The Meandering Mind of a Christian Woman

I don’t know about you but I am feeling under attack as a Christian.   There was an Atheism rally in D.C. last weekend and some of the comments quoted in the press were soaked with hatred and aggression for us.   There is also a group called Freedom from Religion that is promoting the idea of changing “In God We Trust” on our currency to “In Reason We Trust”.   I find myself wondering, how do we respond to this?   Do we respond to this?   As Christians, we are to respond to all things in love.   Yet we must stand our ground.   At this point in time, Atheism is still the minority however; they have managed to banish prayer from schools, the Ten Commandments from courtrooms and are working on the Pledge of Allegiance.   How can this be?   It is because we have not stood our ground.   Remember, Jesus and his disciple were certainly a minority at one time and they changed the world. I don’t have all the answers, I’m not sure I have any answers other than holding to my beliefs.   I know t

            Lent is not my favorite time of year.   There are a few reasons; the dirge-like songs we sing in church, the weight of my guilt that Jesus had to die for me, this is also the time of year that were Don’s final days on earth and now this year my daughter is facing serious health issues.   It’s rather a downer.             Lent is the time we are to prepare our hearts for Easter; it is such a glorious holiday for a Christian. I’m quite fond of Easter, new life!   Lent is like the grumbling of the shopping season prior to Christmas. So, I find myself asking, what does God want/expect from us during this season of preparation?             I believe it is the same thing he desires for us all year long, to draw closer to him. Can we ever be too close to God?   I think not.   As we reflect on our lives and sin during lent, we realize how much we truly need him in our lives. I have long felt that these periods of preparation are something that I do for God. However, I can see tha

Have you ever noticed that it is difficult to ask for help?   I was raised to be an independent sort of girl and I have come to realize that I am not good at asking for help.   I ask God for help all the time, yet asking another person for help is somehow more humbling than kneeling at the foot of the cross. Weird, huh? God created us to be social creatures.   Yet, I find when I am hurting the most, I reach out the least.   Are you that way? I have been crying out to God for help, direction and answers and stomping my foot like a spoiled child, thinking he is giving me the silent treatment.   Today, I have realized many of the answers and the help has been right in front of me the whole time. I have people who care; friends and family, they have all been asking how they can help and I have kept them at arms length.   Oh foolish woman that I am!   I bet there are people around you too, who will lift you up and stand by you, God put them there.   “The sacrifices of God are a broken spi

When I have come through agonizing moments in my life, I have kept in mind that God knows about agony from personal experience, he was wrenched from his Son, in a most horrific way. Is there any pain more difficult than seeing your child suffer? Today, I experienced a small revelation; I have always viewed his agony as a one-time event.   Yet, we are all his children, which means our pains affect him too. His heart aches every bit as much as mine does. My revelation does not answer the ‘why’; for that, I must wait until I reach heaven.             I am reminded of one of my husband’s favorite scriptures from 2 Corinthians 4: 7- 10: “For we have this treasure in jars of clay to show us that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our

            Don’t you just love hindsight?   We look back at something we said or did and realize how we could have said it or done it better. So often, my hindsight reflects on my lack of response to a certain situation; or how I might have responded better to words of accusation.   In these cases, hindsight can be frustrating because we let a moment slip away.             Lately, I am experiencing a more positive hindsight.   As I have said in my last couple posts, my family is going through a challenging time.   The whole month of February has been a blur but in the last few days that blur is coming into focus. I looked back at the month and I can see God’s hand putting things in place to bless us. The funny part is when he put some of these things into place; they didn’t seem like blessings at the time.   For instance, my eldest daughter was prevented from starting a new job, twice.   At the time, I could not understand why God would keep this from her. In my hindsight, I can see