Tortured and Imprisoned for Reading the Bible

In North Korea people are tortured for reading the Bible if they are discovered. This also happens in China, Iran, Eriteria and other countries. Believers are imprisoned, tortured, lose their jobs, lose their homes and other terrible things simply for reading their Bibles, telling others about Christ or simply for being Christians. There are many wonderful ministries serving those persecuted for their faith. Two of the ministries of Voice of the Martyrs that I'd like to mention are Prisoner Alert and Bibles Unbound. Prisoner Alert allows people to learn about Christians imprisoned for their faith and gives us the opportunity to write an encouraging letter to one or more of these believers, e-mail government officials on behalf of the prisoner, and of course, most importantly, pray in an informed manner for those imprisoned for their faith. Bibles Unbound is an opportunity to help get Bibles, in the people's language, into countries where missonaries are unable to go. I have been a part of both of these ministries when I can and I have learned much from being able to be a part of these opportunities. To learn more about the persecuted church or either of these mentioned ministries please go to: http://www.persecution.com/ and

Random Thoughts

Today was the talent show at work. There were so many great acts from the students and even the staff. I am told that I stunned some people, I sang one of my favorite songs and I am told I did a very good job. My staff tell me that I now have a different persona at work, I was the quiet teacher who's name a lot of people did not know, but now because of the talent show and prom (not sure what happened at prom) I am a surprise. On Tuesday we went on a field trip to have lunch and go bowling. It was such fun to see the kids interacting in the community and enjoying bowling, the smiles, giggles and hand claps were such a great thing to see. We will be going into the community more often I think. It dawned on me this afternoon that I have been given a gift, the chance to see the little things with my students. A hug, a squeal, a hand clap, smiles, giggles, and some great faces. The things I get to do every work day are a gift and the chance to see that gift in the eyes of my students makes a lot of the rest of what I am living with every day more bearable. It hasn't been easy lately to deal with the health issues but I need to remember that every day the children I work with have much more difficult things to handle and not at all the same level of understanding. So maybe, in a way, I have been given more than one gift.

Thoughts on Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have served our country in the Armed Services. I have not had that distinction but I have family members and friends who have, so to my two half brothers, my uncles, cousins and several friends who have served Thank You. Your sacrifices are not forgotten and though seldom mentioned they are appreciated. My family and friends have served during all the wars of my lifetime though some may never have seen battle. I know when my brothers and uncles came home from Vietnam they may not have been given the heroes welcome that they deserved, I hope that we are doing better in that area now. I have watched families of my friends deal with the separation from loved ones who are serving and I think that they too deserve to be honored for their day to day sacrifices while their loved ones are not with them. I have been fortunate, so far, in that all those I have cared about, who have served, have come home but for those who have not. thank you for your sacrifice and please know that there are many in this country who are very grateful for those who can and do serve in our military.

Blogging for the Persecuted Church

As you may have noticed there is a badge on my blog site stating that I blog for the persecuted church. This is an opportunity to share information from the Voice of the Martyrs ministry about the persecuted church around the world. The commitment that I have made is to write on the persecuted church at least twice a month in order to encourage other Christians to learn more about this often forgotten group of our brothers and sisters. You may wonder why I am choosing to do this. I am doing this in the hopes that others will want to learn more about those who are risking their lives, livelihood and families just for believing in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to remind myself and others that we know nothing of true persecution in this country though it may well be coming. How willing are we to face losing our jobs, our homes, even our lives for believing in Christ and sharing that belief with others? I pray that my answer would be that I am willing to die for Christ. In this country where often times we may be told in church, on the radio or television that believing in Christ will make us wealthy, successful, without pain or disease if we just have enough faith, are we willing or even able to endure persecution, ridicule, loss of face, etc because of our belief in Christ and if we are not how real is our faith. I have been asking myself these questions for a long time and maybe this is one way I can put some feet to my faith. Christ never promised that we would not suffer and I pray that if it comes to having to suffer for my faith I would be as courageous as those such as Graham Staines and his sons in India who were burned alive for their faith in the Lord. If you are interested in more information on the persecuted church please see these two sites: http://www.persecution.com/ and http://www.persecutionblog.com/ and thanks for listening.

