#youknowmetoo ... #imalive ... #momletmelive

You know that horrible hashtag going around - the "you know me" one where women celebrate the abortions they had.

Well, there should be a #youknowmetoo or #imalive or #momletmelive or something like that where anyone who knows they were almost an abortion can celebrate the fact that they are alive, that their mother let them live.  (Or maybe they themselves almost had an abortion, but kept their child.  And they can celebrate the fact that they did.)

I'll go first:  

"Hi, my name's Heather.  I'm a 43-year-old mother of four sons.  I have been married to the same wonderful man for 20 years.  I have a Master's in Counseling Psychology, but I've chosen to stay home instead to raise my sons.  I consider it an honor and immense blessing to be a wife and mother.  I believe in helping hurting people, in standing up for Truth, and I have put my faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  

But ... I might never have been.  My mother got pregnant with me when she was 18, fresh from being released from an orphanage.  She was not married, and had no parents to guide her or help her.  She was young and alone and had nothing.  And she considered having an abortion.  (I don't know how much she considered it; I just know she did.  She told me about it once.  And we never talked about it again.  And for the record, I'm not upset that she considered it.  It doesn't matter to me that she did.  When I consider her life, I can understand.)

But obviously, she didn't have an abortion.  She chose instead to let me live.  And she even decided to raise me, though she had nothing in life.  Life hasn't been easy for her - she lost her parents young, went to an orphanage because no relative wanted her, got out of the orphanage, got pregnant right away, married my dad, divorced two years later, and married and divorced a couple more times.  

But ... you know me too.  I'm alive today because my mom let me live.

She had it hard.  And I know it must have been a struggle for her, being an unwed, pregnant, homeless teen.  I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make.  But I'm very thankful that she didn't snuff out my life simply because it was most convenient for her!

She did the hard thing, the right thing.  She took responsibility for her choices and for the consequence of her choices.

A consequence she named Heather.

Thank you, Mom, for letting me live.  My sons are a part of your legacy.  A tribute to you and the responsible, selfless decision you made.  Thank you!"

Too Funny - Alyssa Milano's Sex-Strike

So there's an article out about Alyssa Milano calling for a sex-strike until anti-abortion laws get changed.  She is saying that women shouldn't have sex until they get more abortions rights.

Ha-ha-ha!  Yes, please do that!  Please!  

It's a win-win-win for everyone else but the women striking.  First off, it's exactly what we need to have lower abortion rates.  It will also help stop the spread of diseases.  It will prevent the rabid feminists from passing their views on to any children they might have decided to keep if they had gotten pregnant.  And the men these women are withholding sex from might just go out and find a decent, respectful woman who won't use sex to control and manipulate the men into giving them what they want.  

A win for the unborn, for the next generation, for the sexual health of our country, and for the men who the feminists are trying to control!

So ... yes, Alyssa ... please get as many feminists as you can to join this sex-strike with you!  That's awesome!  Threatening to live the way we should be living anyway!  

(Ha-ha-ha, too funny!  I'm cracking up here at the ironic-ness of it all!) 

Review of "Once an Insider, Now Without a Church Home" - A Look At How Churches Go Bad

(I don't know if anyone who comes to this blog will care about this issue, but I have been tackling the issue of Calvinism over at two of my other blogs, My Crazy Faith and The Anti-Calvinist Rant.  I may put a few of those posts over here too, because I think they are worth talking about.  But first, I am posting a review I was asked to do of one woman's story about how Calvinism, among other problems, invaded her church.  It's a story any church-goer should take to heart and learn from.  If some of you have had problems with church and with accepting the view of God that was pushed on you, it might just be that it was a Calvinist view of God, which is far different than the Bible's view!)

I was recently asked to review this book – Once an Insider, Now Without A Church Home: One Couple’s Faith Crisis Due to the Infiltration and Spread of Authoritarianism, Calvinism, Complementarianism, and Covenants in the Am Evangelical Church, written by Amanda Farmer.  (Click here to go to the author’s website or click here to order her book on Amazon.)

