God, the proud Father

  Have you ever considered the fact that God might be proud of you? If you haven't, it was new thought to me also. I spent most of my life believing that God didn't love me, nor even really liked me, so the idea that He may be proud of me is way out there beyond anything I ever considered.

  It is a good feeling when someone tells you they are proud of you. Most of us probably don't hear it enough, but imagine God being proud of you..... that would transcend any human ever being proud of us.

  I heard a song this morning on my way to work that I have heard countless times over the years, but it got me thinking along these lines:

Have you ever watched a daddy
As he watched his little boy
When he would say Daddy's name for the very first time
How his eyes would feel with joy
Have you ever watched that daddy 
Watch his little boy
Ride his bike for the very first time
He'd proudly say, "hey that's my boy."

Have you ever watched a mama
As her eyes would fill with tears
When her little girl would say "Mamma I love you,
You're the bestest mama in the world"
Have you ever watched a mamma
As she watched her little girl
Play the piano for the very first time
She'd proudly say, "hey that's my girl."

Now we have a Heavenly Father
Who loves us even more
He watched over all His children
As they face their earthly toils
And I believe He smiles with pride
Every time we overcome
I believe He stands and looks over Heaven's portals
And proudly says, "that's my child."

Chorus
That's my child there
Tell me, did you see him
When the enemy came against his soul
He just looked our way
Angels come on over here
I want you to see him
That's my child there
And very soon the Father's going to send us
To take him away
That's my child

  We see God exhibit different emotions in the Bible: anger, jealousy, pleasure; so is it really a stretch to say He would be proud of us?

  Job 1: 6-8 says:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?"

So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"

  Not only was God proud of Job, but He bragged about Him. I doubt God has photo albums, but if He did that is when he would have whipped it out and started showing pictures of Job. If God was proud of Job, then isn't it highly likely that He is proud of His children today in 2016 who are serving Him faithfully?

  This is truly a unique and new thought for me that God could possibly be proud of me. I tend to view myself as a failure and have a hard time getting past that kind of thinking, but we tend to judge even ourselves by the wrong things: how successful we are in life, what kind of car we have and how new it is, what kind of house we have...or if we even have our own house, what kind of job we have, how much money is in our checking and/or savings account, etc.

  But look at Job. He was a very rich man. His possessions were many, and he was most likely a very popular and well connected man in his day. But that isn't what impressed God: "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" God isn't impressed by how successful we are financially or by what kind of car we have. He is impressed and proud of us when we serve Him faithfully, flee temptation, put Him first in our lives, and live a holy and blameless life.

  Max Lucado said if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. We photograph important occasions and moments in life. We take pictures of friends and family as they graduate, as they start little league or high school football, as they get awards and trophies. If God did have a refrigerator, imagine the pictures He'd have on there:

The woman who forgave her husband for cheating on him.

The young man who quit pornography because Jesus was more important to Him.

The couple who left everything to serve God on the mission field.

The man who chose to serve God in a life of celibacy over an immoral gay lifestyle

The girl who faced ridicule and a failing grade to do the right thing.

The one who has fallen yet again, but has gotten back up to keep going on,

The people who day after day resist temptation, deny themselves, carry their cross, and truly give their all to serve God.

 If you are serving God with all you have, denying yourself, carrying your cross, and truly putting Him and His will above all else..... God is proud of you. As you resist temptation, as you seek His will above your own, as you do that very difficult but right thing; He may just then be bragging about you. "That's my child, look at what they are doing for me!"

Addicted to safety

 I mentioned this in my last blog post, but it has been on my mind ever since I read the book that talked about it, this addiction to safety so many of us have. I like to feel safe, but who doesn't?

We lock our doors and even use dead bolts and security systems so we can feel safe to sleep.

We buy guns and get permits to carry them so we feel safe,

We avoid certain areas of some towns so we are safe.

We vote for certain candidates so we can feel safe.

We want financial safety

We want economic safety

We want physical safety

We want to feel our health is safe

We want our country to be safe

  And the list could go on. We just want to feel safe, secure, and comfortable.

