Choose your own adventure

   When I was a kid, there were some books that became very popular: "choose your own adventure" books. Even the ever popular Hardy Boys series did several books using that style of writing along with Nancy Drwe. If you aren't familiar with the books, I'll give an example: "The book proceeds as normal at first, Then as Nancy Drew and Frank and Joe Hardy are about to explore a deserted building that may have needed evidence in, a suspect drives by. If you think they should check the building out, go to page 26. If you think they should pursue the suspect, go to page 35." The books usually have several places that you can choose between two different courses for the characters to take, ending with a couple of different outcomes.

  I was never content to read the book that way. I'd bookmark the page where the choice was given and go back later to try the other choice, bookmarking several pages so I could explore all of the options.

  Wouldn't it be great if life was like that? Imagine if you could select one course for your life - say take that certain job - and follow it out to see how your life would end up. If you aren't happy with that, or if it goes bad;  just back up to where you picked that course in your own story, and try the other option.

  There were a couple of problems with backtracking on the choose your own adventures to try the other courses:

1) Sometimes the other course wasn't as interesting and I didn't like the outcome as well as the original that I chose.

2) I usually goofed up and confused and the story got messed up and didn't make sense

  But I still liked them, and was ecstatic when they brought them out in the never ending Hardy Boys series.

  The last few years, I have gotten reflective and contemplative during the month of May. It is the month that I turn another year older. As I have reflected and contemplated, it almost seems like my life is a choose your own adventure story with someone else choosing the next course of action to take. I want to go to page 33, but wind up at page 45 wondering how on earth I got there.

  When you are young, life does seem like a choose your own adventure with you in the driver's seat. But as I quickly learned, I don't always choose right; and all too often I picked the wrong course in this book I am writing. The adventures I wanted to choose turned out to be the wrong ones.

  Now here I am, 23 days away from turning another year older and am wondering where the years went. I feel like I have accomplished nothing, and my dreams and wishes lie smashed as a sandcastle on the sands after a wave has crashed onto the shore.

 Even at my best, I feel that I lead too self-centered of a life and am left with the constant feeling there is something more I need to be doing, but have no clue what. From the chapter I am at in my story, the choose your own adventure thing isn't looking that great anymore. If I could only go back to one of those places in my life and choose differently....... but that is not an option we are given. Once we set our course in this adventure we call life, there is no going back and changing everything that resulted from that choice.

  But there is still hope even though we can't go back to the page in our story where we chose the course that we did to choose another. It has taken me this many chapters in my story (or years in my life, if you prefer) to come to a few realizations and truths:

  It doesn't matter what our story has been, or the choices we have made; God can our story and write an ending that we never could have imagined. He can make something beautiful out of the messy scrawls and wrong turns we have taken.

  It doesn't matter what we have done or where we have been, God still has a plan for our lives and can use anyone in His work and Kingdom.

  God's grace and mercy are truly never ending and is so vast that no human mind can comprehend it. His grace can cover the mess we have made out of our lives.

  Choosing your own adventure really isn't that great after all. Handing the choices over to God and letting Him guide us to what He knows is best and what He wants for our lives will never end in disappointment. If we do His will and follow His plan, we will never be wishing we could go back and change things.

  The devil likes to point out all I have done in my life, and how horrible my struggles are compared to the other Christians at church. He loves to tell me God can never use me and I can never do anything worthwhile for God at this point. I am too old, too tired, too messed up, too.....everything.

  These last several weeks have been challenging: an unexpected hospital stay, 2 unexpected diagnoses that have made life challenging, up and down emotions about it all, doctor visits, bills......and now the depressing political news that means Hillary Clinton will most likely be our next president. This isn't what I would have chosen for my life or for our country,  in regards to politics; but God is in control of my life and this whole world. He can bring good out of bad, and get beauty from ashes.

 As I start this 47th chapter in my story, I want God to write the story. I don't want to choose my own adventure anymore, but I want Him to direct me on which course to take. I want to find His will for my life and stay in His will in this 47th chapter and throughout the rest of the chapters in my story, how many ever there are.

 There is hope for all of us, no matter what our story has been or what choices we have made as we tried to write it. He always knows best, and will never let us down. Bring it on, chapter 47.

