Classy

Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, what issues are passionate to you, or whether you are a Christian or atheist, most of us love our families dearly and will defend them till the death. This was a class act.
And why would republicans be "shocked" as this report indicates? Aren't most conservatives pro-life? Making no assumptions here - but I would say that pro-life says each life is precious. I just don't get it. Better hold on tight atop that high horse before you get knocked down.

Open Door

Yesterday I heard of a teen pregnancy that is within our extended circle of friends. It doesn't surprise me, not because of the person or their character, or because of the acceptance in our society, but because I know what it is like to possess a sinful nature. My first reaction because of the age of the couple was that this is something, a very permanent thing that they may have to deal with the rest of their lives. I see the possibility of things like finishing high school, going to college, and growing up and maturing before making the decision to commit yourself to a relationship permanently slipping away from them.
I know that regardless of the obstacles faced, God can still redeem the situation. I shared a bit of my personal testimony here, and I still say that my oldest daughter, born before her dad and I were married is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. In so saying, I am not condoning the sin - but recognizing her life as precious to Father God, and never a mistake in His heart. He redeemed her life - and she lives and breathes for Him which is just how Father works. He is amazing.
I woke up this morning with this young expectant couple on my heart. I was thinking about the challenges they face, and some other teen couples were on my heart, to pray for them that they can hold to the commitments they have made to remaining pure until their wedding night. If they can't or don't, I personally won't love them any less, but I will be sad in the way I would be if they traded in diamonds and gold for a cheap bubble gum ring out of a vending machine. I want them to reap the blessings of waiting for God's best.
A few years ago as I was exploring this subject with the youth group, we were discussing purity. A lot of emphasis is placed now on even waiting to share your first kiss at the altar, or not even holding hands - and while I think this is precious, I am not sure that it is Biblical. (I don't think it is un-Biblical either, I am just not sure it can be backed up scripturally - feel free to show me otherwise) However, when we were discussing these things, I know that the Lord showed me this example to share with them. We had a door in the corner of the room, and I had one of the kids shut the door completely. I then instructed them to take their hand and push on the center of the door to see if it could be opened that way - and it could not. Then we opened the door just a crack, using the door knob which represented a choice to open the door. It wasn't opened enough for a person to walk through, and in fact not really even cracked enough to let light pass through. I then instructed them to push on the center of the door that was cracked open. One firm push, and the door flew all the way open. The point is that each of these steps is cracking open a door that once you pass through, you cannot enter again.
I have also had discussions with teenagers that thought anything aside from actual intercourse (can I say that in the bloggy world?) was acceptable. I won't go into detail making a list here - but while I don't think the simple affections of hand holding or innocent kisses are necessarily wrong, I will say for the record that anything you can't do in front of others, that has to be done in secret or darkness should be clearly recognized as sin. "The list" as I said isn't mine to make. The truth of the matter is that purity starts in the heart and mind.
For some young people, the door has been wide open for a long time. God can still redeem and use their lives. As believers, can we stand in the gap for these young people - and hold up a standard of purity, help those that are caught in the consequences of their own sin so that fewer babies will be aborted, and help redeem those Christ loves and bought with a price as precious, and of whom He says, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

A Story About Sadie a/k/a Why I'm So Freaked Out About My Pregnant Animal

Several years ago, we had a dog named Sadie. She was a beagle and we loved her very much. Two of our friends had adopted two of her brothers. When we found out that Sadie was going to have puppies we were all very excited, and I thought it would be a great learning experience for my children.
The day Sadie had her puppies was a very chaotic day. She had five puppies that all seemed healthy and well. We left her to care for them and continued on with errands, etc. for the rest of the day. All day long, I would see her throughout the house in a squatting position. We had trouble with housebreaking her, and I thought that maybe because of having the puppies she was reverting to some old behavior, so when I would see her squatting I would put her outside.
I went to my book discussion group that evening as usual, and came home to find her very restless. The puppies would be crying so she would get in the box and lay down beside them to nurse them and in a second she would be up and squatting again. I started to think she maybe had a bladder infection. What never occurred to me was that she had another puppy stuck in the birth canal. Regardless, I found an emergency vet a 45 minute drive away, and loaded her up with her puppies and took off. The vet delivered the terrifying news - I had been putting her out all day and she was still in labor. There was one puppy stuck in the birth canal that was deceased, and two puppies behind it.
Everything started happening very fast. They said she needed immediate surgery to save her life and the lives of her puppies. They said they could do the surgery, and that I needed to sign this paper and that paper and the other paper, and everything was spinning until the lady told me that I would need to promise to pay them $3000 in 30 days! That cleared the chaos in my head kind of like sniffing one of those ammonia capsules. I KNEW there was no way we could pay them that amount in that amount of time. The only other option they gave me was to sign custody of our precious Sadie over to them, and they would perform and pay for the surgery - but I would.not.get.her.back. The details clarified, I would keep the puppies she had already delivered - but this was the only way to save her life. I was heartbroken, but I did what I had to do for her best interest.
We had these five gorgeous puppies, two of them that I am able to visit at the homes of my friends to this day. We commenced bottle feeding them some formula we got at the local farmer's supply store, and found many friends who were more than willing to help. We loved those puppies, but they did little to diminish losing Sadie.
So if I am nervous about my kitty cat being pregnant, you may have a better understanding now of why. She is a tiny girl, and her belly is getting so huge. I hope that it is a mass number of kittens and not big ones. I know that not a sparrow falls apart from the will of the Father, but in the meantime it is my heart that breaks for the furry friends that I love.

Way to go Texas!

