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The Power of One Person to Make a Difference

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How often have you, as have I, said, “I’m only one person. What difference could I make?” The Bible and history is full of brave ordinary people who stepped out of their comfort zone to make a difference.

As men and women of faith, we know if God calls us to take a stand, we can rest assured He will stand with us. I learned this truth when answering His call to start Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry almost thirty years ago, and it’s still a vibrant ministry in churches today.

In past blogs, you’ve read how I also inadvertently became the spokesperson for championing others to join me in protecting children from obscene and pornographic material in our public library. That meant not only writing letters and emails, but also physically appearing at library board meetings, meeting with the librarian, and voicing my concerns not just once, but for as long as it takes.

Initially, I just wanted to post on a community Facebook page from the comfort of my office and fill out the library forms to have obscene material removed. But if I was really going to make a difference, I had to appear in person. Inconvenience my schedule and take the slings and slanders of those opposing removal of the books. Currently, a law is pending in Idaho Legislature that backs my position. I’m sure it will require me going back to the board to be sure they enforce it.

In today’s blog, I want to share the story of Trent Saxton, who I only met a week ago thanks to my cousin Karen in California who is a member of an American Conservative Facebook group that Trent started. When Karen sent me Trent’s post, she prefaced it with, “A new law to be passed in your state by a Californian who moved to Idaho.” That sparked my interest since we live in Idaho!

Here’s Trent’s story of discovering the need to change an existing law in his new home state of Idaho and doing something about it.

Dear Idahoans,

I recently purchased a new 2024 GMC so my old Toyota plates will be placed on my new truck. In Idaho, you must purchase another set of new plates (silly) in order to sell your used automobile. Understandably, a prospective buyer can’t test drive your used vehicle without metal plates on the car.

I wanted to change this law to paper permits with a 30–60-day grace period. This allows time to sell your car without having to re-register the car and buy new metal plates. I contacted customer service specialist Mary Miller, a 21-year veteran at the DMV, on January 18th and told her I wanted to change the law…LOL. She was a little hesitant to pass me on to her supervisor, motor vehicle supervisor, Kimbra Asqueta.

Again, I told her what I wanted to do. So, Kimbra sent me to the County Assessor, Brian Stender. All of this took a matter of ten minutes. Brian agreed with me that this law should be changed to a 30-60 day “grace period,” without having to purchase new plates. After you sell your car, those plates end up in a landfill. To change the law, would require going through the legislative process in the Capitol. The next day, I contacted my State Senator, Tammy Nichols. She helped me receive a “purple slip” (to write a Bill) and Sen. Chris Trakel carried the Bill to the Senate. They both helped sponsor the Bill S-1282.

Brian Stender and I walked the halls of the Capitol looking for support. All this took place in a matter of six weeks! It’s a NO BRAINER BILL! Most of all, it’s non-partisan. It helps everyone in the state equally.

The Bill passed at the Senate committee level, 34-0-1, one Senator was absent from the committee. Next, it moved to the House of Representatives for their committee hearings. Representative Clay Handy carried the “Bill” in the House on March 12 and it passed 69-0-1. Another absentee! Governor Little signed the bill into law, which goes into effect July 1, 2024!

This law will save YOU money and save DMV time and effort in the entire state. Most, if not all, forty-four County Assessors throughout the state are in support of my Bill. They see the common-sense issue and it’s a win-win. I have spent hours walking the halls of the Capitol meeting with your representatives to change this into an easier, more efficient law for all Idahoans.

Who says the little guy can’t make a difference when you are determined and have the support of your elected officials.

___________________

My Follow-Up Interview with Trent about His Political Success Story

When I read Trent’s story, I was immediately impressed with one man’s determination to right a wrong. He saw a problem and took it upon himself to do something about it by investing his time and energy. I contacted Trent to see if I could share his inspirational story and asked him a few more questions.

  • What prompted you to go through this political process?

Trent: I wanted to change that law in the State of Idaho. It amends section 49-523 of Idaho DMV Code to revise a provision regarding temporary vehicle registration permits for owners. Makes a whole lot of sense, saves time and money, and stops the metal plates from being thrown into landfills. It’s a no brainer Bill…LOL  should’ve been written this way years ago. The County Assessors love it and so do DMV workers.

I started this process Jan 18, 2024, and it was over by March 7, 2024.  On that same day, I had a stent placed in my heart…nice gift for a 74-year-old. Ha!  All Glory to God and determination.

  • Where did you live in California and how long have you lived in Idaho?

Trent: Placerville for 30 years (former Mayor) and then Portola, CA. north of Lake Tahoe 60 miles. I moved here two and a half years ago.

  • Why did you move from California?

Trent: Taxes, politics, regulations, laws, all the reasons most Californians move out of California.

  • How did you pick Middleton to live in Idaho?

Trent: Purely by accident. Never been here before. I liked the rural atmosphere (which is now changing).

  •  When you say you walked the halls of the Capitol, who were you talking to and what was that process like? Were the people you talked to receptive?

Trent: Everyone was receptive because “many” were unaware that they either had broken that law or were about to break it. They never thought it was an issue to drive and show someone else their used car just to sell it!

 You have a beautiful Capitol building in Idaho. The Senate is to the West and the House is to the East. I simply met Senators in their offices and gave my 3-minute sales pitch. I started by saying, “Did you know you had to buy plates for a car you were going to sell?” I would get a blank look followed by a, “No, you don’t?!” answer and then I had them in the palm of my hand. The rest was easy after that!  It was not a hard sell and many just said, “I’ll support you.” I said thanks and left them immediately. 

  • What is your profession?

Trent: DC, Doctor of Chiropractic in private practice and formerly an Instructor at the Southern California University of Health Sciences (LACC) and Occupational Health, C.E.

  • What prompted you to start the American Conservative Facebook page?

I started American Conservatives five years ago in response to politics in my California county and the Trump campaign in 2020.

  • Can I ask, are you a Christian, Trent?

Trent: I would like to think that I am. I fall short, I am sure, so I ask for His forgiveness all the time. I attend a nondenominational church. I do not like “religion” as a whole. I have studied many religions, but there is only one God. I believe that Jesus Christ was sent to earth as the Son of God, that He died for all mankind’s sins, He arose into Heaven, and will return (not soon enough) one day like a thief in the night.

Trent and his wife have been married thirty-four years.

Where Does the Bible Say Christians Shouldn’t Get Involved In Politics?

The Bible actually tells us to occupy every area of the culture and gives us numerous examples of biblical men and women stepping into the political arena to make a difference and in many cases, to save lives physically and spiritually. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13 KJV

In my book, Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As a Woman of Faith, I feature 50—yes you read that right—50 brave biblical women and 28 current day women who took a stand in the public square to make a difference in their world.

  • You’re probably familiar with the story of Esther in the Book of Esther, who with prayer and fasting agreed to step out of her comfortable plush life as queen into the cunning world of politics to save her people, the Jews. What if Esther had let the Jews, including herself, be annihilated? Who can forget her brave declaration, “If I perish, I perish!” Most of us aren’t going to have to die to make a difference. But like Trent, myself, and many of you, we will have to make sacrifices of energy and time to venture into the unknown to make a difference.
  • Deborah left her comfortable meeting place under the shade of the “Palm of Deborah,” where she settled the people’s disputes, to go into battle as a co-commander with Barack. She literally explained God’s battle plan to the military leader. (Judges 4-5)
  • There were 48 other lesser-known women in the Bible too who took a brave stand to make a difference in their culture.

The list of men in the Bible who went into the political arena is also long. Just to name a few . . .

  • Joseph was promoted to the highest political position in the country, only second to Pharaoh, and saved his own family and the entire community from famine. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. 43 Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.” Gen. 41:41-44 NLT
  • Daniel stayed true to his faith as he too accepted a high position in government. Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men. Dan. 2:48
  • David was a king, the highest political position in the land.
  • Paul was always confronting and contesting the political powers.
  • The temple guard and Sadducees tried to stop Peter and John from preaching about Jesus. But when “they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” They told them to stop preaching, “But Peter and John replied, ‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’” (Acts 4:13, 17, 19-20)
  • Jesus never shied away from confronting unjust political leaders and laws.

I’m sure you can think of even more examples in the Bible of men and women engaging in politics and the culture. Today, Politics has become its own religion, while we sit in our pews and let babies be killed, children mutilated, or trans ideology inoculate the brains of children and adults. Where in the Bible does God call us to sit by and do nothing?