Politics: Misplaced faith

This election cycle has been a messy and vicious one; and a very bizarre one. It looks like the Republican nominee is most likely going to be a liberal who has donated money to the very people who fight Christians and conservatives the most. In addition to the many reasons Christians and conservatives should run from him, he is being investigated for fraud. On the other side of the aisle is a woman he has been friends with for years and who he has supported financially and in other ways. She is under investigation by the FBI and should be in jail, not running for president; yet voters are swarming around these two extremely corrupt individuals like they are God Himself. It really is a sad commentary on our country that out of the millions of people in America, this is the best we can do.

   I am worried. I could be wrong, but with the polls and unfavorable ratings; it looks like a sure thing that if Hillary and Trump are the candidates, she will beat him. A Hillary presidency is scary. She has promised to further gay rights, go after guns, and she hates conservatives and Christians and views us as the enemy. There is a high likelihood that the next president could seat 2-3 Supreme Court justices, and we know what kind of judges she would put on the bench... it truly could be the end of our Constitution and religious freedoms. And yet I fear Trump wouldn't be much better. He has also promised to further gay rights, and has been on the wrong side of every conservative issue before his sudden miraculous conversion to being a Republican. The idea of Donald Trump putting Supreme Court justices on the bench is also a disturbing idea. He has said that his very liberal pro-abortion sister would make a great Supreme Court justice, so one could assume his choices wouldn't be much different than Hillary's..... and he has flip flopped on every issue, so who knows what he does stand for or what damage he would do as president.

  These last eight years under Obama have been bad. Pretty much every fear we had has come to fruition under him. Our religious freedoms are under attack far more now than before he became president, and our country is less safe than before him. Only God knows how much worse it will get under a Hillary or Trump presidency.

  I have had some thoughts spinning around in my head lately:

1) We Christians are not living for this world. If life was perfect here, why would anyone want to go to Heaven? Jesus said the world would hate us, and if we truly live the Christian life that we should; we will not be liked by the world.

2) Others have had it worse and kept their faith. As I have thought about a Hillary or Trump presidency, Ahab and Jezebel came to mind...possibly the wickedest king and queen Israel had. They were so bad and evil that God's prophets were on the run and in hiding to avoid being killed by this wicked couple. so if Ahab Trump or Jezebel Hillary becomes president, the church will survive. We will survive.

In the early days of Christianity, Christians went through all sorts of things. They were thrown to the lions, used as human torches, and more..... and yet the church lived on and Christianity did not die.

Even today, Christians in Muslim countries are going through terrible things because they are Christians. If Hillary becomes president, we will not be as bad off as some Christians are.

3) Our faith cannot lie in politicians, politics, America, and our freedoms we have as Americans. I still believe Ted Cruz could turn this country around - or at least stem the tide a bit,  but it seems the majority wants the worst candidate to ever run on the GOP ticket... yet, Cruz isn't the answer. Our hope cannot lie in Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or any other politician, If we have lost sight of the fact that God is in control no matter who runs our country, then our faith is misplaced; and is in politicians/politics.

All of we Christians - myself included - go overboard with this political stuff. Yes, of course there is reason for concern, but should I or you be freaking out at the very likely horrible outcome of this election? Are we placing our faith and trust in God if we are constantly worrying and fretting about the election outcome? I am one of  the biggest offenders, so I am preaching to myself also.

And yes, I am still frustrated and angry with the conservatives and Christians who are so blindly supporting the likes of Donald Trump. I don't understand how a Christian with any discernment and principles could vote for and support people like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and am frustrated that the lack of discernment and caring about the important things from them will impact my future and freedoms....but God will still be in control.

4) Maybe what American Christians need is tough times. There are those who scoff at the idea of there being persecution here in America... they are usually liberal Christians who have no problem with sin or liberal policies..... but there is some persecution going on in America. No, it is nothing like what Christians are facing in other countries, but it has started. The further gay rights are pushed, the more freedoms we will lose and we will be dealt with if we dare say these things are wrong. People are already losing jobs and businesses for not caving in......and it will get worse under Hillary and Trump. The day could come when you won't be able to hold a job or even buy and sell unless you embrace gay marriage and all things gay.

Our country is getting progressively more and more wicked. Christianity in America has become so shallow that the differences between us and the world are barely discernible. Maybe we need shaken up so we find out what we are made of and if we are truly on God's side or not. I don't want to see persecution or experience it, but history shows that the church grows during persecution.

5) It isn't all about us. Someone said to me a while back that the return of Jesus must be close with the mess our country is in. We Americans tend to be a bit self-centered, We aren't the only country God cares about. We Christians here are not the only Christians in the world, and God's timetable does not revolve around America and our politics. Does He care? I am sure He does, but He has a world to run, not just one country. If Trump or Hillary becomes president and further destroys America and our freedoms, the world will still go on.

