As the mother of a teenage son, it is becoming a little too hard for me to be comfortable with the thought of him being out of my sight.  You see, fortunately, my son grew up to be a tall, handsome young man, surpassing others on the growth charts.  But society says he does not fit the mold.  He is not permitted to “act his age” because people would rather see him act his size.  Not only is his size an issue, his appearance altogether is an issue.  In addition to general parental guidance, I have to tell him he’s not allowed to wear his hoodie on his head, he’s not allowed to walk to the corner store, and now I have to warn him about his music when starts driving next year…the irony is, we do not live in a war zone, we live in “the land of the free, thanks to the brave”.  Many members of my family are the those brave soldiers that fought and continue to fight for “our” freedom and yet I have to treat my child as a prisoner of war.

There is a real problem when the life of a child is no longer a priority.  I have witnessed more compassion for animals than for children who resemble my son.  These attacks on the youth are coming from all directions.  So, as a parent, am I to keep my child under lock and key to protect him?  Is it ok for him to feel like he is not welcomed in his community, city, or state?  How is he supposed to feel when society says his life is worthless?

Parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, grandparents, and all others that make up our support systems…please continue to love on our sons.  Let them know that no matter who is against them, they have God and us in their corners.  Ensure that they are allowed to be kids.  A child should never have to worry about carrying out normal activities.  With us fighting for their lives, the harder it will be for others to take them.

It is important to surround yourself with people who believe in you.  Not those who believe in your latest endeavor but those who believe in who you are at the core.  The ones that will lift you up during moments of weakness and turn you around when you are heading for wall.  They are the ones that God sends to remind you that you are on the right course.  We all have moments in which we evaluate if we have gone down the right path or made the right decision.  We  are guilty of seeing things as they appear instead of seeing what God has spoken over our lives.  Thankfully, He never leaves us without direction and He will send a word when it is needed.

Over the past week, I received confirmation that I was on the right course in several areas.  It was settled that some decisions I made were correct for this time in my life.  The weight of the world will attempt to break the strongest of us down.  Yet God still lets me know whose I am and that I am covered.  I am thankful for the direction I am heading and grateful for the obedience to stay on course.  It only goes up from here!!!

Thanks Sunshine for holding my umbrella in the rain 🙂

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by Os Hillman
02-11-2014

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” – Proverbs 1:7

Marvin Wilson, author of Our Father Abraham, has written incisively about the various meanings for our word “fool”:

In Biblical wisdom literature, the pupils of the sages and mentors are the unwise, often termed “fools” (Prov. 1:7) or “simple one” (1:22). In wisdom literature, the different levels of fools – both young and old – are the raw material on which the sages had to work, and they represent the varying degrees of rawness. Perhaps as much as anything else, the term fool is descriptive of an attitude, bent of mind, or direction in life, which needs correcting. The various Hebrew words for fool occur more than a hundred times in the book of Proverbs. [Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 284-286.]

The reference to someone being a fool was not necessarily a negative term. A simple fool, or peti, was a person who made mistakes, but quickly righted them and was restored to fellowship with God and with others. King David was a simple fool, one who made mistakes, but kept a repentant heart toward God. This is why God did not turn away from him for his many sins.

The hardened fool, kesil and ewil, makes mistakes, but never learns from them and will not listen to others. Such people can expect God’s reproof to continue and will eat the fruit of their own way (see Prov. 1:31-32). The hardened fool “returns to his own vomit.” King Saul was a hardened fool, one who made mistakes and continued in them even after realizing he was wrong. We’re going to err in our ways. The question is, once we know we have made a mistake before God, do we make the necessary adjustments that will allow Him to intervene on our behalf? And will we avoid the same course of action in the future? God says that if we do, He will pour out His Spirit on us (see Prov. 1:23). He will make known His words to us.

The third level of fool mentioned in Proverbs is the mocking fool or letz. The mocking fool mocks the things of God. This word means “scoffer” or “scorner.” When you encounter cynical people who disregard the things of God, you know these people are “mocking fools.”

The fourth level of fool is the God-denying fool or nabal. This term relates to the morally wicked person who ignores the disgrace he brings on his family and who despises holiness (see Prov. 17:21). This person says, “There is no God.” By failing to acknowledge God for who He is, the nabal declares himself to be a “God-denying” fool.

I have found that it is helpful to try to understand if people are teachable. Are they simple fools, those who make mistakes but seek to learn from them? I can work with those people. But if I sense I am working with a hardened fool, I know I should not spend much time on that person. Jesus did not spend much time trying to convince the rich young ruler. He presented truth, and let him make his decision. Some people must get broken before they can become simple fools. Sometimes it is simply better to let satan chew on people until the ground is fertile enough to present truth to them.

Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.

On the show Bones, Special Agent Booth is a Christian and no matter what happens in an episode, almost always, his faith is tested or God is mentioned…

Booth is a FBI agent and a scientist is his partner.  He sees things that could cause some people to question their faith and their belief that God has the final say.  His partner, the scientist, does not believe in God because she has a scientific explanation for everything that happens.  She often asks him does he still believe in God or if he made a decision because he wants to go to heaven. Booth has decided that no matter what he sees or what others say, he will serve God.  He has decided that he will stand on God’s promises even if he stands alone.  He owes everything to God and everything he does is because of God.  Booth does not concern himself with what science says or the evil things that people do.

We are taught for the most part that we must conform.  We have to fit into the ideal mold of “normalcy”, mirror those that surround us in our different areas of life.  The issue with normal is, there is no clear definition of the word.  Normal to you is not necessarily normal to me.  The truth is we were born to stand out.  My beliefs are rooted in what I learned as a child and what I have discovered as an adult.  They will not line up with any one else’s because no two lives are the same.  Our foundations may be the same but we will most certainly go about things differently because God has called us all on a different walk within our lives.  On our individual walks, we must become unapologetic about the fact that we were born to stand out.  God did not create us in the image of fear or inferiority.  We are the children of a King.  A King’s children do not minimize their existence because they will not be accepted or liked.  Just as Booth, we must stand alone at times.  Being different is a gift.  Embrace who God has called you to be and do not apologize for it.