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G is for God #AtoZChallenge

I don’t know how anyone goes through the adoptive process – as adoptive parents OR birth parents – without God.  I know that adoption is not limited to believers, but I honestly don’t know how those who don’t find their strength in God are able to do it.  Adoption is hard.  Really hard.  Yes, the blessings do far outweigh the difficulties, and it really is worth it, but it is not for the faint of heart.

When we started five plus years ago (with a Christian agency that had a great reputation), I was excited and nervous…and scared.  I had heard the horror stories of changed minds and children being ripped from adoptive parents’ arms months or years after the fact.  But I also knew that there were red flags present in those situations, and that making sure we chose a good agency, one that made sure all the details were done right, and was a believing agency to boot, would protect us.

What I didn’t foresee at that time, and couldn’t articulate until much later, was that just having the Christian tag on the agency doesn’t make it the right agency for us.  I was confident when we went through our first home study, with a wonderful case worker with whom we connected instantly, that we had chosen the right agency.  A few months into our initial year, I began to have doubts.  Our profile was not being presented often…in fact, perhaps 3-4 times over the course of a year.  Our social worker was also the director of the agency, and as I had more interactions with her, I became more and more in doubt of her enthusiasm for our family.  I began to feel we did not have an advocate, and I began to doubt our suitability to be adoptive parents.  I wondered what was wrong with us.  With me.  What was making us a family that no one wanted?

In retrospect, I see now that it was not that no one wanted us, but it was that few birth parents saw us.  The reasons given were that we didn’t fit the profile desired by the birth families.  I was really, really discouraged.  What’s more, I didn’t have the words (ironic as that is) to articulate that to my husband…not until we moved away.

I am so grateful that we had (have) friends who are vigilant prayer warriors.  I know that there were many, many prayers spoken on our behalf, and I know that were it not for that, I would have felt completely alone, and completely marginalized by our agency.  I also see now that God was present throughout that entire, discouraging year, and rather than barring us from having our hearts’ desire, he was working diligently on my heart.

After our cross-country move, it took me over a year to gear up and be ready to try again.  We were starting again from scratch.  This time, when we underwent our home study, my heart was (finally) where it should have been all along.  I finally prayed, without reservation:  “Lord, I will take and love whatever child you have chosen for me.  Period.”  My heart was not there before.  True, our (Christian) agency didn’t care for us in the way I would have liked.  The director didn’t have the enthusiasm for us (or in my opinion, for her job in general) that I thought she should.  She did disappoint me desperately, and I came to believe that if she had lost her enthusiasm and joy for this job, perhaps it was no longer the job for her.

But, my heart wasn’t prepared in the way it should have been, and God used that year to show me that.  As soon as I let go of my fears and doubts about WHO I could parent, God opened up the door that brought our beautiful son into our home.

We had decided to pursue adoption through foster care.  We had not made any limitations with regard to race or ethnicity, we were flexible in what special needs we would consider, and we were open to more than one child, of any age up to our biological son’s age.

We got a call from our agency, requesting us…appealing to us…to consider joining the domestic adoption program.  They had more birth moms than they had adoptive families to present.  They desperately needed more adoptive families in the program.  I saw God all over that.  How could we say no?  We couldn’t. and in that moment we set the wheels in motion that brought our son home to us.

If I wasn’t convinced in God’s providence before (I was), I have seen it firsthand now.  God wants to give us the desires of our hearts, but He also wants us to trust Him completely, and trust that He loves us and has our very best interests at heart.  I had to trust Him completely, and stop trying to engineer the outcome I wanted, and as soon as I did that, he gave me the best possible outcome, one that I could neither have engineered nor foreseen.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

 

Red Ink is Mean, and Other Random Thoughts

Yes, you read the title right.  Apparently, red ink is too mean, and teachers can no longer use it to grade students’ work.  Well, so says the administration at Mounts Bay Academy near Penzance, Cornwall, England.  Here is the news article.  If you think this is an isolated case, think again.  I’ve heard these stories for years, and this is just another step in the utter wussification of the current generation.  But no worries, it’s just a first world problem.  Carry on…

Feeding the political junkie that is me requires a lot of reading.  It’s fortunate I love both…politics & reading.  The thing is, there comes a point where personal sanity is at stake.  Seriously, there are days when I have to laugh at the absurdity of our current political situation, otherwise I would cry.