  I have been very outspoken about Donald Trump and not voting for him. I won't list the reasons again, as if you like Trump you don't seem to care how bad he is, and if you don't like him you already know....... but this post underscores why I can't and won't vote for him. These things should be more important than politics and voting for and supporting evil just to stop another evil from being president:

God
Being a Christian
Doing the right thing
Having principles

6) If - and that is a big if - I walked into the voting booth and voted for a candidate I detest and think is the biggest sleazeball since Bill Clinton just to try to stop Hillary from voting, what does that say about me?

  I know a lot of people who don't support Trump will vote for him if he wins the nomination in hopes to stop Hillary......but is that really OK? Is that the answer? Are we standing for what is right and against what is wrong if we vote for the wrong guy just so the other wrong guy (or woman) doesn't win?

  I am tired of voting for the lesser evil and of voting for candidates who do not stand for the right things just so I can attempt to help stop a worse evil,..if there is one this time. Knowing all I know about Donald Trump, his lifestyle, his past, his actions and words.... if I walked into a voting booth and voted for him just to try to stop Hillary Clinton from being president; then politics are too important to me and are taking precedence over principles and my Christianity.

May musings on life latey

Birthdays and such

  I can't believe that it is already May. I'll turn another year older in 24 days..47. I still feel like I haven't accomplished a hill of beans in my life, and wonder if life will be what I want it to be. Lately, I have felt overwhelmed by life in general and wish I could take time off from work and everything and just relax and forget about doctors, bills, and Donald Trump.

 In addition to my birthday being this month, my mom's is on Mother's Day and my middle niece, Allie's, is on the 27th..... she missed being born on my birthday by one day.

Vacation

  I do have something to look forward to: Vacation. It isn't coming soon enough, but I have started the official countdown on a calendar. We are down to 32 days til vacation. I'll be going to the Outer Banks for a week, and I seriously cannot wait. I have started my list of what I want to take and have set aside some books and DVDs to take along.

Work

  Work has been going well. I like what I am doing, but I weary of driving 45 minutes one way; and I wish I got paid more for what I do. I got recognized last week for doing a good job. I was given a card with a note and a gift card to the one coffee shop in the hospital..... it made me feel very good.

Weight

  I am officially down 25 pounds from when I hospitalized on March 3. I was up to 247, and am down to 222. My goal weight is 185 or 190, so I have 32 or 37 more to go. I am getting used to my new diet, though weekends are the toughest for me. I have a ton of clothes that I had grown out of and am slowly getting back into, so I won't need to go out and buy a new wardrobe..... I have had a whole wardrobe packed away and waiting for a time when I lost enough weight.

Day off

  Today was the second of my two days off. My middle niece didn't have school today and was hoping I'd take her out for lunch, so I picked her up and did some shopping and asked her where she wanted to eat. She picked Mexican, not a surprise. It makes this uncle feel good that my nieces and nephews want to be with me, and I was happy to buy her lunch.

Good deeds

  I took a lady in a wheelchair up to her husband's hospital room on Friday and then back outside to her car. As I put his bags in the car for her, she thanked me and said I did my good deed for the day. I jokingly asked if that meant I didn't have to do any more good deeds for that day.

 Then Saturday, I was shopping in Boardman. It was raining, and when I went to the Goodwill there that is in a plaza, I parked up by the row of stores. There was another store I wanted to go to that was quite a ways down but could be reached by walking under the same roof. As I was walking back to my car, I heard a lady's voice say "Sir, can you please help us?" There to my right was a car with a lady sitting behind the wheel. The lady who had called me was standing by the car door with several bags at her feet. I figured they were having car trouble, and I am the last guy you'd want to call if you're having car trouble, but I walked over to see what they needed.

 It turned out that the lady with the bags didn't even know the elderly woman in the car, but was trying to help her. The issue: the lady had gotten her hazard flashing lights on and couldn't figure out how to shut them off. I got in the passenger side and spied the button immediately between two vents on her dash. She said she had wondered what that button was for. I walked away happy it was something I could help her with and feeling good that I did it.

 And I was left thinking about how we all need to do more good deeds. We are all so busy that we don't always take the time to slow down and help someone in trouble.

