SelahV Today by hariette petersen

I Finally Bought a New Laptop

My ACER laptop was hacked.

The hacker attached a keystroke monitor that actually breached my password box so I couldn't even change that. It was so infected with viruses, I wouldn't use it even if I had it bleached and refurbished. 

Why do people hack little old ladies' computers?

What joy do they get from annoying us and keeping us from sharing photos with family, and chatting with friends? My computer is my connection with the outside world. Most of my world consists of sitting in my recliner and watching HGTV, and reading Websites. I don't play computer games.

After several months of not having a computer, my husband did the legwork of finding an affordable DELL with a Solid State processor. So, one Saturday, I didn't bother with make-up, I pinned up my hair and went to Staples with him to check it out. Our sales clerk, Andre, was wonderful. He didn't make me nervous or treat me like I was an ignorant little old lady. So, we purchased it.

Della (that's my name for her), sat next to my chair for several days waiting for me to conjure up the energy to figure out how to work it. Still learning. How many updates does a computer need before it's operable?

I paid extra for setup so I could open it and it would be good to go. Gee. I've tried six times to change the clock so it gives the right time of day. No luck. I gave up. If I don't give up after several tries, my heart rate will triple its pace. Not fun.

Anxiety comes easy these days. Most anything triggers an episode of paralyzing angst. When it comes, I just stop. I huddle in my recliner and turn on Sirius Escape. I listen to instrumental music to regain peace and calm. Most likely explanation? my pain meds. My doctor keeps changing them (another story). Then, again, it could be my hermit isolation from society (story for another time).

Today I felt the strength and courage to write a post.

This is it.

Maybe later I'll tackle something with more meat. ~selahV

Worth Remembering, Are You?

SHE WROTE:

"Unless you are famous and put into the history books, it doesn't matter at all how awesome you are or aren't. You have at best 2-3 generations who will remember you. It just is a fact. So spend a good part of your life living for you. You get but one life."

HOWEVER, as I see it, when you are a Christian...you don't need to be famous. Nor do you need to be archived in a history book to be remembered.

For whatsoever you do or say in life is eternally saved by God and stored in His memory bank to be rewarded and kept forever.

Every smile expressed.

Every kindness shared.

Every gift given.

Every encouragement rendered.

Every blessing offered.

Every moment sacrificed.

 

All the lives of every person you've ever touched is celebrated and cradled with all the love you intended it to have in another's life.

 

I do not count all I have done for others as wasted moments;

nor any prayer I've prayed in the middle of the night for friends, family and strangers as time misspent. I don't even expect to be acknowledged this side of heaven.

 

I give because God first gave to me.

He gave me life. He blessed me with time. He trusts me to share the love of His only begotten Son through word, deed, and witness. Sometimes I fail Him, but those times will be forgiven and forgotten.

 

AND SOMEDAY... when I take my last breath on earth, the Lord will meet me and reveal to me that which He counted important--that which He saw that "mattered" to others. And to Him. And life will have been worth living, just for that. ~selahV4today

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Dizzier than a Doornail

It's how I've been.

Trying to keep up with the constant spin of Media and presidential candidates is enough to make a healthy 20 year-old dizzy.  It's even harder when you're pushing 68, have high blood pressure and are battling vertigo.  Yeah... that kind of dizzy.

Suffice it to say, I have to shut down for a spell on all this writing... my eyes cannot focus on the page, the words, without the page flittering up and down.  Worse than watching the lights on my ceiling when we get those little earthquakes. Reading is making me nauseous...with the page jittering all the time.

Anyway... thought I'd let ya'll know.  Hopefully the magic medicine the doctor gave me will get me through this wacko wonder-world... Until later... selahV

Twitter's 140 Character Mindset Won't Fix This Mess in America

But there is a message that can.

