First of all, I realized after just reading my last post that I gave James Madison credit for what Thomas Jefferson said.  AH!  I can’t believe I did that.  I was thinking about another quote that James Madison said, and must have gotten it mixed up while typing.  Sorry about that - I feel like a huge idiot.  The Madison quote that I was thinking of was…

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government,  far from it.  We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government;  upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves,  to control ourselves,  to sustain ourselves according to The Ten Commandments of God” - James Madison

Lots of stuff going on as usual.  This blog was mainly to express my thoughts on things, especially related to my faith, but other things as well.

I just changed the background, which is nice… especially since blue is my favorite color, but I must admit, I loved that tornado background.  I am thinking about changing it around a bit, but I am not sure right now.  I wanted to change the title, but Mike thinks “Tending to Chaos” fits perfectly.  I don’t know.  We shall see.

My dad is safely back from his trip to Louisiana.  He said he couldn’t get to the little town I grew up in, even after almost a week since the hurricane, it was still flooded.  That is kind of sad, but not surprising, since it was so far south.  My family down there are all fine.  Damage happened, especially to my cousin’s house, but everyone was fine.

Work is piling up as usual.  I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I think it is good from the standpoint that people are happy with what I have done and want more.  It is not good from the standpoint that I honestly feel like I am drowning in work most days.  I guess that is what the title Senior Engineer means.  *sigh*  I guess “with great power comes great responsibility.” 

I find it frustrating at times.  I started out as an intern, then at graduation, was a mid-range engineer.  I never really was a junior engineer, and in less than 3 years, I was promoted to the title senior.  Something that takes most almost ten years, I have done in less than three.  Freaks me out.  People in my office found out I was in my mid-twenties the other day.  I got a bunch of surprised faces.  People say I look much younger, but they didn’t think I actually was as young as I am.  Weird.

We survived tropical storm Hanna just fine.  It was actually nice to get some rain finally.  My mom came up to visit and we just unpacked some boxes and listened to John Denver (Rocky Mountain High - yeah!).  My mom was a huge help as usual.  There was a little flooding on the roads outside our house, but we were more than fine.  Unfortunately, for some of my friends, they weren’t so lucky.

School is now back in session, and traffic has become unbelievable.  Every September, it is so much worse than the previous year.  Crazy.  My 10 minute commute has gotten a bit longer lately.  :-)  I am hoping people will start learning how to drive eventually, but somehow I just doubt it.

Funny, I should mention traffic.  I have started taking the time I am stuck in traffic and just turning into a prayer/praise time with the Lord.  I find myself singing or praying out loud most mornings.  I am sure everyone who passes me and sees me talking, thinks I am nuts, but I am finding it to be such a great way to start out my mornings.

Something I am learning first hand recently is not only that a house divided cannot stand, but when there is a non-believer trying to drive a wedge into a house that has a solid foundation built on Christ, the plan always back fires.  The rains come, the rivers rise, but the solid foundation doesn’t falter.  Lately we have seen people throwing large rocks at our foundation, trying to collapse a strong faith (mine especially, has been the target) in the Lord and they have not succeeded.  They have caused us much annoyance, but they are not tearing the foundation down.  In fact, I think in a lot of ways, it is just strengthening it.

Politics is starting to get on my nerves.  One thing I have seen for certain is that many people are scared silly by Palin.  Makes you wonder why.  It is interesting.  I have watched people practically start foaming at the mouth as soon as her name is mentioned.  The other thing that just appalled me was when Biden basically said he is pro-choice because he doesn’t want to impose his religious belief on others.  You are calling murder a religious belief that shouldn’t be imposed?  Don’t even go there.  That statement opens a logical can of worms that is insane.  My question is, so why do we even have laws at all?!  Why is murdering anyone even an issue with this logic?  Disgusting and more so, frightening.  People scare me.  That is where I will leave the politics stuff, but seriously, this whole thing is spinning out of control.

Mike and I have been busy, still unpacking and organizing everything.  We have gotten a lot done.  We have got a lot of stuff coming down the road here in the next few months.  It is going to be crazy!  I am guessing that my posting will continue to be sporadic as I am just so busy.

