Let Your Light Shine!

Halloween, a holiday celebrated worldwide on October 31. Observances include everything from haunted attractions to parties to wearing costumes door to door. In America, the only holiday bigger than Halloween is Christmas. 65% of Americans take part in this "special" day.

I ran across a news article released by the Associated Press today. The headline read, "Reformed Skinhead Endures Agony to Remove Tattoos". I took time to read the article which described the perils endured by this young family because of the belief systems they chose to embrace when they were younger.

It would be easy to take this information and remain calloused to the series of events that were detailed. Yet, on the other side of the coin is a young man and his family who were suffering.

This family has been changed from the inside out, yet Bryon Widner was stuck with markings covering his face, neck, hands and arms that continued to remind him daily of his dark past. They hindered him from finding work. Imagine being so desperate to remove facial tattoos that you are willing to burn them off with a home-made acid concoction. It was to this extreme when the family finally received the help necessary. Long story short, the family managed to get help and today this young man appears "normal".

Halloween is often thought of as a day set aside for children and adults to dress up. Sometimes the costumes are cute - pumpkins, every day type objects, princess, etc. Other times costumes can be more disturbing - skeletons, witches, blood & gore, etc.

A skinhead, as I see it, is a person who typically has their hair close-shaven. They can be, and often are, members of a subculture that embraces specific beliefs about politics or race. In the case of the gentleman described above, he used this area of skin to advertise his beliefs. They are "dressed up" everyday.

It is interesting to me that as a society, we feel like it is okay to judge a person by a costume or even an outward appearance. It's perplexing to see people don a costume that doesn't reflect their belief system at all, yet think that it is alright. But what is really amazing to me, is that there are people in our world that are willing to stand up for what they believe in, no matter what the cost. They are an inspiration.

Bryon Widner took his belief to ultimate levels - epic and extremist. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind what he stood for. Fortunately, he realized the err of his ways. Sadly, because of his choices, he had to walk around tattooed whether he believed what those tattoos stood for or not until he found help.

And what about you…Are you able to identify the belief systems of your friends and loved ones? What about the everyday person walking down the street? Are you quick to make an assumption about what type of person they are because of the way they look?

I was taken back a couple of times. Once was when my four year old was captivated by a teenager's mohawk. Rather than allowing her to just stare, I encouraged her to ask him about it. He was very kind and explained to her that he used Elmer's glue to get his hair to stand up like that. (It was then that I had some fear - not of him, but of what she may choose to do!)

Another time, I was working at Lifest - a Christian music venue. A band member from Mother Maylene and the Sons of Disaster came in to receive the band's paycheck. I couldn't help but think of how I would have felt if I had met this person on the street. He was full of tattoos and piercings. He looked kind of scary. But, the lesson learned here is to never judge a book by its cover. This young man sat down with me and we had a great discussion. In fact, he was the highlight of my night, not to mention the memory of our conversation that has lingered over the years.

Do you find yourself judging others by the way they look? Is there a person that is judged a bit harshly because of the way they act? Perhaps there is a good reason behind it like a medical condition or their upbringing. Maybe instead of quietly thinking thoughts to yourself and talking about them later, you want to take a few minutes to begin to get to know the person or pray for them. If you choose prayer though, remember that if this person is a regular in your life, it may require action on your part.  

Beyond your own thoughts, how do you think people perceive you? Do you stand up for what you believe in or are you a chameleon? Let your light shine!

Toastmasters...Results Week 2

Tonight, I gave my first official Toastmaster's speech. I posted the basic speech in yesterday's blog, but what is fun and unique to speaking is that it is so different than the written word. Things that seem a little long and drawn out on paper can seem to go by quickly when you use some of the tricks of the trade. Changing the rate of speed you use to speak, adding gestures and facial expressions and using them to toy with the audience and their emotions is great fun!

One of the great values of Toastmasters is that you receive feedback that is near immediate, often by more than one person. My speech wasn’t perfect (there is rarely a perfect speech given by anyone!), but I did accomplish what I set out to do. I managed to do my best, I remembered everything I wanted to say and I won the ribbon for best speaker of the night!