In the interest of seeing the absurdity in action, watch this:

I feel the same way about the increasing hostility toward all things Christian.  It’s not all things religious, because the vitriol does not spew toward Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Druidism, Wiccan, Agnosticism, Atheism, and any number of others the way it spews toward anything Christian.  I do not get it.  In the United States, the only country in the world that has religious freedom codified into its Constitution, Christianity is becoming the unpopular, ugly stepchild that is fun to pick on because those of us who believe in Christ are not as “enlightened” or “cool” as those who don’t.  If I didn’t laugh (somewhat bitterly), I would cry.

Lest you think the above is exaggeration, I direct you to this blog post outline the lawsuit filed by Mike S. Adams against University of North Carolina – Wilmingtion, accusing them of violating his First Amendment rights by denying him promotion to full professor because of his religious and political beliefs.  Next, read this column by Mike S. Adams himself.  Finally, note here, here, here, and here that he won his trial, and UNC-W was found to have violated his First Amendment rights by denying him this promotion.  A judgment for damages is still pending, and yes <sigh>, UNC-W is considering an appeal.

Oh, and then there’s Bill Maher, and this “giraffe crap.”  To his credit, he did the obligatory jab at the world’s religions, but his ugliest words were for Christians.

Speaking of Christians, don’t you find it ironic that someone who is a staunch believer in Jesus Christ can also be a harsh and completely unforgiving person?  The acknowledging and receiving of the most profound and unselfish example of forgiveness simply does not translate into grace and mercy when dealing with other people, and there is no opportunity for redemption of the relationship once it has failed.  I find it the starkest – and saddest – illustration of irony I have ever seen, not to mention one of the things that continually tarnishes Christians.  Striving to follow Jesus while simultaneously rejecting anyone who has failed you.  Irony, thy name is <insert name here>.

I’m contemplating another go at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  You can read about it here.  I participated in 2012, and it was great fun, but terribly time consuming.  In 2013 I was all set to do it again, but I got sick and life got b-u-s-y.  I missed it.  So here we are again…I haven’t planned ahead this year, and I haven’t signed up…and the start date is rapidly approaching.  I’m wondering if any of my blogging friends are considering it (again for some).  Woman Never Sleeps, have you thought about jumping in again?  What about you, Good Food: Savories, Sweets & Stories?  I know you did the challenge in 2013…how did you like it?  What about you, Joy in Life?  Living Loving Breathing Boys?  A Homemaker in Training?

Dexter

For the first time in 21 years, my pets do not include cats.  I’m a little sad about that.  I love cats, and I’ve had several really great cats over my lifetime.  However, our family has entered the season of young boys and dogs, and after watching our sweet new pup Dexter follow our 8yo son around today, plus seeing the look of sheer delight on our 6mo son’s face when Dexter licks his face/hands/arms/feet/legs/whatever part he can reach, I can’t say I’m disappointed.  It’ll be a new experience for me, and I’m embracing it.

And with that, I’m tapped out for now.

How a Christian Athlete Might Respond to the Questions that Are Coming and Will Keep Coming – Kevin DeYoung

How a Christian Athlete Might Respond to the Questions that Are Coming (and Will Keep Coming)

Okay, you have ten seconds–not a term paper, not a sermon, not a blog post, not five minutes–ten seconds to talk about our country’s most controversial subject with someone who wants you to say something stupid, and you have to state your mind, on the spot, humbly and articulately in a way that honors Christ, tells the truth, is shrewd as a serpent, and as innocent as a dove, go:

Do you think the NFL (or MLB, or NBA, or NHL, or whatever) is ready for a gay player?

I think every team in this league wants to win, and the coaches and the people in the front office are doing all they can to get the best people in here so we can put the best team on the field.

Do you think the guys in the locker room would feel comfortable with a gay player?

I can’t speak for the guys in my locker room. I just know we want to win and want the best players who can help us meet our goals.

Would you personally be comfortable with a gay teammate?

I’m a Christian which means I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for my sins. It also means I believe the Bible. The Bible tells me to love my neighbor so that’s what I would hope to do with any teammate.

But would you be uncomfortable with a gay teammate?

We’d find out. I don’t really know if I’m comfortable with any of my teammates until we get to know each other.

So do you personally think being gay is a sin?