Well, I am off to tend to the chaos of today, so I will talk to you all later.  Thank you to all those who have stopped by lately.  It is always good to hear from everyone.
The verse I close with is one that has inspired me in the past and so much recently:

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. - 1 Thessalonians 4:11-2

Prayers go out to my family down in Southern Louisiana.   Not that they aren’t prepared, mind you.

Ugh, I really hate discussing politics, but I guess it is time to layout my personal feelings on the subject and give some background.  Over on my husband’s blog, he has been talking a little bit about how we are going to be voting.  I will start with my political background, then the line, I believe, should be where faith and politics collide, and finally how I feel about this election.

Political Background:  I guess I would best describe myself as a conservative with a stong libertarian  slant.  Basically, the meat of my political plate is conservative, but the potatoes are definitely libertarian.  I have socially conservative views, as well as fiscally conservative views.  However, I believe most of the law making should come from the state and that the government, should stay out of people’s personal lives (and pockets) as much as possible and within reason (obviously).  I also believe in the right to let people totally screw up their own lives, but be held accountable for screwing up others lives.

Compassion and Charity?  Yes, I do believe in helping out my fellow man, but I do not believe it is the governments responsibility.  That is a perfect job for the church.  The beauty about the church is that they are right there in the town, they see the need, they know what is going on and can help those in need.  Many years ago at my child hood church, a woman’s husband died in a machine accident.  They had many young children and a huge farm.  The church immediately came running to the rescue.  The offered her a job as the church secretary to help get her back on her feet, the men pitched in at the farm until she was able to rent out a portion of it and hire some help for the rest.  She was able to bring her young children with her to the church, while she worked, and her older boys were working with the men at the farm, learning how to help take it over.

Today, she is married to a farmer, who had lost his wife years ago, and they have the farm back under control and they have tons of children and she doesn’t need help from the church.  That is church in action.  The government cannot just hand out money blindly, but that is what it does.  There are so many moochers and greedy people taking advantage of the government, which results in the common man, who is working, having to work harder and ultimately make less.I could go on about morality, abortion, and all of that until I turned blue, but I don’t have that much time, so I will go on to the next thing.

Voting?  This may sound crazy to some, but I would give up my right to vote if every other woman would give it up as well.  I feel like voting rights for women has been… well… a disaster.  But, as long as women are allowed to vote, you bet I will, because someone has to try to counter-balance the stupidity of female voting.  I admit, I tend to vote for the lesser of two evils in most elections, but in the primaries, I vote for the ideal candidate.  I also realized there would never be such a thing as the perfect candidate.  Everyone has issues, and man is imperfect.  I also thought about how it would be if I ran, yes, even I would do things that weren’t the best things ever, I know it is bound to happen.  So, here I am, who do I vote for in the election?  Ugh.  It is more often than not a catch 22.  Well, maybe more of a paradox.Where do I feel Faith and Politics Collide?  Sit tight and don’t get angry until you have read the whole thing.  ;-)  One of my favorite quotes of all time is from George Washington’s farewell address:

“…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” - George Washington

Yes, I do believe that as Thomas Jefferson said, that the Bible is the corner stone, but we also must be careful (my Anabaptist background is coming out in full force here).  Religious freedom was one of the reasons this country was founded.  A state-run/state-controlled church is dangerous.  “Religion” cannot control government.  The result is the middle ages under the Catholic church.  Absolution was a way of life, and people lived their lives out of fear.  The grip the Catholic church had on people was terrifying.  The church had its opinion on everything, if you disagreed, you were automatically a heretic.

With that said, I don’t believe that the level to which separation of church and state (which is NOT in the constitution - it was in a letter - esh) is carried out today is a good thing - it is horrible.  The concept only meant that there would not be a state church, not that you couldn’t say a prayer or have the ten commandments posted.  People are insane.

Who am I voting for in the election?  Well, as my husband said, it will be McCain.  Why?  Well, it’s a long story.  Who did I vote for in the primary?  Ron Paul and dang proud of it.  I wanted to go, but was in the middle of a hair raising project at work and thought that I wasn’t going to make it to the primary.  I had to convince my boss that I should leave, that was fun.  Mike promised me that he would vote for a reasonable candidate of my choice in November - and that is the story.  I did like Ron Paul, and do support most of his ideals.