  I'm not much of a risk taker. You'll never find me zip-lining or up in a hot air balloon. For one thing, I am very afraid of heights; and I view those as very unsafe activities. I don't like walking in the woods or high grass because due to my fear of snakes, I feel unsafe. I feel unsafe with a man like Obama running our country. I feel unsafe with a woman at the wheel of a car (just kidding!), I feel unsafe drinking milk after the sell by date, I feel unsafe on the four lane when semis are flying past me at the speed of light. I like to be safe, feel safe, and do safe things.

  There is nothing wrong with the desire to feel safe and be safe, but it is wrong when it gets in the way of doing what God wants.

  The Bible is full of people who did things that were not safe, and God used them and worked miracles:

Daniel, praying with his windows open after a law had been passed forbidding it.

Noah, building an ark when it had never rained.

Abraham, poised with the knife above his only son lying on the altar before him.

David, going up against a giant that seasoned soldiers were cowering from.

God, giving a teenage girl and the guy she was marrying His Son to raise.

The disciples, preaching in the open after already being jailed and beaten.


How much more could we accomplish for God if we weren't so concerned about our safety?

We feel like we should speak to that person about God, but fear stops us.

We feel like God wants us to put that amount of money towards His work, but we fear we won't have enough money for what we need.

We feel God calling us into a certain ministry, but fear we won't make it financially.

We feel God wants us to adopt, foster, take someone in and let them use that spare room..... but we fear the outcome.

  The thing is, God doesn't always guarantee our safety. Back in 1956, a young 29 year old man named Jim Elliot went with four other men to evangelize the Auca people. They all felt the call and answered it, and all 5 were killed by the very people they were trying to reach for God. Would they have gone had they known they were walking to their deaths? I believe they would have. One of the men even made the statement that if it meant losing his life, he was going to do it. Sixty years later, I also believe they would say it was worth it. That tribe of wicked and murderous people came to God because those 5 missionaries were more concerned with doing what God wanted them to do, than with their own safety.

  When Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were faced with the fiery furnace, they said their God was able to save them, but even if He didn't; they still wouldn't bow. Most of us would bow and then tell God we were sorry later, but obeying God was more important to them than  their safety.

  Could we American Christians be too concerned and preoccupied with safety? Is it possible we have put our safety above God? An idol doesn't have to be something we take out, kneel before, and pray to. It can be anything we put before God, including safety and comfort.

  How could God use me and what could I accomplish for Him if I didn't let safety concerns get in the way? What could you accomplish? What could the church as whole accomplish for God if Christians across this world stopped worrying about safety so much and just did what God wanted them to do? We could change the world.

  I read a story several years ago, and a lot of the details are fuzzy. The gist of it, was this man was diagnosed with a fatal disease and was given a fairly short time to live - less than a year, I believe. He became fearless, and tried all sorts of new things he had considered dangerous. He even went marching into a standoff between some gunmen and the police and convinced the gunmen to surrender. They were so surprised by this fearless man marching up to them, they didn't shoot and gave up.

 But then something happened. The doctors discovered they had misdiagnosed the man's condition. He didn't have a fatal disease. He wasn't going to die in less than a year......and he lost that fearlessness he had had. He went back to being the same man he had been before he had been misdiagnosed. He took no more chances, and his mortality became more important to him.

 There is a difference in not being so worried and concerned about safety, and being too reckless. God gave us common sense.... well, some of us were given common sense. He doesn't expect us to be careless and reckless and risk our lives foolishly. But He may ask us to risk our lives on what appears to be foolish to us and those who look on.

 I am sure after Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other 3 men were murdered that there were people who criticized them and thought it was foolish of them to have walked into that ambush and lose their lives.

 There were most likely people calling Shadrach and his buddies idiots for risking their lives by refusing to bow.

  People won't always understand what we do and why we do it if we stop being so worried about safety and do what God wants us to do..... but that shouldn't stop us.

 But I believe the main hindrance is ourselves. Safety, security, and comfort have become so important to us, that too many of us let those get in the way of what God may want us to do. I am guilty. No, I don't feel a call to be missionaries to murderous people or anything like that, but I have let my fears stop me from doing some things in life I felt I should do.

 If we all stopped being so concerned about our safety, security, and comfort; I believe we could turn the world upside down for Christ. Many have done it, many are doing it......while we sit and warm a pew in our air conditioned church with padded pews.

  As Christians, we need to deny ourselves daily and put Jesus above everything........ even our safety. May He help me to do exactly that and not let fear stop me from doing His will.

