Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Insight and Ignorance

Today I held a precious grandchild of mine while she cried tears of frustration and anger over a comment made by a judge. The judge informed her the man she refers to as "Daddy" is not, nor will ever be, her "real dad". In the judge's opinion, the man who ended up in jail with multiple counts of criminal activity, who was abusive and manipulative, and who has earned nothing but loathing from this child, is her "real dad". I think the judge needs educated. Real dads discipline in love, they don't punish in anger. Real dads put themselves last, not first. Real dads protect, not destroy. Real dads don't hurt you until you cry, they hurt those who make you cry. Real dads spend summers leaning over the fence at the baseball field and go camping on rainy weekends in order to keep a promise. They pull their hair out over math homework and teach you how to change a tire. They stare down young men and set a good example of what their daughters should expect from their future husbands. They allow them to grow, while keeping their environment safe and stable. They give them away in marriage....but not completely. There are many "real dads" in my family that would not fit this woman's definition. Fathers through legal adoption, dads through inheritance by marriage, and dads who chose to remain dads even after divorce gave them a way out. Dads in my circle are dads forever. Not just when the law says they are, and not just to those who share their DNA. Sperm makes you a sperm donor. Your actions make you a father. Your Honor,since you don't seem to have any idea what the definition of real is, I'm posting the definition for you...just so you'll know. Real: of or relating to fixed, permanent, or immovable things : not artificial, fraudulent, or illusory : Real fathers are fixed, permanent and immovable. They are genuine, honest and real And, just so you know, this young lady doesn't carry my genes, either. I inherited her and her brother a couple years ago. But I am as real to her as the sun in the sky, the grass under her feet, and the man who tucks her in at night. The man she calls her real dad.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Hard Lessons

Dear child,
  In case no one has ever told you, you are not indestructible.

 You are not immortal.

You are not immune to the laws of nature, nor the acts of evil men. You can be harmed. You can live a life trapped in a body so badly broken that you no longer have the ability to toilet yourself, feed yourself or dress yourself.

You can die...

Putting yourself in the car with a drunk (even if that drunk is you) is the same as stepping into a lions den. Whose fault will it be when you get devoured? Who will pay the price for your poor choice. Your mother? Your father? The others standing over your casket weeping until they are exhausted from the pain?

Walking the streets in the middle of the night, especially under the influence of drugs or alcohol, is playing Russian Roulette. Nocturnal predators are not just 4-legged. Many are two-legged and four-wheeled. Whether they stalk their prey by moonlight, starlight or street light, they are still deadly. You can only hope that death is swift and that your captor doesn't enjoy playing with his prey before he makes the kill.

You can smirk, mock, cry and argue all you want to, but try defending your actions to those who have suffered from the same. Tell the boy lying in a nursing home with tubes in every orifice. Tell the girl curled up in a vegetative state lying in a hospital bed in what used to be a normal bedroom.

Tell their parents.

Tell them it won't happen to you. Tell them you'll be fine. Tell them you're different...immortal...untouchable.

And then tell God, when you meet Him way too soon...


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Deprogramming

Gen 3:11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?


  In the 1970's a study was done that pitted college students into adversarial roles; prison guards and inmates.Those assigned as inmates stayed within the confines of their cells, and those appointed guards were allowed to carry on life as usual after their duties each day. The two-week study was aborted after 6 days due to the psychological changes that took place within each participant. The prisoners took on the role of powerless captive, and the guards became aggressive authoritarians lacking compassion. They had allowed their situation to change them, even though it wasn't real.

  As Christians, we need to realize that not only does God exist, so does Satan and his minions. There is evil in the world, and it doesn't come from God.

John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

  Adam and Eve didn't know they were naked until the devil told them they were. They didn't feel shame until he impressed upon them that they should. What is he telling you, directly and indirectly through the people around you? We all have those people who delight in making us feel less than worthy. People who will cause us, at some point in time, to doubt our self-worth, our morality, our integrity, and even our ability to be loved. We are placed in situations that have the potential to make us believe we are what we are not.

  But, I ask you, who told you that? Was it God? No, God will never tell you that you aren't loved when you are, or place condemnation and shame on you when you have done your best. Those things are not from God. Those things are from Satan himself, and it's the same manipulative tactics he's used for thousands of years. He even used them on Jesus himself...
 
  However, Jesus never doubted His identity or His purpose. He knew that He was who God said He was, and nothing less.

And so are you.

  So, the next time you hear, either audibly, or somewhere in your wounded psyche, that you are less than what God says you are, ask yourself, "Who told me that?"

And never, ever believe a liar...