Life (a right to choose)

We've all heard a lot of debate about abortion because of the laws Texas put into place in the last few weeks making it more difficult to get an abortion. I've heard a lot of people refer to it in different ways. Whether it be under the guise of women's health, or pro-abortion, or anti-abortion. Personally I prefer to call it what it is. Murder, and I am anti the murdering of innocent children. There are many reasons I am against abortion. First and foremost is because of my faith in Jesus. The Bible specifically talks about God knowing us in the womb. Isaiah 44:2 makes clear reference to it. Life is precious and it is a gift. I can't imagine one day without my two beautiful daughters. I didn't do things right. I had sex before I got married and got my, fiancé at the time, pregnant. We didn't for one second  think about abortion. We were young and completely scared to tell our parents, but we sat down with them and told them the truth and since we were engaged already just moved up our wedding. Definitely not the right choice to make to have sex before we got married, but we made the right choice in bringing our amazing daughter Anna into this world. Again, I can't imagine a day without her.

Ok, so first I gave the reason of faith. Secondly, lets talk about it as a reason for life. Little known in all the talk over Texas is that North Dakota passed a law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be heard, which in a lot of pregnancies can be the 6th week. Unfortunately it is being held up in court right now because a judge deemed it unconstitutional. Seriously? Did she not read the constitution? The right to life and liberty? How is killing a baby giving that baby life and liberty? I digress. I remember hearing both of my daughters heartbeats when my wife was pregnant. I cried the first time I heard them. I loved them from the time I found out my wife was pregnant.  So if a pregnant woman is murdered, no matter how far along her pregnancy is, the murderer is charged with a double homicide. So the difference is that the pregnant woman wanted to keep the baby? How can we get it right in one instance and be so far gone in another.

I've heard it called many times a woman's right to choose. Essentially they are choosing whether or not they want to be pregnant. There are many different types of contraceptives that can be used to help ensure that as a woman you don't get pregnant. I won't go into details on all of the different types, but literally hundreds to thousands. Ultimately if you are completely sure you don't want a child then the best way to make sure that doesn't happen would be to abstain from sex. I feel that is where a woman's right to choose is. She can choose whether or not she has sex. In the case of rape that is different. However life is still a life. A much tougher decision would have to be made by the mother in this case.

People who call it women's health should really just call it choosing how you want to look. We live in a world where everyone wants to plan everything out and a lot of times it just doesnt work that way. CcWomen who don't want to be pregnant shouldn't have sex. And the same goes for men. You know how to make a baby, if you don't want that happening abstain. It's really that simple. Personally I believe that's where the choice stops. Once pregnant another life is there and to end that life would be murder.

So that's my thoughts on abortion.

Love

Spending 18 hours in the car does have a few benefits. One of them is that it gave me plenty of time to think. With life being so busy for me lately it seems like I rarely have time to have my own thoughts. But after a few days of vacation and relaxation in Florida my mind was refreshed.

So I spent most of the early hours Saturday morning thinking about love and what the perfect symbol of love is. I thought about a kiss. I kiss my daughters daily as a way of showing them how much I love them. I thought about a wedding ring and the unending circle it symbolizes. Then I thought about the cross. Now many times people don't view the cross as a symbol of love, but as a symbol of punishment or pain.

I view it as a symbol of love because Christ didn't have to hang on the cross. He knew it was coming. He knew the physical pain and agony it would cause Him. He prayed in the garden that if it be possible that there was another way that God would save Him from it, but also said for Gods will to be done. It was my sin that nailed Him to the cross, and it was His love that held Him there. It's amazing to think about.

So when I look at the cross I see the pain, I see the suffering, but I also see the love. The unconditional, never-ending love of my savior that held Him to the cross. Christ loves me and everyone else enough to do that. Knowing that at times I would turn my back on Him. He loves me anyway and always stands watching and ready for me to come home. One of my favorite songs is "still calls me son" by John Waller. A picture of love.

Love week

What a difference a few months makes. Last October fellowship church was wrapping up love week on my first visit. That one visit started a transformation in my life. If you know me or have read my blog before you know the story. I love my church, don't just like it, don't just think it's ok. I LOVE it. I think my church is a great example of what the bride of Christ should look like.

So this week was love week Wilmington. My church performed different acts of love around the city of Wilmington Delaware. From reading to kids at a school, making dinner for firefighters, and cleaning up at a park to name a few. One of the other things we did was have a night of inspiration. We had musicians from Atlanta come in and a children's entertainer come in and have a free night of family entertainment. What a time. Our worship leader wrote an amazing song for this specific love week and it was amazing.

