Taking A Stand

I'm not gonna sugar coat it- this world is a crazy place right now! It has been for ahwhile. Recently though, man it seems like everyone has lost their mind!

There have been:

• Racial riots in America very similar to the Civil Rights Movement
• Christians forced from their homeland
• Beheadings in a foreign land of humanitarians who were just trying to help
• A suspected deserter welcomed back with open arms
• A Marine who made a mistake held in jail erroneously - and no one to save him
• Top terrorist officials we worked hard to apprehend- released  
• A beheading here on our soil
• An ebola epidemic breakout
• Suicide of a beloved comedian
• Israel defended itself against attack, and once again they were condemned

Our World seems to be on fire.

What bothers me about these events is the fact that most of them we had some kind of warning they were going to happen. But we were either to complacent or apathetic and did nothing. As a result families have been devastated. Nations have been devastated. 

Yet we still do nothing. 

Oh there are those who will say we are providing aid, investigating and etc. Truth is all of that is just lip service. A whole lot of people are talking and not doing. 

Why is that?

Why aren't we doing anything? And just to be clear- doing nothing is still doing something. If you/we/me sit back and do nothing we are guilty of allowing it to happen. 

Why have we become so spineless? Is it because we are afraid to offend? 

I took a class and the facilitator said it has been proven through studies and by our actions that Americans- despite all their bluster are afraid to offend. 

If Americans aren't standing up I have  to ask a very specific group of people (I think you know who I am speaking about) why they aren't standing up and defending those who can't defend themselves. Those people? They are Christians. 

We are called to be the Salt of the Earth. Yet we are sitting here and letting our religious freedoms be stripped away. We are letting horrible events take place and we aren't asking why or holding the offenders accountable. Why aren't we making a bigger noise? We have the Lion of Judah on our side. If He goes before- who can honestly go against us?

I'll own up to it- I am guilty of not standing up enough. I have condoned things I should not have condoned. I have kept quiet when I should have spoken up. But I'm vowing not to stand by quietly anymore.Too much is at stake. 

The Church (all believers of Christ) need to wake up- myself included. Historically it has been proven that people bound together for a common cause can make a difference and influence history for good. If we as Christians all bind together and take a righteous stand firmly rooted in the Scriptures we will be heard and we can make a difference. 

I'm going to start. I don't what I'm going to do. I don't know how. But I am going to do something. Because waiting around for someone else to make a difference is getting us nowhere. 

Until next time-remember even if everyone only takes a small stand a whole lot of small stands becomes a big movement.

Stay... Don't Leave...

In my last post I mentioned I had fallen in love....

Well....

We got hitched.

 The decision to marry him was the best and most terrifying decision I ever made. The day of the wedding I caught a glimpse of him and almost ran out of the Chapel. I felt awful later for wanting to bolt. With this reaction- I discovered it seems to be my back up plan. When things get hard or I'm uncomfortable- I bolt. I try and get out of the situation. Whether it be physically walking away or redirecting the conversation- I leave.

I'm not surprised I'm this way. My biological father was the same way. His reaction was to hightail it out when things got hard. My brother and I saw him off and on for years. We never knew when he was going to pop back into our lives. When he was in our lives we never knew how long he was going to stay. He had a knack for Houdini like appearances and disappearances in my life. 

With my husband I'm sorry to say I am guilty of having those same fears.

 I had a major freak out moment not to long ago. You see this man I met? Not only is he my soulmate but he is now a United States Marine. I am so very incredibly proud of him. Not everyone can become a Marine.

He did it.

He overcame all odds and proved he was worthy of the title. At times while he was out earning his place- I was at home freaking. What if he didn't come back? What if he decided that he could do better? What if he realized I'm more trouble than I'm worth?

Then it hit me. If he wanted to leave he would have already been gone.

He had the chance several times to leave. I know I gave him plenty of reasons to leave. I told him I wouldn't blame him if he left. But he didn't. He is stubborn and chose to stay. Not only did he stay- he showed me I'm worth loving and staying around for.

The thing that makes him different from everyone who walked out?

He loves me the way a Godly man is supposed to love his wife. He tells me he loves me- all the time. Without me prompting him..He chooses to love me and chooses to fight for me. Sometimes literally.

While he has been at Basic he has written some beautiful letters. In a few of them he said he has been praying for me. He even sent a prayer to me he had praying for himself. Knowing he can be going through one of the hardest if not THE hardest boot camp on Earth- and still is making time to talk to God about me? Yeah. That felt amazing. Not going to lie- I cried.

God used this man to show me- I'm worth sticking around for. He used him to show me not everyone is going to leave.

More importantly...

God won't ever leave. He hasn't left me. He won't leave.

So now, I have to work on standing firm and not hightailing it out at the first sign of conflict or hurt. I think I can do it. God has my back. My husband isn't ever leaving me. My family and my Godly friends are walking with me.

So my initial reaction may be to run...

But I'm not going to anymore.

I choose to stay.

Until next time... Remember you don't have to run from your past or your hurts. Stay and and allow God to  make you stronger.