The church is letting this happen on our watch, but like Esther (Esther 4:14), we were born for such a time as this! Believers are alive right NOW in this crazy world to bring God back into our culture, our families, our churches, even politics. The other side will take as much ground as we submit to them.

“God calls us to fight until He returns . . . God made us to stand with courage . . . Bring your faith into every area of the public square and those who are telling you not to . . . are wrong!”—Eric Metaxas

We need more people in our churches like Trent who saw an obvious problem and went through the political process of correcting it because he could! And so can we.

“Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature …. If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”—President James Garfield

“The people who know their God will be strong and take action.” Daniel 11:32

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deut. 31:8

Join me and other believers around the nation on Monday mornings to pray together via zoom. A powerful way to start the week praying with like-minded believers! My Faith Votes keeps action partners updated on what’s happening in the nation that effects religious freedom, sanctity of life, strengthening and protection of the family, and care for the needy. Go to MyFaithVotes to sign up.

Many states like Idaho have our own MyFaithVotes weekly morning pray time via zoom, and you can check that out on the MyFaithVotes website. If you’re in Idaho, email Olivia Veldhuis @ [email protected] to join us on Tuesday mornings.

If you haven’t seen the movie Letter to the American Church, you can watch it for free on Friday, April 12th. For details and to register go to www.myfaithvotes.org/LTAC. To bring the movie to your church www.Lettertotheamericanchurch.com.

If you didn’t read last week’s blog, we all must be prepared to give an answer. How to Respond When Labeled a ‘Christian Nationalist’!

Please leave a comment here. I always reply!

March 25, 2024
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ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY TO BECOMING HIS BELOVED!

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This week, I want to introduce to you one of my writing mentees, Cherie Denna, and her journey to writing and publishing her new book Beloved Outcast–A True Story: The Quest for True Belonging.

When I was first asked to mentor a Memoir Writing Clinic at Mt. Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference, I have to admit I was intimidated and hesitant. I loved Mt. Hermon and had attended for 10-years, each year learning more about the art of writing and was honored to have the opportunity to be on the teaching staff. It’s where my first trade book, Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer: A Companion Guide for Women on the Breast Cancer Journey, was discovered and published by Howard Books, now a division of Simon & Schuster, with future published books to follow.

Mentoring is my passion and various aspects of my life story run through all my books, but I had never actually written my own memoir. I knew God was asking me to step out of my comfort zone and take on this new challenge. I researched how to teach and mentor on memoir writing, which is really just telling your God story while applying writing skills and techniques.

Five mentees were assigned to my Memoir Writing Mentoring Clinic and four of those future authors who had never written before are now either published or in the process of being published. I’m so proud of all of them. I knew when I heard Cherie Denna’s traumatic, heart wrenching, and powerful story of God rescuing her by His grace and mercy, her memoir would be compelling and glorifying to God.

I thought the best way to introduce Cherie and her story would be to share with you the Foreward below that I wrote for Beloved Outcast: The Quest for True Belonging, which just released February 14, 2024. Her editor decided not to have a foreward in the book, so it wasn’t included, but parts were used as endorsements.

Foreward by Janet Thompson for Beloved Outcast

I first met Cherie when she enrolled in a Memoir Writing Mentoring Clinic I was facilitating at Mt. Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference in Felton, California. As the five participants took turns sharing their stories, I knew Cherie had a unique story that needed telling, as did the others. It was an exciting time brainstorming and sharing ideas of how to communicate their amazing life experiences for the enjoyment and wonderment of future readers.

Cherie’s vibrant smile, kindness, gentleness, and obvious love for the Lord was a testimony of God’s healing forgiveness and redemption as she often through tears and embarrassment told us some of the devastating and demoralizing times in the life of a child born into the world of outlaw biker gangs. I can only imagine the internal turmoil she encountered reliving those experiences in writing Beloved Outcast: The Quest for True Belonging, but I’m so glad she took the time to carefully, skillfully, and honestly take the reader through the raw and raunchy times that repeatedly drew her back into a life she knew so well, yet earnestly wanted to escape.

Beloved Outcast had me turning the pages to see how Cherie would overcome the challenges and struggles of her inherited and familiar biker blood. Even though I knew her story, I didn’t know the details that she shares on these pages with honesty, humbleness, and ultimately, holiness.

Cherie’s book is more than just a tell-all of a traumatic childhood that influenced bad decisions and addictions throughout her earlier life, it’s the story for anyone who wants to break free of the strongholds of the past and become a new creation in Christ to live with purpose the life He has planned for all of us.

It’s a story of hope, perseverance, love, and determination to create a better life for herself and her child with the realization that all things are possible through Christ who gives you strength to go on when you want to give in and quit. It’s also a story of God’s second chances. How He never gives up on His children who seek to experience the life of serenity and peace they so desperately desire and ultimately find in a relationship with Jesus.

Forgiveness played a big role in Cherie’s life starting with forgiving herself, which only came through realizing and accepting God’s forgiveness of her sins and past. The freedom of her soul that she experienced allowed her to ask forgiveness of those she’d hurt and forgive those who hurt her.

Beloved Outcast skillfully shares the journey and quest for true belonging that Cherie thought she might never find. You’ll probably need some Kleenex as you’re captivated and encouraged by this remarkable tale that reminds us that God never gives up seeking and saving the lost.

I can see the scenes of Beloved Outcast someday in a movie of intrigue, pain, trauma, survival, love, rescue, relapse, and eventually complete surrender to the One who offers a secure and safe home in the family of God to all those who feel outcast and unworthy.

Well done Cherie Denna! I’m privileged and honored to be your cheerleader and mentor in sharing your incredible story of your quest and discovery of true belonging in identity in Christ, not in your past.

BECOMING HIS BELOVED By Cherie Denna

Thank you, Janet, for that wonderful introduction. I want to express my deep gratitude to you for supporting my story from its inception to the moment my book was finally brought into the world five years later. I must say, joining you and your readers here is definitely a standout moment in this publishing journey.

The choice to change the title of the book was another standout moment that caught everyone off guard. When I first began journaling and blogging around fifteen years ago, I chose “Biker Blood” as the book title. My story does “take the reader through the raw and raunchy times”, as Janet pointed out in her endorsement of the book. I prayed for a name for my story that would resonate with a large audience while accurately depicting who I am today, all in honor of God and all He has done. When I landed on “Beloved Outcast,” I felt the weight of the stigmatized theme lift away.

Writing my story was a challenging endeavor, but also a significant achievement for me. This is my intimate tale of fleeing from a life enmeshed in a family of organized crime. We’re talking The Godfather meets Sons of Anarchy meets The Chosen. Why would I delve into decades of trauma? The idea of revealing family secrets goes against everything I’ve been taught as a member of the Sicilian mafia and outlaw biker gangs, where trust is reserved exclusively for those within our inner circle.

My ‘why’ for writing my story shifted when the Lord whispered to me in a dream, “Tell them.” I woke from the dream and read the entire book of Romans. When I read chapter 10, I found the verse the Lord had for me.  But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? Romans 10:14-15 NLT

I could not let go of this directive from the Holy Spirit. Putting my writing on the back burner, I felt convicted in my heart to share the Gospel message, as a witness to the radical and miraculous rebranding of my soul.

The Lord’s pursuit of us knows no bounds, reaching us in countless ways. Jesus reaches into the depth of our hell on earth to make His love known. Even as a prodigal after coming to Christ fifteen years earlier, He never left me. But I had to come to the end of myself before I could see it. Living as a recluse while shacking up with a dangerous man woke me to the reality that Satan indeed came to steal, kill, and destroy everything good in my life, just as it says in John 10:10, The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. (AMP)

The enemy sent imposters to derail and distract me, and even silence me. Imposters manifest in our emotions, our spiritual life, and in our physical inner circle. Their goal is to distort the truth of who we are, to whom we belong, and prevent us from walking out God’s assignment on our life. And I struggled with a severe case of ‘imposter syndrome’!

Full understanding of our true calling and identity as His Beloved comes when we shed the masks of shame, guilt, and unforgiveness, and adopt the life of God’s beloved. This does not happen overnight. Becoming His Beloved is a beautiful lifelong journey. 

In this world of groups, tribes, clubs, affiliations, parties, and denominations, we tend to sacrifice pieces of ourselves at the altar of belonging. If we continue to sacrifice ourselves, we will never know true belonging as God’s Beloved.

