Day Five

Decided to post this early as I won’t have another chance to post until we get to the hotel on Tuesday Night. Today has been really laid back. YAY. Cleaned up from the party early, did some laundry and had worship time with the kids. Chris and Cheri left to catch a plane home and mom and dad are spending the day with my dad’s cousin in St. Louis. Tonight’s plans include GAMES. That makes me excited.

Tomorrow we head to St. Louis for the day for a mixture of fun and an educational field trip. I want the kids to see the Old Courthouse as we will be studying American History next year. We will also hang at the zoo for a little while and maybe go to a museum. Then we have to get back to pack up for home.

I won’t post again for awhile but will hopefully have some fun stories about tonight or tomorrow when I do. What follows is my thoughts on what we studied today during worship time.

We were in Hosea. I don’t remember the verses but it is the last few chapters where it talks about God’s love of Israel, Israel’s sin, God’s anger with Israel and, finally, repentance and blessing. I was so interested to see the parallels of Israel and our own country today. Let me take a moment to discuss. I don’t have my Bible with me at the library so this might be a little disjointed.

God loved Israel so much. He brought them out of Egypt, cared for them and did not want them to suffer under oppressive rule. Each time God was needed the people turned back to God and each time the chaos subsided, they turned away again.

Doesn’t that sound familiar? Think about the tyranny suffered by this country that incited the people to revolt against England. Against insurmountable odds, that revolt was successful. Why? Because the people really had NOTHING to lose.

Over 200 years have passed. We are comfortable. Once again we are beginning to see our rights slowly slip away. My dad told that they are trying to pass a law, or maybe they already passed it, that says our soldiers can’t have a cross on their gravestone at federal cemeteries. Interesting since some of them are dying to protect that freedom. That incites me. In Texas, they are not allowed to use the words prayer, amen, or say bow your head during a graduation ceremony. That incites me.

Why aren’t more people upset? They are. But they have EVERYTHING to lose. Our ancestors were not thinking about their generation when they fought the revolution, they were thinking about the future. What about us? What are we thinking about?

I’m not talking “revolution” but we can not be silent and let these things happen. We have to speak out. We have to keep our eyes open and see what is happening all around us. We have to read the Constitution and learn what it really means.

I believe that God loves us. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Risen Savior and that he sits at the right hand of the Father. I believe that we have the right to proclaim that and we should not be ashamed. Turn back to God and don’t turn away once the chaos subsides. God has allowed us to come this far as a nation but I believe that he will allow us to fall if we don’t stay focused on him. Repentance will yield blessing. It was promised to Israel and it is still true today. God Bless.

Love to all.