It thrilled me to hear a couple little suggestions, followed by several people commenting individually on how heartfelt my speech was. One woman went as far as to say, "The emotion on your face and in your voice just tugged on my heartstrings!" Two of the men told me that they could definitely see me as a professional speaker. One of them astounded me when he told me that I have the ability to share my message and change the world! Wow! That is intense!

Just hearing those things made me feel good, but at the same time, it is humbling. I am honored to be a part of this special group. I humbly move forward, anticipating each and every speech I am to give. 

Here I am, an official Toastmasters International member. 

The black ribbon is my welcome ribbon. I also received a lapel pin. 

I won the blue ribbon for being the "Best Speaker of the Night".

Personal Intro

Setting out on a new adventure is always exciting. A couple weeks ago I decided to embrace life again and dive in to a new and exciting journey, beginning with a blog. Knowing I should begin blogging with an introduction of who I am sent my mind off in a thousand directions. How do we truly define who anyone is? Is it because of their accomplishments? education? employment? family? I'm sure you understand exactly what I am saying!

A person becomes who they are through the adventures they have had in  life. As a child, I was most certainly the ugly duckling! I got picked on a little bit in elementary school, but the real trouble started when I changed school districts in the 8th grade.

The bullying started almost immediately. I was hit on the back of the head as other students walked past me on the bus. When seated, I was pelted with spit balls. The laughter from the back of the bus rang out loud and clear to me while the tears I fought stung my eyes. Day after day after day this occurred.

The school days weren't much better. Although I was free from these bullies most of the day, there were times that we did have to cross paths. I was tripped, taunted, and had the books knocked out of my hands plenty of times. At a homecoming football game, a group of bullies snuck up behind me and poured and entire bottle of perfume on the band uniform I was wearing. Nothing my parents did seemed to matter. This went on for two years and gradually tapered off.

This bullying took away any shred of self confidence I had. In fact, there are still days that my confidence is weak. Thankfully, my parents allowed me to go to a summer band camp in Grand Rapids, MI after my sophomore year of high school. It was amazing! The students there cared about all the learning we were doing, but even more important to me was that they liked me! They liked me for who I was! Can you imagine how I thrived being in an environment where I felt as though I was a part of the most popular group of students?

I took those feelings back to high school with me. I gradually came out of my shell and began talking a little bit more and gained more friends. I returned to that same school for college. This time I was a much smaller fish, in a much, much larger pond. I made a lot of discoveries that first year away from home. Most importantly, I learned to always work hard and do your best. My first year of college also marked the period of time when I began to really discover and learn who I am.

I continued to learn as life changed very quickly! I was married at the age of 20, had my first daughter at 20 months later and my second daughter just 19 after that! Church became more important to me. I really started to grow in my relationship with Christ and understand what it really means to live a life of Christianity. I was molded and shaped because of the time I spent in Bible studies and working with the church's worship teams. As years passed, homeschooling our children also helped to solidify some of the things that I had been learning - hard work, dedication, and doing things to the best of my ability. I learned about life through another set of eyes as my husband and I took on the challenge of becoming foster parents to teenage boys after they went through the program at Rawhide Boys Ranch. As our girls got older, we eventually stopped taking boys out of concern for the girls safety.

Life is full of defining adventures. There are many more examples I could give you of all of the ups and downs of life that took place between college and 2009, but let's suffice it to say that in general, it was a fairly good 20 years.

November 5, 2009, however, is a date that has changed my life forever. It is one of life's defining adventures that no parent ever wants to go through. That was the day I received the phone call telling me to come to Theda Clark as soon as I could - both of my daughters were in a serious car accident. Rebecca spent the next 5 weeks in ICU and another 3 in the inpatient rehab unit at Theda Clark. Hannah was released after just a few days. Both are doing well now.

Dealing with the after effects of an accident like they went through though is not easy. We are not, and honestly may or may not ever be back to "normal". We continue to embark on a journey of learning a new "normal". I continue to struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But do you remember what I told you in the beginning? I have decided to embrace life again and dive in to a new and exciting journey!.

I look forward to getting to know each of you as we continue this adventure together. Thank you for allowing me to share with you this evening.