Cinnamon Zucchini (or Pumpkin) Bread

I love having recipes with interchangeable ingredients, like swapping out pumpkin for zucchini.  That way, one recipe can lead to several variations.  This is a wonderful Spiced Bread - pumpkin or zucchini.  We use it for breakfast, slathered with butter and drizzled with honey.

Super Simple Essential Oil Blends for Cold/Flu

Okay, I think it's time to start adding more posts to this blog - starting with a couple of super-simple essential oil blends that I made for this cold and flu season.  

I keep these two blends in separate bottles.  They are straight, not diluted with carrier oil, so that I can use them in a diffuser or add them to carrier oil as needed, and so that I can blend them or use them separately as needed.  It's more versatile this way.  

What Bold Faith Looks Like!

WAY TO GO, Christ Pratt!!!  

The best thing I've heard 

coming out of Hollywood in a long time.

I applaud your boldness and your faithfulness!

Thank you and God bless you!  

Click on them. They're worth listening to at least once.

Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle -
A life-changing, heart-changing song for me.

Oh, What Love by The City Harmonic -
This song says it all! 

Confession (Agnus Dei) by the City Harmonic  -

I woke up once singing the line "Lamb of God who takes away ..." over and over again in my mind. I have loved it ever since.

I AM by Crowder -
He's always there holding onto us, calling us to hold onto Him.




And three for those who are hurting.  But don't listen to them unless you are hurting because you won't be in the right frame of mind to really hear it....

Love, Heal Me by the City Harmonic 
The song that inspired the name of one of my blogs -
my heart's cry for the past couple years.

Fell Apart by the City Harmonic 
One of the best opening lines ever! 
These City Harmonic songs became my prayers
at a time I was too broken to pray for myself.

Healing Begins by Tenth Avenue North
So much truth in this wonderful song.
(I don't know why the stupid computer made this one a different color.)

Honestly, can you find this kind of hope in any of the mainstream songs out there today!?! 

If you are interested, take this challenge:  listen to these songs at least 3 times over the next month or two, and see what happens. 

But before you do, say a prayer out loud that God would open your eyes to the truth about His existence and about who Jesus is and what He came to do.  (Even something simple like, "God, show me if You are really real and if Jesus really is who He said He is - if He really is Lord and Savior, and the only way to get to You, to heaven.") 

And really mean it! 

And if you want more, if you've never read the Bible, commit to reading through it once (maybe starting with the New Testament) while again praying that God would open your eyes to the truth in it. 

What do you have to lose!?! 

Nothing! 

But you might just gain everything!

Don't Say You Were Never Warned!

Someday!  Someday soon!

(click on it)

It's the Gospel Truth!

(Don't say you were never warned.)

Soon, Lord. Please!

We're waiting for You, Lord.  Please let it be soon!

[Click on it ... and pray for it with me.  This isn't just a myth, people.  It's truth.  And it's coming.  Repent and grab onto God's forgiveness and grace and healing ... while there is still time.  

And don't get me wrong; I am not saying that we can set dates, or that "soon" means this week or month or year, or that we should sell all our belongings and sit on some hilltop somewhere waiting for Jesus (that would be foolish, unbiblical, and a waste of your precious life and time).  

But I am saying that this life isn't all there is.  This life will end someday.  And we need to decide where we want to spend eternity.  Your eternal home isn't assigned to you randomly.  You get to pick it: heaven or hell.  Life with Jesus or without.  And if you refuse to decide, if you refuse Jesus, then you essentially refuse eternal life with Jesus.  Hell is our default destination, not heaven.  Take this seriously.  Before it's too late for you to decide.]

And One More "Rapture" Song ...

... because I like this one

and I'm praying that it's soon.

(If you really understood who Jesus is

and the hope and healing He offers, 

you'd be praying for it too!)

Lord, please, break open the sky!