Last good glimpse of Lennox before his arrival!

I will be having two quick sonograms next week: Monday and Wednesday, to check his blood flow, heart rate, movement, and placenta along with 2 more 20 minute sessions of heart rate and contraction monitoring. Those will be my last two appointments with the doctors before I go in for induction on the evening of the 27th! He actually kinda got his hands out of his face for but a moment and we were able to get some pretty good pics of him at his big measurement sonogram yesterday. He's measuring at greater than 97% of his age- which by those measurements his dating would be 40 weeks (a term baby) but my dates (which aren't wrong- 'cause it's me and I am a stickler for dates, since I have to start my meds right away!) have his gestational age at 35 weeks, 4 days yesterday. I have myself a big boy in there! Enjoy the pics and the next ones I will post will be in person! Yay!

Preparing to expand our little family...

We are in the home stretch with Lennox. I am feeling well, just tired. I am battling a case of bronchitis right now that took me to the hospital last night because my doctor thought my shortness breath and elevated heart rate could be a sign of a blood clot on my lungs, which it could have been, but upon examination, it was not! Praise the Lord! We are so thankful for the Lord and how He has carried us through this pregnancy and every trial He has placed before us. God is faithful when we are not, He is good and His goodness is not dependent upon our circumstances.

I got word over the last two weeks that on the evening of December 27th, I will go into the hospital to be prepped for labor induction the following morning. I can't believe that in just over 2 weeks, Lennox will make his appearance into the world in person. This little person has been making himself known through crazy kicks and full body rolls for months now, and I think he is running out of room! His due date is January 18th, but because of the increasing risk of blood clots for both me and the placenta (which could place him in danger) He will be arriving 3 weeks early. Fine with me. He's already weighing about a pound less than Dylan at birth! According to the measurements, he is going to be a big boy!

I have so enjoyed this pregnancy, for many reasons. One namely, is that God has taught me not to hold on so tightly to people or pregnancies. Martin Luther's verse in "A Mighty Fortress is our God" really explains this biblical concept well: "Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also: the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still, His Kingdom is forever!" We can not cherish things, even people above God, His truth, and His Kingdom. Those things- and those things alone, are eternal.

Thank you for all your prayers and support, I am asking that they continue in the last few weeks. I may not post again before he's born, but I hope to get a good photo post afterward!

What's in a name?

Naming a child is really a strange event. Permanent like a tattoo, but so much more powerful and weighty! The bible says that a good name is worth more than treasure! Seriously, though, it's almost crazy to think about. You have the power to name another human being. Well, we had already pretty much decided to on the middle name. I am a girl, I took Jim's last name, and I am an only child. We didn't want the Melville name to end with my dad, so Melville is to be the middle name of our little boy. It's definitely an honorable name, because when I hear Melville, I think of my Daddy, whom I love and respect very much. He is a godly man whose picture should be in the dictionary under the word: Integrity. My paternal great grandfather, Robert Melville, traveled as an immigrant from Scotland to the United States, and came through Ellis Island. We decided on a name that would continue along the Scottish legacy. Our son's name is: Lennox Melville Carlson. Lennox is the name of a Scottish Tribe. Anyway, we love the name, and before, we had come up with several that we liked but we didn't love. When we came across Lennox, we were both really crazy about it.

We thank the Lord for every minute he's given us with Lennox. We continue to pray for his health and future and we ask that you continue to do the same. Now, you have a name to pray for!

A Son...

Today we learned that God has given us a son. We are thrilled and, of course, would be with another daughter. I keep thinking of how God has adopted us as sons. Not just sons and daughters, but that He actually uses the term "sons." This means much to a gentile. A son was entitled to an entirely different inheritance that merely daughters were in that time. God doesn't just let us live as his children, but as his sons, like the firstborn among many brethren, that we may receive a full inheritance. What a joy, we are not stepchildren to God, but joint heirs with Jesus.


We'll tell you our son's name, when we know it! Until then, if you have any suggestions, feel free to post them as comments. Tyler, I know "Tyler the Great" is offered up, and I thank you so much for the permission to use it. hehe.