The story of the Bible is the story of grace for sinners. So naturally the Bible is going to say a lot about sin. And guys sleeping with guys is one of the things the Bible calls sin. But everyone on my team is sinner and that starts with me.

Would you draft a gay player if you were the General Manager?

I’d evaluate him like any other player and look at film, the results from the combine, his pro day, his work ethic, and his character.

How would you feel if he does get drafted by your team?

I’d look forward to meeting him once camp starts.

And if he is watching this right now, what would you say to him?

I’d tell him he probably has better things to do than watch me on t.v.

What is the first thing you will say to him if he’s on your team?

Hello.

Anything else? Would you hang out with him?

Sure, if he likes video games and talking about Jesus.

Do you worry that a gay player might feel offended or threatened knowing what you and other Christians on the team think about his lifestyle?

Not any more worried than I am about the teammates who don’t agree with my beliefs or my choices in life.

How do you respond to the stories that equate this with Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball?

I’ll stick to playing football and let you write the stories.

But do you think there is something historical and ground-breaking about the first openly gay man in your sport?

I suppose a lot of people think it is ground-breaking.

And what do you think?

I’m not sure it’s quite the same as overcoming a centuries-old legacy of slavery and institutionalized segregation.

How do you think the fans will respond if the first gay player is your team?

Depends on if we are winning or losing. I think fans are more concerned with getting wins from their football team than social commentary.

How will Christians like yourself and Christians on your team learn to be tolerant of someone when you disagree with him on something as fundamental as his sexual identity?

I hope we’ll be more tolerant of him as a person made in God’s image than some reporters are of religious people with traditional beliefs.

And why do you think conservative Christians are so obsessed with this issue of homosexuality?

You’re the one asking all the questions.

Thank you for your time. There you have it, folks, at least one Christian athlete questions whether the league is ready for this kind of breakthrough. Back to you in the studio.

Read this & much more on Kevin Young’s blog at The Gospel Coalition.

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying

The Accidental Missionary

I was on the phone with a good friend the other day.  After covering important topics, like disparaging each other’s mothers and retelling semi-factual tales from our college days, our conversation turned to the mundane.

“So, how’s work going?” he asked.

For those of you who don’t know, I make money by teaching leadership skills and helping people learn to get along in corporate America.  My wife says it’s all a clever disguise so I can get up in front of large groups and tell stories.

I plead the fifth.

I answered my buddy’s question with,

“Definitely feeling blessed.  Last year was the best year yet for my business.  And it looks like this year will be just as busy.”

The words rolled off my tongue without a second thought.  Like reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or placing my usual lunch order at McDonald’s.

But it was a lie.

Now…

View original post 1,057 more words

So This Happened…

Steve  shared a link.

Friday

Not that we didn’t already know that fox news lord murdoch and crew were feminist liberal homosexuals in disguise. Truth.

• Laura Are you speaking tongue in cheek. If not, I am not understanding your point.

  Friday at 8:23pm · Like
• Steve Nope, not tongue in cheek, Laura. I celebrate women, just not feminist.

  Friday at 8:42pm via mobile · Like · 1
• Steve Fox is by no means immune…

  Friday at 8:43pm via mobile · Like
• Laura No, of course Fox is not immune. However, I’m not sure who you were referring to as feminist in that segment. If you’re referring to Megyn Kelly, I disagree…and so does she. She explicitly stated that she is not a feminist, but she IS a working mom, and she was taking exception to the generalization that kids of working moms are more prone to have problems.

  Friday at 8:45pm · Like
• Steve Not referring to her, Laura. Tammy works too. Wish she did not have to.

  Friday at 8:47pm via mobile · Like
• Laura Then I am mystified by the comment, as it seems to bear no relation to the attached debate.

  Friday at 8:54pm · Like
• Steve With that said, do you believe her making mention of homosexual parents study that they are as “well adjusted” as those of heterosexual couples ?

  Friday at 8:54pm via mobile · Like
• Steve Pure liberal myth is what it is.

  Friday at 8:56pm via mobile · Like · 3
• Steve Of course I’m judging her comments biblically.

  Friday at 8:57pm via mobile · Like
• Todd Whether Kelly agrees or not, her view (because of her personal choices) is to take the politically driven American Psych Assoc. analysis which is the feminist mindset on roles. Women also drive wages down in the workplace so that many see it as necessary to have double incomes. You hardly need data to tell you that children don’t fare well without a homemaker, at least I don’t. If they’re going to make the argument subjective then two can play that game.