 This blog post has been brewing in my mind for over a week. I actually had about half of it written a week ago. As I walked today with my iPod playing music, a country song I like played. It is one of the few country songs that are truly worth listening to, and it addresses this idea. It is about a man who who got some bad news about his health, and started taking some risks because of it. The song is Live Like You Were Dying........a great reminder of what we Christians should do.

He said I was in my early 40's,

With a lot of life before me, 

And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.

I spent most of the next days, lookin' at the x-rays,

Talkin' 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time.

Asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end.

How's it hit ya, when you get that kind of news.

Man what'd ya do.

And he says,

[Chorus]

I went sky divin', 

I went rocky mountain climbin', 

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.

And I loved deeper, 

And I spoke sweeter, 

And I gave forgiveness I've been denying, 

And he said someday I hope you get the chance,

To live like you were dyin'.

He said I was finally the husband, 

That most the time I wasn't.

And I became a friend a friend would like to have.

And all the sudden goin' fishing, 

Wasn't such an imposition.

And I went three times that year I lost my dad.

Well I finally read the good book,

And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do

If I could do it all again.

And then.

[Chorus]

I went sky divin', 

I went rocky mountain climbin', 

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.

And I loved deeper, 

And I spoke sweeter, 

And I gave forgiveness I've been denying, 

And he said someday I hope you get the chance,

To live like you were dyin'.

Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity

To think about what you do with it,

What could you do with it, what can

I do with with it, what would I do with it.

[Chorus]

Sky divin', 

I went rocky mountain climbin', 

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.

And I loved deeper, 

And I spoke sweeter, 

And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.

And he said someday I hope you get the chance,

To live like you were dyin'.

Putting feet to trust

  Back while I was in the hospital, I learned a lot about trusting God and blogged about it in the middle of the night, or really early in the morning...whichever way you look at it. I am not going to repeat that, but another facet of this trusting God has been on my mind. It started with the feeling God wanted me to do something, and no I am not going to say what. :)  It is something I should do, but have fears about. I wasn't really arguing with God about it, but was giving reasons why now isn't a good time. His reply was a reminder of my time in the hospital, and my new determination to truly trust Him.

  You know what? It is one thing to trust God when you don't really have to do much or anything. When I was lying in that hospital bed worrying about how I was going to cope with a diabetes diagnosis, blood clots on my lung, taking blood thinners for 6 months, and the mounting hospital bills.....and God told me that He had it in control and not to worry; that was somewhat easy. It is another thing when trusting God involves actually doing something: giving notice at a profitable job to go into ministry, selling your house and moving into something smaller so you can give God more money, and the list could go on.

   It is far easier to tell God you trust Him, than it is to prove you trust Him. We will never plumb the depths of God's ways nor will we ever understand Him, but I have been learning more and more about Him and His ways in these last few weeks and months; and especially since my time in the hospital. And this is one thing I am learning: God isn't content for me to sit back and wait for Him to fulfill His promise to take care of all of this; He wants to give me opportunity to prove I trust Him.

  And it makes sense. How will we ever truly trust Him if it doesn't involve any action or challenge on our part?

 I finished reading a most challenging and convicting book today with the eye-catching title of "Jesus Called. He Wants His Church Back." One area the author addressed is how we are so addicted to safety. He pointed out how much more the church and Christians could do for God if we weren't worried about our safety - and not just physical safety, but other areas. Ironically, he even mentioned this very thing God has been asking me to do that would involve me truly putting action to my trusting Him.

  That chapter convicted me a lot. If you have read the Chronicles of Narnia, you may remember this discussion about Aslan, the lion that kind of goes with this idea:

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to tell them about Aslan, the lion in the story who is the Christ-figure. They ask if Aslan is a man, and Mr. Beaver replies:

Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the woods and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

  Serving God doesn't guarantee us safety. He may ask us to do things that cause our knees to knock together. He may ask us to do things that cause us discomfort and totally disrupts our orderly lives..... but He is good, and we can always trust Him; even when that trust involved action....putting feet to our trust and going out on a limb for this God who isn't safe, nor guarantees us safety.

Staying out of their bathrooms and bedrooms Part 2

**Warning: This is one of those posts where I get personal and may share things you may find uncomfortable with. You have been warned.