Millions upon millions tweet everything from surly snarks to amiable epithets, all in hopes of gaining something in life.  Not sure what folks are truly seeking. Following? Notoriety?  Status? It may be as simple as an audience to support their own thoughts.

It may reach farther into the human psyche than this simple blogger can discern, but...

I think it illustrates the depth of our loneliness-- the desperate abyss of our souls.  Such need there is to connect to life beyond ourselves, don't you think? 

Truly touching are some tweets that parade across the Twitter feeds each day.

The tweet encourages soldiers in foreign countries and lets them know they aren't forgotten by their countrymen. To worn spirits, a well-chosen phrase is like apples of gold for their hearts.  To embattled citizens who seek strength when the world seems against them like the Romeike family, the Seattle bakers, the mother who lost a son in Benghazi and receives no answers.  Tweeters take up the cause.

Twitter's fascinating.  It's an explosion of genius to say something brilliant in 140 characters and have dozens or more people retweet the profundity of our hearts, minds, and yes-- egos. 

Opinions abound.  Check in on anyone's Twitter feed and you'll soon see how to solve the situation with Putin in the Ukraine, fix the American Educational System, defund Obamacare and get rid or Piers Morgan.  You'll meet Patriots and Traitors, Trolls and Moles-- you'll find hatred, camaraderie, enemies and alliances. 

This, my friends, is our world.  Follow me!

Twitter is a snapshot of all that's good and evil in our world.  There are encouragers and discouragers, slayers and naysayers, critics and judges.  There are wits and whiners and powerful designers.  There are framers and founders and wisdom expounders.  And it's absolutely scary to think so much influence can be given in reading the tweet which is not even considered a coherent sentence.

But there it is.

Communication in nano-seconds.  From Bejing to Podunk Hollow, Tennessee. From D.C. to Vegas.  From Wasillah, Alaska to Moscow.  Links upon links, connections and reflections.  Extractions and retractions.  Diversions and perversions. The stream is boundless-- the ripples ever-changing, as the simple confound the wise.

Can we ever rise above such miniscule thinking--away from the sound-bite evaluations? Can we find our way back to a world of contemplation, understanding, and personal introspection?  Or are we beyond grasping the art of comprehension and communication?  Are we ruined?  Spoiled?  Can we not see ourselves?

Sometimes I wonder what a world like this will be ten years down the road.  Will we cease to speak at all?  Will we be one long continuum of letters, numbers dots and symbols?

Will we lump ourselves inside a #hashtag and forever brand ourselves by labels?  It's collected, you know?  Our words and conversations-- if you can call them that-- are stored forevermore in posterity. 

It reminds me of a Scripture verse wherein the Lord warns of judgment day-- a day of accounting.  In that day we will answer for every idle word we've uttered and every mindless thing we've done.  What will my portion be at that moment? 

I have but one thing worth saying at all.  God came to earth one day; He lived among man to show mankind how the Father loved us and how the Father wanted us to love one another.  Then He died on a cross to pay the penalty for all our devious, deceitful, prideful, debaucherous, licentious, perverse, hateful and rebellious schemes against His holiness.  He knew we couldn't live up to His holiness. He knew.  So He gave the sacrifice of His only begotten Son to pay the fine for our sin. Our get-out-of-jail-free card. Jesus died, then rose again to life and conquered the grave.  He did that for you. 

Eternity will be spent with Him or without Him.  Surely we'd rather spend eternity in peace than in everlasting hell, wouldn't we?

Won't you trust in Him today?  Before it's too late to believe?  He promises that all who come to Him in faith believing, He is faithful and just to forgive you of all unrighteousness.  All.  As in every single thing you've ever done against the Holy Creator.  Now that's worth tweeting, any day of the week.

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Religious Liberty: the Real Issue, and the Battle for Christian Bloggers Like Me

It's not easy to discern the battles worth fighting sometimes.