  Friday at 8:59pm · Like · 1
• Cado just bc megyn kelly says shes not a feminist does not mean she is not one. her husband writes story books while she communicates to the nation. she quotes columbia university and every other liberal pseudo think tank. why the hell is she a “working mom” when she doesnt need to be one?

  Friday at 9:07pm · Edited · Like · 1
• Todd I like a woman who can spar wittily but she strikes me as sassy and unfeminine. What kind of man would this attract? is always a question I reserve the right to ask.

  Friday at 9:04pm · Like · 2
• Cado she divorced her husband in 2008 to marry a story book writer. she cohabited with her first husband before marriage and says its not a sin. her second marriage was officiated by a female pastor. what does that tell you about her?

  Friday at 9:09pm · Like · 1
• Laura I do believe that the study indicated exactly what she stated. No, I do not agree with the premise of the study. She was debating scientific research with scientific research, and I believe she was taking exception because she is a working mother, and that was one of the groups he targeted. It doesn’t mean the scientific research is biblical, but it wasn’t inappropriate in a debate setting to bring it up, particularly since she was seeking to dispute a point.
  
  Listen, I’m a stay-at-home mom. I chose that, and I think that, generally speaking, having a parent at home is best for kids, especially when they’re little. However, I am not casting aspersions on women who work, because I have seen situations where, whether or not the woman “needed” to work for financial reasons, there are some who need to for other reasons. There are days like today when I was at the end of my rope (and I only have ONE kid), and i know it would have been easier to be at work today.
  
  I thought the debate interesting. I thought your comments were unnecessarily abrasive. IMO, there isn’t any reason to be crude & snarky if you believe your positions to be true and valid. That’s all.

  Friday at 9:09pm · Like
• Todd She was railing against men who also were not casting aspersions on women who must work and said so, so what exactly was she on about? What one is not allowed to say in NetworkLand is that anything moderns wish to do is not ideal and that it brings a decline of various sorts. That is ridiculous and I will never comply. I thought the men were honest, forthcoming, correct and not harsh in the least and though there are tons of feminists applauding Kelly, I could not find one column for the other view (I didn’t check the Old White Thugs Review however). Proof enough that it is feminism that we are witnessing here. She also wanted it to be an ad hominem or subjective argument, repleat with emotionalism. But then, apparently she is pregnant.

  Friday at 9:40pm · Like · 1
• Todd The men also allowed that the difference in quality wained as incomes grew into the highest brackets, probably where there are so many services available at home Mom becomes simply a figure expected if not endeared. Kelly would fall into this circumstance with her income. So she’s not just fighting this for her own circumstance but for others who will suffer, sometimes terribly. This is just willful and stupid.

  Friday at 9:46pm · Like · 1
• Eric Right on the money, Steve. Rupert Murdoch = Jew. If you want pagan, liberal ideas wrapped up in a conservative-looking package, he’ll be happy to sell it to you all day long.
  
  Megyn Kelly is a major feminist, as this video demonstrates. There’s nothing more backwards than watching a boisterous woman lecture two men in public about right and wrong. Even if she were on the correct side of the argument (and she’s not), that’s bass ackwards. What’s even more disgusting is that they both back down to her. The first thing out of Erickson’s mouth should have been, “Watch your attitude. If you can’t speak to me in a respectful tone, this conversation is over.”

  Friday at 10:02pm · Like · 2
• Laura A boisterous woman?? Backwards?? Disgusting that they back down to her?? (They didn’t, by the way…they chose not to fight with her.) Should I then infer that it is PROPER for a man to lecture a woman in public about right & wrong? Holy cow! And NO, they should not have responded with “watch your attitude.” Nothing more off-putting in the world than a man who is condescending to women, and who treats them as his subordinates.

  Friday at 10:11pm · Edited · Like
• Eric <Laura>Should I then infer that it is PROPER for a man to lecture a woman in public about right & wrong?</Laura>
  
  Yes. That is the biblical model. God is the head of Christ. Christ is the head of man. Man is the head of woman.
  
  “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

  Friday at 10:17pm · Like · 2
• Laura 1) Adam was no less deceived than Eve. Regardless of who the vessel was that perpetrated the deceit, the Devil deceived them both. They both fell. They were both in transgression.
  
