In Our Midst

Over the weekend I met one of the speakers and had a few moments to talk to him personally. I detected that he might be a believer and I was right. I love 'faith radar'. :) Anyhow, in the time I had to bend his ear, he put me on to his wife's ministry site. I immediately went to it and sat in the conference, reading about this ministry...and crying.

It's not like there weren't 100+ people around me and I could be covert in my emotional response, but I really didn't care. The Spirit's touch on this site and this ministry is so very evident.

Before you hop over there, let me tell you that I resonate much of what you will read. The Church as a whole has done a poor job (IMO) of bringing healing to victims of abortion and other sexual sins--in effect, we create a second victimization for these people. Yes, I know the argument that these victims have "chosen" this path, but I believe this sentiment lacks compassion and love--the very things that Jesus modeled and commanded us to have. When we consider all the factors that go in to the decision to abort a child or the circumstances in which sexual sins are committed, we step in to the place of those who are in an impossible situation and can't seem to see Hope or a way out and we leave judgmentalism behind. Not to mention that many sexual sins which affect people aren't always the fault of those suffering from them--there is a ripple effect from all sin, and oftentimes there are innocent victims who do not receive appropriate support or healing inside the Church.

Sometimes this lack of healing and condemnation that victims receive comes from an inability to be honest and a discomfort with personal issues. What's a shame is that we don't seem to desire to overcome our dishonesty and discomfort and we let others believe they are alone and unique in their suffering. When we do this, we express a message that damages more than the people who need Jesus' love and healing, we damage those who watch and observe and learn tacitly, as well. Our children watch, listen, and learn--by what we say and do, and by what we don't say and don't do. So the opportunity to perpetuate our discomfort and dishonesty manifests itself to the next generation. And the love of Jesus goes unspoken in these situations.

So now that you have my mini-sermon on showing compassion and understanding to those who have sinned (and which one of us hasn't?), go visit In Our Midst. I think you'll be touched and amazed and hopefully, your eyes will be opened to another side of the abortion-issue. And with those open eyes, may you see the victims who are the walking-wounded of this hot-topic with the compassion and love that Jesus does.

Home Again

Tired does not even begin to describe how I feel right now. Exhausted comes closer, but not even that does it justice. :0 I am road-weary and brain-dead, and want to sleep for the next 3 days straight.

But that ain't gonna happen, eh? ;) I am so very glad to be home--I missed my boys and there's only so long I can sleep on a rock-hard hotel bed and pretend that I've had a good night's sleep and that I'm rested.

The drive back yesterday was interminable. Lisa & I had a great time to talk and we took advantage of it, but we sat for an hour in PA turnpike (out of Philly) traffic and drove 5 miles in that hour. :( And then the rain I encountered had us driving at 20mph at some points--we didn't see sun until we were half-way through KY and nearing Fayette county. :0 And at that point, it was nearly time for sunSET! :0

We made a stop yesterday on the turnpike for fuel (which oddly enough, was actually cheaper than in Philly itself) and glory be! I found a Starbucks there. !!! They had brewed my favourite java, almost like it was a divine appointment. ;) I got a venti decaf Verona and capped it off with cream and equal. Despite the fact that it was decaf, I didn't care. I hadn't had coffee in 5 days at that point, and I just wanted the flavour. Bizarre as it is, just managing to get what I was after (good coffee) did me a WORLD of good and buoyed my spirits like few other things have. I guess it was therapeutic.

Anyhow, I have tons of work to do today around the house, so no more time lollygagging and blogging. Off to vacuuming and making lunch! :)

WaKe uP!!

Okay, so we're almost out of the hotel and on our way home. In the interest of getting home sooner, we're skipping the networking breakfast and this will put us home after dark. I think the Samsonites under my eyes have their own little bags to carry, though--I'm one whupped puppy. :| And I'm driving the whole 12 hours home. :| :|

But I realized that although I haven't had good coffee in 5 days, I've not been dragging like I normally would. I picked up a little box of "Morning Spark" before I left (on a whim, mostly), which is a caffeinated "stick" of drink mix. It's sugarless and fruit flavoured and I thought, "Eh...can't hurt!"