Why McCain?  Quite frankly, I am afraid for this country, especially that will not bounce back from the stances and views of the other party.  Yes, I realize that McCain has his serious issues, but the chasm between the two candidates leave no straddling the line for me this round.  I must vote my conscience, and ultimately, I leave it in God’s hands.What are my feelings about Palin?  Well, usually I will be the first to stand up and say a woman?  Are you kidding?  However, with this woman, I will make an exception.  So far, everything I have seen about her and I have heard from her, thrills me.  She use to hunt moose?  How can you not love a woman like that?!  :-)  I am excited, she seems like she could be a great role model for young girls instead of all the other frightening women seen in the media today.

As many problems as we have in the country, I still think it is the best one out there, and I am still proud to be an American, even though I do get embarrassed every now and then - it is still my country.

I will do my part, as I believe I am called to do, but I put the rest in God’s hands.  If we are going to survive the next few years with the gross instability in the world, it will have to be by God’s hands.So… Now you know.  I usually like to add a verse from the Bible, but I am running very short on time, so I leave you a link to Romans 13.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. - Ephesians 6:12

There are times when people do you wrong. You didn’t have to do anything, but they are there attacking and trying to tear you down. This happened to me recently, and at first I was hurt, but then it didn’t stop and I became pissed off and extremely hateful of this person when no one could see. Or I thought no one could see. By anyone’s standards what this person did and said was inexcusable and I had a right to be angry.

God saw my heart and my attitude. Tonight, God showed me where I was wrong, as He so often does. I can sit in the corner and pout or yell about the wrongs done to me, or I can choose to do what is right and what God expects from me. I didn’t want to at first, but God told me I had to forgive them. I started to pray, next thing I know, a short prayer turned into me pouring my heart out and praying about things I didn’t realize I needed to be said.

Sometimes I just don’t understand why things happen the way they do, and I sometimes let things bother me and rip me apart, but God showed me something again tonight that He unfortunately has had to show me over and over again. How can I be an example for Christ when I am playing right into Satan’s hand? That is what Satan wants, to tear me down and keep me full of anger, instead of keeping my focus on God.I maybe a little bruised and bloody from the incident, but I can’t let that keep me from being a light for Christ. Being angry and hateful is not going to show Christ in me, and I would be a sorry excuse for a believer if I let what they did to me consume me.

I also realized something else, people do things without even understanding why they are doing what they are doing. This person isn’t a believer and what they did hit below the belt, and I don’t think they even fully realized what they was doing. Darkness hates the light for reasons it doesn’t understand. This incident was definitely a spiritual attack. I don’t want to go into what it was about, but there was something going on in my personal life and they couldn’t have known about it without a Satanic influence. When they brought it up, they claimed to have a vision about it, and then proceeded to go after me full force. There is no doubt this was an all out spiritual attack. Which is also the reason I cannot remain angry and hurt by what happened. The past few days, I have felt so burned out and consumed by it. I felt almost like throwing my hands up and giving up, but that is when God showed me what I needed to do to keep going. I needed to let it go, forgive them, and put my focus back on Christ.

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” - Hebrews 13:5-6

God, sometimes I just don’t understand why You put up with me. I am a mess. I am stubborn. I usually want to do everything on my own. And yet, somehow You love me anyway. And You sent Your Son to die for my sins. I don’t understand, I can’t comprehend the never ending love You have for me, but thank You. I wouldn’t have made it this far without You, thank You for never failing me and for never giving up on me.

Wow, it has been awhile.  Between moving, working, vacationing, and tennising, the time has been going by too quickly.  A lot of stuff has been going on recently.

We are now moved into our townhome.  Not everything has been unpacked or organized, but we are living there.  I think the thing I love most is the multiple stories of a town home.  Our old place was completely on one floor.  I really disliked that.  Too much clutter seemed to build up easily since it was one giant living space almost.  Now, things go upstairs, things go downstairs.  I enjoy it very much!  Everything room is clearly divided, which I also like.  I am so glad we moved here, it has already been such a blessing.  Cable TV and cable internet are part of the rent, so that has been neat.  I haven’t had cable since I was a kid, so there are so many shows that I am finding interest in watching.  I love the History channel.  I think it is my favorite.  I also love any shows where they show you how things work or how things are made.  Sometimes it is nice while working to put the TV on in the background, which I have never really done in the past, usually there is music playing - so now I can mix it up.

