Saturday Already?

I woke up around 2 a.m., attended to what woke me up. Crawled back into bed, realized quickly that sleep was not going to come easily. Struggled to get comfy, turned on my bedside lamp and opened my book. Right now I’m reading A View Across the Rooftops by Suzanne Kelman. It’s a story about the Nazi occupation of Holland, their brutal extinction of the Jews in Amsterdam, and the end of WWII. It’s not an easy story to read, but it is well worth the effort.

I found I was becoming more and more restless, however, and finally had to get up around 4 a.m. I have restless leg syndrome, and it’s usually under good control due to the advice I received on Facebook from many friends. But this time? Not any relief. I finally resorted to an excellent standby–veterinarian horse liniment! The old gray mare is feeling less jumpy 🙂

I get mine at the tractor supply. My chiropractor suggested it some years ago, and it truly is helpful.

However, I’m awake now. Wide awake. It’s 5:30 a.m. and I’ve been awake since 3:30 or so, finally got up at 4 a.m. I wonder what the day will bring. Brain fog will set in early, I think!

Anyway, thinking about some things. I had a delightful day yesterday. It was what I’ve begun to call my Teaching Day at church. At 11 a.m. I have a women’s Bible study group. We had some new faces there yesterday. We had our first session in the book of Hebrews, and boy, am I ever loving it already! A friend suggested a book by Nancy Guthrie, Hoping for Something Better. I don’t usually like to teach from any book but the Bible, but this book is outstanding. I am definitely using the Bible as the main focus for study, but Guthrie has done an outstanding job of breaking down the book of Hebrews into clear and simple terms.

Yesterday, we looked at the theme of the book of Hebrews, established in chapter one, verse one: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” The very first word in the book is the theme of the book. God is the center of the whole Bible.

I’m blogging the book of John right now, and it’s very easy to tie it to the study in Hebrews. John is all about Jesus, the Son of God. Let me tell you, these studies are life-changing!

I go from the Bible study group to my homeschool co-op history class. A great bunch of young people, they are interested and they participate! Can you imagine, we actually have FUN in history class? Right now we’re looking at some of the ways God intervened in the efforts of the Pilgrims to leave Holland and journey for 66 storm-filled days in a ship that was approximately the length of a volleyball court. It was tossed in those storms like a cork, up one gigantic wave and down another. Seasickness was terrible and unavoidable. They didn’t have Dramamine back then 🙂 There are stories of the way God both took life and preserved life.

When the Mayflower finally dropped anchor near what is now Provincetown, the first thing they did was thank God for protecting them during that miserable voyage. Then they set about to write a short document about how a “civil body politic” could be governed by rules agreed upon by all of them. The Mayflower Compact was the first written constitution, if you will, in the New World. It was about 150 years ahead of America’s Constitution.

I was curious about that wording, “body politic,” so of course I did some research. Simply stated, a “civil body politic” is a group of citizens acting together as a law making body.

Being a word nerd, I like to go to etymonline.com to learn the origin of words. Here’s the breakdown of the word politic: early 15c., “pertaining to public affairs,” from Middle French politique “political” (14c.) and directly from Latin politicus “of citizens or the state, civil, civic,” from Greek politikos “of citizens, pertaining to the state and its administration; pertaining to public life,” from polites “citizen,” from polis “city” (see polis). Replaced in most adjectival senses by political. From mid-15c. as “prudent, judicious.”

I wonder what those Pilgrims from 400 years ago would think of politics in America today. Probably not much. They prayed about everything, seeking God’s leading. Most of today’s politicians don’t spend a whole lot of time in prayer unless it makes them look good to their constituents. How do I know that? Well, people who walk with God and seek Him daily are not typified by lying.

Okay, that’s enough. I’m feeling a bit sleepy!

Friday Free-fall

I have decided I’m not going to read any morepolitically -oriented stuff on Facebook for a while.  It just raises my blood pressure. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to refrain, because I’m passionate about my beliefs. Maybe I should just stay away from the yellow journalism kinds of posts that aren’t verified with anyone I trust. Those I do NOT trust would be Snopes and any of the MSM.  You know you’re getting highly left-slanted news. Of course, there are those on the right who are just as guilty of posting highly emotional, questionable “news” that is designed to tempt you to share it with all your friends, thereby circulating stuff that has very little verification behind it.

Come on, folks. I think we all agree that 2016 was an awful election year, with endless accusations and counter-accusations.  I’m glad that’s over, but now I wish both sides would just shut up and go about the business of making the best of things.  I’m sick of the whining of the left.  I’m embarrassed by the unkindness of some on the right.  Let the rancor and animosity die. It’s totally not productive.

Yes, for sure I will be glad when Barry’s face doesn’t dominate everything completely.  Yes, I’m sick of his arrogance and dishonesty.  After all, they’re off on another multi-million dollar vacation during a time of incredible danger in the world.  As usual, all he’s saying while people are dying is “FORE!”

I saw something the other day about Michelle running for President in 2020.  God help us. A more entitled, angry, and arrogant person couldn’t be found?  It has to be Michelle? Poor woman would have to start waking up in a house built by slaves all over again.  Tsk.

Okay, does anyone really think I can keep my resolve to stay away from politics?  Really?

No?  Me neither.

 

A Thought for Today

“Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerates, their political character must soon follow.”
― Elias Boudinot

History has shown this statement to be true over and over again.  So instead of calling our leaders ugly names, instead of becoming way less than Christ-like in our words and attitudes about the present sad offering of Presidential candidates, we need to do some self-examination.