“He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will— to the praise of His glorious grace and favor, which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [His Son, Jesus Christ].” Ephesians 1:5-6 AMP

Get To Know Cherie Denna

CHERIE DENNA’ mission is to empower individuals to find a deep sense of belonging and belovedness in Jesus Christ in their everyday lives. Drawing from her extensive experience in women’s ministry, relapse prevention, prayer counseling, and recovery, Cherie inspires audiences to rid their lives of emotional, spiritual, and physical imposters. 

Her newly released debut book, Beloved Outcast: The Quest for True Belonging, is a must-read for those trapped in seemingly inescapable circumstances who desire a victorious life of freedom. With raw authenticity, Cherie’s platform reveals the realities of living on the fringes of society, generational dysfunction, enmeshed in organized crime and the outlaw biker culture, all while following God’s call to spread the Gospel. 

One of her greatest joys is to witness the power of God’s truth come alive through freedom, spiritual deliverance, and healing. Cherie’s raw testimonies of living with Complex PTSD offer hope for a future filled with peace, purpose, and belonging.

She continues to impact the world through writing, speaking, women’s ministry, and guiding individuals on the tactical steps of sharing their hard stories through storytelling and testimony. You can find Cherie soaking in “seahabilitation” at the beach with Jesus or on an RV adventure with her purpose-mate husband. She loves frothed coffee dates.

Join the Everyday Belonging Movement at www.cheriedenna.com. Follow Cherie on socials @cheriedenna.

Leave a comment here for me or Cherie about her powerful story.

March 11, 2024
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A Child Is Not a Problem to be Solved, But a Person to be Loved!

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There once was a young boy whose mother had seven husbands. In a one-night-stand between husbands, she got pregnant. She chose to have her baby and a future husband chose to adopt her son and give him his last name. Do you know who that was? If you saw the movie Jesus Revolution, it was Pastor Greg Laurie!

In last week’s blog, No More Recreational Christianity, I talked about Pastor Jack Hibbs’ testimony of being a survivor of his mother’s botched attempt at aborting him with a coat hanger.

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, was adopted shortly after birth. Jobs’ biological parents weren’t married. He said, “I wanted to meet my biological mother mostly to see if she was OK and to thank her, because I’m glad I didn’t end up as an abortion.”

Some of you know the testimony my daughter and I share in my book Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?  It’s the story of my amazing grandson Brandon’s 15-year-old birth mother choosing to give him life so that my daughter and her husband could adopt him at two-weeks, and we could become his forever loving family. This teenage girl actually hid her pregnancy until the 7th month so she could keep her baby even though he was her second child! Somehow at her young age, she understood the value of life and didn’t impose her poor sexual choices on denying life to the children she conceived.

Many of you might have similar stories in your family. Our testimonies are powerful, and God can use each one to encourage mothers to choose life for their babies.

If you’ve had an abortion, you can ask Jesus for forgiveness and seek Christian counseling to help you with any regrets. You’re also a perfect person to encourage other women to avoid making the same choice. God can use all our experiences for His glory if we let Him.

March for Life 2024!

January is Sanctity of Life month. The 51st March for Life at the National Mall in Washington DC was on January 19 this year and the snow and cold temperatures didn’t deter thousands from marching for life. I’m not sure how they originally determined January to be the month to honor human life, but maybe it was to start the New Year with everyone remembering how important the gift of life is from God our Creator. A perfect segue from Christmas.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! (Genesis 1:1, 26, 31 NLT).

Why then are so many choosing to destroy this amazing gift of life and how has it become so political? Sadly, many things have become political rather than moral. For example, two moral bills supporting pregnancy centers and pregnant college students passed on January 18 by a Republican majority Congress, while every Democrat present voted immorally against them.

How could anyone with a conscience or heart vote against helping pregnant women and innocent babies? But Democrats vote in unison against the sanctity of life consistently. Could it be because one of their largest donors is Planned Parenthood, the biggest industry dedicated to murdering babies?!

The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act passed by Congress ensures that universities and colleges must provide information to pregnant students about rights, accommodations, and resources available. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA), who authored the bill, said, “It’s unacceptable that pregnant women on college campuses are often pressured to have an abortion. My bill ensures young women are empowered to choose life and create the best future for themselves and their child.”

“Pregnant college students should never feel like abortion is their only option,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). “The Republican-led House took a huge step in empowering women to choose life by passing this legislation. I encourage my Senate colleagues to follow suit and work to ensure young women are aware of all the resources available to them and their babies while pursuing their education.”

“This vote should have been an easy one for every politician who claims to care about women’s rights, and those in the Democratic Party who voted to keep women in the dark about their legal rights should be ashamed,” said Students for Life Action (SFLAction) President Kristan Hawkins. “Still, this is a great day for the Pro-Life Generation as years of campus advocacy has led to this historic moment – the first SFLAction-inspired federal bill passing the House,” she added.

The Parenting Women and Families Act prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a Biden Administration proposed change in regulations that would essentially cut funding for pregnancy centers.

“We applaud House pro-life leaders for their work in ensuring resources and funding are made available for women, children, and families in need,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “In a post-Roe America, it is vitally important that resources are made available to support mothers and their babies both before and after birth.”  

Tobias continued, “In longstanding narrow-mindedness, every Democrat present voted wrong and failed to support these reasonable measures because the bills do not promote abortion. Once again, leaders in the Democratic Party have shown their allegiance to the abortion industry and its extremism.”

I wanted to watch the National March for Life on TV, but the only channel Dave found it on was a Catholic channel. CBN carried it too, but he found the Catholic channel first and as I listened to their discussion after the march, it was so encouraging to hear the commentators and guests, even young children and college students, talk about what they’re doing on their school campuses to promote life for every baby.

Biden who professes to be a “good Catholic,” is the most pro-death President in my lifetime. So why would a Catholic President fight against every attempt to protect the unborn, even trying to pass bills that remove the tax status and funding from Pregnancy Care Centers? Pro-Abortion Biden has weaponized the legislature to try to codify abortion up to birth. Barbarianism. What Catholic or Christian even thinks of such an atrocity? Only someone who has sold their soul to the devil for power and money. The abortion industry, aka killing babies, is lucrative to everyone involved.

Herod in Matthew 2:13-18 had all the boys two-years-old or younger slaughtered trying to kill the newborn king he had heard was born. Baby Jesus’ life was spared.

Pharaoh thought the Egyptians were multiplying too fast and he might lose power, so he had all the baby boys murdered at birth. When that wasn’t working, he had the babies drowned in the Nile, but baby Moses survived that genocide attempt and was adopted.  

Also, in the Old Testament pagan child sacrifices were made to Molek.  “‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” Lev. 18:21

We falsely think we’re such a civilized culture today that we would never let something like the above scenarios happen. Yet millions of baby sacrifices have occurred in their mother’s womb as the babies are horrifically poisoned, chemically burned, crushed, suctioned, injected, or impaled, and often pulled out piece by piece. Even with the end of Roe v Wade, some states like New Jersey allow the infanticide sacrifice of babies through all nine months. Barbarism in the 21st century.

The next major battle is the abortion pill as the Supreme Court reviews a case involving access to mifepristone, which the FDA has approved. Justices are set to review a ruling by a federal appeals court to allow distribution of this abortion pill indiscriminately by mail, essentially performing home abortions. Many say the abortion pill is four times more dangerous than surgical abortion and girls and women end up in emergency rooms. The drug blocks nutrients and starves the baby to death.

Our secular culture and ruling government continue to spread the lie that babies are expendable if they’re inconvenient or unwanted. Kamala Harris is visiting school campuses touting the lie that abortion is a woman’s Constitutional right. She shows her ignorance of the Constitution.

After telling his own abortion-sparing life story when his unmarried parents chose to give him life for which he thanked them, House Speaker Mike Johnson pointed out in his March for Life speech that the Constitution and Bill of Rights says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Johnson continued, “All men are created equal, not born equal.” Equality originates in the womb, not at birth. Then he affirmed, “Our rights come from God, not the government. Your value is given to you by your Creator.”

Christians Must Change a Culture of Murder to a Culture of Life

One of the March for Life speakers said, “Abortion is like hiring a hitman. It’s murder of a human life. There’s no other way to consider it.”

Speaker Johnson reminded us of others before us, like President Lincoln and Susan B Anthony, who changed public opinion and encouraged us that we can do the same.

