As I wrap up my month of November and the writing competition of NanoWrimo, first one has been quite an experience let me tell you. Anyway, I have been honored to have my blog taken over once again this time by my friend with a voice like the angels, Jordan Fortenboher. Jordan is a wife, soon-to-be-mom, blogger, and singer-songwriter. Her goal is to share hope with the world by writing honestly about her struggle with anxiety and how God is carrying her through it. You can read more of her writing or check out her music (including her latest album!) at http://jordanforty.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV) Sometimes, really hard things happen. Over and over, we see both worldwide and personal tragedies, struggles, and hardships. It can be easy to think life is cruel, especially in seasons when it seems like we deal with trial after trial after trial. Those difficult seasons are often when we wrestle with deep tensions: Is God really good? Why do bad things happen? Is God really Sovereign? Is He intervening, even when it doesn’t look like He is? In the middle of my own struggles, I’ve found myself wrestling with those questions and begging God to reveal why He would allow bad things to happen. And the verse above, Romans 8:28, was starting to bother […]

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The last two Wednesday night’s at Bible Study, Mrs. Laurel has been talking about marriage. That is a weird topic for someone like me, who is divorced and single. I do hope to be remarried one day though, so I went and took plenty of notes. This whole topic is what jumped out at me last night. A LOT of marriages end because someone “Isn’t happy.”  Well, guess what? You weren’t created to be happy anyway!  Mrs. Laurel said, “Happiness is a by-product of what God created us to BE, not DO. When you make happiness your purpose, you don’t feel like it’s enough once you reach it.” Happiness is based on circumstances. That’s why it doesn’t last. It can go away quickly. For example, maybe you want a new rug for your home, or new shoes, or to be a certain weight, or to have your hair a certain way, or spicy Chic-Fil-A nuggets, or the latest tech gadget…. you just KNOW you’ll be happy when that happens. Right? Wrong! Once you get whatever it is you think will make you happy, you almost immediately start thinking about the next thing that will make you happy. What we should be striving for is JOY! Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Joy is actually already inside of you if you are a Christ follower. It’s not one of the things that God gives to certain people. Gifts and fruits of the Spirit are two different things. In my Christine Caine devotional book “Living Life […]

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When will all the hate stop and the praying for healing begin?

It seems like every day in every city in America there is tragedy as the breaking headline. Our country has become so racially divided that there seems to no longer be any gray. Media outlets and now even your home based bloggers take to the internet to sensationalize a hurting nation. We see headlines like “Charleston church shooting: Without gun control, racism will keep killing black people” and “Obama joins Twitter. Racism quickly follows.” and even more ridiculous headlines than that.

Now I don’t want to be misunderstood, are there racial tensions in this country? Absolutely. Does it have anything to do with gun control, the President, the economy, our school systems and whatever flavor of the week is being sold to justify it? No!

Our schools are full of children that are being raised by the teachers not their parents. Grandparents fill in when the parents disappear on their own accord, are in jail or worse. The teachers are limited by lawyers, unions and the government where they simply teach to the test rather than educate our youth. While they are babysitting our next generation, our current generation is falling apart.

Every time something happens, people are quick to play judge, jury and at times executioner. We label tragedies as ‘hate crimes’ or racist’ without knowing the full story. Just this morning I wept as I read the hate mongering headlines and comments about the shooting in Charleston last night.

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