You don't have to tell me…

Posted February 25, 2009 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

I already know that I am a preggo dork.

All I want is jammies, a bed, probably some carbs in the near future… AND

And, because it is Ash Wednesday and a day God has graciously given me to do those things, I will also be spending time in prayer thanking God for his goodness and lamenting all my shortcomings. And there are many. I mean, the above probably counts as two. I will also be giving up something small for Lent, although I might be able to do more I am trying to stay with the safest for pregnancy. Ash Wednesday… Jesus is preparing to die for me, to save my life. Let us be grateful, even if our day does include A.I.

Let us remember the sacrifice and anguish he went through. Jesus did not desire death, he desired his Father’s will: our lives. And my life has been cluttered. Taking one thing out will not do any tricks, and if I keep my focus on “giving up” it won’t do anything beneficial. But I could put that time, money, or effort somewhere else. I could say today instead of this, I will spend time with my Savior or as an encourager or a giver.

Intentionality does not mean loss of a relationship. Discipline does not mean we are being legalistic. Honor God. However you are led. Whether through the celebration of Lent or through something else. But in that, I urge you to ask God what honoring him really means, and if there are any permanent changes he would like to see you through in your life.

I might not write again for a while…. or I might slip into less serious posts. But please pray this with me: God, how can I best honor you in this season of my life?

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Categories: Spiritual Reflections
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I admit it…

Posted February 23, 2009 By Andrea and has 1 comment.

I’m wrong.

I have been wrong about a lot, right about some.

But this weekend I realized that my slant on life has been just that, a slant, bent in some way, not pure.

The world’s patterns have gotten to me and I have been defensive and callous and uninclusive (if that’s a word) when it comes to others. I have heard it written about and talked about many times, but this weekend I finally got it. I am giving up my American politics for my call to be a disciple of Christ.

Will I still get a little antsy when people make unnecessary judgments about our political leaders? Yes.

But it goes both ways in Matthew when it says “Judge not lest you be judged.”

I should not judge them for their opinions or judgments, whatever they may be. I should be concerned with my call to live out my life like Jesus, no matter what the cost. Does this mean being silent about some issues that are specially American? It probably does. Quiet is not my strong suit when coupled with passion. But like I said, my slant has been all wrong. Maybe now there will be more room for love, more room for those acts that the church (me) should have been doing all along, rather than crying to my government to do it. Because just like they do not own me, my allegiance is not to them. I have a choice.

I choose to live without the divisiveness.

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Categories: Politics?
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Ouch.

Posted February 20, 2009 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

Just read this title on CNN….

Can happiness be found online?

The question means little to millions living in poverty with neither electricity nor electronics. But there are also millions now weaving the Web 2.0 ever more tightly into their social fabric — witness the booming popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites — so the question seems worth asking.

Makes me sad. I know a lot of us *gasp* do use this tool to feel better about ourselves. “Happiness.” Psychologists would probably point out that it is almost the same security blanket that people use for religion. I am not saying it’s all bad….but what else could we be doing with that time? Human nature says that a message online from a person you barely know will not make the impact a face to face relationship will. Maybe it DOES work for monetary purposes….but what about our hearts? I know this is the pot calling the kettle black, but it turns my stomach to think about it in real terms.

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Categories: Random
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The legal drug of choice:

Posted February 17, 2009 By Andrea and has 10 comments.

Coffee!

I don’t know how well you know me, but most know, I really enjoy my cup of coffee. I have one in the morning and ocassionally one after school, and on weekends and holidays late into the night. It helps me to live! It helps my night owl personality function in an early riser world.

There is a child inside of me now. Like the Bible eloquently says “with child.” God forbid you use the word pregnant around my grandmother. Vulgar insanity! Anywho, coffee now upsets my stomach, doesn’t appeal to me, and otherwise screams fallacy in its decaffeinated state.

WHAT do I do?!?!

A little uncouth, but Father please help me deal with this pregnancy. I do not feel like I am me, and I am in a constant state of illness.

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Categories: Humorous, Personal
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Searching for God. period. In Twilight?

Posted February 16, 2009 By Andrea and has 3 comments.

I love the Donald Miller read Searching for God Knows What. I would agree that a lot of times in our lives we are just searching, and feel like we still haven’t found what we’re looking for… okay, okay, enough cliches now. But it’s true.

I found it interesting that there are commercials now that advertise products as going back to the basics, banks as knowing that our families and friends are the most important thing to us and a general sense that America has somehow overstepped its boundaries into straight materialism without meaning.

Then there is the Twilight craze, while playing too much into the sexuality of teenagers and allowing that we can be grown up enough at 18 to make overarching life decisions, the thing that struck me most when I was reading is the belief in God by vampires. Their main concern for Bella is that she has a soul, and she must be moral to save that soul. Their main concern for themselves is that they do not want to take part in evil bloodshed, but would rather live a different controlled lifestyle that leaves other vampires wondering why they do it. While they are not necessarily trying to make “converts” they stay true to their beliefs no matter what the temptation. It’s mostly a silly and childish story, yes. But the implications of our culture are all there.