The past couple of weeks a good friend, who was also my bridesmaid, and I have been playing tennis about 3 times a week!  She and I have gotten addicted, and we are having a blast!  We signed up for some classes twice a week, and we love our instructor and our classmates.  A week ago Sunday, I hurt my wrist playing tennis with my friend (and it wasn’t her fault, even if I like to joke that it was), so I have been learning to play left handed, while my right wrist is healing.  She and I went to class Monday night and we played King of the Mountain with the other students, and she and I (with my left hand only) we on a team for doubles and kicked serious butt!  One of the other students commented after class that my friend and I played well together, which we really do.  We do both have our weaknesses, but we are having a blast.  I am so glad we are doing this together.

In marriage news, Mike and I had our one year anniversary last week!  We had a great day.  We got up and drove out to Skyline and we had a great day driving around and we went cave exploring!  :-)  I was worried that Mike wouldn’t enjoy spending our anniversary stomping around in a cavern, but he loved it - and me anything remotely sciency or anything like that, I love.  We had a great time and Mike took some awesome pictures.  We had a nice (very late) lunch.  It was so nice to just spend some down time together.

I was off all last week and Mike was off for a few days for a vacation at home (the best kind there is) and just relaxed and got recharged.  We saw “Dark Knight” and I thought it was great up until the very end.  I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but the moral of the story was kind of disturbing, in fact, it was way more disturbing than the Joker’s character.  I think the Joker’s character was pretty good, but there were a few things that I was hoping for that I just didn’t get.  Like near the end, when he asks Batman if he knew how he got the scars on his face (if you had seen the movie you would get this) and then the Joker didn’t tell him, I was dying for a story, and there wasn’t one.  Oh well, maybe I am just picky.

Thursday and Friday, I spent some time down in my home town, where I grew up, while Mike was at work.  My mom and I ran some errands, got some breakfast/lunch (or dinner not lunch, depending on where you’re from - for me, it’s dinner) out and did some shopping for the things Mike and I needed for our new place.  She and I had a good time, on Friday we went to get our hair cut.  This was a big deal for me because I have almost always had short hair, except for the last few years, when I was growing long for weddings and such.  I got it cut short and everyone, most importantly Mike, loves it.  When I say short, it is still very feminine - I wouldn’t have it any other way.  After getting the hairs (inside joke with Mike) cut, I had supper with my mom and dad and just enjoyed some time talking and being with them.  Their house will always seem like home, I think.  Maybe it is because Mike and I live in NoVA, which neither of us is a fan, and it is just too crowded and crazy to seem like home.  Whenever I hit the county border, things change, you can feel it.  It is different.  Pickup trucks, horse farms, trees everywhere, country roads, a stillness/peacefulness as you drive/walk, old town, it all feels…  it just feels right.  Things are slower there, more comfortable, and everyone is friendly.  It is the place where you can belong.  It draws you in, and you don’t want to leave.  Maybe it’s because I am a country girl and a southerner, I don’t know, but that town is a part of me.  More so than any other place I have ever lived, and that is more than I can count.  I miss that place, I wish it was closer to work, I would move there in a heartbeat.

The best man in our wedding just moved away.  Off to get his PHD in Nuclear engineering.  I miss hanging out with him already.  I always looked forward to meeting him for supper after church and just spending endless hours talking about anything he, Mike and I find interesting.  We all had kind of a sick sense of humor, which just made everything so much more fun.  I am going to miss those conversations.

Well, it is almost time for my tennis class.  Cheers!

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. - Matthew 7:1-6

I think this is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. It is right up there with “money is the root of all evil” (For the love of money is the root of all evil. - 1 Timothy 6:10) and “pride goeth before a fall” (Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:18) and so many others.