Abortion is the only weapon the Democrats have in the 2024 election because they don’t have any accomplishments to brag about since they’ve done nothing in the past three years except try to turn our free country into a Marxist dictatorship.

Pro-lifers, conservatives, Republicans, Christians need to change our approach in discussing abortion because what we’re doing right now isn’t reaching the majority of people, especially women. We’re characterized as not caring about women’s “rights.” I think the March for Life has realized that as their theme this year is “With Every Woman, for Every Child.”

Pastor Greg Laurie shared his testimony and gave the closing prayer at the March for Life before the marchers took off walking. He also wrote an article Why Pro-Life Is the Only Biblical Position. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it now. He speaks with conviction as a Bible-preaching pastor and a life spared for a purpose. He said it took a while to realize his life was planned by God, as is every life, even those who were not given a chance to breathe.

In the article, Pastor Laurie said, “Our culture tries to dehumanize these babies with rewordings and euphemisms. They call murder ‘terminating a pregnancy’ and they label unborn babies as ‘fetuses,’ ’embryos,’ ‘globs of cells,’ ‘uterine contents,’ or ‘products of conception.’ But the reality is that they are innocent children, made in the image of God, and they have every right to live. If you don’t agree with that then, frankly, you disagree with the Bible.”

Sadly, many churches are moving away from the Bible and that never ends well.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. —Psalm 139:13–16 NLT

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. —Jeremiah 1:5 NLT

Pastor Greg points out God says, “I formed you in your mother’s womb.” God doesn’t say, ‘I waited until you were born to have a plan for you, because you were not yet really a human, but only a mass of tissue.’”

God has a plan for every child, even before birth, but He lets us make our own choices. Sadly, many people today are choosing pro-death instead of pro-life. This isn’t helping women who most certainly will be emotionally, mentally, or physically damaged from taking the life of their child. Silently enabling this choice instead of sharing the truth with love and grace is not biblical.

We as a church must never stop encouraging people to choose God because God changes everything in a person’s life. Before that, they’re not going to listen to Scripture because they either don’t believe in God or don’t care what the Bible says. They’re going to live life their own way. That’s really the root cause of abortion and all evil.

Churches Must Get Involved to Save Human Lives

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a sermon on the sanctity of life. January 21, 2024, Sanctity of Life Sunday, would’ve been a perfect day to give one. But here’s what we can do . . .

  • We can use our vote. Pastor Laurie writes, “To refrain from voting is irresponsible and bad stewardship. Scripture tells us, ‘To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin’ (James 4:17 NKJV). We should vote for the candidates and policies that best reflect the values we find in Scripture, and that includes voting pro-life.”
  • MyFaithVotes.org provides voter guides for how to vote as Christians biblically in upcoming elections.
  • The church was always supposed to be the place where those in need could go to get help and praise God there are Christian operated pregnancy resource centers across the United States that help the mother and child before and after birth for free. We can find one and offer to volunteer or donate.
  • Start pro-life prayer groups at your church.
  • Attend local prayer rallies for life.
  • If you have a testimony, share it.
  • In my book Mentoring for All Seasons, I have chapters on how to mentor young women considering abortion and those who have had abortions.
  • Don’t apologize for being Pro-Life. Remind everyone you’re in a discussion with on this topic that they were given life. Ask if they’re glad their mother chose life? No one has the right to deny another person the same opportunity.

This truly is our generation’s human rights movement. We’re making progress with Roe v Wade being overturned, but the battle isn’t over in the states. The battle won’t end until abortion, the killing of unborn babies, is unthinkable. A civilization is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable.

“Let’s all pray and ask God to send a spiritual awakening to our nation—we really need it.”—Pastor Greg Laurie

Please leave a comment here. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and I always reply.

January 22, 2024
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5 Ways to Refocus and Renewal This Easter Season

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Easter is less than a month away! I hope your church will be open to celebrate as a church family the commemoration of the foundation of our Christian faith: Jesus Christ arose from the tomb and lives today in every believer’s heart! The Gospel! The Good News!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if your church is not open, find one that is! Yes, it might take a little effort, but if there was one day out of the year, especially this year, that believers needed to gather together in praise, worship, and fellowship . . . it’s Easter. It’s time for churches to cut the chains on their doors and throw them wide open just like the tomb was wide open on Easter morning! Then stay open.

Covid canceled Easter in churches last year. Don’t let anyone cancel Easter for you this year! Yes, you can watch services online, which is awesome for those who are housebound and I’m so glad it’s available for them. But for those of us who are able to attend church in person, we need to be participating and professing together with our brothers and sisters in Christ as one body in God’s house.

People without a church family desperately need to be with us in church on Easter to experience the hope we have in the living Christ, our Lord and Savior who overcame the grave! Easter is a great outreach when many turn their life over to Christ. An important role of the church is to welcome those seeking the Truth or any who are lonely, depressed, discouraged, fearful. It’s not all about us, it’s about us being there for them!

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Rom. 12:4-5

Easter Reminds Us of Our Hope in a Fallen World

Without Easter, there would be no hope. Easter reminds us, and the world, that there is forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of eternal life. As the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians:

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

When we ask Jesus into our heart and receive the merciful forgiveness of our sins that nailed Him to the cross, we experience a spiritual rebirth. Hallelujah! Then, as we grow in our faith, we need a daily empty-tomb reawakening not just annually at Easter.

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

Jesus lives within the heart of every Christian and He wants us to live as if we believe it! The Christian life is one of evolving renewal! We continually cast off old patterns of thinking and behaving as we transition into a richer more fulfilling faith.

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. Col. 3:8-10

I don’t know about you, but watching the prevalent and even celebrated evil in our culture, I feel like we need an Easter season, not just Easter Sunday. A refocus of our heart and mind. A reminder of who we are in Christ and why we must continue persevering in His name and His purpose!

Store shelves and displays take commercial advantage of Easter to sell their products for over a month prior to Easter; shouldn’t we start NOW sharing the real message of Easter?! The world needs Jesus, let’s remind them of that message and prepare our hearts for sharing loud and clear: Jesus is alive!

5 Ways Scripture Helps Us Refocus and Embrace Renewal This Easter Season

1. Renew Your Mind

What we let enter into our mind—positive or negative—controls our emotions, actions, and beliefs.

What is bothering you right now? What is seeping into your psyche that keeps you up at night or troubles you during the day? Can you identify it? The news. Politics. Social media. Stock market. Cancel culture. COVID.

Whatever is stressing you, try a mental fast! Free your mind from everything that furrows your brow. You may never want to let those things have dominion over your thoughts again.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Personal Renewal: God wants us to rid our mind of worldly ways and saturate our mind with His wisdom. Proverbs is God’s Book of Wisdom, so try reading a proverb everyday and write it on an index card. When your thoughts begin to drift to things of this world, recite the day’s proverb. If you’re ambitious, read an entire chapter in Proverbs daily and in thirty-one days you’ll have read the entire Book of Proverbs. When you finish, start back at Proverbs 1:1. You can never be too wise!

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out. Proverbs 18:15

2. Renew Your Heart

God created us uniquely with our mind, heart, and spirit intertwined. A renewal of one affects the other two. A mind change touches our heart and our spirit nudges us to act according to our mind and heart. If our heart fills with compassion for a situation, our mind follows suit and again our spirit reminds us of how God wants us to act. We are to have the mind of Christ and what breaks His heart should break our heart too. Much in our world is surely breaking His heart!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Personal Renewal: Who could you invite to Easter services? Maybe you’ve asked them to join you at church before and they’ve declined or it’s someone you’re sure would say no. Perhaps your heart has become a bit hardened toward their spiritual future. Ask God for the courage to ask them anyway. This could be the Easter they say “Yes!” and their life changes forever.

If they say no, then commit to pray for them to say yes to God someday.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

3. Renew Your Commitments

A commitment is a sacred vow, a promise, to honor your word. Commitment often involves a sacrifice of putting others’ needs before your own needs, even when it’s inconvenient or painful.

Our Christian faith hinges on a commitment we make to Christ to follow Him and adhere to His Word, whether it’s easy or difficult. At Easter, we remember the ultimate cost Christ paid on the cross to fulfill His commitment to save a lost world. Now he expects us to honor our commitments to Him and to others.

Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved. Ecclesiastes 5:6 NLT

Practical Renewal: Have you committed to something you wish you hadn’t? We’ve all been there. Learn from it and pray next time before you make a decision; but this time, follow through on your commitment. Backing out of a promise damages the credibility of your Christian witness.

