Stephen Curtis Chapman's 5-year old daughter killed

This is such a heart-breaking story. CNN.com is reporting that Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman's 5-year old daughter was hit and killed by a car yesterday. The SUV was being driven by her older brother.

I just don't see how it could get more horrible than this. Bad things still happen to good people; wherever we are right now, we need to lift our brother in Christ and his family up.

[Story: CNN.com]

Ash Wednesday

Today feels really good. I feel really clean and full of purpose today. I can't explain it completely, but I honestly feel as though I have been cleansed and refreshed, and prepared for a new endeavor.

The thought of what to "give up" or sacrifice during Lent kept running through my mind all day yesterday. This morning the answer was as clear as crystal. I will be giving up idle behavior. This includes the hours of time per day that I spend aimlessly surfing the net perusing for celebrity gossip, the hours per day that I spend watching reality television (that one will be REALLY tough for me), and the spontaneous actions I take when I feel that I can sneak in some previously unscheduled me time. Not only am I suffering as a result of all of this idle time, but so are those around me who depend on me.

So here's the plan: For the next 40 days I will spend the evenings with my children. Cooking dinner, playing, reading to one another, family bonding. By 7pm, I will be bathing them, and by 7:30pm they will be in the bed. I will give them about 30 minutes of playtime before lights out. Successfully implementing this is going to be drama in the beginning. They DO NOT listen to me at all when I tell them to go to bed. I mean, they will lie down and close their eyes while I'm standing there, but as soon as I close the door, they are back to playing. Lately, they've been going to bed around 12 midnight!! They are up at 6:30am, and they are only little tykes who need lots of rest, so this just can't be good long-term. This will not be easy, and will require some real stamina on my part. My kids are worth it, though. I will also be spending this extra time cleaning up after everyone once the kids are in bed. If I do this daily, it should only take a half-hour tops. Also, I will be spending a minimum of 1 hour in daily prayer and meditation. I am really looking forward to this. Life feels so much more worth living when you are closely connected with the Heavenly Jehovah through the Holy Spirit. No other way to explain it other than that.

My hope is that by the time we're about halfway to Easter Sunday, this new behavior will become a normal habit for me and not something I have to remind myself to do everyday. We shall soon see!

In the name of Jesus

You must watch this video. A 92 year old would be mugging victim shows us Christians, young and old, what we are called to do. Even in the most dire, potentially tragic circumstances she was calm and completely at peace because she knew that her Savior would never leave her, as He promises us in His word. Thank you, Lord, for letting this story get out to the public. Many people will be touched by this.

Click here to watch video.

Kathy Griffin's Acceptance Speech

I may as well weigh in. This has been aired and discussed for over a week now, so anyone reading this has already heard about it. No need for me to cite Youtube or a news site for the story or video this time.

For those of you who are saying, "I don't understand what the big deal is.", I'll try to sum it up in a way that you may be able to comprehend. If you're an atheist, please try not to tell Christians when and when not to be offended. If you're straight, please try not to tell Gays when and when not to be offended. If you're white, please try not to tell blacks when and when not to be offended...etc. Just sit back and continue happily living your offense-free life.

If enough people got their undies in a bunch over the Snicker's ad that aired during the Super Bowl that offended gay people, I think that it should not a stretch to understand how millions of people who worship and honor a particular God can be offended by a person that says on live television across the world "Suck it" to this same recipient of honor and worship.

Still confused? The following image may help. Remove the word Jesus from Kathy's speech altogether. Pretend that she said, "So suck it, Allah!". No, she would NEVER have said that (and the same people clueless about why Christians are offended would never have deemed this acceptable, either) Why do I say this? Because we know that the day after she said something like that her mom would be receiving a package in the mail in which the contents would be comprised of a videotape of Kathy's head being cut off by someone named Ahmed and a note explaining that no one is to insult their god. So yeah, people (including Kathy) understand what reverence is, they just know that they can get away with insulting Christians and that most Christians will turn the other cheek since it is a religion of love and peace.

Focusing Outward

A little over an hour ago, my hubby and I were sitting in the living room enjoying some old episodes of The Office that we have on DVR. Soon after, we turned off the DVR and Fox News was on broadcasting a replay of the Hannity and Colmes episode featuring the "debate" between Reverend Al Sharpton and Bernard McGuirk. I had intended to record it during the week but forgot, so I considering watching it right then. My hubby looked completely disinterested and got up and walked out of the living room. That surprised me because he's more into these kind of topics than I am.

I watched about 10 minutes or so of the debate, and found myself beginning to slip into that very critical mode that I mentioned a few posts ago. I have very negative feelings about certain things as we all do, and the format that some topics are presented in can really cause me to leap on top of my high-horse and get my blood-boiling. I realized that the particular issue being televised at that moment should not be one of them. It's just not that serious.

My friend Joel is a Jr High Pastor for Mount Paran Church of God. He has a very thought-provoking blog that always awakens my spirit and puts me back on track when I need it. One particular post is entitled "Nights Like Tonight", and after reading it, I felt really convicted about the things that I have been allowing to occupy a huge part of my heart and mind.

I'd like to spend a little time (at least a couple of days) stepping outside of back and forth rhetoric concerning "who thinks who should be President in '08" or "how much I'm offended by certain people" and so on. I could definitely use a little time away from such things. Lately, I'm finding myself in an increased amount of discussions with others concerning politics. Some of it is due to readers of this blog becoming more aware of my viewpoints, while most of it has to do with my place of employment and the fact that our entire existence as a company is based on the publishing of current events.

If I'm going to spend this much time analyzing politics, current events, etc...,not to mention having to constantly defend my position to co-workers, faithful blog readers, etc..., I better be getting paid for it. And I doubt that my opinion is worth enough money for me and my family to live on. :-)

Enjoy Joel's blog post.