Are you Prepared?

This morning as I headed out to a meeting I had the radio on. Being a short commute, I only briefly heard what they were talking about, but it did catch my attention. An older woman was talking about when and how she was saved. She explained that some evangelicals had come around and shared the Gospel with her. It was because of the inerrant Word of God that she was saved. She continued to mention the "Emergent Church" and "Social Gospel" that seems to be growing in popularity today. It was obvious that this was a deep concern to her because without the truth of the Gospel, she would not have accepted Christ as her personal Savior. 

As soon as she brought up her concern, my thoughts flew back to yesterday's blog. In it, I said this: 

Here in the states, we not only have the freedom to pray, we can openly share God's love. If you are uncomfortable with starting a conversation, take it to another level. Show God's love with your actions. People don't really want to be preached to anyway. They want to see you living out your faith.

Taken as just that paragraph, it seems to appear that I may be endorsing a social gospel. Indeed, I am not! One of the biggest doctrinal differences here is that I do not want to concentrate on a social message taking precedence over the importance of being able to share the life saving message of the Gospel.

I did mention being uncomfortable starting a conversation. That is because initiating a conversation and being able to answer questions are two completely different things!1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

Today is yet another day that we were told the world was supposed to end. If someone asked you about the end of the world, what would you say? Do you have an idea? Are you prepared? Can you effectively share with someone the deep love of Christ giving His only Son to die for our sins? Our God is amazing! The very least we can do is to be prepared and willing to share His incredible gift with all around us! If you are not able to do that, I would be happy to talk to you one on one.

If you are able to effectively share God's love, I have another challenge for you. Are you living each moment of every day in a way that is pleasing to God? I don't know about you or anyone else, but what I do know is that the more time I spend with the Word of God, the more He convicts me that I have some work to do! The book of James has been working on me this week! And the more I take time to think about it, the more I see how much I need God to help me. I can't do this all on my own.

   

James 1:19-27

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

 ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 ²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Concern and Heartbreak

Cries of “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” were heard all across the capitol city of Tripoli today. Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's former dictator of 42 years, has finally been killed. Ousted by rebels in a bloody civil war, I can't say that I blame these people for wanting to see Gadhafi's evil reign come to an end. At the same time, I am left concerned and heartbroken.

The question of why a loving God would allow suffering in the world is brought up time and time again. It is probably the number one question I hear posed amongst atheists and agnostics today. I must admit, this is an immensely difficult subject to grasp, much less master.

Some of the Libyan people have never known anything but the evil reign of terror Gadhafi held over them. At the same time, this has been a horrific time of bloodshed. Throughout the time it has taken to get to this point, many have died. Yet, through all of their pain and agony they cry "God is great"?

We can cheer right along with all of these people that Moammar Gadhafi is dead. But what about all the other people that have died? And what about the people who really cared about Gadhafi? All of these people have to carry on. They are hurting, confused, and lost.

How could a loving God allow such horror? If God is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful), why couldn't he just stop the evil?

If we trust God, we know He is not helpless in helping us. He created us with free-will. That is the only way that we are able to openly express our love to Him. Without it, we would simply be robots. Of course, the flip side of that is the evil we see every day.

God has a purpose in all things. We may not always see that purpose, but we can be assured that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

As you continue to hear about the war torn nation of Libya and its surrounding areas, take a moment to lift these people up in prayer. Pray for their salvation. Pray for the leaders to be upright people. Furthermore, pray that God would heal their hardened and broken hearts.

Here in the states, we not only have the freedom to pray, we can openly share God's love. If you are uncomfortable with starting a conversation, take it to another level. Show God's love with your actions. People don't really want to be preached to anyway. They want to see you living out your faith.

I leave you today with a passage from The Message Bible. Take a moment to read it out loud. The passion in James' writing is evident! After you are through reading, stop to think about what it is that you can do in your life to share God's love. It doesn't need to be some outrageous act. You could simply take a time of reflection to try to see what God has been trying to teach you. What lessons have you learned from the bad you have experienced in your life. Can you share them with another person? Do you see someone in need? Are you able to tangibly help them?

James 2:14-18

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department." Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.