So many people use this quote to try to make a case against Christians to show us believers that we cannot have opinions that certain things are sin, as well as other arguments. It drives me crazy when someone who does not know what they are talking about pulls a single sentence from a book and quotes it, without knowing the context in which it was written or in this case spoken by Jesus.

Q1: So, are we just supposed to ignore sin in fear of being “judgmental”, because of Matthew 7:1?

Q2: Because Jesus said “Judge not lest ye be judged” and “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” does that mean that Jesus was a hippy and whatever one feels like doing is cool with God? This is a sneak peek at the next post, since the first question’s response ended up way too long.

I am at a loss by how many people believe the answers to both of these questions is yes! It boggles my mind. The answer to both is NO!

Let’s start with question 1. First of all, start by reading the first full verse of Matthew 7, and the first 6 verses for a good understand of what Jesus is talking about. He is actually talking about hypocrites. That is what he means by getting the beam out of your own eye, before you go after another for a speck in their eye. In fact, when a brother/sister sins, you are supposed to confront them about it, first privately, if that doesn’t work, then go with two or three witnesses, and if that doesn’t work then take it in front of the church.

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” - Matthew 18:15-20

If you are taking something to your brother/sister by yourself, with witnesses, or to the church, that sounds like being in judgment of someone that has sinned against you. This is a topic that I could go on forever about, but because of time, I am throwing this together fairly quickly. Here is a verse I quote regularly from 2 John 1, mainly verse 10:

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. - 2 John 1:7-11

Having grown up with the King James Version, I do really like this verse in the KJV better, but I do use both the NIV and the KJV when studying the Bible, to make sure I fully comprehend what is being said. I find both to be useful.

If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: - 2 John 1:10

Do NOT even wish them God speed! Once again, believers are clearly being told to have discernment and to judge whether something is from God or not, and if it does not come from God, than we are not supposed to entertain it, welcome it into our house, and we are not even to wish it God speed! Obviously it is not saying not to witness to the ungodly, or that your family member who isn’t a believer can’t come to your house for a birthday party, or anything like that, but this is clearly saying that believers are not to entertain those spreading false doctrine. This verse sounds an awful lot like judging others.

Another example comes from the book of James, which back in high school we did a long study on the book of James, and I must say it is one of my favorite:

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

This verse talks about someone setting another back on the straight and narrow. If you aren’t supposed to judge sin for being sin, then how could you help/save your brother by helping him back on the Godly path?

Now, by now you may have noticed a trend about helping fellow believers with sin, so are we just supposed to judge each other and not the unbeliever?

There are few things. First, all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. Believers need to be in constant monitor of their own actions. If we are busy wandering off the path, we really should be working on getting back on that path, instead of telling everyone what is wrong with them.

Non-believers are just that - non-believers. Does that make sin OK? Of course not, but without the Holy Spirit convicting them, they are going to continue in a sinful lifestyle. Does that mean we as Christians should be OK with their sinful lifestyle? No! We are supposed to hate that which is evil. Sin is evil - we are supposed to hate sin (regarding hating the person or the sin - that is for another post, since this is not the point of this post). We can not, as Christians, accept sin as being OK or cool, even for non-believers.  At the same time though, running around yelling at everyone over why they are evil and going to hell because of their wicked ways isn’t really the best way to lead them to Christ and that usually gives them an excuse to hate Christians.

Repeatedly the Bible tells us over and over again to have discernment.  What does discernment mean?  It basically means having good judgment.  Christians shouldn’t go around belittling people, but at the same time, believers do need to believe certain lifestyles and beliefs are wrong.

I guess this is a popular topic lately.  Timm over at The Bench Stone has brought this up, and I have wanted to as well.  So here it goes…

Q:  Is the Bible 100% the perfect and accurate Word of God?

