As we approach Christmas day, it's easy to get caught up in all the gifts, lights, and food. We tend to be a very indulgent society, especially around the holidays, so this Christmas I really encourage you to sacrifice just a little bit for someone else, in hopes that they can also have a very happy holiday.
As many of you know, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Uganda, Africa this past summer and serve with Kupendwa Ministries. The country, the people and especially this ministry touched my heart and changed my life in ways I never thought possible, and I want to help give that back to them this year.
If you are willing to help this amazing ministry, please do by clicking this link:
http://www.kupendwaministries.org/#!christmas-2013-store/c1dmu
To see a video about Christmas at Kupendwa last year, click here:
http://vimeo.com/57065151
To learn more about Kupendwa Ministries, visit their website here:
www.kupendwaministries.org
Thank you, and may you have a very, very merry Christmas!!
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
A Person's a Person, No Matter How Small
I've often had to remind myself to not get too political on my blog, because when politics and religion combine, I tend to get extremely defensive over what I believe. However, this topic in particular I felt very...inspired by, I guess, and thought I would sit down and share my thoughts with you.
Last night as I was scrolling through my twitter feed on my phone, I noticed that #PrayToEndAbortion was trending. I've always been intrigued by politics, so seeing that trending sparked my interest. As I scrolled through some of the #PrayToEndAbortion tweets, I was amazed at what some people were saying.
"It's not 800 B.C. anymore, the Bible isn't an 'essential' book. Get your head out of the past and into the future."
"Haven't had time to #PrayToEndAbortion because I've been too busy praying to end idiotic anti-women trends."
"If you tweet #PrayToEndAbortion and actually believe in it, your parents should have aborted you."
"#PrayToEndAbortion has got to be the most stupid trend I have every seen on so many levels."
"An egg is not a chicken. An acorn is not a tree. A silk worm is not a dress. A fetus is not a person."
"While your praying to keep suppressing women's rights, kids are starving and dying. LIVE kids. Actual humans."
"Trends like #PrayToEndAbortion are the reasons why society/the world is moving backwards, instead of forward."
"It's kinda sickening to see #PrayToEndAbortion trending when there are so many more important things in this world that need ending."
Those are just a few examples of actual tweets that people had posted last night. I was almost in tears as I scrolled through these. It's hard to read through these things and keep your focus on God. It's so easy to fall into a state of anger and confusion. Why does God allow things like this to happen? No one may know for certain, but in times of anger and confusion, the best thing to do is just to turn to Him. So I did a little bit of research in the ONLY essential book.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5
"Have nothing to do with false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." Exodus 23:7
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of this earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
I don't know about you, but for me, hearing and reaffirming myself of God's truths is so freeing. I'm fragile - fragile to the point where the arrogant words of strangers behind a keyboard can ruin my day, but hearing the words of The Lord, the one who created the earth and every being on it, calms me. There are thousands of opinions, but only one truth.
I highly encourage you to take 33 minutes out of your day and watch this video, and maybe an extra minute to share it. It's amazing how opening a person's eyes to the other side of the story can be so powerful.
"I've noticed that everyone that is for abortion has already been born." - Ronald Reagan
There are still some things I question about abortion and why on earth it would ever be legal. Why is it that if you kill a pregnant woman it's considered a double homicide, but abortion isn't considered murder? You would think that somebody would realize that that's unconstitutional and do something to fix it, but still we find ourselves in situations like this, being ridiculed for our faith and what we believe and being told that what we know as the truth is wrong.
Look at your life and make a mental list of everyone you know that was adopted. Now imagine if that person's parents had aborted them, what would your life look like? It would be different. Even if only in the slightest, it would be different. The reason it would be different is because everyone has a purpose. Every human being has made an impact on someone else's life in some way - and nobody has the right to take that away.
Regardless of your religion, ethnicity, age or occupation, we all have one thing in common: we have a purpose. God knew us before we were even conceived, and He has a plan for us.
"A person's a person, no matter how small."
Last night as I was scrolling through my twitter feed on my phone, I noticed that #PrayToEndAbortion was trending. I've always been intrigued by politics, so seeing that trending sparked my interest. As I scrolled through some of the #PrayToEndAbortion tweets, I was amazed at what some people were saying.
"It's not 800 B.C. anymore, the Bible isn't an 'essential' book. Get your head out of the past and into the future."
"Haven't had time to #PrayToEndAbortion because I've been too busy praying to end idiotic anti-women trends."
"If you tweet #PrayToEndAbortion and actually believe in it, your parents should have aborted you."
"#PrayToEndAbortion has got to be the most stupid trend I have every seen on so many levels."
"An egg is not a chicken. An acorn is not a tree. A silk worm is not a dress. A fetus is not a person."
"While your praying to keep suppressing women's rights, kids are starving and dying. LIVE kids. Actual humans."
"Trends like #PrayToEndAbortion are the reasons why society/the world is moving backwards, instead of forward."
"It's kinda sickening to see #PrayToEndAbortion trending when there are so many more important things in this world that need ending."
Those are just a few examples of actual tweets that people had posted last night. I was almost in tears as I scrolled through these. It's hard to read through these things and keep your focus on God. It's so easy to fall into a state of anger and confusion. Why does God allow things like this to happen? No one may know for certain, but in times of anger and confusion, the best thing to do is just to turn to Him. So I did a little bit of research in the ONLY essential book.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5
"Have nothing to do with false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." Exodus 23:7
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of this earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
I don't know about you, but for me, hearing and reaffirming myself of God's truths is so freeing. I'm fragile - fragile to the point where the arrogant words of strangers behind a keyboard can ruin my day, but hearing the words of The Lord, the one who created the earth and every being on it, calms me. There are thousands of opinions, but only one truth.
I highly encourage you to take 33 minutes out of your day and watch this video, and maybe an extra minute to share it. It's amazing how opening a person's eyes to the other side of the story can be so powerful.
"I've noticed that everyone that is for abortion has already been born." - Ronald Reagan
There are still some things I question about abortion and why on earth it would ever be legal. Why is it that if you kill a pregnant woman it's considered a double homicide, but abortion isn't considered murder? You would think that somebody would realize that that's unconstitutional and do something to fix it, but still we find ourselves in situations like this, being ridiculed for our faith and what we believe and being told that what we know as the truth is wrong.
Look at your life and make a mental list of everyone you know that was adopted. Now imagine if that person's parents had aborted them, what would your life look like? It would be different. Even if only in the slightest, it would be different. The reason it would be different is because everyone has a purpose. Every human being has made an impact on someone else's life in some way - and nobody has the right to take that away.
Regardless of your religion, ethnicity, age or occupation, we all have one thing in common: we have a purpose. God knew us before we were even conceived, and He has a plan for us.
"A person's a person, no matter how small."
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