Retinal Repair, Baking, Knitting, Prom and Stuff

I have just finished baking 5 different deserts for prom at school tomorrow. Hopefully they have all turned out well and the kids and staff will enjoy them. I get to wear a dress and wedge heels to work tomorrow in honor of prom. Each of my girls have beautiful dresses to wear and the boys have tuxes or suits. One of my male staff is wearing a tux and each of us is dressing more formally than we usually do. I hear this is a very big deal at school and that everyone can't imagine how much the kids enjoy being dressed up and being honored. I can't wait to see everyone and the fun they will have. I had laser repair to a retinal tear in my right eye (no idea how the tear occurred, I certainly wasn't aware of it) this afternoon. My eye hurt like heck for a few hours afterward but at the moment I am doing well. My doctor said there may be swelling and redness for a few days, I just hope I don't look like I have a black eye. I don't think that would look good with a pink dress and dress shoes. While waiting for the laser repair, I managed to finish a third of a ball of yarn knitting it into the current baby blanket. Hopefully I will have the current blanket done sometime this weekend. I only have four more to complete my current backlog of blankets, of course, by the time I finish those I will probably have found others to make. On the diabetes front my numbers are slowly getting better and haven't hit the 200s for a week. This is a big accomplishment at the moment but I have to admit I would like them more consistently in the 120s or so. I continue to work on seeing things from the prespective of Why Not Me, this prespective is helping at the present time and I am grateful for it. Well, I'd best get to bed as I have a lot to do in the morning to be ready for prom. More news soon.

Teacher Appreciation and Other Stuff

Due to a body that is still trying to deal with the restart of a previous medication, I was late for work this morning and honestly was so tired most of the day that I probably should have stayed home at least for the morning. When I did get to work, I found all of my staff waiting outside our classroom door with a camera, a red carpet, a banner and tons of apples on the door with appreciation comments written on them. This was their way of saying what I do is appreciated. I was completely surprised and almost cried when I read the comments they made. They are a wonderful staff and without them I would not be able to do my job in the manner I need to be able to. I appreciate them very much though I doubt I do a good job of letting them know it. I know the students appreciate them too. I will have to think of a good way to tell them that they are very appreciated.
I am still dealing with the restart of a previous medication, the numbers are slowly getting better but my body still gets annoyed and lets me know it usually at 4 in the morning. I know that once things balance out again everything will be okay but sometimes having to deal with the waiting can make me a bit nuts. One of the things I am working on learning to say is "Why Not Me?" instead of "Why Me?" I have to say that there is no reason for all of the medical things not to be going on but most of the time I would prefer to not have to deal with so much at one time. One of the reasons for working on saying "Why Not Me?" is that there are children and others in my life and certainly in the world who are dealing with things much worse than chronic illnesses. Though I may never know the reason why the Lord has allowed these illnesses in my life, I do know that nothing touches my life without having been okayed by the Lord and so there must be important reasons for why even if I never know them.
Well I'm getting tired and probably should go get ready for tomorrow. A highlight at the moment the Cardinals are winning against the Colorado Rockies. I love baseball season.

Partiality

I almost didn't make it to church this morning but I am so very glad that I did. I woke up at ten this morning and the worship service starts at 10:30. I was only a few minutes late and am very glad of that. My pastor spoke on the book of James chapter 2 verses 1-13. In this section of scripture James speaks of not being partial to those who are rich versus those who are poor but be fair and merciful to all. I have heard this passage preached on countless times but often forget the lessons that it teaches. A passage my pastor also shared from I Samuel 16:7 "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart." and Acts 10:34 "...I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right , is welcome to Him." (NASB) reminded me how I should look at all people. This is something that I try to do but am sure I fail more often than not. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all look at everyone as being just as important and just as needed as we see ourselves as being. God sees our hearts can't we try to see the hearts of those we come in contact with. Especially those of us who claim the name of the Lord should be the first and best at seeing those around us as being equal and important. Given what I do for a living, the idea of partiality is particular to me at the moment. Why is it that we feel we have the right to play God and decide whether someone else's life is worthwhile. When I began teaching there were certainly more children with Down Syndrome than I currently see. I know of people who look at what I do for a living and say that the children that I have spent 23 years working with do not deserve to live because they may never be able to be a fully contributing member of society. When did the world decide that we know better than God who should have a life? Does being a contributing member of society only mean holding a job and paying taxes or can it also mean bringing joy to others or teaching others to give of themselves to those who are not as much like the rest of us as we might want. I can't imagine the world in which I live without any of the children that I have worked with in the last 23 years. They have been a gift to me and I know that they are a gift to their families as well. Perhaps we all need to take a larger look at what partiality really means. What a gift to be in that service this morning.