Important Election

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the election and it has been on my heart to truly understand the issues and what each candidate stands for. I never want to simply vote for someone because they are labeled 'republican' or 'democrat'. I want to know what I am voting in favor of, what the person I am voting for intends to do if elected. Just this morning I was talking to an amazing friend about all of this. As I was sharing some of my concerns about some of the things that Obama stands for she asked me where I heard the information. I told her that I knew it was fact but had to find out where/when it was said...anyway...tonight I was online looking for stuff for her and came across my friend Shanee's blog and she had just posted a wonderful break down of some of the things I was searching for. I have been really appalled at some of the things that Obama stands for and have felt compelled to share those with others (even though politics is always a difficult issue to talk about). I want to post this post from Shanee's blog here for you all to see. I hope it gives some true insight to the battle we are fighting.

For those of you who plan to vote for Obama, please make sure that you understand his moral character and the serious changes that will be made (and that you will be supporting) if he is elected President. (I got most of this information from an article by Princeton University professor Robert P. George, Princeton University Robert George).

Barack Obama is the most liberal candidate ever to run for President, and surely the most extreme supporter of abortion that has ever graced the national ticket. Here are just a few of the changes Obama promises to make if he is elected:

Change #1: Obama has promised to seek repeal of the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment has protected pro-life citizens for years from having to pay for abortions that are not necessary to save the life of the mother and are not the result of rape or incest. This goes way beyond “pro-choice.” Obama does not merely think that abortion is a private choice that public authority should refrain from getting involved in (as his running mate does). Rather, Obama would use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, thereby leaving Americans with no choice but to implicate themselves in feticide. (That is why the abortion industry loves Obama).

Change #2: Obama has promised that “the first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act” (known as FOCA). This legislation would create a federally guaranteed “fundamental right” to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, including “a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined ‘health’ reasons.” In other words, FOCA would abolish every existing limitation on abortion, including parental consent and notification laws for minors, and conscience protections for pro-life citizens working in the health-care industry (protections against being forced to participate in the practice of abortion or else lose their jobs).

Change #3: Obama wishes to strip federal funding from pro-life crisis pregnancy centers that provide alternatives to abortion for pregnant women in need. Basically, according to Obama, abortion is the answer to unwanted pregnancies (doesn't sound very "pro-choice" to me).

Change #4: Obama, unlike even many “pro-choice” legislators, opposed the ban on partial-birth abortions and condemned the Supreme Court decision that upheld legislation banning this inhumane practice.

Change #5: This one is unbelievable. As an Illinois state senator, Obama opposed legislation to protect children who are born alive as a result of an unsuccessful abortion. This legislation would not even have banned any abortions; it was simply to provide basic medical and comfort care for living babies. It passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate, supported by pro-choice and pro-life senators alike. But Barack Obama opposed it, fighting for a form of infanticide. (The Obama campaign lied about this until critics produced documentary proof of what he had done).

Change #6: Obama has promised only to appoint Supreme Court justices who support Roe v. Wade. Over the next 4-8 years, as many as 3 justices are likely to retire.

Change #7: Obama has co-sponsored a bill, the “clone and kill” bill, that would authorize the large-scale industrial production of human embryos for use in biomedical research in which they would be killed. In fact, this bill would require the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage that were produced by cloning. It would make it a federal crime for a woman to save an embryo by agreeing to have the tiny developing human being implanted in her womb so that he or she could be brought to term.

Change #8: Obama was one of the few senators to oppose a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate to fund research to develop methods to produce the exact equivalent of embryonic stem cells without using (or producing) embryos. Why create and kill human embryos when there are alternatives that do not require the taking of human lives? It is as if Obama is opposed to stem-cell research unless it involves killing human embryos!The pro-life policies that Obama has promised to get rid of save thousands of lives every year. I am very concerned when I consider what America would become if Obama were elected—one in which not only the unborn have no protection, but one in which a baby who survives an abortion does not even receive comfort care as she dies. Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: “that question is above my pay grade.” His unspoken answer is clear: human beings have no rights until infancy—and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then. It is time for some changes in America, but certainly not these kinds of changes.

Thank you and some new things...

I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who wrote comments about my long posts entitled Are you a godly woman if you use canned spaghetti sauce Part 1, Part 2, Part 3? I was encouraged by your comments and some of your ideas for how you make it work for your family and are able to minister to those around you were helpful for me. I pray that we would continue to learn from each other and grow as godly women in the Lord.

I have mentioned previously about the women's retreat that I had the privilege of attending here in Kathmandu earlier this month and have blogged about some of the things God was showing and teaching me there. Well, there are just a few more I would like to share with you. One of the mornings the main speaker said this:

"Satan does not care about you. He doesn't love you. He wants to kick you when you are down. He has no compassion for you."

Wow. Satan is my enemy. I know that. He is the complete opposite of God and all He stands for. But for some reason when Ms. Bettie said this, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It make me think...does the fact that Satan hates me (and my family, my friends, my co-workers, my neighbors) make me live any differently? Am I daily asking for the Holy Spirit to protect me from Satan's lies and attacks? Am I calling sin: sin and evil: evil, everyday or do I just go about my day without much thought of the fact that there is someone out there that HATES me, that wants everything bad for me and my family, that wants to see me fail, that finds joy in my weaknesses and faults and sin? Am I conscious of the spiritual battle going on around me everyday? Am I prepared for it? Am I tapping completely into the power of Christ, the One who has overcome the world? the One who has power over evil, sin and death?

We are fighting a battle ladies! We have a REAL enemy. Let's not walk blindly through this life, let's put on the full armor and fight with the strength that can only come from Christ: Our amazing God who cares about us, loves us (so much), who wants to lift us up when we are down and who has great mercy, grace and compassion on us!

Why I (now) hate stink bugs...

It is 9:47 pm and I just returned from my second (unexpected) shower of the night. Why, you might ask? Well that is a great question...because I just got sprayed or pooped on or tooted on or whatever it is that stink bugs do when they land on you and get "threatened" as my husband says. Yes, a stink bug (a giant one, I might add) landed on me about 15 minutes ago. I was unaware of his presence and all of a sudden he started making his way up my neck and I felt him and I squealed and I knocked him off of my neck all of which was "threatening" to him, I guess. My husband ran in to find out what was wrong and I just kept pointing at the bug (which I DID NOT know was a stink bug at the time) on the floor and asking him to get rid of it all the while telling him that the bug STUNK (is that a word)? He was just laughing at me and told me that "my new friend" was in fact a stink bug...hence the stink! I felt violated and smelly so it was off to the shower again. I am back and feel much better. But the most important question now is, "Where did the stink bug come from???" We are not safe anywhere...even in the comfort of our own office chair...darn stink bug!