Sunday Evening Standouts

Here I am, poised at the brink of a new school year, a new week, a new adventure.  I was just thinking about all the things from the week that blessed me.  It was too long a list for a facebook post, yes even one of mine.  I decided I should begin blogging these things every week as an intentional way of being grateful.  So here goes:

1.  We enjoyed a wonderful long visit this week from my daughter and grandbaby, with a bit of time with my son-in-law at the end.  It is such a joy as a mom to see your adult child walking with the Lord, choosing an excellent spouse, being a wonderful Mama.  I love to hear her talk about the ministries God has put on her heart and what she might jump into.  I love to see my sweet baby smile for Mimi.  I love that my son-in-law is a man of integrity, honor, and faith.  I'm excited for some possibilities in their hopefully near future!!

2.  As part of that visit we had our first homeschool field trip of the year.  We explored the botanical gardens, had lunch at a famous local landmark, and toured a chocolate factory.  Enough said.  (Well, some of the kiddos may have expected something a little more Willy Wonka from the tour, but samples made it all OK).

3. The Lord has called me back to a ministry that is dear to my heart and although my place there is a little vague, it seems to be getting clearer.  It is so good to be doing things for His Kingdom.  Even if my involvement is minimal, if it blesses other and points people to Jesus it is well worth my time.

4.  I tentatively am considering a new commitment.  It is scary.  I don't know that I am good enough to do it. But the challenge is a blessing, too.

5.  I have a dear friend who never fails to point me in the right direction, and doesn't hesitate to speak the truth in love.  Such a blessing!!!

6.  My husband and two of my teen sons were involved this summer in a drama series based on the Dukes of Hazzard characters, tweaked and adapted.  I loved watching them do their thing.   My husband got to be a "Lead Worshiper" which stretched him and he did very well.  I'm proud of them all.  The whole production from writer/director to actors, sets, lights, audio was first class.  Kudos to all.

7. I am loving reading the blogs of my adult daughter's friends from high school and college.  These young ladies, all roughly 25-27 have such a passion for the Lord and their families.  I am so impressed.  I don't know if it was Christian school (be it elementary, high school, or college), or their families, or just something God put within them, but truly these young ladies have much to teach me.  What a joy to see those in the next generation whom can be counted on to have wisdom and faith.  Beautiful girls, absolutely gloriously beautiful.  I truly believe her class in high school was special.  They will do big things.  Her college friends are wonderful, too.    You should totally check out  ablossominghomestead@blogspot.com, http://laundryeveryday.blogspot.com/ and http://liferenovated.org/!

8.  In the morning we officially start our homeschool year.  Even though I didn't get everything planned to a T, we are ready to go and I am confident we will have a fantastic day.  It is a blessing that I have the basic organization done and a good start on the rest, and I love our curriculum choices.

9.  Rain - it was looking so green as we pulled down the driveway this evening!

10.  I tried my hand at both riding a motorcycle all alone and milking a goat - two new things in 7 days.  I may not have been great at either, but I tried.  Woo Hoo!!!  Now there's another new thing coming up I am much more frightened of.  That will be a whole other post, however.  I know some folks who will be so happy when they find out about it.

Until next time, enjoy the adventure!!

Chick-Fil-A, Name Calling, and Reason

There are times when I am truly baffled by controversies that seem to be the proverbial molehills turned into mountains.  Perhaps I'm just a simple-minded gal.  This whole Chick-Fil-A "controversy" is one of those times.

As I understand it, Dan Cathy, son of Chick-Fil-A's founder and the current CEO, expressed in response to an interviewer his support for "traditional family values". Specifically, it was brought up that there are those who oppose Chick-Fil-A's support of the traditional family.  Cathy's response?  "Well, Guilty as charged..."

We are very much supportive of the family--the biblical definition of the family unit.  We are a family owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives.  We give God thanks for that."

