Whew! Time to recover from the weekend

Weekends exhaust me. Mondays are when I can finally catch my breath and relax a bit. This weekend was even busier than usual with being on the go constantly, burning up the congested, construction-filled highway.  But I am thankful for  good health and  the blessing of knowing that God is helping me, and helping my loved ones on their journeys, and for the time I got to spend with my mom and other family members this weekend that I don’t get to see that often. We only live about 45 minutes apart, but everyone is always too busy or tired to get together. Funny how life changes like that as you get older. We used to spend our weekends hanging out with friends and family , now everyone just wants to stay home. My family is my life and even though I mostly talk about going places and running and stuff, my family never leaves my thoughts. Growing up in a big family, my four siblings were my best friends, and I still feel very attached to them and my mom and think of them often.

Why Family matters

The family is a special thing designed by God as a picture of the way the world should function and a place to grow and develop godly character. In a healthy family, the children feel secure and can grow and develop into productive members of a larger society. You cannot have a secure family or world without a strong leader. God is the creator and leader of the world, and he raises up other leaders, and the father is meant to be the leader of the family, especially in spiritual matters and providing financially and protection for the family.  I believe that Satan is hard at work trying to destroy families in several ways. First,  by removing the guiding influence of fathers and mothers from children’s lives and replacing that job with paid workers and constant group activities so that children have no examples of what parenting should look like and don’t know how to raise their own families.   Second, by promoting the idea that children are a burden, not a blessing.  And third, by increasing pressures on women to work outside the home to prove their worth as well as to achieve a certain socially acceptable standard of living. This is not a new battle, but it has definitely intensified. Families are also being destroyed by technology addiction as well as the addictions and problems that have plagued humans for ages. Young men today are struggling with the social media-fueled anti-male movement and no longer know what they are supposed to think or do or be, and young women are in no better shape with conflicting messages on all sides. Economic pressures and lack of extended family support have made a traditional family unit an increasingly rare thing.  I do feel encouraged to see examples around me of young people who  have not bought into the worldly pressures to abandon marriage, children, and family as a goal of life and are fighting hard to make it on one income at least for awhile.

How Satan Uses People to fight His Battle

Satan has been at war with God since the beginning.  He still thinks he can win! But the Bible tells us in the first book, Genesis, that God has a plan and in the last book , Revelation, we see how it turns out. Have you been tricked into helping Satan and his workers spread the lies? He uses influential people to do his dirty work, including politicians, college professors, public school teachers, community workers, actors, musicians, and authors. He knows our weaknesses. He especially attacks women who have been hurt by men . Feminism is largely the result of men acting badly and women not turning to God for comfort and help. Satan knows that we humans so badly want to be liked, popular, cool, and not be criticized, excluded, or even attacked viciously for our so-called outdated views, and we also want to be right, to be in control, to get revenge, and we want to have a lot of stuff because we think stuff makes us happy. The pressure is strong and the lies are constant! They repeat them over and over and over, that people are destroying the planet, we should not have children, that God is not real, religion is dangerous and hateful,  that humans control everything including the weather, that our worth is defined by our salary and our material goods , that sex should be unlimited and without commitment or ‘the fear’ of having a baby.  Even Christians are often swept up in defending Satan’s politically correct arguments! This is why Satan is trying so hard to destroy the church and pastors as well, because the church is the last wall holding back the floods of hell.  The bible teaches that the church is the earthly body of Christ. It is made up of people, not a building, but those people come together, often in buildings, to worship, pray and fellowship to strengthen the body. Satan will not let up on his plans.  There are many people fighting the good fight, too, spreading truth, sharing the good news of Jesus, and not giving into the temptation to join the madness. Those voices are being silenced on social media and some day will not be heard at all. Which side will Jesus find you fighting for when he comes back?

Fight the good fight!

Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not 100% on the right path. It’s not too late to open your eyes and heart and make changes. Take a fearless  inventory of your goals and plans  and beliefs and actions and see if they are leading you to truth and God or farther away , if they are helping your family or hurting it, if they are supportive of growing healthy families or adding to the burdens on them. This blog is meant to encourage and inform people of the real, invisible battle going on for mankind’s loyalty.  Fight for truth and guard it as though your life depends on it, because it does! The words and actions of certain prominent politicians have made it obvious that the line between truth and lies, fact and fiction, reality and fantasy has become extremely thin. Do not be a pawn in this madness. Whether you are single, married, have children or don’t, you can make a difference.

Avoiding conflict by staying silent

Being in the running community for the past 8 years has made me aware of a certain group of people. Runners come from all walks of life and age groups, so they are not all the same, but I’ve noticed a subset in the 20-40 group that are married, well-educated, have either a tech job, own their own business, or some other above-average income career, and one or occasionally two children. A lot of these young people do not feel comfortable in the structured church setting, but call themselves spiritual or they ‘try to be good people’, and they care about things that look like correlate with Christian values. Some believe in God , some won’t really say, but most of them don’t disparage God.  Many of them are active in social media or race directors or race winners or sell running products. This is the group that is most in danger in my opinion. Not only do most of them lack any real knowledge of God and Jesus and his actual teachings,  but Satan has removed any effectiveness they might have to those in their circles by making them too afraid to speak up on issues that require choosing a side. The fear of social media attack has silenced them more effectively than any law banning free speech. Their lives and  careers are at risk ! It’s safer to just stay silent or even repeat the lies and fake news that are spread on Twitter. There will come a time when they will see that they were used by politicians but it will be too late. The time is now to admit that the emperor has no clothes!

Existentialism is a dead end

We all need to return to God and read his wisdom about life and  families and teach it, even though it’s no longer PC. Our battle is not with each other, but with spiritual forces and our own sin that makes us naturally want to put our own happiness and goals first.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The current  popularity of existentialism as a way to freedom is just a rerun of the last existential movement. It promises hope and relief from the frustration, loneliness and sorrow that this world offers,  but Pessimistic Existentialism  doesn’t deliver on those promises . Only Jesus can fill that place in our hearts and set us free.

Our battle is not with each other, but with spiritual forces and our own sin that makes us naturally want to put ourselves first.

A little bragging on my family

On a lighter note,  😀 , I’m a very proud mom to my own big family,  but I know people don’t always like to hear about other people’s kids, so I try to keep it to a minimum!  Will you forgive me if  I brag a little? My oldest son, whom I wrote about here, Reader Request Friday! And Happy Birthday to my son! just hit a major milestone in his music production career. I admit that I am not quite clear on what exactly he did, but I know he’s very happy so I am happy for him! From what I gather , his name will be on an album. Here is his YouTube channel , and I assume the latest videos are going to be on the album. He hasn’t filled me in on the details. He’s a busy guy! Also works full-time.  Check him out!

My 15 year old got bit by the shutter bug and picked up my new camera and started experimenting with some shutter speed photos. He came out with some great shots! He also took the photo on the above album cover shot. Here are a few pics he took yesterday . That’s my second son on the dirt bike.

I’m proud of my other kids as well, but I don’t have any pictures of their recent accomplishments. My third son has been working hard at his new full-time position at his job.  My youngest son, just turned 14,  is coming out with some interesting comments that show me that even though he doesn’t talk much, he is observing and thinking deeply about life . Miss Grace has been having a few seizures this week, but she is doing okay and still her beautiful, special self. My husband has been working hard in his shop fabricating tools on his machines to use at his regular job and fixing stuff as well as being his usual amazing self, playing guitar and outdoing me on all things creative. I’m a very blessed wife and mother!

A few links to lots of great Bible verses about families

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/family-bible-verses/

https://www.bibleverses.com/family/

https://www.ibelieve.com/faith/bible-verses-about-family-scripture-for-solving-family-problems.html

What do you think? I love comments and discussion, so don’t be shy!