Boy! It doesn't hurt--it HELPED!! :) I am so impressed with this stuff that I wanted to take an uncharacteristic moment and plug it publically. I LOVE this stuff! I have no idea how much caffeine is in it, but it seems to be equivalent to about 2 cups of coffee, based on my 'alert-factor'. And since conferences run on little sleep and lots of speakers (and warm rooms, which after lunch cause 'jello-neck head-bobbing' to take place), my 'alert-factor' was important. :)

Anyhow, I know Wallyworld sells it for about $2 a box, and you'd better believe I'm going to buy some more, just to keep on hand. :) If you want more info, you can find it here.

Now I'm off to finish packing the suitcase and getting the out of Philly. :) I never thought I'd welcome the site of the PA turnpike, but guess what...?

Dreamin' Big

I'm at a conference in Philadelphia right now and listening to people talk about networking (so very NOT my personality--talking to people I don't know?!), how to build your business, and how to succeed with different coaches, mentors, etc. Yesterday was a bit of a bust (I actually got quite a bit of knitting done....), but this morning's speakers are wonderful! :) And it's fun to dream big about all of this stuff.

I've met some incredibly interesting people and hope to continue to build relationships with them. The most interesting thing to me is that this whole thing (building your business, expanding, etc.) focuses on the RELATIONSHIP. Everything that is successful online these days is about relationship. People *crave* this and they'll do whatever they can in our fractured world and society to meet the need they have to be in relationships with others.

Now to segue this to my line of thinking: you know that I'm a Believer and that I think the best way to reach people with God's love is through relationship. Yes, relationships are messy--people are messy! But we are created for relationship--with each other and with God.

It just strikes me as somewhat ironic that I'm in this business conference and yet it's reinforcing everything I know and think about life and ministry. It's all about the relationship.

So now it's about time for lunch--there'll be some schmoozing and talking, but hopefully, some real relationships will be forged here and people's felt needs and unfelt needs will be met. And I'll continue to shine brightly as these relationships are built. :)

A Disillusioned Volunteer

I've not delved in to politics in this blog so far, as there are simply too many politico-blogs out there and quite frankly, I'm not trying to do the same thing here.

But please indulge me for a few paragraphs while I mull over my discontent.

I am a woman who has strong political leanings and believes passionately in her leanings. I am also a woman who will do whatever is necessary to see her political beliefs get a fair shake in the marketplace (read: real world). I've manned phones, I've rallied. I've called potential voters until I was hoarse, I've cooked for/baked for/hostessed political events. I've painted posters, I've walked neighborhoods. I've combed over voter logs and spent countless hours in the last several years to see that certain candidates had the opportunity to show that good leadership can make a difference to the lives of average joes like me.

Apparently, that's been all for naught.

Today I heard what I consider to be the final nail in the coffin of a man that I helped elect. There have been scandals in the state government here, but in the majority of our minds, that was "the last leader's issues." Then there were rumours of scandals in *this* leader's administration. Then there were people claiming innocence, others pointing fingers, others having either temporary amnesia, Alzheimer's, senile dementia, ad infinitum--because they couldn't remember anything. Ad nauseum.

Now it's back to the same old 'dirty politics' that have been around in this area for eons. It's just a different political party than it used to be. Back-room negotiations, back-stabbing politicians, back-breaking politics for the average joes who have to foot the bill and then some for the shenanigans that go on over there.

Is THIS what I spent time, effort, and energy for? I certainly hope not.

It really makes me want to crawl in a hole and pretend that I can survive without political involvement. And maybe I can. But the reason I've acted on my principles is because I'm not satisfied with status-quo and I'm not content to leave a society that is worse for the wear for my children and grandchildren. At least, not without trying to make a difference for the better.

Apparently, with the current leadership, *that* is too much to ask. I'm quite sure that there are other government entities in different locales with the same (or similar) problems, and I'm quite sure that this is not a situation that is singular to Kentucky politics. But it won't be too soon when I can leave this behind and not feel intensely betrayed by those I helped to elect.