Such a Time As This

Faith, Hope, & Love

Revelations in Light of the Recent Sex Scandals

It was early in the morning when the story scrolled across my newsfeed and hit me square in the face.  Matt Lauer? Seriously?

 

A string of famous men’s names has recently shocked the nation with revelations of their sexual misconduct. But I sit here wondering, who is next?

 

As the days go by and more names are added to this disturbing list I feel sick inside.  How is it possible that so many public figures could be this awful behind the scenes?  I don’t have an answer but I’m thankful that these dirty sins are coming to light.

 

I grapple with deep conversations with my older kids about right & wrong, about the world, and about sex.

 

A strange feeling rushes over me as I recognize my thought pattern over the last few years.  Somehow, I could see the injustices, the slow collapse.  However, I never saw what was really hiding right around the corner.  Although I kept these feelings to myself, I can’t stay silent any longer.

 

This culture which has bred promiscuity has given birth to diseased thinking.  Many of us have grown enslaved to the lies of this society.  We’ve been truly deceived.

 

It’s a culture where girls and woman have to tip-toe through the muck, learning at a really young age to turn the other way.  We are taught to pretend we aren’t seeing what we are seeing.  Because it isn’t you, it’s me.  We learn that boys will be boys and there is nothing we can do about it.

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How to Have a Simple Scavenger Hunt Your Child will Adore

Back in the early Fall, my kids and I had fun with a nature hunt using my scavenger hunt bingo printable for Autumn.  I had made one scavenger hunt bingo printable for younger kids (like pre-k through first grade) and one for older elementary school aged kids.  We all enjoyed it so much and they begged me to make another one for November and December.

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11 Lessons Learned This November about our Calling & Christ’s Love

I stood in the kitchen reviewing our new routine.  Hubby gave the kids a pep talk about keeping our home clean and tidy.  It is something that we must all work together to achieve.  So we print a chore chart as a helpful reminder pinned to the refrigerator door.

 

But that chore chart won’t clean the house – we will when we obey what it says. Right?  We all need to catch the vision of what needs to be done.

 

The end game is the house gets cleaned.  So, we give the kids some more pep talks and we ask them to follow their jobs so that everything gets done.

 

Without fail, all it takes is one of us not doing what we are supposed to be doing to mix up our routine.

 

And so it is in the Christian walk.  We are given instruction.  We are given commands.  Sometimes it is specific to us – but it is always part of the larger vision. God wants our eyes to be fixed on His vision — His heart.

 

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:26

 

How many times do we think that this isn’t for us?  How many times do we decide someone else can do it?

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More Than Dollars – How to Serve the Poor

More Than Dollars – How to Serve the Poor

by Julia Camenisch of personagratagoods.com

 

I was recently chatting with a Christian non-profit director about his work in Florida. His organization has a large facility that holds donated clothing and food, has a good core of committed volunteers and has a wide outreach among the poor in their community. And yet, this director wasn’t happy. “We’ve had the same people coming to our center for years,” he sighed. “Handing out free food and clothes isn’t doing anything to move the poverty needle in our community.”

 

A bit later, another non-profit leader commented on how some of his neighbors in a high poverty community have felt disrespected and marginalized by those who come to hand out free stuff, fix houses, etc. Those groups thought they were showing love, but they were really just making themselves feel good.

 

Wait, what? Isn’t this what Christians are supposed to do? How can we serve the poor? Give freely and generously to help those less fortunate? Share from their bounty so that others can have the food and clothing they need? Well, the answer is yes. And no.

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What you need to know about helping teens. It could save a life…

You might be a volunteer who spends their time helping teens at youth group or an after-school program. Maybe you focus on helping kids who need to find their place in life or who need help in school. Whatever the case, what you are doing matters. It matters so much.

The enemy will try to tell you that there is too much trouble in our world and that what you do doesn’t matter.  He will try to sway you to stop helping teens, or children, or young adults.  But today I’m sharing a story from a teen named Bryanna who found hope with a Gospel-centered Children’s Program called Rose City Kids.  The people there literally helped to save her life. ~Sasha [Read more…] about What you need to know about helping teens. It could save a life…