3rd Try

This my third, for lack of a better word, "attempt" on writing this post. I have discarded two drafts that just couldn't be complete. So much has gone on in our personal lives and in society here lately, it is has been difficult to articulate what God has put on my heart.

At home:

• The first week of school is over.
• The week before and of the first week of school, I worked several days past my children's bed times and even a Saturday (that is after starting to prep back in March!). **
• I stopped pumping for my son (still nursing at wake up and before bed).
• I committed to try the 21 Day Fix - Extreme with Shakeology (I start September 8). **
• I want to lose weight, get in shape, and change my health for the better.
• We took a trip to Galveston as a family. **
• My husband and I agreed to revamp our family by starting to pray together. **
• My dad, who lives with us, started a job.
• I started an in-depth Bible study on the Book of Revelation (if I do all of it, I will finish in the Spring of 2017!). **

That is to just name a few of the key points. Those with ** I will go more in-depth on here shortly.

Then, as a nation, these are some of the headlines:

• Videos have come out that indicate that Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts. **
• Several officers have been killed, assassinated, simply because of the uniform they put on every morning. One was in my area just a few days ago. **
• Donald Trump is still doing good in the polls, the 2016 Presidential Election is going to be interesting.
• I haven't decided who I am voting for, but I do know a few that I do not want to vote for.
• The stock market has been shaky and the economy in China seems to be going down hill.
• The Christian movie, Warroom, by the Kendrick Brothers was released in theater's and has been a box office hit! **
• And apparently Miley Cyrus dressed in a questionable manner at an award's show.

I throw that last one in because my Facebook feed was crammed with that tidbit, a disturbed young woman was wearing (really not wearing) something outrageous. That young lady needs prayers, not the media spot light.

Now let me go deeper with what is above.

Prayer

My husband and I have some heart felt conversations here lately about the state of our marriage. Nothing is going wrong, but we both felt that we could have a better relationship, a better bond. One thing we realized that needed work was our prayer life. Both of are praying believers. But other than the dinner blessing we have not really ever prayed together unless it was "dire" or "urgent." And while God has blessed us, we realized we have not always prayed over things - small, yes. But some of the bigger decisions in our life, we didn't pause to pray.

That stopped last week. My husband sends me a daily (or almost daily) prayer that he is praying over me. I am taking the time to pray more throughout my day. The dinner blessings are continuing. And we are freely discussing everything with each other so we know what to pray on in our own time.

With the prayer topic is the movie War Room. We are going to see the movie this Friday with two other couples that we know, and respect. Watching the preview alone has me in tears. I cannot wait to watch it. I honestly believe that prayer changes lives and that God answers prayers. And I love that the Kendrick brother's are putting out great movies that are family friendly, and relevant to life. It is refreshing and encouraging.

21

Next week I start a program to get in my best shape ever. I have attempted more than a few times to do so, and twice in fact I ended up pregnant in the middle of my endeavors. My husband's cousin is a coach for the program and I have joined her (via Facebook) on a group to help with accountability. Any time you do something, having people that are encouraging and supportive around you increases your chances of success. I like that this program is based on the idea that it takes 21 days to develop (or break) a habit. After this I hope to be in better shape, and eat better/cleaner.

Family Time

We went to Galveston this past weekend. It was the first weekend in a while that we didn't have anything scheduled and we were spontaneous. The beach was fun, or as fun as sand in every crevice can be. I am not a beach person, at all. But my children enjoyed the experience and we had a marvelous time. After almost two hours at the beach we gathered up and had dinner at the Rainforest Café. Dinner was great and the experience was fantastic. It was enjoyable to just enjoy each other's company.

Revelation

The Book of Revelation is my favorite book in the Bible. As a non-believer  it scared me, as a believer it gives me hope and promise. A few years ago my Assistant Pastor did a series study on it and I absolutely loved it. I never missed a sermon, and I took detailed notes, really detailed notes. So detailed that I typed up the notes and have a printed copy on my bookshelf.

This class that I am in will take four semester's to complete. There is homework, and it is challenging. The enemy is currently using my children to keep me from it, so I am revising my strategy. Since I have wanted to do it in the morning, I have been getting up between 5 and 5:20 Monday through Friday. Well, without fail, my children have been waking from 5:30 to 6:00, instead of after 6:00 like they "normally" do. Tonight, after the kids are in bed, I have showered, and house work is complete I am going to do all as much of my homework that I can. Including my business courses that I am taking for work. I have learned, just like everything else, that if it is important you will make time for it. I will sacrifice a little time at night to get things done.

And finally...

Life

Lives matter. As Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said, we need to drop the qualifier (black, white, all) and face fact the lives matter.

He said the above in regards to Deputy Darren Goforth who was assassinated by a gentleman who apparently did not appreciate the profession of Mr. Goforth. The rhetoric around the nation is that cops are out to kill the black community. This is very distressing to me for many reasons.

One, I have family that are part black and I hate that they could think this. But the leaders of the black community (or at least those in the spot light) are propagating this message. And anytime someone who is black dies at the hands of anyone white it is considered to be fueled by race. While this could be true some of the time, it can't be true all of the time.

Two this bothers me because I know people who are officers. They are good people and now they have to go out everyday wondering if they could be the next headline if the person they pull over does something that causes them fear and they react. Not only that, what about the family of the officers? I can not even begin to imagine the stress of the spouses and children. They wake up every day knowing that their loved one is going out into a world that believes they are races and wanting to kill for sport. The damaging rhetoric needs to stop.

If you are not doing anything wrong you have no reason to fear the authorities. I get it, there are rotten apples, but that is true for any profession. And if you have met/dealt with that rotten apple, I am sorry that you had that experience. But that one person is not a reflection of the entire profession. Just like Jared from Subway does mean all spokesmen are scum, or that all teachers are out to molest children. Again, everyone can make mistakes but those mistakes should not condemn an entire profession.

On the topic of life, there is the monstraucity known as Planned Parenthood. At least seven videos have come out showing different individuals discussing how much money can be acquired by selling the parts from babies who have been aborted.

I have watched every video. I have wanted to puke, cry and punch walls, just to name a few of the emotions that have stormed my heart. I was blessed to conceive rather easily two wonderful little loves, despite being told that I would require medical assistance to even conceive. My sweet sister in loves had some struggles but between them and myself we have given my parent in love's five beautiful grandbabies. The struggle to conceive goes outside my family. I have too many friends who have struggled. And it breaks my heart that some women without thought abort the living life in them. Now, I do get that some women feel they have no choice. A teacher friend of mine has had conversations with students (and other grown women) who felt they had no choice because of a boyfriend/husband or their family. And my heart breaks for those women.

The buzz about these video's seems to be dying down nationally (for a while the mainstream media tried to ignore the videos), and while I hate watching them, I hope more come out to keep the conversation front and center. Several leaders in the spotlight have taken steps to combat this evil. Investigations and charges have been started. But more needs to be done. The church needs to take charge of the conversation. We need to let young women know that they will not be condemned but will be helped. Somewhere, and I can't remember where, but somewhere in the past few weeks I read something that resonated within me. Jesus came from an unwed mother. Mary was engaged yes, but they had not finalized everything. And everyone knew it! That stigma had to sting her the rest of her life, even though it was a gift from God. Life is not a mistake, so while it might break hearts if a young woman gets pregnant, God does not make mistakes. The young women who feel that abortion is their only option need to know that there are natural consequences but that the baby they carry has a purpose, that God has a plan for that unborn life and for them. It won't be easy - but things worth having are generally never easy.