As I further understand the situation, these comments ignited a firestorm of hatred, and the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco declared Chick-Fil-A not welcome in their cities.  Really?  This is completely stunning to me.  There are those people, stirred up into an angry mob, who are asking folks to boycott this restaurant and throwing around words like bigot, discrimination, and hate.  I simply don't understand.

I have read no article where Chick-Fil-A discriminated against a customer or employee.  I have never been in a CFA restaurant and witness acts of hatred, bigotry, or discrimination.  In fact, their customer service has been, in my experience, some of the very best in the industry.  I do not see Dan Cathy expressing any "anti" views towards any group.  He simply expressed his support for traditional family values.  Have we really come to the place in the United States of America that believing in such values makes one a bigot?  Guilty of discrimination, hate, and to  have your rights to grow your business infringed on?  I have no idea if CFA has or had plans to expand into the cities whose mayors spoke for their populations to declare CFA unwelcome, not because they broke a law, but because they expressed a viewpoint.  What happened to the Constitutional right to free speech?  

OK, that's all the "big idea" talk.  Here's the nitty gritty rubber meets the road for me personally.  I am a Bible believing Christ follower.  I know in some folk's minds that makes me a right wing nutcase.  I believe in traditional family values in that they reflect Biblical values.  I am not a perfect person, as such a thing does not exist.  I am a sinner whom God chose to redeem.  My sin is probably different than your sin.  But believe me I am guilty of breaking God's divine laws.

I would not call myself a bigot.  I do not hate any group.  I do not hold one sin above another in severity.  For example, I was an unwed mother at age 18.  God calls my sin fornication, and I am guilty as charged.  He does not forbid it to keep me from delight, but from suffering.  There are many other specific things God calls sin:  lying, adultery, homosexuality, pride, gluttony, etc.  The Bible is clear that ALL sin.  That means that each of us have violated at least one if not many of His commands, either in thought, word, or deed.  Should I hate the whole world?  Never.

My support of Biblical values is NOT synonymous for hatred of anyone, including those who are part of the gay/lesbian community. I am not so naive as to believe that all who call themselves Christians are like me.  I have heard shameful speech from those who should know better.  This is sin as well.  While I believe God says homosexual behavior is prohibited I absolutely can love and have friends within that community.  I  believe fornication and adultery are wrong according to God. I love and have friends who have been involved in these things as well.  If I were to refuse to associate with or hate every sinner, I would need to cut myself off from the world, including my own self.

I have had family members in homosexual relationships bring their friends to my home.  There is a man I went to high school with who I greatly admire for his kindness, who I would absolutely trust to care for my children, who continues in a long term homosexual commitment.  I do not agree with his choice.  I do not believe it makes him a monster.  

There is a young man who is often in my home who will be a teenage father soon.  I do not agree with his choice (fornication).  I do not believe it made him unfit to associate with our family.  I hope that I can be of some encouragement to him, in fact, as this is a sin I am sadly personally acquainted with.

There are members of my family who have struggled with addictions and alcohol.  I do not agree with their choices, and I do hold these things to be sinful choices and not simply "illnesses".   Despite their sin, I don't hold myself above them in any way.

In each of these examples I would not allow the behavior to go on IN my home, let me be clear about that.  My relationships with these people, however, are not focused on these issues but on friendship, love, and respect for another human being.  I think it is important to share the truth (which to me is God's truth) in love with other, but in my day to day life that sharing needs to be relationship based.  I am not called to go around bashing anyone over the head with my Bible.  

In conclusion, I did attend the Chick-Fil-A appreciation day.  I wanted to show my support for a company whose values I share, whom I believe has been the victim of a media attack.  I KNOW that I could head down to my local restaurant on any given day with any of the folks I mentioned in this blog and we would all be treated with respect, courtesy, and have a great meal.  I love that they are closed on Sundays.  I love that in America I am free to patronize this business, or simply go somewhere else.  I do not want to see that freedom disappear.   I find it very odd that the very groups who accuse others of bigotry, hatred, and intolerance are those that are guilty of those things themselves.  

That's my 2 cents.  Standing for what I think is right, that is today's adventure...