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37

4. Renew Your Testimony

There is no greater witness to God’s goodness than sharing what He has done in your life. No one can question your testimony because it’s your personal experience. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) isn’t just for disciples and pastors; it’s for every follower and believer of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be an evangelist to share your story.

As we mature and evolve spiritually, we retell our testimony to benefit others. You and I are Christians today because twelve disciples obediently followed Jesus’ command to tell the world the Good News. They shared their personal experience with the gospel to anyone who would listen and with many who didn’t listen.

When we become Christians, our charge is to tell the world why we love Jesus! Your story becomes your testimony when the focus is on God, not on you.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7

Personal Renewal: When you give God the glory for something in your life, you testify to God’s goodness. Your salvation testimony shares your life before Jesus. How He changed your heart and spiritually, maybe literally, saved your life. God has given you a story to share, so seize every opportunity to tell it. Sometimes God redeems your testimony by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn’t become their future.

Who needs to hear this Easter what Christ has done for you?

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

5. Renew Your Soul

Easter is springtime in our souls! God is calling His people into a closer relationship with Him so that we can share Jesus with others who need more of Him in their life . . . or don’t yet know Him.

The world is full of unsaved people stumbling in spiritual darkness and deceit. God calls every Christian to help the lost find their way to the light. When Jesus spoke . . . he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

We need to refresh, renew, and refuel our body, mind, and soul so the illuminating joy of Christ radiates from us!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Personal Renewal: Let the songs you sing on Easter and the messages you hear, revive your spirit and speak directly to your soul. Bask in the glow that Jesus is alive!

If you’re ready to arise and be God’s messenger, start praying now for those divine appointments where God will use you in a hurting and lonely world.

I pray this Easter season finds you refreshed, refocused, and renewed in your relationship with Christ and the purpose He has given each of us to keep the memory of Easter alive and vibrant, every day in our hearts, speech, and actions. Let us never forget:

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Col. 2:13-14 (NLT)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

If you received this article on email, please leave a comment here!

March 8, 2021
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Our Country Desperately Needs Kingdom Culture Not Cancel Culture

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Yesterday was Father’s Day and that’s always a hard day for me. Especially now as police officers are being devalued and renounced. The incident in Atlanta where the suspect wrestled with the officers and grabbed their Taser has been especially painful. You see my father was murdered by a suspect he had pulled over who wrestled with him. Once subdued, the suspect complained of a painful ankle so my father and his partner took him to the General Hospital.

When they got the suspect into the exam room, he wrestled with them again and managed to get my father’s gun out of its holster and shot my dad pointblank. My father only lived long enough to throw the gun to his partner and with his last breath say, “He got me in the heart . . .”

When a suspect obtains possession of an officer’s weapon, the officers are in danger!

The man who shot my dad one week before his thirty-seventh birthday was a thirty-six year old high school music teacher. I was ten, my little sister was four. My mom was a thirty-two year-old widow.

Cancel Culture Instead of Kingdom Culture is Feudal!

Nothing I can do today will ever change the horror of what happened to our family. My father was protecting his community. He didn’t deserve to die doing it. His family didn’t deserve being deprived of a husband and father. My daughter didn’t deserve never knowing her heroic grandfather.

I don’t know if the murderer had a family or if he has grandchildren or even great grandchildren now. What good would it do for me to find them and demand their shame and reparations for the years their ancestor took from us?

Are they responsible for what this criminal in their heritage did to my family sixty-three years ago? Would I feel better if I rioted on their streets or defaced their homes with graffiti?

Should I hate all high school music teachers? Are music teachers systemically evil because one teacher did something despicable?

I think you would agree that the answer to all those questions is no. He and he alone murdered my father. He is the one responsible for our pain magnified by him getting off on an insanity plea and only two years in jail! But justice is mine says the Lord and the murderer died of a heart attack shortly after his release from prison.

Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Rom. 12:19 The Message

It is true that this man’s actions forever changed our family. But he was the only one who could have tried to make restitution. If he had, which he didn’t, it would have been our choice whether to forgive him.

Hanging on to anger and bitterness causes torment and turmoil but never solves the root problem.

I can’t rewrite the large-letter headlines in the LA Times telling the world of my father’s tragic unjustified death. In 1957, it was big news when a police officer was killed on duty.

I can try to go back to find all the newspaper archives and demand all records of his murder be removed from history. I can rip up the yellowed newspaper articles in my family albums. I can research the murder’s family and demand they give our family restitution and destroy all his pictures in their family albums.

But nothing will bring my father back, change history, or heal any wounds in our family or theirs.

I hope you can see the parallel with what is happening in our cancel culture today.

Trying to blot out our country’s history or take blame for our ancestors’ actions will never solve the problems we’re facing today. It’s not a good use of our time, emotions, or energy.

The Truth About Forgiveness

In last week’s blog Every Life Matters to God, I wrote the following:

We can’t change the past or a past that we weren’t responsible for, but we can show the love of Christ to everyone God puts in our path. You can only apologize and repent for what you’ve done personally. If there’s racism in your heart, ask God to remove it. If you’ve shown racism to someone, go to him or her and ask for forgiveness, but you can’t ask for forgiveness for someone else’s sin. Likewise, someone can’t forgive you for something someone else did.

When it comes to the past sins of our forefathers, Ezekiel 18:20 speaks to it.

“The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”

Our Christian faith is built on forgiveness. We were forgiven of all our past transgressions and sins when we asked Jesus into our heart. The slate was wiped clean for us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

We have to ask God personally to forgive our own sins. No one can ask God for us or on our behalf. Likewise, we can’t accept blame or responsibility for our ancestors or anyone else’s sins and we can’t ask God to forgive them. That’s between each person and God and whoever they wronged.

My grandfather was prejudice. I’m not accountable for his beliefs that I don’t share. I chose to NOT follow his example and raised my daughter to not be racist or prejudice as she is also raising her children. It only takes one generation to make a difference, positively or negatively.

Just like I don’t expect the generations of my father’s murderer to be responsible for his sin, we aren’t responsible for our ancestors past sins and it shouldn’t make us feel righteous trying to do the impossible to make amends for something we didn’t do. We shouldn’t feel we’re doing something virtuous because we aren’t.

What we can do, as I said in last week’s article, is ask God’s forgiveness if you’ve participated in racism, or any sin, either in your heart or actions. If you need to go to someone and ask for their forgiveness for your unrighteous behavior, do it.

Then ask God to guide you to where He wants you to be a source of peace and reconciliation between all people!

If we’re not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem. We certainly see many problems in our world today that we could help solve by intercession, prayer, and personal action.

Every morning I pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) Ask the Holy Spirit to help you envision what a Kingdom culture looks like from God’s perspective and then pray it infiltrates our world.

We need to realize that Satan’s goal is to divide us both as Americans and as Christians in any way he can. Race. Religion. Relatives. Relationships. Regions. And the Devil is using politics, media, and anarchists to achieve his goals.

Differences don’t need to divide us unless we let them. We have a choice.

How I Found Kingdom Peace Amidst Earthly Injustice

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Rom. 12:17-18 NLT

It’s easy to say we need to forgive but it’s so hard to do when the offense is egregious. The year after my father’s murder, I was invited to a church camp where a camp counselor sat on my cot and said, “I know you’ve lost your earthly father, but would you like a heavenly Father who will never leave or forsake you?” I accepted Jesus into my heart that day when I asked Him to forgive my sins.

I don’t think I ever intentionally “forgave” the man who murdered my father, but I was able to not let that tragedy define my life. I had peace in my pain. I grew up fatherless and my mother never worked. Somehow, someway, checks came in the mail I guess from his life insurance and maybe the Highway Patrol. I know the CHP did set up a fund for my sister and me to go to college.

Life wasn’t easy for us and we lived frugally, but God used those hardships to develop me into a woman He could use someday to be About His Work. It didn’t happen early in my life, but once I completely surrendered my will and my ways to Him, it’s been a joy serving my Lord and Savior. My ministry tagline is “Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness!” God has certainly given me many experiences to share of His faithfulness to all generations.

My mother sadly turned away from God after my father’s murder. She said no just God would ever do this to a man who was just trying to protect his community and her heart hardened toward God. I watched her physically, emotionally, and mentally deteriorate over the years. As I look back, she probably had a mental breakdown.

Only Jesus can heal a hurting grieving heart.