After I wrote my post last week entitled, Should Jesus Be None Of My Business, I was cautioned by a commenter that quoting someone is "risky" and could lead to "gossip". Suffice it to say, when bloggers write, bloggers battle all kinds of things.  Some worthy, some not.

The conversation that sparked my critic's comment involves a column in USA Today written by Kirsten Powers in which she quoted Andy Stanley advising a Christian baker: "Jesus died for a world with which he didn't see eye to eye. If a bakery doesn't want to sell its products to a gay couple, it's their business. Literally. But leave Jesus out of it."

I beg to differ. This is not some obscure philosophical, political debate; it's a genuine spiritual dilemma for all Christians.  It pierces the core of an individual's conscience and targets the personal freedoms this country holds dear.

The "real issue" is Religious Liberty.

Yes.  Religious liberty.  For those who are unconcerned about such liberty, I suppose they could "leave Jesus out of it" all.  For Christians who have valued, and until lately, felt free to express and practice their faith without fear of retaliation from society and punishment from government, this is crucial.

This is about religious discrimination, not homophobic bigotry.  Never, in all 65 years I've lived have I seen such intimidating cultural disdain for Christians and people of faith in America.  Ridicule, silencing, rejection, and censoring.  Schools, media and government. This is real.  It's not our imagination.  Businesses, and citizens alike, are feeling the pressures and the strident straps of retaliation.  We do not live in some third world country.  This is the United States of America.

Yet, our country is changing at break-neck pace; we can barely keep up with the issues being thrown in our faces. As President Obama promised in 2008, he is  "fundamentally transforming America". Religious liberty in America is in peril--especially for Christians.

Just yesterday, a story broke regarding two Muslim truck drivers who didn't want to deliver alcohol for their employer because it is against their religion. The government defended them against the trucking company. The trucking company is sued and must compensate them with back pay and who knows what all else before this is over.  Yet, a self-employed Christian baker cannot make a personal religious decision to refuse to bake a cake for a wedding they believe violates their religion?  Where is the equality?

To own a business without freedom to provide services as a conscience demands, is tantamount to being shackled to a government's dictates and consequences.  A Christian photographer, who refused to use god-given gifts and talents to photograph a gay nuptial, was fined 7-thousand dollars.  Should that Christian photographer be forced to photograph a porn-star's portfolio, also?  Should an African-American Christian baker be forced to bake a cake that has a black man hanging from a tree to celebrate a KKK rally protesting Martin Luther King Day?

The Seattle Christian bakers are not forcing their view upon the gay couple who demands a wedding cake-- they are upholding their belief in a biblical view of marriage.  They refuse to serve mammon by sanctioning an act they view in conflict with deeply held faith beliefs.  They're exercising their guaranteed right to practice their faith as they see fit. Would they be forced to bake Halloween cupcakes for Satanists, too?  Where does is stop?

Violating their right to practice their heart-felt faith, rapes the conscience of man. The government usurped their conscience, destroyed their business, and impaired their right to make a living.  How many more businesses will this effect?  Will they have to add mal-practice insurance to their already strapped operating budgets in order to protect their religious liberty and conscience?

There is a message being sent by the liberal courts of this land today-- religious liberty is either extremely costly--or worthless.

Make no mistake, here. Either Christian business owners acquiesce and submit, or they are punished for holding their beliefs.

If government can force us to serve others in a free-enterprise system, then we are not under a free-enterprise system.  We are under a totalitarian regime-- under which the government decides what we do, say and think. If government can dictate that a baker bake a cake, it can dictate that a Christian publisher accept and publish books by atheists and other religions in direct contradiction to their mission in life.  It follows government can force any business to do anything for anyone, or face discrimination penalties.

Have you struggled with where all this is leading?  Will homosexuals progress to a point someday wherein they try to force churches to officiate or host their weddings under threats of discrimination law suits?  Will churches lose tax-exempt status for refusing?  Will they have to cower in upper rooms?  Time will tell.