I read a book a few years back called stop dating the church and fall in love with the family of God. Fellowship church I love you

Tonight I participated in love week. Not as a guest but as a member of tue family at fellowship church. I am very blessed

thoughts i think, i think

Some days are crazy. Some are really crazy. And some are awesome. Yesterday I had one of those awesome days. I had a good day Thursday and ended up working until almost 1am Friday morning on some register issues I had at my store. Then Friday morning I got a call that things were crazy at my store and there were some issues. When I got in though everyone calmed down and things went great.  We were busy and we all had a good time. The biggest difference was my attitude. I could have come in upset that things weren't going well, but I didn't. And it changed the tone for everyone in the store and we had a great day.  Looking forward to many more days like the last two I had.

Plan b

I've been reading a lot of good books lately. Not having cable does pay some dividends :-). Though I don't get to see nearly as many phillies games as I would like. But anyway, I started reading plan b by pete Wilson yesterday. Talk about awesome. I'm 3 chapters in and know what he's talking about. David is one of my favorite Bible heroes. I can relate to him in so many ways. I've reached a lot of these points just over the last few months. Giving up control is hard to do, but it is easier when you have a good church family around you supporting you. I know I talk a lot about my church and I'm very passionate about it, but there's no other way for me to be about it.

Since I started attending fellowship my life has completely turned around. I've given control to God and had great victories in areas of my life that I was defeated. I've learned through the teaching that I am forgivable, that God loves me and have really accepted all that means. I've always known God loved me, but I finally understand His love is unending. That to me that when I felt like filthy rags God saw me and loved who He saw and that I am worth Christ on the cross. Think about that in your life. No matter where your at. God loves you and Christ gave His life for you. Immeasurable pain was handed out on my account, and willingly taken by the blameless Son of God. Now I'm a child to the same Father. Life is good.

Where are you at today? And have you realized the full potential of Gods love in your life?

Ramblings.....

Passion

Passion. It's not a word that is commonly used, but I think we need to get it into our vocabularies and into our hearts. What do you think of first when you think of passion? First thing that pops into my mind are the eagles and phillies. I am a passionate fan. I have been a Philly sports fan my whole life. I was raised on it. When I lived in Florida I even got a Tampabay bucs license plate with eagles on it. (needless to say many bucs fans didn't like that). But something I'm also passionate about is my church. I don't go to just any church. I go to fellowship church. Here's the scoop.

I've always been involved in church. I'm a pastors son so I've been going to church since I was in my mothers womb. I've been involved in different aspects of ministry most of my adult life. I've seen churches get some things right but really falter in others. I've liked all the churches I've been a part of, but I love fellowship. I love it because my church is making a difference. I see it in my life and in my daughters lives. Example. Last week I was doing Anna's God time card with her, which she gets from kidventure live, and she was reading from my Bible. We finished up and then ate supper. After supper while I was doing dishes my other daughter Sadie asked Anna to read some more from the Bible to her, and you know what? Anna stopped her coloring picked up my Bible and read to her sister. As a parent that was one of the biggest blessings I have ever had. I want the best for my daughters. I want them to grow up to change the world, not just try to survive it. I want them to experience Gods love in a way that blows their minds for the rest of their lives. And I know they will get that by being a part of fellowship. I know because it's happening in my life now.

So I'm passionate about my church, and I go to a passionate church. And my God is a passionate God.

I want to change the world

So I've spent a lot of time thinking, and I want to change the world. Now I know people will say what are you thinking? Who are you to think you can? Trust me I have the same doubts, but it's something God has called me to. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do. It's just something that has been impressed on my heart. I know if I tried to do it on my own I would fail. I have no clue what my future will look like, but I know my Father wrote it. And I'm learning daily that His love is all I need and His strength is more than I need for anything that comes my way.

The song blessings by Laura Story has been blowing my mind all week. I know with every fiber of my being that God loves me and wants the best for me. I also know I've done my share of screwing up and I've doubted Gods goodness. I've cried wondering what was going on why am I walking through this right now. I've also looked back and seen those have been the times when I've been the closest to God. Right now I'm in a place I've never been, and it's amazing. I'm more dependent on My Father than I have ever been, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the last few months have been some of the hardest I've ever faced. But at the same time God has blessed me beyond what I ever thought possible. And I know the future holds great things for me. So I'll be obedient and watch to see where God leads.

Because my Father loves me I can love, and it's with His eyes I want to see. So that I can love the way my Father loves