Listening

  I ran across this statement recently and shared it on Facebook: "listening is a kindness that anybody can show." It is so easy to hear people without really listening, and even easier to try to fix people when we do listen.... sometimes we just need someone to listen to us and not offer solutions, not give advice, but just listen and let us get out what we need to tell someone without recriminations or advice.

Voting

 Something I have been wondering about lately: Do we bear any responsibility for the actions of a candidate we vote for?  For example: say we vote for candidate A who goes on to pass legislation forcing abortions on people who already have the allotted amount of children (it happens in China)......do that candidate's voters/supporters share any blame or responsibility for that law being passed and for the babies being murdered?

Makeup

  I really don't like makeup on women........I find myself wondering why women think they need it. If we men don't need makeup to make us look good, then why do women need it? There are many animals that God made the male more beautiful than the female.. is that the case with we humans too - that God made men more beautiful than women so women need help to look as good as we do? Just asking... and really, what is up with the raccoon look/eye shadow? And why do women want really red lips......we guys are happy with normal colored ones :)

Bathrooms

  If my nieces are ever in a public restroom and a man tries to go in..... I will stand in his way and tell him he is waiting until they come out. This stuff is insane and we do not have to go along with it. And yes, I am boycotting Target. And why is it OK for men to be in the women;s bathrooms, fitting rooms, and locker rooms; but not OK for sane people to have a problem with that?

Donald Trump

  It isn't over yet. Old adulterer/strip club owner Trump may not get the nomination..... we can only hope he doesn't. I am 100% convinced he cannot beat Hillary. I am still confused and amazed at the conservatives and Christians who are overlooking so much about him that they'd never accept in someone running on the Democratic ticket...... they are just like the Obama voters who plugged their ears and shut their eyes to all the bad about him and voted for him anyway.

Yard sale

  Our family is gearing up for a yard sale, if we can have a week-end without rain. Hopefully that happens soon, as I am tired of all of the yard sale stuff sitting in the way. If you live close, I'll be selling a lot of books, XL shirts, some XXL shirts, CDs, and some pants and jeans.... in addition to everything else we will have.

Singleness, and addicted to relationships

 Being single, especially being a single guy of my age, can be tough. I rarely do anything with someone outside of my family, and the majority of my conversing, etc happens in passing at church.....

 However, I have become more comfortable in my own skin. I know people who seem addicted to being in a relationship. They break up or divorce and immediately are on the hunt for another mate because they have to have someone.....it is like they are afraid to be by themselves without someone to love and be dependent on. Being single isn't that bad, and if you can't be comfortable just being you as an individual and not being a couple, there is something wrong.

Americanized Christianity

 I wonder how many of us are the kind of Christians we should be? This Americanized Christianity that so many of us possess seems so shallow, self-centered, and has no cross or denying ourselves of much of anything.

It isn't at all about politics, it is about morals

  Last week young man I am friends with made a comment about this bathroom issue that is such a hot button issue right now. He ended his comment by saying he doesn't think Christians should be getting involved in these political issues anyway. (I doubt it is a coincidence that he wholeheartedly supports Trump who is OK with men using the women's bathrooms).

  I have seen and heard many Christians say the same thing about gay issues, abortion, and marriage. Christians should stay out of political issues. I asked my friend a question that applies to all of these: "Who said these are political issues? They are moral issues."

  Pick any moral issue that has been a scourge in our country, and the Democratic Party has been on the wrong side of things:

Slavery

Civil rights

Abortion

Homosexuality/gay marriage

Bathrooms

  If acceptance for incest continues to be pushed, it will be the Democrats who push for it and want to legalize it.

If pedophilia is ever legalized, it will be the Democrats who push for it.. and I believe it will be the way our country is headed. There are already people trying to make it not so bad, and there exists organizations that want it here in America.

If polygamy is ever legalized, it will be the Democrats who push for it.

  Any perversion or sin that is taboo may eventually become popular and legalized....and the Democrats are the party who rallies behind each one and makes it into a political issue.

Think about it: Anyone who runs as a Democrat has as part of their political platform the following:

Abortion
Anything gay-related
Killing babies

And now
Genderless bathrooms

  So the questions arise: Just because these immoral, godless, and anti-Christian politicians have taken up these moral issues to be on the wrong side of and make a requirement for holding office....... does that mean they are now political issues and not moral ones anymore? Does that remove the responsibility of Christians to stand against these things?