Valuing Life created in His image...

Well, we had our 17 week sonogram today. It went really well, except for the part we were all waiting for, you know, finding out if it is indeed the baby girl that Dylan is demanding or if we will put our daughter into shock by having a boy. We got two opinions from the doctor and the sonographer. Sonographer says its a boy and the doctor suspects a girl. Thanks, guys. The baby had its legs crossed in a "vise grip" position with the umbilical cord tightly tucked between. Thanks, baby. We do not care one way or the other, we are just delighted to be having another child. This is indeed a miraculous event before us. This is the phrase I have heard over and over during the last few weeks, "Well, as long is it's healthy, it doesn't matter if its a boy or a girl, right?" The answer to that is, "Right." Sort of. I don't mean to sound pesky about the way things are worded, but that question begs the implication that if my child is born unhealthy, I somehow may not want them anymore. Which, for the Christian is not true. We, as Christians are separated from the world in this: we value the lives of others above ourselves. We do not look at children with disablities and think that they are a nusance to our "perfect" little life, nor do we use the "pity" ticket as to say that it's not fair to bring a child with such birth defects or disablities into this world. Who are we to say who is worthy or unworthy to live every day that the Lord has given them? We do not look at an elderly person or a terminal cancer patient at the end of their life as someone whose life can be disposed of "humanely", so that they may die with dignity. We look at the trials the Lord has set before them as a blessing, not a curse. We see that what it says throughout the bible about trials refining the faith of a believer or drawing an unbeliever unto faith and repentance in our God. I see someone fighting through the pains and agonies of life with the grace and beauty of our Lord a way to die with dignity. I have seen it with my own eyes, old saints, drawing comfort and strength from their Lord and bringing Him much glory by their integrity in the face of death. It is glorious and it is supernatural. No strength of man can bring about this abiility, nor can we as Christians value life as precious as we do unless God has granted us a new heart and the power of His Spirit.

So, I guess my answer to the question I keep getting is: "Of course, I do pray that God would grant me a healthy child, but I will thankfully receive whatever child the Lord gives me, male or female, healthy or frail, this child will be beautiful and loved because he or she is created in the image of God." This child will be immediately given back to the Lord as an offering, just as Dylan was, so that we may raise our children, healthy or ill, in the fear and admonition of the Lord Most High.

The Incomprehensible God of Incomprehensible Grace

I suppose now is a good of a time as ever to share with my reader(s) some news on our homefront. I realize there may actually be a possibility that Tyler is not the only one that reads this thing. But, if he is, well, it just confirms what I already suspected of him- he’s awesome! You should check out Tyler's blog! Anyway, I digress...

Jim and I found out 7 weeks ago that I was pregnant again. The nurse and I counted up and this makes the ninth time. Oh, and praise the Lord, I am still pregnant! 10.5 weeks to be exact! We have seen 3 amazing sonograms with an amazingly strong heartbeat each time and my 8 week and 10 week sonograms have shown a baby measuring almost a week larger than our dating. I keep up with every detail of every cycle because I have lost a couple of pregnancies before I knew I was pregnant... needless to say, I try and find out each cycle at the earliest moment, if I am pregnant or not- that way I can start taking my hormones as soon as possible. I am 1.5 weeks away from being able to stop taking my daily hormone injections! Jim has been such a trooper to give me a shot in the rump every evening for the last 7.5 weeks, with one more week to go. In April of 2008, my doctor ran some new tests for miscarriage causes that were not available before Dylan was born and found out, in addition to my hormone deficiency, that I also have a blood clotting disorder that is exacerbated by pregnancy. So, in addition to my hormone injections, I have to inject myself with a blood thinner twice a day in the stomach and will continue that through out the pregnancy and until 6 weeks postpartum. Those are tiny insulin needles, much smaller and kinder than the gianormous muscular needles Jim has to stick me with each night. For this, I am thankful.