Was there “good government” in your family? Were you grounded in God’s Word?  Were you taught manners, respect, the value of hard work, and the good stewardship of your finances? Were you taught to be decent toward others, even those with whom you disagree?

No family is perfect, but we do tend to pass on to our children what we learned growing up.

So if you were allowed to set your own boundaries as a child; if you were permitted to throw tantrums, if your parents were obedient to your every whim, then that’s most likely what you are passing on to your children.

Or, if there were things you felt were unfair when you were growing up, you’re probably not requiring that thing of your own children.That philosophy teaches them pretty quickly that if there’s something they don’t like, then they shouldn’t have to do it.

I’m not completely sure when good government in the home fell apart in America. Some would point us back to the permissive parenting styles of child psychologists like Dr. Benjamin Spock. His book does seem to have been something of a landmark in parenting practices.

I never read it. Neither did my parents.

I’m about to make a very general statement here that will probably get me into a lot of trouble, but here goes:

If you came from an orderly, Christ-centered,  well-governed home, you’re probably not out there with screaming, looting, rioting, angry people who know no other way to express themselves and wouldn’t care if they did.

Government, as Hillary believes it should, must NOT be the primary molder and shaper of our children. No government ever gave birth to a baby. Parents conceive babies together in an act of mutual love and caring, and no government should ever have the right to snatch that baby and leave the parents with nothing more than a guardianship role to play in the child’s life.

In America, government was designed to serve and protect, not to  control and supervise us in the smallest details of our lives.

When that balance of power shifts, and government becomes primary in influencing families and children, then any nation is in deep trouble.

America is no exception.

 

A Little Encouragement

Psalm 39:1-3. “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”

The bridle in this verse is like a muzzle you would put on a dog to keep it from barking.

If we can muzzle our mouths so that we don’t sin with our words, we will also reduce the likelihood of sinning in other ways.  The tongue is such an unruly member, and has created worlds of hurt.Even when we are speaking truth, we need to be careful not to sin. Truth can be spoken with malice, and with the intent to do harm.

In this awful political season here in America, words have filled the airways, print journalism, and cyberspace. Words have been used to slander, to accuse, to participate in petty name-calling. It’s shameful.  I will be SO glad when it’s over, although no matter which candidate wins, I don’t imagine the carping and complaining will stop.

Christians  need to be careful, even when our hearts burn within us, that when we speak, we speak with both grace and truth.  There is much in this campaign to stir up my own desire to come roaring out of my corner and set everything straight, believe me.

Sometimes, though, it is better to put a muzzle on my mouth so that I avoid sinning.

Proverbs 20:1 says that the heart of the king (ruler, leaders) is in the hand of God, and He can turn that heart wherever He chooses.

Trust that. God is not at the mercy of politicians.

Not My Normal Post

This is way out of my normal topics here on this blog.  I’ve debated about whether or not to do it, and I hope I won’t be sorry.  I will tell you ahead of time that I will not allow any comments that are vulgar, profane, or hateful.  You may disagree, and that’s fine.  Just please be civil.

Which is part of my issue this morning.  Mr. Trump is one of the most uncivil “political” candidates ever to debase the process of electing an American President.  He’s a bully, and I am truly tired of his constant name-calling. He’s especially unkind to Jeb Bush, who is not my favorite candidate by a long shot. Still, there is no excuse for the vitriol that Trump spews against him and his family whenever he gets the opportunity–or, rather, MAKES the opportunity.  He’s rude.  He interrupts and then won’t concede the platform.

Do we really want a President who has made his billions in real estate?  Who owns the land upon which casinos practice their trade?  Don’t we understand that all sorts of evil attaches to casinos?  Mr. Trump is no Sunday school teacher, not that  the President needs to be one.

He has made some weak claims to Christianity, but when he tried to use a biblical reference at Liberty University, he clearly didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.  He told an interviewer that he doesn’t need to ask forgiveness;  if he ever “makes a mistake,” he just fixes it.  Apparently, this is a man who, in his own eyes, does no wrong. I think that’s dangerous. We’ve already suffered nearly eight years with an arrogant, lawless President who uses his pen and his phone to get his way, regardless of our Constitution. Why do we think Trump would be any different?

I am saddened that so many believers are supporting a megalomaniac who has no sense of his own wrongdoing.

So why is he popular?  That’s pretty easy.  He’s pushing the buttons that most true conservatives respond to. We don’t want to be invaded by illegal immigrants.  We don’t want ISIS  here. We don’t want more spending, more taxes, more entitlements. We want a strong military that is not hampered by silly rules about having to get permission to shoot when the enemy is in the crosshairs.   Trump is promising to make America great again, and that appeals to all of us who remember when everyone in the world wanted to come here because here, they could be free and safe from tyranny.

And they could get good medical care without waiting for years to have necessary surgeries.

Those were the good old days.

My personal opinion is that Mr. Trump would be just as guilty as Obama has been of flouting Congress, ignoring the rule of law and doing exactly as he pleases to achieve his goals.  Obama promised us hope and change, and he didn’t try to hide that he wanted to “fundamentally change America.”  He’s achieved a lot of that. Trump is promising grandiose things as well.  Making America great again sounds wonderful, but Trump is used to doing whatever he wants, with no restraint.

I don’t want that kind of President.  I don’t want a man who shows no respect for his fellow candidates, who bullies and calls names and tells them to be quiet.

You know, I went looking for a video of Trump calling Bush names.  Do you know what came  up on Google when I typed that into the search bar?  Just the opposite!  A whole page of “Bush Attacks Trump” articles.  So I tried it with different words, and got pretty much the same results.

I think that’s just a little bit strange.