It was a tumultuous relationship with my mother, but I did eventually forgive her for the hurtful abusive years even though she never asked for my forgiveness. That’s what kingdom Christians do.

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matt. 6:14-15 NLT

Will our country ever come to a place where we settle the past and move forward to the full potential of actually living again as the United States?

Only God knows and only God could bring that miracle to fruition. We can pray and hope!

 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Eph. 4:1-3 NLT

Last week, I asked you to send examples of Christians ministering during the riots and protests. I did receive the same video from several of you. It’s a beautiful example of what Kingdom culture looks like and what God can do when we answer the call He gives us to share the Gospel and help others find eternal life, the only life that really matters.

June 22, 2020
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Stop the Politicization of Prayer!

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Stop the politization of prayer, couples who pray together stay together.

I’m back from cataract surgery. Well partially back, so this will be short but wanted to let you know that I’m seeing so much better. Still working on close up vision, but it will come. Every day is an improvement. Thank you whoever prayed for these two surgeries. I felt those prayers! Speaking of prayers . . . .

The Attack on Prayer

The attack on prayer is what God told me to discuss today. Yes, God talks to me, and if you’re a believer He talks to you too, just like you talk to Him . . . in prayer. As I prayed about the topic for my first blog back, I woke up this morning with a definite word from the Lord: Write about the return to politicization of prayer. “Return” because it was politics that removed prayer from schools. Politics removed mentioning God and Jesus in schools. Politics has removed God from the public square and replaced the ways of God with the ways of Satan.

[Tweet “Politics has removed God from the public square and replaced the ways of God with the ways of Satan.”]

That’s right, it’s not God’s culture today, it’s Satan’s culture. Jesus talked a great deal about the ways of the “world” and reminded his disciples and followers that Christians—us— are not of this world, we’re only in the world. We aren’t to conform to the world, but change the world.

[Tweet “We aren’t to conform to the world, but change the world.”]

I [Jesus] am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[a] the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:13-121

Mentoring Can Change the World: Starting with Our Children and Grandchildren

Right now, a federal appeals court has banned prayer at the opening of town council meetings. Because the commissioners said Christian prayers, which they have done for years, the angry atheists and the ACLU filed a lawsuit to ban the prayers, but the ACLJ is fighting back at the Supreme Court. Pray for the SCOTUS to uphold the right to pray before these meetings.

Our President and Vice President called for prayer after the horrific massacre in the small First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX. As prayer vigils were held in that tiny town, the media, entertainers (I use that term loosely), and liberal politicians began criticizing prayer.

Which brings me to the world’s view of prayer:

They don’t understand prayer . . . because they don’t understand God.

They don’t believe in prayer . . . so they don’t believe in God.

They don’t think prayer is “enough” . . . they think action is enough.

They don’t want God’s laws . . . they want culture’s laws.

They mock prayer as weak . . . while they remain arrogant, prideful, and ignorant.

They don’t recognize the power of prayer . . . only the power of man.

They are lost souls without prayer!

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18

Listen to Pastor Paul Buford, who pastors River Oaks Church two miles from Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, when A MSNBC Anchor Asks Texas Pastor if Prayers Are ‘Enough’ After Church Shooting — His Answer Is On-Point

Thoughts and Prayers

Here’s my opinion on the phrase “thoughts and prayers.” Unbelievers say, “My thoughts are with you.” I even heard a member of a media talk panel clarify that he only supported “thoughts, not prayers!”

But Christians often say, “My thoughts and prayers are with you.”  What good are thoughts? Thoughts are how the situation makes us feel and may cause us to do something kind for the person suffering . . . but thoughts aren’t transmitted tangibly, mentally, or spiritually to the sufferer.

[Tweet “Thoughts aren’t transmitted tangibly, mentally, or spiritually to the sufferer.”]

“Thoughts” however can prompt us to pray for the person or situation. Every time we “think” about them, the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray. I think a better witness to the unbelieving world criticizing “thoughts and prayers” . . . and a more sincere comfort to those suffering . . . would be, “Every time the Holy Spirit brings you to mind, I pray for you!”

[Tweet “I see social media full of “praying” and prayer emoji’s comments, but we must not write that unless we’re actually praying”]

I see social media full of “praying” and prayer emoji’s comments, but we must not write that unless we’re actually praying. It’s often a sentimental response, but we’re lying if we don’t follow through and actually pray for that person or situation. They’re counting on those prayers.

Forsaken God?

If you haven’t read my book Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I encourage you to read it now! Here is a comment from an Amazon reader who said the book reminded her of the importance of every believer keeping God in the forefront of his or her life, and how we can impact our failing culture.

This is a very thoughtful and timely book. We watch even now, as our society pushes God out of the picture and yet Janet reminds us through scripture as well as personal stories of how much God wants to be in our lives and His goodness toward us. When we remove Him from our lives and our culture, we are the ones who pay the price as we forsake Him. I love the practical application steps at the end of the chapters. They are easy to do and follow and a reminder of the blessings that are available to us when we simply recognize and walk in the goodness of God.

Read Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten today!

I also want to encourage you to watch a new Fox News program, The Ingraham Angle, 10 ET weeknights. We DVR it. Some jealous media critics have labeled Laura Ingraham “The church lady” because she always wears a cross necklace, is bold about her faith on the program, and confronts assaults on religion. I’m impressed with her reporting style and conservative platform. Here is her coverage of “Are Thoughts and Prayers Now Political?”

My Surgery Prayer Witness

I guess I just can’t write a short blog. I’ve missed all of you, so I’ll close with a “prayer story” from my second eye surgery. When everyone left the room after the pre-surgery prep, like the first time, my husband took my hands, we closed our eyes, bowed our heads, and Dave prayed for my surgery. When we lifted our heads and opened our eyes, surgery nurse Martha was waiting with the wheelchair to wheel me into the surgery suite. The room was just as cold as before, and as they positioned me on the table, I began to tremble . . . like the last time. Maybe nerves, maybe the freezing temperature!

Nurse Martha calmly said, “You have nothing to worry about, you’re all prayed up!” I knew then she had seen us praying and waited quietly at the door until we finished.

She was right. I then told her how Jesus had reminded me that morning that He would be watching over the surgery. Then I added, “Of course Jesus is always with me. And so many people are praying for me, they’re praying for the doctor, and for all of you too.”

[Tweet “Don’t let prayer become political. Don’t let prayer become controversial. “]

Don’t let prayer become political. Don’t let prayer become controversial. Never be ashamed of a conversation with your precious Lord and Savior. Stand firm in the power of prayer.

Pray continually! 1 Thessalonians 5:17

See also my blog The Miracle of Steve Scalise: A Testimony to the Power of Prayer

Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, is available at all Christian bookstores, online book stores, Amazon, Kindle, and signed by Janet at her website store

Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten is available at all Christian bookstores, online book stores, Amazon, Kindle and signed by Janet at her website store.

If you received this post by email, please leave a comment here.

November 13, 2017
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Happy Birthday Mentoring for All Seasons!

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Happy Birthday is celebrating the release of a new book Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God's Faithfulness

Last week was a super exciting week here at About His Work Ministries! We had a Big Birthday and Release Day celebration for the birth of my “baby” Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. In honor of this long awaited day, my hubby grilled salmon: my favorite food!!

Many have followed me on this year-long journey from writing the book last year in a very short four months, then the physical setbacks I had earlier this year with a concussion and then kidney surgery during the final edits. Praise God, nothing could stop His plans for Mentoring for All Season’s release day September 12!

Happy Book Borthday to Mentoring for All Seasons that released Sept. 12!

[Tweet “Praise God, nothing could stop His plans for Mentoring for All Season’s release day September 12!”]

It’s been an amazing week of sharing this release on social media and guest posting every day, sometimes twice a day, on friends’ blog posts. This book is the culmination of what God has taught me over the past twenty years, when He took a woman who had no experience in women’s ministry or had never written a book or done any public speaking to start a ministry that has now blessed innumerable women and churches!

[Tweet “I was just an ordinary woman who said “Yes” to the Lord, and as they say, the rest has been HIStory.”]

I was just an ordinary woman who said “Yes” to the Lord, and as they say, the rest has been HIStory. Some have heard or read my testimony, others may wonder how did Woman to Woman Mentoring come about? Who am I to write a book to help women mentoring each other in all seasons of life? Honestly, I’m surprised too: that God would choose me for such an honor to serve Him in this way.

So I thought today, I would share with you a little of the origins of my story.