  2) Should my husband publicly lecture me or otherwise humiliate me in front of others, I can assure you that would not bode well for our relationship. There is a way to teach, and a way not to, and you’re implying that excoriation and embarrassment are acceptable.
  
  3) Yes, God is the head of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church. However, when man & woman were created, woman was created as a helpmate, not as an authority over man or to be crushed under his heel. We were created to be partners. There are certainly gender specific roles for men and women, but there is an implication in your words that suggests a more master/servant relationship. That does not cut it for me. Sorry.

  Friday at 10:31pm · Like
• Laura Respect goes both ways in relationships, and it does not improve things to be disrespectful, regardless of whether or not the other party has been. What you suggested as an appropriate response to Megyn Kelly in that debate was, in fact, quite rude and disrespectful, even if you believe it was a proper response. There was no reason to embarrass her on the air, and by doing so, digging himself into a pit because of his caustic response. If she was disrespectful – and I’m not conceding she was – let her stand alone on that.

  Friday at 10:36pm · Like
• Kent I couldn’t listen past 2:14. I pray with my daughter every night that she will become a Beautiful Mommy someday. That is my dream and prayer for her: A beautiful Mommy who lovingly submits to her husband, cherishes her children for who God is making them into, faithfully manages the home, implementing the family vision of her husband.

  Friday at 10:43pm · Like · 1
• Laura Why not a shared family vision? If they are true partners, then shouldn’t they share in those dreams and decisions? What about a beautiful woman, who follows faithfully God’s plan for her, regardless of what it entails? That, by the way, is my prayer for my children. And my husband is the one who pointed out that, without a shared vision for our future, there’s not much gettin’ done.

  Friday at 10:48pm · Like
• Eric <Laura>Adam was no less deceived than Eve</Laura>
  
  Given that you deny male headship, it’s not surprising that you also deny the authority of Christ and His Word. Adam was not deceived. His sin, interestingly enough, was submitting to female ideas about right and wrong. If he had done his job, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.
  
  <Laura>Should my husband publicly lecture me or otherwise humiliate me in front of others, I can assure you that would not bode well for our relationship.… you’re implying that excoriation and embarrassment are acceptable.</Laura>
  
  No. I did not say that you should be publicly humiliated or embarrassed (unless you publicly feminize like Megyn Kelly, in which case, yes). A pastor lectures his female congregants during his sermon, but there’s nothing humiliating about that.
  
  <Laura>there is an implication in your words that suggests a more master/servant relationship.</Laura>
  
  Those weren’t my words. Those were God’s words. “As the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”

  Friday at 10:53pm · Like · 1
• Kent It’s a given that it is a shared family vision, husband and wife working together in one mind, fighting tooth and nail to raise their covenant seed in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. as to your comment about the beautiful woman following God’s plan for her life: This is God’s plan. The normative role in Scripture for women is to marry and to be that glorious helpmeet and Proverbs 31 wife/woman, which we husbands so desperately need. If she desires something other than this, then I would say that she is out of accord with God’s will, generally speaking. Just because right now, our society is so backwards, doesn’t mean that as Christians we just give in. Rather as the Psalmist says: “When the foundations have been destroyed, what must the righteous do?” The answer is clearly to: Build them up again! May God restore to the greater Christian subculture this glorious view of Biblical femininity.

  Friday at 10:57pm · Like · 3
• Eric <Laura>What you suggested as an appropriate response to Megyn Kelly in that debate was, in fact, quite rude and disrespectful</Laura>
  
  It’s rude and disrespectful for me to say, “Watch your attitude.” But it’s totally fine for Megyn Kelly to wag her head and scoff and disrespectfully say, “Who died and made you scientist in chief?” If I ever heard *my* wife or *my* daughters speak that way to any man, in public or private, there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

  Friday at 11:00pm · Like · 3
• Laura So explain that to the Christian women who are single adults, particularly those who are not single by choice. Clearly God has a plan for them, and is using them in some way. You aren’t implying that they are out of accord with God’s plan, which is why they’re still single?

  Friday at 11:00pm · Like
• Laura Eric, in that forum there was NO WAY for those two men to do other than what they did without speaking in an ugly way. Perhaps she crossed the line with some of her comments. She was more antagonistic than I would have been, but I don’t think she was wrong to defend working mothers, being that she is one. The forum was debate, and it would have been stupid for her not to participate, seeing how that’s part of her job.