I am mostly thankful for God’s providence. I know I would not be here apart from His sovereign hand. I am thankful for medicines, doctors, tests and discoveries, but I know that for this to be taking place, it is God’s will. I know that this could all change tomorrow. I know I am not guaranteed a child in 6 months. I know that I had all of these issues while I was pregnant with Dylan and I only took hormones, and Dylan is here today. I know that my God is too big to understand fully. I am thankful that He is incomprehensible. I taught Dylan’s Wednesday night class that word a few weeks back, and I pray as she grows and experiences God’s workings in her own life, she will not just be able to say the word and repeat the definition, but she will know for certain that our God is INCOMPREHENSIBLE. And He is. And we can thank Him for that. Could you worship a god that you had “all figured out?” Would you WANT to worship a god that you had all figured out? He would cease to be God if we could fully understand Him. Would you be bored to death in Heaven if you knew everything about Him before you got there? All of eternity will not be enough time to exhaust knowing Him. He is worthy of our seeking to know Him more, but we will not be able to know everything about Him. He is far too amazing, too beautiful, and too glorious.

The last 7 months have been a roller coaster of change in our lives. I am so thankful that my God does not change. We’ve experienced losses of babies in utero since our family began in 2003 and 5 of them have been since 2007. We experienced a loss of a different type and magnitude in March when we had the opportunity to adopt a little 3 year old girl named “M” just seemingly fell in our laps. We got to meet her, and not that it matters, but she was adorable. She had dark, curly hair, against beautiful fair skin and gorgeous green eyes that smiled with her smile above round, freckled cheeks. We didn’t want to get our hopes up, but it seemed like a given. Her mother regretted not giving her up at birth, left her with people for weeks and months at a time without contact and one of her caregivers was introduced to us. We put together a photo album of our family and wrote her mother a letter. She responded favorably to the photo album and letter, couldn't believe that she'd come across a family like ours, and wanted us to adopt her daughter! She even wanted us to take her before we got the paper work drawn up, so she wouldn’t have to find someone to watch that weekend. Sad, I know. We kept getting these updates like: “They told “M” that she’s getting a new family and she’s trying to pack her things up!”; “Her mother is packing all of her baby pictures and hospital bracelets up for you to have.”; “She should be calling you for you to come pick her up.”; “M” is waiting by the door for you guys.” So, we told Dylan that she was getting a sister. We couldn’t very well let this little one show up with no advanced warning to Dylan. She was soooo excited! “My sister” this and “My sister” that. It was so encouraging. Then, after 2 days of painstaking waiting, we finally got word that she “needed more time.” We never heard back from her. She has found new people to watch “M” and hasn’t changed her parenting that we know of. We mourned this loss like any other, except this time was harder for us, I think. We have hope that our babies we lost in the womb are with our glorious Father in Heaven. We know “M” is still where she was before, in a bad situation. But we know God is merciful and we pray that He will reveal Himself to “M” and her mother and that they may become worshipers of the living God. We thought that this situation with losing “M” might discourage us from adopting. It gave us a greater zeal and desire to go and fulfill James 1:27 as followers of Christ. It’s about giving someone a chance to hear the Gospel that might never hear it otherwise; it’s about giving someone a family and a name by adopting them, just as our Father has adopted us into His Family! May each of us as believers fulfill our calling in James 1:27 to care for the orphans. No, not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone is called to this as believers. If you can’t adopt, maybe God is calling you to give to a young family that can’t afford to adopt; maybe He’s calling you to pray for families that are adopting children; maybe He’s calling you to make the glorious grace of adoption a mission for your church family to pursue. Whatever He’s calling you to do, you can rest assured that this is what He calls pure and undefiled religion:

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27

You were once not a people. Now you are God’s people. God has shown us that He not only pardons us by Christ taking on the wrath that we deserved, but He makes us sons and daughters. The King not only shows His mercy by granting us freedom, but the King invites us to share His name and is immeasurable riches as heirs of God, being joint-heirs with Christ! We don't just get to live, but we get to live in His kingdom! Can we not see the Gospel in adoption? Amen!

I recommend Dr. Russell Moore's new book: Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. Dr. Moore and his wife have adopted two sons and he is the Dean of Theology at Southern Seminary. Dr. Al Mohler explains that his book is about adoption and the Gospel. There are many great books about adoption and many great books about the Gospel, but this book covers both, to paraphrase Dr. Mohler.

