Is This News?

We were at the doctor's office this morning, and CNN was playing on the television in the waiting room. We were amazed at some of the drivel that we saw. Then they played a video of a baby laughing. I said, "Wh-hat? This is news?!" Then I said, "Well...people complain that the news usually only plays bad news, so I guess this is a cute, happy thing to share.

...but wait a minute. The baby is laughing at the tearing up of a JOB REJECTION LETTER that the dad received. The man is still out of work. Unemployed. In the end, I suppose that it was still bad news being reported. 8^P

Deed 14: We were at a restaurant with the Youth Group last night, and two of us got to the line at the same time. The young man let me go first. When we were at the register, I had him order and paid for his food. He said that I did not have to do that, like a polite, young gentleman, but I insisted. (After all, I still have ninety-six deliberate kind deeds to do in the next fourty-two day!)

WORSHIP HIM WEDNESDAY

Today is Wednesday, and, for a twist, rather than chattering on with my thoughts, I would really like to read yours. Thus, my post for today will be simple.

What is worship to you?

You Farted

Does your child ever say something that makes you so grateful that you do not have company or so happy that you are not in public?

Boy was in my arms. There was a noise. Boy looked at my hubby and said, "Poppie, you farted."

"What? No, I didn't. Momma did!"

"No, Poppie, you farted."

"No, I didn't! Momma did!"

"No, Poppie, you did!" It is as though Boy is telling my hubby to stop trying to blame me.

The argument went on for a few more rounds, my husband's face full of shock as he protested his innocence and tried not to laugh.

He was innocent.

Why on earth, you may be wondering, am I posting this today? I am sharing it because it is funny. If you do not see the humor, then maybe you do not have children...or maybe you just lack a funny bone. If that is the case, phone your orthopedist today and make an appointment.

If you are horrified because I used the word "fart," then watch and listen to what Brad Stine has to say about the matter.

What can you do?

Untitled

one little boy

alone in an alley

unknown

a little girl

on the other side of town

unforgotten

two children

with no families

unloved

no friends

to stay with

unwanted

no one to help them

through the long, cold winter

uncared-for

yet we all know

that they are there...

...unforgotten

While cleaning out a closet and going through boxes, I found an old notebook with poems that I had written in high school. The poem above was one of them, and it brought to mind a recent sermon stemming from James 1:27.

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

We know that there are orphans out there, some on the streets, some at some kind of a shelter or orphanage. Wherever they are, they are children. They may be scared. They may be lonely. The Lord has called us to care for these children. Do we? Do we care for them, with care being a verb? ...or do we pity them, pray for them, hope that "someone" does something to help them?

Isaiah 1:17 tells us to, "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows."

How can you help? What can you do? How can you know where there are needs? These are all good questions. Doing a simple search, I found MissionFinder.org, which has a section called Opportunities for Service in Christian Orphanages. Well, look at that. There is also Orphanage.org.

If you are in the position and place in your life to give a child a loving, nurturing, happy home, then please be encouraged to consider that. If you are not in that position but have love to share and would like to do something to help, then take the initiative. Find an orphanage, contact them, and ask what you can do to volunteer or give or fulfill any needs that the children there have.

Maybe you belong to a group or a club who can get together and reach out, organize a service project, do some outreach to benefit the children and/or the people who work with them every single day.

YOU can make a difference.

“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." -Matthew 18:5

Disobedience

For a while now, my husband has been saying that we needed to go to New York to visit his grandfather. It was important to spend time with G'pa and to introduce our son and his great grandfather. When we planned to go, we wound up not going.

G'pa died Sunday morning. My husband was crushed, and my heart broke for him. The misery was twofold. My husband was remorseful because we did not go and spend time with G'pa before it was too late.

Additionally, my husband was devastated because he had disobeyed God. You see, the reason that he knew that we needed to go see G'pa was because God kept telling him to go. My husband told me this, repeatedly. We both knew. We never made the time and went. Now we do not even have the opportunity.

This was a slap in the face to my husband because it highlighted his disobedience to God. As if He wants to make sure that we do not forget, G'pa died on our son's birthday. Can you even imagine how that must feel to my husband?

As we were absorbing the reality of what happened, and my husband was feeling incredibly remorseful, I felt like he was not alone in the disobedience. You see, even though God was speaking to my husband, my husband conveyed the message to me, and I could have been more proactive in making the journey happen. I even had the idea of asking someone to help G'pa get on Skype so that we could at least speak with him and let him and our son see each other. How simple is that? Did I follow through, though? No.

This loss is most definitely a lesson on obedience for my husband. However, it is also a lesson on action for me. I knew that my husband had a calling. I knew that it was time sensitive. I could have been less of a "supportive" wife and more of a wife of action. For that, I am truly sorry to my husband.

Yes, this is a tough lesson for both of us, and, yes, I am sure that God will use this lesson to bring blessings to our life and hopefully to others. For me personally, I hope that I can take this lesson to heart and make a change in myself to be more like the kind of wife God wants me to be for my husband, to sense when he has a need, and to take action to help him fulfill it.