  Friday at 11:04pm · Like
• Kent I did purposely use the phrase “generally speaking.” But that is just a straw man type of argument you have used. Remember: We cannot let the exceptions become the rule. There are plenty of single Christian women who could have been married long ago if they had not bought into all the deceitful lies of feminism, which have destroyed femininity and the families in the Church. Also, I will wholeheartedly grant you the dearth of eligible Christian young men with the type of vision I am speaking of, but they are out there and increasingly more so thanks to the ever growing Christian homeschool movement. May my sons grow up to be this kind of man. worthy of marrying that type of woman.

  Friday at 11:11pm · Like · 3
• Eric <Laura>in that forum there was NO WAY for those two men to do other than what they did without speaking in an ugly way</Laura>
  
  Exactly my point. She was out of line publicly. She deserved to reprimanded publicly. Instead, millions of viewers observed a masculine female stomp on two effeminate males with no consequences.
  
  <Laura>I don’t think she was wrong to defend working mothers</Laura>
  
  I have some sympathy for working mothers if they are single and have no other way to feed their children, or if their husband is somehow incapacitated. Megyn Kelly is not one of those, nor is that the type of working that she was defending. She’s a classic feminist. Here is the exact wording of her objection to Erickson: “You believe that women who choose to work instead of staying at home to nurture their children, and instead have the father do that, are imposing a worse future on their children than women who make a different choice.”
  
  <Laura>The forum was debate, and it would have been stupid for her not to participate, seeing how that’s part of her job.</Laura>
  
  That’s not a legitimate job for a woman, especially a woman who has two small children and one on the way. She should be at home playing legos with her boys and teaching them how to read, rather than farming them out to a daycare operation while she goes out and conquers men. Anyway, I do understand your point that it was a debate. She easily could have engaged in the discussion without being a brawling and contentious woman. If a man had said the same things she said, it would not have been offensive in terms of feminism, but it still would have been poor journalism. Personally, I can’t stand to listen to Megyn Kelly even when she’s doing a monolog and I’m in agreement with what she’s saying.

  Friday at 11:50pm · Like · 2
• Todd Well, bless my soul, here’s a bunch of Christian men who wouldn’t have one of the Fox feminist hotties for all the tea/koolaid in China. It’s cultural Marxism any way you slice it, along with Neocon warmongering. No thank you, ma’am. Here a page of Fox skirts rising in direct relation to their ratings.

  Saturday at 7:10am · Like · 3
• Steve There is a HUGE difference in thinking Biblically vs. thinking Conservatively. I repent of my conservatism where it is not Biblical. I have much ground to recover.

  Saturday at 7:55am · Edited · Like · 4
• Eric “It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the history of its only opponent, Northern conservatism. This is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader.”
  —R.L. Dabney

  Saturday at 9:25am · Like · 2
• Todd http://www.ihatethemedia.com/fox-news-anchor-babes-short-skirts-video-photo

  

  Fox Women TV Anchor Babes’ Skirts are Rising: Fox News Babes the best Fox News Legs

  http://www.ihatethemedia.com

  Fox Women Anchors, hottest TV anchor babes, showing off their Fox News legs. Fox…See More

  Saturday at 10:54am · Like · 1
• Kent Great Dabney quote!

  Saturday at 11:02am via mobile · Like · 2
• Todd Thanks Eric…I had Dabney in mind but didn’t have time to look up his prophecy! Shared

  Saturday at 11:04am · Edited · Like · 3
• Todd The difficulty I have even conversing with Laura (it seems she carries her maiden name into marriage) – and the millions of professing conservatives with this frame of mind – is that her protests against men who rule over their women presuppose that all men are faulty and therefore unworthy to address a woman on these matters with any kind of more-than-equal authority. A wise woman must first choose a man who she would trust and want to be a man to her. I think the modern woman wants to choose a mate on some other basis than deep wisdom and then covers the less than wise move with “we have an equal partnership”. The reason you have an equal partnership is because an unwise woman chose an unwise and untrustworthy man. As far as I’m concerned, after that these people are all on their own in uncharted waters in a ship of fools. Hope they make lots of money to make up for the satisfaction of deep joy in a Christ-founded marriage.