God has granted so much grace to myself and Jim. He has given us grace to be content in our circumstance as we have desired more children for some time now. He showed me my sin of discontent that I was harboring and graciously granted me repentance. He granted me peace so much peace in realizing I may not have another child through my womb. He has shown us the beauty and the Gospel of adoption. It truly is a beautiful doctrine and each one of us Christians can relate to. He has shown us how great He is, that He is the giver of life and it is truly a miraculous event. I have been pregnant 9 times, He has shown me the value of life and how life is granted at conception. I have had the unique opportunity to see over and over the glorious craftmanship of God as Creator. He has shown me His great faithfulness by pruning my branches through each trial. He has given me grace upon grace to praise Him in the storms. He's given me a song in my heart to sing to him when I don't have the strength or energy on my own to praise Him. He has shown me my utter dependance upon Him for everything. Before I spoke about how He is incomprehensible, and He is, but He is so gracious in revealing Himself to us to know enough about Him to love Him and to trust Him. Grace upon grace! Thank you Lord!

"...but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done."

I returned home from my first "Children Desiring God" conference last week. Wow. I received so much information, but by far, the most beneficial for me was ALL of the preaching and a particular seminar. The theme Scripture for the conference was Romans 11:36:

"For by him and through him and to him are all things, to him be the glory forever. Amen."

There were two convicting and convincing sermons on that subject in particular that truly set the stage why anyone would or should set out to minister the Gospel to anyone, most importantly in my case, to my children. The chunk of Scripture that was brought out that has stuck with me most, and I hope it doesn't leave is Psalm 78:2-11

"I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them."

We are to tell our children of the glorious deeds of the Lord so that they might tell their children and the generation yet unborn may know the Lord! We are to do all this, first and foremost for God's glory. Why for His glory? Because we are to be what God is about- The glory of His Name! What are the consequences to our children? Well, we would not want them to be like the Ephraimites, 'armed with the bow, but turning back on the day of battle.' There is a real battle going on and it is our responsibility as parents and the body of Christ to arm the coming generation with the "sword of the Spirit- which is the Word of God." I will enclose links to the sermons at the end of this blog entry, I urge each one of you to listen to them and heed the call that is there in the Scripture. How do we equip our children? By teaching them the Word of the Lord. Which leads me to my favorite seminar I attended at the conference: "Scripture Memorization" They made the comment at the seminar how important it is to have a full arsenal of scripture to be equipped on the day of battle. Say you lost a loved one, you were cut off in traffic and you reach for your quiver of arrows and all you have to choose from is a "John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, and maybe "Jesus wept." What do you do then? Well, of course the Holy Spirit can work with what you have, but it is better to gird up the loins of your mind and be prepared with God's word hidden in your heart! We have started church-wide Scripture memory to equip the saints with the Sword! Why as a parent should I memorize scripture? Well, firstly, to know God more fully. Secondly, to be equipped more fully, and thirdly, because when Dylan sees Jim and I reading our bibles, memorizing Scripture, she sees that this faith thing is for real, it's serious, and it's important to us. Dylan can memorize pretty much anything with ease, and if we do small sections at a time, she can generally memorize a large chunk of verses together! Our prayer is that with memorization of Scripture, the 10 Commandments, and her catechism questions, that God's glorious grace might be imparted to her one day and that His Spirit would apply all the truths in her head to her heart. Well, I will close for now. I am sure I will come up with more to write on this subject as it has really engaged my heart. One of the other things that was mentioned by David Michael of Desiring God was the Scripture that calls children "arrows" in a father's quiver. If they are arrows, they will be aimed at something, and as believers we want them to be aimed at Christ and His glorious Truth! I am so thankful to have a godly husband that desires not to keep these stories of old a secret from our child(ren) and that they might be armed and ready for the coming battle.