  This is part 2 of my rebuttal to Mr John Pavlovitz' blog post "  Christians, We Need to Get Out of People’s Bathrooms (and Bedrooms)", a post in which he slams Christians and the church for daring to want men to use the men's bathroom and women to use the women's bathroom. My post got too long, so I spit it up. In the first post, I addressed the bathroom issue. Who would have ever thought you'd be called a bigot and hateful for wanting people to use the correct bathroom? I guess America has been full of hateful bigots for all of these years and we didn't even know. Good thing we have people like Mr. Pavovitz to clue us in.

 Some of what I say was addressed in a former blog post, A Gay Balance. I will try not to repeat too much of it.

 In this second blog post, I will address the second half of Mr Pavovitz's post, the bedroom part.

 Part 2: Staying out of their bedrooms.

   I said in the part of my rebuttal that I can't understand men who want to be women. I can't say that about this part. I understand all too well the attractions and desires that a man has for other men. I understand wanting someone to love, and I even understand the desire of gay men to want to marry a man and make an attempt at having a happily ever after.

 I have been dealing with this issue myself for most of my life. I totally get it, and to say I don't know what I am talking about or that I am a bigot for this post is insulting and a lie.

 Back when I first realized I wasn't attracted to females, and instead was attracted to men; I was floored. I was scared to tell anyone. I was afraid people would find out and I'd be ostracized. So I hid it for years. Back then, it was still not too widely accepted. If you'd said one day people would be fined for not baking a cake for a gay wedding or for refusing to photograph a gay wedding, the majority of Americans would have thought you were nuts.....but here we are.

 It is interesting if you read how this has happened. I have read a few books recently that outlined the plans of the militant gay faction. They had a deliberate plan of what to say, how to portray Christians and the church who would stand in their way, and it worked. What once was hidden and looked at with revulsion is now paraded in the streets and people have lost jobs for simply voicing disagreement with gay marriage. Gay rights have taken over and trump all rights.

  Long before John (I'm tired of looking up the spelling of his last name. so I will call him by his first name) - long before he tried to make his poor point, way back when homosexuality was trying to gain tolerance, that phrase was said a lot: It is our business what we do in the bedroom. And they were correct to a point. It is God's business what we do with our lives, and His Word says homosexuality is a sin and anyone living that life will go to hell.....along with people who commit other sins. But yes, outside of what God has to say about it, it is their business what they do in the bedroom.

  Unfortunately, it hasn't stayed in the bedroom. They march it down the street portraying all kinds of nudity and perversion in the name of wanting tolerance. They go after Christians who dare stand in their way, many of them fight to have kids as young as Kindergarten taught gay sex ed. They are encouraging kids to experiment with the same sex, they are indoctrinating people through Hollywood and their addition of gay characters to almost every show on TV.... and more. There is a segment of the gay community who will not be happy until it is a crime to say homosexuality is wrong. They won't be happy until ministers are forced to marry them or face fines and jail. They won't be happy until Christian schools and any other Christian business or ministry has to hire openly practicing  gay people. They don;t want tolerance - they have had that for years. They want total acceptance and no one standing in the way of anything they want, no matter how perverse or in your face.

  On the other hand, it is a blessing that it has become so open - though I am not agreeing with gay pride parades and their agenda. There was a day guys like me hid our struggles in fear. We were terrified to tell anyone, scared to seek help. With the "closet doors" being thrown wide open, it has made it easier for those of us with unwanted same-sex attractions to admit our struggle and seek help from ministries like Hope for Wholeness.  - which by the way, gay people hate and want to shut down along with any ministry that dares to want to help people with same-sex attractions change. How ironic the same people who say if a man doesn't want to be a man, he should be allowed to be a woman, says that anyone who is gay or has unwanted same-sex attractions should not try to change, nor should anyone be allowed to help them. If that makes sense to you, explain it to me.

  But anyway.....to contradict John's point, we are not going in their bedrooms. They pulled their bedrooms out in public and forced us all to make the world their bedroom. It is not hate or bigoted to stand up to their march across decency, morality, and religious freedoms.

  John isn't 100% wrong. The church has gotten it wrong for so long. As I have said before, no one struggling with same-sex attractions should have to hide in fear in the church pew, afraid to tell anyone or get help from their Christian brothers or sisters. The church needs to find the balance between truth and love, and not bigoted or homophobic, yet still stand against the gay agenda in the areas that matter. Will the militant gays accept that? No - they don't want anyone to disagree with them, but the more sane ones will get it.