I never planned to become a writer, speaker, or for sure not go into ministry! But isn’t that just like the Lord to direct us onto the paths He wants us to go, and we have a choice whether to follow Him or go our own direction. In my thirties, I chose my own path, but the Lord guided me back. I rededicated my life and His prodigal daughter returned with all my heart. Little did I know the plans He had for me.

[Tweet ” Isn’t that just like the Lord to direct us onto the paths He wants us to go”]

Soon I was attending Fuller Theological Seminary getting a Masters of Arts in Christian Leadership, while managing an insurance agency and being a new bride with a blended family. I prayerfully attended a Women in Ministry Leadership Conference, hoping the Lord would reveal where He wanted to use me when I completed seminary, as long as it wasn’t in women’s ministry. Since I also had an MBA, surely it would be in business. Trying to create my own path again.

The Lord did speak to me, but not how I expected. I was enjoying a cup of coffee, waiting for the evening’s worship and teaching to begin with Jill Briscoe, when I heard a voice . . . “Go, and feed My sheep.” I looked around, but no one was speaking to me. I thought, “What sheep? Where? And what would I feed them if I found them?” Again, “Feed My sheep.” I muttered, “OK,” and spent the rest of the evening wondering what I had just agreed to do. Feed my sheep is my testimony in my new book Mntoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God's Faithfulness

I couldn’t wait to call my husband and excitedly share what I heard from the Lord. My godly husband suggested we pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of “Feed My sheep.”

The next morning, the workshop instructor taught from John 21:15-17 where Jesus tells Peter, feed My sheep. Her topic was “Shepherding Women in Your Church.” The Holy Spirit was answering our prayer. But women Lord?!

Returning home, I asked everyone to pray for me to find my sheep and for direction as to what to feed them when I found them. The first sheep bleat came from a business associate asking me to mentor her. I didn’t have a clue what “mentoring” meant, so I read the late Lucibel Van Atta’s Women Encouraging Women [out of print] and learned it was simply sharing my life experiences—the good and the bad—and God’s faithfulness through it all. I wondered if perhaps feed My sheep might mean mentoring women?

Soon I was also mentoring a young woman from my stepdaughter’s small group, where I had become a mentor to the group. Seemed like enough “sheep.” But then a life-altering encounter. The Lord divinely placed the Pastor to Young Adults at our church, Saddleback, and me simultaneously at the gym. I worked out daily, but this was the only time I ever saw Pastor Brad there. As we chatted, he mentioned that many women in his young adults group were asking where they could find a mentor.

As if God was sitting on my shoulder, I suddenly poured out my “feed My sheep” story. Pastor Brad said he thought I should start a mentoring ministry at Saddleback Church, not just mentor two mentees. What!? I wasn’t equipped to start a mentoring ministry. I had to read a book to figure out how to mentor. I did meet with the Pastor to New Ministries, who agreed with Pastor Brad and he handed me a “12-Step Planning Guide to Developing a Ministry at Saddleback.” With both pastors’ encouragement, I began going through the process of starting the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry.

The Lord blessed our mentoring ministry and other churches started calling asking how they could start one. I couldn’t tell them everything over the phone, so I resigned from my insurance career, and wrote a Kit for churches to start a mentoring ministry. Today, God has taken the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry into churches around the world through the DVD Leader’s Kit, Woman to Woman Mentoring How to Start, Grow, and Maintain a Mentoring Ministry. I continue to have the opportunity to share Woman to Woman Mentoring through my speaking and writing ministry, About His Work Ministries. I had no idea “feeding sheep” would go beyond Saddleback Church—even to international sheep.

[Tweet “Today, God has taken the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry into churches around the world through the DVD Leader’s Kit, “]

Woman to Woman Mentoring is the Lord’s ministry following His mandate in Titus 2:1-8: one generation of Christian men and women must teach and train the next generations. When I let God guide, He allowed me to participate in something much bigger than I ever imagined. He changed my heart. He gave me a passion for the issues women deal with and wisdom in helping them turn to the Lord and to each other to navigate life’s seasons. Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life’s Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, is a book for both mentors and mentees in every season of life from tweens to twilight years.

It’s been twenty-two years since I heard “Feed My sheep,” and I’m still feeding and mentoring them as the Lord leads.

Thank you for all your support and prayer, and for those who shared your stories, both as mentors and mentees, in this book. For those who have participated in church mentoring ministries or enjoyed mentoring in your personal lives, bless you for living out God’s direction for women in Titus 2:3-5.

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Since the book released, there are so many stories already of women knowing other women who share their story in the book, and I encountered many while writing it. For example, I mentioned Lucibell Van Atta’s book was influential in helping me learn about mentoring only to discover that she was my friend Poppy Smith’s mentor! Poppy shares their story in the book along with 65 other mentors and mentees.

So it’s time to ask . . .

Who are you mentoring and who is mentoring you through a new life season?

[Tweet “Who are you mentoring and who is mentoring you through a new life season?”]

PS: If you lead a women’s ministry, mentoring ministry, and/or would like to share with your church, a special discount offer for Mentoring for All Seasons from the publisher, please contact me.

*Some parts of Feed My Sheep are excerpts from Mentoring for All Seasons, shared with permission of Leafwood Publishers. Pages 22-29 has more of that story and the birthing of the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry.

Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness is now available at all online bookstores, Amazon, Christian bookstores, and signed by me at my website store.

Author Bio

Janet Thompson is an international speaker, freelance editor, and award-winning author of 19 books. She is also the author of Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten; The Team That Jesus Built; Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?; Dear God They Say It’s Cancer; Dear God, He’s Home!; Face-to-Face Bible study Series; and Woman to Woman Mentoring: How to Start, Grow, & Maintain a Mentoring Ministry Resources.

She is the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries. 

Visit Janet and sign up for her Monday Morning Blog and online newsletter at womantowomanmentoring.com

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September 18, 2017
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A Miracle Story of Love, Family, and Restoration

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Ricky praising

Most Sunday mornings, Ricky was in the front row of church, sitting next to his parents Jean and Don. Often Ricky would accompany the worship team by playing the drums, strategically placed for him next to his front-row seat. I’m told that at one time, he joined the praise band on stage.

Ricky and drums

When Dave and I moved to Garden Valley and started attending Crouch Community Church, we didn’t know the history of the Brown family. We did, however, immediately see the love this senior couple had for each other—always holding hands—and for their adult son, Ricky, who occasionally had to have his drumsticks quieted after the music had stopped playing.

You see Ricky was a very special son, and as the church overflowed with family and friends at Ricky’s memorial last week, we learned more about just how special he was. If you have a special person in your life who can’t communicate clearly, or at all, there’s probably a depth of spirit like Ricky displayed in unique ways. God has a way of gifting these special people with love, compassion, and spiritual insight.

[Tweet “If you have a special person in your life who can’t communicate clearly, or at all, there’s probably a depth of spirit”]

Enjoy Ricky’s miracle story, shared at his memorial service, and his family now shares with you:

 

Ricky Lee Brown born August 28, 1956, passed from the arms of his parents to the arms of Jesus on Saturday March 19, 2016, at the age of 59. Ricky left behind . . . for now . . . his parents, Don and Jean Brown, his sisters Sheri, Cindy, and Lindi, and countless family and friends.

Ricky’s life story is one of restoration, the strong bond of a loving family, and the unending miracles of God.

[Tweet “A miracle story of restoration, the strong bond of family, and the unending miracles of God.”]

Ricky is the firstborn, and only son, of Don and Jean Brown. At birth, he only weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz., and it took a month for him to gain enough weight to come home from the hospital. This was the beginning of nine and a half months in and out of hospitals.

During that time, doctors and family members suggested putting Ricky in Nampa State School. Doctors said with Ricky’s health and physical issues, he wouldn’t live past eleven or twelve and would never walk. With the overwhelming advice from doctors and family, Don and Jean went through the court system and made Ricky a ward of the state when he was 8 1/2 months old. It was the most painful thing that Don and Jean had ever done.

They visited Ricky regularly and introduced him to his three sisters Sheri, Cindy, and Lindi. Right from the beginning, Ricky was compassionate. Jean remembers one time when he was in the state home, a baby started to cry. Ricky pulled himself with his arms over to the crib and patted the baby, trying to comfort it.

To everyone’s amazement, Ricky miraculously started walking at age eleven—the age doctors had predicted he wouldn’t live past—and he finally stopped running a persistent high fever. His sister, Cindy, started working at the Nampa State School in her late teens so she could spend more time with Ricky.