  We have already failed our country as Christians. This country that was founded on Christian principles and to have a country where people had religious freedom, has changed vastly from what it was intended. I am not always right, but I have a few reasons and ways we have failed our country and it is our fault we are in the mess we are in:

1) We have not voted. Too many Christians don't vote at all...ever, We have a responsibility to vote the right kind of people in.... and if all Christians voted, that would be possible.

2) Too many Christians vote wrong, or vote for the wrong issues.  I honestly don't believe any Christian should vote Democrat....look at the things they support, defend, and want to legalize...how can a Christian go along with people who support those things? And no, the Republicans aren't much better... but they are usually better, though Donald Trump has shown that maybe we aren't any better than the people who vote for Democrats and their policies.

3) We aren't affecting culture. I have seen comments and articles lately saying Christians should not try to influence or affect the culture. I disagree 100%. I may be wrong, but I think if Christians had held firm down through the years, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in. Had we stood up to the junk that was put on TV and the radio, if we stood against stores selling pornography, if we had used the power of boycotts on things that matter....I don't think we'd be as bad off as we are. I could be wrong, but too many Christians just go along with the world and instead of standing against immorality and perversion on TV, they watch it.

4) We haven't prayed enough. It doesn't do any good to pray for an end to abortion if you're voting for politicians who support and defend it, but overall I am not sure we have prayed for our country and leaders the way we should.

  Why do so many Christians want to back off and say these are political issues, and that we Christians shouldn't get involved or be too vocal about it? I have theories on that too, and they could be wrong of course:

1) Some Christians are OK with those things. Sad, but true. We live in a day when nothing is wrong and some Christians aren't against anything. Abortion, homosexuality, genderless bathrooms, etc....they are OK with it and think the rest of us need to follow their shallow religion that is OK with it.

2) Some truly don't care.

3) Some know it is wrong, but are more worried about hurting someone's feelings than speaking up, so they hide behind the "Christians shouldn't be political" shield. My same friend I mentioned said we Christians shouldn't be reacting so strongly and badly to these insane bathroom policies..... I disagree. There is a time to rise up and say no way.....as a side note, a young man of 23 was just arrested in a Missouri Target for taking photos of women in the women's fitting room..... where men are now allowed due to Target's new policy..... so what are we to do, mutter we can't get political and look the other way until it happens to someone we love?

4) Some may truly have honest and good intentions and believe in their minds that they ARE political issues.

5) Some are just so liberal that they fight conservatives on all issues and this argument is thrown at us to try to shut us up.

6) Some may sooth their conscience by calling them political issues so it won't bother them when they vote for candidates who are on the wrong side of these issues.

  If these same people had been around when slavery was legal would they have said the same thing? Would they have told us to tone down, that it was a political issue and Christians shouldn't be involved? Would they have criticized those involved in the very illegal Underground Railroad? What about civil rights? What about civilizations where sex with children was legal and encouraged? What about child sacrifice? These are all moral issues that have been supported and pushed by rulers and politicians either in America or in other countries and civilizations.

    The handwriting is on the wall if anyone wants to read it. Our country is getting progressively more and more immoral and wicked.  People 50 years ago would have scoffed at the idea that the things that are legal, defended, and celebrated. So it isn't  out of the realm of possibilities that in our lifetime, that incest, pedophilia, polygamy, even bestiality will be legalized and defended by politicians and others.  It has happened in other civilizations, and all it takes is enough people pushing for it, Hollywood putting it on TV and normalizing it, and the liberals to take up the cause...... and they will happen.

  And will these same Christians sit back and say we shouldn't get involved in political issues when those moral issues become part of a political platform? Sadly, most likely they will.

  We cannot sit back and refuse to be involved in these moral issues just because they have been politicized. That doesn't absolve us from responsibility to stand against and speak out against them. And even the issues that are truly political.... we need to be involved. Our nation's future and the future of our children depend upon it.

Time for a new party

  I am disgusted, dismayed, frustrated, sickened, and angry at the way so many Republicans and Christians have and are supporting Donald Trump. I had hoped we had learned our lesson the last few elections that we can't run moderate Republicans and expect the most conservative voters to vote for the lesser of two evils. No, we drag out a liberal who is doing a terrible job of faking it as a Republican - such a terrible job that one has to wonder at the discernment and wisdom of his supporters.

  Donald Trump fails the conservative test miserably, and the Christian test even worse; yet the majority of Republican and conservative voters don't care. They don't care that he said he'd further gay rights. They don't care that he isn't truly pro-life. They don't care he is vulgar and owns strip clubs. They don't care that he has supported and helped the candidates get in that have got us in the mess we are in. The list of reasons why a Christian and conservative should not vote for him is endless, yet they ignore it and act like he is the Republican Messiah that will save our country.