 This post is getting too long, but I wanted to address one more part of John's blog. He said this:

In the Gospel accounts of his three-year ministry Jesus never utters a single word regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Not one. These kind of public crusades about people’s body parts or private sexual conduct that are now so commonplace in modern Evangelical Christianity would have been foreign to him. 

  He seems to be making the point that since Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, He is OK with it, and we should be also, and shouldn't fight it. Jesus also never mentioned rape, incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and other things we know are wrong.... so that argument has as many holes as Swiss cheese.

 The only relationships Jesus talked about in regards to love and marriage was between a man and a woman. I have read, and imagine it to be true, that it wasn't much of an issue in Israel at that time. It was in Rome, hence the few mentions of it later in the New Testament. Also, Jesus is God and since it IS condemned elsewhere in the Bible, technically He did mention it and condemn it.

  The souls of our children are at stake, so this agenda must be fought, but we must remember the people behind that agenda are hurting people that God loves, and who need God. We must be careful how we fight and what we say, or we could turn them off forever from seeking God.

  In closing a few statements and questions:

1) If God is OK with homosexuality now, is He OK with the other sexual sins the Bible condemns - incest, bestiality, adultery? If not, why not?

2) Anyone who pats a gay person on the back and encourages them to pursue that lifestyle is no friend to them and cannot love and care about them. That lifestyle is more dangerous health wise, emotionally and mentally, and in other ways.... and will end in an eternity in hell - as will living a life of any sin. Any gay person who misses Heaven will not thank those who encouraged him to pursue a lifestyle of sin that God condemns.

3) The church DOES need to do a better job of addressing this issue, and love gay people without condoning their sin.

  I will close with one of my favorite verses that should give us all hope, 1 Corintians 6:11 (the 2 previous verses are here also for context)

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (CEV)

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Staying out of their bedrooms and bathrooms Part 1

  I rarely do this, but this post is a rebuttal to a blog post a man posted in a Facebook group I am in called  The Christian Blogger's Network. The blog post is titled "Christians We Need to Get Out of People's Bathrooms (and Bedrooms)". If you don't feel like reading his post, he is knocking Christians for daring to fight the gay agenda and for daring to want people to use the bathroom of their gender.

Part 1: Staying out of "their" bathrooms.

  This bathroom issue is not gay issue. No one is threatening anyone's rights, no one is interfering in anyone's lifestyle. Anyone with common sense should know it is pure idiocy to open women's bathrooms and locker rooms to any man or boy who decides he wants to be a woman. With the amount of molesters, rapists, and perverts in our world, these people fighting for this "right" are just making it easier for these kinds of people to do what they want to do.

 Fact: The majority of child molesters are heterosexual males, not homosexual.....so why chance one of these molesters strolling into the same bathroom or locker room as young and little girls?

  Here is a question that needs shouted from the housetops: Why are the feelings of a few confused people more important than the feelings, safety, and security of many? Really.... why? John wants to be a woman and is angry he can't use the bathroom. Sally and her little girl are upset because John is allowed to use the women's bathroom and they feel unsafe.....why are John's feelings more important than their feelings and concerns? And John is the one demanding special rights. Men use men's bathrooms, and women use the women's......that is not a special right. That is just the way it is done. It is normal and decent.

 It is insane to criticize us and call us bigots for wanting things to stay normal and decent in regards to bathrooms. What sane individual would be OK with an adult male being in the same bathroom with his little girl - or even teen daughter or wife? What sane individual is OK with an adult male stripping naked in front of young girls? That is not hate, that is not bigoted, and we need to refuse to allow these radical people to slap us with those labels. THEY are the radical ones. They are the hateful ones not caring about the safety of women and young girls in their rush to cram their liberal agenda and ideology down the throats of all Americans.

  Mr. John Pavlovitz said we need to stay out of people's bathrooms and bedrooms. No, sir. They need to stay out of OUR bathrooms. The men need to stay out of our (women's) bathrooms, and the women need to stay out of our (men's) bathrooms. Your premise and title of your blog is completely wrong and backwards - we aren't in these people's bathrooms. It is them who are trying to get in the wrong bathrooms. If you call yourself a Christian, you should fix that...... you are giving the wrong idea right from your blog post title.

