In 24 hours...

I got almost 60 posts on that thread. Thank you to the contributors. In the past couple days I've learned A LOT. Among my thoughts are:

1. My faith in God as my Father and Jesus Christ as my Savior remains strong. I've learned more in my life when I'm challenged than any other time. To my anonymous poster, thank you (I guess) for that (but my rules still stands: anonymous posts will from here forward be removed!). I am proud to be serving my Lord, and will defend it whenever necessary. It's interesting. For about two hours yesterday afternoon I genuinely didn't know what to do. I was upset and angry. Cory and I took the boys for a walk - he thought I should just take the whole post down. I realized that I had two choices: back down (turn the other cheek) or stand up for what I believe in. I talked to my sister on the phone and as I breathed the cool fall air, I said a prayer to God that he'd send me an answer. Send me a friend. And I just knew truth would prevail. People rallied around me. You saw the posts. And I got emails. And I got phone calls. People who would never enter blogosphere came to check out the action (oh, and how many of you are out there lurking!?). I had such amazing peace by the end of the day. I quoted Obama from a few days ago last night when I told a friend I felt like I had "a righteous wind at my back." That is what the spirit feels like.

2. Call for action. We cannot sit and expect the world to change. Several of you ("What can I do? Can I start now?!") talked about DOING something to make the world better. Go out there and counsel people who are in unwanted pregnancies. Talk to people about the love of Jesus. Go and DO. It's so easy to sit around and talk about everything we want to see, but I think Katie posted Ghandi on her site earlier this week and said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." It's fun to say, but more important to do. Thanks to those posters who gave specific ideas of how to do that.

3. As you know, my mystery poster thought I shouldn't need anyone to back me up since I was so sure of myself. Here's the thing: we all need support. All the time. No one likes to feel like a lone soldier against an army of people. No one likes to feel like they're alone. So to those of you who commented, even (or especially) those with differing opinions, I thank you.

4. We are all very different people. We are going to have conflicting opinions, but I think that's okay. Better than okay, maybe. I hope we'll continue to learn from each other and challenge each other to think bigger. That post will remain open. Feel free to add to it as you see fit, but be nice.

Bits and pieces, right?

Fear

I was thinking about this more since my last blog entry tornado. What is fear and are we predisposed to be fearful? I think that I am not. I am a very trusting person and I fear very little. I worry some, of course, about things beyond my control. But I have been working really hard in the past years to really focus on being faithful instead of afraid. I have never not been provided for, as God promised.

I am FAR from perfect. Last year when I thought I might have to get a "real" job and the anxiety of the real estate market worried me so much, I literally had to stop myself every 15 minutes during the day to remind myself to be faithful. It was a very literal process. I'd stop mid-stride, take a deep prayer, ask God for faith, and then press on. 15 minutes later, I'd feel my blood pressure rise and start all over. I figured God was exasperated. "Seriously, already worried AGAIN?! I said I got it!" Overall, I had my best real estate year to date. In this market. God is good!

I just keep leaning to scripture for guidance on this issue and thought this quote was worth sharing. As I feel all of the worry and fear around me, I thought it might bring comfort. It has brought me immense solace in my life:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:25-27)

God Bless America!

The President-Elect and the First-Lady-to-be.

"Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can seize our future. And as we leave this great state with a new wind at our backs and we take this journey across this great country, a country we love, with the message we carry from the plains of Iowa to the hills of New Hampshire, from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast, the same message we had when we were up and when we were down, that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we will hope.

And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words -- yes, we can."

- Barack Obama

Did you vote? Did you vote? Did you vote?

It's a lovely day for an election here in MN, hope the weather is as kind to you there as it is here. I don't think anyone really needs any prodding, but just in case...GO VOTE!

Light a Candle

Go ahead, click here to light a virtual candle. We can all use a moment of reflection and prayer in our lives, and here's a special way to do it (from the wife of a firefighter who doesn't let me do it for real at home!).

The Colors of Friendship

Cory brought me flowers and then Shannon did. Piled all together in this vase, I marvel at the picture it creates. A combination of love and friendship that absolutely brightens my life. Thanks to everyone who loves me; the colors are astounding!

The Pirate and The Monkey

Cory was in charge of pictures, and he was pretty busy so he only got a couple. Here are my halloween babes. Matty actually had an eye patch and a sword; not sure where they were in this picture. And - I assure you - Jack was much happier to be in costume than he looks!