  Donald Trump cannot beat Hillary Clinton. Polls have consistently shown that fact. When you factor in his overall disapproval rating of 63% and his 70% unfavorable rating among women, you'd have to be really bad at math or severely lacking in brain cells to believe he can beat her. And then add in the fact that he is far to the left of the moderate candidates we ran the last couple of times who could not beat the Democrat.......it just isn't going to happen.

  There is the possibility that Trump will not get the required amount of delegates and we may end up with another candidate to be the nominee. Given the fact that the Republican leadership hates true conservatives as much as Donald Trump's supporters do, it is highly unlikely that they would put up a decent enough candidate that would beat Hillary either. Unless we have a miracle. we are most likely looking at 4-8 years of Hillary Clinton as president. A woman who hates Republicans and conservatives and views us as the enemy. A woman intent on more gun control and severely limiting our second amendment rights.  A woman who will further gay rights with executive orders and further demolish religious freedoms.

If that happens, I will blame the countless people who set aside their principles and supported her buddy Trump.

I think it is time for a new party,  truly conservative party. Donald Trump has divided and destroyed the Republican Party... or helped show its true colors, so it may be history anyway.  Wee could name this new party the Conservative Party. We would draw up a list of criteria for a candidate to meet. Things like:

Pro-life

Anti-Planned Parenthood

A Christian

Pro-Israel

Pro-traditional marriage

Good conduct

A true conservative record

For smaller government

Against nationalized healthcare

Pro-military

Pro-American

Anti-amnesty

They must be too  young to get Social Security - come on, we have a minimum age to be president. how about a MAXIMUM age too?!

Be able to actually list and quote a favorite Bible verse or two

  And so on. The idea would be for a candidate to fully support our criteria or they would not get our support and votes. I am tired of holding my nose and voting for candidates who have a half-hearted agreement to what is important to me, or no agreement.

   I have seen and heard enough to know that the Republicans in Congress don't really like we Christians. They don't value our beliefs and principles, but they want our votes..... so they make an effort to pretend they care. They have gotten so moderate that there isn't much difference between the two parties anymore. At least the Democrats are honest about what they believe, whereas most of the Republicans just fake it to get our votes.

  It is time we conservatives and especially Christians wised up. This Trump craze proves some of us have a lot of wising up to do.....but we need to stop believing in these politicians who just want our vote and don't intend to do anything about what we want. It is time to kick the Republican party to the curb and announce that we will not vote for a candidate just because he is a Republican, but we will only vote for candidates who are true conservatives and have proven that they are worthy of our support and vote.

  We Christians need to band together and stand on God's Word. Politics and who is president are not the most important things in life. Serving God and standing for what is right are most important.... and can we truly do that if we support candidates who just pay lip service to God and conservative and biblical principles and issues? If we continue to vote for whoever the Republican candidate is no matter what they stand for or what their past is, we are no better than the Democrats who consistently do that.

 If Donald Trump does win the nomination, I will not vote for him. He fails the criteria just as much as Hillary does in what I want in a president. I am tired of voting for candidates who care nothing for my beliefs and principles..... and it is going to stop, whether or not we have a third party or not. I am a Christian and conservative.... not a Republican.

My interview with Donald Trump

I have a rarity today on my blog: An interview with Donald Trump. the man considered to be the front-runner on the GOP ticket.

Me: Good morning, Mr. Trump. It is a pleasure to be able to talk to you.

DT: It sure is! The pleasure is all yours. This is yuuge for you!

Me: Uh, OK.. moving on: why did you decide to run for president?

DT: I just woke up one morning and thought: "We need to make America great again. I am GREAT, so what better person to make America great than I - Donald Trump!

Me: Is that your final answer?

DT: Well, I do want to take a page from my buddy Bill Clinton and bring women back into the Oval Office. Wink, wink.

Me: OK then. Why did you switch parties from being a Democrat to a Republican?

DT: It's going to be yuuge!

Me: Huh?!

DT: The con I am pulling on all of these conservatives and Christians who think I have truly changed parties and positions..... uh, make that one off the record.

Me: Speaking of Christians, you made the comment that you don't need to ask God for forgiveness because you have never done anything wrong. Do you really believe that?