This threat isn't new, nor is the conversation, but it has reached high-pitch chatter status in the social media, news coverage, and legislative branches of government. It's backed up by a United States Attorney General who tells state attorneys general that they do not have to pay any attention to enforcing laws of the states if they feel it is discriminatory.  Free pass; don't bother.

This is no longer about "letting homosexuals do what they want in the privacy of their own bedrooms," or legalizing their unbiblical unions. It's escalating to legalizing that men be allowed to walk into ladies bathrooms if they feel more like a woman than a man.  They are protected.  Who protects me and my grandchildren in restaurants and movie theaters?  Will businesses have to hire restroom guards?

Friends, our voice is being silenced in a world in need of higher volume.  Fear. Intimidation. Threats of removing income from states which seek to protect Religious Liberty.  He who shouts loudest wins. Business owners are being sued out of existence and jobs being lost as a result.  Patriots intimidated and badgered by the IRS to answer questionaires that ask who they are praying for and what they are praying about.  Do you sense the fear and tension?  I do.

Will all Christians someday be forced by law to withdraw from society as the Amish and Quakers choose to do in order to practice their faith?  Will the internet be closed down to our ponderings on this issue and any other issue the government deems hateful or intolerable for us to discuss? I have little doubt anymore.

Seems anytime any Christian takes an opposing viewpoint on most any issue, they are labeled a bigot of some kind or another.  In Kirsten's column at USA Today she likened the Christians' mindset to Jim Crow lunch-counter racist bigotry. I liken her arguments to that mindset in reverse. It appears it is Christians who are being forced to the back of the bus and out of the business market. And if things don't change, we will soon see religious liberty as a thing of the past. 

When Bloggers Like Me Are Cautioned About Gossip

should we take it seriously? Other bloggers have to speak for themselves.  As for me???

In a previous article I wrote (here), a commenter, Mike, cautioned me about how "risky" quoting someone can be and how it can lead to "gossip". Actually, he didn't like much of what I had to say, at all.  He even assigned an ulterior motive to the purpose of my article.  Unfortunately for my commenter, that part of his critique proved totally false.  In his critique, he included a quote, which he attributed to me, but was actually written by someone else, from another website-- Erick Erickson. It can happen. When folks read a lot of sites covering the same subject, folks can get confused as to what they read and who said what.  That aside...

I do think personal criticisms need to be taken seriously. One-- because it's prudent.  Two-- because I may need to repent and apologize (which is expedient to be done as quickly as possible--like Mike did when I pointed out his error).  Three-- because I may learn something.  In this case, with Mike, I found his caution unfounded.  Rather than let his critique simmer on the back-end of my article, I'm using it for an example to consider as a guide in discerning the value of a critic's criticism and the validity of what I say.

Firstly, we disagreed on premise. "Gossip", to me, is passing on private information about someone with malicious intent. I had no malicious intent, nor do I think Kirsten had any. One author says this about gossip:

"The Hebrew word translated 'gossip' in the Old Testament is defined as 'one who reveals secrets, one who goes about as a talebearer or scandal-monger.' A gossiper is a person who has privileged information about people and proceeds to reveal that information to those who have no business knowing it." [To read more on gossip, go here/link]

So, did I really gossip about Andy Stanley? did Kirsten Powers? I don't think so, the information I had was not privileged, nor private. It was public knowledge.  Also, Kirsten Powers is a well-respected journalist and popular news analyst. It's  presumptuous to consider she'd attribute a private personal quote to someone that is not hers to reveal or was not freely given--she's a credible writer.  Journalists protect sources--they don't expose them.  She went to Andy in an interview situation to acquire his opinion.  He gave it.  She quoted it to reinforce her position on what she deems homosexual discrimination, albeit others, including I, see as a religious discrimination issue. So, given how many people have written about Andy Stanley's quote to Kirsten, I felt quite safe in re-quoting it after I found it at the source of her own article/here.