Here are the links to my favorite sermons, resources, etc from the Conference:

John Piper "The God-centeredness of God" (This sermon can be summed up beautifully in the first chapter of Piper's book,"Let the Nations be Glad!"
Bruce Ware "There is none besides Me"
Paul David Tripp "His story or your story? Who Reigns supreme in your heart?"
David Michaels "A God-centered hope for the Joy of the next generation"

Dr. Bruce Ware, a professor of Theology at Southern Seminary, recently wrote a book, "Big Truths for Young Hearts" and it is basically a devotional for fathers and mothers he put together based on the bedtime Theology lessons and Hermeneutics he taught his daughters growing up.

An Update on Us

Tyler is getting pushy, so here’s my latest report...

Dylan just celebrated her 4th birthday on March the 20th. She enjoyed time spent with her friends at a Cowgirl themed birthday party. We had a blast making the cake, grilling hotdogs, visiting with friends and family, having Stick Horse races and playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” Dylan had lots of aspirations about turning four. For the entire month leading up to her birthday, she began most sentences with, “When I’m four...” These were thoughts on reading more, riding her big girl bike, etc, etc... Apparently, the pressure came to be too much on her, now she has been telling me she just wants to be three again. The girl is her own person, no doubt. I do see both Jim and I in her, but there are times when she does and says things and people ask, “Where does she get that?” and I just have to shrug my shoulders because, I have no idea! She is quite the comedian and has recently taken up “Knock-Knock” jokes. Some of them don’t have a punch line that makes any sense, but some of them she’s gotten down! She is still working on reading and is doing very well. She is beginning to recognize words without sounding them out and last night at church she read 1 John 4:19 to me. That is why we are teaching her to read, so that she may utilize the treasure that is God’s Word. I was so happy to see that accomplishment take place. I was publicly educated and I have nothing to say but I loved my teachers, well most of them, they taught me to read, they taught me to love to learn and for the most part, they had a positive impact on me-but none of them taught me the Gospel; but I am so glad that I was the one to teach Dylan to read and teach her a lot of other things and that her main focus on learning will be to the glory of God. I can teach her to read the bible, I can teach her about science, using creation, and most importantly, I get to be the one that is with her those eight hours a day! Besides Jim, she is my best friend and I am so glad God has blessed me with her!

Chester and Randall fighting to the finish!

Dylan and Daddy racing

Dylan and Lydia racing with tongues waggin'

Our Wild Mustang Cake

Our gift to Dylan was a swing in the tree in our back yard... needless to say, she loves it!

If her smile seems a little stressed, it is because she was just disciplined for disobedience. Training up a child in the way she should go does not stop at their own birthday parties!

My little Hambone!

Jim and I have been led by God to begin to pray about the possibility of adopting a child or children, if He so chooses to allow us to do so. He has truly opened our hearts to caring for a child as our own. He has allowed us to see the great beauty of adoption and especially the beauty of the doctrine of adoption as we see in Scripture in regards to Salvation. The fact that God would take us in, love us as His own, make us heirs with Christ, give us a name when were were “once not a people” and make us “God’s people.” How could we not want to do that for a child of our own? We would desire your prayers in this area of our life. We do not want to step out ahead of God, and we desire His will and perfect timing in these things. We have discussed this with Dylan and helped her to understand that Mommy may not have a baby in her tummy but that God may still give her a brother or a sister. She has thus requested a brother AND a sister. We shall see! We just want to honor God in what James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion is this: caring for orphans and widows and keeping oneself unstained by the world.”

Beverly and I will be attending the “Children Desiring God 2009” conference in MN at the end of this month. I have never been, so I am greatly excited to be apart of that. I am hoping that God would use this to grow me in both my spiritual walk, but also in my teaching of Dylan and the children at church. I began last month to teach the children that are Dylan’s age on Wednesday nights at church. So far so good! I am teaching them about the attributes of God using Desiring God materials and I am also introducing catechism questions each week. We started catechizing Dylan when she was almost three and it has been a tremendous blessing to see her learn and grow as well as us learning along side her! We pray that God’s Holy Spirit would come one day to apply the truths she has learned to her little heart. We are also going through The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink as part of our family devotional time.