In his twenties, the family moved Ricky to a group home in the Boise area as part of a new program to try to teach life and work skills to disabled individuals. After Ricky’s three sisters left home, the Browns were able to visit Ricky more frequently.

Ricky loved classic country music and liked listening to it loud!

He also loved to tear apart anything he could get his hands on—radios, bikes, and in later years, his clothes. He loved to gas up the car, even if it was only to top it off.

[Tweet “Ricky could only put five words together, at most, but he used those words “]

Ricky could only put five words together, at most, but he used those words to ask people: if they were going to work? If they had a payday? And if they were going to church? Ricky’s happy smile and his thumbs up were his trademarks!

smiling RickyRicky thumbs up

Another Miracle

When Ricky was thirty-seven, he became extremely ill while still living in the group home, so Don and Jean made the decision to bring him home. Doctors told the Browns they would just be taking him home to die, but they said, “So be it. He’s our son, and we want him with us.”

By the grace of God and the help of family, they discovered that the current health problems were yeast related. Jean found a book on how to treat yeast with diet, and she became vigilant with Ricky’s diet and nursed him back to health. This same son, who doctors said would not live past eleven or twelve, would never walk, and was sent home at thirty-seven to die, fully recovered from the “terminal” illness! That’s what God, love, and family can do!

Don and Jean couldn’t bear the thought of giving Ricky up again, so he continued to live with them and they started the parenting season all over again. The Lord redeemed the years they lost while Ricky was in group homes, and they had twenty-three glorious years living together as family.

Ricky and sisters

Ricky’s relationship with his sisters and other family members flourished as he became a part of family reunions, jam sessions, weddings, and birthday parties. As a trio, Don, Jean, and Ricky traveled the country playing music and enjoying countless adventures. One of Ricky’s greatest loves was the drums. He had a set in his room and spent hours listening to music and playing along. He also spent hours tearing his drum set apart. He loved smashing cans and taking them to the recycling center for a “payday,” which he promptly put in the offering box at church.

Family picture

Ricky and Don on horse

 

Ricky and Don camping

As Ricky got older, he enjoyed putting together puzzles and sorting coins or Legos. Amazingly, he was able to put puzzles together picture-side down on the table. For someone doctors said wouldn’t live past eleven, and would surely die at thirty-seven, Ricky enjoyed a long life of almost 60 years surrounded by his loving family, friends, and community.

[Tweet ” For someone doctors said wouldn’t live past eleven and would surely die at thirty-seven,”]

Ricky touched many lives with his joyful spirit and his love for Jesus. Just as Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Ricky was a great example of childlike innocent faith. We know that right now he is enthusiastically enjoying heaven.

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The Brown family hopes that Ricky’s miracle story has been a blessing to you, and especially an encouragement to all who have a “Ricky” in their life. If you have a story to share with the Browns, or want to tell them how their sweet restoration story touched you, please leave a comment to encourage them and pray for them as they grieve the loss of their beloved son.

If you received this blog by email, you can comment here.

April 4, 2016
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A Veteran Mother and Mentor

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Today is Veteran’s Day . . . a day we honor all the men and women who risk their lives for our freedom. My husband and son are both veterans and I’m so proud of both of them. As Christians, we know that there is also a spiritual battle taking place all around us . . . one that tries to keep us from the freedom that comes from knowing Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.

Our guest blogger today, Brenda Nixon, is a friend, fellow Leafwood Author, and veteran mom helping Amish children who want to escape the Amish life. Brenda’s story gives quite a different perspective to the romanticized Amish novels that are so popular today. 

Brenda, hubby, and Mosie

Late at night he crept down the steps and out the door of his farm house. He walked along the shadowy country road for two miles conflicted about his decision to leave. Wearing handmade, plain clothes, and with $50 tucked into his pocket, he tearfully made his stealth escape fearing being caught and stopped, yet dreading the painful consequences if he succeeded.

Eighteen-year-old Mosie, born into a New York Amish family, one of twelve children, turned from his life and culture because “there had to be more” yet he’d later say, “I never felt so wrong and so alone.”

Mosie walked it to his English (non-Amish) neighbor’s home and used their telephone to dial another Amish runaway. “Can you get me now?” he whispered. Then he sat and waited until a car made its way down the country lane and quietly inched into the driveway. With a sigh of relief, Mosie climbed in. His contact, David, brought him to Ohio where, one year later, our lives intersected.

My husband and I met Mosie when he tagged along with other “Ex-Men” – as my daughter affectionately called them.  The group consisted of young, polite, hardworking men who’d all left the Amish life and were struggling to adapt to life “outside.”

We learned that Mosie had just received a letter from his Amish parents telling him he was not welcome back, “even for a wedding or a funeral.” He was, in essence, shunned or ostracized by his family now. A teenager with no family contact or support. My heart broke for him.

“If his parents don’t want him, we’ll take him,” I immediately said upon hearing about his rejection.

Within weeks of meeting Mosie – and after much prayer – we suggested to him that we become his English parents. “I’d like that,” he softly replied, his brown cow eyes cast downward.

Mosie moved in and lived with us for a year. During that time I “mothered” him the best I could; teaching him about personal hygiene, car insurance, dating, and other life lessons our teens take for granted. I mentored him in making new friends, tutored him in his GED studies, included him in our family vacation – his first time to see the ocean – paid for his dental care, eye exam, and other childhood necessities. I prayed for and with him, explained Bible verses, and gave him lots of “mom” hugs and verbal affirmation. The year he lived with us wasn’t easy; it was an emotional roller-coaster for everyone in our family.

After getting a job, car, and a place to permanently live, he moved out and onward. Today Mosie lives in North Carolina, is active in an Evangelical church, and has a job, home, and girlfriend. He’s happy. We recently visited him and he proudly introduced us to his new friends as “my English mom and dad.”

My husband smiles. “Now we’re seeing the end result.”

Mosie was my first. Since then God has entrusted me with Harvey, Josh, Levi, Noah, Sarah, Monroe, and more.  Although mentoring each is different as is my level of involvement, God is showing me that I can “Mother” and mentor anywhere, anytime . . . I just need to be available, sensitive to His purpose, and ready to respond. Sometimes it’s as simple as including them for holiday dinners so they’d have a home away from home; others need physical basics like a birth certificate, Social Security number, job, housing, toiletries and English clothing. Many just need a “mom” hug.

Because my experiences being a “Mom” to the ex-Amish – as Marvin first called me – I’ve begun blogging about my learning curve at www.BrendaNixonOnAmish.blogspot.com . I’ve learned there are many different Amish Orders; not all are the same, and they avoid mingling the Orders. Not all offer Rumspringa, which is a stereotype. I’ve learned the Orders are referred to as “higher” or “lower” depending upon their rules and behavior. So far my experiences are with Swartzentrubers – the most insular, punitive, and legalistic sect – the lowest Order and Old Order Amish. And they’re nothing like those in romance fiction books.

For years I’ve earned my living as a parenting speaker and author. I’ve traveled around the country speaking at family and childcare conferences and have penned books but, never did I imagine God would morph me parenting adolescents from an American sub-culture which is highly misunderstood and often idealized. It keeps me on my knees, satisfies my soul, and makes me jump for joy.

Are you in a club, school, church, employed environment or a volunteer position? God has placed you there for a purpose. I encourage you to receive the priceless experiences of “mothering” and mentoring where you are. He may pick you to be a prayer partner for someone, to “mother” a homesick college student, teach a Sunday school class, start a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group, visit and encourage new moms, lead a Bible study, or mentor a new believer in God’s word.

Brenda’s story can be found in Moments of Miracles and Grace (Leafwood Publishers) http://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Moments-Grace-Inspiring-Stories/dp/0891124047. Visit me at www.BrendaNixonOnAmish.blogspot.com, learn a bit, break stereotypes, and leave your comments. Perhaps you might even want to wrap your heart and arms around an ex-Amish.

 

Brenda, Mom to the ex-Amish

November 11, 2013
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An Opportunity to Share Your Story

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I’m writing two new Face-to-Face Bible studies and am seeking true stories. Here is what I’m looking for:

1. If you’ve been a mentor, or been mentored by a family member–especially looking for stories of grandmothers and mothers, but any family relationship would be considered.

2. A time when you pleaded with God.

If you would like to know more leave a comment here and we can connect and I can give you more information.

December 13, 2010
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