Falling (fast!)

I have some semi-close friends that I have suddenly realized are straying from God. The allurement of "the in thing" has took them to a place where it no longer affects them to tell people they hate their parents, or use God's name in vain, or curse someone. And yes, I'm talking in the conservative Mennonite circles too! These things are happening in our Christian day schools, behind teachers backs, behind parents backs, and even a-lot is hidden from us who aren't so popular. I mean, I'd probably have a heart-attack if I saw everything these people are into. I'm just thankful for the godly parents God gave me, taught me the right from the wrong; parents I can confide in and not be afraid of giving them my whole heart. This is where most of this comes down to- too many children do not have the parents they need- when they need them most- too many Daddy's aren't there for the 4 year old when he wants to play tractor, or when the 7 year old wants to tell about his exciting day at school- Daddy is too involved in his work, maybe it's even his Sunday School lesson. And then comes the 12 year old who is quiet around Dad, because his problems wouldn't matter much to Dad anyway, because Dad doesn't really care. And then "Jonny's" friends talk about Harry Potter books/movies (& other related material), they cuss, they talk bad about their authority, deliberately disobey authority. And what does Jonny think? I wasn't good enough to have Dad's attention, so I need to do something that'll get SOMEONE'S attention! So he starts swearing, watching movies that shouldn't ever be watched, maybe even getting into porn... Anything, that'll grab his friends attention. 

Children yearn for attention, Dad's attention, Mom's attention, adult attention, period. 

I want to say there may be a glimmer of hope for the ones already into this stuff, but it's dimming fast, I fear. Something needs to happen- soon!

it's a Wonderful Day!

Well, I must say- it was a very wonderful day! This was the first time Ernest Witmer came to church since Rachel died in 2012... The accident happened in November- 2 months after they had come to show us all the work they are doing out there- I didn't think it'd be quite the emotional time it was, but yeah, it was great having him there!! I love his optimistic outlook on life- and the picture of the mountain lion with LA in the background and him saying, "I do want to go to Heaven to be with Rachel, but I don't think I want to go this way..." Such an inspiration to me- even when I haven't experienced even close to what he has- or even a major "Mt. St. Helen's Explosion" like he talked about... Well, we've all had those (I believe)- those times when life just got us down, felt like nothing but awful things were happening. And foresight only showed dry, deserted(ness), but what we can't see is under that dry, flaky ash- is the new life beginning to come forth- a resurrection of the new life that is about to happen in us. If we keep our hearts open and willing to receive everything God wants for us. All in all, Ernest & the family have had a big impact on my life whether they knew it or not!!

And by the way- I love this picture of LA... in the dark!! ;)

the Blame Game

I've been realizing recently that many people I know blame others for their problems- even when it's very obvious it's their own problem. 

I was talking with a good friend of mine this past weekend and she was telling me how a friend of both of ours was blaming her for an issue that arose between between the two of them- when really the whole problem is the in the heart of the other person.

Did you ever think about how easy it is to satisfy our conscience by saying it's the other person's problem? Even when we know that the issue lies with us, our thoughts, and what is hidden among the dark corners of our hearts. But then maybe that might start a new problem... Literally what you are doing is lying to yourself, so you feel good about yourself. 

I've also been amazed at how people can lie and not really feel bad about it, they just get use to it and so they can hide everything- the easiest way out- is to lie. In my opinion, in which I believe very strongly, is that you are only creating a bigger problem when you lie about something.

I do not have any answers at the moment to fix these problems other than surrendering your whole life to Christ and clinging to Him for help, but it was just something I had been thinking about the past several days and decided to jot down...

21st Century Kids

For some of y'all this isn't the first time you've heard me say this...

Our world... the 21st century... video games... movies... ok, I don't really have anything wrong with a mild case of any of those... but I'm starting to realize where this kind of stuff takes a person... like our neighbor kids. Andrew is freaked out of a chicken following him... a donkey might bite... ok what the world are you thinking?! Yah a donkey can bite- if you stick your hand in his mouth, but he won't walk up to you and bite! And a chicken! Its not like they're a close relative of Tyrannosaurus rex!! (If at all! ;)) Its a chicken!! A scared bird... a bird scared of birds smaller than themselves... they can't possibly harm a human!! And then the girls... why can't they play, they are the mom and the doll's the newborn, at home? Why can't they have a real 'grown-up' purse, a 'cell-phone'? And pretend they are going shopping with their best friend? Instead peer pressure makes them play with Barbie dolls and everything else the world has to offer... the horror movies... the make believe... ok, maybe not even half of this made sense... just some of my musings the last couple days... I just really have to wonder what kids would do without a iPod or a phone? No YouTube... no angry birds... (or is that outdated too?!) Do these kids even know what card games are?! Just wondering! :)