Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Is my glass half-full or half-empty?

I think that so many times it is a matter of how you look at your life. There are a few things that hinder us from gratefullness. We forget what God has done for us in the past, we don't look to Him for the future and give in to fear and doubt, and we don't have an understanding of what blessing truly is. Our pastor has been preaching out of Micah, Jude and 3rd John about trusting God now (He is the God of the living). He is really right on. We need to practice the things I mentioned in order to trust God today.

What has that got to do with the Vision Forum contest that Kim from Life in a Shoe is offering? Well, I will tell you:

Now I know that my next statement will appall and/or incense some of our family members, but I am going to forge ahead anyway. My husband and I are a part of the first generation in either of our families to have a godly home. We are not alone in this generation. My husband's sister and brother-in-law are also with us in the striving to have a godly home and raise up godly children, for example. We also have been blessed with family members that are christian now and are a tremendous encouragement to us.

The problem with not having come from generations of godly forefathers is that we don't have experience to draw upon. The blessing of not having godly forefathers is not having experience to draw upon. I know you think I am repeating myself. No, that is the point. I do like Doug Phillips' desert island idea. It is basically the idea that if you were trapped on a desert island with only the Bible, what kind of society or home would you make? If we come from a godly heritage our tendency is to just do things because that is how it was done in our family. Now there are many good things that are perpetuated because of a godly heritage. If, however, your children ask why you do something a particular way and your answer is because my dad did it that way, you have missed the mark. We should have a Biblical reason for what we are doing or maybe it really isn't valid.

Now not coming from a godly heritage, it is my propensity to think that God blessed those with a godly heritage more than me. That is nonsense and a lie from the pit o' hell. This is my glass is half-full/empty tie in. We have the opportunity to start from scratch with the Bible as our foundation for our home. We also have the blessing of folks, like VF, that share their wisdom. We also have the opportunity to speak the gospel into other folks' lives that might not darken a church's doorstep. My husband has had many people tell him how the church might cave-in on them if they crossed the threshold. He can honestly say that it hasn't done so on him so they have nothing to fear. My husband attracts those kind of brawlers.

We live in a tough area. There are lots of tough people here. Most folk here think dressed up is a clean pair of Carharts. I think maybe, just maybe God has made us for just such a time and place as this. We could also use these wonderful resources from Vision Forum...

So here is our list:
Jonathan Park (all five CD series)

2 boys Jonathan Park baseball hats

The Elsie Dinsmore Audio Collection

The Centrality of the Home in Evangelism and Discipleship CD
by Voddie Bauchum

Teach Them to your Children by Sarah Wean

Destination Moon by James Irwin

How to Avoid the Destructiveness of a Wrong Self-Image
by S.M. Davis

And last, but not least:
Passionate Housewives by Jennie Chancey and Stacey McDonald

How was that for a lengthy blog with heavy thoughts and a plug for Christmas stuff for us-ins?

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