A Clothing Coup

You probably already know that my sweet girl is VERY opinionated when it comes to her clothing. She refuses to wear pants without pockets, long sleeves, turtlenecks, and anything with a "ruffle" (the little "gathers" on sleeves). Shopping with her is about as fun as a root canal, and she's only four!

Nonetheless, I had a wonderful experience buying school clothes this year. I took the latest Lands End catalog and removed every page except those which had clothing I liked. I explained that the clothes in this catalog were the ones she needed for her new big girl school. Then I gave Sophie the catalog and a pen telling her to circle the things she wanted. Easy peasy.

I figure I can keep this up until she can actually read!

Good for a Laugh!

I just LOVE this definition of "deface" from urbandictionary.com: To remove a 'friendship' from facebook due to having either accidentily [sic] adding him/her as a friend or actually adding them and reconsidering later.

"Yeah, there was this guy in my network who added me. I thought he looked ok, but his updates were really cramping my news feed, so I had to deface him."

"I went on a date with a girl I met a week before and like the day after our date she changed her status to 'in a relationship.' I defaced her."

Oops I did it again...

No, I didn't get a new tattoo, shave my head or attack the paparazzi with an umbrella a la Britney Spears. What I did do was to unintentionally offend and hurt someone I care for very much. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a link on my facebook profile to http://www.silencingchristians.com/. This is a one hour movie created by the American Family Association discussing the homosexual political agenda as outlined in the book After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the '90s by Marshall Cook & Hunter Madsen (purchasing info and reviews available HERE). I found the movie quite interesting from the perspective that any group could successfully create a real agenda to change the cultural and political tone. I personally have absolutely ZERO "fear" or "hatred" for gays despite accusations to the contrary. Comments to my video link ranged from being called a "bigot" by one of the most intolerant people I've ever known to genuine hurt illustrated by my lesbian sister. Another person to post a comment was a friend I've known since high school although we have not been close since then. In addition to her brief comment, she was committed enough to our friendship to send me a rather thoughtful and thought-provoking email sharing her own experiences as a homosexual woman and questioning my opinions about the video as well as my belief system. I have requested After the Ball from the local library and will postpone any commentary on the actual video until after I have done a bit of research. I would, however, like to address the questions specific to my values today.

• I am a Christian: I believe that God exists and that he does not change (Isaiah 43:11). I believe that the Bible is the word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). I believe that Jesus Christ is the only means to Heaven (John 14:6).


• I believe that each of us (EVERY SINGLE ONE) is a sinner based on Jesus' teaching regarding the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5. Please read the additional definitions and examples of sin found in Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.


• Fortunately for all of us sinners, Jesus offers us redemption through his miracle birth, death on the cross, and most importantly, His resurrection. Romans 3:23-24 (NIV) says, "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." As believers, we have merely to confess our sins to be forgiven (1 John 1:9).

Personally, I am guilty of more sin than I can begin to name here. But I have confessed my sins to God and am confident that I am forgiven of them. Do I still struggle? Of course. I am human and every man and woman struggles with his or her sinful nature. I pray constantly to stay in God's will. Am I successful? Ha! I trip and fall every single day (sometimes, every hour of the day!), but I do acknowledge my shortcomings and ask for forgiveness.

So to answer the million dollar question, yes, I believe where the Bible states that homosexuality is sin. Is it worse than my many sins? Hardly. Do I condemn my friends and family who are homosexual? I do not. I pray for them often, and pray for my own understanding and compassion to the issues that they face. And frankly, I hope they are praying for me and my sins as well.

Perhaps the most important issue raised by this video and associated commentary is whether it is possible to be conservative (as in - adherent to traditional, Biblical values) AND tolerant (as in - demonstrating the love of Christ without condoning sin)? I sure hope so. Is that how I live? Depending on who you ask, the answer may be a resounding "NO" these days. But it IS the model to which I aspire. I'm hopeful.