We started “Mentoring Men” and “Mentoring Women” classes a few months ago at church and that has been a tremendous blessing to our body already. I have seen the men grow and step up to the challenge of leading their homes and strengthening the body by growing in love and wisdom. May God be honored by strong men in the church! We ladies, as well, have learned a great deal about what it means to be woman. We certainly cannot look to society to teach us that, so we are ever thankful for God’s Word to direct our steps and light our path.

In other news, Dylan got pony! Her name is Sunny and all I can say is that Dylan has Papa wrapped around her finger! Here's a photo of Dylan and her new buddy...






Well, that is all I have to give right now, so I will close!

Love and Blessings,

Why do you do what you do?

As I was sitting here thinking of which passing thought to write upon, it hit me. Why do I want to write this blog? Seriously. Why? Is it some writing itch I've been scratching at for most of my life? Yes. Is it to keep my friends and family updated on things and thoughts that run through our lives on a day to day basis? Yes. Is there a vain bone in my body that would like to think more than my husband reads this thing? Oh, I am sure. But, but, but? Do I do it for the glory of God? Oh, I certainly hope so. I have noticed, and I hope this entry will cause you to do so as well, when I do something as unto the Lord, I have the most joy and I feel closest to Him. And when I do something for my own vain glory and for my own selfish gain, I can actually FEEL my wretchedness. So here I sit, asking you, "Why do you do what you do?" We all have our "thing." We also have those mundane tasks that we all have to do on a daily basis. It doesn't matter how useless the work may seem to us or how wonderful it may seem to us; if we are not doing it for the Lord, it is nothing.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31

Do you want to know something? I think that is a command. And I think if we aren't striving to keep this command in all things, we are in sin. May God grant us repentance.

When I was thinking about what to write I had just spoken with a dear sister that had lots to do around her home to prepare it for her husband to hold a lunch there tomorrow. I reminded her first of all, to work diligently as unto the Lord; secondly, to remember who she is serving: Her Lord, the wonderful husband He has blessed her with; and God's children at this luncheon. This is key. We not only should be doing everything FOR the Lord, but this should also lead us to worhsip Him more fully, knowing that we can do NOTHING apart from the Lord, no matter how simple the task may seem, we couldn't even lift a finger apart from His abundant grace. Have you ever heard the hymn, "I need Thee every Hour?" Annie Hawks wrote that hymn and this was her response to the question of how she came to write it.

"One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular house hold tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live with out Him, either in joy or pain, these words, “I Need Thee Every Hour,” were ushered in to my mind, the thought at once taking full posession of me."

When you remember that you couldn't complete a task apart from Him, how could you leave Him out of the "why" you are doing the task?

We must be mindful of ourselves, our attentions, our intentions, and our tasks in such a way that we are always bringing our motives behind things before the throne of Grace. When we ask ourselves why we are doing something, we should be asking ourselves if it is pleasing to our Lord and honoring to His name. Jim and I have been teaching Dylan to read and in doing so, we are trying to instill in her why we are doing it. We want her to be able to read because it is an important gift from God. He has blessed us with His Word in our own language, men died so that we may be able to have it; and we should desire to read so that we may know what He requires of us, what He says about who we are, and most importantly what the true Gospel actually is. We need to be careful that in teaching her to read at a young age, we do not pride ourselves in her accomplishment. We have to remember every gift is from above and it's not of our own ability that we can do anything.

Well, God just reminded me today to check my motives on all things, to do everything for Him, and to joyfully serve in any way I can for that brings Him glory. May He grace you with the same remembrance as well.

On my Economic Soap Box...

Are Americans really falling for the government's logic: "The only way to get out of debt and save this economy is to get into more debt by spending money we've (and you've) borrowed in order to jumpstart things!" How is this feasible, I ask you? It seems like little more than common sense will provide the answers we need. Do companies fail? Do people lose jobs? Is it a natural cycle and consequence for over spending, borrowing more than you afford, and lending to those who can't repay? YES! Will borrowing more money to buy things we can't afford correct the problem that we are in because of the aforementioned habits solve things, then? NO!
Are we in this mess because our country and economy is so fueled by consumerism and pride in ownership, egomanics, and finding value in what you own instead of who you are? Yes! Can we look to Scripture to see if we are handling things in the financial realm of our lives the way God would have us? Most certainly. We should look first to the Scriptures and then act in prayer and obedience to what they teach us. Can we please take a look at Proverbs 6 before we go and borrow $800 billion?