DT: As I was telling my buddy Joe Paterno yesterday at the 7-11 memorial, "Joe, in 2 Corinthians, it says Chapter 11. That was a sign for me to go bankrupt 4 times."

Me: Uh, Donald... Paterno is dead, and don't you mean 911? And the Bible does not say to go bankrupt...and you also didn't answer my question.

DT: It is going to be yuuge!

Me: What is?

DT: Next question

Me: OK, what would you say to people who oppose you. People who say you have no substance, and are just faking being a Republican?

DT:

Me: Sir, I cannot put that kind of language on my blog....besides, I am not sure some of what you said is even possible.

DT: Waaaaaaaaah!!!!

Me: Let's move on to your opponent, Ted Cruz.

DT: Lyin Ted!!!!

Me: What has he lied about?

DT: Everything, The list is yuuge!

Me: Name one thing he has lied about.

DT: It is a yuuge list!

Me: You can't name anything?

DT: I'm going to make America great again!!

Me: Well, let's talk about Hillary Clinton then. You have said she would make a great president. And now you may be running against her. Do you still believe that to be true?

DT: You know, that is a great question! I admire  the question. Hillary.. you know, she is Hillary. She was First Lady....though not to Bill (chuckle), then she was Secretary of State.

Have I mentioned I am going to make America great again?

Me: (rolling my eyes) Let's see if I can find a question you'll answer: You said you're going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Just how will you do that?

DT: It is going to be yuuge!

Me: I am sure it will be. Sigh. There are people who think you are running just to sabotage the Republican Party and to help Hillary win the presidency. What do you say to that?

DT: Ted Cruz lies!! Lyin Ted, lyin' Ted!!!!!

Me: I don't know if you're aware of this, but I have total disdain for you and believe you are trying to sabotage the Republican Party. I don't believe you CAN beat Hillary, and that you are a yuuge fake.

DT: Here, have a drink of my kool aid. It is great!

Me: No thanks. I have seen what that does to people.

How about another question: You just said this week that you are OK with people using whatever bathroom they want, and you knocked North Carolina for their law they just made. What is up with that?

DT: Well, it just gives me another place to meet women! Now I can saunter into any Target, go in the women's bathroom, and find wife #4! (Don't tell Ivana I said that.. she thinks she is going to be First lady my whole term!)

Me: Has anyone ever told you that you're a sleazeball?

DT: You say that word like it is a bad thing. I am a yuuuge sleazeball and it is great!!

Me: Are you truly pro-life? Are you for de-funding Planned Parenthood.

DT: That depends..... are you a Republican or a Democrat?

Me: What does that have to do with it.. just answer the question!

DT: I am going to make America great again!

Me: Another question: You keep saying you;ll bring more jobs to America, yet you have your clothing line made out of the US.....care to explain?

DT: Sure. It costs me a lot less to have my great and yuuge line of clothes made in Mexico. Plus, some of those senoritas are really hot!

Me: Forget I asked. Who would you pick to be your vice president?

DT: Myself!

Me: You can't do that

DT: I am Donald Trump. I can do whatever I want, and I value my own advice and input. I'd make a great team!

Me: One last question: It doesn't look like anyone will get the required amount of delegates. What do you think should be done?

DT: Take Lyin' Ted's and Little Rubio's and give them to me, of course.

Me: You have a big ego, you know that?

DT: It is yuuge!

Me: Well, thanks for this interview, if you can call it that..... and I have to be honest sir: I hope you lose and are not the GOP nominee.

DT:

Me: Enough with the bad language! Good day sir.

DT: Here, have some kool-aid. I made it myself!

That time I was in the bathroom with a Mexican woman

 The year was somewhere in the late 90's. Myself and 9 other people from my church were on a missionary trip to Mexico City, Mexico. Talk about an eye opener. I saw and experienced things I had never seen and experienced here in the good old USA.

  One afternoon, I needed to use a restroom and found one nearby. You had to put in a peso or two to get in to use it, so I did and entered. They evidently do things very different in Mexico, for there was a woman mopping the floor. I was taken aback of course. Here, they close the bathrooms for cleaning.....especially if a person of the opposite sex is cleaning it. I looked at the few stalls and they were all occupied. She motioned for me to go ahead and use the long trough that was a urinal. I was thinking "there is no way I am unzipping and taking a leak in front of this woman!" I shook my head no. She motioned again for me to use it. I folded my arms and stared at her. Muttering something in Spanish, she took her mop and exited. I waited a moment to make sure she wasn't coming back in and did my business.