Given the ripple of public scrutiny and troubling confusion created, a retraction would be in order if it weren't true. To my knowledge, Andy hasn't requested one, nor has he walked back the statement.

Anyone can say something they wish they hadn't (Mike regrets his mistake with me). I'm a bit snarky at times (I'm working on it).  I don't think I erred when I lamented my mental and soulful weariness regarding Christians who try to live as Jesus would want in all areas of life (as in the case of the Seattle bakers), only to have their concerns tossed aside as irrelevant by a brother-in-Christ with prominent status.

Since the issue went beyond that of the bakers in Seattle to the bill in Kansas, which inadvertently coincided with the Arizona law, we must recognize this as a much larger issue in our country.  Even Eric Metaxas, a minister instrumental in Kirsten's recent conversion to Christianity, disagrees with Kirsten and Andy; he said so on his facebook page when Erick Erickson's rebutted Kirsten's views:

"I'm afraid that in this my dear friend Kirsten Powers and pastor Andy Stanley are mistaken. I believe their hearts are absolutely in the right place, which is perhaps the most important thing, but in their ultimately standing aside so that the Religious Freedom of Kansans and other Americans can be disregarded, they are missing something very important, something crucial, and with great ramifications for all. Let our conversations on this subject be civil and respectful, but let's have them."

So, folks, I make no apologies for writing about a subject I find most "crucial" as Metaxas affirms.  As a blogger and a sister-in-Christ, I saw a need to support fellow Christians and defend their position. 

As Christian bloggers grapple with issues of the day, we must engage with caution, in a spirit of grace, but we must not sit silently on the sidelines while religious liberty is crushed beneath the feet of rulers who usurp the constitution and the conscience of man, either.  

So I wrote about the quandry of it all. It was not gossip.  It's a matter of exhortation, similar to what my commenter tried to do with me in his critique and caution.  We learn, we share with one another...then Christians must pray.  We offer apologies, ask forgiveness wherein we err, and move on.  Most importantly, we must look at Scripture and stand on it, and it alone, to make decisions when we speak, think, or write.  For me it's all about Jesus and I won't leave Him out of my conversations. Without Him, I am nothing. ~hariette petersen @SelahVToday

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What's In A Name?

Apparently, far more than I imagined.

When I first began blogging in 2006, I had no clue why I would blog.  I had a friend who set up a blog for me and told me to "write".  In fact, he told me repeatedly to "write".  At the time, nearly a year had passed since I'd lost my 33 year-old son in a tragic 4-Wheeler accident on Mother's Day of 2005.  My brain was mush.  I felt like a puddle on the floor.  Reason and purpose seemed frozen in time.  Desperately I clung to temporal things to ground me between earth and heaven.  I grasped for memories of my son's presence.  I searched Scripture for answers.  I buried my sorrow in the pages of Job and sought comfort in Psalms.  And I wrote. 

And wrote. 

And read.

I gave my mind to debates I saw bandied about in the blogosphere: Calvinism, Arminianism-- predestination, tulips, regeneration, faith and all things related.  I met some marvelous folks from all sides of the spectrum.  By some twist of God's divine plan, I gained a bit of recognition from various folks in the blogging world-- attention filled with approval as well as disapproval.

It was okay.

It was instantaneous diversions from the heartache and depression I fought every day.  I made some friends. Friends who remain to this day. Friends (other than a couple) I've yet to see in real-life touchy-feely time.  These friends prayed me through one crisis after another.  They helped financially to keep me on the internet, friends-- virtual strangers-- who provided computers.  Friends who asked that I join their collaborative blogs-- which came and went through the years-- as most things do. It's been a great ride.  From SBC-Impact (now defunct), to SBC-Voices (which dropped all aggregate links), to Devotional Christian (which also faded away), and even a couple of appearances on SBC-Today (in its infancy)--and since revitalized for greater impact.  I wrote a few book reviews for Hannibal Publishing and wrote a few guest-devotionals for SBC-Tomorrow.  I had blogposts from here at SelahV Today and SBC-Encounters reblogged and emphasized.  I went from 1 hit a day to 50,000 hits in one day. Yeah... fifty thousand. But that was no achievement.

