KONY 2012

I have for years had an overwhelming heart for Africa and the battles there.  I am not sure why or what to do about it, but I believe God has placed it there.  I pray for the people there and have such a heavy heart over the incredible atrocities that take place in so many of the countries there.  The events and actions so many people there have to go through or have had to go through is beyond my belief.  I wanted to share this video that I saw a couple people share on Facebook today.  The goal of this video KONY 2012 is to make Joseph Kony known.  To make his crimes known.  Joseph Kony is the leader of a group known as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).  They abduct young boys and force them to fight and kill and maim.  They abduct young girls and force them into a sexual slavery.  The goal is to bring him to justice and to save this army of invisible children.  The video is about 30 minutes long.  I know it's kind of long, but how long did you scroll through Facebook today?  How much time did you waste watching some crazy reality show that you had never seen before, but got sucked in to?  Please take the time to watch and to learn and to hopefully be moved to action. These are rights we should fight for.  We may live in different continents and countries.  We may have different governments or beliefs or ways of life.  We are all humans.  We all deserve to have the ability to receive an education.  We deserve to feel like we can keep our children save.  Our children should be able to be children.  We should stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves.  The narrator and producer of the film said at one point in reference to atrocities in the past, "We cared but didn't know what to do - too often we did nothing."  We can't afford to do nothing.  There has to be something. 

Check out KONY 2012 to sign a pledge and receive other information.  Be informed about what is happening in our world.  Because it is our world.  We are all creatures of God and we need to show the love and compassion that God has shown us to others.  We need to stand united and make a difference.  It is possible.  We can't know and do nothing.  What happens if one day that same war is at our doorstep? Who will fight for us?  We will want our prayers and our cries to God answered.  We need to be that answer now for those who need us. Pray for these people.  Pray for change.

You're Not Common

Happy Saturday bloggies!

So, I have been busy lately.  Work and kids and family and BSF and small group and church...you know how it goes.  Anyways, God has been busy working in me on something the past couple of weeks and I find it's time to share. 

God has really been working on my thoughts of being common or lacking in something.  A few years ago I struggled with severe anxiety.  It was awful and I never ever want to go back to that.  I was sick to my stomach constantly worrying about what if this and what if that.  In my inability to identify why I was anxious I became guilt ridden.  I convinced myself that something I had done was causing the anxiety.  Or that maybe I am not good enough and that's why If felt that way. Sometimes I feel it trying to creep back in and I have to fight it.  There is a good chance that this is just normal every day anxiety caused by hormones or lack of sleep or a myriad of different things, but since I went through what I did I immediately find myself going back to that place.

The thing is, I know God healed me.  I know God forgave me for all of the small and big things in my life and continues to forgive me and work in me when things pop up.  I also know that God made me special and with a purpose.  I was reading in Acts 10 where Peter first goes and speaks to the Gentiles about Jesus and they are baptized both with water and the Holy Spirit.  This was a huge event because the Gentiles had been considered unclean.  This was a huge jump for the spread of the gospel.  But one thing that I haven't been able to get past is how God speaks to Peter about his concerns.  God says to Peter in Acts 10:15 What God has made clean, do not call common.  In the immediate and obvious context this deals with what we eat and foods that were considered unclean, then it applies to people that aren't like us and how God still loves and desires that people who aren't perfect love him.  For me though, I have been thinking about how we are forgiven and how God knew us in the womb, how he formed us (Jeremiah 1:5). 

We get so caught up in life and our circumstances that we forget what God has done.  We forget the importance of what Jesus did for us and who we are in Christ.  We get stuck thinking we thought we might be more.  We thought we would have a different job, we thought we would have kids, we didn't think we would have kids, we thought we would be married, we thought we wouldn't be struggling with something, we never thought we would get sick with a certain illness...the list goes on and on.  We forget to think that maybe we are exactly where we are supposed to be.  That just maybe God has a bigger plan and knows more than we do.  Just maybe??  We think about what we can do and not what God can and will do through us. 

We are far from common bloggies.  We are not defined by our shortcomings or past sins.  We are not beyond God's reach.  We are created in the image of God with a purpose and by a creator who has a well defined and unfailing plan for our lives. 

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works;
                        my soul knows it very well."

Dare to be uncommon bloggies!  Step into what God has for you and never look back.