about me...this is about God. He is here people...seeing our posts and reading our hearts...if we say we are believers in Him...our lives, attitudes and posts should reflect God more and more...it's isn't immediate...but we can't walk a road without taking the first steps...those first steps might be not posting hateful things towards someone...not expressing hurts in hope of getting patted on the back..."likes" do not mean anyone actually cares about our eternity...people want to be "liked"...but God has unconditional LOVE if we pick up our crosses (the struggle of flesh and Spirit) and follow Him.

We should use this social network for His glory and not our pride!

(No person gets it right everyday...but moving forward and making changes is how we walk a little closer to heaven. Feel free to private message me if you want to talk more about what God has to stay in His Word. I won't be talking about perspectives or feelings or "special circumstances for not obeying Gods Word"...Gods Word is good and if you feel the need to defend the way you are doing something when the Word of God says something different...you already know you're wrong. We hold onto sin and stroke it like the ring in Lord of the Rings...but just like the ring...it must be destroyed or it will destroy you. Many of the circumstances we face would be better if we tried the one thing we haven't yet...complete obedience, no exceptions.)

Everyone who lives on earth has pain

So something came across my Facebook about an entertainer...as I checked to see what's been going on with the entertainer through a seach engine, I was shocked.

Crazy things have been happening since the beginning of time, Cain killed Able...sin as been there. My heart breaks for girls who are so hurt and lost that they make matters worse by hurting their image, their bodies and really their whole lives. 

God can heal any scar, he can bring beauty to any mess. How I wish people would turn from their attempts to cover up their feelings. God created those feelings, He knows them well. And He is the one who wants us  to run to Him dirty and messed up, because His desire is for our good and He is the only one who can really change things. 

There is this rebellion that's toxic and spreads like a virus called pride. When we mess up, for some reason, a wave of emotions comes over us and we say "you know what I'm not going to let anyone judge me for this so I am going to tell them they can say what they want but I am going to be who I want to be and no one can say anything about it. This is who I am and I don't have to be ashamed" 

While it's true we are who we are and we shouldn't be ashamed...things like this come up only after someone who loves us for us and loves us enough to want good for us and not harm says something to encourage and help. Often times the true enemy who we are wanting to stop judging us is ourselves. The weight of guilt for decisions we've made cannot be undone by pride....pride makes it worse...because then we further mess up our integrity and our witness. While we are really trying to stop hating our own selves we end up pushing away those who really care, and we then see love as judgment because love believes the best in people...not just in what we currently are. Sometimes we confuse love from others as hate....because we are so wrapped up in the emotions from the one person who hates us the most and is most difficult to forgive....ourselves.

Everyone has messed up in some way...I don't care how it compares to someone else...it's there and we know it. But running from it, putting up walls, pushing away those who really care about our good, and being prideful is never ever going to give us relief.

I don't know what hurt caused this entertainer to be where she is today...and it doesn't matter because that's between her and God....but it's so sad that now along with the pain...her current image, and respect for herself and her body, and her life have been changed. God can heal anything...but the consequences of sin do not go away. People will remember this entertainers actions....not just because shes in the media's eyes...but because she is a person...a person with a face...a person with an image...a person with a body and a person wih a voice. 

Don't let pain define others view of you. We all have pain, and we shouldn't hide it...but people don't remember the pain we went through...they remember how we handled it and how we talked about it. Our witness isn't just what God does in our lives...it's a lot more about what we do in our own.

Don't let the toxic virus take you over. 

So, I'm getting married

Hello there! I have been working what feels like a full-time job planning Matt's and my wedding! There have been a few road blocks and kinks we are working out, but I am either at the computer almost all day working on things, researching or driving places! Along with the wedding planning Matt and I are almost at the point of owning a house! Once that get's squared away we will be working non-stop on the house! On top of that, I am looking for a job. I have had two wonderful interviews with Germanna Community College so far, and I am really hoping to get a part-time job there! Needless to say, I have a lot going on right now.

Through it all somehow I don't feel stressed. I have my moments when things don't work right and I want to cry, but I hold it together and keep going. It's been good. I am blessed to have God's guidance and wisdom in His Word throughout the process, especially navigating things that are new...like being engaged and how that changes things.

I will share that, since Matt and I were courting, which meant we pretty much knew marriage was coming up...I don't feel I have to "work on" our relationship or how to handle things so much with him or in our relationship. We both have been "leaving and cleaving" since we've been together...so I feel like right now it's just the next step for us...it isn't a huge change...just what is natural for us to do now. Especially getting ready to buy a house! I feel so ready to work with him on that part and set up our home together. We know what we want because we've been talking about it for a while. There's no surprises! And that's what I wrote that I wanted in my journal when I was a young teen...I wanted to know the person I'd marry before I married them. I didn't want to have to get to know a deeper side of them, I really just wanted to leave the physical knowledge and living together habits to be the last thing I'd learn about him.

It's been busy and crazy planning a wedding, soon to be working on a house and looking for a job...but I know I am where I am supposed to be :)