I just posted this Infiniti Weekend Getaways widget for 500 credits. You can earn free credits too!

I just posted this Infiniti Weekend Getaways widget for 500 credits. You can earn free credits too!

I just posted this BENADRYL® Pollen Alert widget for 250 credits. You can earn free credits too!

Get a red envelope. On the front, address it to:

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion.
It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.

***   Mail the envelope on March 31st, 2009.   ***

An empty red envelope will send a message to President Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. 

I just posted this Gerber I Pledge widget for 250 credits. You can earn free credits too!

By Zhi Peng Wuang
March 3, 2009

Now, Xiu, you’re getting to be a really big boy, and I know you’ve been asking a lot of questions about Mommy and why she’s been so sad lately. Well, your mom and I have been talking and we think you’re finally old enough to learn where babies—where babies go.

No, the stork doesn’t take them away, Xiu. Please, son, just listen to Daddy, okay?

Do you remember when Mommy had a big tummy? Yes, you put your ear next to it, that’s right. Now, do you also remember around that time, when that letter came in the mail? The one Daddy ripped up and threw all over the ground? And Xiu, a few months after that, do you remember that man—that tall man in the shiny coat? He came to our door and there was all that screaming?

No, he’s not where the babies go, either. Not exactly. Please Xiu, just wait a second…. It’s a little more complicated than that.

You see, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, but they’re being pressured by the People’s Republic of China and they have nowhere else to turn, sometimes they will walk miles away to a place where nobody knows who they are, and they’ll—wait, no. Hold on. Let’s start over. Can Daddy just think for a moment here?

Play with your toys for a bit. Why don’t you take out Mr. Bear and Mrs. Giraffe and play with them for a little while? It’s all right, Daddy’s okay. He just needs to go splash some cold water on his face.

Okay, this might make more sense. You know how sometimes I complain about there being too many toys in your room, and how I say that they’re making a mess, and in order to not make such a mess, you might need to throw some of your toys out? Well, China is kind of like that, too. What’s that? You’re right, I’ve never told you to throw any of your toys away. Because that would be very mean—yes—you’re right. Xiu, my son, please don’t cry. None of your toys will have to be thrown out.

Nobody should have to get rid of anything they love.

Maybe Daddy can borrow some of your markers and paper. That might make things easier to explain. First, let’s draw your mother. And inside your mother’s tummy is a tiny little baby. Look how cute she is! Let’s call her Eu-meh, okay? That was your great-great-grandmother’s name. Well, inside Mommy there is also something else. There’s also this black thing here. That’s called “fear.” And every time Mommy gets a phone call from the census bureau, or a threatening telegram from the National Population and Family Planning Commission, that black thing keeps growing inside of Mommy. Growing and growing until it’s bigger than even little Eu-meh.

No, no, Xiu, Mommy’s not going to give birth to the black thing. It was just an example. No, the black thing can’t be your little sister. Look, it doesn’t work that way. Just forget that I mentioned the black thing at all.

Here, this I think you’ll understand. Remember Uncle Jm Leor? He was really smart, and used to teach school at the university, and helped to organize big parades against the government? Remember how after one of his parades we told you that Uncle Jm Leor had to move far, far away? Well, that’s where babies go. They have to move far, far way.

I guess in a kind of hotel, yes. It’s not the kind of hotel you can visit, Xiu. Because it’s already full. It’s all full of babies. Listen, I don’t know who takes care of them. That’s not the point of what I’m trying to…

How can I—you’re so young and so …You know what? It’s the stork. The babies go with the stork, Xiu. Giant storks come and take the babies away and that’s where they go. Make sense? Good

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/93586

I put this together for our weekly prayer and devotions as work today, and thought I would share it here also.  Enjoy!

Romans 8:28 – “All things work together for good for those who love God, who have been called according to his purpose.”

This has always been one of my favorite Scriptures.  Whenever something “bad” happens in my life, this verse pops up in my mind.  Since the loss of our baby, this verse has been on my mind and heart quite often. 

(The following is excerpted – with slight changes – from a devotion called “The Groan before the Glory” by Will Pound, the full text can be found at www.abideinchrist.com/messages/rom8v18.html.)

When we pray for something or someone everyday and that thing or person is taken from us anyway, it’s easy to think that God didn’t answer our prayers or that He didn’t even listen.  But, God did answer our prayers.  He just didn’t answer them the way we would have. 

God knows what is best for us and always has our best interests at heart.  Though we may not always see the reasons or understand the purpose, we trust that everything that happens somehow fits into God’s perfect plan.  He has a purpose for everything.