It had little to do with my voice-- my words-- my thoughts.  It was merely because Hobby Lobby was going to court to protect their religious freedom.  And several folks wanted to know what was going on.  A couple of folks denounced the whole idea.  Others (many others) tried to hack my site with pornography links in response.  Such is the reality of posting anything in support of other Christians who seek to keep their religious rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.  Go figure.  The very thing oppositional voices are allowed to do-- visit and freely promote their smutty sites-- they are intolerant of when others promote traditional values.  Values, by the way, that support the economic strength of our country. 

So, here I am.  Nearly 3,000 posts later.  My name, once googled and found in multiple sites, finds itself on the lower end of the spectrum of voices to read. Partly because I stopped writing daily-- partly because the aggregator that carried my link dropped all links to their blog. Sad, when you think my link and others helped build it. Ah...cest' la vie; that's life.  I joined Facebook and Twitter and linked my blogs to it.  I still get traffic-- but nothing like it use to be.

I know if I wrote provocative posts like Ann Coulter, or controversial subjects in the SBC world countering famous folks, that my "name" recognition would grow. I might even be able to add advertisers to my site and build upon it--especially if I did crafty posts with crafty things and featured cute kids doing those crafty things (which happens to be what's trending hot on my blog right now-- an old post). But... that's not what I want.  Not even close.

Right now I'm praying about SelahV Today, and Hariette Petersen-- and where I fit into this world of public value.  I still write my little weekly newspaper column, Common Matters, for our county paper. I've no clue what subscribers to that paper think of me-- or if they even read my column. I suppose there's some draw or the editor wouldn't give me so much space each week.  However...

I am at a crossroad-- an intersection with blogging.  I don't want to be part of the political landscape in religion.  I've all but stopped writing on my blog regarding my affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention.  The "voices" who supposedly represent me, do not speak for me anymore.  So, I've separated myself from the heart of what it once was and from blogs that once carried my voice.

Physical liabilities limit my involvement in many things.  But I know, I'm more than my liabilities-- my inadequacies, my failures-- and even my achievements.  I am more. I'm more than a Twitter identity. I'm more than a Facebook status.  I'm more than an email recipient-- or even my online profile.  I'm more.

I am significant.  In Christ-- in His body. 

Now, I'm trying to figure out-- after 65 years of life, eight years of blogging and nearly 32 years of publishing my words-- just where I fit into His plan and purpose for the remainder of my days.  I truly believe there's more to me than I know or can possibly conceive.  And so are you.

"A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold." Proverbs 22:1

We have more to offer than what government says.  We are more valuable than the receipt of a wealthier person's leavings and crumbs.  We are.  We're more than one vote in one election or another.  I'm more than the mother of an adult daughter and a dead son.  I'm more than some church's former minister's wife.  I am a child of the Most High God.  And today-- that is enough.  selahVToday by hariette petersen

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Purpose, Plan and Discovery

"In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when we're pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our maker's praise without anxiety."~A.W. Tozer

Okay.  I think I've got this. I have a purpose and the only thing on my writing agenda this year is to meet new folks God brings across my pathway via internet or real life touchy-feeling five-sense happenstances. Take all those and write about them according to how God predestines the consequences of the choices I make in follow-through, avoidance, or neglect.  Then feel free to be me and be happy because when I am happy, God is happy. That is (and this is a slight difference of opinion between me and Tozer), unless what pleases me is totally out of sync with God's pleasure. Then...

ain't nobody gonna be pleased.  That's a fact.  And I can fly to whatever heights I want but if I fail to recognize the everyday touches of God in every situation... I'm gonna get my wings clipped.  Then, I'm gonna need time-out in the prayer closet or a Xanax for sure.

