Words on a Page

I feel our country is experiencing change entirely too fast. Lots of people sense the jerking motion of emotional whiplash. If it were truly being done for the good of the country, I’d understand. However, I feel we are witnessing greed at its worst. All I can see is the practice of putting dollars above people. Another analogy besides whiplash is the feeling of decay. Decay begins with a tiny dark spot that multiplies rapidly. Left untreated, great damage is caused by one little area of decay. Of course, the other side is celebrating victory and “payback.” Those attitudes do not feel real Christlike to me, but what do I know? I’ve only known Him for 60 years. One side’s victory causes the other side’s decay. So congratulations. You save tax dollars by eliminating federal jobs. But, your tax dollars supports laid-off workers through unemployment. Is that really a win? We are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Wait…weren’t Peter and Paul on the same team?

My parents were excellent parents. Not perfect, but great just the same. My parents taught me many important life lessons. I think the lesson that has gotten me through the past few weeks is the lesson on expansion. God’s love expands allowing every human ever born to experience His love firsthand. Jesus Christ’s gift of eternal life expands. It is available to anyone and everyone choosing to accept it. I think we minimize the lesson of expansion. We seem to want to control and contain it. We act as if God only loves certain people. We behave as if Christ only died for certain people. All people, past, present and future fall into a Divine expansion. It’s a place where God opens His heart and Christ stretches out His hands to fully love each of us. My parents reflected Divine expansion. They fully loved and fully accepted all four of their children, their ten grandchildren, and their ten great grandchildren (at last count). The human mind does not always grasp the concept of expansion....

Go ahead. You have my permission. Call me, “Miss Fix-it.” Notice I did not say, “Mrs. Fix-it.” To be totally transparent, my husband doesn’t always claim me when I go into fix-it mode. You know how you have certain things in your basic personality and temperament that you just can’t seem to hide? Well, fixing things (or at least trying to fix things) is ingrained into my brain. I was indoctrinated to fix things. Fixing was meshed into my upbringing. My mother is a fixer. Her twin sister was a fixer. My great grandmother was an ultimate fixer. She had money, so people wanted her to fix them. The problem with being a fixer is most people don’t know (and certainly don’t want to know) that they are broken. Let’s be honest. They are broken in the world according to Perkins women. And we are a tough audience to impress. As I age, (and, man! I’m aging at warp speed!) I admit that some people aren’t mine to fix. In fact, besides myself, no one is mine to fix. That’s the job of the Holy Spirit,...

I am American. Please allow me to share with you what that means to me.  It means that God, in His sovereignty and mercy, made the decision to let a little girl be born to parents who were American. They were American due to their ancestors ability to travel to and settle in America.  It means that I understand that there were people here long before Christopher Columbus landed. To ignore this fact is the very definition of “white entitlement.” Not only were people already here, but those people were not treated well. While I cannot go back and undo what has been done, I can show compassion to anyone that was mistreated by my ancestors. To refuse to do so simply adds to the definition of white entitlement.  Being American means I understand that I am free, but not everyone in the world has the same blessing. Being American means that I understand that there is poverty, war, sickness, crime, hunger, and other issues that cannot be ignored just because I’m America...

“Jesus loves me, this I know. For the bible tells me so….” A small reflection of a song that rings out in church nurseries, children’s Sunday School classes, and Vacation Bible Schools during summer months all over the world. Like many mothers and grandmothers, I used this song (still do) when putting my precious little ones to sleep. My almost two year old grandson loves to sing the word, “Geeze-us.” He’s working on the verses.  Jesus does love me. He loves you, too. In fact, I believe Christians forget that Jesus loves everyone. Everyone. Just because I go to church doesn’t mean that I’ve cornered the market on Jesus’ love. His love is infinite and never ending.  Jesus is capable of loving all people despite their behavior. He sits and waits. At the right time, He moves within mankind in hopes that we will return His love.  If we claim to love Him, we are asked to love others. Everyone. 