This may not be the absolute best way to support "life" - but at least they are doing something! Texas is going to be voting on a bill to pay pregnant women $500 to choose adoption over abortion. There's more information in this article. I am too tired to coherently think it through - one thing that does immediately come to mind is that women will initiate unwanted pregnancies just for the money. I have heard of worse absurdities than this!

I Don't Know Nothin' Bout Birthin' No Babies

This is our cat Rayne (I call her "Princess Sushi"). The suspicious bulge you see in her mid-section is not too much tuna. This girl is seriously pregnant. We took her to the vet last week because I was worried she may have worms or something and he said we would probably have baby kitties in about 2 weeks. As you can see she is a most gorgeous feline specimen - and we all love her so much. I am about to go crazy worried about her. She is just around a year old. When we got her she was literally a "wild cat". She lived across the street from my mother-in-law's house, behind Uncle Raymond's house. He told me he had a beautiful siamese mixed kitty that we could have if we wanted, and I thought Kaitlyn would adore having a new friend in Texas so we got the kitty for her birthday. Aunt Vonda who is a TOTAL cat lover offered to hold the kitty on the ride home in the car - but the little brier patch hissed, and pawed with claws bared so we decided the kennel was a better alternative. (I could see the leather seats in my new mini van in shreds by the time we made the 2 mile drive!) Kaitlyn fell in love with her and we took turns pulling her out of hiding and holding her and loving her through those first couple of weeks. She is still a bit skiddish - but we couldn't love her any more. We'll have to keep you updated on the kitten saga. She is laying around a lot, and crying (the one "siamese" trait that she has the strongest), so we should have babies any day now. Anybody want a kitten?

This Woman Should NOT Be Somebody's Mother

I try not to bog down my blog with my opinions on news stories, but sometimes it is just too much! I read this story about a woman who had a botched abortion two years ago that did not end in the termination of her pregnancy, and later had a doctor fail to detect that she was still pregnant. She gave birth in December '04 and is now suing Planned Parenthood and her physician for the cost of raising her child. We are not talking about a teenager here folks - this is a 45 year old woman who should know how to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. I have one thing to say to her, "STEP AWAY FROM THE BABY!" This poor 2 year old child will know one day that she first, wasn't wanted and, second, I'll raise you as long as I don't have to pay one red cent. Talk about failure to accept responsibility! UGH! Can anyone hear my disgust?? I think the capital letters and bold type cannot possibly adequately convey how completely, totally and irrepressibly DISGUSTED I am! Grrr. I'll raise the munchkin - give her here!

Ja-Ja-Jalapenos

When I was pregnant with my middle child, who incidentally is the pickiest eater of my three children although perhaps an unrelated fact, I craved jalapeno peppers. I liked anything hot - but especially these zippy little green things! I would order extra jalapenos with a little nachos! For some reason I have started to crave them again - I eat them on anything. What started it was a jalapeno burger at Sonic - and now I put them on just about anything. I am certain I am not pregnant. I was just wondering if there could be some sort of deficiency that is causing me to crave these peppers so badly. Oh, yes, and while my mouth can handle the heat, after a while my stomach can't!

There But for the Grace of God Go I

The newest issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine arrived last week. As usual, it is a blessing to me - a source of encouragement, and a vast array of some serious resources for any style of homeschooler. But there was one article by Jenefer Igarashi that was so real, I just had to blog about it. I am not going to quote her article, entitled The Unlovables: My Reluctant Testimony, so be sure to grab the winter issue and read it for yourself. But her article provoked my thoughts - which I will share here:

I found myself in a similar situation - pregnant and unmarried. My husband and I had been living together for 3 years, but had never taken a commitment very seriously. I was not a Christian, and although I knew who God was, I lived my life separated from Him. During my pregnancy, I started to feel that something was missing - that something being God - and I turned to the only place I knew at the time I might find Him - the church. My experience was not what Jen described - the loving support from believers - but more a judgmental glance, an indignant comment, and a circle being drawn leaving me on the outside. Baby showers were hosted for the "married" pregnant women in the church - and I remained invisible. I know that some of my experience was due in large part to my overwhelming feelings of guilt and shame, and even so, there were specific things said and done that made me feel that not only could the church not love me, but God could not possibly love me.
It took a long time before I was able to see past "the church" and allow God to speak to my heart about what He has to say about my sin. When I gave my life to Him, there was no more condemnation. And yet a few years ago in Sunday school, somebody inadvertently put the shame right back in my lap. This particular couple would come to our church with their "anti-abortion" stickers blazing on the rear bumper of their car, and their legalistic judgmental condemnation (the very thing that drives young women into the back alley entrances of abortion clinics) on their faces. During prayer request time, this man was asking for prayer for his niece who had recently given birth "out of wedlock", and blah blah blah, but they didn't want her to think that they condoned what she had done, yadda yadda yadda. I sat for a while as he rambled on feeling the shrinking, diminishing feeling of shame. When I finally found my voice, I was able to share that I too had a child "out of wedlock". I also was able to encourage that man to live out his convictions, and support his niece as she attempted to raise this child on her own - buying diapers, and baby food, and whatever else she may need. (The less Christlike sentiment in my head at the time was "Quit buying bumper stickers and put your money here your mouth is!" I might have also thought "freak" and then sure and sudden conviction and repentance!)
Sin is sin - and as believers we have to call it what God calls it. There is no doubt that sex outside of marriage is sin. Aren't we to help those up who stumble? Why do we look at that particular sin as if it is so heinous - and yet gloss over our own materialism, gluttony, gossip, etc. as if they are nothing. In God's sight all sin is equal.
I think that in the Christian community we need a constant reminder - there but for the grace of God go I! I've been there - I've done that - I have the t-shirt - with a big scarlet letter branded that has since been washed white with the scarlet blood of Jesus!