  Saturday at 2:47pm · Edited · Like · 1
• Kent Hewett, Todd, in fairness to Laura, if you don’t know her…. Many women on Facebook use their maiden name so people who knew them before they were married kind find them… My wife does this too.

  Saturday at 6:42pm via mobile · Like · 1
• Kent Meant “hey” not “hewett”

  Saturday at 7:13pm via mobile · Like · 1
• Kent And “can” not “kind”.Ugh!

  Saturday at 7:13pm via mobile · Like · 1
• Todd OK, good Kent, and I don’t know her so I hope she perceives I’m a gentleman. It’s fine for women to have two men’s names instead of just one. There’s plenty substantive in what I have to say on this subject for Laura to despise legitimately without heaping reprobation on her for wearing two names, whatever the reason. I don’t say these things because I’m an evil man or that I don’t like you Laura. When I visit my parents it’s Fox for hours and I tell my mother that she needs to put it in critcal gear while she’s got that in her environment – it has some elements of conservancy but mostly it’s neoconservative, worldly, big government, irreligious or worse, heretical opinion. So that eventually someone comes along who says somethng that’s true like the men above and now it all sounds so radical and unreasonable in the context of the absolute rot that you’ve taken exposure to and been told it is the only reasonable course. This is how cultural battles are won. It’s insidious and dissembling. And very well meaning folks are thus converted over time. Please consider our advice sister Laura.

  23 hours ago · Edited · Like
• Laura For the record, I did carry my maiden name into my marriage as my middle name. I hated my original middle name, and there was no question when I married my husband (a man quite worthy of my trust, btw) that I would drop my middle name. He is not threatened by that, and should not be. I do not hyphenate, and have no interest in being anyone other than his missus. And yes, I use both names on FB for the very reason Kent stated.
  
  I do not know why I felt the need to share this, except that the conversation has gone on with me as part of the subject, so I thought I would set the record straight.
  
  Also for the record, please do not assume that I get my news solely or primarily from Fox. I was speaking to Steve regarding this particular video, not Fox news in general. I am not a neoconservative or a pseudo-conservative, or whatever other term you would use. I am not a feminist, and have never been, but I take HUGE issue with the statement that Megyn Kelly’s job (or whatever job in whatever field) is an illegitimate job for a woman. What century are you living in?? I suppose that Deborah (the OT prophet), Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Condoleezza Rice, Mother Theresa, Queen Noor, Queens Victoria & Elizabeth, Nikki Haley, Sarah Palin, Jan Brewer, Angela Merkel, Karen Hughes, Joan of Arc, and myriad others (these are just off the top of my head) are not legitimate jobs for women because they are in positions of power over men, and are able to (by virtue of their position) lecture men on right and wrong. Y’all got some ‘splainin’ to do.
  
  I also take exception to the statement that I raised a straw man issue with regard to single Christian woman of marrying age. To assume that they are buying into deceitful feminist ideals as the reason that they are not married is presumptuous in the extreme. I was a single Christian woman for a long time (I married at 34), and I can tell you that it WAS NOT due to my feminist ideas. As if! The dearth of worthy men was a definite factor, but also a factor was that I decided to be content with my life and look forward to whatever God had in store for me, marriage or not. I know a number of single women, spanning a range of decades, and I can tell you that none of them have their heads full of feminist propaganda. None of them are setting Christ aside and living as a god unto themselves, either. They follow hard & fast after Christ, and he is the center of their lives. So again I say, go ahead and explain to them how they are living out of accord with God’s plan for them, and how that why they are not married. You SERIOUSLY think that God’s only plan for us is that we marry and produce children? That is a pretty narrow vision of who He is. You can’t look at a person’s life (any person, not just a woman) and conclude that because some bad thing happened (or some good thing did not happen, i.e. marriage) that there is obviously some sin that caused that. “Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it provides deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair.” (Tim Keller, The Reason for God). Perhaps you need to go back and reread the book of Job. We are a fallen, sinful people. We can do many good things through Christ, and bad things will still happen (or desired good things may not). That is life.
  
  Finally, you all have made some sweeping assumptions about me and others who don’t share your biblical views on women, marriage, etc. One doesn’t have be in your camp to have a Christ centered marriage, or to be fully resting in God’s providence. Thank GOD for that. My husband will tell you that we are happily married, regardless of the fact that I am (apparently) a boisterous woman with opinions who will tell him he is wrong when he is, in fact, wrong. He is a kind, hardworking man of moral character, he is strong & trustworthy, and most importantly, he loves God and endeavors to love me as Christ loves the church. You really can’t ask for more than that. He knew I was outspoken and opinionated before he married me, and somehow that has not been an impediment.