While the world around us seems to be getting worse and worse, I look at the world and realize, we don’t have to guess what they are searching for. We already know. Now what are we going to do about it? When are we going to start staying true to our beliefs?

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Categories: Random
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Have a little Compassion…

Posted February 13, 2009 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

A lot of people are hurting right now. A lot of people are losing their jobs and wondering if and when homes are going to be foreclosed on. I overheard a very casual conversation last weekend in which a guy was telling a friend that at least his house wouldn’t be foreclosed on until August. It is becoming an everyday part of life.

So today. have a little Compassion for your neighborhood co-op, or the food pantry at your church. Also, don’t forget that there are children everywhere that are without. If you would like to sponsor or a child or just give a little bit, don’t forget to check out Compassion. They have a fund especially set up for children without sponsors!

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Categories: Random
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The Hatred of God?

Posted February 11, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
- Proverbs 6:16-19

Perhaps sometimes our hatred is justified. I read this verse in a Sojourner’s email the other day and the quote that came with it spoke volumes to me about our call to live like Christ. Joan Chittister said “Anger is not bad. Anger can be a very positive thing, the thing that moves us beyond the acceptance of evil.” Wha?! Then I thought about it… There are a lot of sins we have been desensitized to.. I am going to have to disagree with my husband on his protest of the concept “Love the sinner hate the sin.” The problem with that phrase is that people don’t want to think about it and they want to throw out condemnations about the sins that shun the person. It doesn’t have to be interpreted that way. But in reality many of us as Christians have continuously been exposed to these “abominations” as Solomon writes.

That new show TV show on Fox, Lie to Me, while not a stellar concept, purports that a human lies every ten minutes. And how many innocent lives are shed because of injustice in war? How many of us have ever sown discord in our family? Oh, my, no not me! How many of us burn with a hatred, or even displeased heart, with all of these things? Unfortunately I know that I don’t always feel this way. Perhaps some of them have even played into my “Christ following life.”

Learning to live like Jesus not only says that ”if we love him, we will obey him,” but it also gives a certain justification to some negative emotions that we should have towards sin. This is no senseless battle, this is a real war that has been waged on our morality and our “differentness” that will show that grace and love of God. We aren’t salt of the earth if we’re lying every ten minutes and singing his praises in the eleventh hour. Being salt of the earth doesn’t just mean we believe, it means we spice it up, we are able to make a noticeable difference. I watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the main complaints of judges or chefs is too bland, not enough salt. What are we doing to ourselves??

Okay, I am just working this out…. more later… share your thoughts if you would like. :)

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Categories: Spiritual Reflections
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Walking hand in hand

Posted February 9, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

Through the valleys and the mountains, the shadows and the sun

The heart rejoices that it does not have to be alone

It never has to be alone

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Categories: Relationships

I'm Every Woman

Posted February 6, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

I will not be defeated by a bad man and a stick American insect.
- Bridget Jones

 Perhaps this makes no sense to you. But today, I absolutely needed to remember this scene from one of my favorite chick flicks. While not the classiest or godliest of films, I truly believe that there are times in each woman’s life that she feels she must simply pick herself up and cue the “I’m every Woman” music. Besides, it is God who gives us the strength to overcome our own obstacles. And sometimes that backgound music helps.

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Categories: Personal

The problem without solutions

Posted February 4, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

I am a teacher to several young mothers. Young mothers who, when they came to this country, were brought by their parents and had little choice. It is interesting to note that not for any other reason other than love, or this is who they found, did they end up being in a relationship and having a child in a relationship in which one person is legal and the other is illegal. Without returning to the illegal person’s home country there is no way for them to wed and hence no promise that one of them might not be one day torn from their child.

There is a young man right now, sitting in a jail for his second week, his girlfriend and two year old baby girl at home in Georgia.

What will happen to him? Will he be sent back to Salvador? Will he be given a chance to acquire legal paperwork? Has he tried and been rejected? (There are brutal stories of this, do not let anti-alien sentiment tell you otherwise).

As a mother in high school tries to find a way to care for her child she does not yet realize what one day she will, he was pulled over for driving without a license. That is all. He was pulled over for driving without a license… and there was no other interest, I am sure, in pulling over a young Latino male. Why did they pull him over? Did they have any other reason? Like the young Mexican boy who I saw searched by TSA last summer, for no reason, the men he was with looked like campesinos, not drug lords, and he was five years old at most. SEARCHED.

Random my a–.

It is called racial profiling.

If you are a person who puts the well being of this country before the well being of the human race (that God created all of by the way) then please do me a big favor and figure out a way for the government to treat people like HUMANS, not things, bcause right now it is American sentiment that is keeping an Amnesty plan from being an option. And I do not think that free amnesty is the option (perhaps American history and civics classes to be paid for by the applicant and be considered a tax?), but I think there HAS To be a better solution than this. Because a child left without a parent is a problem. And just like those mistakes from your youth, they cannot take back coming here.

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Categories: Social Justice
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