From a poem by Ester Field: “Things don’t just happen to us who love God; they’re planned by His own dear hand.  Then molded, and shaped, and timed by His clock!  Things don’t just happen; they’re planned.”

In Romans 8, God declares that our present sufferings, no matter how severe, will fade into insignificance when compared with our future glory.  Romans 8:16-18 – “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Suffering is going to be a part of our lives.  Being Christian does not magically make us exempt from suffering or the pressures of life.  Life isn’t always fair.  It was never meant to be fair. 

Struggling and suffering are a refining process through which every believer must pass.  It forces us to trust in God.  He pulls away our false securities.  Suffering makes us more like what we will be like when we actually see Jesus face to face.  Hurts, pains, and persecutions are used by God to get our attention.  C.S. Lewis said that pain was God’s megaphone.  He gets our attention through our suffering and He uses it to teach us great spiritual lessons.  Then He can use us to minister to a hurting world.

Anyone who is hurting can identify with Jesus.  2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The ultimate goal of suffering is the outcome.  What is the benefit of suffering?  The Apostle Paul says it is the joy of glorification.  The Lord uses our trials and tribulations to purge us of sin, to bring us closer to Himself, to conform us to the image of His Son, and prepare us to minister to others who are hurting.  When we can see only the wound and feel the pain, we fail to see the purpose in it.  But when we yield ourselves to God, He takes the chances, changes and circumstances in our lives and uses them for His glory and for our ultimate good.

Paul also stresses the fact that our suffering now is short in comparison to the future glory with Christ in Heaven.  The suffering here is temporary; however, the glory to come is eternal.  John 14:1-3 – “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

1 Peter 4:12-13 – “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

We get attached to this life and we tend to want to cling to its attractions.  God uses the pressures of life, persecutions and sufferings to wean us off the glitter of this world.  Romans 7:24-25 – “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

We groan over life as it is now with its suffering.  Far too often we fail to get eternity into the picture.  We groan for something better, but we do not groan as those who have no hope.  No where is that hope expressed more profoundly than before an open casket of a believer at the graveside.  Because Christ lives, we too shall live.  This groaning will fade when we are ushered into the brightness of His glory. 

The Holy Spirit loves us so much that He longs for the day when we will be free of sin and will glorify God forever in perfection and joy.  The Spirit prays that the deeply hidden needs of our hearts, needs that we sometimes don’t even recognize, may be met in Christ.  He knows our hearts even better than we do.  Romans 8:34 reminds us that Christ is in heaven interceding on our behalf.  We have two divine intercessors praying for us right now: Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth within each of us.

Nothing in this world happens outside of the will of God.  Nothing.  There are no future failures.  There are no losers.  There are no loose ends in the final plan of God.  In His eyes we are winners if we are walking in His Spirit.

Here are some questions to think about: What can I learn when I feel I have blown it, or when things go wrong?  What is God teaching me in this situation?  How can I learn from it?  What is God saying to me in this?

You may feel extremely vulnerable and wonder how you will endure in your present situation.  But there is hope – you are not alone.  Christ is with you.  The weaker we are the greater is His power and help.  Your cries reach the throne of God.  He listens, He hears, He cares.  Hand it over to Christ and He will give you His strength and life.

Romans 8:28 – “All things work together for good for those who love God, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I was tagged to do this on FaceBook, so thought I would post it here also…

Google your name with “needs” and post the first 10 results.

1. Brenda needs a makeover: Brenda’s stuck in the ‘80s!
2. Brenda needs the uplifting support of her wacky Village pals.
3. Brenda needs her medication Video by DJ Felony.
4. Brenda needs a partner.
5. Brenda needs a bra…please!
6. We need Brenda back.
7. Brenda NEEDS to RUN.
8. Brenda needs friends to talk to.
9. Brenda needs this…it’s a $37,000 DSLR.
10. Brenda needs your prayers.

Google got number 10 right…I really do need your prayers…

The following is taken from a blog called Spiritual Food for Thought by Mark Mallett.  To read the blog in its entirety, click here.

Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms… America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace. —President Barack Hussein Obama, Inaugural Speech, January 20th, 2009

We cannot hide the fact that many threatening clouds are gathering on the horizon. We must not, however, lose heart, rather we must keep the flame of hope alive in our hearts. For us as Christians the true hope is Christ, the Father’s gift to humanity. … Only Christ can help us build a world in which justice and love reign. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Catholic News Agency, January 15th, 2009