A:  Yes.  Definitely.  100%.  Now, here is why.  The men that wrote the Bible, the Word of God, were chosen by God.  These were men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Word of God.  If God is all powerful and perfect, and if you believe the Holy Spirit is powerful, then can the Holy Spirit inspire these men to write the Word only partially accurate?  By saying you do not believe the Bible is 100% the Word of God, you are taking away the perfectness (is that a word?**) of God.  By saying that the Bible was written by men and saying that it isn’t perfect because it was written by man is saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t powerful enough to get the Bible written perfectly.  That is not something I would ever want to have to give account for - saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t perfect nor powerful enough.  It is also stepping a little too close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit (which is the only unforgivable sin):

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.  - Matthew 12:31-2

Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1).  Would the Bible have called Christ the “Living Word of God,” if the Word of God, the Bible, was full of error?  Of course not.  God is all powerful and He is perfect.  Would an all powerful, perfect God screw up His own holy word, the thing that He gave us to help us know and understand Him?  Nope.  That would be saying that either God isn’t perfect, or that God isn’t all powerful.

A serious, true Christian/believer cannot believe that the Bible is not 100% accurate.  If you do believe it, I would suggest some serious time in prayer.

**Disclaimer:  Yes, I do know fun-ness and perfect-ness are not real words.  But it is the way I am when I talk.  Please do not hate! 

There is something I call the “Hippy” Jesus bandwagon.  Where Jesus is all love, and there is no hate or judgment.  Is this true, and as Christians, should we only show love and never anger or hate?  And where does the whole judge not lest ye be judged verse come into play?

Q:  Was Jesus all about love and peace, and never showed anger/hatred?

A:  Not quite.  Jesus definitely preached “love thy neighbor”.  However, Jesus also displayed some emotions that were not all about peace/love.  In Mark 11, Luke 19 and John 2, we see the story of the money changers in the Court of the Gentiles.  Jesus makes a whip and in holy anger drives the money changers and the animals they were selling out of the temple, and spilled their money.  Jesus was angry and rightfully so, God’s house was to be a house of prayer.

There is a season for everything including hate.  Yes, that’s right, hate.  I always like to back my beliefs with the Bible, since that is the perfect and true word of God (maybe my next post should really be about why the Bible is 100% the Word of God).

The fear of the Lord is to HATE ALL evil. - Proverbs 8:13

HATE that which is evil, cling to that which is good. - Romans 12:9

Obviously we are supposed to hate evil.  So we are supposed to hate something.

This is interesting.  I am very turned off by the idea that Jesus was a peace loving hippy and was the type who sat around the campfire, holding hands and singing Kum Ba Yah.

I want to close with that we are supposed to love and show compassion, but my point in this entry is that there is a time to hate and even Jesus showed anger (a holy and just anger).  It is something to consider.  There is an appropriate time and place for hate, but at the same time, hate used in the wrong way is wrong, but that was not my point in this post.

God works in mysterious ways.  As I was writing that post yesterday about praying that God would show us where to move, Mike got a call, saying a town home that we had asked about had become available.  Apparently, the people who were going to take it, changed their mind.  Mike went over and talked to the property manager and found out that they are going to repaint the whole thing and replace all the carpeting, which is such a blessing because of my severe allergies.  As of now, all the doors are being opened for us to move into this town house.  It is really nice, it is an end unit, with a one car attached garage with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths.  I am really excited.

Today is a rediculously hot day, even for VA and it is only June.  Our a/c has been on the fritz since last year, but for some reason, it is working in full force today and it nice and cool here.  I think it was low on freon, maybe the complex checked and saw it needed some juice.  :-)  Thank God for being able to be cool on this near 100 degree day.  Oh and did I mention humidity is at 110 percent? 

My management at work, actually decided to pay us for Thursday.  When power is out, we are supposed to go to another building or take vacation.  They decided to have some mercy on us and allow us to charge the whole day to overhead.  This is really a blessing since I will need as much vacation as I can get for the big exodus approaching.