 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." Matthew 6:33

I've had an interesting day. Tweeting. Facebooking. A trip to Red Lobster where I held open the bathroom door for a little old man who'd obviously had a stroke and couldn't get into the men's room because the door was so heavy he could barely inch his way through while trying to hold the door ajar.  I used my cane to push it open so he could pass through. Afterwards I returned to the table and had my husband go back and check on the little old man so he could get out of the restroom.  One good "happenstance" of the day. We also made a quick stop at Lowe's to purchase a hundred lightbulbs that the government is banning in the U.S.A.  Had some very interesting followers on Twitter... got some good advice about writing. And well, this is a teensy part of where I'm ending my day. I didn't follow all of David Swindle's points for getting this post on the screen, however, tomorrow I'm buying me a new journal and a shiny set of colored markers. Then I'm going to go back and copy down David's ten rules and try and see how many I can master by the end of the month. Who knows?  I could end up with a book by the end of 2014?  All that aside, I do know one thing: I can say without one doubt, I am singing my Maker's praise without anxiety.  Should sleep well tonight. Hope you do, too. selahV by hariette petersen

NOTE--TO ALL MY WRITER & WANNABE WRITER FRIENDS OUT THERE: Loved this article by David Swindle, Associate Editor at PJMedia. You'll like it too if you want to get serious about writing. I learned a bunch of stuff from his piece as he spliced and diced it on his Twitter account/link.  Worth following there, too.  Believe me.

ONE BLOGGER'S VOICE

A few years ago, another blogger friend asked me what I wanted my blog to say?

At first I thought, are you kidding? I am my blog. My blog is me. My blog says what I say. It speaks for me. It's the window into my heart. Occasionally you get a glimpse of my soul. Frequently you get a chunk of my mind--sometimes it reveals how little my mind can be. Often you see the struggle in my spirit...

the growth of my being...the lock upon my angst and irritants...

the secrets to my sanctification...the portal to my open arms.

My blog is a snapshot...taken from different angles...with and without makeup.

Many days my blog is the mirror in my monitor. It speaks to me. It shows me every freckle in my image. It exposes all my vulnerabilities. When I look closely, it magnifies each weakness I possess. It humbles me. It challenges me. It calls me to walk a bit straighter...taller. It brings me to my knees.

Sometimes my blog says more than I want it to. Sometimes it says less...far less.

But what do I want my blog to say? I want it to say:

Life is a treasure, a privilege, a gift--yet, a whisper in the wind.

Family is a blessing--a Christmas morning, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Birthday party--each day of every year.

Love is a hug, a thoughtful word, an encouraging phrase, a written giggle, a lingering smile, a moment to grasp and never let go.

Friendship is possible and much more than a word, a thumbnail, an email, or moniker...it loyalty, love, empathy and encouragement--a shared joy, heartache, or struggle--held in another's heart, mind and hands.  It's a safe space--where judgment has no place, condemnation is absent, and truth is gentle.

Loyalty is precious, integrity is honorable, respect is necessary.

Christianity is a holy union with the Triune God...it is binding...a lifestyle...a commitment...a temporal race...a community anyone can join with eternal benefits and reward.

God is real, is sufficient, Scripture is Divine and filled with instruction and hope.

Jesus is not a historical figure who gave nice talks and showed compassion. Jesus is REAL.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He  He is the Living God.  He is everything you need and everything you've longed for.  And no one, absolutely no one, comes to the Father except through Him.  He who believes in, relies on, clings to Jesus receives eternal and everlasting life.

And...my friends, I guess that about sums up what I want my blog to say.

For the moment anyway.  selahV

[SO MY FRIENDS:  What do you want your blog to say?  If you write the answer, come back here and leave your blogpost url and I'll link to it and tell others to drop in and listen to your Voice.]