ON ABORTION

"You created my inmost being; you knit
me together in my mother's womb. ... I
am fearfully and wonderfully made."
(Psalm 139:13-14a)

Just prior to the elections, I posted a link to an article on my blog, and I also posted it on the agent bulletin board of my virtual job. It led to an interesting debate on abortion.

I had called my bulletin board post FOOD FOR THOUGHT, and many thoughts were posted that ranged all the way from:

"As to abortion...you have the right to NOT get pregnant...but the baby has no rights at all. I wish some of you could actually watch a full term baby being killed. This is a living human being. It feels pain, has a heart beat and a soul. Just cause it hasn't breathed it's first breath outside the womb does not make it nothing,"

to the thoughts expressed by a pastor's wife who asked her husband,

"If our beautiful daughter was raped by a serial killer, would you advise her to carry the baby or get an abortion? if she got an abortion would God forgive her or doom her to hell?. . . everything changes when the light shines on you personally. . . just a little food for thought."

Well, I do acknowledge that rape or incest is a horrendous thing, and that yes, God does forgive us for any and all sins we truly repent of and ask for forgiveness for, and that by His grace "the light has not shined on me personally," but I still have a question. What does all that have to do with the unborn child?

It's not the baby's fault. He or she is an innocent who had no say in the matter. So how does the terrible circumstance of the conception make the murder right? I've never been able to figure that one out.

FROM THE MOUTH OF A CHILD

Saw this on a friend's blog, and today being Election Day, I decided to put it on my blog too. It started my day off with a good chuckle. And yes, I AM going to vote!

ARE YOU GOING TO VOTE ON ELECTION DAY?

To vote or not to vote has been a real dilemma for me this year since I really don't care for either candidate, but then I read this article, which left me wondering how can I not vote.

I know that very few people read my blog, but if you do read this post, please, please read the article by clicking on this link. This is the one time in my life I wish I could reach more people.

COOL QUOTE

Today I came across this really cool quote taken from one of C. H. Spurgeon's sermons, How to Read the Bible. At least I think it is cool, because it showed me a whole new perspective I had never considered before.

"As I sat last year under a widespreading beech, admiring that most wonderful of trees, I thought to myself, I do not think half as much of this beech tree as the squirrel does. I see him leap from bough to bough, and I feel sure that he dearly values the old beech tree, because he has his home somewhere inside it in a hollow place, these branches are his shelter, and those beech-nuts are his food. He lives upon the tree. It is his world, his playground, his granary, his home; indeed, it is everything to him, and it is not so to me, for I find my rest and food elsewhere. With God's Word it is well for us to be like squirrels, living in it and living on it. Let us exercise our minds by leaping from bough to bough of it, find our rest and food in it, and make it our all in all. We shall be the people that get the profit out of it if we make it to be our food, our medicine, our treasury, our armory, our rest, our delight. May the Holy Ghost lead us to do this and make the Word thus precious to our souls."

Have any of you ever thought of it this way?

WINTLEY PHIPPS -- JUST THE BLACK NOTES

I had never heard of Wintley Phipps before receiving an e-mail forward from a friend with this video clip of Amazing Grace - Just the Black Notes. Wow!



Then I found this other clip, with an awesome testimony at the beginning, and wanted to share it too. I have definitely become a Wintley Phipps fan. Enjoy and be blessed!

TEARY MONDAY...

...but in a good way.

Downloaded some music from a link on Kat's blog






Then I read a post on Angie's blog that could melt the stoniest heart.

Yes, a teary, but very blessed start to a Monday morning. If I could but love the way these ladies do.

MUCH TO PONDER

A few posts ago I wrote about how convicted I was feeling after reading Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson, followed by two very thought provoking blog posts by Annie and Kat. Well now I've just finished reading another book that's left me with much to ponder.

The book is entitled Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live, by Will and Lisa Samson. It talks about living justly in an unjust world, having the eyes of Jesus and the heart of God, caring for the needy and those left out, loving our neighbors in a hands-on, life changing way. In the author (Will's) words, "It's hard to convince the world that Jesus cares when we don't."

Much as I hate to admit it, I've never really loved in a hands-on way, I don't think. The scales tip towards me-centeredness rather than Christ centeredness when it comes to acting justly. Truth be told, I tend to hide behind the business of my life, and when there is time to spare, am more concerned about my comfort than giving the gift of my presence to the needy.

Though I'm free with my resources, that's certainly not true of my time, and until recently I believed this was enough. Now I have an awful lot spinning around my brain and my heart.

A NEW GENRE

Just have to brag on my 9-year-old granddaughter, Kaitlyn, who gave me this masterpiece she created at camp. It was painted in shaving cream. How's that for a new genre?

Proud grandma just bought a frame for it and is about to hang it in a prominent spot.

SWEET - SOUR - SWEET

Got to my 7:00 AM Bible study on time for a change - SWEET

Prepared and delivered a gourmet meal to an ailing senior - Double SWEET

Needed $2 to pay for an interlibrary book I had ordered, and didn't have any cash. Drove to the ATM and rolled down my window to make the transaction. Started to roll the window back up and something snapped. Couldn't roll it up or down - SOUR

Heavy rain in the forecast, window wide open. Drove to the dealership for a fix. Needed a new window regulator to the tune of $325 - Mouth Puckering SOUR

Went to pick up an expensive prescription and discovered I had a mysterious $98 credit - SWEET, SWEET, SWEET!

G-GG AND THE BEANSTALK

Well it's not really a beanstalk like in the fairy tale. It's actually a tomato plant that hasn't stopped growing, and now I'm having to stand on a ladder to reach the top of it.

This is really an against all odds story, because from the day these plants were seedlings, they have been buffeted by storms. My daughter laughed at me when in the midst of one I ran out to the balcony and secured a branch the wind was about to snap.

So why this obsession with the survival and wellbeing of these plants? Well, in a way I can't quite put my finger on, they seem to mirror my life. Sort of an illustration of one of the six word memoirs I posted a while back, Bop Bag Keeps Bouncing Back Up. When I see what they have become, despite the obstacles along the way, it gives me great hope and fills my heart with peace.

Can anyone understand what I'm trying to say? Can anyone relate?