I don’t get it and I am concerned. I realize I don’t have kids in public schools, but I have a grandson headed that way. Why is anyone okay with reducing funding to public schools? Whether it’s vouchers or the reduction of federal funding, why are we okay with that? From a biblical sense, how can I not care about all children? From a practical sense, why do I want future generations poorly educated? On many fronts, Christians seem to take the stand of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Immigration? Send ‘em back and build a wall. When it comes to government efficiency, shut ‘em down! When it comes to federal and state policies towards education, it’s broke. Don’t fix it. Make our side happy and more entitled. Again, I confess. I don’t get it. Do we really think Jesus is happy? If it’s broke, people, fix it.

I’m told the current administration is taking a metaphorical sledgehammer to our government. Certain news stations say it’s a good thing. Some Americans see it as necessary. Others are appalled.  Many applaud the sledgehammer mentality. I have one question. Wouldn’t the sledgehammer work better if it were aimed toward Congress and the Senate? After all, those are the people who are not doing their jobs well. I mean, seriously, why are we mad at the person working in a government office that is merely following instructions? The root problem is the people making the laws, not the people working for the lawmakers.  Does our government need a sledgehammer? Definitely. Do we need to hammer the innocent government workers that are only doing what they are instructed to do? I don’t think so.  God will not tolerate unjust practices. By His very nature, He sides with the oppressed and those who are mistreated.

During a recent trip to Louisiana, childhood memories were triggered. My parents were both from there. As kids, we often traveled to the state. Driving through the piney woods of Louisiana over the weekend spurred fond memories of family trips. For example, it is very common for the Louisiana highway department to pour just enough asphalt off of a main road to lead travelers on to a sand road. A very RED sand road. Sand is interesting. It was inserted into many of the original hour glasses as a way to measure time. Sand is in ample supply in the ocean. You can stand with bare feet at the edge of the water and watch the waves begin to slowly bury your feet. The wet ocean sand is almost as firm as concrete. Wet sand holds you steady in the never ending series of ocean waves.  What’s my point? God never wastes anything in His creation. Consider sand. Different types provide a variety of needs. The sand roads in Louisiana are uniquely designed by God’s creations of both man and sand....

As a Christian, better explained as a follower of Christ, I should be a reflection of Him. Notice I say, “should be.” Many Christians, this one included, love Christ, believe in Christ, proudly attend church but are not recognized as followers of Christ. While I may claim Him, I may also deny Him based on my personal attitudes or actions towards others. I think we forget that God loves all people. Not just white people or American people; not just males but also females; not just Jews but all nationalities - all people. Let’s use our bibles to discover what Jesus is all about. How did He behave towards others? Did He reach beyond His people in order to reach all people? Did He give us permission to examine the fruit of others in order to not be swayed or fooled? There is a list of fruits of the Spirit that should be (there’s that “should be” again) evident in our life as well as the lives of anyone we admire. Read about them. Pray for them. Display them. All people need them in their l...

Someone near and dear to me posted how much she loves America. She posted that she loves our freedoms. She loves our land. I grew up during the Vietnam era. America was divided on just about every issue we were facing. Social media wasn’t available to vent our opinions. Contentment or discontentment, we voiced our feelings on the street, in our homes, in our friendship groups, but not in our churches. The church of my childhood may have done many things wrong. One thing we did very well was to exalt the name of Jesus. Jesus. Not a person. Not a leader. Not a philosophy. Jesus. America has always had her issues. If you poll a thousand people, you will hear one thousand differing opinions. Christians are not called to exalt their political leanings. The Great Commission is about spreading the Good News of Jesus. Jesus. Only Jesus. Do I love America? I love Jesus. Let’s talk about Him.

“The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the wicked against the honorable.” ~ Isaiah 3:5 Thank you, Prophet Isaiah, for warning us. God expected this all along knowing His people would rebel against sound judgment and principles. Let them who have ears hear.