1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
2if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten,[a] and(C) plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,[b]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
8she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:1-11 (emphasis mine)

My husband has taught on these Scriptures to individuals in debt situations. I am positive there was a time in the history of our government when they looked to these verses and held them in high esteem for they are the words of God. We should run like the gazelle to get away from the debt that will easily devour us. We must work hard and save like the ant. Our country--government and individuals--have learned their financial disciplines from a fat and lazy grasshopper. Let us be sluggards no more!

As Christians, we should become less and less like the world. Our finances and stewardship should be in direct opposition to that of the world's. We must remember that though we may tithe that "10%;" the other "90%" is truly God's too, and how we spend it, save it, use it, or waste it will directly reveal our heart's desire and inclination towards God.

Martin Luther said once,"In salvation, there should be a conversion of the heart, but also the pocketbook." That is definitely true. May God open our eyes and hearts to hear and see what God would have us to do to honor Him in our finances. May we be different than this "consume and enjoy" society we live in today.

Do you support Planned Parenthood?

Do you support Planned Parenthood? Maybe you should read this before you answer…

The following excerpts are taken from a book which brings out all of the core ideas at the roots of each of the 3 waves of feminism and firmly refutes them with the Scriptures. Radical Womanhood by: Carolyn McCulley Do not think for one minute these ideas or variations of the same have not crept into the church or modern day Christianity. When a large family walks into your church, do you rejoice in the full quiver that God has so graciously blessed the parents with, or do you gasp and recoil at the burden "that poor woman" must bear?

Margaret Sanger was the founder of the modern birth control movement and a vocal proponent of eugenics-the theory of race improvement that was at the cornerstone of Nazi Germany. Sanger believed that all evils stemmed from large families, especially large families she deemed as unfit. As she wrote in her 1920 book Woman and the New Race, “The most merciful thing that a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill.”

In 1921, Sanger organized the American Birth Control League, which later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Sanger founded the birth control movement on two goals: limiting the reproduction of the “unfit” and challenging Christian teaching by creating a “new morality.” She campaigned against women breeding “those numberless, undesired children who become the clogs and the destroyers of civilization.”

…Sanger was so confident about the fruits of birth control and abortion and the new race that she predicted exactly the opposite of what came to pass:

“When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become the foundation of a new race. There will be no killing of babies in the womb by abortion, nor through neglect in foundling homes, nor will there be infanticide… When the last fetter falls the evils that have resulted from the suppression of woman’s will to freedom will pass. Child slavery, prostitution, feeblemindedness, physical deterioration, hunger, oppression and war will disappear from the earth…”

She was utterly wrong in her account of what she believed would be the “fruits” of birth control and abortion. She failed to take into account that it was not an unborn child’s fault that these things were happening, some she deemed unworthy of life did not hold the sole responsibility for these issues. The heart of these problems were sin, they still are sin, and abortion and separating sex and marriage are sin, not a way to correct these “social issues” she abhorred. Her words still ring in my ears as I type this. Especially her inaccurate account of which I will quote to you now:

“… There will come a Plato who will be understood, a Socrates who will drink no hemlock, and a Jesus who will not die upon the cross…”

I could barely type those words. We know as Christians that there is only one Redeemer of man, there is only one way to cover the sins of God’s children, and that one way alone is by the blood of the cross. Sanger’s view was that the consequences of sin would disappear if we could only allow women freedom from “religious” guilt to engage in sex without the restraint of marriage and without the fear of pregnancy and if it ended up happening anyway, it could be done away with so as to purify the human race and end the drain that “unfit and unwanted” children are on society. We know that sinful man will always produce sinful man. God is the only one who can grant life, both physically and spiritually.

May we always seek to have our worldview come from the Bible alone and may we seek to part more and more each day from the schemes and fallacies of the world.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4

I would rather spend the rest of my days on earth as an enemy of the world than to spend all eternity as an enemy of God.