  I don't understand this whole transgender issue. I have dealt with these same-sex attractions for most of my life, but never did I want to be a woman. Never. I don't hate or dislike women, and am not attracted to them, but want to be one? No way. And no offense intended ladies.

  I actually feel very badly for these people. There are a lot of suicides among people who try to change their sex. They discover what they thought would make them happy, doesn't. They deserve love and pity, not hatred and revulsion. But that doesn't mean we need to cave to every wish and whim they have, and especially on this bathroom issue.

 There was a Catholic school that had a special bathroom put in for a boy who wanted to identify as a girl. That wasn't good enough. He wanted to use the girl's bathroom and they were suing the school. I don't know how that turned out.

  If Mr Pavlovitz has any daughters, I wonder if he'd be OK with a teenage boy or adult male going in the bathroom with her. Would he be OK with an adult male or teenage boy stripping naked in front of his little girl, if he has one? It has happened.

 And what does Mr P have to say about this - the man leading the charge in Charlotte, NC for transgenders to be allowed to use whatever bathroom they want.......is a registered sex offender. Would Mr P want that man in the same bathroom as the women in his family? (Story here)

  There was a college recently that opened up their bathrooms to whoever wanted to use them. They had to quickly change their policy. Teenage boys were going in and taking pictures of the girls under the stall and in the showers. Anyone with a brain should be able to see the can of worms this would open up...... but do they care?

 Liberals love to accuse Christians and conservatives of not caring about children. They love to tote them out and use them as props for more gun control, amnesty, or any other of their causes they can children for. Yet, I say liberals are the ones who don't care about children. They fight for the "right" to kill them in the womb. They encourage kids to experiment sexually as young as they can. They want men and boys to be allowed in the same bathrooms and locker rooms as little girls, teen girls, and women..... seriously... who are the ones who don't care about children in light of all that?

  There have been other incidents with men and boys using the women's bathrooms, and if you're interested, you can Google those and read about them..... but shouldn't just one be enough?

 Paypal is threatening to not put 400 jobs in North Carolina because they did the wise, decent, and moral thing and passed a law saying you must use the bathroom of your gender. Evidently Paypal cares more about the feelings of a few confused people than the safety of children and women. The Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina had an excellent response which is a good way to end this blog post:

“If our action in keeping men out of women’s bathrooms and showers protected the life of just one child or one woman from being molested or assaulted, then it was worth it. North Carolina will never put a price tag on the value of our children. They are precious and priceless. If a corporation wanting to do business in North Carolina does not see the worth of our children in the same light, then I wish them well as they do business somewhere else,” said Forest.

  Well said, sir. Well said. God bless you.

My Fitness Pal

 

 Since I got my diabetes diagnoses 5 weeks ago, I have changed my eating habits a lot. I have been amazed at the amount of carbs and sugars that are in foods that I eat so many of, and immediately started cutting back on my intake of those. I bought a fitbit band to help me keep track of my steps and try to get in the recommended steps per day.

  My weight when I went in the hospital was 247...the most I have ever weighed in my life. As hard as it may be to believe, I lost 7 pounds just being in the hospital. Since I got out, I have lost another 12, but it has been going slower than I wanted.

  About a week ago, I installed an app on my phone that had been recommended to me: My fitness pal. It also works on a computer. It has a lot of features, and I need to use more of them, but right now I am using it to keep track of calories and what I eat.You put in your weight and your goal weight to start, and it shows how many calories you should have in a day to reach that weight. It has a place for each day to put in what you eat for each meal plus snacks, and shows how many calories you have taken in so far and how many you have left to stay within the recommended calorie intake. It also shows carbs, sodium, and a few other things.

  As I have faithfully used this app, I am seeing why the weight has come off so slow. Although I have been carefully watching my carb intake, I haven't been watching my calories...and I realized I need to watch both; so most days I am careful on both, going over the calories occasionally.

    I am learning to plan my day ahead of time. Today, I went shopping after work, and decided to go to to O'Charley's to eat since I had a 20% coupon. I ate 2 pieces of bacon for breakfast... yeah, not a good start calorie-wise, an apple later, and had sugar free applesauce and pudding for lunch.....by the time I got to O Charley's, my carbs and calories should have still been pretty low, but I looked at their nutrition facts on their menu, and decided on what to have before I got there. I got the grilled chicken meal with rice and a salad.