I Don’t Wait Anymore

So beautifully stated. What I would give to have had this perspective in my teens and twenties.

Between The Times | Why Should Christians Read Literature? by Michael Travers

For the Record (Michael Travers): Why Should Christians Read Literature?

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[Editor’s Note: Michael Travers is Professor of English and Associate Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Southeastern. He is author of Encountering God in the Psalms (Kregel, 2003) and co-author (with Richard D. Patterson) of Face to Face With God: Human Images of God in the Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2008). As a disciple of Christ and good literature, and teacher on both at Southeastern, we asked him to write on the topic of reading literature for Christian formation.]

Why should Christians bother reading literature at all? Because reading literature humanizes us—in the best sense of the word. Literature helps us realize the image of God in us in ways that we cannot afford to miss. Consider….

Literature exercises and develops our emotions and imaginations. People write about what they experience and how they respond emotionally and imaginatively to their experiences. As we read good imaginative literature, we begin to see our own experiences and emotions in the larger human context. Which emotions are healthy, which not? Which emotions ought we to cultivate, which should we put to death? In literature, we can see the expressions and consequences of human emotions in real-life situations and can be encouraged or take warning accordingly. It is the same with our imaginations. Reading literature gives us what Kevin Vanhoozer calls “the power of synoptic vision”: through our imaginations responding to the imaginative writings of others, we see the important issues in life, not just the urgent and immediate circumstances around us. Imagination allows us to see the universal and timeless human issues and truths in the particular experiences of the characters in the book we are reading.

Literature speaks to the human condition in which we all find ourselves all the time. As humans, we all share the same human condition. No matter our gender, race, or nationality, we all struggle with sin, experience the emotions of love and hate, give expression to our strongest desires, and we all long for something that this world cannot satisfy—in the end, God. Literature connects us with others who have given effective expression to our common humanity and longings and, while we may not agree with a writer’s worldview, he or she illuminates our common condition in ways that can help us understand our situation better and relate to others outside of our immediate community. In Windows to the World: Literature in Christian Perspective, Leland Ryken helpfully suggests that literature “clarifies the human situation to which the Christian faith speaks.”[1] Likewise, with C. S. Lewis, a Christian can think of literature as one form of “pre-evangelism”: a means to help people ask the important questions—the eternal questions—and which gives us an opportunity to speak the gospel into their lives.

Literature expands us. Reading imaginative literature takes us outside of our own immediate situation. We get to meet other people from other places—even from other times—that we would otherwise never meet. When we read a novel, we don’t just follow a plot line; we become acquainted with more people—some friends, some not so much friends—who hone our humanity. We get to look in on other cultures—oriental as well as occidental, contemporary as well as ancient—and in its turn that experience helps us not to be blinded to the realities of our own culture and time. Again, C. S. Lewis is helpful here. What he says in An Experiment in Criticism is worth quoting at some length: “We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own….”[2] He continues, “in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here [i.e. in reading great literature], as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.”[3] Think a bit about that!

Literature can help us glorify God in our lives. Humans are “wordish creatures.”[4] Only we, of all God’s creatures, use sounds and graphics symbolically to communicate what is not immediately present to our five senses. Only we imagine and create what is not essential to our immediate needs. Only we can appreciate beauty, truth and goodness in their own rights. God made us wordish creatures, and he communicated the gospel to us in words. Even Jesus Christ is given the epithet, “Word made flesh,” and only He communicates the Father to us sinful people. Because literature is a wordish medium, it is in some senses the form of artistic expression that allows us to get closest to our Creator. After all, we are all part of that great Story, and our stories fit into the larger Story. And you can’t tell a story without words.

Why read literature? How can you not? It’s part of our heritage as humans. But we must cultivate it if we are not to lose it again and revert to an earlier age or place where the Word and the word were both darkened. Make your words flesh that the Word made flesh might be glorified.

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[1] Leland Ryken, Windows to the World: Literature in Christian Perspective (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), 34.

[2] C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 137.

[3] Ibid., 141.

[4] Bradley Green, The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life (Crossway, 2010), 104.

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