God has seen us through another week and He has continued to send an outpouring of blessings on us.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.  - Psalms 100:4-5

Well, what a crazy few weeks it’s been. Mike and I were looking at having a house built for the past couple of months. I had been really wondering what God wanted us to do and praying and praying and praying. As we went through each step, I prayed for God’s mercy and guidance. God finally, at the eleventh hour, slammed that door shut. It was slammed shut in such a way that Mike and I knew God was telling us to hold onto our money and wait. What God wants us to wait for is still unclear. So we are waiting for God to show us where to go. A lot of things are about to happen around here. Housing reports in NoVA are showing that housing may drop as much as another 10-15 percent, reducing house prices a whole 25% if that happens. We are about to see some interesting times with the fall election (and I am not thrilled by either candidate), and the next president could very well make or break this area. Most of this area survives because of the government, such as the DoD. If that budget is raped, like it was 15 years ago under the previous administration, we may see NoVA fall apart financially. Mike and I will be fine, but housing may continue to fall, which would might cost us a lot. I am not sure what the future has in store, but God’s got a hold of it and He continues to send an outpour of blessings on Mike and I.

Mike and I both had our commutes cut by about 75%, so gas prices are not worrying us in the least. I use to use about a tank just during the work week alone. Now I am filling up about every 3 weeks. Praise God for that blessing.

On Wednesday, our area got hit with one of the most powerful storms I can remember. Tornadoes everywhere, it seemed and one spotted near us. I was sitting quietly at work, my officemate and I had the local news station playing in the background when I heard about the storm headed our way. I called Mike and he and his officemate left immediately. I decided to stay, and went and moved my car to shelter, since they were calling for 1″ hail. As soon as I got out of my car, I literally ran to the door and just as the door closed behind me that winds started tearing apart trees and branches were flying everywhere. I started walking up the stairs to my office and just as I arrived at my floor, my officemate told me they were telling everyone to go to the basements to seek shelter. We went down and sat there. Power went out. And we sat there. The emergency signal with announcements kept coming over the loudspeaker asking everyone to get as far away from windows or other possible “danger” zones as possible. We sat there and talked. She is a Christian and we just bonded while the outside world was being torn apart. I had no way of knowing Mike was safe. As I sat on the floor, I prayed for Mike, my sister, my dad, and my birds - they were all stuck in the middle of this storm. We were finally told that the worst of the storm had passed. My officemate and I walked up the stairs. We were still without power, and as we looked out our office window, we could see trees that had been struck by lightning, trees and branches that had fallen on cars and debris everywhere. I called my husband. Mike made it home! The birds were OK! His car was fine. I called my mom. She, my dad, and sister were OK! Praise God!

It took us 4 hours in the dark before we could leave because power had taken out all the traffic lights, causing traffic to back up so badly, it was backing up all the way in the parking lots! My teammates and I congregated and told stories and laughed. Finally, it was time to leave. I was on my way home, traffic was bad with all the traffic lights being out and the downed branches and trees everywhere. My sister called and was without power, so I picked her up and we went back to my place. The wreckage was unbelievable. There were branches, downed trees and siding from buildings everywhere. She and I had dinner and played some video games as the storms kept coming through.

Thursday, I got to work to find no power! Apparently, the storm had blown a transformer and with all the other storms, the power crews couldn’t work on it. We were told to go home and enjoy our day off! Mike also arrived at work to find no power, so he was also sent home. Mike and I relaxed and spent a great day together. We drove around NoVA to assess the damage, and it looks like near where I work saw the absolute worst. It was crazy. I grew up in very southern Louisiana and saw many bad hurricanes, and that is what that cell looked like, the wind was extreme and the lightning was lighting up the sky at a fast pace. It was quite a beautiful storm, actually. Watching something that powerful is breath taking. How anyone could live through a storm like that and see the awesomeness of our Creator and still not believe in God confounds me.

Today, power is up, so I could go to work. I can’t wait for this weekend. There has been way too much excitement in my life this week.

Before I go, I have a great story to share. One morning this week (not sure which one), I was driving to work, when God warned me about the guy that I was next to on the highway. My eyes somehow saw his tire wobbling a bit, something I would have never noticed, unless I had known to look. I sped up a bit and passed him. Just after I got around him, I looked in my rear view mirror to see his tire bouncing across the street and him losing control of the front of his car and swerving all over the place. If I had not seen that tire, there would have been an accident. The tire and/or his car WOULD have hit my car. What a mess that would have been! Sometimes, it is the small things that God shows you that saves you from a huge mess. God has definitely had His angels watching over me this week. Praise the Lord!

Psalms 91 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, so I will close with a verse from that chapter that seems so fitting.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. - Psalms 91:11