  Urinals always freaked me out. I have a shy bladder anyway, and it is difficult for me to stand at a urinal beside another male and use it for its intended use. And when there are no dividers present, it is even worse. It evidently doesn't bother some guys, as I have had guys chat with me as we stand there with our zippers down taking a leak. It always freaks me out a bit. Really, who does that?! There I am all self conscious, and these guys want to strike up a conversation?!

  If I feel self-conscious around other men, how am I going to feel if a woman saunters in as I stand at the urinal. I already know from my experience in Mexico how I feel about that possibility.

  And yet there is a lot of support for bathrooms being open to whoever wants to use whichever bathroom they identify with that gender of.

  If everyone was 100% honest, they would admit it is beyond crazy that this is an issue. But yet it is, and it will only get worse. Singers are canceling concerts in North Carolina because they passed a law that men must use the men's bathroom and women must use the women's bathroom. Really. They are more concerned about the feelings of a very small minority than the feelings and safety of many. I saw Obama may even sue the state and cut funding.

  Read that again....Obama may sue NC and cut funding for trying to do what has always been done: have bathrooms for men and bathrooms for women. It is like we are living in an upside down world.

 Paypal has backed out of taking 400 jobs into NC because they care more about the feelings of a few than the safety and feelings of many.

 Target has opened their bathrooms to whichever gender wants to use either, and don't care how anyone feels about it.

 Many Christians are supporting this insanity and even criticizing either our stand against it, or how we are standing against it. Is there a wrong way to oppose such insanity? How are we supposed to act, just lie down and let them do whatever they want to do? Unlike some, I feel we Christians SHOULD affect culture and stand against these trends. We have been too weak, too shallow, too obsessed with entertainment and culture to take much of a stand on anything, so the world has gotten more and more wicked, and has accepted more and more taboo and bizarre behaviors...... and we follow along.

 I blogged about this once already in a post titled "Staying out of their bedrooms and bathrooms, Part 1", and don't want to repeat myself, so here are some brief thoughts:

1) Fact: only .3% of the population identity as transgender. Liberals want to change bathroom policy to make .3% of the people happy... and don't care what the other 99.70% of people think or feel about it, or what effect it could have on us.

2) Fact: the man behind the push to use whatever bathroom people want, is a convicted sex offender who molested minors.

3) Fact: 40% of people who attempt to become the opposite sex end up committing suicide.....they discover what they thought would make them happy, does not.

4) Question: taking the above statement into consideration, should we in any way give into transgenders or do anything to help them further along in their delusion which has a great chance of ending in suicide?

5) Opinion: I believe anyone who cares about this issue should boycott Target til they feel it.

6) Opinion: If a man tried to enter the bathroom when any of my nieces were in it, I would stand in his way and tell him he was going to wait.

7) Opinion: Christians SHOULD stand up to things like this and affect the culture for the good.

8)  Opinion/fact: If most Christians today would have been around when slavery was legal, they would criticize any Christian who dared oppose it and tried to help free the slaves.

9) Fact: A college in Toronto, Canada opened their bathrooms and locker rooms to whoever wanted to use them and had to back down.... surprise, surprise, surprise: boys were going into the girls' bathrooms and taking pictures of the girls in the showers and under the stalls. And that is not the only incident that has happened.

10) If you are OK with this bathroom issue, what would you say to these girls who had had this happen? What would you say to the women who are coming forward who have been raped and attacked and are scared about men going into the same restroom as they are in? Really - what would you say? Tough? You don't matter as much as this .3%?

11) Question: Why DO the feelings of a few matter more than the feelings and safety of many?

12) Question: If we fight for, or just agree to, making it easier for transgenders to continue in their delusion by making it possible for them to use whatever bathroom they want, are we partially responsible when some of them kill themselves?

    I believe we need to take a stand. We are not hateful or bigoted for standing up to this insanity. I am tired of a small minority forcing their ideology on us and making and changing laws that affect us all. It is time to take a stand and stop being the silent majority.

  I will close with links to two posts about this that say it better than I can.

Christpher Doyle, a man who knows a lot about this issue: A Compassionate Solution For Transgender Bathroom Controversy. 

Matt Walsh, conservative blogger: Regardless of the law, I can't allow a man to enter the bathroom with my wife or daughter.


 And lastly, the same way I ended my other post on this issue, the statement from the Lietenant Governor Dan Forrest of North Carolina:

“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.