My goal weight is 190, though I'll be happy with 200. That means either 38 or 28 more pounds to go

Ted Cruz, the only remaining candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton

My disbelief and shock as so many Christians and conservatives have adopted a cult-like following and support of the despicable Donald Trump has been matched by my disbelief and disgust of those same people, along with Rubio supporters, demonize Ted Cruz. I have seen the nastiest comments, memes, misleading and completely untrue things posted about this man who would be president.

  I have watched this man ever since he started running for Senator in Texas. I have watched as he fought most politicians in his own party and called out the Senate majority leader more than once. I watched as he filibustered on Obamacare and tried his best to get it repealed, only to be betrayed by his own party. I watched as he stood on the floor of the Senate and argued against more gun control and against crazy banning of firearms that were no more dangerous than others,

I watched as each new candidate announced their decision to run as president, and he graciously welcomed them to the race and said they would add a lot to the race.

I'm not a blind supporter of Ted Cruz, nor have I "drank the Cruz kool-aid" as one person put it, but he has impressed me more than most of the candidates who have been running in this election, My original candidate of choice was Scott Walker, who I admire and who has impressed me, but when he dropped out, Cruz was my next choice. I used to like Rubio until he betrayed us by helping draft an amnesty bill with the gang of eight..... but I have yet to see credible evidence of anything bad about Cruz.

  Oh, they say he lied, but he didn't. All they have is his supposedly saying Carson was dropping out before he did drop out, but that rumor started with CNN... not Cruz.

They say he is part of the establishment, which is like saying Donald Trump runs a convent in his casinos instead of a strip club. If you look at his record and not listen to Trump's idiocy, you would find that to be completely untrue that he is part of the establishment. The word establishment has become in this election a word to throw at candidates you don't like. No one ever backs it up with proof, they just say he is part of the establishment...and don't care if it is not true.

  Early in this whole process, Ted Cruz didn't say much if anything against his fellow Republicans running for president. He was even pretty tame in the first couple of debates.....but then Trump and Rubio started attacking him, so he started fighting back,,,, and I don't blame him. I still think he is a class act and makes Trump look even more like the vulgar buffoon than he is.

  I believe the majority of Cruz haters don't even know why they hate him, or what they truly don't like about him. They just hear the stuff spewed by Trump and Rubio and believe it, and don't check the facts..... and since their candidate is against him, they must be also.

  Case in point: a young co-worker of mine came out to my desk and started talking politics. He doesn't like Trump, Hillary, or Bernie. Then he said he didn't like Cruz, and I said I did. Then the conversation went like this:

Him: I don't like him.
Me: Why not?
Him: Lots of reasons
Me: Such as?
Him: He has a bunch of crazy ideas
Me: Like what?
Him: There are a lof of them
Me: If there are that many, you should be able to name some.... name one
Him: He said something about gun control that was crazy...something like some states need less gun control and others need more.

  He went into the office and came back a few minutes ago:
"I found out something crazy he said: He said that if he becomes president, he wants to get term limits for politicians.....and the Senate may be the ones to say if he becomes president. It was stupid to announce that plan ahead of time."

  OK, there you have it. His reasons for not liking Cruz boiled down to that,

  I could be wrong, but I don't believe I am biased about Cruz. I sat back and watched the candidates. Even though I liked Walker a lot, I watched them all, read what they stood for, read about their past... and paid attention. I could have easily voted for Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorna, Rand Paul, Ben Carson (though his endorsement of Trump has changed that), Kasich, and maybe a couple others.... but Cruz is the one who seemed the most conservative, solid, and made the most sense after Walker dropped out.

  Is he perfect? No...no candidate is. However, I do believe he is the best and most conservative candidate we have had to pick from in years.......and yet Trump supporters hate him and go after a man that Cruz is tons better than in every way,

  I am not a blind follower of Cruz. He has his faults, but I still believe him to be a godly conservative that stands tall above our other choices. He has proven himself as a Senator fighting for the right things. I believe he'd make a great president, and until someone presents credible, honest facts of substance. I will continue to believe that and support him for president.