Shutting down this blog

I just wanted to let you know that I am shutting down this blog and consolidating it with my Mom's Life blog, which is a fairly new blog, but is my new online home for posts about being a working mom, a woman trying to live my life with Christ as well as I can, a homeschooling mom and, most of all, a Christ-follower.  Some of the posts will still be the same outside-the-box musings to which you've grown accustomed.

I appreciate all those who've followed the sporadic posts on this blog and I hope you'll follow me at Mom's Life.  I'm hoping that this move will allow me to post more frequently.  With my business blog and trying to be active in the Indie Beauty Social Network (along with teaching, business, child-rearing, husband-training, etc.), managing two blogs with basically the same focus is a bit much.  My goal is to get all the posts (thankfully, there aren't many) moved over this weekend and I'll be shutting down this blog Sunday night or first thing Monday morning.

Related articles

• Random Musings (sarassoapsnsuch.blogspot.com)
• Solving The Problem Of Division In The Church (pastorpaulvbsblog.blogspot.com)

Jesus Died...

I originally posted this on Facebook, but in light of all the hateful language I'm hearing lately on Twitter and Facebook from my fellow "Christians," I think it needs a broader audience.

For me.  For you.  For that neighbor who's very devoutly religious.  For the neighbor who's athiest.  For the Christ-follower.  For the Jew.  For the Muslim, the Buddhist, the Shintoist, the Hindu, the Wiccan, the Satanist and the Voodoo witch doctor.

Jesus died for the rich, the poor, the worker, the unemployed, the well-housed and the homeless.  Jesus died for the drug addict.  For the alcoholic.  For the prostitute.  For the pimp.  For the john.  For the mentally disabled.  For the mentally retarded.  For the welfare parent.  For the grieving parent.  For the foster parent and the adopted parents.

Jesus died for the young.  For the old.  For everyone in the middle.  For the female.  For the male.  For the husband.  For the wife.  For the parents.  For the babies.

Jesus died for White people.  And Black people.  And for Native Americans, Middle Easterners, Asians, Hispanics and the millions of people who don't quite fit into any of these categories.

Jesus died for Republicans.  For Democrats.  For Libertarians.  For Socialists.  For Communists.  For Independents.

Jesus died for the innocent.  And for the guilty.  Jesus died for the criminal in prison.  Jesus died for the criminal out on the streets.  Jesus died for the criminal any of us could be were it not for the grace of God.  

Did I forget anyone for whom Jesus died?  Yes, Jesus died for us all.

And praise God, Jesus went through Hell for me so even on my darkest, most frustrating days, he knows what I'm going through.

And double praise the LORD God, Jesus rose again so that I - and ALL those I mentioned who choose to follow him - can have eternal life!

Amen.

Related articles

• Why Jesus Came To Die: Reason #7 (sandhillsonline.org)
• How did Jesus make us closer to God (wiki.answers.com)
• "Can Jesus come over for lunch sometime?" - Lauren (4) (ptl2010.wordpress.com)

Who's Responsible?

The world is reeling from the recent disasters in Japan - a 9.0 earthquake offshore, followed by a 23-foot tsunami, topped off by pretty rough aftershocks, iced (rather literally) by sub-freezing temperatures chilling the thousands of thousands of newly homeless people.  Take those mind-boggling crises and top them off with nuclear power plants that are in danger of meltdown, which would release radioactive fumes into the surrounding areas.  I won't ask what more can go wrong for these people; I'm afraid something else would happen.

I read an article today about the cumulative disasters that are plaguing the Japanese people.  The article quoted many people, including the governor of Tokyo.  "Shintaro Ishihara, told reporters Monday that the disaster was "punishment from heaven" because Japanese have become greedy" (courtesy MSNBC.com).  I know that Japan is not a heavily Christian nation, but it seems interesting that the recent rash of disasters is attributed to "punishment from heaven."  That made me start thinking about God's role in all this mess.


Honestly, I know that God is over all the heavens and the Earth, that God could have easily stopped the sequence of events that led to the earthquake and resulting tsunami.  I don't know why God didn't, and perhaps it's not for me to know.  Have the Japanese been living a greedy, materialistic lifestyle, as Ishihara claims?  Again, I have no idea, so I won't presume to judge.  Why does this idea make me so uncomfortable?


While I can't speak for the greed or lack thereof of Japan, I can speak to the greed of most Americans.  We want and want and want.  We are the richest country in the world and tend to horde so many of our resources for ourselves.  I suspect that my discomfort stems from the knowledge that we in America have enough of our own sins to make me aware that if God so chooses and if God truly does cause disasters as punishment, then we're potentially doomed.


But wait...  The Chinese character for "crisis" is also the one for "opportunity," and moments of God's grace are already appearing.  The news is on as I type this, and the meteorologist gave the weather for Japan.  The bad news is, it's snowing and just above freezing in the northern part of the country - the part hardest hit.  The good news is, a low front has moved just offshore and the wind is pushing any radiation out to sea instead of inland.  The US is one of three countries that are stepping up to offer a significant amount of assistance to Japan.  We get to step out of our $3.55-$5.50/gal-inspired pity parties and remove our focus from our high unemployment numbers and think instead of these people who are recovering from the unimaginable - no homes, no food, no shelter, lost/missing loved ones...  The danger of radiation poisoning and very cold temperatures just top off the misery.  


Let's take this crisis and turn it into opportunity - and opportunity to pray, serve and love.  Let's bury old prejudices from over 60 years ago and find ways to minister to these suffering people.  It doesn't matter what our history with the Japanese is.  It doesn't matter the shape of their eyes, the color of their skin or the language they speak.  It's about a people who God loves and to whom we are supposed to show love as well.  They need to feel this love, though - both in our actions and our words.  Let's do it!